So it is treating something. How do you propose we treat the illness? That's a generational, 100 year type issue/plan, and it also will need focus outside the boundaries of Newark proper, but I'm open to ideas specific to that area as to how to fix the problems without closing the store.....

I'm just not of the camp that things should be allowed to fester just bc there are bigger societal reasons for it. Newark can do better. The hard working people of this city deserve better than the status quo.

You don’t know what’s convenient for me.

I do volunteer and I don’t feel comfortable with law enforcement because of personal experiences so never that. Closing that 7-11 does nothing to address anything you said nor does it solve any problems. It’s just treating the symptom not the illness.

A plant spewing toxic smoke form the burning garbage is not the equivalent to a convenience store selling chips and soda?

The ironbound already has the highest concentration of restaurants, barbers shops and mail saloons in the country l, but sure let’s shut down an existing business to make way for a magical restaurant.

The fact of the matter is simple, I walk by that store in during peak foot traffic hours 4 days a week. The homeless people who congregate there make access to the site an highly unappealing proposition. This is likely the main driver why the business closed. A convenience store in that type of location anywhere else would be a gold mine. Leave it to a moron like Micheal Silva to try and spin this as a good thing.

The police and the city refuse to address the loitering problem.

Wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the place to be magically transformed into restaurant. No one in his right mind would put one there.

Your mom

Loitering????? Next to Newark Penn Station??? Ion think closing the 711 is gonna do much to solve that lmao

Wonder if a quick check could replace one of them.

That place was a nightmare there were multiple violent acts and then at one point they had a security guard in there selling drugs in 2020 and 2021 was the height of bad . It's never a good sign when the city assigns a cop just to sit outside of your place of business.

There are open air drug markets all over this city in loitering areas. I do not think the local population, many of them black and brown, are single-mindedly racist for having issues with some of the loitering in this city.

As to the homeless population, it's much more complex an issue than simply increasing housing. Some folks do not want to abide by the regulations etc set forth for shelters, and end up outside.

Newark can be equitable and progressive-minded without allowing complete lawlessness and the desecration of public space at every turn. The people who seem to suffer the most with unkempt public spaces are hard working immigrants and minority communities. Most the white people flee to the suburbs, Montclair, and Jersey City, and then put forth some of the same positions you have here.

Not looking to argue or anything, but just getting outside the box a bit. That said, I'm sorry to hear that you will be losing a resource on late commutes. The way NJT cops treat that station later at night is a disgrace. We need more amenities 24/7 near and in the station, but again, that also comes with alleviating the drug and homeless element that causes issues.

you can just go to the 7 11 on broad and market. 5 minute walk.

About time put a shake shack in there

DO IT

They'll get something else in there.

So the remedy to fixing the food desert problem is closing down a 7-11? By the miracle of magical thinking, the organic coop grocery store is going to sweep in and fill that empty store front?😂😂

The loitering in front of that store existed long before the 7-11 existed. No matter what store you open there the homeless will congregate in front of it.

Welp all we gotta do now is wait for next fall to see this happen, so close but far at the same time. Very glad this is happening. 30 months to complete so I imagine it being done sometime in 2025 or 2026. If CitiSquare starts at the same time we’ll have to big developments under construction in this area but wait we also got 930 McCarter hwy starting construction soon and hopefully maybe the Arc Tower as well. Also does the new prudential tower look U shaped

Place attracts the wrong element. They finally cleaned up the little park/monument. Time to clean that up now. Great little building, but they need something better in there. Maybe a nice coffee shop or something.

Your response is screaming coded language.

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion based off of the kind of posts I see on this page but I hate this so much. Some people need to go touch grass and mind their business. This is wack af! That 7 Eleven has been a life saver for me many times during late commutes back to Newark when everything else is closed. I promise you this will solve nothing and will only make things more inconvenient. What’s being done to address this outrageous housing problem and homelessness? It also really blows my mind how much some of y’all hate to see folks outside. People out here really have a problem with Black folks just standing outside. I hear negative comments all the time about Broad street. It genuinely baffles me. Also please study up. The history of anti-loitering laws are racist. Why they still exist in this country is beyond me.

WHAT?!?!

This is very much a believe-it-when-I-see-it sort of thing.

They want the plant closed, maybe - but when those workers are unemployed, the people saying NIMBY aren't going to be willing to pay bills for them or support them. We need jobs, we need businesses paying taxes in NJ. Until there's a plan in place to make sure those people are employed, and there's some guarantee of tax rev as well, we need those businesses.

If there is a 'local goal', then there should be more competition and someone should have bought them out. It shouldn't be a question of who's going in there, it should be that the moment 7-11 is out, there's a business champing at the bit to go in.

Ahhhh so more stores closing in Newark. They really tryna make this city a wasteland.

Do the problems in that immediate area really have much to do with the 7-11? The park across the street appears to be the closest thing Newark has to a permanent homeless encampment.

NJPAC towers breaking ground next Fall.

The next phase of NJPAC’s development of its downtown campus includes a mixed-used complex with a 24-story, 350-unit apartment tower and commercial space at its base. The $180 million project, 20% of which will be reserved for people with low and moderate incomes, is scheduled to break ground in Fall 2023 and be completed 30 months later.

I was one of those Ironbound Resident early on who thought the opposite of my neighbors: my neighbor said it would be a haven for loitering and violence and trash in the area, and I was suspicious. But ultimately when it opened it just was. I was wrong. I hope a New Use comes in there quickly, that is something creative and unique and creates a welcoming gateway to the neighborhood.