by Ken Walker
Brooklynesque Apartments in North Ward
May 31, 2007
??Jeff Bennett?? at “Newark History”:http://newarkhistory.com sent over some photos of an apartment building he stumbled over while in the North Ward. The building is striking in that it’s much more like something found in Brooklyn or Greenwich Village than anything I’ve seen so far in Newark.
Typically, our architecture consists of anything from the new and uninspired “Bayonne boxes” with brick façades and their older aluminum-siding-wrapped cousins in the Ironbound, converted factories, or the beautiful (but rare) downtown structures like “1180 Raymond”:http://www.eleven80rentals.com/ or the “Union Building”:http://www.unionbuilding.com/.
Have you seen good home architecture in Newark? Let us know in the comments!
The historic Forest Hill section is a wonderful place if you’re looking for a charming and diverse collection of residential architectural styles. I like to refer to the place as a jewelry box — full of one vintage stunner after another.
http://www.fhcanewark.org/photo.html
Oh and by the way: where exactly are these brownston-esque apartment buildings?
My husband and I really wanted to make it to the walking tour of Weehaquic a couple of weeks ago, but there was a direct time conflict with my sister’s basketball program in Montclair. Plus, we only have one car, so driving north and then driving south in that time frame would have been asking for trouble.
Donna,
I’m sorry you couldn’t make the Weequahic tour. I was looking forward to meeting you. Don’t worry though, I’ll be offering another Newark walking tour this summer.
Those Brooklynesque apartments are in the North Ward. I sent them to Ken with a weequahic_004.JPG name, but they are North Warders. Hmm, let me make it a little puzzle about their exact whereabouts. Hints: 1) they are behind what used to be the Newark Normal School. 2) They are also right north of what is Newark’s oldest African-American church.
The Newark Normal School is currently that gorgeous Technology High School, right? Lucky kids. OK, I’ve almost got it. I’ve almost got the image of the church in my mind …
Jeff, whoops–thanks for fixing that.
The “Brooklynesque” apartments identified are technically not an apartment building but a series of several row houses that were rehabbed by a community development corporation or CDC called Episcopal Development Corporation (EDC) back -and I’m estimating here-in the early 90’s. EDC also built the reddish brick housing complex across the street, further down Broad St toward 3rd Avenue. Both were developed as rental housing affordable for low and moderate income residents.
I don’t know what their current status is but I assume they are still ‘affordable’ housing. EDC is still around and currently focusing on the Clinton HIll section of the South Ward. The director is Gerard Haizell. Don’t have their number handy but it is listed.
While the apartments you refer to are in the North Ward, they are not in the Forest Hill section but in what is generally referred to as the Lower Broadway area. They are at the northern end of Broad Street between 3rd and 4th Ave.’s and two blocks West or up from Rt. 21.
Another CDC that works in that area is La Casa de Don Pedro. La Casa developed the housing that is across the street from the front of Technology HS on Broadway.
La Casa and EDC also developed a neighborhood plan related to Lower Broadway that encompasses the Broadway area from the Belleville border North to Bloomfield Ave. to the South.
I have some familiarity with all the CDC’s in Newark. I’m a lifelong resident and have worked in the area of community development/organizing/advocacy for about 30 years now in Newark currently serving as Chair for the Newark Community Development Network and the Master Plan Working Group.
If I can be help with more information feel free to contact me at richc@newcommunity.org or 973.639.7047
Thanks,
Richard
Richard,
Thanks for the info on those buildings. I pass by them everyday on my way home from school and I always noted their relative uniqueness for the neighborhood in which they’re situated. So they were rehabilitated in the early 90s? It makes me wonder what the old structure looked like.
Does anyone know how the term “Bayonne Box” was coined? I’m familiar with its detested look — it permeates the Central Ward in Newark now — but for some research I’m doing, I need to know its historical antecedents, or at least how the name came about.
My assumption is that the term is only used in northern New Jersey. The term might be a pure Bookerism.
I’ve also heard references to the “Portuguese specials” that have cropped up all over the Ironbound. Do they refer the that same boxy, two-story design?
Donna,
I’ve also heard that term, which were in reference to Bayonne boxes. But the “Portuguese specials” aren’t limited to just Down Neck. I’ve seen them in every Newark ward.
the term “Bayonne Box” has been used around North Jersey for years, much to the chagrin of our friends in Bayonne. Other parts of the Tri-State area have their own name for it. In Yonkers, for example, I’ve heard them referred to with the anti-Italian “Ginny-Box” or “Pizza-Box” nick-name, but in North Jersey, the perople of Bayonne got to be the victim. Interestingly, they are actually nice houses on the inside. It’s just that they look hideous on the outside. Hopefully, Newark’s new zoning law will improve that. These things area also everywhere in Elizabeth, Linden, Harrison, Hillside, Union, Kearny, Jersey City, and of course Bayonne. At least Newark’s government is trying to do something about them.