By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – Broadwalk, the seasonal pedestrian plaza in downtown Red Bank, returns this week for its seventh year. The plaza, which has become a signal of summer, officially opens Friday, May 15, although the area has already been closed to vehicular traffic. Broadwalk will be in place through Sept. 30.
Borough officials are preparing for what they say is potentially the busiest Broadwalk season yet, as it lines up with America 250 celebrations, FIFA World Cup 2026 community events, and the long-awaited reopening of Marine Park.
Broad Street will remain closed to traffic between Front Street and White Street to host Broadwalk for the next four months. Borough officials were out early Monday morning, May 11, to oversee the installation of the bollards that keep traffic off Broad Street and open the corridor to pedestrians only for outdoor dining, public programming and family-friendly events.
“It’s a great thing for the town,” Mayor Billy Portman said during a walkthrough Monday. “It’s going to be a really transformative year” for Red Bank, he said, with Broadwalk at the center of it.
Last year, Broadwalk drew about 40,000 visitors a month, Portman said. With World Cup programming and national celebrations on the calendar, officials expect even higher numbers this season.
“Red Bank is going to be the place to be for the summer – 1,000%,” said Mairin Bennett, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, which oversees the town’s Special Improvement District. The nonprofit supports the downtown through beautification projects, marketing and advertising, and assists local business owners during Broadwalk. Businesses within the district can participate in Broadwalk by appearing on digital billboards or hosting tables and activities at special events.
Plans include a soccer clinic on Broadwalk and at least one major World Cup watch party with big screens and related activities being developed in partnership with borough departments and local organizations.
Broadwalk began in 2020 as an experimental response to the need for outdoor space and economic support during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is now established in borough policy as an annual event.
Last year, some business owners pushed back against Broadwalk. Louis Andrianos, the owner of Neapoli restaurant, who helped lead a petition last year to scale back or end Broadwalk, remains skeptical about the program, even as he participates this season.
He said he joined this year only after the borough reduced the fee, which helped make putting up a “streatery” (platforms and seating built into parking spaces along the street) in front of his restaurant on Wallace Street financially possible. “We’re grateful for that,” he said.
“The energy is better than last year,” Andrianos said. He is hoping for “a really incredibly successful, busy, high-traffic summer” that would finally justify Broadwalk’s impact on other businesses, he said. But if the rest of the downtown businesses still don’t benefit from Broadwalk, “we don’t want it to fall on deaf ears, and we don’t want excuses either. Everybody made their best attempt. We should listen to the numbers. The numbers don’t lie.”
Many downtown businesses signed the petition last year to end Broadwalk, Andrianos said, including notable retailers like Charles Schwab, Bank of America, Goldtinker, Restoration Hardware and even those right on Broadwalk, like Patricia’s and Bistro, among others.
Businesses have argued in the past that Broadwalk concentrates benefits on the blocks inside the closure while many other businesses – especially those unable to add streateries – struggle because Broadwalk is where the “focus is,” Andrianos said. For Andrianos and many other businesses off Broad Street who signed the petition, this is a deciding year: If the hard data doesn’t show a clear, townwide gain, Andrianos remains unconvinced Broadwalk should continue in its current form. “I want to thrive in this town. I don’t want to just survive or go by the skin of my teeth, and I think everybody should have that mentality,” Andrianos said.
To broaden participation this year, borough administrator Jim Gant said the mayor and council “dramatically” reduced fees after listening to the concerns from restaurateurs about costs. The sidewalk café permit, which allows businesses to set up tables and umbrellas on the sidewalk while maintaining ADA clearances, was cut from $4 per square foot to $2. Fees for seasonal streateries were reduced to about $1.25 per square foot, officials said. The changes, Gant said, have already convinced some businesses that didn’t participate in Broadwalk in past years to invest in outdoor setups.
Borough Prepares for Bustling Broadwalk
Even as they try to ease costs and drive revenue, borough officials are preparing for the operational demands of the upcoming season, including noise and traffic concerns.
According to the borough’s existing regulations on noise disturbances, any place open to the public that plays live or recorded music must close windows, doors, and exterior openings and stop transmitting music outside by 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and nights before federal holidays. Violations can lead to fines starting at $250 and potentially higher penalties. Borough officials said they will be adding more enforcement on the ground this year.
In anticipation of larger crowds, the borough has hired six additional special law enforcement officers, bringing the total force to seven.
“We’ll always have two people stationed here,” Portman said, noting that the special officers will be assigned not only to Broadwalk but also to Marine Park and other high-traffic areas.
The Department of Public Works is also scaling up its efforts. Jerry Cerrai, deputy director of the Department of Public Utilities and a veteran of the New York City Department of Sanitation, has adopted a zone-based litter patrol model for his team. Workers will spend their full shifts walking downtown, watching not only for litter but also for damaged signs, crosswalk issues and ADA barriers.
For Broadwalk specifically, Cerrai said the department purchased wheeled trash cans, brooms and dustpans to support frequent cleanups. Crews will walk the length of Broad Street multiple times a day, servicing litter baskets and collecting curb line trash to keep the pedestrian plaza tidy.
Even with Broadwalk’s success, Bennett, who took over as RiverCenter’s executive director last year, said many businesses are still feeling the economic pressures from higher food and supply costs, staffing shortages and other post-pandemic challenges.
“Unfortunately, it’s not just the pandemic,” she said. “With things like egg prices going up, gas prices, delivery charges – it all trickles down to small business owners.”
Bennett said RiverCenter has tried to respond by securing sponsorships, expanding programming and connecting business owners with state programs for grants and e-commerce support. The goal, she said, is to help them remain competitive in a changing economy.
The 2026 Broadwalk Kick-Off party is set for Friday, May 15, and will feature a kids’ bounce house, face painting, live performances by Lakehouse Music Academy and the band Bix Hix, and a late-night DJ after-party at Street Kitchen + Pub.
Saturday, May 16, Broadwalk will host Dog Walk, a pet-centric event in partnership with the Red Bank Animal Welfare Committee, including adoption opportunities. Leashed dogs are allowed, and the committee will collect pet food donations for local food pantries.
Beyond opening weekend, RiverCenter has lined up a daily schedule of themed programming: bingo nights, “how-to” demonstrations, wellness activities, children’s events, live music and Sunday DJ sets running across the four-month season.
“It’s going to be a very big summer,” Bennett said.
The article originally appeared in the May 14 – 20, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
