>> Major funding for "Chat Box" with David Cruz is provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support for "Chat Box" with David Cruz is provided by Insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious political players and interactive forum for ideas, discussion and insight.

Online at InsiderNJ.com.

[ Music ] >> Hey everybody, welcome to "Chat Box."

I'm David Cruz.

Summertime is here in case the temperatures this week didn't already alert you to that.

As we head into our hiatus, we wanted to help you get ready for the season in case you're lucky enough to get some time off this summer.

Later, we're going to get an insider look into the remarkable work being done at the Lowe's Theater in Jersey City, and we'll talk to Roxanne Shante about the Rock the Bell Show happening at Prudential Center this weekend.

But let's begin with the Jersey Shore, the state's iconic vacation destination.

Jeremy Schneider is the food and culture reporter for NJ Advanced Media and host of the "Jersey's Best" podcast.

Jeremy's here to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of being down the shore.

Jeremy, welcome.

Good to meet you, man.

>> You as well, David.

Thank you so much for having me.

>> So before we get into the nitty gritty, let's talk about the podcast, "Jersey's Best."

First of all, is it "Jersey's Best" as in the best of Jersey or "Jersey's Best" as in Jersey is best?

>> Both.

"Jersey's Best" podcast, it's the best podcast about the best state because obviously New Jersey is the best, New York is cool, Connecticut has its, you know, some decent pizza, I guess.

But no, Jersey's the best, and it's only fitting that the best state gets the best podcast.

Very aspirational title from us.

But yeah, we launched in April.

We're weekly.

We drop every Wednesday, and we do a bunch of, you know, we go from fun topics like Wall Wall versus Quick Check and New Jersey slang and the ugliest places in New Jersey to, you know, deeper stuff.

We recently recorded an episode deep diving on Asbury Park's history and if it's over culturally.

And we try to run the gamut, and we're having a whole lot of fun.

We've had a lot of fun guests, some comedians, some historians, some NJ.com staff writers.

It's been a blast.

♪ He's back again ♪ The theme song also is an earworm.

Is that a-- you guys did that yourselves?

A friend of mine, John Cause, a very talented musician/coffee maker/New Jersey obsessive, has a side project band called Schmutzedells.

- Oh, nice.

- And that-- We put out a call for some theme song ideas, and we got some really good ones, but that was the winner.

And yeah, listening to that at the beginning of every podcast is a lot of fun for me and for hopefully for our listeners.

It's like your hype song, right?

Exactly.

It gets me hyped, trust me.

All right, let's start with the beaches.

You have an episode ranking New Jersey's beaches.

I'm sure you must get a lot of pushback on that.

Also, there are 45 beaches, which is news to me.

You called it the Jersey Shore.

Isn't it one beach, one shore?

But Jersey's a home rule state, I guess.

So everybody wants their own beach.

- So we can't do it all.

- We have to do it all.

Let's talk of the top three or three random recommendations and why you'd recommend them, beach towns.

So it's a very tough job.

We do this every year.

My co-worker and I, Bobby Olivier, we rank every single beach in New Jersey.

We differentiate.

Every town on the shore gets its own beach.

We're not going to go to multiple beaches in the same town.

We've picked the most notable ones.

And number one for years has been Cape May.

And every year we go into this, and Bobby and I are trying to figure out, is there another reason that another beach should take the top spot?

But every year, Cape May seems to have the best quality of the beach, the best crowd.

People are there, but it's not overrun.

There's great amenities nearby.

When we're doing this, those are the big things we're looking for.

And I hadn't been to Cape May before I got this job and before I started ranking the beaches, professional beach ranker over here.

It's unlike any beach at the Jersey Shore.

Once you cross over that river, or that bridge, it has its own vibe.

It has its own feel.

It's the only beach facing south in the state, which is wild for me.

And anytime you go there for the first time, you're so used to the shoreline being east, and then all of a sudden, it's south.

And it's as south on the map as Baltimore, which really blew my mind the first time I heard it.

So Cape May is, have you been there?

- I hadn't been there until I started working here, and we followed Chris Christie down there a bunch of times.

It's beautiful down there, but being from Jersey City, it is a haul to get down there.

- Exit zero.

It is a trek.

It is not the kind of place you're gonna go for a day trip, but if you can spend even just a night there, I cannot recommend it enough.

I popped down, so I mean, my beach territory for the beach-wrecking story is from Brick all the way down to Cape May.

So I do that whole stretch, it's a lot of driving, but Cape May absolutely lived up to the hype that, I mean, everyone was telling me how great it was.

I was like, I will see.

'Cause I grew up going to Manasquan.

I love Manasquan.

Asbury's awesome, but Cape May, it's worth the trip.

Rent a, there's some cool hotels and some nice Airbnbs and stuff in those Victorian houses, some great restaurants, definitely worth the trip.

- It's a nice place to stroll as well.

What else you got?

- So one beach that I wouldn't recommend, and I get a lot of flack for this 'cause people disagree with me, Wildwood.

Wildwood every year comes in pretty low in our rankings.

I think we had it at 39th or 40th this year.

Wonderful boardwalk, terrible beach.

And talk about pushback.

I get so much pushback for this one because there are Wildwood defenders.

People love this place.

And I'm not talking smack about the town.

I love the boardwalk.

I've had a blast on the boardwalk every time I've gone.

I get a Lime Rickey.

I try to win a prize, one of the games.

Usually I don't, but the sand is way too long.

It's dirty.

It's a, the trip from the boardwalk to the water is so long that they have beach taxis.

And I don't know about you, I wanna walk on the beach.

If the beach is so long that you need a taxi, you're doing something wrong.

- Yeah.

So that's one of the negatives.

What about another that you like?

- Beach Haven, the only beach that's ever overtaken Cape May in our rankings, 'cause we've been doing this for years now, is Beach Haven.

Pristine sand, a lovely town.

It's on the Southern end of Long Beach Island.

All the Long Beach Island beaches are excellent.

I can't recommend them enough.

Wherever you end up on LBI is gonna be great, but Beach Haven is the best of the best because of how, I mean, it's low key.

There's great food in the area.

You go to Chicken or the Egg, which is one of the rare New Jersey restaurants that lives up to its insane hype.

Really, really great brunch, really great wings.

Holiday Snack Bar is a lovely throwback to a bygone era.

And if you just wanna hang out on the beach, you can't do much better than that.

It's a really, really high quality beach and a wonderful time.

- I'll tell you, it's interesting.

I've been to LBI many times.

I've never been on any of the beaches.

I'm not a big beach guy, but I really enjoy LBI because it's like all these towns right next to each other, population 30, you know?

And it has a really great small town feel, which is what I like mostly about LBI.

- Absolutely, and every town has a slightly different feel.

Beach Haven is definitely one of the livelier ones.

I'm a big fan of Ship Bottom.

You go to the porthole for a beer and a roast beef sandwich and you're having a good time.

You got Old Barney up in Barnegat Light, one of the best lighthouses in the state.

LBI, wherever you get, I mean, it's also a trek from North Jersey, but well worth it.

- Yeah, you had an interesting episode on the 10 worst people you'll meet at the Jersey Shore.

Give me two of those real quick.

- I mean, the worst is definitely the lovebirds, the people that are on the beach and whether they're recently started dating or they're trying to find that spark again.

And God bless.

And we're rooting for love.

We fall in love at the Jersey Shore, by all means.

Just don't do it in front of me.

Don't, I mean, if you want to smooch a little bit on the sand, if you want to, you know, like kind of like hold each other in the water, okay, fine.

But I've been there when there's a couple like going at it right next to me on the sand.

And I'm like, dude, I like, you get a room, go to the- - You're probably already staying at a hotel nearby.

So take the walk back.

Give me one more.

- Exactly.

The beach Olympians, the people, and look, I love playing, you know, wiffle ball or can jam or spike ball on the beach.

You want to throw a football around, that's cool.

But when that football hits me in the head, but I'm trying to take a nap, that's when you've ruined my beach day.

And so I firmly believe you can play all these games, just do them on the side, have spatial awareness.

I feel like people lack that a lot at the shore.

Like we all want to, the beach is big enough.

Let's give ourselves some space, especially if you're throwing, you know, a pigskin or something.

- Music is one of your, on that list, right?

People who play not only music that you don't like, but really loudly, right?

- Yes, and music's subjective.

Everyone wants something different at the beach, music wise.

But I mean, I don't want to hear like techno or like raver music, like we're down at Ultra in Miami or something.

But even if you're playing, you know, some good old Bruce or, I mean, I heard some Bob Marley when I was at Asbury on Monday and that was fine.

Just keep it down.

Like not everyone wants to hear your music.

Not everyone likes your taste.

I mean, especially if you're playing like Drake or something right now, we don't need any of that.

Just keep it to a minimum.

Everyone wants something different at the beach.

I think that's what makes the beach beautiful.

But just don't let your thing ruin my thing.

And vice versa, I'll keep my music down too.

I'm going to be playing some turnstile or some turnover or something and I'll keep it.

Maybe even in the headphones.

I got headphones, you got headphones.

Let's keep the peace.

- Yeah.

You do food too, right?

Give me one or two really quick, 'cause I'm running out of time, stops where you can go to this town and have good food every night.

- Well, right now, Maplewood is having a real renaissance.

- Maplewood?

- Partially because, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corner Slice is a new pizzeria that opened earlier this year.

It's a square slice, as the name would suggest.

And it's a thick Sicilian, but it's really airy.

I cannot recommend it enough.

It's one of the best.

I think we named it the best new pizzeria in New Jersey.

It's right up there.

Also, Perla Oyster Bar is very, very good.

There's a, I think it's called Porta de Rossi, a really good Italian deli that does sandwiches and provisions that you can take home with you.

Maplewood, you have Abel Baker there, a very good bakery.

Maplewood is very much on the up and up.

Jersey City is not, I'm not saying anything revolutionary by saying you should go.

I mean, shout out to Sweat Manor, even though I like the one in Hackensack better.

Razza Pizza is phenomenal.

Bread and Salt is a bakery in the Heights that gets impossible hype and still delivers.

It's expensive, the lines are long, but it's well worth it.

We just reviewed a Honduran restaurant called Perkin that opened not that long ago down in Polish Hook.

Very, very good as well.

So if you come to Jersey City, there's more than enough options for you.

- Thick Sicilian is a great band name, by the way.

- I completely agree.

- We hear about incidents at Seaside and Long Branch.

Is the Shore experience being spoiled by some of these pop-up events?

- We've written about it a ton.

I haven't experienced any of them personally.

And the way I see it, you just gotta, I mean, it's like anything in New Jersey.

You just know what you're getting into.

Like if I heard that there was a pop-up thing coming to Seaside or Long Branch, I just wouldn't go.

There's enough Jersey Beach and boardwalks to avoid all that.

But I mean, also these boardwalks are so, I mean, the Wildwood boardwalk is massive.

The Asbury Park boardwalk is pretty big.

Ocean City is pretty big.

- It's easy to avoid.

- Yeah, I mean, look, it makes for great headlines and I'm glad we're reporting on it.

It's important.

You know, it's a weird phenomenon and I'm curious to see how it changes with school out and I mean, and all that.

But don't get scared off from going to the beach.

It's fine.

It's fine.

I mean, if I saw something like that, I would swiftly do an about-face and just walk to the end of the boardwalk and I would continue to drink my overly sweet lemonade and have a good time.

- All right.

Jeremy Schneider, food and culture reporter for NJ Advanced Media and host of the Jersey's Best podcast.

Good to meet you, man.

Have a great summer.

- You as well, David.

Thanks so much.

This was awesome.

- For a time back in the '80s, it seemed like every other rap song was about this girl, Roxanne.

Well, the woman who was at the epicenter of all that is still going strong.

She's the emcee of Rock the Bells Festival, part of the North to Shore Festival, produced by LL Cool J and the Black Promoters Collective, taking place this weekend at Prudential Center.

It's a pleasure to welcome Roxanne Shante to the show.

Roxanne, welcome.

- Thank you, thank you.

It is wonderful to be here.

Please believe it.

- It's amazing to think that the kid who started that hip hop sensation with Roxanne's Revenge was 14 years old.

What do you remember about those times?

- You know, I remember that it was not only just a great time for hip hop, but it was a great time in the world.

When you think about being 14 and being able to do what it is that you love to do and then having it turn into a career where now I'm well into my 50s and still able to enjoy myself and get up there and have a great time.

And then to have an entire festival that now focuses on hip hop, incredible.

- You know, New York in the 80s, I mean, that's my time, was just such a whole different vibe, no?

- Yes, absolutely.

When you think about even New York at that time, you know, it was a certain, there was a certain freedom that was there.

There was a certain innocence that was there.

And a lot of people say, "Well, New York, has it ever been innocent?"

Absolutely.

You know, when we're going through our childhood and we think about playing in, you know, the fire hydrants and getting candy and going to the movie theaters and being in there all day, but also going to these park jams and being able to see the artists that we now pay so much money to see, being able to see them for free in the park in the 80s and now watch how everyone has grown.

It's a blessing to be here and experience that.

- I remember I was a kid, we used to take the path into Manhattan and walk from 33rd up to Central Park.

And all along the strip there, the first time I saw these kids roll out, linoleum square.

- That's right.

- And then just start to break.

And we were like, "What the hell is that?"

And it became a whole, I mean, it's in the Olympics.

- Yes, yes, absolutely.

- What it is is that it shows you that you are able to not only be able to just take something from that time and those memories and how you had that big smile on your face when you saw that, but it was something new, something brand new, something that we could not wait to be a part of.

- I know you couldn't have imagined in 1985 that hip hop would go on to become the most influential genre of music, culture and fashion, I mean, the world over.

- No, you could not have imagined that.

I think when I first got involved in hip hop, it actually had an expiration date like milk.

Like literally they were saying, "Listen, this thing is not gonna be around long."

Hip hop was a genre of music that you were told that in order for you to grow up, you had to grow out of it.

And I don't think any other genre of music had the pressure that hip hop had.

And that is the reason why there's no other genre of music that has the success that hip hop has.

- Yeah, you are also on the air on XM Radio, Rock the Bells Radio, yeah.

- Absolutely, LL Cool J's Rock the Bells Radio.

LL came up with the idea that not only are we classic artists but we're timeless.

And these were songs that people always felt good about.

So I have a show that I'm on every day with Cupmaster Cool V called "Have a Nice Day" where literally I am that friend in the car to make sure that you have a nice day.

- Nice, all right, Rock the Bells at Prudential.

Who's in this lineup?

I mean, there's a lot of people on there.

- Oh my goodness, this year's lineup is incredible.

From KRS-One to Rakim, from Plies to Boosie to Busta, you name it.

But also this year is a special spin on it because we will also be celebrating Uptown Records.

So for Uptown Records, you have your Jeff Redge, your I'll Be Sure.

You know, when you start to think of different things, Donnell Jones, you start to think about certain times when R&B music had such a hip hop feel, you gotta go with Uptown Records.

So we're gonna be celebrating Uptown Records and it's gonna be something like people have never seen before.

And Busta has some surprises.

- You almost blew my mind when you said I'll Be Sure right there.

- Yes, night and day, baby, night and day.

- So this is also Rock the Bells Festival Class of 2025.

Summer's Cool, it's a celebration of Black Music Month.

- Absolutely, and it's also letting you know that we believe in making sure that we spread the knowledge.

So we wanted to give it that educational spin because there's always something that you can learn from Rock the Bells, whether it's you're listening to the station or if you're coming out to the festivals or if you're going to the website, there's always something to learn.

So we believe in having that educational component with it, but we also want you to know that it's cool to learn.

So it's cool to come on out and have a good time and learn something.

- You're from Queens, so I guess you're an East Coast rapper.

What's it like performing here in Newark?

- You know what, it's incredible.

It can only be done at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, because it's a combination of not just New York, but also Newark, and Newark has always been very New York.

So if we had to say they were relatives, they are first cousins.

So, and it's only just one stop away, literally on the train, just one stop away.

So when you're just one stop away from the full influence of it, you are going to also be an influence.

So I'm looking forward to everybody seeing what the brick city has built one brick at a time.

- Yeah.

What do you listen to?

I always wonder what our veteran rappers are listening to today.

- You know, if I was to say, because I have a radio show where I do hip hop every day of the day, when I get a moment to myself at home, literally I will listen to some R&B, but I always have to throw in a little classic hip hop in there.

So I'm really with my LL Cool J's, my Run DMC's, my Biz Markie's, my Big Daddy Kane's, Rakim's Nas, but then I also throw a little Doshi in there, a little Cardi B.

So for me, I love it all because hip hop is not just a genre of music for me, it's literally a way of life.

So there's always something in my life that goes on and there's a hip hop song or a hip hop artist that goes along with it.

- In the music today, it's a whole different flow.

Are there artists who are trying to bring back that sound from the 80s and 90s?

- Well, you know, we also have on the show with us, Coast Conscious, so one of the things about them is they take our classic vibe and they also put it with present day greatness and together it's just incredible.

So yeah, it's definitely that combination that you're gonna see.

- It's the Rock the Bells Festival.

It's happening this weekend at Prudential Center in Newark.

Are you gonna perform or are you just gonna be the mistress of ceremonies?

- I am the hostess with the mostest, doing it from coast to coast, this baby.

- And you're also a Grammy winner, no?

- Yes, yes.

A lifetime Grammy award winner, yes I am.

- The influence of rap and hip hop, the world over still growing.

Roxanne Shante, a pleasure to meet you.

- Thank you, thank you.

And it's an honor, it's definitely an honor.

- Back in the day, we would beat the summer heat by spending the afternoon at the movies.

For us, the Lowe's Theater in Journal Square was the spot.

It opened in 1929 as one of the great Lowe's wonder theaters way back before my time, just for the record.

It was the site of my first date and where I was traumatized forever after seeing "The Exorcist" for the first time.

Well, the place has been undergoing a major renovation and restoration in anticipation of a grand reopening as a music venue in the fall of 2026.

We got a chance to witness some of the work going on there.

Take a look.

- Well, this project has been years, decades in the making.

We are doing a full renovation with our partner, Harris Blitzer Sports Exhibition, HBSE, of this theater, which is only one of five wonder theaters left in the country.

This was a theater that was opened in 1929 and it was intended to bring movies to life.

So when you came to this theater, it wasn't just to see a movie, it was to experience entertainment.

It was an experience to be here.

The detail in the plaster, in the lighting, the brilliant chandelier, the bathrooms, which had marble in them, fireplaces, it was luxury for the average person to come here on a Saturday night and experience cinema.

So the last time this theater was commercially operated was in the early 1980s and the last movie they showed was "Friday the 13th."

And then after that, it was purchased by a redeveloper and it was slated for redevelopment, but community group, Friends of Lowe's, led the charge to save the theater.

And then since then, for the last few decades, they have been showing nonprofit programming like movies and there's other events that are held here like a Christmas concert and weddings.

So it hasn't been empty and unused.

The construction will be finished in June of '26 and we hope to have it up open that summer as well, if not the fall.

So this is financed with a very complex, what we call a capital stack that includes state tax credits and the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency entered into a partnership with HBSE.

They're the redeveloper.

So we work with them in partnership to renovate this theater and they're doing the complete renovation.

- We're the construction manager for the project.

We have a relationship with HSBE along with a lot of experience in historic restorations, doing work out on Ellis Island.

And recently we did the Statue of Liberty Museum out on Liberty Island.

Anybody, you walk into this project, your first impression is, wow, what a amazing facility in Jersey City in this location.

So that's your first impression.

But then as we get into the nuts and bolts of it, it's coming up with a plan and having the challenges, overcoming them early so we can get this project done.

So it did have a lot of water damage, but also the biggest challenge really here is that we're taking this historic theater and turning it into a modern theater that'll be used for all kinds of modern events.

So the big part of this project is upgrading all the mechanicals, all the HVAC, electrical, sprinkler, plumbing systems to bring it up to modern standards.

So we can historically renovate this project to look at it as it originally did.

We're taking a lot of precautions to make sure we don't damage any of the historic fabric.

And we're also making sure that when you come into this building, it will be restored to how it originally was and the grandeur that that had.

So I think people are gonna be very pleased with the final product.

- This has taken decades for us to get here.

And this is something that everybody in the city of Jersey City should be proud of.

- And that's "Chat Box" for the season.

Thank you so much for being a part of it.

You can't imagine how important your support is for us.

We're on Blue Sky now.

You can follow us there @DavidCruzNJ and keep up with what's happening in the newsroom when you subscribe to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

I'm David Cruz.

For our producer, Jen Eckert, associate producer, Brendan Smith, our director, Elvin Badger, and the entire crew here at Gateway Center in downtown Newark, we thank you for watching.

Have a great summer.

We'll see you in the fall.

- Major funding for "Chat Box with David Cruz" is provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support for "Chat Box with David Cruz" is provided by Insider NJ, a political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious political players an interactive forum for ideas, discussion, and insight.

Online at InsiderNJ.com.

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