Another slow news day on the forum??

Sheesh....

Characterizations and name calling are reaching new highs in this thread.
Moderator--would you please insist on civility in discourse amongst the posters?

?WE GREW UP IN JERSEY CITY--great list!!


YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM JERSEY CITY IF YOU REMEMBER:
*Al's Diner on Communipaw Av.
*Walking home from school for lunch from PS 24.
*Going to the Rialto on Westside Av on Fri night.
*Getting into the park thru Olean Av.
* Sal's Bakery & Pizzeria, West Side Av.
* You knew the best pizza was ZUPPAS, in Greenville.
* Kennedy Blvd. was Hudson Boulevard, and had islands.
* You knew all the troublemakers, before they became cops.
* Everyone knew where the K9 was.
* Martin Luther King Drive was Jackson Avenue
* Christopher Columbus Drive was Railroad Avenue
* Luiz Munoz Marin Boulevard, was Henderson Street
* Manila Avenue was Grove Street .
* Roosevelt Bowling Lanes & Putney's Pub
* Annual Holy Name Parade along Hudson Blvd.
* The color scheme of the city bus lines .... Brown: Central Avenue; Red : Montgomery & West Side; Green: Bergen/Lafayette and Orange: Bergen Avenue.
* Getting Easter Sunday suits at Robert Hall.
* Bettingers on the Square.
* Uncle Milties, Bergen Point, at the Kill Van Kull in Bayonne.
* Played 'kick the can' and 'hide and seek' on your street at night in the summers.
* Played stick ball and box ball.
* Outdoor, summer time, family movies provided by Och's Electric Store, at P.S. 33 school yard.
* You shopped in Woolworth's on Journal Square, and then went to the Griddle or Driftwood after a movie.
* The Hudson Mall was a Jersey City garbage dump, at the foot of Clendenny Av..
* You could actually swim in the Heights Reservoir (on the sneak) .
* The giant roach in the exterminators window on Westside Avenue.
* Floor shows at the Canton Tea Garden Chinese Restaurant at Journal Square.
* You knew where the "China Clipper" Restaurant was.
* You've said "Youse guys" about 100 times in one day.
* The best hot dogs at Boulevard Drinks, Journal Square.
* Orange Julius at the Square.
* Charcoal burgers at Tippy's.
* 'Car hops' at the Blue Manor on Tonnele Av.
* The Tube Bar on the Concourse, and Red the owner, at Journal Square.
* The Oyster Bay, Murtaghs, the Alps, Robinsons Steak House, and the Blue Piano
* The PATH train was ..30 cents, and before that they were called the Hudson Tubes (was 5 cents).
* The Happy Birthday Truck from Schneider's Bakery.
* The Public Service Bus Terminal, Journal Square & Concourse with 3 Guys Pizza, Universal, Horn & Hardardt.
* The shortcut through the escalators to Magnolia Avenue.
* Eating lunch at Liss Drug at Journal Square.
* Minor League Baseball, Stock Car Racing & Ice skating at Roosevelt Stadium.
* That St. Al's Academy was known as 'snob hill'.
* The Bergen School.
* The YMCA, CYO, OLM, St. Michael's, Mt. Carmel and Holy Family dances.
* Going through Lincoln Park, over the Rt. 440 overpass to the "back."
* You hung out at the VIP or The Colonette after a night of partying, and before that the Colony Diner.
* The football Giants practicing at Roosevelt Stadium.
* Every Roman Catholic lived in a parish.
* J.M. Fields at Journal Square.
* Brummers Ice Cream Parlor at the Junction.
* Schroeder's and Myers Ice Cream Parlor on Central Avenue.
* Schluer's Home Made Ice Cream, West Side Av.
* Your neighborhood walking beat cop's first name.
* The Captains Table Restaurant at Roosevelt Stadium.
* Fischer-Beer's.
* Drive-in movies at Roosevelt Stadium, and sneaking under the fence.
* You sat on the Buffalo at Mosquito Park on Hudson Blvd., and rode your sled in winter there.
* Nedicks and Bickford's Cafeteria on the Square.
* Monteleones, Five Corners and the Paris Bakeries.
* In grammar school you walked home for lunch, and your Mom made it for you, 'cause she was there.
* You lived in a house/apartment/cold water flat, with at the least one aunt, cousin and/or grandparent living on the same street.
* You lived within 1/2 mile of three Catholic churches (with schools attached).
* Track meets and boxing matches at Pershing Field in the Heights.
* The pool at North Street Park (and never called it Washington Park).
* Battle of the Marching Bands, annually at Roosevelt Stadium.
* Your dad would take the whole family to the Roosevelt Drive-In, but if you were over 12, he'd hide you in the trunk.
* You've eaten at Jule's, IIvento's, or the Rodeo Steakhouse.
* You remember buying candy at Liss's and then going to one of the 3 movies on the Square.
* You went to John's Bargain Store for clothes pins and underwear.
* You hung out at the Hilltop on Newark & Baldwin Ave. after high school everyday.
* You ate zeppoles and took chances for the 50/50 at the Mount Carmel feast & carnival.
* You shopped Great Eastern on 440 before it was found to be a toxic PCP dump. Ditto 'the back' at
Lincoln Park
* You could see the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building from your house and never visited them.
* You played basketball or hockey in Country Village
* You had a coconut drink at the Canton
* You learned to drive in Roosevelt Stadium or Bayonne Park, and 'make out' at 11 PM.
* You swam at Bayonne/ Boulevard Pool and skated at the roller rink next door.
* You saw headliner rock groups and fireworks in Roosevelt Stadium.
* There was a time when the PIX Theater didn't show porn.
* There were three colleges in Jersey City to choose from, Jersey City State,
St. Peter's, and Rutgers University.
* You delivered the Jersey Journal door-to-door, and no one worried you'd get mugged or kidnapped by a neighbor.
* You could sneak into the back door of the Stanley for a free movie, before the Jehovah's Witnesses took it over.
* You remember going to the State and Loew's movie theaters at the Square
* You and all your friends were born in the best maternity hospital in the state, the Margaret Hague, (best on the East coast at that time).
* You went bare ass swimming in the lake in back of Lincoln Park, Hackensack River & Newark Bay.
* Going to Palisade Park was a big adventure.
* You knew which houses on your street were 'haunted'.
* You went to the "Shore" after your prom.
* You remember 'turf wars' between Sterling, Ocean, the Heights, West Side, and Marion.
* For $2.00 you could take the "Tubes" to Greenwich Village, buy an Orange Julius and a chili dog, and then take the "Tubes" back, and still have change!
* You knew what time the Mosquito truck fogged the block with diapason, so you could run behind in the thick smoke.
* The water truck that soaked down the dusty cobble stones and streets every week.
* Lay-aways at Journal Square stores.
* Every one spoke English, except at home, if you were Italian or Polish.
* Cops would kick your butt if you answered them back or returned after you were told not to.
* You knew the neighborhood 'bookie' and could play a number for 15c, with a 10c combo.

I'd just like to know who stole the hand railings from the stairways.

It's shameful--such a grand old place when we were kids. The FOL have made a laughable mockery of the restoration -- that ridiculous organ!! Walk down the Boulevard to the old Stanley to see what can be done. I spent a lot of time as a kid in all of JC's great movie theaters. It really hurts to see what they've become. But then again--look at the city itself. No longer a place where homes and families are the norm, rather an investment opportunity. All about the bucks....

Thanks much for the observations!!

Has anyone toured the facility? Is it worth a visit? I 'd like to hear some commentary from anyone who's been there.

There are some serious air quality issues which have to be resolved in the theatre. I attended the showing of 1984 a few months back and my breathing was impacted for days. I won't return until a complete overhaul takes place. It's just pathetic.

I remember when Jersey City was just a nice place to live.
Wha hoppen??

Soooo, the chalk on the walk troll fest is done I guess?

We got a new one....hooray!!!

Here's one I have yet to find anyone who remembers.
On Wayne Street across from #9's playground in the middle of the block was a Mom & Pop store. Pretty sure it was next to a Fire House Station. This is a real way back question. Love to hear from anyone who recalls the name of the store or anything about the owners.
While I'm at it, anyone recall a little shop named Georgie's on Wayne in the St. Bridget's neighborhood? It was a regular little store where you could get pretty much anything you need. He always had toys in the window.

Rollin' a drunk--nothing new in Jersey City.

Move on....

Thanks much for that clear explanation.
In the meantime the city should be embarrassed for keeping the venue open in the condition that it's in. It's really a health hazard to the public. The upper levels of the building I believe are still encrusted with accumulation of the years, and I seriously doubt whether the hangings along the walls have had the dust and accretions removed from them. Sooner or later there will be suits based on health issues.
Shut it down until the environment is made safe.

I had no intention to fire things up. I merely stated an opinion.
Such anger (and inflammatory language) as you've exhibited isn't necessary in civil discussion.
Older people have settled in their ways and many are not adept at dealing with the sometimes chicanery of the money merchants. A cursory look at the JC property values vs. taxation really brought the issue home to me. Then to see houses (etc) which were up for sale for 500% of what was paid for them at auction a month earlier indicates an indecency at large amongst the populace.

I think the bubble burst for me with the visit I made a year or two ago to the KING"S Theatre in Brooklyn.
http://www.kingstheatre.com/. I was stunned by the expertness that brought a movie palace back to a "royal" status. The venues appearing there could easily come to Jersey City and breathe life back into the Square if the theatre were properly redone.
The other thing that caught my eye was the money spent on the organ that is just really an expensive annoyance. Air conditioning, or at least an air filtration system would have been a better place to spend whatever funds went into that ostentatious debacle.
I mean, the handrails haven't been replaced yet. Jeez!!

I think the bubble burst for me with the visit I made a year or two ago to the KING"S Theatre in Brooklyn.
http://www.kingstheatre.com/. I was stunned by the expertness that brought a movie palace back to a "royal" status. The venues appearing there could easily come to Jersey City and breathe life back into the Square if the theatre were properly redone.
The other thing that caught my eye was the money spent on the organ that is just really an expensive annoyance. Air conditioning, or at least an air filtration system would have been a better place to spend whatever funds went into that ostentatious debacle.
I mean, the handrails haven't been replaced yet. Jeez!!

Ecomomic violence with or without justification will be visited on many older residents of Jersey City. But this is the price to be paid because of the proximity to NYC. It's a shame.

I don't know what to make of the legal issues, but the physical interior of the building in terms of rehabilitation is at a standstill imho. I think there may be a health hazard within from the state of foul air. I was sickened for three days after attending a viewing of 1984 and I will not return to the place. And this hurts, because I had hopes for the palace that I spent many a time in as a younger person. A change is desperately needed somewhere!!

Look to Rome for the answers.

I went to the showing of 1984 at the Loew's last night. It was a presentation with discussion to follow. All in all, an admirable attempt at a community gathering. As one of the speakers latter opined, there is a need for people to come out for this type of an event so that the arts can be supported from within by those who want to see them flourish.
Unfortunately there wasn't enough time for a lengthy back and forth between audience, moderator and the panel. Had it started an hour earlier I think that the public would have been better served. There was an interesting and enlightened group at the dais who could have given so much more if they had the time.
The film was shown in the right theater. When it comes to remembrance of a grand past reduced to border line squalor we were right at home. I know of what I speak having spent my boyhood years there a half century ago.
When will the "Friends" give over the place to an entity that can bring it back to more of a semblance of what it was. There is still so much grandeur that can be re-presented to the public.
As it stands, it is a downright embarrassment.
I have been attending vintage showings since the reopening of the theater, and I can't believe how little improvement has been accomplished. And yes, I know it was a Herculean effort just to get the place reopened and cleaned for habitation, but come on!!!

Every time I see that damned silly organ pop up and play the inane music that just wastes time I wonder why the funds weren't given over to an air filtration system or air conditioning for the building? No matter how I plead with my wife to accompany me to a showing (and she has in the past) she won't enter the place again because of the mustiness and the filth of the ages that has yet to be removed. Last night as I sat down I realized how right she is. As I gazed at the walls and the ceilings and the upper levels I realized that the dusty air within and the odor of decay cannot be allowed to linger if the theater ever wants to become a place of entertainment value.

I could go on and on, and yes, I appreciate the valor and fortitude in the effort of the volunteers in the comeback they are trying to efface there, but someone has to come to reason and see that filth must be removed from a public gathering place first for the enjoyment of the public.

That silly organ sure gleams though.

Yes--correct, and there's a reason for both of your statements. It's just that nice in that section of the city. Also--though few in number--there are some multi family buildings where one could acclimate themselves to JC living while searching for a permanent residence. Are apartments available?--that too may be iffy.

Gentrification will come to the area being inquired of, but it will be a long and painful wait for its arrival.

If you want to get adventurous go to upper Grand Street and await the changes there -- it'll happen there, but the same warnings apply.

Go to the section known as the Island off of Journal Square. It's pleasant and quiet and you'll be quite happy there.

Yico the peddler. He'd send his helper into the hallways to yell that he was here. Think he had a horse in the early days.

Yep,

That was Johnny Budenza.

Referred to as being in a "death spiral" yesterday by a major insurance company ceo.
Young people are not signing up in significant numbers (since they're young and healthy or on their parents' policy until they're twenty-six).Also, the IRS is not going to enforce the law on the mandated penalty for those who don't sign up.

Economic violence or fair business model??

Like telephone intrusions and the like I view this practice as a form of violence--not so much physical, but psychological.

BTW,

While you're on Terhune Ave, take a look at that bike lane.

Opinions?

Ate there for years, but the price they charge for home style Italian went too high.
We don't eat there anymore. They've outgrown the neighborhood that supported them.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/pe ... st-lady-fashion-strategy/

Melania--our new first lady at the ball last night.

There's a helluva selection that would be a big draw to a thief.
People should note that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and act accordingly.
Get something cheap that doesn't attract attention and doesn't hurt to lose.