Many thanks for all the great replies and info. This is good stuff and my friend is very thankful for the information. Gotta love jclist!

Cheek out 302 Monroe St. in hoboken. It's a shipping center in front but there's a back room they rent for parties and events. We had our daughter's 1st bday party here and it was great. We brought our own food and decorations and they were very helpful and accommodating. They have plenty of seating and tables (mostly pub height, though, with some benches around the edge of the room). Parking can be rough if a lot of guests are driving, but there's a lot about 2 blocks away and the light rail is very close. We had our party on a Sunday afternoon so parking wasn't too bad. Definitely within your budget.

St. Paul's at Five Corners is about $500 for the rental, and you can bring your own food. They have a large kitchen and a very large main space. There's lots of parking as well.

http://stpauljerseycity.org/stpaul/directions/

Another popular gathering place is

Casino-In-The-Park
1 Nunda Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07304
(201) 333-1045

located in Lincoln Park, many events are held there, and the park has been renovated as well.

I heard this place is reasonable. It is on the border of Jersey City Heights and Journal Square.

Ukrainian Community Center
90 Fleet Street, Jersey City, NJ 07306-2241
(201) 656-7755

I've seen various events held in school and church halls downtown. Hit up our local council member Steve Fulop directly. He can probably give you a good recommendation. Steve is very responsive, and he uses local community halls regularly for events. Steve Fulop <FulopS@jcnj.org> or Steven Fulop for Jersey City <info@stevenfulop.com> Otherwise, you may just have try calling up schools and churches for details. Here's where I've seen various fundraiser and social events: - St Peters Prep - nearby Hall on Grand street - Cordero Elemental on Erie and 9th - The art gallery on Coles near 6th? Hope this helps as a start.

Thanks for the response dtjcview. I should have included that they are looking for an inside venue as the gathering is planned for December.

This time of year you can book picnic areas in LSP. Get a few canopies, coolers and bring your own BBQ.

Greetings: A friend of mine is looking for a space in jersey city to rent to host a family gathering of about 50 people. They would like to bring in their own food, so a restaurant would probably not work. They were willing to pay around $500 for renting the space.

Do you know of any community spaces or buildings that might work?