FALL | WINTER 2018| 19
unshakable • GIRL JOCKS ROCK • CLIMBER SCALES URBY • THE ART OF PERPETUAL CARE
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CONTENTS JCM
DEPARTMENTS 6 OUR STAFF 8 CONTRIBUTORS 10 EDITOR’S LETTER 32 DATES 34 HELPING HANDS
Good Hair Days
38 PEOPLE POWER NJCU’s Stephanie Chaiken
42 SPORTS Girl Jocks
46 THE ARTS
14
Macrame
FEATURES 14 FAMOUS ROCK CLIMBER Scales Urby
18 HISTORIC DOWNTOWN Entertainment Abounds
COVER
22 ARTIST ONBOARD
Diverse Friendships Cover Image by TBishPhoto
26 BRIDGE WORK The Wittpenn Bridge
28 BEARD OR NO BEARD The Mayor’s Stubble
58 JC ENTREPRENEUR
34
Board Game
50 EDUCATION Lincoln High’s Principal
52 EMERGING Museums
54 HOW WE WORK Small Businesses
56 ON THE JOB WITH Cemetery Workers
60 WATERING HOLE The Archer
62 EATERY Pinwheel Garden
46 4 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Elegant indoor cremation spaces featuring graceful glass-front niches are now available at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.
While most Catholics still prefer full-body burial, today some may consider cremation. But, keeping the cremated remains of a loved one in the home makes it less likely that family or friends can visit, pray and remember the life of a loved one. The beautiful, sacred and peaceful surroundings of our Catholic Cemeteries provide a memorable, safe, and permanent place for prayer and reflection of those who have left an everlasting impression in our hearts. Catholic Cemeteries, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Newark, has many
options for the enduring memorialization of the cremated remains of a loved one including graves, indoor and outdoor cremation niches, private family estates, cremation gardens, and indoor mausoleum glass and marble-front niches. Whether the cremation was recent or years ago, we honor the privilege and opportunity to pray with you as you lay your loved one to sacred and eternal rest. To learn more, call or stop by and speak with a memorial planning advisor with no obligation, or visit online at www.CatholicJourney.org.
G Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington G Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover G Saint Gertrude Cemetery, Colonia G Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah G Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes G Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City
866-773-7526 www.CatholicJourney.org
A Ministry of the Archdiocese of Newark
CATHOLIC CEMETERIES
For Our Catholic Community
Fall | Winter 2018 Volume 15 • Number 2 Published twice annually A Publication of Newspaper Media Group
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Jersey City Magazine is published by the Newspaper Media Group, 447 Broadway, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002, (201) 798-7800, Fax (201) 798-0018. Email jcmag@hudson reporter.com. Subscriptions are $10 per year, $25 for overseas, single copies are $7.50 each, multiple copy discounts are available. VISA/MC/ AMEX accepted. Subscription information should be sent to Jersey City Magazine Subscriptions, 447 Broadway, Bayonne, NJ 07002. Not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or other unsolicited materials. Copyright ©2018-19, Newspaper Media Group .All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.
Jersey City Magazine is a publication of Newspaper Media Group 447 Broadway, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002 phone 201.798.7800 fax 201.798.0018
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TERRI SAULINO BISH
is an award-winning graphic designer, digital artist, and photographer, capturing many of the iconic images featured in print and online publications across Hudson County. You can view more of her work at tbishphoto.com.
BETH DICARA
is a fulltime artisan working with clay. Check out her Etsy shop, eveningstarstudio or visit her studio at 11 Monitor St. in Jersey City.
DELFIN GANAPIN
is an editorial assistant at the Hudson Reporter. In his spare time, he is immersed in contemporary geek and pop culture and has contributed to a small geek culture blog called We Are Geeking Out.
TERRI SAULINO BISH VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
JIM HAGUE
is a Jersey City native, who landed a job with the Hudson Dispatch in 1986. He has been the sports columnist for the Hudson Reporter Associates for the last 27 years.
ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS
is an award-winning designer and photographer. Her work is featured in numerous publications, including Hoboken 07030 and Jersey City Magazine. You can see her full portfolio at tbishphoto.com.
VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
has studied publication design, photography, and graphic arts. “I’ve been fascinated by photography for almost 20 years,” he says.
BETH DICARA
MAX RYAZANSKY
is a photographer whose work has been exhibited in galleries and published worldwide. A recent transplant to Bayonne, he spends his spare time trying to figure out the best pizza place in town.
TARA RYAZANSKY
MAX RYAZANSKY
is a writer who recently moved from Brooklyn to Bayonne. She works as a blogger for Nameberry. com and spends her spare time fixing up her new (to her) 100-year-old home.
AL SULLIVAN
J C M
CONTRIBUTORS
has been a staff writer for the Hudson Reporter newspaper chain since 1992. He was named journalist of the year in 2001 by the New Jersey Press Association, and photographer of the year in 2005 by the Garden State Journalists Association. In 2001, Rutgers University Press published a collection of his work, Everyday People: Profiles from the Garden State.
8 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
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TARA RYAZANSKY JIM HAGUE
ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS
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I really like Jersey City. It’s an up and coming city with great atmosphere and a young, family-oriented culture. When I first opened the practice, we were one of just a small handful of pediatric dentists in Jersey City. The folks here really welcomed us and we could jump right into all of the activities around Grove St. It was, and still is, a great location for my practice.
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Is it really necessary for kids to go to a pediatric dentist?
It’s important that children are seen by someone who understands their particular needs and how to make them comfortable. As a pediatric dentist, I trained specifically to work with children and to deal with the medical but also the emotional and psychological part of tending to their dental needs. If parents bring a child to me after his first tooth and we build a relationship together over the years, I can help that child become an adult with great dental hygiene and no fear of the dentist.
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Oh, working with the kids, without question. I love it! When I get to put my Dr. Seuss hat on and just be as goofy as I want, I’m really happy.
Ok, do we really need to brush for two minutes?
Haha…ok. Two minutes is the perfect amount of time to make sure you get to each tooth. Ideally, you’re spending at least 30 seconds in each quadrant of the mouth. You want to brush all three exposed sides of your teeth, especially in the cracks and crevices and along the gum line.
What’s your favorite candy?
I have to admit, I really like Goobers, you know, the chocolate covered peanuts? I tell my young patients: you can eat the candy or the chips every now and then, just remember to brush and floss afterwards...and try to avoid sticky foods and candy whenever you can.
I
’m really pushing the envelope with that headline. Turns out, one of our How We Work businesses is a family firm that offers tax services, among many other the things. And then, Tara and Max did a great On the Job With workers at Holy Name Cemetery, one of Jersey City’s largest burial grounds. OK, so that was a stretch. But one guy who courts death on a regular basis is famed rock climber Alex Honsee page 37
10 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
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Honnold Reaches for a Handhold Famous rock climber scales the heights of Urby By Tara Ryazansky
A
lex Honnold is a worldrenowned professional rock climber best known for free soloing the 3,000- foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Free soloing is climbing that is performed without ropes or a safety harness. During climbs like these, one wrong move or a crumbling bit of stone could potentially mean death, but Honnold has completed more than a thousand free solo climbs. Not every ascent takes place in the vast wilderness. Urban free solo climbing can offer unique city views. In San Francisco, Honnold climbed the Palace of Fine Arts in
the Financial District, but local governments and building owners often object to giving Honnold access because of the serious risks associated with free soloing. One day, Honnold was complaining about this problem with an acquaintance while vacationing with a group in Montana. That acquaintance was Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. “It came up in conversation,” says Fulop, who shares mutual friends with Honnold. “He said he sometimes struggles with getting permits and whatnot. We started talking about maybe facilitating introductions for him.”
14 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
When brainstorming potential buildings, one came to Fulop’s mind immediately; the Jersey City Urby. “It just is one of the more significant architectural buildings on the waterfront,” Fulop says. Honnold was drawn to the building as well. “This is totally changing my opinion of New Jersey,” he told Charles Bethea of The New Yorker.
The Urby Aesthetic The Jersey City Urby looks like a tower of staggered building blocks that jut out on one side and then the other. It gives the dizzying impression that it could topple over at any moment. Bethea compared it to “a rickety tower of Jenga blocks.”
Of course the 69-floor luxury building is stable and safe. Residents enjoy sweeping city views. The building went up two years ago. “I mean, the architecture is great,” Fulop says. “That was really the first one I thought of and the one that he liked the most.” Next, Fulop spoke to building developer David Barry to see what he thought of the idea. “He was receptive right away, so I connected them,” Fulop says. The pair didn’t hesitate to let Honnold make the climb. “Ultimately he is the best in the world, and he felt comfortable,” Fulop says. “If you look at other things that he climbed, this is not the hardest of the bunch. He knows his boundaries, and he’s obviously very in tune with that.”
Photo of Urby by Ewout Huibers
Honnold visited Jersey City to inspect the building to see if it was suitable for climbing. Barry and Honnold worked out a legal agreement. A month later, Honnold came back to Jersey City a second time for the real thing, climbing at night with little fanfare besides some precautionary emergency services. “We were there with the police making sure that it would be safe,” Fulop says. Honnold avoided climbing past units that still had their lights on so that he wouldn’t startle residents. It was just after midnight on a Thursday
night, and plenty of folks were still awake. Honnold quickly scaled the first nine stories and paused on the building’s terrace. Next, despite recent rainfall, he ascended the rest of the building at a speed of just a few minutes per floor with nothing but hand chalk to help his grip.
No Biggie Honnold has such a casual attitude toward dangerous climbs that his nickname is Alex “No Big Deal” Honnold. His adventures in climbing have won him sponsorships from The North Face, Black Diamond,
16 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
and Stride Health. He has been profiled by The New York Times and 60 Minutes. He also starred in the Emmy-nominated documentary Alone on the Wall. In summer Honnold was busy with his newly released documentary film Free Solo. The National Geographic movie follows Honnold as he becomes the first person ever to perform a free solo climb of the over 3,000-foot El Capitan wall in Yosemite National Park. The New York Times called the climb, which took Honnold under four hours, “one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever.” The film has fascinated audiences around the world. “I thought it was good for Jersey City to have an athlete like that visit,” Fulop says. “It promoted Jersey City, the documentary, and the skyline so it was a win-win.”—JCM
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Photo courtesy of the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District
Eateries? Entertainment? Energy? MUST BE H IS T O RI C D O W NT O W N
H
er day starts with the discovery that a big couch has come to rest right in the middle of the street. No problem, the clean team is on the case. The woman who alerts the fourguy cleanup crew is Rachel Sieg, executive director of the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (HDSID). She often invokes the clean team, which empties 100 trash cans a day in the district, as an essential cog in the wheel that keeps downtown Jersey City the vibrant place that it’s become. The HDSID is a public/private partnership of property and first-floor business owners who have an impact on historic downtown. It works with local businesses and neighborhood
associations in conjunction with city government to maintain and enhance what is arguably Jersey City’s most popular hood. PATH Plaza on Grove and the pedestrian mall are the throbbing heartbeat of the area. The HDSID promotes events like Groove on Grove, the farmers market, the artist maker market, and the All About Downtown street fair that attracts some 30,000 people. “The pedestrian mall is amazing for the downtown area and for business owners,” Sieg says. “They’ve done really well.” Sieg confirms what we hear all the time from young people who move to JC. They start off running back to Manhattan for dinner with friends,
18 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
but that lasts about a week. Almost immediately they discover all our great bars and restaurants, and pretty soon, those city friends are hopping on the PATH and coming over here. “With the amazing businesses and restaurants, you don’t have to go to New York,” Sieg says. “I do everything in the HDSID—groceries, shopping, nails, hair. I have no reason to go to the city. Why go to the city if you have it all here?”
MINDING THE STORE The historic downtown didn’t get where it is today by osmosis. “We had to work really hard to make it hap-
Photo by Al Sullivan
LEFT TO RIGHT: Councilman James Solomon, Rachel Sieg, Senator Bob Menendez, and Councilman at Large Daniel Rivera. Photo courtesy of the HDSID
pen,” Sieg says, “to make the downtown a nice place to live and shop.” Sieg, who grew up in Princeton, attended an all-women college in Boston, earning a bachelor’s degree in business. She spent a couple of years in San Francisco, where her husband had landed a job, but her Jersey roots run deep. “I missed home,” she says, “and my father told me that Jersey City was up and coming, so instead of moving to New York, we moved to Jersey City and have been here 10 years now.” Being executive director of HDSID is her day job. “It’s more than fulltime work,” she says. “It’s seven days a week.” When she’s not asking the clean team to get the DPW to remove a couch on the road, she’s doing paper-
Photo by Al Sullivan
work, answering emails, meeting with business owners, attending grand openings or blood drives, or working with her three-person staff in the HDSID offices at Grove Point. “I wear a lot of hats,” she says.
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER Sieg points to signs of success, such as the number of daycare centers, doggie daycares, and the energy on the pedestrian mall. “Because of the HDSID, we’ve planted flowers, and every year we have a Christmas tree lighting and snowflakes,” she says. “There will be a real tree in the mall area, and we’re hiring a professional decorator.”
The HDSID board boasts longevity. Jerry Blankman was a founding member of the HDSID, and board president Steve Kalcanides is celebrating 50 years at Helen’s Pizza. Currently there are more than 250 businesses in the district, and one of Sieg’s goals is to expand the HDSID. “The best reward,” she says, “is getting emails from people or people walking down the street who thank you for helping them.” Sieg herself is the best advertisement for the district. “It doesn’t get any better than sitting outside with a sangria and watching people go by,” she says. “I love my job.”—Kate Rounds jcdowntown.org (201) 547-3554
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 19
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A Jersey City painter’s voyage of discovery By Kate Rounds Images by Tbishphoto
H
e’d rented the ground-floor studio across the street from me in a renovated factory on Communipaw Avenue. He never pulled the shades. Neighbors got in the habit of watching him paint as they walked to the Liberty State Park light-rail station. He paints large Pop canvases with bold colors and themes. In one a naked woman bursts from an orange palette. There are the Stones
and Janice and John and Martin and Nelson and Barack—and lots of Marilyns. As subjects, he favored women, famous musicians, black luminaries, and celebrities, with Ms. Monroe a recurring theme. While working, he says he never listens to music with words because “they stimulate the part of the brain that focuses on memory, and that’s not where you want to go.” He likes the BBC. He cajoled the owner of a nearby building into letting him use it as a gallery, where he displayed his paintings and hosted Thursday night
22 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
“openings.” His copious Cheetos and Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice were a welcome change from the usual cubes of cheddar and warm wine. Every weekend morning, he loaded his van with his not-quite-dry paintings and headed to SoHo to sell them on the street.
Things in Common His name is Hulbert Waldroup. Handsome, muscled, he’s in his early 50s. He has a troubled past— he’s done some time—but has put all that behind him. He wears two nose rings and two earrings, and usually
something on his head—straw hat, red bandana, or do-rag. Tattoos on his chest feature the names of his favorite artists: Dalí, Picasso, Caravaggio, and Rivera. He has a male Afghan hound, who looks a lot like Marilyn. We met over my laundry. One day, Hulbert snuck up behind me, grabbed my huge bag of laundry, and carried it the rest of the way, which became a common occurrence. Though it would be a stretch to say that Hulbert and I became close friends, we have a lot in common. I, too, love art, women, the BBC— and boats. For seven years, I’d lived on a wooden fishing boat at Liberty Harbor Marina. It was Hulbert’s dream to live on a boat. I gave him copies of my Boats & Harbors, so that he could troll for his dreamboat. The day after Hurricane Sandy he was photographed kayaking down Johnston Avenue. That was the closest he’d come to being on the water.
Back Story Hulbert grew up in Chicago. “Other boys were playing sports,” he recalls. “I had a paint-by-numbers kit.” Though he often got in trouble for doodling in class, he remembers one artistic triumph. His first-grade class was asked to draw Eskimos. The teacher drew a stick figure on the board. “My Eskimo had fur and was roly-poly, with dancing arms,” Hulbert says.” The teacher took it to the principal’s office so that parents would see it.You could call that encouragement.” There was encouragement at home, too. One Sunday when Hulbert was in sixth grade, his parents asked him to dress in his “church uniform.” They were going for a ride. “We get to this nice suburban neighborhood. This big mama takes us down to her basement. There were hundreds of paintings” The pictures were painted by the woman’s son. “My mother and father helped me pick out one. It was of a court jester playing a lute, something you’d never associate with a black guy.” Hulbert later took courses at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Art and exhibited in Chicago shows. “I don’t like to look for racism where there is none, but everybody sold except me,” he says.
Gotham Guy Eventually, he moved to New York City. He said, “My philosophy on art and life is that it is too short to be constricted. I travel freely, like a fish or a bird.” He was soaking up the SoHo art scene. “Galleries were always looking for the next hot street artist,” he says. He sold a painting to the wealthy collector Horst Rechelbacher who bought a Waldroup painting every other year. “Horst was one of many who wanted to wine and dine the crazy
artist,” Hulbert says. Hulbert also sold paintings to Whoopi Goldberg and Quentin Tarantino. A year later, Hulbert moved to Jersey to live with a woman. But, he says, “Art is my first love.”
Dream Boat Hulbert put out the word that he was looking for a French-style canal barge, and soon he got a call from a guy in Detroit who said he had a 65foot steel-hulled boat. When he flew to Detroit, Hulbert was confronted with the Marine Trader, a floating convenience store
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 23
that supplied vessels in Lake Erie. It was filled with cigars, cigarettes, chips, cookies, coveralls, khakis, shirts, underwear, books, toiletries, and exploding soda cans. The boat, which was taking on water, was overrun with rats that had gotten fat on cakes and pies. Hulbert hired a bunch of guys to clean the boat, released fog bombs of rat and insect poison, and left. When he returned a month later, he hired a local laborer to help him renovate the boat. He took the New Jersey Boater Safety course, and in Detroit, learned how to operate boats at the Great Lakes Towing Company. He changed the boat’s name from the Marine Trader (a name I loved) to the Memory Motel, a Montauk spot favored by Mick Jagger, who memorialized it in a song.
Voyage Home Hulbert was using the “new-school approach” to navigation—Google Earth on his iPhone. He calculated that it would take about five or six days to cross Lake Erie. He’d charitably hired a local deadbeat as a deckhand. Two days out, they docked at a marina at a former stop on the Underground Railroad in Ohio. They tied up at the seawall during a huge storm; there were 10foot waves, the chandeliers in the boat were swaying, and Hulbert was seasick. He was wiring friends and family for money, and writing a Facebook blog to interest funders in his epic adventure. Due to flooding, many Erie Canal locks were closed indefinitely. When he finally resumed his voyage, he took real pleasure in the strawberry festival in a town along the way, the East Indian pharmacists who invited them to a barbecue, and the bald eagles spotted on shore. The magnificent scenery was famously painted by members of the Hudson River School. His trip included stops at the burial sites of John Brown and Frederick Douglass. After passing through 35 locks on the Erie Canal, he entered the upper Hudson River, marveling at the beauty of West Point. see page 36 24 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
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Bridge Work Image by TBishPhoto
An infrastructure success story on the Hackensack River 26 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
ost of us have witnessed the industrial landscape that unfolds beneath the many bridges that span the waterways between Jersey City and neighboring cities, including Newark, Kearny, and Harrison. It’s visible as you cross these bridges, as you stand on the riverbank, or as you ride the PATH from Jersey City to Newark: a complex interplay of rivers, bays, marshes, and steel bridgework starkly contrasting with the natural resources that still sustain waterfowl, fish, and other wildlife. In an era when the usually benign word “infrastructure” can carry political fireworks, there’s an infrastructure project on the Hackensack River that could improve the lives of motorists who take Route 7, Route 1&9, and the New Jersey Turnpike. Never heard of the Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge? It has none of the name recognition of a Pulaski Skyway, Verrazano, or the GWB, but for the next four years, it will be a hotbed of activity. The Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge spans the Hackensack River between Jersey City and Kearny. Route 7 allows eastbound traffic to access the Holland Tunnel, as well as business and industrial areas in Jersey City. It also gives access to the all-important Newark-Elizabeth Air/Seaport Complex. The current vertical-lift bridge, which was built in 1930, provides no physical separation between opposing traffic on the two eastbound and two westbound lanes; it has no shoulders. A new bridge, which will be north of the existing bridge, will address these safety concerns. It will accommodate bike and pedestrian traffic and will be twice as high. The entire project is expected to be complete by the end of 2022. —Kate Rounds
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Beard or no Beard Is Jersey City’s mayor flip-flopping? Fuzz Fashion
By Kate Rounds
W
hen Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop first came onboard, he was clean-shaven. But sometime in 2017, he decided to grow a beard. This probably falls into the get-a-life category, but there was a debate in our newsroom on the pros and cons of the beard. History certainly has something to say about it. After some wildly haphazard research, we discovered that some religions demand beards; some cultures think of them as a sign of virility, wisdom, strength, sexual prowess, and high social statures; and others think of them as unhygienic and uncivilized. In ancient times, styles in facial hair varied widely. In general: The Phoenicians? Curls and tresses. Babylonians? Oils and curling irons. Egyptians? Plaits, henna, and golden threads. Indians? Long. Chinese? Long, though sometimes mustaches, goatees, and shaved cheeks. Iranians? Long with jewelry. Greeks? Sometimes curled with tongs. Macedonians? Alexander the Great was clean-shaven. Romans? Largely clean-shaven. Celts? Long beards.
From the Middles Ages through the Renaissance to the present, beards have gone in and out of fashion like the length of women’s skirts. In North America, Native Americans are almost never pictured with beards, while the English and Spanish who annihilated them were generally bearded. According to Richard Veit in The Indians of New Jersey, Indians’ “scanty beards were pulled out with a pair of mussel shells.”
Check out our Founding Fathers. Not a beard among them. But by the time we get to the Civil War, photos and paintings show rakish mustaches and robust beards. The thing about beards is that it’s hard to nail down historic trends. Take writers of the 1940s: Ernest Hemingway? Almost always seen with a nicely trimmed white beard. But F. Scott Fitzgerald? Cheeks as smooth as a billiard ball. In the 1950s? President Dwight D. Eisenhower, clean as a whistle. But Allen Ginsberg? Big bushy beard. Hippies of the 1960s were noted for their big beards. Check out any Woodstock image. But the last U.S. president to
28 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
have a beard? You guessed it, Benjamin Harrison. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner infamously banned beards and long hair among his players.
Mayors and Their Hair
With enormous thanks to Danny Klein and the great librarians at the New Jersey Room of the Jersey City Free Public Library, here are the Jersey City mayors with facial hair: Peter Bentley, 1843-44, large sideburns; Cornelius Van Vorst, 186062, beard, no mustache; John B. Romar, 1862-64, beard, no mustache; William Clarke, 1869-70, beard, no mustache; Henry Traphagen, 1874-76, mustache and sideburns; Henry J. Hopper, 1878-80, beard and mustache; Isaac Taussig, 1880-84, mustache; Edward Hoos, 1897-1901, mustache; Mark Fagan, 1902-07, 191317, handlebar mustache; Charles Krieger (acting), Aug.-Nov. 1971, mustache; Gerry McCann, 1981-85, 1989-92, mustache; Glenn D. Cunningham, 2001-04, mustache; and L. Harvey Smith (acting), May-Nov. 2004, mustache and beard.
Steve’s Stubble
Which brings us full circle. When I asked Hannah
Peterson, the always-helpful press secretary for the city of Jersey City, to get a comment from Mayor Fulop on his beard, she emailed, “The Mayor actually got rid of the beard quite recently, so I’m not sure he would be best to speak on the topic anymore.” This raises the legitimate question, what exactly constitutes a beard? To get an answer, I went to two Jersey City guys in the know. Will Sanchez, manager of Al’s Corner Barber Shop, and Jason Torres at the Imperial Barber Shop both confirmed that any amount of hair on the face constitutes a beard. “Even a five o’clock shadow,” Jason says. Will agrees. “The only thing that’s not a beard is if you are clean-shaven.”
By this definition, Steve definitely had a beard, so I went back to Hannah Peterson to get a comment on why the mayor doesn’t have a beard. Her response? “While I think this topic is very entertaining, unfortunately we won’t be commenting on it at the moment. Sorry about that.” I totally agree with Hannah; it’s a very entertaining topic.—JCM
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D AT E S J C M ONGOING The Historic Downtown Farmers’ Market at the Grove PATH Plaza, 48 p.m. every Monday and Thursday from May to December. Featuring over 25 vendors serving up tasty treats from fresh fruits and vegetables to freshly baked empanadas to homemade mozzarella.
Want your event listed? Please email us at jcmag@ hudsonreporter.com and put “Jersey City calendar listings” in the subject line.
Hamilton Park Farmers’ Market, 3-7:30 p.m. every Wednesday from May 2 to December 19. Provides residents with fresh fruit and produce, fresh baked goods, frozen meals, precooked meals and much
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more. Entertainment every first Wednesday and every third Wednesday is Pop-Up Wednesday for vendors with non-food crafts, artwork and goods. Riverview Farmers’ Market, Riverview-Fisk Park, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. every Sunday from May to November. The New Journal Square Green Market, the Boulevard at Journal Square PATH, 2-7 p.m. every Wednesday and Friday from May 2 to December 21. Exchange Place Farmer’s Market, Harborside Plaza 5, 185 Hudson St., 12:30-6:30 p.m. every Tuesday from May 1 to December 18 and December 28-29. Paulus Hook Farm Stand, Washington St. by the Korean War Memorial, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. every Saturday from April 28 to December 22. Van Vorst Park Farmers Market, Montgomery and Jersey Ave., 8 a.m.-2 p.m. every Saturday from April 21 to December. RJO All-Stars Jam Session, Brightside Tavern, 141 Bright St., 8 p.m. every first Monday of the month, riverviewjazz.org. If you can play, then come and play. Magnolia Landing at Journal Squared, Magnolia Ave. and Summit Ave., 12-5 p.m., every first and third Saturdays of the month from April to November. Each market day you’ll
32 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
be able to pick up some amazing crafts and try out delicious food from various vendors and food trucks. Each market will be different so make sure you pop on over during your weekend travels. Liberty Science Center After Dark, Liberty Science Center, 222 Jersey City Blvd., 6-10 p.m. every third Thursday of the month, lsc.org, (201) 253-1310. Bring your friends to an after-hours adventure at Liberty Science Center. Guests 21 and over can enjoy cocktails, food, music, dancing, laser shows, and more. New Heights Toastmasters Club, 855 Bergen Ave., 6:30 p.m. every second and fourth Tuesday of every month, (201) 424-9090. We provide a safe and supportive environment where you can develop your public speaking and leadership skills. Participation is optional, but it’s always encouraged. Guests are always welcome to walk in and have a firsthand experience of our club. Jersey City Slam’s Open Mic and Poetry Slam, Tea NJ, 262 Newark Ave., 6:30 p.m. every second and fourth Thursday of the month, jerseycityslam.com. Jersey City Slam invites you all to check out our poetry slam. This slam is an Open Slam, meaning anyone can compete. There is an open mic beforehand open to music, stand-up comedy, poetry, and bar tricks.
Indiegrove Free Coworking Fridays, 121 Newark Ave., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. every Friday, (201) 589-2068, indiegrovejc. com. Come experience coworking and see why it has become the most popular way for entrepreneurs and independent professionals to work. Hudson County Animal League’s Downtown JC Adoptions, Fussy Friends, 148 Newark Ave., 12-4 p.m. every Saturday. HCAL’s adoption team will be available to introduce you to our fabulous adoptable felines. Bring some joy into your heart and give a deserving cat a fresh start in life. Apple Tree House Tours, 298 Academy St., 11 a.m.-1 p.m., every Wednesday. The Apple
Tree House provides free, weekly tours. The tours are open to the public, but availability and space per tour is limited. To schedule an appointment, contact Charles Bowles at cbowles@jcnj.org or call (201) 547-6921. Traditional Irish Music Session, The Hutton, 225 Hutton St., 3 p.m. every Sunday. The Hutton is the place for traditional Irish Music in Jersey City. Open session held every Sunday in the beautifully restored gastropub or out on the patio. There are plenty of tunes every Sunday with a different guest musician each week. All musicians and music lovers welcome.
NOVEMBER 23 Black Friday concert: Penniless Loafers, Forget the Whale, and Animal, FM Restaurant Bar and Lounge, 340 Third Street, 8:30-11:30 p.m. Come celebrate Black Friday with three local favorites: Penniless loafers (Ska), Forget the Whale (Pop/Rock), and AMINAL (Rock). Afterwards, there will be a dance party.
27 Jersey City Arts Council Awards Celebration, White Eagle Hall, 357 Newark Ave., 6:30-9:30 p.m. Help support the Jersey City Arts Council and its mission to support and advocate for artists and arts
a.m.-6 p.m. Come eat, drink, and shop this holiday season. There will be gifts and treats and heated tents.
organizations, and honor excellence and impact in the arts. Tickets are $150 at the door, and includes buffet and bar.
1
29DECEMBER 1 Hansel and Gretel, NJCU West Side Theater, 2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd., 7:30 p.m., NJCU’s Opera Workshop presents Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, based on the beloved Grimm’s fairy tale. $15 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors.
DECEMBER 1-2 JC Project Market 2018, City Hall Plaza, 11
Jersey City Ukulele Meet Up, JC Studios, 143 Christopher Columbus Dr., 2-4 p.m. Do you like playing the ukulele, or are you interested in picking one up? Want to practice your skills, work on songs in a supportive setting, and jam with others? This may be the group for you! We do strum-alongs: we have songbooks, and you’re invited to bring copies of songs you’d like people to strum along with. It’s a low-key, friendly group. (If you don’t currently have a uke of your own, just let us know; we can be
sure to have a couple extras on hand.) RSVP at JerseyCityUke.Club or by e-mailing admin@ JerseyCityUke.Club. Hansel and Gretel, NJCU West Side Theater, 2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd., 3 p.m., NJCU’s Opera Workshop presents Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, based on the beloved Grimm’s fairy tale. $15 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors.
3 An Evening With Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers. White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave.,Doors: 7:00 p.m. Show: 8:00 p.m. Tickets $25.
see page 44
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 33
HELPING
Monique Smith-Andrews says, “My mother had cancer, so this is like a tribute to her.” Photos by Maxim Ryazansky
Good Hair Days WIGS FOR FREE FOR TH OSE IN NEED BY TARA RYAZANSKY
O
n the third floor of Christ Hospital, past the efficient hustle and bustle of the nurses’ station, the halls— painted hospital-issue beige—are quiet. But the tones aren’t muted in one room where pink brightens the space and laughter brightens the spirits. It’s the Mo’Hair Foundation salon. The glam décor elevates the mood, but it’s the dynamic woman who runs the salon who lifts the spirits of those who need it most. Monique Smith-Andrews is the founder of the Mo’Hair Foundation, a nonprofit that provides wigs for those who are suffering from hair loss caused by medical conditions like cancer, alopecia, and lupus. 34 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Smith-Andrews has been running the charity for almost 10 years, but Mo’Hair just found its home at Christ Hospital at the beginning of the summer. Prior to that Smith-Andrews saw Mo’Hair clients in her Jersey City salon, Monique’s Techniques, in McGinley Square. “The salon is small, and sometimes people don’t want to come because they’re embarrassed to show themselves without hair,” Smith-Andrews says. “In a small setting, you can’t help but see. This is a private setting. I knew people would be more receptive to coming here.” The connection to CarePoint Health also gives her organization an edge: “It solidifies and legitimizes the Mo’Hair Foundation.”
BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS
HELPING HANDS JCM
HAIR AND HEALTH For years Smith-Andrews hoped to connect Mo’Hair with a healthcare facility, but she couldn’t find the right fit. “I didn’t give up, because I just looked at it like maybe it wasn’t my time,” she says. “I think God does things the way they’re supposed to be. In my mind I knew I would have my opportunity. I knew it was a win-win solution. Some hospitals do it, but no one’s doing it like this.” Smith-Andrews means that not many charities provide free wigs. Mo’Hair doesn’t do financial checks on potential clients. The organization is supported by fundraising and donations. Smith-Andrews holds events like tea parties and holiday balls to raise money. Mo’Hair also accepts donations on the foundation website. The Mo’Hair salon in Christ Hospital celebrated its grand opening in June. The event drew a flurry of friends, family, and media. “I never cry, but it just kind of hit me,” Smith-Andrews says. “I came in here, and I thought about my mother. My mother had cancer, so this is like a tribute to her.” SmithAndrews was in her early 20s at that time, working as a highend hair stylist. She saw firsthand how an ill-fitting wig can lower the morale of a cancer patient. She wanted to do something to ease the experience of hair loss for people like her mom. “I didn’t do it then, but I thought one day I’m going to be able to help people who can’t afford it,” Smith-Andrews says. “My mother was a giver, and she always helped people. When I was a kid, I just didn’t understand why, but anybody could come to Josephine, and she would give. As I got older I picked up her trait.”
HEAD OVER HEELS On the day we visited, Smith-Andrews was supposed to see a client who has cancer. They had scheduled a wig fitting, but the woman felt too ill to come to the salon after her chemotherapy. Smith-Andrews says that cancellations happen a lot for this reason, but when she does see a client in need it lifts the person’s self-esteem.
“It’s so rewarding,” Smith-Andrews says. Mo’Hair accepts clients who are not patients of Christ Hospital or CarePoint Health. She sees both men and women. There’s no age requirement. It’s the youngest clients who have a place in Smith-Andrews’s heart. “There’s this little girl I’ll never forget,” she recalls. “It was in November. I was driving people crazy because I needed that wig for Christmas—it takes six weeks for a wig to arrive—and I’ll never forget, that wig came on Christmas Eve. I was in the shop putting the wig on her on Christmas day. It was such a joyful feeling.” Smith-Andrews searches through photos on her phone. A collage shows a little girl around age 6 grinning ear to ear. “Her mother said, ‘If you could see my daughter, she’s so different right now. She’s just so happy.’” “She was just swinging her hair,” Smith-Andrews says. “It’s things like that that make me want to keep doing this.”—JCM mohairfoundation.com Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 35
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from page 24 By the time he reached Yonkers, Hulbert no longer had the funds to tie up at marinas, so he used old seawalls and abandoned dry docks. At this point, he was eating wild green apples and “attacking” raspberry bushes. As he headed south, Hulbert was joyful at the sight of the Intrepid and the Javits Center. Shortly thereafter, they steamed into the Morris Canal in Jersey City.
Shared Vision Wasn’t someone called Warhol famous for painting Marilyn? Derivative or not, Hulbert’s Marilyns sold like hotcakes. But Hulbert told me that he wanted to paint for “glory.” He planned to do a massive sculpture of the wrongly convicted Central Park Five. And he wanted to create a piece that would honor the hundreds of Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Eventually, he wanted to sculpt in bronze, drawing on his experience fabricating wrought-iron fences with his father. I asked Dan Bischoff, longtime art critic for the Star Ledger, to critique Hulbert’s art. Among many positive observations, he said, “Hulbert paints people, often entertainers or beauties, whose faces express either an inner struggle or an unshakable cool.” Hulbert’s unshakable cool was manifest; his inner struggle hidden. Maybe I was drawn to Hulbert because we had both been captivated by living aboard. Maybe we both craved the freedom of being untethered from the earth. I, too, like to travel freely like a fish or a bird.—JCM
EDITOR’S LETTER JCM from page 10 nold, who tested his truly terrifying talent on the Urby building. Read all about him in this issue. As we head into fall and winter, the arts are in full swing. We have stories on a macramé artist, a boardgame developer, and the new head of NJCU’s Center for the Arts. Young women headline our sports roster, as we highlight high school athletes who won NCAA Division 1 scholarships for basketball and softball. You go, girls. On a more somber note, one of the worst things for women suffering from cancer treatments is the loss of hair. Monique of the Mo ‘Hair Foundation to the rescue with custom wigs that help women feel more selfconfident as they face this harrowing health challenge. We took to the water for our How We Live feature in this issue. That handsome dude on the cover? That’s artist Hulbert Waldroup who lives on a houseboat at Liberty Harbor Marina. Meanwhile, Jersey City continues to make national news. Not only did Jersey City get a mention in the Netflix-streaming Biopic Chappaquiddick, but Hillary Clinton’s Secret Service vehicle crashed into a cross beam in a Jersey City parking garage when the 2016 presidential candidate was on her way to a fundraiser. Hmmm. You’re better off settling in with JC Mag and a hot toddy.
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 37
Stephanie Chaiken
Photos Courtesy of NJCU
Art Smart
NJCU’s Stephanie Chaiken partners with the city to promote the arts By Tara Ryazansky
S
tephanie Chaiken is new on the job and new to Jersey City. She is the inaugural director of the New Jersey City University Center for the Arts. “The NJCU Center for the Arts brings cultural arts together under one umbrella,” Chaiken says. “It’s not just one building, it’s a creative umbrella for everything arts at NJCU.” The campus has a wide variety of arts venues, including the Margaret Williams Theatre, which seats more than 1000; the smaller West Side Theatre; several visual arts galleries;
and the Gothic Lounge. The Center for the Arts manages this network of art spaces on campus. “My job is to take the incredibly talented faculty and students at NJCU and show the community what we have here,” Chaiken says. “People say that this is the best-kept secret. I see that there’s really a concentration of great talent here. We really want to nurture that.” But the job goes way beyond that. Chaiken aims to nurture the arts with seminars that will serve artists both on campus and in the Jersey City community at large.
38 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
“We are working with a lot of the city’s organizations and artists,” Chaiken says. NJCU Center for the Arts will partner with the Jersey City Arts Council, the Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs, and the nonprofit organization Rising Tide Capital to start a professional development program for artists and arts organizations. “We’ll have workshops and seminars on grant writing and structuring, planning for how to use money from grants and donations, as well as marketing and how you can find your voice as an artist or arts organization.”
PEOPLE POWER JCM
Bridgman Parker Dance Company
JC GPS The NJCU Center for the Arts is also working with the Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs to create a cultural asset map of Jersey City. “We have created a survey for artists and arts organizations to fill out with the details of who they are, what they do, what they’re looking for and what their needs are as far as, are they looking for space, are they looking for marketing,” Chaiken says. “We will be using this data to look at how we can best serve the arts community. There’s going to be a physical map as well.”
At least 500 individual artists have responded so far, and Chaiken hopes to gather even more data. The goal of the survey is to build an arts community and assess needs, while the map is meant to encourage art-based tourism. “It’s going to bring economic development because people will come here,” Chaiken says, noting that Queens has created a similar cultural asset map, which was very successful in making the area a destination for arts tourism. The survey reveals that many artists have trouble finding performance spaces in Jersey City. NJCU has per-
formance space for rent to artists in the community. This includes space near the School of Business in Downtown Jersey City. “People can contact me with inquiries about that,” Chaiken says. She can be reached by email at schaiken@njcu.edu.
SHOW TIME NJCU Center for the Arts brings events to campus. In October a dance company run by the husband- and-wife team of Bridgman Packer performed at NJCU behind the Margaret Williams Theatre while an interactive video installation was staged inside the theatre. “They did a
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 39
Adam Pantozzi
“The Persis tence
program called Truck,” Chaiken says. “They kind of blur the lines between live performance and site-specific art. They rented a 17-foot box truck, so the stage is the truck.” The interactive video installation playing inside the theatre encouraged viewers to come up on the stage to perform as well. The event was open to the public. “I think this is different for the whole country,” Chaiken says of the program. “It’s exciting for us. We are really looking at being an incubator for new arts as well as the traditional, and this serves that mission.” On the day of the event, the cam-
of History”
pus art galleries—at Hepburn Hall in room 323 and in the Visual Arts building at 100 Culver Ave. on the ground level—were open as well. The Center for the Arts is hoping to expand the school-time performance series for NJCU. This series provides teachers with study guides to accompany live performances at NJCU. Award-winning storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston will perform for this program on Nov. 27 at 10:30 a.m. in the Margaret Williams Theatre. Alston tells traditional African and African-American stories that she enhances with a musical perfor-
40 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
mance. Tickets are available to the public for $8.
THE RIGHT RESUME Prior to assuming the NJCU position, Chaiken worked as director of the Ramapo Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. An artist herself, Chaiken has years of experience working with art communities across the country. “I’m a singer and an actress,” says Chaiken, who has the poise and presence that make it clear that she would be just as comfortable on stage as she is in the NJCU office. Chaiken also owned a
PEOPLE POWER JCM music management agency. “Education and outreach are kind of my personal mission,” she says. “I really like doing professional development and doing workshops and skill building. A lot of people need help in doing the business side of being an incredible artist.” NJCU Center for the Arts plans to help artists do just that. “I think a lot of stuff happens here that people don’t know about,” Chaiken says. “I think it’s easy to get dwarfed by what’s happening in Manhattan, and certainly there’s amazing stuff going on there, but I think that there’s amazing stuff happening right here in Jersey City.”—JCM For more information, visit njcu. edu/about/center-arts Fill out the arts survey at culturalassetsjc.com
Earn an Associate’s Degree
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Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 41
JAYLENE SIERRA
Photo courtesy of Ben Sierra
Jersey City Girls Triumph
By Jim Hague
A
thletic scholarships for Jersey City athletes—especially young women—are few and far beJILLIAN WARD tween. Photo By Jim Hague Contributing factors include athletic ability, academic achievement in high school, and getting recognized by major colleges. Jersey City has often fallen short on the first two counts, which leads to a shortfall on the third. But in the past year, three athletes from Jersey City have signed National Letters of Intent with major NCAA Division I colleges, shattering the myth that Jersey City girls don’t get a chance to play Division I sports. Jaylene Sierra, a recent Ferris High School grad, is off to Coppin State in Baltimore to play softball. Jillian Ward, a Hudson Catholic grad, is headed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck also to play softball. And basketball star Breyanna Frazier of Marist will attend the University of Central Florida when her playing days at Marist are done in 2019. It’s rare to have one Jersey City girl receive a Division I scholarship. Having three in the same calendar year is almost as exceptional as Halley’s Comet.
Star athletes earn Division 1 scholarships
Hurler and Hitter Sierra is the first girl from Ferris ever to earn a softball scholarship and the first former Bulldog to receive a Division I scholarship in almost 20 years, when a handful of basketball players moved on to big-time schools. Over her career, Sierra, a pitcher by trade, helped the Bulldogs win 53 games, including a berth in the Hudson County Tournament champion42 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
BREYANNA FRAZIER Photo By Jim Hague
ship game for the very first time. She had 579 career strikeouts and posted a 2.77 career earned run average. As a hitter, Sierra had a career batting average of .500 with 138 hits, 126 runs scored, 66 RBI, and 28 hits for extra bases. A four-time honoree on the Hudson Reporter All-Area team, Sierra was twice named the Reporter’s Pitcher of the Year. As a senior, Sierra batted an astounding .700 with 45 runs scored, 33 RBI, and 15 extra-base hits. She pitched to a 20-3 record with a 1.39 ERA and 207 strikeouts. All told, it’s a career that likely will never be duplicated in Ferris softball annals. “I just wanted to play softball in college,” Sierra said. “Going Division I is great, but it wasn’t really a goal.” Sierra got her start playing Little League baseball with her father, Ben, as her coach. But she soon recognized that baseball didn’t offer a future. “I thought softball was just the same as baseball,” Sierra said. “It was just that the ball was bigger. When I got a little older, I began pitching softball and got good at it. I worked very hard every day to get where I am now.” Sierra works out daily with her mother, Jacqueline. “We do a lot with weights, doing bench presses,” Sierra said. “I know college is going to be a lot more of what I do with my Mom.”
Eyes on the Prize Ward got a taste of what it was like to become a Division I scholarship athlete when her older brother T.J. was recruited out of St. Peter’s Prep to first go to Temple University and finally the University of Hartford before heading on to professional baseball. “I wouldn’t admit it, but I wanted to be like him,” Ward said. “I looked up to him 100 percent.” Ward, who also played volleyball at Hudson Catholic, realized her future was in softball. But getting a scholarship was a big obstacle. “I always wanted to get recruited to play softball,” Ward said. “It was a goal of mine since I was about 10 years old. I wanted to be the first girl from Hudson Catholic to get a scholarship.” Ward saw the window of opportunity closing when there weren’t a lot of offers coming her way. “There were times that I was a little worried,” Ward said. “But I wasn’t going to let my dream die. I really had to get that D-I scholarship. I wasn’t going to settle for anything less.” Ward also had to overcome the obstacle of injuring her right shoulder during her junior year. “I knew I might not pitch again,” Ward said. “Sometimes it gets sore, but I just ignore that. I’m 100 percent healthy. I worked hard to make myself a better position player.” Though Ward pitched as a senior, she was recruited as a second baseman at FDU. As a senior, Ward batted .544 with five home runs and 32 RBI. Of her 36 hits, 19 went for extra bases. She also scored 39 runs. For her career, Ward recorded 94 career hits and would have eclipsed the 100-hit plateau if not for the injury. She also had a stellar 22-6 pitching record over her career and helped to lead Hudson Catholic to the school’s first-ever Hudson County Tournament championship in 2017. She also earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors four times during her brilliant career. Ward, who likes the idea of going to college close to home, will major in education at FDU with the hope of becoming a teacher and a coach. “Everything about this fits. I can’t wait to get it started. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Sunshine State Frazier got recognized playing summer AAU basketball for the Books & Basketball Academy, an organization spearheaded by former Louisville All-American Pervis Ellison, who was the No. 1 draft pick overall in 1989 by the Sacramento Kings. While playing for the Books & Basketball Academy, Frazier caught the eye of Central Florida coaches. “I always kept the faith,” Frazier said. “I’m also very religious, so I prayed to God for the chance. I knew how much I wanted it. Getting recruited was a very humbling experience. I set goals for myself, and my goal was always to go D-I.” Frazier is a three-time Hudson Reporter All-Area First Team honoree. She has already scored 1,205 career points, grabbed 458 career rebounds, registered 204 assists and collected 144 steals. As a junior, Frazier averaged almost 18 points per game and reached double figures in every game the Lady Knights played last season. She also averaged 6.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, leading the Knights to a spot in the Hudson County Tournament semifinals. The recruiting process can be brutal. “It can be overwhelming with all the phone calls and speaking to other coaches every day,” Frazier said. “I didn’t want to worry about all that. I just wanted to worry about getting better. I have to keep working.” After Central Florida began the recruiting process, and she visited the campus in Orlando, it was a no-brainer. “I knew I wanted to go there,” said Frazier, who was also considering offers from schools like Kentucky and Nebraska. “It was a beautiful campus, like nothing I’ve ever seen. The coaches made me feel at home. Before I even got there, the coaches said to me that this would be the best decision I ever made in my life, and they were right. I got there, and I didn’t want to go home.” The UCF coaching staff was relentless. “They were at every single one of my summer games,” Frazier said. “I just kept praying to God, and everything worked out. It’s really been a blessing.” Frazier has a message for other young girls from Jersey City. “I feel like anyone can do it from Jersey City,” Frazier said. “If you put your mind to it and work hard. I know not a lot of people get the chance, but I want to be the one that others look up to. I want to be inspiring. I feel very proud. Words can’t explain how grateful I am.” Frazier also thanked her uncle, head coach Reggie Quinn. “Reggie is the one who stayed on me,” Frazier said. “Also my AAU coaches helped me.”
Friends Face Off Ward and Sierra, who were former teammates on a summer travel team, are scheduled to face each other during the 2019 season, when Coppin State visits FDU in April. “We play Jay in Teaneck,” Ward said. “That’s going to be pretty cool. I think it’s great for Jersey City softball that both of us are playing D-I. No one looks at Jersey City for softball.” “It’s almost surreal that this has happened to me,” Sierra said. “It felt funny moving out of my house and on to college. But I’m always ready for a challenge. I think I know what it takes, and I’m going to be prepared.” “It’s hard to believe that nobody from Jersey City got a chance to go D-I except us three girls,” Sierra said. “It’s going to be a fun experience for all of us.”—JCM
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 43
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from page 33 Tree Lighting Ceremony at Town Square Park,4 Town Square Pl., 6-8 p.m.
ADVERTISE WITH US 201 798 7800
HDSID Annual Christmas Tree and Menorah Lighting, Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza, 6-7 p.m. The Historic Downtown Special Improvement District presents its Annual Historic Downtown Tree Lighting and Memorah ceremony. Please join Mayor Fulop and the HDSID in celebrating the holiday season. Music by Anthony Vito Susco - The Rock-it Docket. Smile Preschool and Nursery will give out toys to children in need for the holiday season from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (while supplies last).
5 Billy Hart at Jazz at Harborside Series, Harborside Atrium, 210 Hudson St., 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. RiverviewJazz.org has partnered with Mack-Cali Realty Corp. for the Jazz at Harborside Series, a monthly lunchtime performance in the Harborside Atrium.
6 Heron Oblivion at Monty Hall, 43 Montgomery St., 8:30-11 p.m. $13.
7-8 RJO Jazz New Release Series: Alex Clough, Fox and Crow, 594 Palisade Ave., 10-12 p.m. Winter Wonderland Weekend, 128 Winfield Ave., 5-8 p.m. Join Project Greenville as we celebrate our return to bringing arts and a place to gather to our side of Greenville. There will ne holiday and winter themed artwork, photography, and craft work on display as well as cocoa and treats, holiday classics on the projector, a donation bin to drop off a new or very gently used toy for less fortunate neighborhood kids, and our neighborhood raffle!
44 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
DATES JCM
7 Winter JC Fridays, JC Fridays is a quarterly arts festival in Jersey City. Local businesses, galleries, bars, and performance venues host arts events all over the city, that are free to the public. On JC Fridays you can visit local businesses and see live music, art exhibits, dance shows, and even live theater, all for free. For information, contact jcfridays@ arthouseproductions.org or visit jcfridays.com. Swearin’/Dark Thoughts at Monty Hall, 43 Montgomery St., 9-11:30 p.m. $15.
8 Mack-Cali & JCFamilies’ Annual Holiday Party, Harborside Atrium, 147 Harborside Financial Center Platform, 3-7 p.m. Join JCFamilies for the 7th Annual Holiday Party! Families can enjoy pictures with Santa, music with Preschool of Rock, face painting, a bounce house, a holiday train perfect for kids to enjoy and yummy cookie decorating. Entry fee is $7 for kids ages 6 months and up and $2 for 18 years and older.
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10 HDSID and Artist and Maker Market’s Happy Holiday Market, Grove Street PATH Plaza, 4-8 p.m. AMM is back for the holidays in conjunction with the farmers market! Locally handmade jewelry, candles, OOAK specialty handmade awesomeness and so much more!
13 HDSID and Artist and Maker Market’s Happy Holiday Market, Grove Street PATH Plaza, 4-8 p.m. AMM is back for the holidays in conjunction with the farmers market! Locally handmade jewelry, candles, OOAK specialty handmade awesomeness and so much more!
see page 64 Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 45
Photos by Michael Hardgrove
Looming LARGE A Jersey City artisan weaves her way into the fiber arts Photo by Gabriella Quadrini 46 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Photos by Gabriella Quadrini
By Tara Ryazansky
G
abriella Quadrini swiftly ties knot after knot in a length of rope hanging from a wooden dowel. She makes the complicated work look easy. Soon enough the pattern of knots will come together and become an intricate wall hanging, the boho type that first became popular in the 1970s. The fiber arts are now back fullforce. Quadrini’s company, Margaret Margaret Gabriella, is known for beautiful loom work, tapestries, and hand-knotted macrame, all made in her Jersey City home studio. Quadrini got her start when her grandmother taught her to knit and crochet, and her mother taught her to cross-stitch. “That’s where the Margaret and Margaret come into my business name,” says Quadrini, who grew up wearing sweaters knit by her grandmother, Margaret, while complex embroidery work created by her mother, also named Margaret, decorated the walls of Quadrini’s childhood bedroom. But she didn’t take to the work right away. “As a kid, the process of sitting down and knitting was never something that I tended toward,” Quadrini says. “I think it was too small and tedious for me.” As Quadrini got older, she forgot about textile work for a while. It wasn’t until a few years ago when Quadrini moved into an apartment with an awkward layout that she again picked up her spool of yarn. She wanted to cover a few unsightly unused doors in her hallway. She had trouble finding anything big enough to do the job. “I Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 47
built this really rough square loom,” Quadrini says, using vintage yarn from her grandmother’s collection to make a tapestry that would hide those doors. “The first thing that I made looked like a prop from The Blair Witch Project,” she laughs. Quadrini’s mother still has that original piece. Now they bond over a shared love of fiber arts. That project was the first of many. “After that I just kind of got addicted,” Quadrini says.
Decorate that Wall! As her weaving improved, Quadrini began to make wall hangings for friends until she had more pieces than she knew what to do with. She was starting to think that her hobby might grow into a business. Kristen Scalia, owner of the Jersey City lifestyle boutique Kanibal & Co. on Montgomery Street, approached Quadrini with an opportunity, “We knew each other through mutual acquaintances around town,” Scalia says. “I saw some of her pieces, and I said if you ever want to sell some in the shop, let me know.” Quadrini enthusiastically accepted the offer. “It immediately took off,” Scalia says. Margaret Margaret Gabriella was born. Scalia says that she’s noticed a lot of growth in Quadrini’s weaving during the time that they’ve been working together. “I’ve seen her confidence and her pieces grow,” she says. “Now she’s making these massive pieces that are sometimes five feet by six feet, and they sell. I’ve seen her be more daring in what she’s doing. Gabby is one of those artists we’ve just enjoyed having in the shop because we get to work all day surrounded by her beautiful weavings.” Quadrini does custom commissions as well, including stunning large-scale pieces like wedding altars that can take around 40 hours to create.
Learning the Craft Quadrini teaches macrame classes at Kanibal. “I do a plant hanger class and a wall hanging class,” Quadrini says. In each class, her students learn the basics of macrame and, with help from Quadrini, complete a project to take home. “It’s really fun because you can see when it clicks and people get it,” she says. “Then they send me pictures of things that they make on 48 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Photo by Gabriella Quadrini
their own.” She says that it’s not uncommon for students to end up just as addicted as she was. Jennifer Ongchin is one of those students. Ongchin had purchased a piece by Margaret Margaret Gabriella from Kanibal, so she was excited to take a class. “Not only did I want to learn, but I was fan-girling a little bit. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet and learn from an artist who made a piece that brought life to my bare walls.” The two- to two-and-half-hour classes at Kanibal cost $50, which includes refreshments and macrame supplies. “Gabriella was such a kind and patient teacher,” Ongchin says. “It is easy to get frustrated when you’re first learning a skill, and Gabriella helped to calm down the worried and get us back on track with humor and positivity. It was incredibly satisfying to walk away with a completed project that just two hours prior, I had doubted my ability to do.”
Meditating on Macrame Quadrini sees many reasons why fiber arts are so satisfying for her and her students. “It’s a very meditative thing,” she says. “Your hands are working, but your mind is free to wander. For me, it’s really nice to have a creative outlet.” She works as a nurse when she isn’t at the loom. “It does get my mind off of some of the tough aspects of what I do,” she says. “It’s an outlet for me to de-stress.”
A growing appreciation for artisanal items helps her business. “I think for a while disposable things were popular, but now people are putting more emphasis on the quality of handmade things,” she says. “There’s a huge resurgence. I think the rise of Etsy markets and things like that are bringing that back.” And Jersey City residents seem to love all things local. “Jersey City is a really lovely community that supports and embraces its own,” she says. “But I don’t go around putting ‘made in Jersey City’ stickers on things all around the store,” Scalia says. “A lot of items are made here, but the work stands on its own.”—JCM
Check out @margaretmargaretgabriella on Instagram to see more. For custom inquiries, email margaretmargaretgabriella@gmail.com.
www.oldbergenchurch.com
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Photo by Gabriella Quadrini
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 49
EDUCATION JCM
Chris Gadsden - Principal of Lincoln High School
Creating Moments and Memories Lincoln High’s new principal guides by example Story and photos by Al Sullivan
On
the first day of school in September, Chris Gadsden, newly named principal of Lincoln High School, greeted students and parents like they were old friends. In many cases, they were, because Gadsden had been serving as vice principal there since 2011. More important, Gadsden grew up in the neighborhood, on Wilkerson Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive. The neighborhood, he said, has changed since he was growing up in the 1980s, and not for the better. While he also faced issues of drugs and violence, the family was still the core of the neighborhood; kids today lack some of the resources that allowed him to survive. “Kids had more community to help them when I grew up,” Gadsden said. “Now, kids live more transient lives.”
50 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
That’s not to say that Gadsden had it easy. His biological father and uncles got into trouble. Gadsden had to rely on his hardworking mother for guidance, and perhaps even more influential, his grandfather, a Jersey City police officer, who laid down the rules by which Gadsden lived. “I was no angel by any means,” Gadsden said. “But I avoided a lot of things that hurt other people. My grandfather allowed me to focus. I also didn’t want to disappoint my mother, who worked various jobs in Jersey City and Newark. She worked so hard to raise us, I couldn’t let her down.” Growing up in the era of crack presented Gadsden with temptations he struggled to avoid. “We were poor, so the temptation was always there to make money,” he said. Not only did he want to avoid jail, but his mother and grandfather made it clear that he needed to get an education and to get involved civically: “They told me it was important to remember where I came from.”
Where He Came From Gadsden attended Public School No. 38 and then Snyder High School. But after high school, he didn’t have a clear picture of what he intended to do with his life. “I just wanted to work,” he said. Yet he also aspired to go to college, attending New Jersey City University. “I was first in my family except for my grandfather; he went to Rutgers,” Gadsden said. Gadsden had a vague idea that he might want to become a lawyer. He loved history and was inspired by teachers at Snyder that included current County Executive Tom DeGise. He also wanted to serve the public and have an impact on his neighborhood the way his grandfather had. In 1995, Gadsden joined the newly created AmeriCorps, a voluntary civil society program for public-service work with the goal of helping others and meeting critical needs in the community. At NJCU he studied political science but discovered he had a passion for teaching and went on to St. Peter’s University. In 2001, he got a job with the Jersey City Public Schools, succeeding well enough to be named Teacher of the Year at Public School No. 12 for the 2002-2003 school year. In 2011, then Jersey City Schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps tapped him to be vice principal at Lincoln High School. “Last June, Dr. Lyles had enough confidence in me to make me principal,” Gadsden said. Dr. Marcia Lyles is the current Jersey City Schools Superintendent.
Most Likely to Succeed Gadsden, who was briefly a councilman from Ward B, said, “We need to build the community. It is what shaped me.”
His goals involve making a difference in the lives of young people and their families. Three years ago, Gadsden got involved with a program called Royal Men Foundation, which helps young people avoid jail. “Too many people of color make up the prison population,” he said. Many young people get entangled in the criminal justice system for minor offenses that put them on the wrong path. “Being a principal puts me in a great position to help them,” Gadsden said, “providing kids with the tools they need to fend for themselves in the real world.” Equally important is ensuring that kids can be kids and get a meaningful high-school experience. “Most people don’t look back to the elementary school they went to, but they remember their high school,” Gadsden said. “It’s important to let them escape the ills of the world while they’re in high school so they can be kids. Part of my job is to create moments and memories for them.”
Life’s Lessons While there are no guarantees, Gadsden believes that the better educated his students are—if they’re given the knowhow to make decisions and take ownership of their lives—the better prepared they will be to face the world. The job of principal, Gadsden said, “allows me to affect kids’ lives every day, helping young people to become better people.” Gadsden hopes to be a role model for his students, the way his grandfather was a role model for him. “I want to use my life as an example,” Gadsden said. “Many kids do not have family structure. So we are building a community inside high school. This is the greatest job I’ve ever had.” —JCM
“Being a principal puts me in a great position to provide kids with the tools they need to fend for themselves in the real world,” Gadsden says. Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 51
E M E R G I N G
MUSEUMS ABOUND! Two new venues promote the arts
The Apple Tree House
Photos by Al Sullivan
T
alk about rags to riches. A former repair garage for Public Service, the forerunner to PSE&G, is slated to become a world-class arts center, the Jersey City Museum and community center. The Jersey City Redevelopment Authority (JCRA) purchased the five-story, 55,000-square-foot Pathside Building at 25 Sip Ave. from Hudson County Community College. In August, the JCRA selected the international firms OMA/AMO and AEA as the architectural and creative consultants on the project. “OMA/AMO and AEA have proven their expertise in museum development, and I am confident they will help us define our vision for a space
that will become a destination for artists and visitors alike,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. OMA is the architecture firm, AMO is the in-house research and design studio, and AEA consults on strategy and planning for cultural projects. “Historically, Journal Square was not only a transportation hub but also a cultural center,” said Jason Long, OMA Partner-in-Charge. “And museums are increasingly serving as dynamic spaces that engage both local communities and global audiences.” P“The OMA/AMO/AEA proposal was directly in line with our larger vision for the Jersey City Museum,” said JCRA’s director, Diana Jefferies. The museum will focus on the
The Apple Tree House: then and now. Photo courtesy of the New Jersey Room, Jersey City Free Public Library
The future: Jersey City Museum and community center
visual and performing arts with part of the building reserved for local artists. Its proximity to the PATH will attract artists and visitors from throughout the region. Meanwhile, back at the historic Apple Tree House, arts programming is being planned for the legendary site of a meeting between Generals Washington and Lafayette. The Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs is spearheading the initiative, which included a George Washington wreath-laying on Presidents’ Day. Throughout the year, there were a series of talks by the New Jersey Council on the Humanities’ Public Scholars Project, in partnership with local nonprofit groups. Exhibitions and tours explore the rich history of Jersey City and Bergen Hill. Visit jerseycityculture.org. —Kate Rounds Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 53
BUSINESS MAKES JERSEY CITY WORK Interviews by Kate Rounds
Dr. Wilma McPherson. Photo by Marcell Pickins
JERSEY CITY PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY WILMA MCPHERSON, DMD 139 Newark Ave. (201) 434-3000 ask.jcpdentistry@gmail.com jcpdentistry.com
H
ow many dentists are living their childhood dreams? The woman known to legions of local kids as Dr. Wilma is doing just that. As a kid growing up in the Boston area, she loved going to the dentist and was fascinated by all the trappings of dentistry. Who knew? “What inspired me the most was my pediatric dentist,” says Dr. Wilma McPherson. “My mom found him in a residency program at BU (Boston University). I was intrigued by it all—the shiny things, the dentistry smells—and it stuck with me.” And there was another important factor. “As a young African-American growing up in Boston, I could identify with someone who looked like myself,” McPherson says. There are any number of niches in dentistry, such as endodontics and orthodontics, so why pediatric dentistry? “I always had a love for relating to kids, and their innocence,” McPherson says. “In my experience I personally enjoy developing warm relation-
ships with children.” She hears from parents that “Dr. Wilma is all the rage in our house,” which is good because she wants to “reinforce oral habits at home.” But she’s well aware that for some people a trip to the dentist isn’t all fun and games. “I understand that everyone doesn’t have a wonderful experience,” McPherson says. “Everyone has war stories, but I want to foster a child’s healthy relationship with the dentist, without fear.” If you think you can just ease on over to the dentist when your child is 3 or 4, think again. You should start “at year one or when the first tooth erupts in the mouth,” McPherson says. Her oldest patients are 18. Not surprisingly, Dr. Wilma’s office is designed to be calm and comforting for children. “It’s a kid-friendly environment with warm colors, TVs mounted in certain areas, and an open-bay setting, where kids can take a glimpse of another child to see how that child is doing,” McPherson says. Laughing gas is another fun trick. “It can be a great means of practicing pediatric dentistry,” McPherson says, explaining that it’s an analgesic that promotes numbness and “a funny feeling” that calms the patient. McPherson often invokes Elsa from Frozen and Iron Man to help put kids at ease. She also makes up the lyrics to her own songs and sings them, ac-
54 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
knowledging that she might not be the best singer, and her staff often has to remind her what the lyrics are, but hey, it has the desired effect: “Children feeling a sense of comfort.” This Boston native earned her dental degree from the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 2000. So, how did she land in Jersey City? Her husband was initially from New Jersey and has family in the area. She’s had her practice in Jersey City for four years. “We order lunch in and try to support local businesses,” she says. “I used a signage business in Jersey City.” She also likes the vibe. “Jersey City is growing fast,” she says. “I like the culture. There are young families in transition who want a good quality of life for their children, the schools, the extracurricular activities in raising children; I’m happy to be a part of that.” McPherson is giving back to the community. “We try to reach out to various schools and daycares in and around Jersey City to talk about healthy smiles and food options,” she says. “We talk about dental visits to have kids get familiar with instruments, see the attire dentists might wear, and show them what to expect.” Says McPherson, “We want parents to feel comfortable asking any question they might have about oral health, and we want children to be comfortable in the space.”
Anthony Ferrara. Photo by Alyssa Bredin Quiros
TONY FERRARA & ASSOC. 574 Newark Ave. (201) 963-8888 info@tonyferrara.com tfa.tax.com
I
t’s a nice name, Tony Ferrara. Throw in “& Assoc.” and you definitely have a business. But what kind of business? That’s what we aimed to find out when we chatted with its president, Anthony Ferrara. The company is named for his father, Tony, who founded it on Dec. 15, 1946. “It’s very vague, and doesn’t mean anything,” Anthony acknowledges. “Nobody knows what we do.” What they’ve been doing for 72 years is offering insurance, accounting, and tax services. “We’re a one-stop shop,” Anthony says, “a fullservice financial firm.” Anthony joined the firm in 1983. A graduate of Saint Peter’s Prep and New York University, he was mainly into chemistry. “I had a high level of interest and took many courses but realized I could not make it a profession.” Ergo: Time to join the family business? Anthony’s parents and grandparents were all born and raised in Jersey City. His great-grandfather came from Italy and established a funeral home here in 1895.
Tony Ferrara grew up on Fourth Street; his wife, on Brunswick. So joining the firm, which has been at its current location since 1957, must have felt pretty familiar to their son, Anthony. To learn the business, he took continuing-education seminars and attended conferences and conventions, a learning process that spanned a decade. In 1997, he achieved the designation of IRS Enolled Agent. The office currently has from eight to 16 employees, depending on the season. “We offer a year-round service,” Anthony says. “I have experience in many fields, insurance, the securities industry, real-estate ownership and management, and taxes,” emphasizing that tax services go beyond “superficial knowledge. It’s a large-scale approach, a broad spectrum, not just textbook accounting.” Just the mention of the word taxes sends some people into a frenzy. “People bring different levels of anxiety,” Anthony says. “Some people are worried about being audited and others are worried about owing money.” The agency offers representation to deal with the first and proactive tax planning to deal with the second. A very important agency service is one that Anthony says 99 percent of people have never heard of: surety bonds. It’s a type of insurance that his
agency takes great pride in. “It’s an integral part of any community,” he says. There are many kinds of surety bonds, but a common one addressed by the agency deals with estates. If a loved one dies, and you are appointed the administrator by the Surrogate Court, you may be required to secure insurance (i.e. administrator’s bond) that guarantees that you faithfully perform your duties and responsibilities. “It protects creditors and their heirs,” Anthony says. The agency abandoned the funeral-home business in 2011. “We covered death and taxes at one time,” Anthony jokes. The Ferrara family has seen huge changes in the many years it has lived in Jersey City. “I liked the old days but have embraced the transformation,” Anthony says. “A guy used to drive around in a pickup truck, selling fruits and vegetables out of the back. There was something about it, but the transformation is great for business.” He frequents a lot of different restaurants around town, including the Light Horse Tavern, the White Star, Laico’s, Renato’s, and Skinner’s Loft. “I also like trying new places,” he says. Anthony is secure knowing that because both taxes and surety bonds are government-mandated, he’s not going to go out of business anytime soon. “We educate and inform people,” he says. “We’re there for families during difficult times.” —JCM
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 55
On the JOB with
Holy Name Cemetery Workers By Tara Ryazansky Photos by Maxim Ryazansky
I
t’s quiet and calm at Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum. When I pull in from the rush of 440, I’m greeted by neat, well-manicured rows of new gravestones. Further down the lane are older, ornate stones that dot the hills of the 68acre cemetery. Some plots are marked with gigantic crosses that tower over more modest hand-carved statues. Some date to the 1860s. On the side of the cemetery that borders West Side Avenue are several mausoleum buildings as well as the main office. Here I meet Robert Mauriello, director of operations, and Steve DelMauro, superintendent. Both work for Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum as well as all the Archdiocese of Newark Catholic Cemeteries, including small parish cemeteries “We used to call them churchyards,” Mauriello says of the small church graveyards. “If the parish is no longer there, they come into the Archdiocese. We have Saint Peters and Saint Andrews. We maintain them whether there are still burials there or not. There’s still perpetual care on every grave.” There’s a lot more to the job than simply digging graves. “We don’t call them gravediggers,” Mauriello says. “We say cemetery worker, because they do everything. It’s a big misconception that it just revolves around that, but they don’t just dig graves.”
Tales from the Crypt For a cemetery worker the day begins at 7 a.m., with funeral services starting around 11. The morning is spent preparing for upcoming funerals. Today one will be held in the garden mausoleum with the service by the crypt. Cemetery workers open the crypt whose granite door was previously prepared by workers who hand-applied letters that spell out the deceased’s name, birth date, and death date, along with any other inscription requested. Some of the vaults are decorated with cameos that include a photo of the deceased or symbols that connect to his or her life. A mausoleum chapel is available for funeral services. Each month a mass is held there to honor all who died that month. 56 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Cemetery workers prepare a grave for a funeral. Mauriello says that the mausoleum is just as popular as the plots. Also growing in popularity is the cremation option. “Being Catholic, human cremated remains are supposed to be put in the cemetery. They’re not supposed to be kept at home,” he says, noting that an urn on the mantle today could get lost as generations go by. Holy Name offers outdoor plots for urns as well as glass- or marble-fronted mausoleum niches. “This way that person is memorialized, and they’re in our records,” Mauriello says. “If they’re not interred in a cemetery there’s no memorialization. It’s here to eternity. With Catholic cemeteries it’s forever. In this business even if the cemetery isn’t active, it’s still maintained. There will always be a place for somebody to go, and that’s important, people need that.” The diocese website has a Find a Loved One searchable database that covers Archdiocese of Newark Catholic Cemeteries.
Eight Feet Under If today’s funeral were outdoors, things would go a little differently. The grave would have been opened the day before. DelMauro says that it typically takes about a half hour to dig a grave in the warm months. It’s a different story in winter when they sometimes use a jackhammer to get through the frozen earth. It can take twice as long to dig a grave in those conditions. “Our men are here when it’s 100 degrees or pouring rain or two feet of snow,” Mauriello says. “During Hurricane Sandy we were having funerals. We’ve never turned away a funeral.” After the grave is dug, they cover the hole with wood. “When you try to dig straight down, and you’re going down eight feet, the sides start falling in. They’ll put wood everywhere so that if anyone is walking over there it won’t slide.” They abide by the rules of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “There are markings on the planks so that if anybody is walking over there they know that there’s an open hole. Safety is our main concern. Safety and family.” All the soil is moved away from the gravesite for the funeral service. A faux grass sheet is laid down on the earth that surrounds the grave on the day of the funeral. Next they set up a device that lowers the casket. All the cemetery machinery is maintained by cemetery workers and stored on the premises. On the day of an outdoor funeral, the foreman would escort the procession to the grave. Workers would take the casket from the hearse to the grave, set it up, and arrange the flowers while funeral goers wait in their vehicles. “Once they’re done, the funeral director instructs the family to come over, and our men disappear. The funeral director now runs the service with the priest, and once they’re done the family gets back in their cars, and our men lower the casket. They proceed to take all the equipment off the grave and backfill it with soil.” Another duty of the cemetery worker is building the foundation for the gravestone so that a monument setter can install it. This can be done when a plot is purchased in advance or shortly before a funeral. A memorial counselor handles sales on duty daily in the mausoleum office.
Perpetual Care When a funeral is done the work has just begun for the cemetery workers. “They have to keep an eye on the grave to make sure that it stays level and safe for everyone,” Mauriello says. Maintenance is ongoing. Cemetery workers care for the paths that meander through the rows of gravestones. They trim the grass and the stately, old trees. Seasonally, they switch out the themed faux flower arrangements that decorate many graves. The cemetery uses a flagging system. Whenever a cemetery worker notices a grave that needs to be filled in with soil to level the ground, they put an orange flag on it. If they see a grave where the grass looks sparse, they put a green flag in the ground to indicate that the area needs to be seeded. “It’s a process that we just keep going through every day,” Mauriello says. We catch up with a couple of cemetery workers who are raking the grass near a freshly dug grave that’s ready for a funeral service tomorrow. Frank Matos and Aristedes Silva have been
Robert Mauriello, director of operations
cemetery workers for many years. Mauriello says that most of them have been working at Holy Name for more than 15 years. “All the men are more than just workers. They’re devoted to it,” Mauriello says. “It’s a manual job, but you have to be compassionate. You have to understand that this is not just a job; we’re doing one of the corporal works of mercy: burying the dead. It’s a ministry. This is holy ground. Years ago people had a misconception about cemeteries. A cemetery is not a morbid place, it’s a nice place. It’s a place to come and pay your respects. It’s peaceful.” –JCM
rcancem.org/holy-name-cemetery-a-mausoleum
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 57
I Could Do
That! A Jersey City entrepreneur creates a game that turns you into an artiste By Tara Ryazansky Photos by Maxim Ryazansky
M
ollie Thonneson rolls the dice to find out what color paint she must add to the work of abstract art that confronts her. She lands on green and uses the paintbrush to make triangles. Next it’s my turn. I’m not a fine artist like Thonneson, but it doesn’t matter, because she invented TAG The Art Game to so that anyone could play. “It’s a collaborative game where any number of players are working together to complete one piece of abstract art,” Thonneson says. Players pull a series of cards that direct them what to draw, paint, or collage on a particular part of the paper or canvas of their choice. The idea came to her while having a conversation with her partner, painter Alan Walker, about whether you have to be an artist to make art. Thonneson wanted to create a product that could help anyone make art. “I thought, you have to make it fun,” Thonneson says. “What if you made it a game, and you did it with other people? That would be fun. I started building on ideas. Honestly, I was obsessed.” She used an online business-card printing company to make the prompt cards. “That meant that I had to handcollate them all,” Thonneson says. “There were thousands of these things, and that was just one part of it.” There are two versions of the game, one that comes with art supplies and one without. “I was manufacturing it out of my living room,” she says. “For a couple of years we were a factory.”
58 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
“Believe in your product and believe in yourself,” Thonneson says.
Art Market
In 2014, Thonneson began cold-calling toy stores. Soon it was a hit at places like Roflcopter Toys & Gifts in downtown Jersey City. Thonneson attended the New York Toy Fair at the Javits Center, where she received hundreds of orders. In 2015, TAG The Art Game was chosen to be one of FamilyFun Magazine’s Toys of the Year. “That helped put it on the map,” Thonneson says. She continued to assemble each game in her home even as the popularity grew, until she was approached at a trade show by American Educational Products (AMEP), which wanted to license TAG The Art Game. This meant that AMEP would manufacture and distribute the game. Thonneson demonstrated the game at the AMEP booth at the 2018 New York Toy Fair in February. The spacious booth looks a lot different from tiny indie ones. TAG shares shelf space with other artistic and educational children’s products. But the giant booth isn’t the only big change that came with the licensing deal. “I’ll never be collating again,” Thonneson says, happy to close down her home factory and enjoy the royalties of TAG The Art Game.
Could Do That
For any Jersey City residents who are considering becoming entrepreneurs, Thonneson has this advice: “Get a business mentor.” She received guidance from a family member, Joe Markham, who started KONG, a multimillion-dollar pet toy company that began with an idea that came to him while working in an auto garage. “He helped me with getting the game copyrighted and getting the trademark,” Thonneson says. She also turned to her alma mater, New Jersey City University, where she recently returned to get her degree. She saw that there was a series of lectures about business open to alumni. There she met professor Donald Egan, who told her about the NJCU Business Development Incubator that helps small companies grow in Jersey City. “He became one of my mentors as well,” Thonneson says, adding that the school as well as the government has many free programs to aid small-business entrepreneurs. She’s open to mentoring Jersey City residents, who hope to follow a similar path. “Just do the work,” she says. “It seems like a simple thing, but it isn’t. Stick to your dreams, stay up late and believe in yourself. Believe in your product and believe in yourself.”
Artist for a Day
As for my experience with TAG The Art Game? The result is a work of art fit for framing. Layers of paint, colored pencil, and colorful collaged tissue paper have come together to make a masterpiece. Each time the game is played, the outcome will be a unique work of art, often leaving the less artistically inclined amazed at what they’ve created. “A lot of people are so intimidated by art because they don’t know what to do,” Thonneson says. “That’s the biggest hurdle with art. But this game gives people a launch, a little push.”—JCM
tagtheartgame.com facebook.com/TAGtheArtGame Mollie@tagtheartgame.com
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 59
Vince makes a mean cocktail.
Photos by Beth DiCara
T
his establishment appeared on the Newark Ave. bar scene in 2015. Like the name implies, it’s a woody, atmospheric classy night spot—it opens at 5 and stays open ‘til “Late.”
There’s some archery imagery on its logo and a beautiful stag trophy on the wall. In fact, when you walk in, the whole vibe is urban hunting lodge. Full disclosure: I know co-owner Jesse Weeks from back in the day. He has a
The Archer Cocktails & Refuge 176 Newark Ave. (201) 309-1090 archerbar.com
60 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
journalism background and got his taste for bar-andrestaurant work while bartending at the Madison in Hoboken. He calls the Archer “cozy and intimate.” The clientele “is a mix,” he says. “It runs the gamut of age groups.” Cocktail lovers will feel right at home at the Archer, which offers Nikka Whiskey Night, a Tuesday Tasting Series, and mescal tastings. The Wednesday night we visited featured a Workman’s Comp Cocktail Hour offering the Bee’s Knees, with gin, lemon, and honey; daiquiri, with rum, lime, and simple syrup; and classic Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. Vince, the masterly bartender, created three drinks for us to sip and shoot: the Say Hey!, a blend of mescal, blanco vermouth, pineapple, lime, cinnamon, and tiki bitters; the Cloak & Dagger, made from Goslings rum, aged rum, lime, and simple syrup; and the Saguaro, a mix of tequila blanca, campari, yellow chartreuse, lemon, vanilla, strawberry, cardamom, and rhubarb bitters. They were all beautiful to behold and packed a punch. I opted for the North Coast Scrimshaw Pils on draft, a cold, perfectly balanced pilsner in a really nicely designed glass. Other cocktails include the Penicillin, made with scotch, lemon, honey, and ginger. In warm weather, frozen drinks include the Pearl of La Paz, made with mescal, scotch, pineapple, lime, cinnamon, coconut, campari, and strawberry. Also on the frozen list is The Missionary’s Downfall, a mix of rum, peach liqueur, pineapple, lime, honey, and mint. Classic cocktails include the Army & Navy, Cool Colonel, Good Fellow, and Jack in the Box.
House specialties feature the Honore Roll, Springbok, and Puesta Del Sol. The Archer offers an extensive list of some 20 white, sparkling, rosé, and red wines. Its beer list is eclectic. On draft are Unibroue a Tout Le Monde, 21st Amendment a Terrible Idea, La Birra di Meni Grava, Bell’s Porter, and Ducato Brett Peat Daydream. When it comes to victuals, you’ll find a lot of game meats, but the whole hunting theme is diluted a bit by pairing a concept like venison with a concept like cheesesteak. The popular venison cheeseteak features 17 spice onions, tangy relish, Deer Creek “The Stagg” cheddar, and pretzel baguette. Photographer Beth DiCara and I sat down to a bowl of duck poutine, made from confit, Wisconsin curd, pomme frites, gravy, and a soft boiled duck egg. This signature dish is rich and hearty. Another popular stick-toyour ribs dish is spicy elk meatballs and kale, which comes on a bed of creamy polenta, with piquilo, Tuscan kale, spicy tomato, and goat cheese. Other “bites” include smoked wild boar shoulder, campfire mac and cheese, duck a l’orange, and duck burgers. Don’t worry, there are plenty of greens, including a nice green bean and garlic salad, warm mushroom salad, wheatberry tabbouleh, and accompanying sides featuring kale, succotash, Brussel sprouts, pickled cucumber, smoked tomato, shallots, arugula, scallions, parsley, and, collard greens. The Archer bills itself as Cocktails & Refuge. This friendly, intimate watering hole with its knock-em-dead drinks is certainly both.— Kate Rounds
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 61
Pinwheel Garden Pinwheel Garden Dumpling and Noodle Bar 318 Communipaw Ave. (201) 413-5333 pinwheelgardenjc.com
PHOTOS BY BETH DICARA
A
s I think I’ve mentioned before, I live in the Bergen-Lafayette hood, and I can safely speak for my friends and neighbors when I say that we eagerly await each new business that comes to the community. For a long time, there were no bars or restaurants—not much of anything really—so we were thrilled when a handful of new establishments started to appear over the last year or two. We’re especially happy when they’re successful, which is the case with Pinwheel Garden. We all watched as co-owners Steve and Albert Tseng, who are TaiwaneseAmerican, born in New York, worked to convert an unused space into an eatery. We asked them so many times when it would be done that I think they got a little exasperated. It’s intimate, and we could see that it would be beautiful with lots of exposed brick, original art, and gorgeous wooden tables, handmade by Steve himself. In short, it fit perfectly with the neighborhood aesthetic. Steve envisioned the Pinwheel logo during meditation. “As the pinwheel spins, its colors blend to one,” he says. “The leaves stand for nature and healing.” Here’s how he describes the vibe. “We are an Asian-American melting pot, drawing on the cuisines of Taiwan, China, India, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Italy, America and many others.” Pinwheel gets its high-quality, healthy ingredients from local foragers, artisans, and markets. On a beautiful fall afternoon, photographer Beth DiCara and I stopped by for a delicious lunch, featuring four hearty dishes. Coconut Curry, Pinwheel’s best selling dish, is creamy and slightly sweet, melding Indian and Thai flavors over Jasmine rice or Udon noodles. It can be served with any protein of choice. Maitake Ramen Special features chewy ramen noodles in a broth made from wild maitake mushrooms (foraged by neighbors Alex Tyshkov and Talita Cabral). It’s a mélange of maitake, chicken of the woods and oyster 62 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
Left to right Dave, Albert, Steve, and Jeff
mushrooms, garlic snowpea leaves, jasmine tea egg, enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, kimchee and fried shallots. Bacon and Veggie Dumplings are the Pinwheel’s take on a traditional Chinese pork and chive dumpling with natural, uncured bacon, chives, scallions and Taiwanese cabbage to balance the fattiness of the pork. Hand-folded in-house. Spinach Pie Dumplings are the Pinwheel’s take on a spanikopita. Layers of spinach, dill, parsley, nutmeg and lemon with a hint of creamy vegan “feta” cheese for body and texture. Whiskey Bacon Fried Rice is a classic Chinese dish, with the addition of Irish Whiskey, natural uncured bacon and a mélange of assorted veggies. Served with lemongrass chicken and spicy Korean hot honey sauce. It’s hard to describe the textures, complexity, and just plain goodness of these artistic offerings. Visit pinwheelgardenjc. com to view other menu items.
When it first opened, the owners said that they serve the Bergen/Lafayette area. That may have been true in the beginning, but I know for a fact that folks from Downtown and the Heights have heard the word of mouth and are “discovering” this “best-kept secret.” Feel free to bring your own beer or wine. On offer are blueberry Meyer lemon tea, a range of hot teas, and apple HDSIDra. “We put a lot of care and love into everything we make,” Steve says. “We believe food is the most underrated form of medicine.” Pinwheel strives to “bring the community together, one dish at a time.” I can attest to that. Peek in the window during lunch or dinner, and you’ll probably find at least one of your friends taking in the delectable food and great vibe—Kate Rounds
Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 63
DATES JCM from page 45
Jersey City’s Premier Dining Destination
Keller Williams’ Pettygrass feat. The Hillbenders, White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave., 8:30-10:30 p.m. $25.
14-15 Disney on Broadway, NJCU Margaret Williams Theater, Hepburn Hall, 7:30 p.m. NJCU’s Musical Theatre Workshop presents Disney on Broadway, featuring the biggest musical moments from The Lion King, Newsies, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and many more, sung and danced with a live orchestra. $15 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors.
Offering two elegantly appointed dining rooms and a classic Prohibition era bar, Edward’s is the perfect venue for intimate evenings and larger gatherings. Call today to book your corporate or family party or stop in for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Private dining is available for groups of up to 40 guests.
Open for Lunch & Dinner 7 Days a Week Now Serving Brunch Friday & Saturday 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm 239 Marin Boulevard • Jersey City, NJ • 201-761-0000 • www.edwardssteakhouse.com
COMING IN WINTER / SPRING 2019
Reach more than 100,000 readers by advertising in a delectable Hudson Reporter magazine dedicated to the most delicious food in Hudson County. January 4, 2019 Published - January 22, 2019 Deadline -
Contact the Advertising Dept. of The Hudson Reporter • 201.798.7800 64 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
DATES JCM
15 ASPI Merry Makers and Artist Market, The Church of St. Paul’s & The Incarnation, 38 Duncan Avenue, 12-7 p.m. Artists and makers from Jersey City and beyond offer their unique creations for you! Shoppers will enjoy the outstanding refreshments from Bread and Spoon while browsing through a wonderland of artworks and handmade goods, from natural essential oils to one-of-a-kind accessories.
16 “Cocktail Hour: The Show” by Ballets with a Twist, White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave., 6-8 p.m. This sparkling mix of original choreography, music and design is high-style fun for all ages to enjoy. The cabaret-style engagement will feature live music performed by the company’s own B-Twist Orchestra. $20 .
17-20
HDSID and Artist and Maker Market’s Happy Holiday Market, Grove Street PATH Plaza, 4-8 p.m. AMM is back for the holidays in conjunction with the farmers market! Locally handmade jewelry, candles, OOAK specialty handmade awesomeness and so much more!
Elevating the ice cream cake experience!
ORDER CAKES AT TORICOCAKES.COM @TORICOCAKES
201-432-9458 20 ERIE STREET JERSEY CITY, NJ
22 Trophy Scars in Concert, White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave., 8-11 p.m. Trophy Scars is a posthardcore, post-punk, post-rock, psychedelic band from Morristown, NJ. $15. HDSID and Artist and Maker Market’s Happy Holiday Market, Grove Street PATH Plaza, 12-5 p.m. AMM is back for the holidays in conjunction with the farmers market! Locally handmade jewelry, candles, OOAK specialty handmade awesomeness and so much more!
see page 66 Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018 • 65
DATES JCM from page 65
AUTHENTIC MIDDLE EASTERN CUISINE JANUARY 5 New Age American The Jewel of Historic Downtown Jersey City The Essence of Class with Great Taste
Catering For All Occasions ONLINE ORDERING AT
www.gypsygrillnj.com
201-839-5115
Fax 201-839-5039 187 Newark Avenue Jersey City, NJ (Near Grove Street Path & Jersey Avenue)
Shawarma
Jersey City Ukulele Meet Up, JC Studios, 143 Christopher Columbus Dr., 2-4 p.m. Do you like playing the ukulele, or are you interested in picking one up? Want to practice your skills, work on songs in a supportive setting, and jam with others? This may be the group for you! We do strum-alongs: we have songbooks, and you’re invited to bring copies of songs you’d like people to strum along with. It’s a low-key, friendly group. (If you don’t currently have a uke of your own, just let us know; we can be sure to have a couple extras on hand.) RSVP at JerseyCityUke.Club or by e-mailing admin@ JerseyCityUke.Club.
26 The Snow Ball at Art House Productions, 262 17th Street, 7-11:30 p.m. Jersey City’s arts “prom,” one of the great parties of the year, and a fundraiser for Art House Productions.
FEBRUARY 13 The Neal Morse Band. White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave.,Doors: 7p.m. Show: 8:00 p.m. Tickets $35. This event is 18 and over.
Falafel . Hummus Open 7 Days
FREE DELIVERY UPON LOCATION Minimum $20
Downtown Jersey City, Heights & Hoboken 66 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2018
337 Newark Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07302 info@wehjc.com 201 885 5166
2018 - 2019 UPCOMING SHOWS SNAIL MAIL
NOVEMBER 30, 2018
AN EVENING WITH MIKE COOLEY OF DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
DECEMBER 3, 2018
KELLER WILLIAMS' PETTYGRASS FEAT. THE HILLBENDERS
DECEMBER 13, 2018
TEEN TOP
DECEMBER 15, 2018
JCTC DANCE: “COCKTAIL HOUR: THE SHOW”
DECEMBER 16, 2018
TROPHY SCARS
DECEMBER 22, 2018
AN EVENING WITH THE NEAL MORSE BAND
FEBRUARY 13, 2019
STEPHEN KELLOGG
APRIL 20, 2019
THE HOLD STEADY
MAY 16, 2019
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