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AUGUST 2023 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Park Street gets walkability grant Sidewalks, bike paths planned for part of downtown that, perhaps surprisingly, lacks both By JOe EMANsKi
Tina Fiallo, Jose Alban and Paula Alban at the Ice Cream Boutique by 1892 Chocolates, which opened on Farnsworth Avenue in March 2023.
In their own sweet way
Family-owned 1892 Chocolates looks to satisfy Bordentown’s sugar cravings with The Candy Jar and now, the Ice Cream Boutique By JOe EMANsKi Bordentown’s annual Cranberry Festival attracts thousands of visitors each year, as well as dozens of arts, crafts and food vendors. Some five years ago, one of those food vendors was 1892 Chocolates, a family-owned, South Jersey-based importer of
Ecuadorian dark chocolate. After a few years selling his chocolates at New Jersey wineries and community fairs like the Cranberry Festival, Jose Alban decided to set up a permanent shop called The Candy Jar in Collingswood. When it came to expand the bricks-and-mortar business, he remembered his
positive times in Bordentown, and made Farnsworth Avenue the home of his second shop in 2020. This year, Alban and his business partners expanded their footprint in Bordentown with a second shop: The Ice Cream Boutique, which opened in See BOUTIQUE, Page 12
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Walkability is a principal draw for many people who have chosen to live in Bordentown. In a country that depends largely on automobiles to get around, people here take pride in being able to walk to get a cup of coffee, a bite to eat, a bottle of aspirin or a gallon of milk when they want or need it. Sidewalks provide safe passage throughout most of the city. But there are notable exceptions where no sidewalks exist: Pine Street between Mary and Elizabeth Streets; some portions of East Chestnut Street; and, perhaps most notably, on Park Street, where the sidewalks end on both sides at Third Street as one heads northeast, away from downtown. This last patch of ground is all the more noteworthy these days because of the recent transition of city municipal operations
to the former Divine Word missionary site on Park Street, also known as Point Breeze, the former Joseph Bonaparte estate. There are wide shoulders on Park Street en route to the new administration office. But no sidewalks. To remedy this, the city has sought, and now has received, a grant of $475,000 from the state Department of Transportation to improve walkability along the street. “This grant is a crucial step in our continued investment into the City of Bordentown,” Sen. Troy Singleton, chair of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, said in a media release. The funding will be used to construct a much-needed pedestrian and bike path alongside Park Street. The path will connect the new municipal complex, the new D&R Canal State Park at historic Point Breeze, residents of Park Street Apartments, and employees who work in the area to downtown Bordentown and the NJ Transit RiverLine. “We are incredibly grateful to the NJ Department of Transportation and to Sen. Singleton, who not only advocated for these funds, but See SIDEWALKS, Page 13
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