I had not been to Jersey City since July 2004 when we passed though on our way back home from Pennsylvania. I had worked in Lower Manhattan as a summer hire at an insurance company with Jersey City residents and they were always talking about it and that piqued my interest. It was a rail and manufacturing center, and in the WPA Era Roosevelt Stadium (demolished in 1985) there was even minor league baseball - the Jersey City Giants. On April 18, 1946 at Roosevelt Stadium Jackie Robinson of the Montreal Royals made his debut against the Jersey City Giants. After they moved, the stadium was used in 1956 and 1957 by the Brooklyn Dodgers for several home games until they moved to California in 1958. Now to see baseball you have to go to Newark to see the Bears or ride to Hoboken and catch a Jersey Transit train to Montclair to see the Jackals. There are also the St. Peter's College Peacocks or the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights in Jersey City itself.
In 2000 light rail returned in the form of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail System, run by Jersey Transit. One line originates near the site of Roosevelt Stadium; the other in Bayonne. They meet near the City Hall and then head to the waterfront opposite the Hudson River from Ground Zero, and then head north past Newport/Pavonia and to Hoboken, and then on to North Bergen.
On December 20, 2005 I decided to check this all out. My first stop was at Newport Pavonia near the Holland Tunnel, a former shit hole of rail yards, stockyards and not much else. Today it's a beautiful neighborhood of office buildings, luxury apartments and the Newport Center Mall. I went into the mall and concluded that it's not very different form those on Long Island, including the South Shore Mall near my home. Since the main purpose was to check out the light rail, I boarded a southbound train and took it to Essex Street on the waterfront. The huge Colgate clock is there, as well as new office buildings (one is the tallest in New Jersey). The only old ones are #1 and #15 Exchange Place where there is also a PATH stop. At the foot of Exchange Place is a sculpture commemorating the 1940 massacre of Polish soldiers in the Katyn Forest, as well as the deportation of Polish civilians to Siberia, and the 9-11 attacks across the Hudson. Since I could not stay all day I grabbed a northbound train at Exchange Place and took it to Hoboken to get the PATH back to New York.
I enjoyed the stay there and next time I hope to take in a baseball game at St. Peter's College or New Jersey City U. and then a meal at one of the new upscale restaurants.
In January 2012 I was watching a show on ESPN that featured one of the Catholic high schools in Jersey City, known for its basketball tradition. It is St. Anthony's High School, located at 175 8th Street, not far from Newport Center but a world away economically. The school has around 240 students and is run by the Felician Order of nuns. The majority of those 240 students are Hispanic or African American. Its basketball program is probably the best in New Jersey, having won a record 26 state championships, mainly thanks to coach Bob Hurley.
It is called the Renaissance School of Jersey City because its students generally undergo a renaissance during their 4 years there. Also, since the city itself is going a transformation from an industrial center to a corporate center and is also being gentrified, it is a renaissance city in itself.
