low density in Hamilton Park??? It has a similar vibe to Park Slope and a similar pace as well... IDK I always find these comments that JC/urban NJ are a completely different vibe a bit weird when much of NYC has a similar vibe as well once you get a few subway stops away from Manhattan

Hell, its not even a given when living in Manhattan. I lived on West 191st and the amount of times I had to switch to a shuttle bus after a late night out or deal with slow trains after 42nd street was crazy. Literally, after 1am, all the trains are shit and its just as difficult to get around with the same wait times as the path. I take knowing my train will be here in 40 minutes over the "next train in 15 minutes", but its actually 40 minutes of the MTA.

Plus, at least the path is 24 hours... yes you have to wait a bit if you dont make the connection or the subway takes a bit longer to get you where you need to go, but atleast its not Metro North or NJ Transit were if you miss the 2 am train you are pretty screwed until 5. Its not seamless, but you really dont have to consult a schedule. You are not locked out of leaving NY until early morning if you so happen to miss the last train because the Path doesnt have a last train.

I get that it sucks to use the path overnight or even during the day on weekends, but again, unless you are in Midtown-Downtown Manhattan, shitty weekend and overnight service is pretty universal throughout upper manhattan, the other three boroughs and urban jersey near the path train

Like what is the point of doing this.. such a dumb reason to get arrested for... especially when you do it in broad day light...

I think this is the news I am most excited about. If done right, that place can be a huge part in downtown's nightlife scene.

Have we not seen any workers there... I know the place is supposed to be two floors (ground and basement) and that might play a part in that as they may be prioritizing the basement.

Some great news mixed in with not so great news. Love the new restaurant opening up facing the park. Hopefully will lead to another spot in the ironside/allow for tenants to move into Shaq 2 quickly once it opens up.

Love Coldstone opening up downtown. Ani Ramen not coming in sucks seeing as it was said to be the flagship store for the chain, but oh well. That spot is huge and I would love a sports bar/lounge to open up there.

Is no one allowed into the Gateway anymore...like what about the street entrance facing market, is that also closed off. If so, we should definitely complain to the city to put some pressure on them as it was supposed to be part of this big plan to add more activity to that part of downtown.

This should be a damn priority.... but nope, we are just going to expand the highway that wont actually help with congestion.

Well, you are literally saying these versions of BBQ are not valid because it doesn't comply with your views of what bbq is... so why not go and teach them what is actually bbq if you are going to gatekeep

Go to those countries and ask for BBQ and then tell them it's not and see what they say

So are we just going to throw out a different style of BBQ just because its not the American way... do we do the same thing with Indian or Japanese curry

Do people only think that American BBQ is the only form of BBQ. Newark has some amazing Latin style bbq

Yeah, I do think we get caught up with the arbitrary borders between the states (anywhere else in the world and Newark/NYC would be one city) so we def come down on the night life in Newark a bit hard (which we should, NYC and the other cities in Jersey should compliment our night life, not the other way around), but once you start to realize that its one big city and many outer borough neighborhoods have very similar nightlife to Newark, especially when they are similarly situation from Manhattan as Newark, its a bit easier to swallow the Newark nightlife pill as you can easily plug in that hole by going closer to Manhattan or out to Williamsburg/Astoria.

So... asking me isnt going to give you an objective answer as I will always go up to bat for Urban NY and NJ, I just think the neighborhoods in that collection of cities and boroughs (especially the ones with 24/7 train access) is just hands down offer the best value in the region.

With that said, I would caution against Elizabeth, not because its a bad city (its pretty fun) its just difficult to get in and out of if you are relying on public transit and want to access the rest of the urban core since the city is only connected to Newark and NYC by NJ Transit.

I would advise picking Harrison, along the path, as its super quiet to give you a more suburban lifestyle, while having 24/7 Path access to Newark/JC/Hoboken/ and 4 of the 5 boroughs. It would make it much more doable to get into Manhattan for a night out/make it easier for you if you decide you want to venture out into Queens or Brooklyn for a night out as you wont be stranded past midnight (just need to either plan ahead of time to make sure you connect easily without a huge wait or prepare for a 20 plus minute wait once you get to a path station). JC is definitely expensive, but as long as you live along the path, you can access JC and beyond without much of a hassle for about half the price.

To make a long story short, I do think moving closer will be best. Even if you arent in the center center of the action (living in manhattan south of 96th Street) so long as you have 24/7 train access you are literally living in the center of the action and can access some great neighborhoods for fun as well if you want to explore outside of your neighborhood

Its a jersey club track. Its really popular in urban jersey. The style is a derivative of Baltimore Club, which itself is heavily influenced by Chicago Juke Music. However, if you listen to track from either style, you can clearly hear the difference between the three

Jersey Club has strong influence from Juke music and Baltimore Club.

Its dead sometimes, but not always... also, its probably more of a product of just the distance from the more core parts of the "city" (using that term as a catch all for the towns and boroughs that have a path or subway line). I go out to Bushwick sometimes for a few drinks and it can get pretty dead as well.

Did I say all of those places are all run by corporations, I said they tend to be run by corporations. Pound for pound, the vast majority of the landlords in those parts of town are not mom and pop. You do have holdouts, but they are the minority.

In Hoboken, the vast majority of the small mom and pop places cashed out a long time ago. In Manhattan the definition of a small landlord is usually just an LLC that owns like 3 buildings. Im excited there are some still there, especially in along Newark Ave, but thats usually the exception now a days.

At the end of the day, landlords in redeveloping or up and coming neighborhoods want to make the neighborhood as attractive as possible to get the tenants they want. Downtown is increasingly being advertised to university students, recent graduates, and young professionals looking for easy access to Manhattan/JC/Hoboken. That crowd tends to want a more active nightlife close by to compliment the nightlife of the rest of the region. So landlords will change with the crowd and attract those places.

Another counter point, small landlords (the more mom and pop places) tend to shy away from attracting rowdy crowds because they have limited incomes to deal with the damage that a rowdy crowd causes/to deal with their tenants complaining about noise violations/etc. Corporate landlords have the funds to deal with it so they generally have no issue leasing out to businesses that cater to night life etc.

Eh yes and no. The music that is usually played in those establishments are extremely wide and varied.

For the most part, in Jersey, the urban neighborhoods with a Path train in it or close to them are generally the safest parts. The more you have to rely on the buses to get around, the more likely it is the neighborhood is a bit more rundown and dangerous. So for Newark, Downtown (which includes the arena district; university heights; the government buildings; and the Commercial District); the Ironbound are generally the safest. You can also play around with the light rail a bit as those neighborhoods tend to be a bit more stable, but are spotty. JC, any place along the path is usually safe. For NYC, thats usually a toss up as good neighborhoods border sketchy ones all the time, but for the most part its all pretty safe, outside of extreme pockets in Queens; Brooklyn; and the Bronx.

Im all for urban living, you should try it out, I think you would love it.

That's true... the spots for house in Newark has kinda been lacking lately, but I know in the summer the main branch of the library hosts weekly House Dance Parties outside. Military Park also has a community events with house playing all the time during the summer and you still have the Lincoln Park Music Festival.

I only point out the underground house parties, as that is how much of those clubs are now functioning especially once Jersey Club came on the scene. I do think the warehouses at the end of Raymond Blvd in the Ironbound could be converted to a nightlife district kinda like out in Brooklyn, etc. Im sure they will revive, but I totally get what you are saying. I just think those clubs come and go with the times, and right now Newark's house scene is very much dominated by Jersey Club and the more improvised house party scene that came out of it.

Im not comparing it one to one to Manhattan, Im just pointing out that the neighborhood in Newark that provides a traditional "center city" experience is the Ironbound. Extremely densely populated, a shit ton of restaurants and bars, a very active nightlife, the highest rents in the city, etc.

I only used Midtown Manhattan because Downtown Manhattan isnt the center of economic activity in the city, and no other city in the country (outside of maybe Boston or Philly) concentrates so much of its fine dining/nightlife/ etc into one geographic area the way that Manhattan does with Midtown.

So, I do think you are misreading what I was trying to say here.

Newark's night clubs are usually just lounges or restaurants that reconfigure after dark to a more night club experience. Off the top of my head, Vivo Lounge on Ferry goes from a quiet bakery and restaurant to a Brazilian night club with women dancing on the bar after 10 pm. The same is true for Tijuana Bar and Grill and many other places in the Ironbound. Hell, even McGoverns becomes more night clubish after 10 pm, on certain nights, when they close the back area and make it a dance floor.

In the rest of Newark, its a bit more hit or miss as certain bars dont advertise the lounge aspect in order to keep the place more insulated to locals.

We can definitely use more nightlife here, I agree with that, but the spots are there if you are looking for it and know where to look. Hell, local Jersey Club DJs host large parties all over the city if you follow them on social media, and those kind of fill in the void of more traditional night clubs.

I do think if everything goes to plan, the city is looking to make the lots around Mulberry Commons a nightlife destination in the city, and I hope we can attract more night clubs or Hoboken style bars that can easily become night clubs.

Ferry Street literally fits that definition, especially closer to the train station.

I mean thats anywhere though.

I mean, yes... their dream is to also make the urban parts of the metro area seem like natural extensions of each other where it is easy to get people to easily move from Queens or Brooklyn to JC or Newark and vice versa. It opens up their potential pool of tenants by making the areas with subway lines much more attractive, and thus allows for more people from the region (suburbs or the cities) and outside the region attracted to those neighborhoods.