Economical mixture

It is Thursday December 18, 2008. The weather is cool but the sun is out. I am making my way to Pennsylvania station in Newark, NJ where I will board for work in Manhattan. I pass the Richardson building a project derived from what appeared to have been a school. This project continues it seems, while some businesses, like the newly opened Bojangles has closed its doors. I think to myself, "Maybe this is the economy." or "Is it bad accounting?" Whatever it is , there is definitely a mixture of closings and openings here.

My View

It is Wednesday December 17, 2008. I watch the View, a morning talk show which is all-woman anchored with "different" view points, in the commuter student's lounge on a campus in Newark, NJ. It seemed like yesterday Rosie O'donell was a part of the show. Why did she not work out? Are her values of liberalism too strong or is the View biased "crap" disguising itself as a show incorporating many "voices" and ideals. At first I thought maybe its typical of lesbians to be kind of strong-headed but I do not think that was the reason for O'donnell's on-air argument and her resignation.

My friendly disagreement

It is Tusesday December 16,2008. My friend Beatrice will not talk to me because I called the bouncer and the owner of a local portuguese bar/club "money hungry bigots." She does not know them personally, only shares the owner's nationality. I feel that the owner discriminated based on gender and the amount of money patrons spent in advance. Oh, is that how business works?

Down with Channel 9

It is Monday December 15, 2008. I walk along the downtown area again, and a female reporter with microphone and cameraman, is being screamed at by a man standing on the corner with friends. He loudly curses her, above the roar of music of the vendors set up on the opposite corner of Broad street and Market street.

His City

It is Sunday, the 14th of December, and I have decided to meet with another resident of Newark to get his feelings about our town. Daniel Mendez is a young professional engineer who works in New York and moved to Newark about three years ago. Mendez feels that Newark is closer to where he works in Manhattan than where he used to live in Parsipanny. He feels that from a transportation stand point Newark is just as convenient as other New Jersey towns bordering the Hudson River, but more affordable. Mendez also likes the fact that he is closer to his girlfriend, a "hot British nurse named Beverly" who bartends on the side, and who lives in Elizabeth.

Daniel feels that the night life and its cultural segments, compared to other New Jersey cities are very specific. There is either Latin or Portuguese venues or the regular American , young hip-hop club who caters to big club spenders and VIPs no matter what they wear or carry. (Adego Grill) Of course, he also feels that the night life does not offer what New York offers. However, he says what Newark lacks in resources it makes up in simplicity. What it offers is straight forward and there are not to many factors involved.

Mendez says that he visits the Newark museum, the public libraries, New Jersey Performing Arts Center where he saw The Producers, and the new Prudential Center where he routes for the Devil's hockey team and attends concerts.

Her Experience

It is Saturday, December 13th, and the weather is cold and windy in Newark, NJ. I have decided to talk to a friend, Ann Do Santos, who has immigrated from Brazil. She said she was living in France and came back to the states to live. After a few years living in Union City she was displaced by development. So, she considered moving to Newark because of its affordability but was weary of its reputation for crime. After doing some research through Craigslist.com she now shares an apartment in the Newark area with a few roommates.

Ann feels that although the rent is not as expensive as other areas surrounding New York, that using convenient transportation makes it just as expensive. She takes the New Jersey transit to work because of its convenience and its speed and it costs more than her old treck from Union City to New York, where she works. Living closer to New York is better because there are more resources at your fingertips. Newark ,which has some what of a night life, is inconveniently the same price as living closer to Manhattan.

A nightlife exists but there are not many options. The Adego Grill which offers an attractive space for dancing and drinks, but seems to add new rules every week for some of its patrons, seems lone. Other types of nightlife include Hell's Kitchen, on the corner of Union and Lafayette and a few other bars that also operate as restaurants. Ana feels that though the night life exists, it can be boring because its over at 3:00 AM.

Newark's Golden Secret

Today, Friday December 12,2008, I visited the Golden City Chineese restaurant. The hostess was very nice as usual. She allowed me to ask a few questions. So after my meal which consisted of sweet and sour chicken, Lo Mein, fried rice, roast pork, from the buffet and American canned Nestea, I began my questionare. The amount of customers served daily varies. Customers come from many different areas across the city, such as City Hall workers to Immigration official to law enforcement along with others. Golden City Chineese restaurant, which is very affordable and offers a large menu from Wonton soup to chef's specialties like Tai Chine chicken, has lunch and dinner specials and menus, and has been open for more than five years.

Newark: A city's intermission?

It is Wednesday December 10, 2008. The temperature is unseasonably warm and rain falls steadily. No sunshine is in sight. I browse the news stand inside Pennsylvania station, a hub for transportation in, out and through Newark, NJ, all while avoiding the stare of an Arabic attendant standing behing the small steel cash register. Headlines about an infamous Chicago governor, Governor Blagojevich's, indictment for sale of the now vacant senate seat Barack Obama once held catch my attention and I begin to think about the scandals that once ravished Newark' government and wonder if the poverty and social problem of Newark today is a result of this.
According to newspaper headlines and the attitudes of local citizens, Newark has done an about-face and is trying to turn its problems, from embezzlement by its previous mayor to disconcerting crime and murders to business and citizen's migrating away from it altogether, into solutions. First of all ex-mayor, ex-senator Sharpe James, though convicted for embezzlement, is said to be responsible for many of the positive things that has happened to Newark. The New York Times' Damien Cave explains that his record is mixed, consisting of progressive efforts for the city's renewal to unfortunate monetary criminal activity. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/nyregion/28sharpe.html?pagewanted=print . Many supporters of James feel that though he and his office was convicted of embezzlement of funds totalling around $190,000, he had the no-how required to run the city and create jobs through development, in effect "clipping the wings of poverty" and crime which many feel cause each other. http://www.blackstarnews.com/print.php?a=3583 . So, poverty and crime have persisted in the city before and after the riots in 1967 and making it better has been slow but steady, it seems.
Projects started by the former mayor are finished, like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to the Prudential Center, housing the Devil's hockey team. The hope is that because of these developments businesses and populations will invest more in the area creating more jobs and economic stability. The Black Star Editorial stated that 28%of Newark's black population lives in poverty compared to about 9% in other parts of the state. Therefore there are a lot of improvements to be made and a lot of catching up to do but there has been some effort with or without scandal.

Man in Newark

It is Thursday and I am walking toward the Rutgers campus via Market Street near the intersection at Broad Street. A middle-aged gentleman tries to stop me as he first asks if I would like a Daily Newspaper which is distributed free at many PATH train entrances. I remember him from several weeks before and quickly responds politely, "no thank you." He quickly responds by asking for change and I politely tell him I am out while continuing at the same pace. I will probably be asked a few more times by other people as I make my way through the middle of downtown Newark and I begin to ponder the problem of poverty in this city.

How bad are poverty levels in a city which is many times described on billboards and advertisement as a center of culture and arts, development and renaissance? How has this culture helped or hindered poverty levels, from immigration to the migration of populations to suburbs to artists' contributions to the change in the city's leadership? What other factors are or has been present, perhaps in the form of some hegemony, in the shaping of the way of life and the standard of living of this city's citizens.