New Jersey mayor looking to shut down Jon Bon Jovi’s non-profit restaurant

A New Jersey mayor is seeking to shut down one Jon Bon Jovi‘s non-profit restaurants – find out more below.

• READ MORE: Bon Jovi talk “joyous” new album and battling health problems: “We’re not dead yet”

In 2011, Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea opened the first pop-up JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurant with the aims of providing meals for the homeless or those in need. Since then, JBJ Soul Kitchen has secured two permanent locations in Rutgers University and New Jersey City University.

In February, they opened their latest pop-up location in inside Tom River’s Ocean County Library, which is due to run until May. In March, JBJ Soul Kitchen marked a major milestone, serving over 200,000 meals across all outlets.

However, Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick is seeking to shutter the Ocean County Library locale as soon as possible, as he believes it encourages the town’s homeless population to congregate at the venue.

Speaking to the NJ Advance Media, Rodrick said: “If they’re going to turn this into a homeless shelter, hell, cut everybody a check and give them a Barnes and Noble gift card.” He continued later: “I definitely want it gone. We certainly don’t think that the library is a good place. The issue was never Bon Jovi. It was [the] Ocean County Board of Commissioners who engaged with these nonprofits.”

In response, the Ocean County Commissioner Robert Arace argued: “We have data that they [the number of unhoused people in the area] have not increased. It is not a soup kitchen.”

Per the JBJ Soul Kitchen’s website, the initiative described itself as follows: “It is not a pay-what-you-want model or a soup kitchen. If you are unable to pay, we invite you into our restaurant to enjoy a warm meal and learn about volunteering opportunities at JBJ Soul Kitchen”. Patrons are encouraged to pay for their meals, or make donations to Pay it Forward to cover the cost of those who are unable to pay for their meals.

In January, Jon Bon Jovi announced a new anthology book, Bon Jovi: Forever. The book is narrated by frontman Jon Bon Jovi with illustrations from over a hundred photographers throughout their storied career.

Consisting of 264 pages, it includes over 1300 archival images of memorabilia, handwritten lyrics, tour passes and posters, iconic stage costumes, guitars, studio track lists and personal snapshots among others. Bon Jovi: Forever is being published in a limited run of only 1,500 copies worldwide, each of which will be hand-signed by Jon Bon Jovi.

In an interview with NME about ‘Forever’ in June last year, Jon Bon Jovi spoke about his ongoing recovery from vocal surgery, the chances of an ABBA Voyage-style hologram show as well as being inspired by The Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift.

At one point, the new Bon Jovi album was also going to be called ‘Legendary’ – but that apparently felt a bit too presumptuous. “You can call yourself ‘legendary’ in the mirror all you want, but you can’t say it in public,” he said. “It would just be too much.”

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