Local Comings and Goings

I was driving by the old Rita's Italian Ices on Route 34 yesterday and noticed a new tenant is changing the outside of the shop. I only had a second to look, but I think it said Bagel Den. The frontage reminded me a bit of Jellystone National Park or Whack-a-Mole. But, like I said, I was zipping by and I might have been imagining the whole deal.  I found several positive reviews of one or more Bagel Dens in New York City. One site had a review that grouped it with the Bronx Zoo, Botanical Gardens, and Yankee Stadium as the best things about the Bronx. The drive-thru should be attractive to customers on their way to Route 9 in the morning but will be a pain for those heading to the Parkway on Middlesex Road.

The Cliffwood & Cliffwood Beach page at Facebook includes a contribution this morning suggesting that Moore's Bar on Route 35 at Cliffwood has closed. The contributor says he found a sign in the window last night thanking their customers for 43 years of business.  The name of this bar could be attributed to Annie Moore, an Irish girl who became the first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island. Check out her story at this website.

All of the store closings at the corner of Route 35 and Cliffwood Avenue (Burlew's Pizzeria; Moore's Bar; the mini-mall with a Maytag laundromat, a dry cleaners, and a pizzeria/sub shop; National Parts Supply Co; and the Raydi Craft Pallet) are supposedly in anticipation of state road work scheduled for the next few years. It's unclear whether the Christie Administration will budget sufficient funds to complete the Route 35 project though. We'll have to wait and see.