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Interior LCB

March Events: Busy Days for an Author

March is looking to be a busy month. I’ll be appearing at two different events this week alone. On Wednesday, March 7th, I’ll be discussing my book, Left Bank of the Hudson: Jersey City and the Artist of 111 1st Street, at Little City Books in Hoboken, New Jersey. The event starts at 7:00 p.m.

Spotted in Jersey City: Evidence of 111 1st Street

While waiting for the light rail at Exchange Place in Jersey City earlier this month, I looked down at the platform decorated with a map commissioned by New Jersey Transit. Notable historic dates and places in Jersey City and Hudson County dotted the public art piece. Suddenly, I saw a very familiar name: Lorillard Tobacco…

wfmu

Live Radio! This is the Modern World

On February 8, 2018, I appeared on This is the Modern World on WFMU (91.1 FM)–a legendary listener-supported independent radio station–to discuss artists, cities, gentrification, Jersey City, and my book, Left Bank of the Hudson: 111 1st Street and the Artists of 111 1st Street (Fordham University Press). 

Charles Chamot Gallery

Back in Jersey City: JCAST 2017

On Sunday, October 15, 2017, I was honored to participate in 111 1st Street: A Community of Artists, an exhibit featuring the artists of the former 111 1st Street–the subject of Left Bank of the Hudson. Elaine Hansen, a 111 alumnus herself, organized the show as part of the 2017 Jersey City Art & Studio…

Left Bank of the Hudson: A Short Reflection

My first book, Left Bank of the Hudson: Jersey City and the Artists of 111 1st Street, will be released by Fordham University Press on October 3, 2017. Next week.

My First Event: The Brooklyn Book Festival

This past Sunday, I attended the Brooklyn Book Festival as an author. Yes, a professional, published writer.

Just your average afternoon in JS1. If you had your finer on the pulse of innovation, you would understand.

A Walk Through Journal Square (or Journal Squared)

While walking through the Journal Square section of Jersey City on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, I stopped and snapped a few pictures of the advertisements for the recently opened and the planned high-rise developments in the neighborhood.

A Saturday Visit to the Public Library

On May 1, 2017, the main branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library reopened literally after years of renovations. As I’ve feverishly worked on my book manuscript for the last eight months, I found myself unable to consult a needed book for an obscure fact or flip through a bulging vertical file to search…

The Ghost of a Political Machine: Frank Hague & Jersey City

Frank Hague. The name looms large in the political culture and public imagination of Jersey City and Hudson County, New Jersey. A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I attended a forum exploring the man (and his ally-cum-rival John V. Kenny) at the Five Corners branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library. The…

Jersey City: The Quiet Stories of History

Recently, a local historian and lifelong Jersey City resident shared with me his joyous surprise upon discovering a cache of newspaper articles concerning a prominent late-nineteenth-century resident of his neighborhood and this resident’s failed attempt to sell his private park to the Jersey City government. This nineteenth-century gentleman was Bernard Vetterlain. Bernard Vetterlain earned his…