Day: September 29th, 2006
Jersey City housewarming
Well, M(LF) finally did it: after months of threatening to do so, she finally left the place in Chelsea behind for Jersey City (a.k.a. the Dirty Jerz). Tonight would be the housewarming party.
Despite its proximity to downtown Manhattan -– a mere six-minute ride from the World Trade Center PATH station (Yes, I timed it) — I’d only ever been through, not to, Jersey City. On the way down to the train platform, we passed a familiar face, riding the escalator in the opposite direction. It was DK, on his way home from work.
“Where are you going?,” he called.
As the escalators pulled us deeper into the station, widening the gap between him and us, we called back, “JER-zeeee!”
The city has a (2000 U.S. Census) population of 240,055, comparable to post-Katrina New Orleans (i.e., about half of the pre-Katrina population numbers.)
In the late 19th century, Jersey City served as an inviting destination for immigrants coming through Ellis Island, offering easy access to Manhattan and plentiful jobs in its thriving manufacturing center. But decades of government mismanagement and a history of political scandal and corruption produced a classic example of urban blight by the late 20th century, leaving abandoned waterfront rail yards and shells of warehouses in its wake. In the past decade, though, Jersey City has undergone a major renaissance and the yards have been replaced with public parks and massive residential and commercial development. Trump Plaza: Jersey City is in the works at Washington and Bay Streets, and will include New Jersey’s two tallest residential towers (50 and 55 stories tall.)
City Hall of the City of Jersey City (1896) — designed by Lewis Broome, who also did the plans for the Trenton State House:
M’s apartment, is located in the Van Vorst Park historical district. The park itself is 1.8 acres of landscaped public space, named for Cornelius Van Vorst, onetime mayor of Jersey City. It is surrounded on four sides by historic brick and brownstone rowhouses, and separated from the waterfront by a legacy of older infrastructure. The park features pathed walkways, garden areas, a playground, an ornate iron fountain and manicured lawns. The space underwent a $2 million renovation in 1999, and is maintained in large part through the efforts of the Friends of the Van Vorst Park Association.
M’s apartment was enviable: easily triple the space of the Chelsea pad, with a granite-countered kitchen and the almost unimaginable luxury of two bathrooms (one en suite). One week in, and she already had in place some serious, grown-up furniture pieces, including a substantial four-poster bed “as nice as the ones in the Sheraton!”
Search
Popular Tags
Categories
Archive
- July 2010
- July 2009
- January 2009
- November 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006