Is that a statue of a guy holding on oar?

I don't think it's that wide now. Imagine how much wood they had to use.

at the extreme left? For watching some kind of performances on the boardwalk?

Asbury Park's recent history is a curious mix of decline and growth. Once a popular resort town, its fortunes plummeted starting in the 1950's as the tourists went elsewhere and the remaining residents became poorer and poorer. By the 1980's just about the only "industry" left in town consisted of boarding houses for deinstitutionalized mental patients ... and it couldn't hold on to even that. Redevelopment plans went nowhere and in a couple of cases left behind the hulks of half-finished apartment buildings.

Stating in the late 1990's, just as things looked hopeless, Asbury Park was "discovered" by the group that's often been in the vanguard of urban revitalization: gay men. They began moving into the city in large numbers, fixing up many rundown buildings, and soon other people began moving in. Asbury Park still has quite a ways to go, but it's in far better shape than even a decade ago.

It sure looks like surfers in the water behind the beach house. Are they time travelers?

[With invisible surfboards. - Dave]

That pretty lady with the umbrella in the foreground, dressed in a dark skirt, white shirtwaist and looking to her right -- such an elegant look. Gone are the days, I guess.

What is the white screen for? I would not assume this is for a movie projector but i could be wrong.