Ribbon record signals shore rebuilt

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. - New Jersey used a record-breaking gesture Friday to celebrate its recovery from a record-setting storm, proclaiming to the nation that the Jersey shore is back in business after superstorm Sandy.

Gov. Chris Christie and a host of volunteers carried out a ceremonial ribbon-cutting that broke the Guinness world record for the longest such undertaking. The 5.5-mile ribbon symbolically tied together some of the hardest-hit towns by Sandy, and bested the previous record-holder by about a mile, according to Mike Janela, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records, who was present for the event.

“This is an incredible day for New Jersey,” said Christie, who spoke even as frontend loaders carried poles and planks onto the sand for the still-unfinished boardwalk. “Seven months ago I saw the devastation on this boardwalk. I knew that if we all worked hard we could get this done.”

The event was part of a rollout of summer in this famous resort town made infamous by the MTV reality show Jersey Shore, which filmed here until wrapping up last year. Castmembers joined Christie in urging tourists to return this summer.

“This is known as a happy place,” Paul “Pauly D” Del Vecchio said. “Right after the storm, it was the exact opposite: dead, silent. To see this place being rebuilt makes me happy.”

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of Jersey Shore said crowds will be back this summer.

“You just come here to have a good time,” she said. “It’s a great place. You come here with your friends. Everybody’s here, it’s getting rebuilt; it’s just amazing.”

Her castmate Deena Cortese urged tourists to patronize Seaside Heights as it recovers.

“It’s kind of like a family on the boardwalk here,” she said. “Everybody needs to come this summer, especially for them.”

Christie, who has been racing up and down the shore opening boardwalks and talking up shore tourism all week as the summer kickoff approached, appeared on NBC’s Today show Friday morning, giving him a national pulpit to preach his message of recovery from a storm that caused $38 billion in damages in his state, and harmed or wrecked 360,000 homes or apartment units.

“Anybody who lives in New Jersey, the Jersey shore is in your heart,” he said. “This means everything to our state.”

Seaside Heights is where the storm swept a roller coaster into the ocean, making for one of Sandy’s iconic images. The roller coaster was taken away this month, but Casino Pier, the seaside amusement park where it used to sit, plans to have 18 rides open this summer.

Similar ribbon-cuttings were carried out at numerous other shore towns as well Friday, and Christie visited Point Pleasant Beach later in the day, when he was drenched by a rainstorm while walking the boardwalk.

The governor said about 80 percent of the shore will look as it did last summer, and acknowledged more work needs to be done to fully recover. He is to tour parts of the storm-hit shore Tuesday with President Barack Obama.

Tourism is a nearly $40 billion industry in New Jersey, and shore towns are counting on a good summer to help them recoup major losses they incurred after the storm. A storm that parked itself over the shore and was expected to bring rain through Sunday morning didn’t exactly help.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 05/25/2013

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