Barcade Jersey City

[Kindelan]

It's got nothing to do with Xenophobia (whatever that is). It has to do with being wanna-be style. Do your own thing, you feel me?

Let's just all take a deep breath. A deep breath of that crisp, fresh Jersey City air. This is easier if you remove Brooklyn's Nutz from your trachea first.

[dragonaut]

I am more of a Queens fan... 

and Queens has some great things such as The Socrates Sculpture Park, PS1 and The Sculpture Center.

One thing that Queens and Jersey City have in common: the lack of a major league baseball team

Let's not forget Five Pointz.

[jcpeace]

I am more of a Queens fan... 

and Queens has some great things such as The Socrates Sculpture Park, PS1 and The Sculpture Center.

One thing that Queens and Jersey City have in common: the lack of a major league baseball team

[dragonaut]

Well, we've got Greenville and we've got Columbus.  Two out of three...

[jehu]

Blah. I think you took money to promote Brooklyn. Your opinion is thus null/void 

You also forgot to mention that Brooklyn also has some of the most crime ridden neighborhoods in the city, some of the largest housing projects in the city, and one of the worse roads in the city (Belt Parkway)...
Can we have those too?

For myself. I have never liked Brooklyn. I am more of a Queens fan... 

All this Brooklyn bashing just goes to show the collective inferiority complex and small town, provincial mentality that can take hold in a place like Jersey City. Some of this inferiority complex is justified, considering that JC exists in the shadow of one of the cultural capitols of the western world, but that doesn't mean that we, as a community, should not strive for better things.

Bash Brooklyn and bash things like

1) Issues Project Room--One of the top venues for experimental music in the entire country.

2) An art scene featuring galleries that operate on the global stage, participating in major fairs such as Scope and Art Basel .  Both mid career and emerging artists , utilize Brooklyn as a gateway to the rest of the world.

3)A grass roots music scene, that in many ways sets the agenda instead of following one.

4) Music venues that host touring groups from within and outside of the US.

5) BAM

6) Brooklyn Museum -a professionally run organization that is open more than one day a week and is one of the premiere institutions of its kind.

7) Park Slope Food Coop. A model organization for those interested in community run, sustainable food outlets.

and I am only  scratching the surface here..........

I've lived right near the newark ave "strip" for 13 years. Places like LITM and Skinners may not be my kind of places but I am glad that they are here. Same with this Barcade idea. Bring it the fuck on. The desolate newark ave of old was not an incredibly welcoming place to walk after 8pm, back-in-the-day...and as nostalgic as I get for those times, in a weird way, I think that we are better off with a vibrant  newark ave.

And to echo TMN's sentiment: that  south side of newark ave has been sprinkled with a blight of empty buildings for quite a long time. Has anyone from the community stepped up and done anything with those under utilized spaces?

[dragonaut]

Here here!!!

To hell with those empty spaces, fill them with something.  IF, of course, the building owners are willing to let that happen (my girlfriend recently told me about approaching a building owned by a certain politician down Newark there that has had an empty store front for some time now, about using the space for a month or so as a temporary art gallery of sorts, just to, y'know, liven things up; dude wasn't having it).

[jcpeace]

All this Brooklyn bashing just goes to show the collective inferiority complex and small town, provincial mentality that can take hold in a place like Jersey City. Some of this inferiority complex is justified, considering that JC exists in the shadow of one of the cultural capitols of the western world, but that doesn't mean that we, as a community, should not strive for better things.

Bash Brooklyn and bash things like

1) Issues Project Room--One of the top venues for experimental music in the entire country.

2) An art scene featuring galleries that operate on the global stage, participating in major fairs such as Scope and Art Basel .  Both mid career and emerging artists , utilize Brooklyn as a gateway to the rest of the world.

3)A grass roots music scene, that in many ways sets the agenda instead of following one.

4) Music venues that host touring groups from within and outside of the US.

5) BAM

6) Brooklyn Museum -a professionally run organization that is open more than one day a week and is one of the premiere institutions of its kind.

7) Park Slope Food Coop. A model organization for those interested in community run, sustainable food outlets.

and I am only  scratching the surface here..........

I've lived right near the newark ave "strip" for 13 years. Places like LITM and Skinners may not be my kind of places but I am glad that they are here. Same with this Barcade idea. Bring it the fuck on. The desolate newark ave of old was not an incredibly welcoming place to walk after 8pm, back-in-the-day...and as nostalgic as I get for those times, in a weird way, I think that we are better off with a vibrant  newark ave.

And to echo TMN's sentiment: that  south side of newark ave has been sprinkled with a blight of empty buildings for quite a long time. Has anyone from the community stepped up and done anything with those under utilized spaces?

[Bobblehead]

Yeah, that was the JC Independent's news headline for the new establishment.
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcade  The owners seem really cool. The place in Bk is run on 100% wind energy, they do fundraisers, and they even [Jehu] own a bowling alley.

The thread's title is "READ ALL ABOUT IT: Wburg's Barcade expanding to Jersey City!?!"

Wind energy? I am sure all of Williamsburg could derive their energy from hot air. 

Seriously, though, that's cool. 

[PuddinPop]

I don't think it is off topic actually. It is, IMO, great that progressive business owners are finding their way to JC. Maybe they can lead by example.

I like that they are 'green' and this is something I think Jersey City should start requiring of all new businesses, a minimum standard for energy efficiency (but his is off topic)...

Yeah, that was the JC Independent's news headline for the new establishment.
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcade  The owners seem really cool. The place in Bk is run on 100% wind energy, they do fundraisers, and they even [Jehu] own a bowling alley.

The thread's title is "READ ALL ABOUT IT: Wburg's Barcade expanding to Jersey City!?!"

[jehu]

I like that they are 'green' and this is something I think Jersey City should start requiring of all new businesses, a minimum standard for energy efficiency (but his is off topic)...

Yeah, that was the JC Independent's news headline for the new establishment.
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcade  The owners seem really cool. The place in Bk is run on 100% wind energy, they do fundraisers, and they even [Jehu] own a bowling alley.

The thread's title is "READ ALL ABOUT IT: Wburg's Barcade expanding to Jersey City!?!"

[Darna]

Bobble, if some JC folks had their way (I won't mention their names here, but that fight was well enough known), there would indeed be no LITM, as they opposed Newark Avenue becoming more like Hoboken.

[PuddinPop]

Yeah, that was the JC Independent's news headline for the new establishment.
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcade  The owners seem really cool. The place in Bk is run on 100% wind energy, they do fundraisers, and they even [Jehu] own a bowling alley.

The thread's title is "READ ALL ABOUT IT: Wburg's Barcade expanding to Jersey City!?!"

[Bobblehead]

Oh, and Puddin, you may think the food is mediocre and the service poor at LITM, but any place that will serve me a La Chouffe and a pretty good cheese omelet with fresh (non-wilted) greens on the side at 11:00 am on a weekday is okay by me.    I would put their food and service above a lot of places--Embankment and Hamilton Inn are two that are waaaayyyyy behind in that regard.

[Bobblehead]

Bobble, please define fake authenticity, because it seems that you and Kindelan are creating an argument that did not exist.

The thread's title is "READ ALL ABOUT IT: Wburg's Barcade expanding to Jersey City!?!"

Just as people cry out for a Whole Foods to come here, and WF indeed has researched it, just as Home Depot did their homework on JC as a market, so too do less-corporate establishments see Jersey City as a rising market. Why is Barcade coming here? Aren't they doing well enough over there, in Williamsburg? Aren't they satisfied? They must not be. They are coming here for a reason. They are expanding their brand.

We are being colonized by Williamsburg. Kindelan, in his statement "Fuck Brooklyn," underscored that point. Just as we have been colonized by Hoboken, and Manhattan.

LITM is a local business, started by a JC girl, with a little backing from her folks. Love it. Locals have started businesses, schools, arts organizations, and so on. Yet a certain group of residents will only send their kids to a Montessori preschool, for example, even though they have no clue what it really is like compared to home-grown preschools.

  I'm only half serious here. I wish Barcade luck, and probably will go there, and bring my kids, too.   I just liked the idea of saying "Fuck Brooklyn" and rattling people's cages.    But I do think that we have enough cool, smart, energetic, dedicated people here to make our own scene.    

[TMN]

Let me also add that I don't think JC can afford to be so fussy and picky as to who they allow to do business here....yet.

Ha! With an attitude like that, you might as well be on the City Council! Why not a Starbucks? Or a Hard Rock Cafe? Or a Home Depot?

Really, YOU PEOPLE invite this sort of thing. You whine about how a sports bar is making this Hoboken South, but the moment a hipster establishment opens up a branch office, where people can drink PBR while playing Galaga, it is fine. We are being treated as the next market, that is all.

But this really isn't about whether Barcade should open or not--I am fine with it being there, and if they can get enough customers, then they deserve to thrive. The real crux of the issue is the attitude that JC cannot derive its own enjoyment, that it must import some sort of fake authenticity to validate its coolness, that I find so offensive. Would we have LITM if this were the case, for example?

#1. Maybe I should run for city council. A person with my values and outlook would be a refreshing change.
#2. I never whine and I'm certainly not a hipster so I dislike you lumping me in with them.
#3. I, too, find 'fake authenticity to validate its coolness' repugnant...however until JC has every store front filled with thriving businesses I still don't believe JC can afford the luxury to be fussy and picky.

[PuddinPop]

http://www.radegasthall.com/

Totally agree. Biergartens are great ideas

[Darna]

Bobble, please define fake authenticity, because it seems that you and Kindelan are creating an argument that did not exist.

And if, as Soshin points out, Mocco's contribution is any indication of what homegrown JC branding can offer, well, we are in a lot of trouble.

[dragonaut]

Clearly what Jersey City REALLY needs is to put up a giant wall and keep out all of the possible outside cultural influences.

We'll also need to make our own version of the internet.

[PuddinPop]

Bobble, I think you have some really great ideas but this I just don't get. I don't want Jersey City to be anything other than it is, but how is this "validating coolness" to have an arcade bar? LITM seems to fit the mold of wannabe cool artsy bars with poor service and mediocre food. How do the two things compare?

JC cannot derive its own enjoyment, that it must import some sort of fake authenticity to validate its coolness, that I find so offensive. Would we have LITM if this were the case, for example?

[Bobblehead]

Totally agree. Biergartens are great ideas, but Zeppelin Hall is lousy in its execution!

The Beer Garden here in JC SUCKS!!! The only reason I go there is because I am meeting people who have no idea that it SUCKS!....

[Soshin]

You're right.  You shouldn't encourage him!  
Anyway, when you find a JC developer with homegrown JC money who wants to invest in JC, then by all means, let's all dance in the streets!  Until then...

+1 Darna. I don't see any of us ponying up the monies needed to open a clever, unique, and long lasting business in JC.

*cough* Peter Mocco *cough*
 

[jehu]

The Beer Garden here in JC SUCKS!!! The only reason I go there is because I am meeting people who have no idea that it SUCKS!....

Duck Pin Bowling...Bocce...You will have us as Brooklyn in no time

With that said, I think Duck Pin Bowling would do great in Jersey City!

  I was treated just fine the times I have been there. Definitely better service and beers than Zeppelin.

As far as baracade goes, I think it is a good idea and will do well in Jersey City. I am just a little weary that the owners will think that JC people are the same as Williamsburg people and treat us as such...

[Bobblehead]

Let me also add that I don't think JC can afford to be so fussy and picky as to who they allow to do business here....yet.

Ha! With an attitude like that, you might as well be on the City Council! Why not a Starbucks? Or a Hard Rock Cafe? Or a Home Depot?

Really, YOU PEOPLE invite this sort of thing. You whine about how a sports bar is making this Hoboken South, but the moment a hipster establishment opens up a branch office, where people can drink PBR while playing Galaga, it is fine. We are being treated as the next market, that is all.

But this really isn't about whether Barcade should open or not--I am fine with it being there, and if they can get enough customers, then they deserve to thrive. The real crux of the issue is the attitude that JC cannot derive its own enjoyment, that it must import some sort of fake authenticity to validate its coolness, that I find so offensive. Would we have LITM if this were the case, for example?

[PuddinPop]

Duck Pin Bowling...Bocce...You will have us as Brooklyn in no time

With that said, I think Duck Pin Bowling would do great in Jersey City!

  I was treated just fine the times I have been there. Definitely better service and beers than Zeppelin.

As far as baracade goes, I think it is a good idea and will do well in Jersey City. I am just a little weary that the owners will think that JC people are the same as Williamsburg people and treat us as such...

[jehu]

I have a great idea for Jersey City, just not the capital or motivation to proceed...

With that said, I think Duck Pin Bowling would do great in Jersey City!

Now, I just need to win the lotto!...


As far as baracade goes, I think it is a good idea and will do well in Jersey City. I am just a little weary that the owners will think that JC people are the same as Williamsburg people and treat us as such...