Recent comments in /f/Newark

Satanic_Doge t1_iwj08xe wrote

Reply to comment by poete_idris in Make it nine in a row for the NJ Devils. 😈 by Top_Ad7068

Part of it is the Devils get buried by the other hockey teams in the area in major media markets (Philly and NYC x2), so the Devils get lost in the mix. You also have a lot of people in NJ who are fans of the Flyers, Rangers, or Islanders (or even the Bruins to a lesser extent) because those teams have been around much longer than the Devils have (NYR and Boston are original 6 teams; the Flyers have been around since the 1960s IIRC).

It sucks, but it's also kind of understandable. That said, we were good in the past in the 90s/early 2000s, but the past 10 years have been painful to put it mildly. Thankfully, all of those years of sucking, being in denial, and then rebuilding are finally coming to a head this year and we are a legitimate playoff team now.

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notmymainaccountbruh t1_iwirj3n wrote

Reply to comment by Aggravating_Rise_179 in If Newark had a downtown, we’d be goated by poete_idris

I'm familiar with those. I was more so talking about soulful and deep house when I said "dance music." Should've been more specific. Vivo Lounge was the spot in the Ironbound tho for us househeads and house dancers when they had Sol Deep every Wednesday and Lou Alverez was resident dj. Great sets, live performances, and album/single releases. It was a vibe. That's a dub now unfortunately. Coffee Cave on Halsey was another dope space in the city for creatives. They would fly in some of the top dj's from all around the country (first time seeing DJ Karizma in Jersey) but that eventually closed. The CAVE on Mt. Pleasant Ave (same owner as Coffee Cave) was another good lowkey spot for underground househeads and fans of electronic music. Amazing soundsystem. Good rave vibes. Shut down again. Another space is being built on Clinton Ave called BlkboxNWK by John Murray. He has the support of the city this time around and it will be part of the Gant-Gilbert Arts Collective building that opened earlier this year so hopefully that is a success. It has just been kind of dragging along for a year and some change tho. I still have high hopes for it.

I'm not saying Newark never had any nice nightlife spots or doesn't have any, but the best ones for fans of a certain type of underground dance music (not EDM) usually have a nice lil run for a few years but they eventually shut down. If I'm being real, Irvington always had better spots than Newark like Club Elevation (now closed) and the Cricket Club, as far as house. If you include those, you really did not have to travel outside of Essex County to have a good time. Now we gotta go to Brooklyn, lol. I'm clownin but I'm just saying, for a place that's considered one of the house meccas, I think Newark could do better. It's a major part of our culture and most of us grew up on it. The random one-off parties are cool but there should be more outlets for music & arts in Newark, in general. I plan on doing my part to help change all that though. You can clearly see I'm passionate about it, lol.

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Nwk_NJ t1_iwi7yjx wrote

Reply to If Newark had a downtown, we’d be goated by poete_idris

I think the issue here is our proximity to NYC, and New Jerseys sprawling urbanity.

Go to places like Pittsburgh, Memphis, Dallas, Columbus, Cincinnati, even Boston, and those cities are the centerpiece of a ring of suburbs and then rural area ...so if you want to go to the best steakhouse, the theatre, a sleek place for drinks, etc...or want to work in TV or Radio, or the Newspaper, work in a major law firm or corperation, etc..you've got to travel to the downtown area of those cities.

But, with Newark, you've got a lot of that not only close by in NYC, but also in places like Montclair, Westfield, various Bergen County towns, the shore, etc.

Now, that isn't to say that Newark can't still be the center of all of this north jersey sprawl, and if you look at the pattern of development, downtown Newark actually is the center of a lot of it, but its going to take a lot more work to get it there. Until then, it's just one of many downtowns, with its own character, love it or hate it.

Cities like Philly are able to manage it, and Miami, Ft Lauderdale etc, despite being close to sprawl...Newark had done it in the past despite being close to NYC, but that was before a bunch of the suburban growth and the rise of Hudson County as a destination rather than a residential and industrial hub. Newark has the infrastructure but it's got take a conscious decision to want to be that, and it takes critical mass. Prudential Center, NJPAC, and Symphony Hall are a start....and just recently you finally see an upscale place like Swahili Village open up...but we need more, and they need help staying open and attracting business. Places like B&P and Dutch's are close too, but they struggle a bit to stay busy, and it's a problem.

Not sure whether it will happen or not, but Newark is trying, with all of these developments and planned businesses. But its gotta step up a great deal in terms of the commercial places if we expect to have it actually come to fruition.

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ScrollHectic t1_iwhisw5 wrote

Reply to comment by TenzeFiyer in Hotel Riviera is shutting down. Info in comments. by TenzeFiyer

Admittedly, I'll miss occasionally reading through reviews from horrified out of town patrons... some are really funny. But agreed about the change. Especially since there are a couple of new(er) developments on Clinton Ave that a renovated Riviera can compliment. It's a beautiful building from the outside.

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