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Top Attractions in Asbury Park

The Empress Hotel

The Empress Hotel, located in Asbury Park, New Jersey, is a popular gay resort. The Hotel opened as a luxury resort for vacationing families in the 1960s. It was a successful resort, attracting the likes of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. In 1980, the Empress was featured on the picture sleeve of Bruce Springsteen's hit single "Hungry Heart", which depicts a photo of Springsteen standing near a phone booth on the Asbury Park boardwalk, with the hotel visible in the background. By the summer of 1976, Asbury Park was in a state of decline, albeit the Empress Hotel remained a popular establishment. During a New York Times interview, the hotel's manager boasted: "all of our 101 rooms are taken!" Unfortunately, by 1988 the hotel was struggling for business, and closed shortly after. A strip club, Extreme Fahrenheit, opened in the building in 1993. It became notorious for drugs and prostitution, and was eventually closed because of lewd conduct. In 1998, Shep Pettibone bought the abandoned building and opened the Paradise Nightclub inside. The nightclub lured crowds of gay travelers away from Fire Island and instead to the beaches of Asbury Park. The hotel portion reopened in August 2004, and is very popular among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender travelers in New Jersey. In 2008, a dining establishment, the Ketchup Grill opened inside. A clothing store, Esphera, catering to gay beach-goers, was added to the ground level in 2008 and is open during the summer months. The hotel features a restaurant, gift-shop, lounge, nightclub, and outdoor pool.

Palace Amusements

Palace Amusements was a historical indoor amusement park in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Built in 1888, and expanded several times over its history, the 100-year-old structure saw the good and bad of the storied Asbury Park boardwalk, withstood multiple noreasters and hurricanes and both the Great Depression and World War II. After several different owners and an increase in competition from other nearby attractions and worsening economic situation in both Asbury and the country in the mid-1980s, the park had to declared bankruptcy and closed its doors for good in 1988. Several efforts were made to save the historic structure, including its hand-carved carousel and infamous murals and decorations, but in 2004, after an independent structural inspection, the building was deemed unsafe and was ordered demolished. A local grassroots organization was able to save several pieces from the building, including the famed "Tillie."

Garden State Film Festival

The Garden State Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Atlantic City, New Jersey which showcases over 150 independent films annually over four days each spring. The festival was founded in 2002 after a chance encounter in a Sea Girt, New Jersey grocery store by 25-year film industry veteran Diane Raver and Hollywood actor Robert Pastorelli. Mr. Pastorelli and Ms. Raver mounted the first festival in 2003. Since that time, such industry notables such as Glenn Close, Frank Vincent, Batman producer Michael Uslan, Austin Pendleton, Kurtwood Smith, Laura Dern, Bebe Neuwirth and others have lent their support. The artistic philosophy of the Garden State Film Festival is rooted in the celebration of the independent film genre and the creation of a forum where local and other independent filmmakers can exhibit their work. It was also created to pay tribute to New Jersey’s legacy as the birthplace of the American film making industry in Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratories where he invented the first film cameras and projectors, to Fort Lee, where the original studios were founded. Our event provides novice and aspiring filmmakers, actors, and others interested in careers in the film business, the opportunity to meet and network with industry professionals in an atmosphere conducive to learning and mentoring. Further, we are happy to be in our new location of Atlantic City and hope to serve as an added engine for the city’s vitality through arts, commerce and culture. GSFF is a non-profit organization. Mission statement: The Garden State Film Festival was founded to promote the art of film making on all levels by showcasing a wide variety of film, video and animated works as well as provide educational programs in the creative arts to the public by industry leaders..

Metropolitan Hotel

The Metropolitan Hotel was a 180-room historic structure located at 309 Asbury Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey and was one of the last large hotels operating in Asbury Park before it closed in 1989. In September 2007, it was announced that the Metropolitan Hotel had deteriorated to a point in which restoration or rehabilitation was no longer a possibility. The hotel was demolished in early March 2008. The most recent structure was not the original, although a hotel had operated on the site under this name since the 1880s. The main structure was a Spanish Revival style built in a rectangle, with a four-story hip roof, central pavilion, two-story porticos with fluted Doric columns, and balustrade and enclosed porches. Decorative touches included the stucco surfacing, parapet roof and canales. The metal marquee was a later addition, and there was a newer motel wing on the east side of the property. The motel annex was razed in early December 2009. Longtime owners Martin and Sylvia Weinblatt received $2.25 million for their hotel when they sold it in 1987 to Jersey City developers Karim Ahmed Elsaid and Gomaa Elsaid, who filed for bankruptcy protection the next year. The Metropolitan is currently owned by a group of Morristown investors called 309 Corp., who purchased the property for $150,000 in 1993 (from a group that acquired it from a bank for $10,150 earlier that year). 309 Corp had planned to open the 38-room hotel annex to people who needed housing in Asbury Park while they sought financing, but the city turned down their request because of changed zoning laws. The Metropolitan was listed on the Monmouth County Inventory of Historic Sites, and was located in the Grand Avenue Institutional/Professional historic district.

Down the Street

Down the Street was a popular nightclub in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It opened in 1988.by John Hitchcock who was previously manager/DJ at the ever so popular "M&K". The club had much previous gay History. It was originally the "dance" part of Atlantis, .the other part which was a hotel/ piano bar and burned very suspiciously one night after closing. It re-opened in the 80's as Visions by one of the previous owners of "Boots" next door, Len but It had a short lived life as Visions. The club was one of the state's first gay discos. The name Down The Street was used because it was located down the street from other popular gay clubs, Odyssey, and M&K. .It housed a dance floor,5 bars, light shows, and of course, drag contests. It also had an outside area which included a volleyball court, food cart and another building which housed a quieter bar, The Clubhouse. The club even earned Asbury Park the nicknames "Gay riveria on the East Coast" and "the budget Cherry Grove." When Asbury Park declined in the 1980s all of the other clubs in the city closed or were razed. However, Down the Street managed to stay open, making it the oldest and longest operating gay disco in New Jersey's history when it closed in 1999. John had moved to Florida with his partner Jay and opened a new and successful bar The Cubby Hole. John since sold that and has retired.

Mrs. Jay's

Mrs. Jay's was a popular bar and restaurant located in Asbury Park, New Jersey that took on several transformations during its 60 plus years of existence. Mrs. Jay's was founded by John and Ida Jacobs and was located on Ocean and Second Ave., the current location of The Stone Pony. John and Ida started by selling hot dogs to tourists in 1922 at the Second Avenue location, but with the help of their daughter Jeanette and son-in-law Murray Weiner, eventually purchased the seasonal snack bar along with the property and established a family restaurant naming it Mrs. Jay's. John and Ida also opened Mrs. Jay's Beer Garden located on Ocean Avenue to the left of the restaurant serving 2% beer until the end of prohibition in 1933. Starting in 1965, Mrs. Jay's Beer Garden briefly offered Go-Go dancing as entertainment, but a dancers see through blouse resulted in a police raid and the quick demise of Go-Go at Mrs. Jay's. The Weiner's sold off the restaurant in the '70's keeping only the beer garden, which by this time had become a popular music scene and bikers hangout. In 1974, the new owners of the restaurant building converted it into the nightclub known as The Stone Pony. Steven Adler from Guns N' Roses wore a Mrs. Jay's T-shirt during the "Paradise City" video. Many bikers drank here and a very large amount of motorcycles can be seen parked in front of Mrs. Jay's Beer Garden in photos. Since Mrs. Jay's was an open-air establishment, it was open during the summer months. Mrs Jay's served mostly beer in pitchers or mugs and often featured live music. After a change of ownership in the early to mid '80's, Mrs. Jay's Beer Garden fell on hard times and eventually closed, a victim of the disintegrating Asbury Park beach front area. Sometime later, the beer garden structure was razed with the empty lot being acquired by the Stone Pony for use as an outdoor concert venue.
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