Crossroads: Lifetimes around Journal Square
An oral history project to capture the dynamic and ever-changing neighborhood in one of the country’s most diverse cities.
Personal Connections
Longtime residents reflect on what the area means to them.
“It would hurt my heart to leave because I love this city. And you also have access to the skyline. I mean...people are like, "You and your stupid skyline," but when you look across the Hudson, it's a beautiful sight to see, and that's something that people from all over the world come to see, is the New York City skyline.”
Gilda Reyes, Professor at Hudson County Community College
“I’m still in awe of when I first walked into the Loew’s, because I had never been in a movie theater that decorative, so I walked in and said, ‘wow, what is this, a church or a movie? With the gold leaf, this and that…”
Michael Ricciordone, owner of Salon St. John
“To me, Journal Square was, when I was a kid, it was like the center. I was standing there, and I pointed west… And, I said, ‘That's where my father was born in Marion,’ and I pointed behind me and I said, ‘That's where my mother was born in downtown.’ I pointed to my right, and I said, ‘That's where I was born in the Jersey City Heights.’ And I pointed to the left, and, I said ‘That's where we always used to go to visit my cousins. They all grew up in Greenville.’ So, it had…for me, it had that very specific centrality. But, for a lot of people in Jersey City that’s what it felt like.”
Joseph Colicchio, Professor at Hudson County Community College
Generations of Changes
The current transformations in Journal Square are just the latest is a long series of change. When looking at the neighborhood in the 1960s before the construction of the PATH Building, even familiar landmarks are hard to place.
“Being in Journal Square then, before the [PATH] building went up was a very different feeling…”
Harvey Rubinstein, Professor at Hudson Country Community College, retired
“In the foreground of the drawing that I did….you'll see, you know, the Tube Bar, which was kind of famous because the guy was— you used to go there and cash your checks. A lot of the laborers and so on would go there and see the bartender to cash their checks there and have a drink. There was still sawdust on the floor. Next to that was Three Guys from Italy Pizza, which is still around. At that time, they were located right in that little alleyway, and they were like right next to each other. Barisini Candy was there. There was a little small supermarket there. On the other side was a hosiery company, a hosiery shop that was the entrance to Woolworths. And this was really all torn down, basically, for the PATH back in the '70s.”
Richard LaRovere
