Heather you win. I was living here then. Yes, the State cut the funding for many hospitals and especially for Marlboro Institution. They released patients to fend for themselves claiming they were not a "danger" to society. Asbury Park (and I guess Ocean Grove) opened their doors and offered shelter subsidized by the government (of course) to these people. It started in the early 70's and Asbury Park went down hill from there. People in surrounding towns became too afraid to even DRIVE through Asbury Park, much less walk anywhere in Asbury Park. By the mid 80's Asbury Park had gone as low as it could, with no one caring anything about the City, only caring about their own lives. And, it wasn't easy just holding on. What I see now from the mid 80's and now in 2005 is like the difference between midnight and noon. It's all here now just waiting.....What needs to be done is building neighborhood by neighborhood until it is all done. Criticize AP Partners, the City Council, The
Mayor, etc. but 16,000 residents must also come up with solutions, present them, agree on them. The former is only a handful of business people.......WE ARE THE PEOPLE!!!!! Speak Up and ACT!!!! Afterall, It Is AMERICA!!
Heather <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Heather <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I don't know what the percentage is, but yes, back in the 70s and 80s
they did release a lot of mental patients into Asbury, to live in
halfway and boarding houses, when hospitals closed around the state.
You used to see more of them wandering around on Kingsley Avenue. The
following is a section from an article on Ocean Grove from the June
04 issue of NJ Monthly magazine, with some statistics about Ocean
Grove and Asbury:
"But in the recession of the early 1980s, the small hotels and
boardinghouses that had been buoyed by a bustling tourist trade faced
ruin. By the decade's end, they found an unlikely savior in the state
of New Jersey, which was looking to house patients soon to be
released from nearby Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital. Where city
dwellers once pursued holy leisure, the former patients now drifted
virtually without supervision. Herbert G. Herbst, founder of the
Jersey Shore Arts Center at Ocean Grove and a 30-year resident,
remembers walking into one of the larger hotels and finding the front
desk covered with pills. "The medications were all over," he
says, "and the patients helped themselves to whatever they wanted. We
had close to 500 mental patients in Ocean Grove and 900 or so in
Asbury Park." "
So there you go.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "cathryn.be" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> 20 years ago I had been told that 25% of people in A.P. were from
> mental institutions and the person quoted was someone notable from
the
> area but I don't know where the information first came from. but
it's
> been said for a very long time so... I agree it'd be interesting to
> hear from an 'old-timer' if there is any truth to it. (note: I had
> not heard it quoted as "escaped lunatics" "transported" to the
area.
> that's really something else.)
>
> Cathryn.
>
> On 4/15/05, Skip Bernstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Were it true (my God talk about urban legends), the lunatics
could not have
> > been escapees; rather the idiots in government having such
authority. Even
> > in 'pay to play' land the pieces just don't add up,
i.e. 'escaped lunatics'
> > being transported, very oxymoronic!
> >
> > Skip Bernstein
> > 732-542-2688
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > http://JerseyShoreRocks.com
> > http://JerseyShoreGourmet.com
> > Http://JerseyShoreToday.com
> > Http://JerseyShoreWines.com
> > Http://aDogsBreakfast.com
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com>
> > Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 12:59 PM
> > Subject: [AsburyPark] Re: escaped mental patients
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, Corey Maccaro
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > wrote:
> > >> Is it true that escaped lunatics were dropped off in AP
during the
> > > race riots, or is this just an urban legend?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > > Yes, and we are now running this forum.
> > >
> > > Sorry, but I couldn't resist. I don't know, but I heard
similar rumors
> > > as well. Perhaps one of the old timers can verify.
> > >
> >
Bob Paterson
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