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CONTENTS 07030
FEATURES 16 PASTOR PETER All are Welcome
20 THE PORTLAND LOO Going Outside
30 SECRET GARDENS TOUR Backyard Gems
16 40 HOW WE WORK Small Businesses
42 ON THE JOB WITH Hoboken Sailing School
45 POINT AND SHOOT True Blue Hoboken
46 HOW WE LIVE Bloomfield Street
48 PEOPLE POWER Mayor Ravi Bhalla
50 EMERGING Warrington Plaza
52 EATERY
30
10 CONTRIBUTORS 12 EDITOR’S LETTER 23 DATES
COVER 24 HELPING HANDS Rock the 21 Cover image by Alyssa Bredin Quiros tbishphoto
34 MEMORY LANE Belgium’s Hoboken
36 EDUCATION
4 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
56 ARTS Roig Collection
DEPARTMENTS
Classroom Without Walls
Blue Eyes
42
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MARILYN BAER
DELFIN GANAPIN
VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
TARA RYAZANSKY
grew up in Hoboken and currently lives in Jersey City. She studied journalism at Ohio Wesleyan University and is now a staff writer for the Hoboken Reporter.
is an editorial assistant at NMG. 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.
has studied publication design, photography, and graphic arts. “I’ve been fascinated by photography for almost 20 years,” he says..
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.
ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS
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.
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.
MAX RYAZANSKY
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.
CHRIS TAYLOR is founder and owner of Taylor Images. He’s a Brooklyn-born portrait and event photographer living in Bayonne and serving the NYC metro area. Email TaylorImagesNYC@gmail.com.
PAT BONNER
TERRI SAULINO BISH PAT BONNER
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is a Bayonne native who remembers Hoboken’s bar scene in the late 1960s.
DELFIN GANAPIN
ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS
VICTOR M. RODR IGUEZ
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MARILYN BAER
MAX RYAZANSKY
10 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
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EDITOR’S LETTER 07030
Well Seasoned
W
e welcomed summer in this issue with a few seasonal stories for those lazy, hazy days. Dining on the waterfront is a summer ritual. In this issue we highlight Blue Eyes, a perfect al fresco experience. While enjoying delicious food, guests can watch all the action on the river walk, and on the river. Speaking of which, you’re bound to see boats from the Hoboken Sailing Club plying the Hudson. Tara and Max set sail with them for our On the Job With feature. Here’s another outside item, or, hmmm—facility. In Hoboken’s award-winning Southwest Park stands a state-of-the-art outhouse, more decorously known at the Portland Loo. Learn all about it in these pages. Photographer Chris Taylor captured another late-spring tradition in Hoboken—the Secret Gardens Tour. If you didn’t make it to the tour, enjoy these magical backyard see page 29
12 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
First Street T H E R E ’ S A N E W “AV E N U E � I N T O W N
W
ashington
Street
may
be
Hoboken’s main drag, but
there’s a quieter thoroughfare that also has a lot to offer. Running the length of uptown from East to West, is First Street. Lined with cozy little shops, cafes, bars, restaurants and everything in between, First Street is a world unto itself. Take a stroll down this historic, shady street and visit the fine art at Roig Collection, sample some fresh “mutz� at Luca Brasi’s, peruse the titles at Little City Books— and while your at it get your hair cut at Trim! Just
3&% -*0/ 1*$563& '3".*/(
minutes from the train station, First Street should be your first stop the next time you visit Hoboken.
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07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 13
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Photo by Max Ryazansky
From Denial to Devotion
BY TARA RYAZANSKY
C
hurch bells echo down the block on Hudson and Eighth Street. The area is peaceful enough to make you forget the Washington Street construction just a block away. The block is anchored by a stately church. The double doors of Saint Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church are wide open and welcoming, offering passersby a peak
into the beautiful 19th century structure. While hot meals are being served to the homeless in the downstairs gathering area, Rev. Peter Beeson and I talk in the historic second-floor chapel, the large space flanked by stained-glass windows and full of original details that Beeson, an architecture buff, is quick to point out. The pastor is warm, with a measured and eloquent
16 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
Pastor Peter’s Damascus moment
way of speaking that makes it clear he would give a great sermon. When he first came to Hoboken to preside over the church in 2014 he was Rose Beeson. He came out as transgender last summer and took the name Peter soon after.
A Story to Tell Last summer part of the worship included a series that focused on personal
stories of resurrection. Congregants talked about times when God brought them hope and healing. “One of the members of that team asked me to share a story,” Beeson says. He had previously shared that he is transgender with a few parishioners in private but had never found the right time to come out to the congregation and was still known to most as Pastor Rose. “It was sort of like
Dueling Emotions Still, Beeson had trouble reconciling being Evangelical with being queer, the term that he claimed before transgender. He even tried conversion therapy. “I did look into that on my own,” he says. “If God is good and Scriptures tell us that homosexuality is bad, then I should fix this.” Beeson joins many top biblical scholars who no longer interpret Scripture as saying that homosexuality is wrong. He notes that conversion therapy on minors is illegal in a number of states. “It is so damaging to people,” he says.
Photo by Max Ryazansky
the stars finally aligned in the right way,” he says. This wasn’t Beeson’s first time coming out. Beeson grew up in Arizona and attended a conservative Evangelical church. From an early age he was drawn to religion and wanted to be a pastor, but the most a woman could hope for was to become a Sunday school teacher or missionary. “Back when I was in my late teens and early twenties I was sort of wrestling with coming out for the first time,” Beeson says. “There was very limited conversation about even gay or lesbian and what there was was rife with stereotypes.” Beeson waited until after moving out of his parents’ home to come out as gay. “Even today in 2018, something like 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBT because they’ve been kicked out of their home,” he says. “When I came out to my family they were not surprised. They weren’t thrilled, but they did their best to be supportive.”
“I never experienced any of the stuff like electro-shock therapy. I did certainly work with some groups where they spoke a lot about seeking healing for broken relationships and that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered.” Gender presentation was another aspect of conversion therapy. “The basic argument was if you seek to develop strong female friendships that are nonsexual, and if you wear high heels and makeup you will become straight,” he says. “Obviously that has nothing to do with sexual orientation. So I wore heels and makeup, and lo and behold, that did not make me straight,” Beeson laughs. “I was performing female drag and actually kind of enjoying it, but it did not feel like a natural expression of who I was.”
Eventually Beeson left conversion therapy. “I arrived at the point where I thought, ‘If we claim to worship a God that is good and gracious, God is not going to create someone who is inherently broken and wrong. And if there is some super power out there that intentionally creates things that are broken and wrong, then they’re being sadistic, and I want nothing to do with them.” Beeson left the church behind as well.
Phoenix Rising Five years later, while living in Phoenix, Beeson often noticed an old church with a big stained-glass window on his work commute. “I love historic buildings, architecture and stained-glass windows,” he says. “So one Sunday morning, after service had started, I made sure to 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 17
Photos by Jennifer Nilsen Photography
show up 15 minutes late because I didn’t want to see anyone at the door. I figured I hated all these people, who I had never met yet. I just wanted to see the building.” Beeson reflects on that day. “It was a Saul on the road to Damascus moment. Saul is this very devout Jewish Pharisee, and his task was to hunt out and destroy the early Christians. So he’s riding along on his horse, and in a bolt of light, God knocks him off his horse, blinds him, and he ends up becoming Paul, one of the primary founders of the early church. It felt like that moment for me, because the light was coming in the second-story windows. It was so beautiful. The pastor was giving a really good sermon talking about God’s compassion and mercy in ways I hadn’t heard before. I was hooked.” Beeson found LGBTQ+ acceptance in the Lutheran church and worked for even more inclusion. From there Beeson went on to seminary, a fouryear Master’s program that he completed in San Francisco. After working as a pastor in the D.C. area he got a call about a church in Hoboken that was looking for a pastor. “Saint Mathew Trinity has had a long history of having a public statement that they’re open and welcoming to LGBT people,” Beeson says. “We had a couple of the first samesex weddings when they became legal here in New Jersey.” This gave Beeson confidence when he came out as transgender last summer. “The congregation, theoretically on paper, would be really on board.”
18 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
Walking the Walk Once Beeson told his story, the support was real, and they decided to share his story with the community. “We had a diversity educator from Stevens come in back in January to do some sort of basic trans 101 training for the congregation,” Beeson says. “We did it as an adult education opportunity. A lot of teenagers came who were really excited that their church was sort of leading the path.” Diversity Educator Jaquis Watters led the class. In February the congregation celebrated with Beeson in a renaming ceremony. He picked Peter because he was inspired by Saint Peter’s persistence. The ceremony was led by Bishop Tracie Bartholomew of the New Jersey Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church In America. “The bishop and the Synod officials have been incredibly supportive both of the congregation and me,” Beeson says.
Saint Matthew’s Trinity sets an example. “It’s a testament to the strength of the congregation that we really haven’t had anyone leave,” Beeson says. “There are a handful of publicly out trans clergy people, but there are very, very few who have transitioned while serving a congregation. This is a new experiment the congregation and I are finding together. We’ve had a couple of new people come because they know that it’s a place where they can be safe and be themselves. I’ve had a number of pastors asking advice on how to support their parishioners, and parishioners and seminary students asking how to reconcile being trans with being religious. It’s really a privilege to be out and more public for these people who can’t be.”—07030
Hoboken on Board “I think it’s really an exciting time for Hoboken,” Beeson says, noting that the current mayor is the first Sikh, and the previous one was the first woman. “Here’s this little tiny town outside of New York City that’s making history in so many ways. Mayor Bhalla just signed an order to make city-owned bathrooms gender-inclusive single-stall. It’s interesting to see the diversity in the flux of newcomers and folks who have lived here for generations.”
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Story and photo by Kate Rounds
T
here’s a lot to do, but no place to go—this may be the worst-kept secret of the urban experience. You’re planning a day in the Mile Square. It’s summer. Lots of outdoor activities are on tap, kayaking on the Hudson and beer on the pier with long lines for the can, maybe some tennis, and a stroll through the park. Just about every eating and drinking establishment in town has a sign that says, “Restrooms for customers only.” So, what’s the civilized solution to public peeing? Well, Hoboken discovered it when they installed the Portland Loo at Southwest Park in 2017. It looks kinda like a small Airstream Travel Trailer or even a gondola or super-enclosed bus stop. I was intrigued when one of our photographers, Victor Rodriguez, emailed me a picture a few months ago.
Back Story Seems like Superstorm Sandy affected just about all of Hoboken’s future plans, including the design and location of its latrines. “The shape, the design, the durability of construction, it had to be flood-resistant to easily 20 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
s l l a C e r u t a N n Whe
S D E E H N E K O B O H
withstand wind, rain, flooding, the elements,” says Hoboken Business Administrator Stephen D. Marks.
Enter the Portland Loo. Evan Madden, sales manager for Madden Fabrication, the metal fab-
rication company that built the Portland Loo, gives the backstory. Apparently, Seattle, Washington, needed some public restrooms and bought five self-cleaning toilets from China. “News got out that they were causing drug use because they were too enclosed, and because
they were bought in a foreign county, it took days to get parts, and they were costly to ship and purchase,” Madden says. The city had paid $5 million for five restrooms, which were removed within two years and sold on eBay for $12,000. This was bad press, and Portland paid attention. Randy Leonard was a Portland volunteer fireman and city commissioner, who recognized that Portland needed public “facilities.” They needed to be “strong and durable, cheap, and easy to clean and maintain,” Madden says. Leonard “took the fireman’s approach, hose everything down, rinse, and it’s ready to go. It was important that it be maintained throughout the day, so that it’s inviting and usable.” Leonard took the initiative to make it happen for the city. The key was to make them private while at the same time not so private that criminals and vandals could use them at will. The solution was to have “blind space for complete privacy at toilet level, with louvers on the bottom, so that you could still see feet,” Madden says. Parents and nannies like having them installed next to playgrounds. “They know if someone is misusing it, and can wait for the kid outside,” Madden says. “And bikes and strollers fit inside.”
Hoboken Outhouse Hoboken’s Marks was aware of European privies that were coin operated and had “spritzes between users, where the entire thing got sprayed, which doesn’t keep everything sanitary.” The Portland Loo’s pedal-operated hand-washing station on the outside of the facility “is more sanitary.” “Porto potties are not durable,” says Marks, who saw the Portland Loo in a trade magazine. “It fit the bill,” he says. And the price was right. It cost about $92,000, including delivery. With various grants and loans, the entire construction of Southwest Park cost $5 million, so the loo seemed like a good bet. He considers good public restrooms a quality-of-life issue. “They’re absolutely necessary in an urban environment and in a town like Hoboken with about 130 bars and more cafes and restaurants.”
The folks in Portland were concerned about vandalism and misuse. When it comes to the latter, Marks notes an intriguing feature of the Portland Loo. “The blue LED lights on the inside discourage drug use because people shooting up can’t see veins in the blue light.” Its highly visible location, right on Harrison Street and Observer Highway, as opposed to the middle of the park, also discourages criminal activity. “There’s traffic 24/7, and the police and the community are going in and out. It’s feet away from Crossfit and the Hoboken business center.” Marks points to future development plans for southwest Hoboken, with both commercial and residential properties, which will transform the area. Marks would like to “install more around the city on commercial corridors or around downtown close to the PATH station and in other parks.” The public will be part of the planning process. “Hoboken has 55,000 people, who are not shy about expressing their opinions. It’s an attractive facility and a great bathroom.” Mayor Ravi Bhalla weighs in. “The Portland Loo is an innovative way to reduce crime in our public parks that other cities across the country have already adopted,” he says. “If it proves to be effective here in Hoboken, we will look at introducing these in other public areas.”
ger than a bus shelter, well engineered, and easy to install. It arrived fully constructed on a truck, which came with its own crane and lowered the facility onto the site, after the site was prepped with a utility hookup and sewer connection.” Public water closets are a boon for urban planning. “Cities, not just Hoboken, have wrestled with how to provide restrooms in the public realm,” Whitehouse says. “The default is the hotel lobby restroom or Starbucks—everyone has a mental map. It’s nice if you have a clean, safe, public restroom available.” The Portland Loo answered the call. “It’s a clever design developed with the city of Portland and a vendor through a whole process of thinking things through,” Whitehouse says. “Though enclosed, it’s not heated, but the plumbing is heated, so the fixtures won’t freeze.” “It’s all very Portland,” he concludes. “A lot of social engineering was involved. I’m impressed. I would use it again in a design.”—07030
Evacuation Route Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners designed Southwest Park. The U.S. Green Building Council, NJ Chapter, honored the architects with an award for Innovation and Sustainability Best Practices—Public for Hoboken’s Southwest Resiliency Park. One of the principals of the firm, Stephen Whitehouse, says the project was developed with the input of the community and the city council, which concluded that the park should include a bathroom. “We tried to search for off-the-shelf public bathrooms that could fit into the concept of the park that had been developed by the community,” Whitehouse says. The idea for “the Portland Loo came from the city.” The architects were on board. “It worked; it fit with the design,” Whitehouse says. “It’s not much big07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 21
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HELPING
The Moms of Rock the 21 with their children during a sunny summer day in Columbus Park
THE
Rockin’ 21
Moms on a mission to raise awareness and celebrate Down syndrome BY ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS IMAGES BY TBISHPHOTO
T
ara Stauber is a Hoboken mom of three. Her eldest, Emma, like a lot of seven-year-olds, plays tee-ball and soccer, and loves her friends and her dolls. She also happens to have an extra 21st chromosome. When Tara’s daughter was born with Down syndrome (DS), she did not know what the future would hold for her baby. “I didn’t even know how to be a mom, let alone a mom to a child with DS,” she says. But the worst part was feeling like she had no one who could relate to what she and her husband were going through. “Everyone I had seen in Hoboken looked perfect and perfectly happy pushing their fancy strollers around town,” she says. “I thought the odds of finding someone in my one square mile who knew what I was feeling was next to impossible.” With some digging, and help from the National Down Syndrome Society, Tara realized that she was not alone. She met Ana High, cofounder of Hoboken Grace Church, 24 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
and mother of three boys, one with DS; Stephanie Dotto, whose adopted daughter has DS; as well as Elizabeth Freeman, mother of twin daughters with a rare form of DS. “These families have become my forever friends,” Tara says.
AN ORGANIZATION IS BORN Elizabeth Freeman, like Tara, was completely overwhelmed when her daughters were born with DS. “Outside of what I learned in school, I didn’t know a lot about Down syndrome,” Elizabeth says. She was discouraged to learn that most of the information about DS was clinical and focused on the limitations of the condition. “I wasn’t first and foremost told that my babies were healthy,” she says. “They would play and go to school. They would laugh and love. They would be successful.” She spoke to several professionals who were insightful and helpful, but she still had the takeaway that something was wrong with her daughters. She needed support.
The Kids from Rock the 21 share some hugs and smiles during their photo shoot for Hoboken 07030.
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 25
President and founder of Rock the 21 Elizabeth Freeman with twins Micayla & Harper Elizabeth discovered there were no support groups or organizations for DS in our area. Her parents encouraged her to take action. She recruited Ana High and Tara Stauber, and together they organized the first Rock the 21 Gala in 2015 to raise awareness and funds for Down syndrome. They had hoped to raise $20,000 and instead raised a whopping $50,000. It is now an annual event. Their initial gala eventually grew into a full-fledged nonprofit organization. In the three years since, Rock the 21 has done an incredible amount through their own initiatives as well as by supporting various organizations for DS nationwide. They’ve provided scholarships for adults with DS to participate in job training programs, as well as scholarships for toddlers to attend the Stepping Stones early intervention program—which provides critical speech, occupational, and physical therapy for young children with DS. They have also helped to aid more than 30 DS individuals and their families affected by last year’s hurricanes in Texas and Florida. The organization has an international outreach, dubbed the Rock the World Initiative. Last year, Rock the 21 traveled to the Mustard Seed Community, an orphanage for children with disabilities in Nicaragua, to donate supplies and clothing. This is the orphanage where Stephanie Dotto adopted her daughter, Alicia. (Read the story of Alicia’s adoption on Rock the 21’s blog.) They also donated funds for a child with DS in Africa to have a life-saving heart operation.
Vice President of Rock the 21 Tara Stauber with Emma
BUILDING A COMMUNITY “We’ve recently been contacted by two families moving to Hoboken from other states,” says Tara. “The fact that we have a network here to welcome them is something I’m very proud of.” One of their first projects was to deliver diagnosis support baskets to local hospitals. The baskets included a personal letter from one of the moms, a Sophie the giraffe toy, as well as books and other valuable resources. They have also hosted numerous events and activities, including an eight-week dance program for adults with DS and a dinner for World Down Syndrome Day. Rock the 21 also strives to make our school systems more inclusive for children with special needs. In 2015 the group donated an iPad to a legally blind Hoboken student with DS. The iPad enabled him to read e-books in large print. It also donated a copy of 47 Strings: Tessa’s Special Code by Becky Carey, a children’s book about DS, to more than 100 local schools. As part of its Inclusion Rocks initiative, it organized a seminar for local educators to learn how to make classrooms more welcoming for students with Down syndrome. In 2017, former Mayor Dawn Zimmer honored Rock the 21 for its outstanding efforts in the community and officially recognized March 21 as World Down Syndrome Day in Hoboken.
“Your child will encounter the same journey as everyone else, it just may take more time or a different path to get there.”
–ELIZABETH FREEMAN 26 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
HELPING HANDS 07030
Vice President of Rock the 21 Ana High with Cael
Treasuer of Rock the 21 Stephanie Dotto with Alicia
CELEBRATING THE JOURNEY Rock the 21’s mission is “Educate. Advocate. Celebrate.” It encourages people with Down syndrome to not just accept their differences but to celebrate them. Elizabeth encourages people with DS to “Rock that 21st chromosome!” On Rock the 21’s blog you can read each of the mother’s stories and how their initial trepidation of the diagnosis turned into a deep love and admiration for their children. Ana writes, “We have learned to embrace this journey and enjoy it! We are better people because of our son, Cael, and could not be more grateful for the gift he is to our family.” “It’s not a diagnosis to be scared of,” Elizabeth says. “Your child will encounter the same journey as everyone else, it just may take more time or a different path to get there.”
Learn More: Rock the 21 ROCKTHE21.ORG National Down Syndrome Society NDSS.ORG 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 27
INFANTS • TODDLERS • PRESCHOOL • PRE-K • BEFORE & AFTER CARE • CAMP
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AMAZING STARTS HERE Kiddie Academy® of Hoboken 112 Sinatra Drive Hoboken, NJ 07030
28 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
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EDITOR’S LETTER 07030 from page 12
gems right here. If things go as hoped, Hoboken may have a beautiful outdoor/indoor market, known as Warrington Plaza. Modeled after ones like Chelsea Market in New York City, it could light up the Lackawanna transit center. Check out our story in the Emerging section of the mag. And those gorgeous, adorable kids on the cover? Read all about them in our story on Rock the 21. Meanwhile, Marilyn Baer caught up with Mayor Ravi Bhalla for a personal profile of the city’s first Sikh Chief Executive. Learn all about his Jersey roots, his family, and what makes him tick. I want to congratulate Senor Graphic Artist Terri Saulino Bish, who won an award from the Garden State Journalists Association for her cover and cover-story layout in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of 07030. She was among many graphic artists who won awards for out three magazines, including Lisa Cuthbert and Alyssa Bredin Quiros. The New Jersey Press Association awarded Hoboken 07030 First Place for Best Niche Publication. Congratulations to all our writers, photographers, and graphic artists. There’s more in this issue, so sit back with a cold drink on a hot day and let 07030 keep you company.—07030
ADVERTISE WITH US 201 798 7800
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 29
Secret PHOTOS BY CHRIS TAYLOR
Amateur green thumbs, seasoned gardeners, and gardenvariety appreciators love Hoboken Historical Museum’s annual Secret Gardens Tour, which took place on Sunday, June 3. Garden owners, Hoboken Garden Club members, and Hoboken Historical Museum volunteers greeted guests at each of 10 stops. The self-guided tour took about three hours. Resident Valerie D’Antonio, one of the committee co-chairs, said the tour usually gets about 400 attendees. The tour often has raised as much as $10,000. All proceeds support the Hoboken Historical Museum’s programs and operations. 30 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
GARDENS
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 31
The museum, which was founded in 1986, hosts a variety of special exhibits, tours, events, and lectures as well as programs for children and adults that educate the public about Hoboken’s history. Volunteer Caryl Heard said she gains “creative inspiration” from the tour. “Before we redesigned our garden, we had gone on the garden tour several times, and we saw there were so many possibilities … so it inspired me to look into it and try,” she said. “I always pick up some little new tidbit I didn’t know before.” This year’s tour showed off clever solutions to the perennial Hoboken backyard problem of too little space and too much shade. The tour was launched 21 years ago as a nod to Hoboken founder Col. John Stevens, who was a skilled horticulturist, credited with importing the first camellia, chrysanthemum, and several peony varieties to America. Stops on the tour included a two-tiered garden with a double waterfall-style fountain and a garden created in a glass-enclosed solarium, featuring items repurposed as planters.—Marilyn Baer 32 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
DATES 07030 from page 23
Street Farmers Market fosters ongoing interaction between New Jersey farmers and the local Hoboken community. We aim to support sustainable agriculture, small businesses, and making farm-fresh produce available to the community. The Mile Square Toastmasters Club Meetings, Hudson School, 601 Park Ave., milesquare.org. Mondays, 7:30 p.m. Develop public speaking skills and leadership skills in a safe and supportive space. Dance Classes, Symposia Bookstore, 510 Washington St., (551) 587-0121, symposia.us. Tuesdays 7-8:30 p.m. $15 per person per hour or $50 for four lessons. Guitar Circle, Symposia Bookstore, 510 Washington St., chaase@chdesignsolutions.com, symposia.us. Thursdays, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Come jam with local guitar players in a casual, friendly atmosphere. Share your favorite songs and learn new ones. All playing levels and styles are welcome. Penny’s Storytime at the Museum, Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson St., (201) 656-2240, hobokenmuseum.org. Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Education Curator Maria Lara and other guest readers share stories with children ages 2 to 5 and their caregivers. Registration required. See webpage for link, posted at 10 a.m. on the day before each session. Storytime at the Fire Department Museum, 213 Bloomfield St., Sundays at 12:30 p.m. The museum host a weekly storytime program for children between the ages of 2 and 5. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Free. Family Fun Nights, Shipyard Park, 13th Street and McFeeley Drive, Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Enjoy free outdoor performances that offer fun for the whole family. Concert Series in Southwest Park, Observer Highway between Jackson and Harrison Streets, Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Concerts in Church Square Park, Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m. These free outdoor performances will be held by the gazebo.
JULY 25 Movies Under the Stars - The Greatest Showman, Pier A Park, First Street and Sinatra Drive, 9 p.m. Come enjoy a free outdoor movie. The movie celebrates the birth of show business, and tells the story of visionary P.T. Barnum, who rose from nothing to create a spectacle (The Barnum & Bailey Circus) that became a worldwide sensation.
26 The Guitar Bar All-Stars Perform the Songs of Tom Petty, Amphitheater at Sinatra Park, see page 39
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 33
Pat Bonner with his wife, Maureen
A Day Trip to Hoboken
(Belgium, That Is) STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAT BONNER
A
s a Hudson County native, I had two places high on my bucket list that I wanted to visit: the city of Bayonne in France, and Hoboken, a district of Antwerp in Belgium. I was able to visit the “old” Hoboken on a rainy Saturday last January. I am not crossing it off the list yet because I plan to go back in better weather. It’s worth a trip if you’re in the area. Folk wisdom has it that the name for our Hoboken originated with the Lenape word for tobacco pipe, “hopoghan.” Because of Castle Point, Colonel John Stevens changed it slightly to the Flemish word for high bluff: Hoboken. The Flemish Dutch settlers in the region were familiar with the section of Hoboken in southern Antwerp, so the name stuck. Both places have a big draw for tourists. We are accustomed to tourists walking around looking for Frank Sinatra’s house or other places associated with him. In Belgium, tourists are usually Japanese or Korean, and they are looking for the statue of Nello and his dog, Patrasche. This is due to the old Flemish novel A Dog of Flanders, a children’s classic in Japan and Korea. It’s also well-known 34 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
to moviegoers who may have caught the 1959 or 1999 versions of the tale. But the book was more popular in Asia. Reportedly to capitalize on this, the local tourism board erected a statue of the boy and his dog in Hoboken, based on the premise that the author visited the Antwerp Cathedral and a canal near the cathedral on a short trip to the city.
Lost History Hoboken does not have many historic structures because Belgium has been the center of many religious and other conflicts. Antwerp and Hoboken have been part of two noted sieges and many wars that destroyed most of their historic buildings. The siege in the late 1500s caused many Protestants to flee to Amsterdam, helping to fuel the Golden Age of Holland. Many also fled to our area, including Peter Minuit, who is said to have purchased Manhattan Island. The siege during the First World War lasted 11 days; the city was eventually taken by the Germans after more destruction and flooding.
One of the few historic buildings remaining is the City Hall, surrounded by a pretty park. This is a popular place for weddings of all religions. During our visit, a couple, originally from Turkey, were married. Their wedding party drove around the city with horns blaring for an hour or so after the ceremony.
Tale of Two Cities Like our Hoboken, the Flemish one is a bedroom community for a larger city, in this case Antwerp. The two Hobokens have roughly equal populations. There are buses, trams, and trains to Hoboken from Antwerp’s city center, costing around $4 and taking 20 to 30 minutes. Though we drove, I don’t recommend it because as in our Hoboken, parking is a problem. We were able to snag a meter a few blocks from the center of Hoboken but did have to drive around for a while. Fortunately, there is a bike share program much used by commuters to Antwerp. Legend has it that cows still graze in Hoboken’s Polderbos, a wooded park area of about 420 acres that borders the river Scheldt. We did not see any farm animals there, but the area’s agricultural past is illustrated by the statue of “The Hobokenaar” by Yvonne Bastiaens in the city
center. There’s a Farmers Market on Saturdays. Even on a rainy Saturday in January, there is a large selection of local cheeses and produce. Housing prices are reasonable by our standards. A twobedroom apartment will rent for about $825, and a onebedroom for about $475. Row houses are available in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. The town primarily consists of two-story brick houses, with few, if any, high-rise buildings. There are many places in Hoboken to sample the two national foods of Belgium: mussels and French fries. Being Belgium, there are many great beers on tap throughout the city—well-known brands such as Stella, Hoegaaden, Leffe, Palm, and Duvel, as well as numerous beers brewed in local breweries and monasteries. Beer is part of the culture in Hoboken. Each year there is a 5K run called the Beer Server Race on the first Sunday in November. Locals make the (dubious) claim that the race was inaugurated in 1777. Antwerp is easily accessible by rail from many European cities. It may be worthwhile to make a side trip to Hoboken for a day, if for no other reason than to cross it off your bucket list. Hey, mussels, French fries, world-class beer? Why not?—07030 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 35
OUT OF DODGE HHS kids travel the world
(l-r) Brandon Lyons, Giselle Quinones, Ms. Geidy De La Rosa, and Ariana Henriquez PHOTOS BY VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
“T
ravel broadens the mind” is an old chestnut that’s hard to dispute. The ancient Roman philosopher Saint Augustine famously said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel only read one page.” Students in Hoboken High School’s Classroom Without Walls program are devouring that book page by page. Classroom Without Walls is a district initiative, started by Schools Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson. Ms. Geidy De La Rosa teaches Spanish and advises the group. “The idea for the program came from Dr. Johnson,” she relates. “Our students had the desire to travel to Costa Rica after we discussed it in class. When Dr. Johnson came to our district, she initiated the program, and the students loved it since day one.” In 2016, the group visited Spain and Rome; in 2017, London and Paris; and in 2018, the grand tour of Italy. In 2019, they will travel to Japan, where they will visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakone National Park, and ride the high-speed shinkansen train. In 2020, it will be Greece, where they’ll visit Athens, Delphi, Epidaurus, and Cape Sounion. In 2021, it’s off to the Galapagos Islands, where they’ll tour Isabella, Santa Cruz, and San Cristobal Islands, as well as mainland Ecuador. In 2022, China is on the schedule, with stops in Beijing and Yangshuo. Angel Quinones
ON LOCATION AT HHS Photographer Victor Rodriguez and I visited HHS early on a Wednesday morning. There was the usual hubbub of kids swiping their cards. Principal Robin Piccapietra rescued us and led us to the upstairs office, where we met in a conference room with Ms. De La Rosa and four students from the Classroom Without Walls: Ariana Henriquez, Brandon Lyons, Angel Quinones, and Giselle Quinones. You sense immediately that these are young people with a purpose. Brandon, a senior, went on trips to France, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. “Since the program was created, it’s opened doors for us,” he says. “It was my first trip out of the country. It was an amazing learning experience.” For many of these kids, even getting a passport is a new experience. Just five days earlier, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had wed in St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. The students in the room had visited there. It was a perfect illustration of the power of travel. It’s one thing to see it in pictures or on the screen, but all the students were awestruck by seeing this royal residence in the flesh, built by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion in 1066. While Native Americans have been living in North America for millennia, the United States is a fairly young country. Seeing sights that are almost a thousand years old, and in some cases, much older, gives students a strong sense of our place and time in the world.
WHEN IN ROME… “It’s a big world, and you need to know as much as you can,” Brandon says. He plans to go into local politics, a career, he says, in which it’s important to know other cultures. “In Hoboken there are different kinds of people, and you can see how they live in their countries of origin.” Giselle, a freshman, who wants to go into law, says that travel opens your eyes and helps you to understand diverse cultures. “I’d like to study abroad when I’m older and gain knowledge of different countries,” she says. Angel, a junior, was really enthusiastic about the food in the various countries they visited, rattling off a menu of items, including London’s fish ’n’ chips and “real” pasta from Milan, citing the carbonara in particular. I wonder if we have an Iron Chef in the making, but he says, no, he wants to be a physical therapist or go into sports medicine. Ariana, a junior, who also wants to go into medicine, has set her sights on a nursing career. She’s looking forward to touring Japan in 2019, when the group will visit a hospital there. “It will enhance my knowledge,” she says.
ALL ABOARD! Everyone we talked to about the Classroom Without Walls emphasized that no student would be turned away because of lack of funds. This was an important point for both students and staff. “With fundraisers, we make sure every child has an opportunity to go,” Brandon says. The students hold the usual events, such as bake sales, empanada sales, basketball events, tricky trays, card parties, and raffles, and they use crowd-funding platforms like GoFundMe. The proceeds are shared among the students.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson
Parents and guardians benefit from an array of payment plans. They can supply a down payment, pay by the month, or pay in full at a time that’s convenient to them.
TOP DOWN One of the first things the students wanted me to know is that they “had the blessing” of Dr. Johnson. It helps when the person at the top has such a strong belief in the benefits of travel. Dr. Johnson was on hand the day we visited. “One of our focal points is global awareness and learning about diverse cultures,” Johnson says. “To see other places together is an important global learning experience.” While the students learned a tremendous amount during their trips to Europe, Johnson expresses pleasure that they will be broadening their experience to include Asia and the Galapagos. “I’m excited that they will be visiting parts of the world they never thought they would set foot in,” she says. Johnson, too, notes that the ability to pay would not be a deal breaker for any student, pointing out that some 90 percent of participants are economically disadvantaged. “It’s really important that global awareness and learning be equitable,” she says.
HOME BASE Global awareness also includes the U.S. and our own backyard. In November 2018, students will be visiting Atlanta, Montgomery, and Birmingham for a Civil Rights Historical Tour, cities where some of the most important events in U.S. history unfolded. And what about traveling across the river? Hoboken students have the entire cultural smorgasbord of NYC within spitting distance and avail themselves of all it has to offer,
taking field trips to the Guggenheim and many other world-renowned sites. Johnson smiles at how students’ perceptions of the travel experience depend on their frame of reference. She tells the story of Hoboken students visiting Sussex County, N.J., for a teen convention. “They were in awe of the ‘rows and rows of corn,’” she laughs.
TALKING THE TALK “Tour guides speak the lingo of the country,” De La Rosa says. In France, they visited Paris and Versailles. “In Paris we spoke French—Bonjour!—it’s an important part of the Classroom Without Walls.” Brandon points out that when they went to Italy, the HHS Italian teacher was on board. Johnson also touts the state’s Seal of Biliteracy program. On Jan. 19, 2016, New Jersey became the 15th state in the nation to implement a legislated statewide Seal of Biliteracy. In achieving this seal, students demonstrate that they are able to speak, read, listen, and write in two or more languages at a high level of proficiency. “I connect the two programs,” Johnson says. Seven Hoboken students have earned the seal. Knowing the language of the countries visited brings us full circle. If the world is a book, imagine reading that book in multiple languages. “I have pride in the students and faculty,” Johnson says. “They support and engage in ideas that are not traditional, and they benefit from the experience. That makes my work meaningful. These kids are the most passionate I’ve ever worked with.”—Kate Rounds
38 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
DATES 07030
ADVERTISE WITH US
from page 33
Sinatra Drive between 4th and 5th Streets, 6:30 p.m. Break the world’s record of most guitarists playing on one song. Bring your stringed instrument and play along. Come early to sign in.
201 798 7800
AUGUST 1 Movies Under the Stars - Isle of Dogs, Pier A Park, First Street and Sinatra Drive, 8 p.m. Come enjoy a free outdoor movie. Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his lost dog.
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An Evening with the Hoboken Mile Square All-Stars, Amphitheater at Sinatra Park, Sinatra Drive between 4th and 5th Streets, 7 p.m. Enjoy a free outdoor concert featuring Krystal, Frank and Dara, and The Electric Rainbow Book Club Band.
YOUR VISION ... OUR CREATION
8 Movies Under the Stars - Ferdinand, Pier A Park, First Street and Sinatra Drive, 8 p.m. Come enjoy a free outdoor movie. After Ferdinand, a bull with a big heart, is mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured and torn from his home. Determined to return to his family, he rallies a misfit team on the ultimate adventure.
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9 Julio Fernandez and Friends, Amphitheater at Sinatra Park, Sinatra Drive between 4th and 5th Streets, 7 p.m. Enjoy a free outdoor concert sponsored by Burgiss.
CUSTOM JACUZZI TOPS
15 Movies Under the Stars - Coco, Pier A Park, First Street and Sinatra Drive, 8 p.m. Come enjoy a free outdoor movie. Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
16 The Swingadelic Big Band, Amphitheater at Sinatra Park, Sinatra Drive between 4th and 5th Streets, 7 p.m. Come enjoy a free outdoor concert.
see page 58
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B U S I N E S S E S
M A K E
H O B O K E N
W O R K
BY KATE ROUNDS PHOTOS BY ALYSSA BREDIN QUIROS
STUDIO 17 Cosmetics & Wellness 601 9th Street (201) 301-4344 concierge@studio17cw.com studio17cw.com
A
company that puts both “cosmetics” and “wellness” in the name knows how to embrace the current trend of looking good through living well. Dr. Briza Walter, an OBGYN, and her office manager, Ashley Cabasso, opened Studio 17 after Walter closed her Hoboken OBGYN office, where she’d been practicing for nine years. “Dr. Walter had already gone into aesthetic medicine in her free time, so we joined forces,” Cabasso says. So, what is aesthetic medicine? Think noninvasive—a facelift without the knife. FDA-cleared procedures include Botox and other injectables, chemical peels, fillers, facials, ultrasound, and IV hydration.
THERE IS A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE For her OBGYN patients, Walter says, “I did a lot of counseling for wellness and anti-aging. It improved lifestyle, the way they viewed themselves, and the way they cared for themselves.” There was a natural affinity with esthetic medicine. “In women’s health,” she says, “I became part of their life, from teens to adulthood, delivering babies, through menopause.” Her patients were into alternatives: How can I feel better without surgery? “In aesthetic medicine, I feel the same way,” she says. “With nonsurgical alternatives, there’s an immediate result versus going to the knife with general anesthesia and recovery.” Our selfie, social-media culture is one reason, she says, that we’re looking at ourselves more than ever before. But if you want something that Walter doesn’t think you should have, she won’t do it. “Do you really need to look like you’re 21 instead of a healthy 50-year-old?” she asks.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH Studio 17 specializes in concierge service, which means “scheduling one person at a time,” Cabasso says. “We’re very meticulous in how we handle each individual’s time, so they don’t feel rushed.” Each client gets an extensive consultation with Walter, who takes a full medical history. The demographic is anywhere from age 22 to 75, mostly women. “Younger women want to get
40 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
Dr. Briza Walter and office manager, Ashley Cabasso treated for lines before they form,” Cabasso says. Clients as old as 75 often choose noninvasive chemical peels; micro-needling in which fine needles puncture the skin to increase collagen; and ultrasound energy to naturally lift and tighten the skin.
NOTHING TO HIDE In today’s culture, celebrities often talk openly about their cosmetic treatments. And, Cabasso says, “Groups of people are having Botox parties.”
Still, she says, “Some people want to keep it to themselves, and we’re tucked away.” The studio is off the beaten track near Columbus Park. Studio 17 also offers diet and exercise tips, weight-loss plans, and medications. The philosophy of the OBGYN practice transferred easily to Studio 17. “We love interacting with patients and making improvements in health,” Cabasso says. Says Walter, “It makes me feel really good to see someone feel wonderful, like they could conquer the world.”
HOW WE WORK 07030
Leo (seated) and Dairen Coto
TRIM SALON 303 First St. (201) 795-2222
TRIM HOBOKEN 302 First St. (201) 942-9122
D
airen Coto is a self-taught renaissance man, who seems to be able to teach himself just about anything. He and his brother Leo have owned and operated a barbershop, Trim Hoboken, for seven years. Recently, he says, “We got an opportunity to move to a bigger location across the street and open Trim Salon in the old space.” The full-service salon, at 303 First, has three stylists who serve men and women for both cuts and color. The original name of the salon was Blow Outs by Trim, but Dairen didn’t want potential customers to think that the salon offered only blow-outs. I stopped in on a warm, sunny Saturday morning in June. It’s a really lively street, with lots of sidewalk traffic. The space is stylishly designed. It’s bright and welcoming, with brick walls and lots of
white. The two shops have a nice, contemporary, young Hoboken feel. With guys getting their beards trimmed on one side of the street and women getting their cuts and partials on the other, the Cotos have carved out—or maybe I should say scissored out—a real grooming niche on the west side. Since these are brother-run businesses, I wonder if the art of barbering was handed down from a family member or trusted mentor. “No,” Dairen says, “When I was at Hoboken High School, I started giving my friends haircuts.” The barbershop boasts 11 barber chairs. “Why did I want to become a barber? Money makes you want to be a barber,” he says. The shop offers everything—facials, shaves, color, and what’s known as beard enhancements, which add color to make it fuller. “People have big beards now, and there’s more color, more style,” he says, “not just a cut and get out.” Dairen, who was born and raised in Hoboken, is not surprised by all the changes that have transpired since he lived with his family at 12th and Hudson. “I knew it was coming,” he says, but he’s happy to see all the new buildings going up and the high-rise
condos along the waterfront. “I love it,” he says. “It’s good for business. That’s why I love it.” After graduating from Hoboken High, Dairen went right into business, working as a cook for Maxwell’s. Cooking school, anyone? Nope. “I moved up from dishwasher,” he says, “and learned to cook by watching the chef.” He’s tried just about all the restaurants in Hoboken, and in his spare time he catches striped bass right off the pier. “It’s fun, but I only eat it once a year, just in case.” Dairen has eyes to open a barber school, but he’s not sure where. “I need a bigger space, and Hoboken’s too expensive,” he says. But as far as his home base? He has no plans to leave Hoboken. Across the street at Trim Salon, Matthew, a hair stylist, welcomes me and shows me around. He says the stylists bring their own clients, there are lots of walk-ins, and many locals are becoming regulars. “We’ve been open six months. It’s going to get better,” Dairon says. “We’re catering to young women and trying to make it happen. Good people are coming in. Basically we’re Trim Hoboken on the woman’s side.” Trim, anyone? — 07030
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 41
ON THE JOB WITH 07030
It’s a
reeze B Riding the waves with the Hoboken Sailing School
L-R: George Bennett, Sean Meszkat, and Max Reo
42 42• •07030 07030HOBOKEN HOBOKEN| SUMMER | SUMMER2018 2018
The school offers a two-day, 18-hour course BY TARA RYAZANSKY
PHOTOS BY MAX RYAZANSKY
S
ean Meszkat bounds up the dock to greet me with Max Reo close behind. Both men are sailing instructors at Hoboken Sailing School, in the Pier 13 Shipyard Marina. At the end of the dock a row of pristine white sailboats bobs in the water. The fleet includes an Archambault and several Club J/24s, used for the school’s two-day, 18-hour course. They are also available for Hoboken Sailing Club members to take out. Marina manager George Bennett joins us on the dock. He tells us that the Hoboken Sailing Club formed two years ago, but the Hoboken Sailing School just launched this season. “A lot of people who wanted to join the club were saying, ‘I’d love to join, but I don’t know how to sail,’” Meszkat says. “George said, ‘Maybe we should also start a school.’” The class was born from the need to train newbie club members, but it’s open to anyone who’s interested. Hoboken Sailing School is an accredited US Sailing school. “It’s a pretty intensive course,” Bennett says. “The idea is that once you go through the course you should have the knowledge and skills to take the boat out. Now you have the skill set to join the club.” “The course is incredibly complete,” Meszkat says. “If taken seriously, you will have been given everything you need to sail that boat. How much did you absorb and how confident are you? That’s the variable. You are in New York Harbor. That might intimidate some people.” Confidence can be a big learning curve when you’re sharing the harbor with barges and ferry traffic, but he assures me that the course teaches students “the rules of the road.”
“If you learn here, you can pretty much sail anywhere,” Bennett says. “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Didn’t somebody once say that?” Meszkat jokes. “This location is fantastic, the Hudson River and New York Harbor. I’ve been sailing here every day for nine seasons, and there’s always something new. It’s always exciting.”
“There’s always something new,” Meszkat says. “It’s always exciting.”
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Seeing for Ourselves
ON THE JOB WITH 07030
Meszkat and Reo step gracefully onto the rocking J/24. They dance around each other in the tight space in a choreography they’ve been practicing for four years. “I was fortunate to meet Sean and George while working together at Liberty Landing Marina,” Reo says. The 2016 Rutgers graduate got his start in sailing in the college’s club team but says that the Hudson educated him as well. “I would say that I came up on this river. Although Rutgers gave me the foundation, I refined my skills here.” We motor away from the dock. Reo unfurls and raises the white sail. The wind carries us away from onlookers enjoying beers and food-truck treats on the pier. The water is unusually calm since it had rained earlier today. We see only a handful of pleasure boats among the ferries and tour boats. We pick up speed as we head into the harbor. The boat can go up to 6 knots. “It’s amazing how fast that can feel,” Meszkat says. Club members race each other weekly. “It’s only seven and a half miles per hour, but it feels pretty fast.” We head toward the Statue of Liberty, sailing straight into the wind. Meszkat and Reo begin tacking in a zigzag pattern to set us on our course toward Liberty Island. “Normally the student would be doing all the work,” Meszkat says. Prior to the two-day course, students complete the online portion of the program, arriving at the dock knowing the terminology and basics.
All in a Day’s Work It’s hands-on from there, which means a lot of Meszkat’s workday consists of enjoying the journey while keeping a watchful eye on his students as they pick up the ins and outs of sailing: the physical and mental feat of getting the boat to go where you want it to go, regardless of what Mother Nature and New York Harbor send your way. We pass Ellis Island and enter the shadow of the Statue just as the sun begins to set. Both men say that they never get tired of the view. It’s a view that most recreational sailors get to enjoy only after work or on weekends, but it’s a typical day at the office for Meszkat and Reo. Meszkat worked as a retail stockbroker before becoming a sailing instructor. “I started to get a little older, and I wanted to do what I wanted to do,” he says. During the winter he works as a ski instructor in Vermont. We come about and make our way back toward Hoboken. “This is the only place where the sun sets in the east,” Meszkat says, pointing out the sun reflected in the Freedom Tower’s blazing facade. The boat cuts through the dueling sunsets and into the choppier water of a ferry’s wake. “These are very strong, capable boats,” Meszkat says. “These boats are Porsches.” He likens the typical sailboat to a minivan. “The club is a fantastic concept because a lot of people want to go sailing, but they don’t want the responsibility of owning a boat. You don’t want a minivan that breaks down on July 3rd.” Back at Pier 13, as I stand on the dock, I can still feel the waves rocking. A man with his young daughter, both club members, enter the gate as we’re leaving. They ready a boat to catch the tail end of the sunset. I reveal to Meszkat that I’m a bit jealous, which he says is not unusual: “Almost all of our students have gone on to join the club.”—07030 shipyardmarina.com sailing@shipyardmarina.com (201) 798-8080 44 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
“I would say that I came up on the river,” Reo says. “I refined my skills here.”
POINT&
SHOOT
EMAIL YOUR HOBOKEN PHOTOS TO KROUNDS@HUDSONREPORTER.COM. BE SURE TO WRITE “POINT & SHOOT” IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
TRUE BLUE HOBOKEN
PHOTOS BY VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 45
how we
E V I L
918 BLOOMFIELD ST. PHOTOS BY VICTOR M. RODRIGUEZ
H
ow does a train wreck morph into a renovated brownstone? Just ask Lauren and Mike Blumenfeld. Mike used the metaphor to describe their house when they bought it in 2006. Two years later, it had become the finished, open, welcoming gem that I witnessed on a late-spring evening in 2018. Bloomfield is, of course, like its name, a leafy street with shade trees that bloom in spring. The classic straight, steep brownstone stairway leads to a beautiful wood door, decorated with grillwork. Large potted plants on the steps show signs of just being watered.
(L-R) Mike, Eli, Nathan and Lauren with Cooper. 46 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
Lauren is a senior partner in Coldwell Banker’s Jill Biggs Group. Her territory is Jersey City, Weehawken, Union City, and Hoboken. In her 10 years as a realestate agent, she’s of course witnessed the many changes that have taken place in Hoboken. “People are staying longer in Hoboken,” she says, “and instead of leaving for the suburbs, they’re buying larger homes. They’re raising kids and turning up their noses at the suburbs.” When Mike and Lauren bought the house, it had been converted into a three-family. It was dark and divided into small rooms, everything they weren’t looking for in an 1883 vintage Victorian. But it was still cheaper to buy a fixer-upper than a restored brownstone or something brand new. The most deplorable aspect of the original house? “There was a pink bathroom,” Mike says. The owner “loved pink.” Mike is the owner of Mile Square Insurance Agency on Newark Street. Mike and Lauren retained local architect Anna Sanchez, who also lives on Bloomfield, to design the renovations. The idea was to open up the interior, so there would be more space and light. Mission accomplished. In the open plan, the living room, dining room, and kitchen flow into one another. Mike loves to cook and entertain and once hosted a library dinner for 30. The kitchen is contemporary without being cookie cutter. “There’s no granite or Caesar stone like everybody else has,” Lauren says. “There is stainless and wood.” In fact, they have a stunning thick wooden dining room table, fashioned with no screws by a local artisan. Spring and summer is a perfect time to look at backyards. The Blumenfelds’, like most Hoboken yards, is shady. It’s also pretty big and has a nice,
lived-in feel. There are a few plantings along the side, but no formal gardens. In short, a great space to play with the dog or enjoy a barbecue. The Blumenfelds do have a dog, Cooper, and two sons, Nathan, 17, and Eli, 14, both of whom attend Saint Peter’s Prep. Nathan was hospitable enough to let us take a look at his bedroom: pretty neat for a high-school kid, with nice blue walls, a green bedspread, a work station, and music center. Windows overlook the backyard. You can tell from wall decorations that he’s a Devil’s fan—and he plays rugby himself. There’s a rugby ball to prove it. On the way out, we get a peek at the bathroom, very contemporary with a green motif, which gives it a pleasant underwater feel. And if you’re into the celestial sphere, the shower stall features a skylight. The hallway also has a skylight; this one’s huge with original German stained glass. Heading downstairs, I was struck by the beautifully restored black walnut banister and Newell post. Before leaving, we take a minute to admire the art on the wall in the living room. Lauren’s mother painted a picture of Mike and Lauren’s wedding. There are also family photos by Hartshorn Portraiture in the Monroe Center. One last thing: That gorgeous front door? It’s from Amighini Architectural Antique Doors & Custom Reproduction in Jersey City. Even if you’re not shopping for a fabulous door, this is an exciting place to visit. And so is the Blumenfeld home. Maybe you can get in on one of those library dinners, cooked by Chef Mike. —Kate Rounds
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Ravi Bhalla’s epic journey BY MARILYN BAER
S
itting at the head of a large conference table in a room adjoining his office in city hall, Mayor Ravi Bhalla recounts how he first came to live in Hoboken. “I knew I wanted to come back and live the rest of my life in New Jersey,” he says. “It might just be instinctual or in my roots being born and raised in New Jersey, and Hoboken was just the right fit.” He’s a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the London School of Economics, where he earned a Masters in Public Administration and Public Policy. After graduating, his parents said he had to do something other than sit at home in Pine Brook. At the time, his older brother, Amar, was in law school, and his best friend, Gurbir Grewal, was studying for the bar. “I never wanted or had any interest in becoming an attorney,” Bhalla says, but he decided to follow in the footsteps of his brother and friend. That friend is currently the New Jersey Attorney General. Bhalla decided to enroll in Tulane University Law School. 48 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
“I almost dropped out during my first couple of weeks,” Bhalla laughs. “At Berkeley and the London School of Economics, it felt like people were there to learn the subject matter before them from an honest intellectual passion. But law school just felt like a rat race. It didn’t feel like people were there for the love of law but to get into the best law firm or to supplement their MBA.” Bhalla’s parents told him he had to stick it out for the first semester, and if he didn’t like it after that he “could pack up his U-Haul and come back to New Jersey.” During that first semester and over time, he came to appreciate the law and its relationship to society. After graduation, he was offered a job at a Newark law firm. He enjoyed going to New York City and liked being close to his family in Pine Brook, so he decided to move to Hoboken because of its proximity to both and its vibrant atmosphere.
And the Rest is History Since moving to Hoboken, Bhalla became a practicing civil rights attorney, married, had children, and opened a business.
He also served on the Hoboken City Council for eight years and was elected the state’s first Sikh mayor. His passion for politics stems from his family and lively discussions around the dinner table growing up. “Everyone in my household always had something to say,” he recalls. “It was hard to get a word in edgewise. My parents would joke that I was a really fast talker—I had to talk fast in order to get my point across.” He decided to get into the Hoboken political scene after working on local campaigns as well as knocking on doors in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign. “His election made me think if the country was ready for an AfricanAmerican president, maybe Hoboken was ready for a Sikh councilman,” Bhalla says. During that 2012 presidential campaign, he and his wife, Bindiya, were learning “the city was a mess financially.” The municipal budget was overspent by $12 million. Sick of standing on the sidelines, Bhalla decided to run for city council.
PEOPLE POWER 07030
All that campaigning paid off. Ravi Bhalla was sworn in on New Year’s Day, 2018.
Early Adversity Bhalla, whose family is from India, is a Sikh, a religion founded in the 15th century. He wears a turban as a symbol of his faith. Growing up in a predominantly white town, he was bullied from an early age. “I was the darkest student at my school,” Bhalla says. “People would call me the N word. When young, little Sikh boys keep their hair in a bun, and kids would touch it and bully and tease me.” His mother was the most influential person in his life because she was with him every day and taught him how to deal with bullying. “She would help me be strong as a Sikh and be proud of who I am,” he says. “She taught me about my faith and background and how to handle the bullying.” She told him to report it to the teacher, but that there was a strict line; he could fight back physically if a bully crossed it. “If anyone touched our hair, which is an article of faith, we had the right to hit them,” Bhalla says.
The Beat Goes On Unfortunately the ignorance and bigotry did not end in elementary school. In 2002 when Bhalla was visiting a client at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, guards demanded to search his turban before he could be admitted. He refused and listed his rights, including his First Amendment rights, but the guards wouldn’t let him in.
After a Federal District court hearing, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a clarification of its search policy, stating that religious representations of faith need not be searched. In 2016 an online troll on twitter called Bhalla a “#terrorist” and said he “shouldn’t even be allowed in the U.S.” Bhalla responded, “Sir, I am born & raised in America. You clearly don’t know what it means to be an American. #ignorant.” During last year’s mayoral election an anonymous flyer was distributed around town, which targeted Bhalla, taking an opponent’s previous campaign literature and doctoring it so that Bhalla’s picture appeared under the words “Don’t let TERRORISM take over this town.” Police have not yet determined who created the flyer.
Keeping the Faith Bhalla remains steadfast in his faith, which he says is the core of who he is as a human being. “It guides my value system, it serves as a spiritual guide, but also and just as important, it guides how one should conduct oneself in this world,” Bhalla says. “Like most religions across the world, it teaches us to treat others with respect, be humble, help others who are less fortunate, and try to see connections between yourself and others.” Since becoming mayor he is treated with “more respect than I have ever had in my entire life. I have not been bullied except by the city council,” he laughs.
Family Ties Bhalla lives next to his brother, Amar, and his family on Garden Street and has two children, Arza, 11, and Shahbegh, 6, with wife Bindiya. The kids attend Elysian Charter School, and Bindiya, whom he met in a Starbucks in London, works for a nonprofit called Manavi, which helps women from South Asian communities, who are victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. “We hit it off,” Bhalla says. “We both have a common passion for social justice. She was an attorney who specialized in law dealing with immigration, refugees, and international human rights.” Shahbegh is enjoying tee-ball this year, much like Bhalla enjoyed playing baseball growing up. Arza is into theater. “My wife and I try to expose them to as many different things as possible,” Bhalla says. His children don’t face the same bullying he did growing up. It’s among the things that make being mayor worthwhile. “My son and daughter are the coolest kids in the class because their dad’s the mayor,” he jokes. “That means more than anything else to me.”—07030
07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 49
Is an upscale market in our future?
I
Image by TBishPhoto
t’s no secret. Hoboken City Councilman Mike DeFusco has been promoting it for years. It was the main reason he ran for city council in 2015, and for mayor in 2017. What could possibly be so important? In two words: Warrington Plaza. Most Hobokenites, and indeed most commuters who pass through Hoboken Terminal, know it as Lackawanna Plaza, named for the Erie Lackawanna Railway. So, who the heck is Warrington? George Warrington was executive director of NJ Transit from 2002 to 2007 and an early supporter of the ARC Tunnel. OK, maybe it’s just me, but I have a suspicion that Lackawanna Plaza is a keeper. In any case, that’s not the issue. The issue is, how best to take advantage of the outdoor plaza and the interior of the terminal, which are currently not used to their best advantage? The property is owned by NJ Transit, and the prospective developer is LCOR, whose website lists the Hoboken Terminal and Rail Yard as “in development.” DeFusco explains: “The Hoboken Terminal and Rail Yard are both part of a redevelopment plan passed in 2014, which does vaguely propose activating Warrington Plaza and Lackawanna Terminal into a ‘Terminal District,’ where retail and cultural uses are encouraged to enhance the quality of the pedestrian-oriented transit plaza. “The plan I put forth is not only to activate the outdoor plaza space but the interior of the building, which has 100,000 square feet of underutilized space,” DeFusco says. “This includes the underutilized area facing the ferry slips. That two-story waterfront-facing space is one of the most unique portions of the property and would permit for an amazing food-centric concourse.”
Abandoned section of the Erie Lackawanna Terminal 50 • 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018
As you can see from the picture on this page by Tbishphoto, the upstairs space is large and magnificent, with 50-foot ceilings, three sets of enormous skylights, one with original stained glass, remnants of old chandeliers, a geometric mosaic of myriad small tiles, and intricate molding. It could be used, for example, to store NJ Transit’s mechanical equipment, but that would not support small businesses, draw visitors, or create a Hoboken-centered destination.
Renderings courtesy of LCOR
Food Fantasies DeFusco sponsored a resolution in January, urging the mayor to prioritize development of the site, which was unanimously passed by the city council. In mid-May Mayor Bhalla “made reference to it in a public statement,” DeFusco says, “so my years-long advocacy seems to be working.” In discussing the project, DeFusco invokes Reading Market in Philadelphia and Chelsea Market in New York City—an “indoor food hall”—two wildly successful retail emporia that draw throngs of locals and tourists to buy, eat, and soak up the ambience. Chelsea Market is just minutes from the everpopular High Line, the elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail constructed on a former New York Central Railroad spur. In the proposed Warrington Plaza, people can “shop locally, small businesses can succeed, and it’s near mass transportation,” DeFusco says. They can have a “dynamic waterfront experience that redefines Hoboken as a center for art and commerce.” Hoboken Terminal is the largest transit hub in the state of New Jersey, second to Newark Airport, with trains, ferries, and buses, and within walking or biking distance of Weehawken and the Newport section of Jersey City. Developing the plaza, he says, “was a central tenet of my platform, giving small businesses a chance to succeed in
EMERGING 07030
Hoboken, rents being what they are and zoning being what it is. People have a way of gravitating toward food halls and food fairs.” Noise, pollution, vandalism, and vagrancy in and around Warrington Plaza are issues in his district, according to DeFusco. “Correctly activating rail yards has proven to be a success story for any city that takes it on,” he says. He cites as other models the Smorgasburg, an outdoor food fair in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Union Station in Denver; and Europaallee in Zurich. DeFusco envisions Warrington Plaza as a “unique destination that respects the history of the plaza, with fish mongers, cheese makers, and butchers, not TGI Fridays.” He sees it contributing to Hoboken as a place where “people can create and make—not just sleep, and shop in chain stores. With Amazon and e-commerce, small businesses can’t afford brick-and-mortar stores.” Warrington Plaza, he says, would “incentivize kiosk shopping.”
After the Deluge The post-Sandy Rebuild by Design initiative, which seeks to curb flooding in parts of Hoboken, Weehawken, and Jersey City, could affect plans for Warrington Plaza. There are two
options for a flood wall: one on Observer Highway but set back, and one immediately abutting Observer. “If the wall is constructed abutting Observer, we cut off the potential for an east-west artery, which is vital for the transit project,” DeFusco says. “If we lose the transit project, we lose the funding for any future marketplace activation.” If the wall is constructed on Observer, but set back, DeFusco says, “It’s an opportunity to work with LCOR to move forward with the project, creating the potential for a pedestrian promenade and street beautification to create a community in the small, southern post-industrial part of town.” What Chelsea Market and the High Line did for Manhattan’s meatpacking district, Warrington Plaza could do for Hoboken. “The High Line shaped the overall development of the meatpacking district,” DeFusco says. “It was a historic homage to where the meatpacking district was and a pathway to the future.” Warrington Plaza, he says, “would allow art galleries and restaurants to thrive based on history, not just big glass boxes or condos. It’s a no-brainer for the city, for NJ Transit, and LCOR. “Design and food culture could come together in Hoboken.”—Kate Rounds
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PHOTOS BY TERRI SAULINO BISH
If
you live just about anywhere in Hudson County, it’s crazy not to take advantage of the river that bears its name, and nothing beats dining on the water.
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Skyline Views Blue Eyes offers unobstructed views of the New York City skyline. It sits right on the walkway, hard by the soccer field and across from the Little League field.
We visited on a beautiful sunny evening in late spring when kids were racing around and folks were jogging, walking, skating, biking, sunbathing, dog-walking—and one guy doing pushups on the steps. Whether you’re into skylines and riverscapes or people-watching, Blue Eyes doesn’t disappoint.
EATERY 07030
525 Sinatra Dr. | (201) 683-6861 | blueeyeshoboken.com
Feeling Blue The light, airy dining room—surprise!—features a lot of blue, blue linens and of course Ol’ Blues Eyes himself keeping an eye on things. The entrance is on the west side of the building, just off Sinatra Drive. The first thing you see upon entering
is a small raw bar with shellfish and whole seafood nestled in a bed of ice, topped with lemon. We sat under the big windows on the enclosed terrace. Fresh bread and olive oil with garlic appeared immediately, and before we could say “My Way,” Tony, the manager, delivered three appetizers to our table:
Timballo is an Italian baked dish, which usually includes pasta, cheese, and meat, fish, or fruit. Timballo Di Zucchine alla Parmigiana features parmesan, tomato sauce, and tenderly–cooked zucchini that had a real eggplant feel to it. Delicious start to a meal.
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What’ll it Be? This appeared with a Burrata Pugliese, which consists of creamy Apulian mozzarella with arugula and toasted bread. “Creamy” is the operative word. It had the consistency of sour cream, rich and wonderful with the mozz and crisply toasted baguette. Last was the Rugola salad, with baby arugula, pears, toasted walnuts, and truffle pecorino cheese—the perfect combo of sweet and savory. Next up entrees. First was an exquisitely cooked pan-seared organic salmon filet with mustard sauce, nice and crispy on the outside
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and delicate on the inside. It was accompanied by cherry tomatoes and spinach. It was a healthy portion, half of which found its way into my doggie bag. This was followed by Linguine Alle Vongole Veraci, a pasta dish with Manila clams, roasted garlic, white wine sauce, and parsley. Terri pronounced it superb.
Slice of Life Wood-fired pizza is a signature item at Blue Eyes. Tony suggested Pizza Stracciatella, a large pie with mozzarella, arugula salad, cherry tomatoes, prosciutto, and stracciatella cheese. We hardly had room for it,
but it made for a beautiful picture and a delicious meal for another guest or staff member. The restaurant has a wide selection of appetizers, salads and entrees, as well as a kids’ menu and a good beer and wine list, not to mention special drinks, such as the Blue Eyes made with mango nectar and Prosecco. End your meal with a robust espresso drink. Planning a party? There’s catering on and off premises with prix fix and buffet menus. By the time you read this, it will be warm enough to dine outside and enjoy the gelato stand. Look for me. I’ll probably be there—Kate Rounds
EATERY 07030
Ricardo Roig’s
Sense of Enchantment
A new gallery at the W offers a wider frame of reference
RICARDO ROIG
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ARTS 07030
Shaping and Reshaping
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ROIG GALLERY
L
ike a lot of artists, Ricardo Roig found his way to Hoboken through a circuitous route. He’s a Jamaica, Queens, native whose family moved to Westfield, N.J. After high school, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), followed by Kean University, which landed him back in New Jersey. His wife, Michelle, teaches Spanish in Westfield. He needed to work in order to pay for his teaching degree at Kean, so a buddy got him a job waiting tables at Hoboken’s Elysian Café. He moved to Hoboken in 2007 and taught art in Westfield from 2011 to 2018. “Hoboken is the Greenwich Village of New Jersey,” he says. “But I didn’t want to be in New York City because I’d get washed out. Hoboken has a nice art scene, it’s close to New York, there’s a lot of inspiration, a lot of energy.” In 2010, he exhibited his art for the first time at Hoboken Arts & Music Festival and had his first solo show at IMAGO. In 2012, the Hoboken Historical Museum bought 10 Roig pieces for its permanent collection.
A random elective course in screen printing determined the trajectory of his art career. His work, he says, is a “mix between abstract and representational. He lives in flux, on the threshold of ebb and flow, push and pull, abstract and representation. My art is grounded in our mind’s ability to see shapes come together and break apart.” OK, that was a bit of art-speak, but you get the picture. Studying painting, he says, helped him “learn how to see as a painter.” He also does collage. His original gallery was at 252 First St. Now he has a gallery in the W Hotel, and the First Street space has been taken over by his framer, Red Lion. The W gallery had its grand opening in May. He exhibits only his own work and has a 30-foot window for display. “I get a nice mix of people: collectors, locals, new people, and people walking by on River Street,” he says. Not to mention tourists staying in the swanky W Hotel, and the some 40 residents who live there fulltime. Local interior designer Jenny Madden furnished the W showroom. Her main office is in the Hoboken Business Center.
Making Connections Roig says he’s shipped pieces to Michigan and Florida, and he’s driving a piece to his old haunt, MICA, in Baltimore. He’s also been talking to folks at Atlantic Records in Los Angeles. He’s been commissioned by the Shake Shack in New York City and the head of alumni marketing at New York University. “I’m meeting people who I would never meet otherwise,” he says. “The W has tons of events, where I’ve sold a lot of art. A bride who is having a wedding in October bought a piece for her mother as a gift.” He continued, “My art goes with collectors to new places like Sweden, California, Australia, France, and London.” Most people come to their knowledge of screen printing through Andy Warhol, though today, much of it is computer-generated. Roig’s method merges Japanese woodblock printing and French Impressionism. “My process is unique and innovative,” Roig says. “Each stencil is cut by hand and each layer of paint applied by hand as opposed to being computer-generated. I am the computer in my mind.” He went on, “I want more artists to create this way and start a movement, and that’s why I’m trying to pioneer and innovate this new contemporary art process.” He also likes capturing local scenes. “Hoboken changes so rapidly, it’s nice to have a piece of the nostalgic Hoboken you remember.” Says Roig, “I want my art to bring a sense of enchantment back into our lives, and to see something as if for the first time again and again.”—Kate Rounds 07030 HOBOKEN | SUMMER 2018 • 57
DATES 07030 from page 49
30 Spaghetti Dinner Block Party, Sinatra Drive between 1st and 2nd Streets, 5-8 p.m. Enjoy four kinds of pasta, meatballs, sausage, eggplant parmigiana, salad, bread, and Italian desserts. Drinks sold to raise funds for the Hoboken Ambulance Corps. Also features live performances. Tickets can be purchased at City Hall, 94 Washington St. at the Cultural Affairs Office (cash or money orders only). Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under, and $15 for seniors. You can also reserve a table for $250 (seats 10 people).
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The 92nd Hoboken Italian Festival, Sinatra Park, Thursday and Friday, 6-11 p..m, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. The Hoboken Italian Festival emulates the “Feast of the Madonna Dei Martiri” which began in 1399 in Molfetta, Italy. The festival has become an annual Hoboken waterfront extravaganza with international foods, music, fantastic fireworks display, and blessing of the fleet. Come enjoy the beer and wine garden.
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30 Fall Arts & Music Festival, Washington Street between Observer Highway and 7th Street, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Featuring over 300 artists, crafters, and more. Come enjoy great food. There will be three stages of live performances and a kids’ area on 3rd Street.
OCTOBER 20 Harvest Festival, Pier A Park, 1st Street and Sinatra Drive, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Hay rides, a hay maze, pony rides, petting zoo, moonwalk, face painting, pumpkin painting, balloon art, craft activities, soccer, dance and gymnastic demos, live music and dance, and much more.
26 Annual Gala: Hoboken Museum Masked Ball, W Hotel Hoboken, 225 River St., (201) 656-2240, hobokenmuseum.org, 7-11 p.m. Save the date for Hoboken’s best party of the year: the annual Masked Ball to benefit the Hoboken Historical Museum! Celebrate the good work the museum does in the community and party with your friends and neighbors. The Masked Ball will feature great food and libations, plus the popular annual live and silent auction of unique travel, dining, entertainment and other prizes. Dance the night away with music that spans the decades.
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