The Coaster

The Asbury Park Air Terminal was located in Neptune off Route 66 and Jumping Brook Road. Artic explorer Isaac Ike Schlossbach operated it as a commercial airport in 1938.

By DON STINE

A famous Neptune resident, such as polar explorer Isaac Ike Schlossbach, should be the namesake for any access road to a retail outlet center off Route 66 rather than naming it after a politician from a neighboring town, some Neptune residents are saying.

Schlossbach traveled all over the world and is a well-known Arctic and Antarctic explorer. Id rather see a road in Neptune named after him than after a Tinton Falls mayor, said Bruce Pyle, who was raised in Neptune and is a friend of Schlossbachs.

The Chelsea Property Group, based in Roseland, is developing the outlet center in Tinton Falls between the Garden State Parkway and the Asbury Park Press building on Route 66.

A main access point to the mall will be from a jug-handle that will cut through Neptune off Route 66 and the developer has proposed naming the road McNamara Way after Tinton Falls Mayor Ann Y. McNamara, who was instrumental in moving the outlet center project forward.

But some residents would prefer the road be named for someone from Neptunes past.

Schlossbach was quite a famous person and if a street is to be named after somebody in Neptune then I think he is a person that certainly qualifies, Pyle said.

Schlossbach was born in Bradley Beach in 1891 and raised in Neptune City. As a youngster he helped run the Schlossbach Dry Goods store at 37 South Main Street in Neptune and graduated from Neptune High School in 1909.

In 1911 Schlossbach became the first Jewish midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and during World War I he commanded submarines in the Mediterranean. In 1921 he joined the aviation branch of the U.S. Navy, learning to fly both dirigibles and fixed-wing aircraft.

He retired from the military in 1930 after he lost an eye but came out of retirement and served at Guadalcanal during World War II.

Schlossbach also went on 12 polar expeditions, three to the Arctic and nine to the Antarctic, including many trips under Adm. Richard E. Byrd. He accomplished several aviation firsts while in the Antarctic, completing his last trip when he was 70 years old.

He also served as the navigator on the Nautilus in the first attempt to take a submarine to the North Pole under the icepack.

Isaac Ike Schlossbach, an Artic explorer, was a graduate of Neptune High School

Schlossbach was awarded three Congressional medals for his contributions to Antarctic exploration. He never married and died in Neptune in 1984 at the age of 93.

Schlossbach purchased a 125-acre parcel of farm land in Neptune, off Route 66, in 1935 and developed the future Asbury Park Air Terminal, which opened in 1938 under the name Ikes Jersey Aero Club- one of the first airports in central New Jersey.

The air terminal trained military flying instructors during World War II and an experimental flying submarine was tested in a pond at the airport during the war.

The airport was demolished in 1979 and the U.S. Life Building now occupies much of the site, with a helicopter pad still visible on the property.

Ironically, the new access road for the outlet center cuts right through Schlossbachs old property.

Pyle said he and some of his relatives brought parts for airplane hangers from Pennsylvania to Schlossbachs airport after World War II and helped erect them there.

Pyle said he knew Schlossbach fairly well and was invited by him to take part in an exploration trip to the Antarctic, which Pyle declined because he had just accepted a new job at the time.

But I certainly would have enjoyed the experience, he said.

Neptune historian Evelyn Stryker-Lewis said she believes it would be very appropriate to name the road after Schlossbach.

He owned that land and had one of the first air fields in central New Jersey. I think his glory and reputation have been forgotten over the years. He really was a national figure and to name a street after him would be very nice and appropriate, she said.

Former Township Committeeman Michael Goleb said he believes naming the access road after Schlossbach is a great idea.

I think he is one of the premier people in Neptunes history. He certainly did something on the world stage that also put Neptune on the map, he said.

Goleb said he believes many residents dont embrace the history of the township enough and that Schlossbachs name should be given consideration.

If they knew their history then his name would have risen to the top and been one of the first on the list. Tinton Falls is getting all the ratables from the outlet center so let them name a road after McNamara over there, he said.

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