I grew up on the Jersey Shore and understand completely the locals attitude towards the Benny and have seen it change over the decades. I lived in Wanamassa, NJ, Wanamassa was so small it had no schools so I attended Grammar School and High School in Asbury Park. Going to High School 62 – 66 was very interesting. I had two classes with Danny Devito , very funny kid. Never saw him take gym. Also watched a young Bruce Springsteen perform for free at a little coffee house named “The Stone Pony”. I worked summers on the boardwalk selling crap to BENNY’s. The owners of the Boardwalk attractions are like carneys or circus people. Just another type of BENNY. Only there for the buck and the summer.
I worked for four summers in a Dunk Tank on the boardwalk where I’d insult the rube trying to hit a target that would dunk me in the water tank. Three balls for a dollar. The rube was told the distance was the same as a baseball pitcher’s mound to home plate, 60 feet. It was actually 68 feet, and the baseballs were weighted and soaked in oil. The trip plat needed to be hit with slug hammer to actually trip. I got .25 of every dollar. I worked from 7PM till closing got paid cash and generally went home with about $250 I was 15 years old. I made the bulk of the money between 10PM and 2PM. That’s when the drunks arrived and that’s when it became two balls for a dollar. Just piss them off, insult their girl friend, wife, mother, whatever. Call them “Mary” “baldy”, Or ignore the guy and chat up the hot girl friend. Ask her why she’s out with her father, you get the picture.
At one time, the board walk extended from SandyHook south a continues boardwalk to Point Pleasant . The Hurricanes of the 40’s 50’s and 60’s reduced them to what we have in place today.
I’ve lived for the last 38 years in Highlands, NJ on the bay side of Sandy Hook. In the 70’s and 80’s Highlands, Labor day through Memorial Day population was around 2,000 people. Whereas the Memorial Day through Labor Day population was about 6000. That means additional spending and an economy based on a migratory populations , little stability, little personal investment into the property, more rentals then home owners. Oh yea, the owners of the rental property were mostly BENNY’s themselves.
What that means to a town is an influx of people spending and people selling, with very little change to the populist base, so no real improvement for the town. Highlands is .51 Square miles in size, has 38 Liquor licenses, no library or book stores. Town had to triple in size during the summer and triple in services, garbage pickup, Fire protection, First Aid Services, Police services. BENNY’s take it upon themselves to drink to excess and get in fights and generally be stupid at 3AM. They brought many bad habits with them from the big city, drugs, prostitutes , illegal parking, death by auto, death by drowning, death by boating , Fire, and for some reason the idea that common sense and civilized behavior no longer applied to them. I was a volunteer Firemen, EMT on the First Aid Squad and Special Police Officer. In the 70’s & 80’s The BENNY had to commit murder in order to be held for more than a few hours. Because after all, the town fathers were under the impression that they needed the BENNY to survive.
The 90’s changed a lot of that for Highlands, we still have a lot of temporary summer only residents. But in 1992 Fast Ferry Service between New York City and Highlands started operating. A lot of transients bought property in Highlands, the town became a year round resident for over 6000. The big change was the people now living there have a stake in the town. Our Police force is full time, year round and well trained. Our judge lives in town. We still have 38 Liquor licenses, but we now have a library. BENNY’s still act stupid and think civilized behavior does not apply to them , they’re easy to spot as you drive through Monmouth County, they’re the ones dressed in the orange jump suites picking up the garbage on the beach and the side of the road.
