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  • 🌮 Let’s talk ‘Walking Tacos’ | Down the Shore

    🌮 Let’s talk ‘Walking Tacos’ | Down the Shore

    Walk with me.

    You open the door to the rental and let in the roaring summer sun, and you’re fully prepared for a relaxing day on beach: Toy Story-themed towel, Cherry Float Coke Zeros, and a thin layer of suntan spray coating everything in the canvas tote bag.

    But you could really use a snack.

    There’s a lot going on this holiday weekend, and it’s a mess. So the last thing you need is another one.

    What you’re looking for is a classic Jersey Shore treat, but ice cream isn’t built for travel and a slice of pizza has too many variables.

    You need a “Walking Taco.”

    Walking tacos are offered at the Wells Fargo Center.

    I’m Tommy Rowan, and I’m once again subbing in for Amy S. Rosenberg. I’m a lifelong Jersey Shore-goer who was raised on visits to the Ocean City boardwalk and Wonderland Pier. I spent my teenage years on the Wildwood boardwalk, my 20s in Sea Isle City, and nowadays I have family in North Wildwood. And maybe it’s because I’m within spitting distance of 40, or because places I once loved are being torn down, I find myself wanting to cram in more of everything.

    Which brings us back to the food that moves.

    The “Walking Taco” is for people who want to walk and talk, and who want to fit in more and keep moving.

    It’s a snack-sized bag of Fritos that’s crushed into pieces, garnished with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and homemade pico de gallo, and eaten with a plastic spoon.

    It encourages you to get your steps in, but it’s not quite fast food. That’s why they don’t call it a “Running Taco.”

    It’s best eaten on the walk to the beach, but if you’re a “save for later” kind of person, it still works: The bag is self-contained, and yet it’s protected from splashes of sand and saltwater. And it’s an easy disposal: Just crush the bag into a ball and toss it in a trash can.

    It’s salty and crunchy and cheesy, but it’s not a true overindulgence.

    A cheeky hot dog stand in Sea Isle City has unfound claims to “the original,” but the product can be found up and down the Philly-favored beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May — and many swap out Fritos for Doritos.

    And, honestly, what better way to ring in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than with a uniquely American product: a nonrecyclable bag of ultraprocessed salty particles, topped with chemically altered cheese strings, covered in oily animal fat, and topped with what can only be described as a “modern interpretation” of pico de gallo.

    It’s America in a fun-size.

    📮 What’s your favorite beach snack? And how do you feel about the “Walking Taco?” What are you eating this holiday weekend? Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and your most interesting responses may end up in a future newsletter. Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them here.

    😡 We’re in for a dangerously hot holiday weekend. Remember to hydrate.

    — Tommy Rowan (🐦 Tweet me at @tommyrowan. 📧 Email me here.)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Shore talk

    🏖️ Pumped up. Sand-pumping operations are expected to begin next week in Ocean City, while replenishment of the Seven Mile Island Beaches will reportedly begin toward the end of the summer. Avalon’s beaches are up first, with work scheduled to start in mid-August, followed by Stone Harbor in October.

    🛵 Take a number. A reminder that New Jersey is now taking appointments for e-riders to register their e-bikes, per a new state law (which doesn’t seem to affect visitors from Pennsylvania). We have a full look at the confusing law here.

    🎃 Halloween in July? Spirit Halloween is getting a head start on the spooky season and listing seasonal job openings on its website, including for pop-up stores at the Shore in May’s Landing, Rio Grande, and Egg Harbor Township.

    🗳️ The mayor is in. For a fifth time, Jay Gillian was sworn in as mayor of Ocean City. He won reelection in May.

    🏫 Stretching out. Dominique Dawes, a former Olympian who founded a chain of gymnastics schools, is planning to open a new location in South Jersey this fall. The new school is part of the former gold medalist’s expansion into the greater Philly region.

    What to eat/What to do

    🎆 Happy Fourth of July weekend! Check out this handy guide to the fireworks shows and festive celebrations happening across the region.

    🇺🇸 The Declaration. Two days before the country’s 250th anniversary, on July 2, Avalon is hosting a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. And then a few days after, on July 8, Cape May is planning its own public reading and reenactment. Both are worth checking out.

    👻🦀 Ghost crabs! Every Thursday between 8 and 9 p.m., the Nature Center hosts a ghost crab hunt on the beaches of Cape May. So grab a flashlight and watch the translucent crustaceans scurry in the spotlight. Preregistration is required.

    🌭 Hot Dog Tommy’s in Cape May. No. 1, fantastic name. No notes. And No. 2, helluva chili cheese dog.

    🎥 Beach movies. Catching a flick outdoors at the Shore is underrated. Ocean air, salty breezes, and overpriced ice cream cones coalesce to create the most perfect conditions to take in a picture. Cape May and Margate show movies on the beach, Sea Isle utilizes the Band Shell in Excursion Park, and Wildwood hosts at Byrne Plaza.

    🧢 Card show. If you’re looking for an escape from the heat this weekend, the Sports Card, Toy, Comic & Collectibles Show will be trading in childhood treasures and autographed memorabilia at the Wildwoods Convention Center on the boardwalk.

    🎸 Free tunes in Atlantic City. On Wednesday, Bayou Blues guitarist-vocalist Tab Benoit is playing Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk, a New Orleans-themed concert series at Kennedy Plaza. The free show starts at 7 p.m.

    🥡 Delicious takeout. Craig LaBan is a big fan of the General Tso’s at China Sea of Absecon. He went inland for his latest list of places to eat at the Shore.

    Shore snapshot

    Jason Kelce takes a selfie with fans at his annual fundraiser in Sea Isle City.

    After starting last year’s fundraiser with tear-away shorts and a Speedo, Jason Kelce was comparatively reserved this year for his entrance at his and wife Kylie Kelce‘s sixth annual “Shore Birds” event at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City. The event benefits the Eagles Autism Foundation.

    Vocab lesson

    Semiquincentennial (noun)

    [semi-QUINN-cen-ten-knee-all]

    The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

    I hope the next milestone after the Semiquincentennial is easier to pronounce and simpler to spell.

    🧠 Trivia time

    On June 27, 1958, this civil rights leader addressed a convention of Quakers in Cape May in a little remembered episode in this cultural icon’s extraordinary life.

    A. Nelson Mandela

    B. Thurgood Marshall

    C. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    D. Gloria Steinem

    If you think you know the answer, click on this story to find out.

    Your Shore memory

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Wonderland Pier and the unmistakable value boardwalk rides bring to the Jersey Shore, which is what made Joseph Farley’s recent submission jump out.

    The station wagon seemed to bulge like in a Willie the Worm cartoon; where endless hordes of Mickey Mouse types invade a building. Our family of ten filled the seats with the baby on mom’s lap. It was 1955, the tires were near bald and Dad kept a gallon of water handy to feed the radiator should it geyser in heavy traffic. We left Cheltenham, PA for Wildwood already singing, “On the Way to Cape May.” My pockets bulged with the contents of my piggy bank, my life’s savings. It was a six-hour trip, four of them spent in Dorothy, a town on the Tuckahoe Road, enjoying lunch while Dad made repairs to the car.

    That night I choose to ride the “Salt & Pepper Shaker” on Morey’s Pier; a scary ride that took you into the stars. At the top, it flipped upside-down. All the coins in my pockets fell out, clanking off the girders to oblivion. This broke ten-year old, turned moocher, still had a glorious vacation. I returned home brown as a berry with a tale that became family lure, a “feel sorry for dad story” that still brings sympathetic sighs every time I tell it.

    Send us your Shore memory in 200 words! Tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

    ✌️ That should do it. Amy’s back from vacation next week, so I’ll see ya at the rest stops.

    — Tommy

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • McCormick and Fetterman are stepping in to fill Pennsylvania’s empty booth at Trump’s Great American State Fair

    McCormick and Fetterman are stepping in to fill Pennsylvania’s empty booth at Trump’s Great American State Fair

    In the latest twist over Pennsylvania’s participation in President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair, U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman announced Saturday that the state where America was founded will be represented after all.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro initially signaled the intention for the state to participate in Trump’s 16-day fair on the National Mall. But this week, he said state officials could not find a Pennsylvania business to sponsor the state’s booth.

    On the fair’s opening day, Pennsylvania had no official presence, and the booth reserved for the commonwealth remained empty, except for a flag that read “250” in Pennsylvania’s space.

    After that news, McCormick (R., Pa.) and Fetterman (D., Pa.) said in a joint news release Saturday that they secured private-industry sponsors for the booth at no cost to taxpayers. Sponsors include the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and other organizations.

    “Pennsylvania is where America’s story began, and there was no way we were going to let the Commonwealth go unrepresented during our Nation’s 250th birthday celebration,” McCormick said in the release.

    “Celebrating America’s 250th birthday and Pennsylvania’s special role in our country is important and bipartisan,” Fetterman said. “We discovered our commonwealth wasn’t participating in the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, and we should be.”

    A ferris wheel is on the National Mall as part of the Great American State Fair, one of the celebratory events organized by the Trump administration commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States in Washington, D.C., June 25, 2026. At the kickoff to the Great American State Fair, exhibits celebrating the nation were on display. So were conservative themes. (Alex Kent/The New York Times)

    Shapiro told the New Republic earlier this week that when his administration approached major Pennsylvania companies to participate, “none were interested.”

    “It reflects this sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in — that the president has politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate,” he told the New Republic.

    However, sources who worked on the sponsor search confirmed for The Inquirer that at least two major Pennsylvania companies agreed to provide products and other donations to give away at Pennsylvania’s fair booth but were unable to initially do so due to short notice. The sources asked The Inquirer to not name them because they were not authorized to speak on the search.

    In a statement Saturday after the senators announced their plans, a Shapiro spokesperson said the administration was “unwilling to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to fund the Great American State Fair amid the historic slate of events across Pennsylvania in 2026.”

    Before McCormick and Fetterman’s intervention, Shapiro administration officials were told that Freedom250, the organization planning the fair, would be “handling the booth” in the absence of formal state participation, said Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s press secretary.

    Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture also sent state literature that began appearing in the booth on Saturday, according to Freedom250.

    The Great American State Fair Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Washington, D.C. This pavilion would have belonged to Pennsylvania if the state had participated in President Donald Trump’s 250th anniversary event on the National Mall.

    But Pennsylvania’s search for business sponsors was brief, according to a source close to the search.

    The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, which was charged with finding sponsors, said Shapiro’s office called the organization less than two weeks before the fair began. Other states, the chamber said, had been working on their displays since January.

    “The Governor’s team asked us for assistance with business outreach for the Great American State Fair just two weeks before the event. While there was interest, the short time frame made it difficult for many businesses to fully commit,” said Jon Anzur, the chamber’s senior vice president of public affairs. “We are now reengaging those and other companies as we partner with Sens. McCormick and Fetterman.”

    In the absence of official Pennsylvania representatives and sponsors, McCormick and Fetterman were suddenly on Saturday able to secure private groups to staff the booth and help coordinate sponsors for the remainder of the fair.

    According to a source briefed on the conversation, Shapiro and McCormick spoke Saturday about the senators’ plans to fill the booth, and Shapiro offered to send additional state literature. The Inquirer is not naming the source because they were not authorized to speak on the conversation.

    Crayola is among the sponsors that will send along crayons, markers, and coloring books for a coloring station, which should be operational as early as Sunday. Other sponsors have signed on as well, though they were not immediately identified and their contributions were not disclosed.

    Pennsylvania is among a list of at least 10 states, some Democratic-led, that have officially dropped out of the Great American State Fair, including Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

    President Donald Trump stands on stage after speaking at the opening of the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

    During the fair’s opening days, nearly every other state was represented, with most sending government staff or tourism officials to host educational or interactive exhibits.

    New Jersey also officially declined to participate, but Cape May County, a Republican stronghold, stepped in to represent the state. Its exhibit features an 8-ton sand sculpture created by a Wildwood artist over the course of more than four days.

    Delaware highlighted Founding Father Caesar Rodney’s ride to cast the decisive vote for independence in Philadelphia.

    Sam Janesch and Andrea Padilla contributed to this article.

  • His dream Shore house popped up on his phone over lunch at a Wildwood tavern | How I Bought This House

    His dream Shore house popped up on his phone over lunch at a Wildwood tavern | How I Bought This House

    The buyer: Jacob Wilson, 43, attorney.

    The house: An 800-square-foot two-bedroom, 1½-bath bungalow built in 1930 in Wildwood.

    The price: Listed for $444,000; purchased for $441,000.

    The agent: Marion Rowland, ReMax Surfside.

    The ask: Wilson lives in Venice Beach, Calif., but grew up in Wildwood and Atlantic County and missed the East Coast. When he was a toddler, the family lived at the Regency in North Wildwood, where his parents were the offseason managers. “It was around the time The Shining came out, and my aunt used to tease them about living there with my sister and me when the whole of Wildwood was shut down!“ he said.

    Wildwood was in his DNA for good. His dream was to buy a second home in Wildwood, a place with some old Shore charm, where he and the family could gather and revive traditions.

    The search: Wilson’s aunt is a local real estate agent in Wildwood, and they “combed the market for months,” he said.

    He put in an offer on a renovated triplex in Wildwood Crest toward summer’s end in 2024 but was outbid. “It got 12 other offers above the asking price,” Wilson said. “They were asking $575[000] I was willing to pay them $600,000.”

    After a day of house hunting in September 2024, the two sat down for lunch at the Dogtooth Bar & Grill. “We saw a listing two blocks away pop up,” he said. “We drove over to the house and started the process.”

    The appeal: As soon as he walked in the house, Wilson said he thought, “I know what I need to make this good.”

    The house checked a lot of boxes for him: charm, old-school bungalow feel, close to the ocean.

    Jacob Wilson added a dishwasher to the kitchen along with other improvements at his home in Wildwood.

    “My mom’s been a Realtor in the area for 40 years,” he said. “She has a 1900 Victorian. I’ve always admired the work my parents did on that home. My cousin had a Craftsman bungalow. It reminds me of houses here in Venice.”

    Both Wilson and his aunt appreciated being able to buy an original property in Wildwood and not tear it down.

    “I have deep ties to Wildwood,” he said. “I really didn’t want to do that.”

    A house across from his was recently torn down and a triplex built in its place. Plus, his house has a backyard.

    “That just doesn’t exist anymore,” he said. “In the offseason, I can hear the waves from my backyard.”

    The deal: Wilson said he put in an offer for the asking price and beat two other offers. “The house sold in three days,” he said. The inspection revealed some termite damage, and the seller reduced the price by $3,000, he said.

    “The work to remedy the problem was estimated to be over $10,000,” he said, “and it cost me around $15,000 altogether with foundation work and pest treatment.”

    Because of the competitive environment, he said, “I took the $3,000 reduction to make the sale happen.”

    Jacob Wilson wanted his Wildwood property to feel “like a modern beach house” and was happy that the previous owners had redone the floors with light gray planks.

    His aunt was proud of him for buying and preserving a house in Wildwood, he said, the place where two of his grandparents were born.

    The money: Wilson did it in a traditional way: 20% down payment, a mortgage with the local Ocean First Bank. “Kudos to Ocean First,” he said. “They don’t sell the mortgage.” His mortgage rate was 7%, higher due to its being an investment property, he said.

    Using the property part of the summer as a weekly rental and a longer-term winter rental covers his mortgage, he said. “I don’t really have too many out-of-pocket expenses,” he said. “Taxes are $4,000 a year. Utility bills a few hundred a month.”

    The move: There were some changes. He liked the way the former owners used gray plank boards to replace the original parquet wood that made it “more like a modern beach house.”

    But, Wilson said, “some things inside were a little too country.”

    “I wanted to make it more beachy,” he said. There was shelving in the doorways that he got rid of, and some closets that inexplicably had the doors removed and curtains put up. Luckily, he found the original doors in the attic and put them back on. He replaced the door knobs and repainted the entire interior.

    “The big thing that showed up was termite damage,” he said. “I had to do a lot of foundation work when I bought the place.” He replaced the old insulation with spray insulation, he said, and installed a dishwasher and new refrigerator.

    “A lot of things like that to make it look sharp,” he said.

    A cozy bedroom in the Wildwood bungalow.

    Life after close: This will be his second summer using the Wildwood bungalow. He’s spending a month there over June and July and expecting a stream of visitors to revive old family traditions. He plans to block out more time for himself in the shoulder seasons.

    “It’s all kind of like nostalgia for me because we spent so much time there as a kid,” he said.

    “I had a lot of strong feelings about going back,” he said. “As an adult, I appreciate it more.”

    About six months after he bought the house, “Someone called me and asked if I was interested in selling it,” he said. No way.

    “Keeping it long term is my goal,” he said. “I feel like I made a good investment choice. No regrets.”

    Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.

  • Where to watch Fourth of July fireworks in Philly, the suburbs, South Jersey, and the Shore

    Where to watch Fourth of July fireworks in Philly, the suburbs, South Jersey, and the Shore

    This Fourth of July will be unlike any in recent memory. As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, Philadelphia and the surrounding region are packed with celebrations — and fireworks displays. From the city and suburbs to South Jersey and the Shore, there are dozens of opportunities to catch a show.

    Whether you’re staying in Philadelphia, heading to the suburbs, or spending the holiday down the Shore, here’s where to find Fourth of July fireworks across the region.

    Fireworks in Philadelphia

    Fireworks after the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park on July 2, 2025.

    Fireworks in Bucks County

    Fireworks in Chester County

    Fireworks in Delaware County

    Fireworks in Montgomery County

    Fireworks in Allentown

    Fireworks in South Jersey

    A view of Atlantic City’s fireworks from the Marina. (Courtesy of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority)

    Fireworks at the Jersey Shore

  • New Jersey’s new e-bike law is causing confusion down the Shore. Pennsylvanians are exempt.

    New Jersey’s new e-bike law is causing confusion down the Shore. Pennsylvanians are exempt.

    VENTNOR, N.J. — The e-bike revolution will not be coming to Ventnor’s famously chaotic boardwalk. The city banned motorized bicycles decades ago, and raised the penalties in 2023, citing dangers from the speeds and heavier bicycles.

    Ocean City tried doing the same in 2024, but reversed course on the lowest speed e-bikes after an outcry, particularly from seniors who have grown to cherish the electric bikes that take them farther and faster, and against the wind without breaking a sweat.

    Wildwood allows them but has a 10 mph speed limit for any vehicle. Atlantic City prohibits them.

    But while boardwalk rules vary, the state’s e-bike law, passed in January with a grace period through July 19, requires New Jerseyans with e-bikes to register them and, in some cases, purchase insurance.

    The law was adopted amid a sense of urgency after a 13-year-old Scotch Plains boy on an electric bike was killed in a collision with a landscaping truck. Earlier this month, Chase Sudano, 16, a rising wrestling star at St. Augustine Prep, was killed after he collided with a UPS delivery truck in Southhampton, Burlington County.

    Community mourns 16-year-old killed in e-bike crash

    The law defines two classes of e-bikes: low-speed, where the motor assists only while pedaling and shuts off when the bicycles reaches 20 miles per hour, and a motorized bicycle that is throttle-capable of assisted speeds up to 28 miles per hour.

    All users of both categories must have a permit or driver’s license and wear helmets. Nobody under 15 can ride one at all.

    ‘It’s a mess’

    So far, there is no way to actually comply. The state’s own Motor Vehicle Commission website has no way to register an e-bike. The state now says it will begin taking appointments only after the grace period ends.

    Scott Chambers, owner of Zippy’s Bikes in Wildwood, says the new e-bike law in New Jersey “is a mess,” with no way for people to comply with registration requirements, and confusion over other issues.

    “It’s a mess,” said Scott Chambers, owner of Zippy’s Bikes in Wildwood. “It’s so overwhelming because they created this law, I don’t want to say haphazardly, but they rushed it.”

    Crawford said his customers are reluctant to buy an e-bike until they know they can ride it in compliance with the law.

    He says the law doesn’t mention e-tricycles, so it’s not clear where those might fall. (The state now says the law does not apply to e-tricycles.)

    In Ventnor, there’s a big electronic sign on Atlantic Avenue alerting people to the new law’s helmet, insurance, and registration requirements. A new sign was added to the Boardwalk itself, highlighting two prohibited categories: e-bikes and dogs.

    Ventnor police Lt. Bryan Gaviria says the department will have its hands full, educating and, at some point, enforcing the new e-bike law.

    But first, he said, they need some answers themselves.

    “We’re absolutely waiting for clarity all around,” he said, adding that the city’s bicycle officers are choosing to ride on non-electric bikes because they don’t want to be out of compliance themselves, and they don’t want to be on e-bikes while enforcing an e-bike ban.

    Ventnor installed this sign on the Boardwalk warning that electric bikes were prohibited (as well as dogs). The state’s new e-bike law goes into effect July 19, but Pennsylvanians will not be required to register their e-bikes while in New Jersey, the state says.

    Waiting on the state

    The state recently clarified some of the issues that were causing confusion.

    William Connolly, the press secretary for the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission, says the MVC will begin offering appointments for e-bike licensing and registration in July. The law’s grace period ends July 19.

    “We will be making an announcement later this month about when appointments will become available, along with offering newly updated resources and step-by-step guidance for e-bike licensing and registration,” he said.

    He said the delay was due to the “extensive IT upgrades” required for new licensing and registration systems, educational resources and testing procedures, not to mention buying new materials such as “specialized license plate stickers,” that will have to be displayed on the registered bikes.

    “We are establishing a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive process for e-bikes,” he said.

    Ventnor installed this electronic sign on Atlantic Avenue to educate people about the state’s new e-bike law. Pennsylvanians will not be required to register their e-bikes while in New Jersey, the state says.

    Connolly said there is one category of e-bikes that will not require insurance, though they will still require registration: the lowest speed e-bikes.

    “These are the low-speed e-bikes with a motor that provide pedal assist only when the rider is pedaling and cease to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches 20 mph,” he said.

    So what if you’re visiting the Shore and bring an e-bike?

    Connolly said: “E-bike registration through the New Jersey MVC is only available to New Jersey residents.” Meaning, Pennsylvanians can bring their bikes and use them without registering them.

    But bicycle advocates say the law is confusing, because it also states that any bike must display a sticker showing that it is registered.

    While the law was prompted by a series of crashes, and particularly by the ubiquitous use by teenagers, it has been seniors that have taken to the e-bikes and urged towns to let them ride on their boardwalks.

    Annamarie, 70, and Mike Carr, 71, of Ventnor are best known for the Jagielky’s candy shops they own, but it’s e-bikes that have become their passion.

    Loading their bikes back onto their truck in Ocean City, where they began and ended a bike ride around various bridges, Mike Carr said he’d be sure to wear a helmet, because he believes that will be the thing that officers will focus in on in the beginning.

    Annamarie said, “Sure we’re upset,” about not being able to ride on Ventnor’s boardwalk, but they recognize the risks from people going too fast, particularly on electric scooters.

    E-bikes have allowed the couple to go on numerous bike rides a week, for upward of 30 or more miles. They’d never do that on a regular bike.

    “We parked here, we went the whole length of the boardwalk, we went down to 29th Street, we went back to Haven Avenue, came back and went over the bridge to go see the birds,” Mike said, describing the couple’s route that day.

    With the e-bikes, they don’t have to worry about the wind, he said. The couple will typically go 13 miles an hour.

    They are hooked on the freedom, distance, and exhilaration that e-bikes have given them, even as they passed 70. They ride all over the bridges of the barrier islands.

    Mike’s got some of his regular routes timed so that he can get over the bridge without getting a red light and without automobile traffic catching him from behind. “When we’re going into Longport, you turn around, you look at the light. When it’s red, you have four minutes to get over. You hit the throttle and you go as fast as you can.”

    He said they’ll try to register the bicycles and comply with the law, once they’re able to:

    “I’ll have to wear a helmet because I’m guessing they’ll look for the guys with no helmet, pull them over.”

    E-bike riders can sign up for direct updates from MVC here.

  • Teaching an old don new tricks: How ‘Skinny Joey’ Merlino went from wiseguy to influencer

    Teaching an old don new tricks: How ‘Skinny Joey’ Merlino went from wiseguy to influencer

    At noon on a bright June Tuesday, the scene at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza on the Wildwood boardwalk felt more like a South Philly block party than a soft opening.

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino worked the crowd at his new shop — hugging, shaking hands, posing for photos — moving easily among his friends and admirers. At 64, five years removed from the criminal justice system, the onetime alleged head of Philadelphia’s underworld is enjoying a second act that few could have predicted: cheesesteak entrepreneur, podcaster, and social-media personality.

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. (right) posing with a customer outside the Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza shop in Wildwood.

    Orbiting him with a phone and a grin was Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. — 30 years his junior — Skinny Joey’s collaborator and the man who helped set him up with a new career. While customers lined up out front for steaks, slices, photos, $35 hats, and $25 T-shirts, Perri was shooting clips for social media.

    Their partnership has transformed Merlino from a flashy, polarizing tabloid fixture into a flashy, polarizing Instagram-age brand. Merlino provides the mythology, while Perri supplies the algorithm.

    Symbiotically, they are building an unlikely enterprise. Merlino gives Perri access, credibility, and a bigger stage. Perri gives Merlino comic relief, social-media fluency, and a way to be seen as entrepreneurial rather than simply infamous as a reputed former mob boss.

    “Without me, there’s no him,” Perri said. “Without him, there’s no me. It’s just a good mix.”

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino joining customers at Skinny Joey’s in Wildwood during its soft opening on June 2. They call themselves “the Schuylkill Girls” (from left): Julie Shelton, Cindy McCullough, and Terry Landy, all of whom now live in Wildwood.

    A ‘mob media’ moment

    George Anastasia, who covered organized crime for more than 30 years at The Inquirer and now teaches an organized-crime course at Rowan University, said Merlino’s new career fits a broader moment in mob media.

    Former wiseguys, associates, historians, and fans now gather in a true-crime subculture known online as “MobTube,” where the lore is packaged into YouTube shows, Patreon feeds, podcasts, clips, and merch.

    Merlino has lived the story that fuels the genre. One of Philadelphia’s most recognizable organized-crime figures, Merlino was convicted in 1990 for his role in a $352,000 armored truck robbery in 1987.

    In 2001, he and six co-defendants were tried on federal racketeering charges, including three counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Merlino was acquitted on those counts, but served about 12 years on other charges, including gambling and extortion. A supervised-release violation briefly returned him to prison in 2014, and a second major racketeering case ended in 2018 with a guilty plea to a single illegal-gambling charge after a mistrial. In a separate trial in 2004, he was acquitted of the 1996 killing of Joseph Sodano, an underling in North Jersey. Merlino completed federal supervision in 2021, but he’s been banned from New Jersey casinos since 1988 and from Pennsylvania casinos since a 2016 incident at the former SugarHouse Casino.

    And Merlino has made it no secret that he is different from many of the former figures who populate the MobTube genre. Unlike Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, John Alito, and Jimmy Calandra, Merlino never cooperated with prosecutors.

    “He saw guys who cooperated come back and become media sensations,” Anastasia said. “And I think he got [annoyed] that these are all guys who, in his view, violated the code, and now they’re making money on that old life. He did his time as a stand-up guy. ‘So [to heck with that] — I’m going to make money, too.’ And he created this brand.”

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and Joe Perri Jr. on the set of “The Skinny” podcast.

    Perri helped make that legible to a younger audience.

    “Lil Snuff is part sycophant and part guide,” Anastasia said. “He’s the one who, in a lot of ways, sets the flow. Joey is going to be Joey, but somebody has to keep bringing him back to the point.”

    The rise of Lil Snuff

    Before he was Merlino’s co-host, Perri was Lil Snuff.

    The nickname came from his father: As a 10-year-old, Joe Sr. turned around when a cousin was calling for a dog named Snuffy. Boom. He was Snuff. When his son was born at Methodist Hospital in 1992, Snuff became Big Snuff.

    As a teenager, Lil Snuff bussed tables at Stogie Joe’s, the Saloon, and Fitzwater Cafe. At 18, he joined the stagehands union. At 21, he got a job at Mall Chevrolet in Cherry Hill. The older salesmen had relationships and repeat customers. Perri’s mentor told him that he needed a lane.

    It was 2013, and social media was beginning to reshape promotion. Perri started making his own brassy, unscripted commercials. “Selling Chevys for less” became his tagline.

    He also made videos about gambling and food, his two passions. He was not famous, but he was visible in the South Philly-to-South Jersey social media corridor where restaurants, sports, betting, family, and neighborhood identity blur into one feed.

    At the same time, Perri said, he was abusing pills. In 2014, at 22, his parents found him a rehab center in South Florida. To make sure he got there safely, they called a family friend whose Italian restaurant in Boca Raton had recently opened:

    Joey Merlino.

    “My father grew up with his grandfather,” Merlino said, explaining the bond. “I grew up with his father. I’ve known him since he was born.”

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino in 2014 at the Boca Raton restaurant bearing his name.

    Perri said it took several attempts before recovery stuck. He has been sober since Sept. 11, 2016. “I’m big with recovery,” he said. “That’s the main thing in my life. I put sobriety first and then everything after that.”

    Merlino’s — where Merlino was maitre d’ because his legal situation then precluded ownership — closed in 2016, just before the feds arrested Merlino at his home in Boca in the lead-up to his second racketeering case. “If I didn’t have this trouble, it would still be open,” Merlino said earlier this month.

    After Merlino attained freedom in July 2021, producers called with movie, television, and book deals. Merlino turned them all down. “Nothing seemed right,” Merlino said. Someone brought up the idea of a podcast.

    “I didn’t even know what that was,” Merlino said.

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino leaving the federal courthouse in Manhattan after being sentenced on Oct. 17, 2018.

    His friend Raymond “Wags” Wagner explained the concept and suggested a loose format built around food and sports betting. Actor Kevin Connolly of Entourage fame, who was involved early as a producer, told Merlino that he needed a co-host.

    “They said, ‘Who would you want?’” Perri said. “They were sending him people, and he was like, ‘I’m not doing nothing with these people.’”

    Then Ray Wags suggested Perri.

    “Joey was like, ‘100 percent. Get him on the phone,’” Perri said. “Kevin Connolly said, ‘Send me your videos.’ I sent him my videos, and he said, ‘You’re the guy.’ The rest was history.”

    The world of ‘MobTube’

    Merlino and Perri launched the video podcast in 2023. Viewers are not just watching Merlino talk about the old life. They see him bust Perri’s chops about eating too much and mock his parlays. They get gambling tips, watch them interview athletes and celebrities — all part of a South Philly generational comedy.

    Perri describes it in family terms. “My dad’s my dad, but he’s also my best friend, too,” Perri said. “We gamble together. We go out together. We have fun together. So they see me and Joey as that, and they can’t figure out how we mix so good.”

    “He’s good,” Merlino said. “I’m old, he’s young. He talks good, he’s funny. He’s a pain in the balls, but it’s a good fit.”

    They began The Skinny podcast on YouTube, but now focus more on Patreon, where the content is unfiltered. And better monetized. Perri says The Skinny has 1,600 Patreon subscribers paying $15.95 a month. He said their social-media pages combined average 30 million views a month.

    Perri’s wife, Danielle, handles bookings and schedules. “I produce,” Perri said. “I cut the clips. I do everything. It’s me and Joey. Two-man show.”

    A wider audience

    When they started, Perri was still selling cars at Mall Chevrolet. But the now-shuttered dealership got tired of people showing up hoping to see Merlino instead of test-driving a Suburban.

    Perri quit. The show grew. Merlino’s reinvention has coincided with a broader shift in the gambling world. Legal sportsbooks, now ubiquitous on television and online, have largely supplanted the corner bookmaker, turning an activity once associated with organized crime into a mainstream consumer business. Guests span sports, hip-hop, gambling, and entertainment, including Wallo267, Fat Joe, Ric Flair, and Bernard Hopkins.

    Each booking widened his audience, and Merlino was being absorbed into a broader celebrity ecosystem.

    Last October, Netflix released Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia, a docuseries revisiting the violent 1990s power struggle between John Stanfa and Merlino’s younger faction. It steered even more viewers to Merlino and Perri’s world.

    ‘Skinny Joey,’ wit’

    Then came the cheesesteaks.

    One night, Perri, Merlino, and friends were playing poker. Merlino wanted cheesesteaks. Perri said he’d make them.

    “He’s like, ‘You can’t make cheesesteaks,’” Perri said. “I said, ‘Are you nuts? I’ve been making them my whole life.’”

    Perri cooked some. “He was like, ‘This is the best f— cheesesteak ever,’” Perri said. “He said, ‘Let’s open up a cheesesteak place.’ I said, ‘All right. Call it Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks.’ And that was it.”

    The first shop opened in March 2025 at 3020 S. Broad St., near the sports complex. From the start, Skinny Joey’s was more than a sandwich shop. It was a set. The shop leaned into Merlino’s notoriety; the sandwiches are wrapped in a collage of newspaper articles about his past.

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) working the grill beside Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. at the Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia at its opening in March 2025.

    Celebrities showed up: Jason Kelce, Landon Dickerson, Mack Wilson. A customer eating a cheesesteak was good content. A recognizable person eating one on camera was better.

    The restaurant also became a magnet for the kind of drama that fuels digital engagement: online beef. Podcaster Gene Borrello, a former Bonnano crime family associate and Merlino antagonist, weighed in last year on an apparent feud between Skinny Joey’s camp and Frank Olivieri of Pat’s King of Steaks. Merlino and Perri had taken issue with a video posted by Olivieri — whose great-uncle invented the steak sandwich — in which he chided shops that chop the meat on the grill. Like most online food feuds, this seems to have subsided.

    Then came the deal for Wildwood, where Skinny Joey’s replaced Joe’s Pizzeria, which had been on the boardwalk at Magnolia Avenue for 15 years. There, Skinny Joey’s added pizza and stromboli, which are not sold at the South Philadelphia location.

    Reflections in the pizza display case on the boardwalk at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza in Wildwood.

    The pizza recipe comes from Vito’s on Haddonfield Berlin Road in Cherry Hill, and the stromboli from Pizza Shack at 15th and Oregon in South Philadelphia, both owned by Skinny Joey’s business partners Stephen Casasanto and John Fioravanti, whom Merlino also described as longtime friends.

    More locations are planned. Perri said a Boothwyn shop is expected around Sept. 1, and several others are in the pipeline.

    Bypassing the gatekeepers

    Merlino is an extreme case of a recent phenomenon. People with complicated histories — criminal, scandalous, controversial, or simply overexposed — no longer need traditional gatekeepers to reintroduce themselves. They can speak directly to followers and monetize the attention.

    Perri is not a journalist, of course, or a publicist, exactly. He is not merely a manager, producer, or sidekick. He is something in between — a new kind of local media operator.

    He knows the scene, and how to make content feel unscripted even when the business behind it is deliberate. He is close enough to Merlino to bust his chops and deferential enough to preserve the hierarchy. He can translate Merlino to younger audiences without making him seem managed.

    Perri softens Merlino without sanding him down. Merlino still curses, rants, and mocks rivals. Anyone they disagree with is a “bedbug.”

    Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino greets a table of customers at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza in Wildwood.

    “At the end of the day, Joey isn’t going to change who he is for anybody,” Perri said. “If he can’t talk the way he wants to talk, what’s the point?”

    That is part of the appeal and part of the discomfort. The audience knows Merlino’s history. They may see him as funny, defiant, loyal, misunderstood, or simply entertaining.

    “There’s a segment of the American population that has always been fascinated with the outlaw: Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Don Corleone, Al Capone,” Anastasia said. “What the internet has provided is: Here are these guys in their own words. Are they being genuine? I don’t know. You can say that about any personality. But here’s a look at them without any filter.”

    The filter used to be people like Anastasia.

    “I was, in a lot of ways, the middleman between the people who were interested in this and the guys who were doing it,” he said. “And people who are interested in this don’t need the middleman anymore. They just go online and listen to whoever they want to listen to.”

  • Is it cheaper to vacation at the Outer Banks, the Jersey Shore, Dublin, or Mexico? We investigated.

    Is it cheaper to vacation at the Outer Banks, the Jersey Shore, Dublin, or Mexico? We investigated.

    People have been bragging about their trips to the Outer Banks since I moved to the Shore three decades ago. Quieter, cheaper, more laid back, more of a relaxing vacation than anything you’ll find in, say, Sea Isle.

    Last summer, with an increasingly unaffordable Jersey Shore spawning a subculture of people swearing by other places, we looked at the cost of vacationing in Hawaii and Paris, along with Margate. Deals could be had.

    Is it cheaper to spend a week in Paris, Hawaii or down the Shore? We investigated.

    This summer, as gas prices are on the rise, the appeal of an eight-hour drive to North Carolina might give even a priced-out Margatian pause.

    Is it worth the drive to get to Duck, N.C.? What about flying to Dublin? Has the “We’re going to Europe instead” crowd thinned out?

    We priced options for a family of four and targeted a week in July, the 11th to the 18th.

    Rental inventory at the Jersey Shore is rapidly depleting, said Duane Watlington, the CEO and founder of Vacation Rentals Jersey Shore LLC. As of April 1, Long Beach Island is 83% booked for the eight summer weeks, June 27-Aug. 22, he said.

    But Watlington said rental prices were looking better, with “Most listings … the same price or up to 10% lower for weekly rentals due to the soft market we had in 2025.”

    Everything is relative, of course. Available rentals for that week on LBI can range from a four-bedroom Harvey Cedars charmer at $11,000 to a cozy two-bedroom Beach Haven duplex available Friday to Friday for just $3,000.

    The real value, Watlington advised, is in September, with rentals as much as half the price of peak summer weeks, a warm ocean, and the joys of “locals summer.”

    Data from HomeToGo showed that Sea Isle City rentals ranged from $6,745 to a whopping $18,828, with an average of $9,389.10 for available properties during that peak July week.

    Bethany Beach, Del., ($5,537.59) and Duck, N.C., ($5,361.90) had similar average weekly rentals. Ocean City averaged $6,321.53 for that week, according to Berger Realty data.

    Watlington said the median price on LBI for a July or August rental is $7,000 per week, with a range of $1,000 to (yikes) $55,000 week.

    The sun peeks out from under the clouds as it sets in Mazatlan, Mexico (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

    Looking abroad

    Paul Ferdinand of Rainbow Voyages in Philadelphia found little available in Dublin during July, “regardless of price.”

    He advised switching to early August, and came up with a very competitive trip, detailed below.

    Mezgaron James of YouBeEverywhere Travel suggested Mazatlán, Mexico, which she said combines the charm of a Jersey Shore boardwalk with the luxury of a hotel on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

    A Philly travel agent was stuck in the Middle East when war broke out. Here’s how she and a dozen friends got home.

    In the end, results were undeniable: The total cost of the more adventurous destinations like Ireland or Mexico was comparable, or even less, than a typical weekly rental at the Shore.

    Here are the details.

    In this Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010 photo, wild horses are seen in Corolla, N.C. A boom in vacation homes in the last 25 years in this remote place has seen the descendants of colonial Spanish mustangs confined to a 7,500-acre sanctuary on the northern tip of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and now the herd itself may shrink along with its habitat. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

    Outer Banks: Linens included

    Outer Banks rentals trend toward the larger side, so the trick might be to vacation with that other family whose kids like your kids.

    Here’s one property, known as the Beached Buffalo, five houses from the beach in the town of Corolla (accent on the first syllable, not like the car), that rents for a prime week in July for $5,597.

    Myles Wood, of Shoreline OBX, said his company includes a friendly $250 credit for beach gear rental during your stay.

    Jersey Shore veteran renters, used to having to (literally) bring their own sheets, find this extremely attractive.

    “One of the things we aim to do if someone comes down, everything’s taken care of,” Wood said.

    Rental prices have crept up a bit, he notes, but said those priced out of buying a beach house in New Jersey will be pleasantly surprised to see a lower bar of entry, like this Duck beach cottage listed at $650,000.

    Sample food: At Aqua, $34 gets you Chef Cory Bryant’s Shrimp and Grits, with smoked pork belly lardons, sun-dried tomatoes, and a creamy lobster sauce.

    Vibe: Personal space-y. Says Wood: “Our beaches are wide enough and plentiful enough. You get a slice of personal heaven.”

    What’s free? Beaches and parking, oh my.

    Drawbacks: No true boardwalk scene. Long, and increasingly expensive, drive for a week’s vacation.

    Drinkers and tourists visit the Temple Bar pub in the Temple Bar area of Dublin on September 15, 2024.

    Dublin: Emerald green mountains

    Paul Ferdinand of Philly’s Rainbow Voyages, who sent us on a glorious, if theoretical, trip to Hawaii last year as a Jersey Shore alternative, recommended Dublin in August..

    He said Americans will find Ireland “wallet-friendly,” and Dublin a perfect home base for, among other things, art, boutiques, pubs, and day trips.

    Get dispatches and advice from Down the Shore

    He found a “stylish one-bedroom apartment” for four at the Dublin City Center location of the Staycity chain that will rent for a week for $1,996. If it’s just for two, he recommends the Hoxton Hotel for its “tasteful decor and fawning service,” which will run about $2,029 mid-August, “a steal for that hotel group,” he said.

    Airfare round-trip from Philly on Aer Lingus Irish Airlines will run you around $929 per person, including a seat assignment, checked bag, and in-flight meal.

    Vibe: Sea Isle meets James Joyce. Cliffs!

    Sample food: Three-course menu at Vintage Kitchen in Dublin for 72 euros features the Skeaghanore duck with miso, sprouting broccoli, sweet potato, and samphire (sea beans).

    What’s free? At the Guinness Storehouse, take the basic tour where mom and dad get a free stout.

    Drawbacks: Peak Dublin Bay temps are about 59 degrees.

    Boardwalk near 6th Street, Ocean City, NJ.

    Ocean City: Nostalgia — for a price

    Brian Logue, of the Anchor Group in Ocean City, notes that Ocean City has had some record sale prices. But that hasn’t affected rental prices, he said. “The upside for tenants is that rental prices have not kept up with value.”

    He’s not sold on the North Carolina alternative.

    “From experience, I have clients who love the Outer Banks,” he said. “But unless you have your own plane, it’s eight hours in the car each way.”

    He thinks people may think they want an alternative to their ancestral Shore destinations, but in the end, they really don’t.

    “There’s not a boardwalk,” he said of the Outer Banks. “The things that make Ocean City ‘America’s Greatest Family Resort,’ it doesn’t exist there. It doesn’t have that nostalgic Jersey feel.”

    In Ocean City, five grand will get you a week in July at this three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath Ocean City townhouse on Wesley Avenue.

    Vibe: America’s greatest family resort, not as many rides as there used to be, nostalgia.

    Sample food: Manco’s, Alex’s, Bakeria1010, Preps, Kohr Brothers.

    What’s free? Walk the boardwalk to your heart’s content, but each person will need a $35 seasonal beach tag ($30 before June 1).

    Drawbacks: You’ll have a lot of company everywhere you go.

    The island community of Brigantine features plenty of water activities.

    Brigantine: Linens extra

    Maria Sacco Handle, of the Shore House Team, said the snowy winter has spurred interest in Jersey Shore rentals. She said prices have stayed “fairly steady,” with some early booking incentives that will disappear as the season approaches.

    “Believe it or not, we love a snowy winter at the Jersey Shore — it reminds everyone how amazing a week at the beach will feel,“ she said. “My advice to anyone thinking about renting this summer: Don’t sit on the fence — the best weeks always go first.”

    A typical week in Brigantine in July comes out as about the same as the Outer Banks, minus the cost of driving and plus the cost of a beach tag ($15 per week per person).

    In a time-honored Jersey Shore tradition, you’ll have to bring your own bed linens or rent them (no Outer Banks-y credit included).

    A four-bedroom, two-bath charming blue rental house in Brigantine’s “A zone,” in the middle of the island, is listed for $5305, a bargain by current Jersey Shore standards.

    Sample food: Spicy tuna with Caribbean jerk seasoning at La Scala Beach House will run you $25.

    Vibe: With one way on and off, Brigantine is its own insular vibe. All-terrain vehicle holders can go tailgate at the cove.

    What’s free? Hmm. An early morning around the island bike ride, as always.

    What’s not? Linens! BYO.

    Perks: The Borgata is just a short hop over the bridge, and you can visit some stranded marine mammals at the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Also, golf.

    Frolicking in a beachside seawater pool in MazatlĂĄn, Mexico.

    MazatlĂĄn, Mexico: 13-mile boardwalk

    “This was the first thing that popped in my mind,” said Philadelphia travel agent Mezgaron James.

    She’s referring to Mazlatán, Mexico, a resort town on Mexico’s Pacific coast. “A lot of people don’t know they have the longest boardwalk in the world, a 13-mile boardwalk. It’s a place that’s untouched.”

    James priced out seven nights in our target week, July 11 to 18, at Costa de Oro Beach Hotel, including round-trip tickets on American Airlines from Philadelphia for … $4,000.

    “It’s family-friendly,” James said. “There’s a lot of things to do. It’s still lively like the Jersey Shore, but you’ll see a nice mix of people, fishermen hauling the morning’s catch, people bicycling and jogging, catch a coffee and pastry. There’s zip-lining. There’s open air taxis.”

    The hotel provides direct access to the beach at no extra cost.

    “It’s actually a four-star hotel with a pool right by the beach,” she said.

    Sample food: I’m ordering the Zarandeado fish, a whole grilled fish available at multiple places.

    Vibe: The 13-mile boardwalk will meet all your Jersey needs.

    What’s free? Beaches.

    Drawbacks: Check with the U.S. Department of State’s travel advisory to see about impacts from any nearby (but not in tourist areas, typically) cartel violence.

    Inquirer staff writer Chris A. Williams contributed to this article.

  • Murray Wolf, Avalon’s legendary beach patrol captain, has died at 87

    Murray Wolf, Avalon’s legendary beach patrol captain, has died at 87

    Murray Wolf, 87, of Avalon, the legendary no-nonsense beach patrol captain whose half-century reign inspired and guided generations of lifeguards, while aggravating some famous and not-so-famous beachgoers along the way, died Monday, Feb. 16, at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City following a stroke.

    “He was probably the most loyal person I’ve known in my life,” said his wife of 43 years, Vicki Wolf. “Anybody who came into contact with him, he made them a better person, no question about it.”

    Murray Wolf was captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol for more than a half-century and spent 65 years on the patrol. “He had the highest of standards,” said John Glomb, who served under him for decades.

    “He had the highest of standards,“ said John Glomb, who served under him for decades. ”When the conditions were not favorable, he drove around the beaches and made sure the guards were on top of their bathers, making sure that nobody was in harm’s way.

    “He had a record where in his 65 years, there was never a drowning. That’s a record that is absolutely spectacular.”

    Not everyone appreciated Mr. Wolf’s brand of beach enforcement. In 1999, he famously tangled with then-WIP sports radio personality Angelo Cataldi over a beach tag, showing him no mercy.

    Cataldi endlessly railed about it on air, and never truly got over it, saying in 2016, as Wolf entered his 61st year on the beach patrol, “I do harbor ill will toward Murray Wolf, and I always will.” Cataldi did not respond to an email following news of Mr. Wolf’s passing.

    Mr. Wolf brushed off the Cataldi encounter like he did most of his encounters on the beach, a place he patrolled with military precision, complete with nightly wave-offs, stand by stand, from his jeep. Rules were meant to be enforced. But he could laugh about it, even if Cataldi couldn’t.

    There was also Frank Wilson, formerly of Chester County, who sued Avalon in 2001 and won $175,000, driven arguably mad after being repeatedly whistled out of the water when he tried to swim after 5 p.m. “We have the right to protect our bathers,” Mr. Wolf said at the time.

    Murray Wolf, shown here rowing with his son Tyler during his final year on the Avalon Beach Patrol.

    Within the ranks of his family — wife Vicki; sons Matthew, Erich, and Tyler; and his 10-year-old black Lab, Ruger — Mr. Wolf’s loyalty, kindness, and appreciation for Avalon’s simple pleasures were deeply admired.

    The same was true for the ranks of lifeguards, wrestling teams, his Pleasantville school district physical education classes, and the multiple championship South Jersey beach patrol teams he coached in Avalon with the utmost of pride.

    Mr. Wolf rode his bike around Avalon almost to the end and walked Ruger in the deepest of snows.

    Murray Wolf, longtime captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol, taking a break from preseason preparations at age 77 to watch his son coach his baseball team.

    “He was happy to sit home and watch the football game, sit on the couch, yell at the dog for running in and out,” his wife said. “He loved his Avalon. There wasn’t one time we rode over the bridge into town when he didn’t say, ‘Oh, that was the best decision I made, moving to Avalon.’ He was just a content man, satisfied.”

    In his 61st season, Avalon’s Capt. Murray Wolf still rules the beach

    His blunt style could rub some the wrong way. Vicki Wolf, who met her husband at the Princeton, Avalon’s iconic bar, spotting at first his muscular arms, she recalled, said she always knew when someone in town had had an uncomfortable encounter with Mr. Wolf when they would veer away from her in the supermarket.

    He led his patrols through a pandemic, hurricanes, and new technology: He vowed to fire any guard caught with a cell phone on the stand. “It says Lifeguard on Duty,” he said in 2016. “It’s a duty.”

    “There was nothing phony about him,” Vicki Wolf said. “He was never one to take low blows about him. Not everybody liked him. He had enemies, but they respected him.”

    “He took a lot of pride in Avalon doing well — that was in everything Murray did,” Glomb said. “He ran a tight ship. He ran a tight beach.”

    In the offseason, Mr. Wolf coached championship wrestling teams and was a physical education teacher in the Pleasantville school district for 50 years. His son Matt took his place as Avalon beach patrol captain in 2021 and also coaches wrestling in Middle Township.

    Murray Wolf, longtime captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol pictured here in 2016 with some of his lifeguards at the patrol’s headquarters. ED HILLE / Staff Photographer

    Matt Wolf said his father suffered a stroke on Nov. 11 and was hospitalized until his Feb. 16 death. It seemed to so many that he might live forever, given his lifelong physical fitness and vigor, the devotion to his routines of bike riding and dog walking through town.

    “I think people saw him as very serious when he was in that public spotlight,” Matt Wolf said. “He had a great sense of humor. He didn’t need to be out with a bunch of people. He was happy to be home with his family.”

    Capt Murray Wolf in his 61st year on the beach

    The generations of guards who worked under him paid tribute to Capt. Wolf following his passing. “It was an honor to work with The Captain — there’s nobody quite like him,” Ryan Finnegan wrote on Facebook. “He taught his guards countless life lessons over the decades. Thousands of lives were saved because of him. The beaches in heaven are much safer now! Rest easy Capt.”

    Murray Wolf was captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol for more than a half-century and spent 65 years on the patrol. “He had the highest of standards,” said John Glomb, who served under him for decades.

    George Murray Wolf III was born Aug. 16, 1938, in Philadelphia to Elizabeth Gerhard and George Murray Wolf II and was raised on the Main Line. He and his family vacationed in Avalon from the time he was a child.

    He graduated from Conestoga High School and, after briefly working in a steel mill, Mr. Wolf attended Western State College in Gunnison, Colo., where he competed in wrestling and won a team national championship. He graduated with a degree in physical education and later earned a master’s in educational administration from Rider University.

    Mr. Wolf spent more than 50 years teaching physical education in Pleasantville. As head wrestling coach, he led the Pleasantville High School Greyhounds to the 1974 District 32 Championship. “He loved his job working with students and his colleagues at Leeds Avenue School,” his son wrote in the family obituary.

    Avalon Beach patrol chief Matt Wolf (center) with his parents Vicki and Murray at the 2024 South Jersey Lifeguard Championships in Brigantine.

    Mr. Wolf served as captain of the Avalon Beach patrol from 1967 to 2020 and served a total of 65 years on the patrol. His teams, competing in the storied lifeguard races every summer, won nine South Jersey Lifeguard Championships, and Mr. Wolf had the joy of coaching his sons in winning boats.

    Mr. Wolf and his wife were fixtures at their sons’ football, wrestling, baseball, and track and field games and meets, when their sons were competitors and, later, when their sons became coaches themselves.

    Ventnor’s retired beach patrol chief Stan Bergman, himself a legendary chief and coach, has called Mr. Wolf “a warrior.” “He’s battle-tested,” Bergman said in a 2016 interview. “They have a tough beach.”

    Murray Wolf was captain of the Avalon Beach Patrol for more than a half-century and spent 65 years on the patrol. “He had the highest of standards,” said John Glomb, who served under him for decades. He took great pride in his teams winning the South Jersey Lifeguard Championships.

    “He was a very staunch competitor,” said Ed Schneider, chief of Wildwood’s beach patrol and also a wrestling coach. “I was always nervous going up against his teams. He commanded a presence around him. He made people push themselves to be the best.”

    After Matt Wolf took his place as captain of the patrol, he would include his dad as much as possible, taking him in the jeep along the beach. Murray Wolf always attended the lifeguard races, talking to the guards about the David J. Kerr Memorial Races, a competition he began in 1984 to honor a guard who died of cancer.

    In his final weeks, when the family came into his hospital room, his wife said, he would look for his boys, and “always blow a kiss and say, ‘I love you.’”

    “Every night I would get home, the dog would go sit on the deck and look down the street,” Vicki Wolf said. “It broke my heart. He was looking for Murray.”

    In addition to his wife and their three sons, he is survived by another son, George Murray IV, and a sister. A son, Michael, died earlier.

    Services will be at noon Friday, Feb. 27, at our Savior Lutheran Church, 9212 Third Ave., Stone Harbor, N.J. Visitation will be 10 to 11:45 a.m.

    Donations may be made to the Middle Township Wrestling Program or the Helen L. Diller Vacation Home for Blind Children.

    Murray Wolf was devoted to his three black labs, including Ruger.
  • Man arrested for $175,000 theft at Morey’s Piers in Wildwood

    Man arrested for $175,000 theft at Morey’s Piers in Wildwood

    A man has been arrested in the theft of more than $175,000 worth of metal and mechanical components from the iconic Jersey Shore theme park Morey’s Piers.

    Wildwood police said they arrested William Morelli, 67, of Wildwood Crest. Police first became aware of the heist, which occurred over several days, on Feb. 4. The reporting party provided police with a suspect and vehicle description after reviewing surveillance video.

    Upon investigation, police said they identified Morelli, as the suspect who removed a large amount of metal from Morey’s temporary work site on the beach.

    Morelli allegedly removed metal from the beach before selling it to an unidentified scrapyard business, according to Wildwood police. Morelli was charged with theft of movable property and later released from custody.

    The theft comes at a time when the iconic Morey’s Ferris wheel is undergoing much-needed renovations at the South Philadelphia Navy Yard.

    Geoff Rogers, chief operating officer at Morey’s Piers, said although work crews remain optimistic, the stolen materials bring an “unexpected and disappointing setback” to the project.

    “We are heartbroken by this incident,” Rogers said. “The Giant Wheel holds deep sentimental value for not only the company and our team members, but the generations of families who have made memories on it.”

    Despite the theft, Rogers said that the planned Ferris wheel renovation should be complete by the start of the 2026 summer season, as originally planned.

    The Giant Wheel, a 156-foot LED-lit Ferris wheel and one of the tallest at the Jersey Shore, is disassembled, repaired, and repainted regularly, but this year’s renovation required transportation to the Navy Yard to work on its 16,000-pound centerpiece.

    Designed by Dutch ride manufacturer Vekoma Rides and installed in 1985, the Giant Wheel has been a recognizable symbol of the Wildwood skyline for decades. In 2012, they upgraded it with an LED light system.

    After last year’s closures of Gillian’s Wonderland in Ocean City and Wildwood’s Splash Zone Water Park, Morey’s Piers are the last beachside water parks and one of the Jersey Shore’s remaining large-scale Ferris wheels.

  • Beach concerts are finally coming back to Atlantic City

    Beach concerts are finally coming back to Atlantic City

    Once again, there will be music on the beach in Atlantic City this summer.

    Australian electronic dance music trio Rüfüs Du Sol will perform on the ocean side of the A.C. boardwalk on Aug. 29 in what’s expected to be the first in a wave of shows to take place this year.

    That show by the Sydney-based pop/house music band, which is also playing Bonnaroo, Wrigley Field, and Madison Square Garden, will mark a return to the tradition of A.C. beach shows. The stage on the Arkansas Avenue beach will face north, with the Caesar’s Pier (formerly the Million Dollar Pier) behind it.

    Over the years, beach concerts have included Pink in 2017, the Vans Warped Tour in 2019, three-nights of Phish in 2021 and 2022, the pop-punk Adjacent Music Festival in 2023, and the TidalWave country fest in 2022 and 2023.

    Australian electronic dance music act Rufus Del Sol will perform on the Atlantic City beach on August 29.

    For the last two years, however, there have been no large scale A.C. beach shows (though Philly impresario Dave P. did stage an intimate Making Waves festival last year).

    Music fans had to travel north to Asbury Park for Sea. Hear. Now or south to Wildwood for the Barefoot Country to experience a surf side musical blowout.

    But now Visit Atlantic City, the public-private partnership funded by New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, has announced a new Atlantic City collaboration with Live Nation.

    “With the help of Live Nation and our partners,” Gary Musich, Visit Atlantic City president and CEO said in a statement, the storied Jersey resort town aims to “attract a wide range of world class performers, energize our tourism economy, and continue delivering experience that resonate with visitors year round.”

    That means more shows and not just in the summer, Molly Warren, Live Nation senior vice president of booking said in a statement. The concert promotion company regularly books venues such as Boardwalk Hall, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Borgata Hotel Casino, or, Warren said, “even right on the beach.”

    No other 2026 Atlantic City beach concerts have been announced as of yet. Tickets for RĂźfĂźs Du Sol go on sale on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 10 a.m. at RĂźfĂźsDuSol.com/live.

    J. Cole play Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly on July 20.

    In addition to the Rüfüs Du Sol and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s date at Xfinity Mobile Arena on May 8, it’s been a big week for concert announcements.

    Rapper J. Cole will bring his “Fall-Off Tour” to Xfinity Mobile Arena on July 20. It’s the Grammy-winning North Carolina producer and artist’s tour for his new album of the same name. It will take him not only across the U.S., but also to Europe and South Africa. Tickets for the Philly show go on sale Friday at 11 a.m. at thefalloff.com.

    Three days later, Shinedown, the Jacksonville, Fla., rock band led by singer Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers, will play the Xfinity Mobile Arena on their “Dance Kid Dance: Act II” Tour.

    Smith and Myers played a two-man acoustic set at the Pierre Robert tribute concert at the Fillmore in December. The band’s new album Ei8ht is due in May. Tickets go one sale Friday at 10 a.m. More information is at shinedown.com.