Greetings from Asbury Park

Angie, 91, lived through three decades of rust, riot and ruin in Asbury Park, the one-time postcard paradise. Now the tiny bungalow that she has called home, for half her life, will be seized by eminent domain. Hundreds of homes, apartment buildings, local businesses, are boarded up, ready for the wrecking ball. In fact, 29 city blocks — 56 acres of waterfront property and historic boardwalk attractions— now belong to a private developer and will be razed to make way for 3,100 luxury condominiums, an ersatz city within a city. Angie is wholly confused by this strange twist of fate. She appeals to the Mayor, to the City Council. Her voice quivering with sadness, her pleas ring out across a vast emptiness. Her neighbors lived here. Where did they go? she wonders. But this is welcome progress, and terrific tax revenues, say city officials. The revitalized Asbury Park will be a thrilling combination of SoHo and South Beach.