vip in the city

Jersey City housewarming

Well, M(LF) finally did it: after months of threatening to do so, she finally left the place in Chelsea behind for Jersey City (a.k.a. the Dirty Jerz). Tonight would be the housewarming party.

Despite its proximity to downtown Manhattan -– a mere six-minute ride from the World Trade Center PATH station (Yes, I timed it) — I’d only ever been through, not to, Jersey City. On the way down to the train platform, we passed a familiar face, riding the escalator in the opposite direction. It was DK, on his way home from work.

“Where are you going?,” he called.

As the escalators pulled us deeper into the station, widening the gap between him and us, we called back, “JER-zeeee!”

The city has a (2000 U.S. Census) population of 240,055, comparable to post-Katrina New Orleans (i.e., about half of the pre-Katrina population numbers.)

In the late 19th century, Jersey City served as an inviting destination for immigrants coming through Ellis Island, offering easy access to Manhattan and plentiful jobs in its thriving manufacturing center. But decades of government mismanagement and a history of political scandal and corruption produced a classic example of urban blight by the late 20th century, leaving abandoned waterfront rail yards and shells of warehouses in its wake. In the past decade, though, Jersey City has undergone a major renaissance and the yards have been replaced with public parks and massive residential and commercial development. Trump Plaza: Jersey City is in the works at Washington and Bay Streets, and will include New Jersey’s two tallest residential towers (50 and 55 stories tall.)

City Hall of the City of Jersey City (1896) — designed by Lewis Broome, who also did the plans for the Trenton State House:

M’s apartment, is located in the Van Vorst Park historical district. The park itself is 1.8 acres of landscaped public space, named for Cornelius Van Vorst, onetime mayor of Jersey City. It is surrounded on four sides by historic brick and brownstone rowhouses, and separated from the waterfront by a legacy of older infrastructure. The park features pathed walkways, garden areas, a playground, an ornate iron fountain and manicured lawns. The space underwent a $2 million renovation in 1999, and is maintained in large part through the efforts of the Friends of the Van Vorst Park Association.

M’s apartment was enviable: easily triple the space of the Chelsea pad, with a granite-countered kitchen and the almost unimaginable luxury of two bathrooms (one en suite). One week in, and she already had in place some serious, grown-up furniture pieces, including a substantial four-poster bed “as nice as the ones in the Sheraton!”

There's 1 comment so far ... Jersey City housewarming

Qsoz
October 6, 2006

Again I have to ask, Sheraton New York or Sheraton Manhattan?

Go for it ...