There are a couple of fall events that take place in downtown Newark that I really look  forward to. Starting next week the Halsey St. Block Parties begin.  There is alway Halloween, where the town is completely chaotic for a whole three weeks while every bar has some sort of bash, and various lofts have completely off-the-hook costume parties.  Ocktoberfest… Enough said (I am praying that Port 44 goes all out of that one).  This year a new event is added to the list, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is taking place October 7th – 1oth.  Not only is this the 24th year for the festival, but a projected audience of about 30,000 out-of-towners are said to flood the downtown. (I cannot wait for this one) And then my favvvvvorrite Newark event will occur a little early, the  Newark Arts Council 9th Annual Open Studios & Available Space Tour.

Newark Open Doors Tour is normally an event that lands towards the end of October. This year it will arrive a whole month early! Save the date Newarkers…  It kicks off Thursday, September 23, 2010  and goes nonstop for three days through Sunday, September 26, 2010.

Starting that Thursday a number of events will occur, including the Newark Arts Parade, an annual event spearheaded by the Barat Foundation. The parade begins at 4pm.

First launched in 2008 as a kick-off for the Newark Arts Council’s Open Doors Festival, the Newark Arts Parade, a collaborative effort between the Barat Foundation, the Newark Arts Council, the Newark Public Schools

Also that night Expo 33, at 33 Washington will kick off the tour with an opening reception from 6 – 9pm and then come join GlocallyNewark @ 239 Collective for DesignNewark from 7 – 1am.

Friday and Saturday night a variety of galleries will open. Sunday the Studio tour will occur from 12 – 6pm. After a long weekend of art, the tour will end where it began from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at 33 Washington.

Participating galleries and artist studios include:

• 142 Lafayette Street (sumei.org)

• 239 Collective (glocallynewark.com)

• 27 Mix (27mix.com)

• Akintola Hanif – HYCIDE Studios (hycide.com)

• Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art (aljira.org)

• Dietze Projects: Anker West (ankerwest@hotmail.com), Troy West, Ada Caro, Claudia Flynn

• 9-11 Crawford St: Victoria Hanks (paintgrrl.com), Tony Zaza, Malik Hardaway (mprintarts.com)

• Barat Foundation (baratfoundation.org)

• Brick City Coffee Company (brickcitycoffee.com)

• Catfish Friday Women’s Art Collective (catfishfriday.org)

• City Without Walls Gallery (cwow.org)

• College of Architecture and Design Gallery (design.njit.edu/resources/gallery/index.php)

• Colonnade Gallery (colonnadegallery.com)

• Expo 33

• Gallery Aferro (aferro.org)

• Gifts East West

• GlassRoots, Inc. (glassroots.org)

• Hell’s Kitchen Lounge (hellskitchen)

• Hip Hop Lives Art Gallery

• Index Art Center (indexartcenter.org)

• Kedar Studio of Art (kedarstudio.com)

• Les Ayre

• LIT Social Justice Center

• Mi Gente/Tara Raye Russo ( http://tararayerusso.blogspot.com/)

• New Jersey Performing Arts Center (njpac.org)

• Newark Art Supply & Custom Framing (newarkartsupply.com)

• Newark Arts Council (newarkarts.org)

• Newark Museum (newarkmuseum.org)

• Newark Symphony Hall (newarksymphonyhall.org)

• One Gallery (gugaart.com)

• Paul Robeson Galleries (Rutgers University) (http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/artgallery)

• Rupert Ravens Contemporary (rupertravens.net)

• Russell Aldo Murray Gallery Space (RAMgalleryspace.com)

• Solo(s) Project House (solosprojecthouse.com) Ibrahim Ahmed III; Marc D’Agusto; Daniel Patrick Helmstetter; Rebecca Jampol; Kimberlyn Johnson; Josh Knoblick; Kylie Lefkowitz; Marie Thompson

• Studios at Gallery Aferro: Blithe Riley (blitheriley.net); Alison Owen (alisonowen.com); Peter Owen (peter-owen.com); Dahlia Elsayed (dahliaelsayed.com/home); Steve Rossi (steverossisculpture.com); Lane Cooper (lanecooperart.com); Nancy Mahl, Carrie Lincourt, Denise De La Cerda (http://web.mac.com/nancymahl.site_9/proposal.html); Evonne M. Davis (aferro.org)

• SubmergedArt Gallery (submergedart.org)

• Sumei Multidisciplinary Arts Center (sumei.org)

• The Jewish Museum of New Jersey (jewishmuseumnj.org)

more to follow!

For more info check out www.Newarkarts.org

Jay Gibbons Photo Credit: Associated Press

In 2007, it appeared that the dream was over for Jay Gibbons. The once promising young outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles had fallen off the map both on and off the field. Towards the tail-end of the 2007 season, Sports Illustrated revealed that Gibbons had received numerous shipments of performance enhancing drugs.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Gibbons had been struggling with the Baltimore Orioles and was only hitting .230 with 6 home runs by the year’s end. In many cases, this would mark the end of a professional athlete’s career even if they are in the prime of their playing years.

But, Gibbons wanted a shot at redemption so he returned to the diamond the very next year in hopes of working his way back to the big leagues. In 2008, he bounced around various minor league teams, including the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.

In 2009, Jay Gibbons found himself in the Brick City playing for the Bears alongside fellow Major Leaguers Armando Benitez, Marlon Anderson and Keith Foulke.

Gibbons appeared in 40 games with the Newark Bears last season and struggled at the plate. He hit .233 and only drove in 19 runs.

Still though Gibbons kept playing on and this year he finally got the call he had been waiting for. The Los Angeles Dodgers decided that Gibbons was worthy of another crack at the big leagues and decided to assign him to minor league camp to see if he had anything left.

He hit will in the minors and in the middle of the season received word that he would be joining the Los Angeles Dodgers as a reserve outfielder and pinch hitter.

He’s only had 24 at-bats in the big leagues so far this season, but the results have been promising. He’s hitting at a .375 clip and has already hit two home runs.

Despite Gibbons’ shortcomings in the past, it is great to see a former Bears player accomplish the rare feat of making it all the way back to the Major League level.

I recently had breakfast at Central Diner with a friend. (located at Central & Halsey) I probably have a meal at Central Diner at least three times a week. The food is good, the staff is super-friendly and they’ll make it… However you want. My friend was in the mood for an Italian cheese steak sandwich, with two eggs over easy and marinara. I know what your thinking. It took me two minutes to pull my jaw up off the counter as soon as he ordered.

The Marinara Monster Definitely LocalPhoto worthy!

It took me another two minutes to pull my jaw back off the counter when it arrived. The sandwich was enormous, and even had french fries in it! Not on the side, in it! I took a bite. Amazing.

The Marinara Monster (Yes, We named it)
Italian Cheesesteak with two eggs over easy topped with marina sauce
$6.95
Central Diner
30 Central Ave
Halsey & Central Ave
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 623-8137

Newark, NJ is connected to a rich background of design, architecture, and craft that continues today in various forms.

Today, the city is filled with numerous designers of all trades working to show the City of Newark in a positive light or to better the area. The exhibition, Design Newark will display 100 designs created for Newark or by Newark-based designers. The exhibition will capture every facet of design including graphic, industrial, product, architecture, fashion, digital and more.

The breadth of Newark’s design has been fostered by its unique status as an international city, housing among other groups, the largest Brazilian and Portuguese populations in the world outside of those countries. As such, we are opening the exhibition to international designs born in these countries that gives Newark it’s cultural texture.

CALL FOR DESIGNERS:

Please submit the following by August 31st to designnewark@glocallynewark.com

1. Designer’s Bio

2. Designer’s Resume

3. 1 – 5 images of submitted work

4. Short Statement of the design and/or designers connection to the City of Newark.

*** All Selected Designer will be notified by September 3rd.

ABOUT 239 COLLECTIVE:

The 239 Collective is both a dynamic event space and collection of like-minded creative companies. The Collective team includes development and design company Newworks, creative agency Tritonic, and premier blog GlocallyNewark.com. Each Newark based company adds their own element to the table, joining forces to provide a progressive gallery/event space.

DESIGN NEWARK:

Hosted by GlocallyNewark.com & Hell’s Kitchen Lounge

September 23, 2010 – December 3,2010

Opening Reception: September 23 7pm – 11pm

After Party 11pm – 1:00 am

Part of Newark Arts Council’s Open Doors Tour

Photo Credit: Phil Hoops

Wow…what a year it has been for the 1 Washington Park office building here in Newark. Around this time last year, the nearly thirty year old office building opened its doors to the Rutgers Business School.

The interior of the building where the school resides was beautiful and the school was outfitted with leather sofas and numerous LCD TVs.

The clear glass entrance way and stock ticker were also nice addition to the building but yet, something was missing. Aside from the big red “1″ at the top nothing really made the building stand out as being a part of the University. As a matter of fact, for over a year whenever I passed the building on Rt. 280 I always thought of it as just another office building.

As of a few weeks ago all that has changed and now the Rutgers Business School logo is proudly displayed. Who knows maybe one day the RBS building will become a staple of the Newark skyline along with the Prudential Building?

Along with the new sign comes a new tenant and a big one at that in the NFL Alumni Association. As first reported by NJ.com, the NFL Alumni Association officially relocated to Newark by way of Florida in July.

While there won’t be any draft days being held in Newark, the Alumni Association is vital to NFL players after there careers on the gridiron have ended. The group handles things such as pensions and works with researchers from around the globe to help prevent and treat concussions.

This is certainly a huge boom for Newark. To be honest with the way sports franchises have operated lately, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had opened their headquarters somewhere in New York City. Instead, the group choose Newark as its new home. NFL Alumni head George Martin had a lot to do with the venue choice as he is a New Jersey resident himself.

So now Newark has its own NBA team, NHL team, an MLS team nearby and an NFL organization. The only thing left is an MLB ball club or an affiliated minor league team. Wishful thinking right?

Anyways, be sure to give your new Newark NFL neighbors a follow on Twitter @NFLAlumni.

Photo Credit: Phil Hoops

Well, have you ever believed in things  happening in 3′s?  Well, I do and recently, 3 friends mentioned going to their local library for best sellers . Furthermore, attending reading by writers, workshops and even downloading audio books online… all for FREE! REALLY!  How did I forgot about this institution?  It was time to go public.

I marched down to the Newark Main Library located at 5 Washington Street and signed up for my library card ASAP. The merry security woman pointed me to the information desk where an older woman sat. Like a old fixture in a museum, she knew her job well, but her personality must have been lost in the non-fiction section somewhere a long time ago. My bubbly personality and interest in signing  up for a library card  was of no interest to her at all. She  pointed out the location of the library card application and asked for my Newark ID  while she started to process the card.

As I finished filling out the form at the information desk, a fellow blogger and avid reader, SamKa, walked in to return some morbid book she found quite amusing.  After we greeted and shared our joy of reading she mentioned that library hopping throughout the city is her thing.  11 public libraries in the city doesn’t make it difficult, although the furloughs and business hours could be a challenge for the busy bee’s of Newark.

I got my library card!

Now, I have access to:

• thousands of online books that I could listen to on my Ipod, which is a huge deal for a pedestrian.
• hundreds of thousands books to borrow
• movies at an affordable rental rate
• magazine subscriptions
• music
• and did you know the library is also on facebook?

I couldn’t be happier to GO PUBLIC! Who’s with me?

Monday night I headed into Mcgovern’s Tavern (on New St) to meet up with a friend. Cranky and starving from my long day, I became immediately agitated when I realized that they probably were not still serving food. The kitchen normally closes around 8 during the summer. To my surprise the kitchen was open till 12?

School is back in session.

Martin Luther King Blvd. is filled with vans & trailers of kids moving into their Fraternity houses. University Avenue has been bombarded with tours of eager freshmen. The next week the city will become active again after a long mello summer. Rob’s Pizza will be open late. Bars will stay open on Sundays. The back yard of Intrinsic Cafe will ALWAYS be full. Kilkenny Ale House’s College Night will begin. University Heights is going to be buzzing once again!

Newark R U ready?

The Jets and Giants were neving going to change their affiliations. What’s disappointing is that the Red Bulls could have changed to N.J. when they moved into the new arena, giving them a fresh identity.

Using the NY  name diminishes our national identity. How many people watching a Giants game think the Meadowlands is in New York? Probably three-quarters. However, having these pro teams in our state is good for the economy.

I say, let everyone from the five boroughs come and spend their money here, especially in Newark. It’s true – we do lack a certain identity. But as Ben Franklin said, “New Jersey is a keg tapped at both ends.”

Drink up.

I recently checked out Newark’s downtown fabric shop, Halsey St. Fabrics. Awed by the by the inventory and the steady flow of people, I hung out and observed. This place is NO joke. There are non-stop customers walking through their door  and purchasing massive amounts of fabric, lace, buttons, peacock feathers (?)… you name it, they got it.

When I returned to my desk I looked them up to find that I am not the only person who was amazed:

“I shopped in person for thread, buttons and glue. Huge range of thread and button colors and of button styles. Very reasonably priced. I was not in the market for fabric or trims but was amazed at the selection (including beads!) and will definitely try there first when I need those items. The staff was patient & extremely helpful. The store atmosphere was pleasant.”

“This fabric store has every type of fabric you want. The fabric is the most reasonable anywhere. Plus, the salespeople are knowledgeable & friendly. There is a parking lot directly across the street which made it that more convenient.”

Check out Halsey St. Fabrics
973-623-4985
91 Halsey St
Newark, NJ 07102

ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, FOOD, SPORTS! The city is alive and budding. We want to see YOUR perspective of Newark. So grab your cameras and start snapping away. Email submissions to localphoto@glocallynewark.com

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