Asbury Park Kind of Success - an interview with city councilwoman Amy Quinn.

Last Thursday, a day before July 4th celebrations, Machete Media Productions managed to interview an Asbury Park city councilwoman Amy Quinn. The good news is that the interview went incredibly well, the bad news is that there was a tropical storm overhanging a beautiful, calm and sunny Asbury Park morning. And by watching CNN delivering near-cataclysmic message about Hurricane Arthur which was turning toward the coast of North Carolina that afternoon we were super concerned and wanted to make sure we get all of the filming done before the storm hits Jersey Shore. Luckily we got to enjoy one of the most beautiful days in Asbury Park yet, and only got caught in the torrential downpours later that night on our way home.

In any ways here is what happened during the interview with Amy. The interview took place at the Art 629 Gallery and it quickly became apparent that the gallery is a perfect backdrop for the community leader like Amy Quinn to talk about Asbury Park and what it means to live in this town. Art 629 is owned by an artist Patrick Schiavino, who has lived and worked in Asbury Park for over 25 years and his gallery takes pride in giving voice to the new and emerging artists who think and create “outside of the box.”

Amy Quinn is a definition of a politician who is capable of thinking “outside of the box”. She has lived in Asbury Park since 2001 and initially moved to the city because it was the only place she could afford a waterfront apartment with an ocean view. Lacking a sense of security and protection, Asbury Park wasn't the best place to live, but she saw the town’s potential. The community that helped her through at the beginning was the community that was part of the so-called “marginal society.” Prostitutes, homeless people, hustlers they were the ones to make sure she got home safely every night after walking her dog. This was something out of the ordinary, “interesting and compassionate” said Amy. And in general the vibe of this town was completely unique a “land of misfit toys” as Amy described it. She fell in love with it and called it home. She’s accepted the fact that random homeless people might be sleeping in her elevator because those were the people who made sure she doesn’t get jumped or raped. Since then she’s been working to improve the quality of life of Asbury Park community. Quinn has served as the vice chair of the city’s environmental commission for the last nine years, the group was responsible for planting more than 2000 trees all over the city.

And as she got to know the town more, she was further rapt with its solid sense of community and the high level of town’s participation. After meeting numerous amazing, unique, funky individuals that formed canny, reliable, pioneering and tight interwoven community in Asbury Park she was driven to run for council with two focal goals in mind; crime reduction and government transparency. And the main idea was to work together with the community to warrant public confidence and launch residents’ involvement and cooperation, as well as refocus city’s efforts in attracting more business to Asbury Park and better support the businesses that were already there.

It’s all about perspective. There are numerous myths relating to developers and outside business dos and don’ts in Asbury Park. The idea behind a successful re-development as Amy points out is to employ and contract local community which is not being done. And, why not?

Amy’s biggest concern is the big companies putting out of the business local owners; “It is important to the most of the people and certainly to me to ensure the town comes back as a whole. If only the part of the town comes back then the town is not really coming back. Then it is not happening.”

Asbury Park opens its doors to the incredible people like Councilwoman Amy Quinn and that makes it one-of-a kind of place. While booking this interview Amy told us she loves talking about Asbury Park and after speaking with Amy we were certainly captivated by her dynamism and perception she has projected during the interview and quite grateful she had agreed to be part of the shoot. Quinn’s political body of work is not a typical governmental career in traditional sense as Amy is an openly gay woman and married to her long term partner Heather Jensen. Nonetheless, she was one of the councils to receive the highest number of votes in the municipal election and has been urged by fellow citizens to continue her public service on Asbury Park’s City Council.

For more information about the gallery and amazing work by Pat Schiavino please visit his website at http://patrickschiavino.com/ and his gallery page at http://art629.com/. For more about city councilwoman Amy Quinn you can visit her facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/amy.quinn1.

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