Opposition to wind turbines strengthens, and Margate will honor Jerry Blavat

Listen, it’s been quite windy here lately. If you live at the beach, you learn to ride the joys and torture of the wind. When the wind comes off the ocean, life is good. The ocean warms up, the breeze fills your house (if you dare open your windows, a lost art these days), possibilities fill your brain.

But if the wind comes from the west, from the bay toward the ocean, everything changes. You feel miserable but don’t know why. The flies buzz. The ocean temperature drops.

It can change in an instant, so the key is to notice. It’s just lovely when you feel the moment the winds shift from the land breeze to the ocean breeze, a communal sigh of island relief that you never quite get used to. It’s always thrilling.

The winds, too, can bring destruction and heartbreak, as Hurricane Sandy taught too well.

Which brings us to the other wind topic causing so much Shore angst this summer: the proposed wind turbine energy farms off the ocean. While the talk about any connection to the dead whales washing up since December has quieted somewhat (scientists say the connection isn’t there), general opposition to the turbines has only gathered steam.

As the AP’s Wayne Parry reported: Three residents groups — Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach (whose swashbuckling logo includes two crossed swords over a wind turbine), and Protect Our Coast NJ — sued New Jersey over a key approval of Ocean Wind I, the first wind farm from Danish energy developer Ørsted.

Separately, the Congressional Accountability Office agreed to investigate offshore wind’s impact on the environment; and Cape May County has hired two law firms to try to block the wind farms, which officials fear will mar the view from the beach and disrupt tourism and fishing industries.

Some people even worry the turbines will “steal” the winds on their way to being ocean breezes along the Shore, though the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says sea breezes would not be impacted.

There are other headwinds: My colleagues Frank Kummer and videographer Jenna Miller went to Paulsboro., where the turbines are in the process of being assembled, to report this incredible must-read story and video.

In Paulsboro, Kummer writes, the first three-million-pound, 300-foot-long, all-steel foundation, known as a monopile, has been assembled. (Watch the video here.)

It will eventually “be rammed 100 feet into the ocean floor,” and, “a tower with turbine and blades will be bolted to its flanges, rising 906 feet from the ocean at its highest blade tip, putting it in the ballpark of the highest skyscrapers in Philadelphia.”

Lee Laurendeau, CEO of EEW American Offshore Structures, the company working with Ørsted to make the monopiles, is concerned about the availability of federal tax credits for the work in New Jersey and told us he is losing sleep over the project.

📮 Let me know what you think by replying to this email.

⬇️ For all the talk about wind, people are intent on building Shore houses that shut out the breezes, rely on air-conditioning and lack porches and awnings. Keep scrolling below to read my interview with Bernie Soto Jr., the second generation Atlantic City awning guy, who laments that neighbors no longer talk to each other.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (🐦 Tweet me at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Insta at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me at downtheshore@inquirer.com)

Shore talk

🎢 Wildwood reprieve A judge dismissed health-care fraud charges against Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, Commissioner Steve Mikulski, and former Mayor Ernie Troiano on a technicality (some grand jurors who voted to indict weren’t present for the entire testimony). However, the state may still refile charges.

🥖 Bread man N.J. power broker, Atlantic City bread investor, and current Florida resident George Norcross is under investigation after claims he used political influence to muscle out rival developers in Camden.

🧇 The Fettermans were spotted down the Shore, John bantering with locals, Gisele posting to her Insta story, stopping at 3 Brothers Pizza on the Ocean City boardwalk and enjoying a lavish breakfast at the Point Diner in Somers Point.

🏖️ Cliffs of Strathmere Upper Township warned people to stay away from cliffs at the edge of sand dunes, as they are “unstable and can collapse unexpectedly.”

🔪 Yes chef! The Atlantic City Rescue Mission has bought the historic Ram’s Head Inn.

🍺 Watch Jason Kelce chug beers and raise money in Sea Isle.

⛳ Diner En Blanc en Boardwalk was another success in Atlantic City, landing at North Beach Mini Golf.

⏳ The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C. traveled to the Sahara Desert to find out if hurricanes will hammer the East Coast.

What to eat/What to do

🎙️ Relive the Memories! Jerry Blavat’s people are opening up his Memories Club in Margate twice this weekend, as they near a decision on who to sell the iconic property to. Deets are here.

🎇 Watch fireworks up and down the Shore, always beautiful near the ocean. Henry Savage has the Shore fireworks schedule.

🐚 Conch blowing Over 8,000 people will attend the 43d Bengali conference in A.C., including a 6 a.m. Friday conch blowing ceremony on the beach at Boardwalk Hall.

🍭 Trippy tiramisu Superfrico, described as a psychedelic Italian restaurant, is opening at the reinvented Warner Theater at Caesars, part of Vegas-based Spiegelworld’s The Hook live show.

🍕 Pizza perfection The great pizzapreneur Mike Fitzick is back slinging pizza at the Shore at Express OCNJ

🏄 Surf and tell Visit Bart Blatstein’s A.C. Island Waterpark, opening June 30, and report back.

📖 Read a book, recommended by my colleague Erica Palan, about Bad Summer People.

🏀 Play Boardwalk games without being ripped off.

🎭 Plan a post-beach theater outing with Jane Von Bergen’s guide to Cape May summer theater.

Shore snapshot

🧠 Trivia time 🧠

Philly’s Kurt Vile wrote the contemplative lyrics about the bay and ocean in his song “Bassackwards.” A lot of correct answers! Shawn Ryder was first, congrats Shawn!

This week’s question: Before Jerry Blavat made it Memories, what was the Margate club along the strip known as the Barbary Coast called?

A. Gable’s

B. Maynard’s

C. Maloney’s

D. The Elbo Room

If you think you know the answer, email me here for a shout-out.

Living local with Bernie Soto Jr.

Back in the day, says Bernie Soto Jr., 69, the family awning business started in Atlantic City by his late father was doing 700 houses every season. Houses had porches. People talked to neighbors. There was space between houses. Air flowed. Shade mattered. Not anymore.

Are awnings going out of style at the Shore? More people are kind of going for indoor areas rather than outdoor. Years ago, everybody would be on their front porch, they communicated with their neighbors. When they’re rebuilding their houses, they’re not putting porches on them. People just aren’t getting awnings.

The new houses are just built differently? It’s a different kind of look. In Ocean City, everything’s straight up. There’s no aesthetic look to it. Nothing looks nice like the old houses. The [old houses] have front lawns, setbacks from the curb. They have room around each house, around 20 feet.

So the new houses are right on top of neighboring houses, but nobody’s talking to each other.

Nowadays, everything is about as close as you get to that neighbor. Then they get shades.

Read my full interview with awning guy Bernie Soto here.

Your Shore memory

I received heartfelt and nostalgic responses to last week’s newsletter that questioned the experience of Black Shore-goers to Ocean City. Jeffrey Nesbitt recalls:

I remember taking my family on our first beach vacation. We’re from Philadelphia, so we could have chosen any of the beach towns at the shore. We chose Ocean City. I can’t say I wasn’t a bit leery, because as a youngster growing up I had only been to Atlantic City. This was the seventies, and Black people were not always treated well there. But, I’m glad we came to Ocean City. My wife and I had young children, and I didn’t want them to experience what I had as a youngster. Well, we went up and down the town, visited as many attractions and restaurants as we could squeeze in for seven days. We felt welcomed and seen and respected the entire time we were there. My children are adults now, and live on both coasts, but we still come to Ocean City every summer.

And from Alice West: As an African American family, we’ve been going to Ocean City for well over 20 years and really only ever had one issue. A group of teenagers called us a racial slur while riding past us. Outside of that we’ve enjoyed our weeks spent at the shore. Actually the price for weekly rentals is more of a problem than anything else.

📮 Send me your Shore memories to be featured here.

🎆 Summer’s flying by! My colleague Tommy Rowan takes over next week. See you after the Fourth!