“My mother worked as a saleslady at the well-known Five Corner bakery in Journal Square during the day. Her orders were that I do at least one page of homework for every one of my subjects before she came home. It didn’t matter what my teachers would assign, those were her rules and I didn’t dare to violate them! However, I usually allowed others to make the rules and then decide whether I would follow them. Turning on our small Bakelite radio, I would ignore my mother’s rules and listen to my favorite adventure shows. “Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, Superman, who could leap tall buildings in a single bound, and Tom Mix were my favorite daily half-hour radio programs during the week. Tom Mix was forever solving some mystery that I could help him with, since I had a decoder badge that cost only 10 cents, along with a box top from a Ralston Purina’s “Wheat Chex” cereal box. Since it tasted like straw, wanting to get a decoder badge was the only way I would eat this blah cereal for breakfast. The radio shows were way too exciting, and my homework always took second place. When my mother finally came home and saw that I had not done my work, she would get quite upset and make me do twice as much, seated at the kitchen table where she could keep her eye on me. Being under her direct supervision wasn’t much fun, but I would sit there until she was satisfied that I had finished my assignments. My mother showed no mercy! If my father found out about my being lax, there would be hell to pay! For whatever reason, I never seemed to learn…. Oh, woe is me, woe is me…. I was in trouble again… No, I was still in trouble!” HomeworkCaptain Hank BrackerSea StoriesJersey City Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One...."
“I went to Jersey City State College to please a family member. I wasn't prepared for school. To say I failed out is putting it nicely.” StatesSchoolCitiesCollegePleaseMembersPreparedJerseyFamily MembersJersey City Author:Derek Luke
“I don't write police stories, per se, but I usually write about areas that are very panoramic, like Harlem, or the Lower East Side, or a small urban city like Jersey City.” WritingStoriesSidesCitiesAreasPoliceEastUrbanJerseyHarlemEast SideJersey City Author:Richard Price
“The way I survived growing up in Jersey City was by being funny. It wasn't by being tough. Nobody thought of me as a tough kid, except for the kids I beat up.” WayKidsCitiesGrowing UpGrowingBeatsToughSurvivedJerseyBeing FunnyJersey City Author:Michelle Rodriguez
“Growing up in Jersey City was interesting. I got to learn a lot about different cultures: I had Hindu friends, Middle Eastern friends, black friends, Spanish friends.” DifferentCultureBlackInterestingCitiesGrowing UpGrowingMiddleEasternJerseyDifferent CulturesJersey City Author:Michelle Rodriguez
“When I was about 11, 12, we moved to Jersey City. Everywhere I go I'm an outsider.” CitiesMovedOutsidersJerseyJersey City Author:Michelle Rodriguez
“It was actually a lot more helpful to have Calvin Hart, a cop, as my template. He was also my technical advisor on Shaft. This time, I kinda got to go to Jersey City with him, and hang around, and watch him interact with other cops, people in the projects, and see what it means to be him. People call him 'Big Daddy' and he's this larger-than-life hero to a lot of people.” PeopleMeanBigsCitiesWatchesHeroProjectsHelpfulCopDaddyJerseyAdvisorsLarger Than LifeHartBig DaddyJersey City Author:Samuel L. Jackson
“And the storm went on. It roared, it bellowed, and it screeched: it thumped and it kerwhalloped. The great seas would come bunt agin the rocks, as if they were bound to go right though to Jersey City, which they used to say was the end of the world.” IfsWorldEndsUsedLossCitiesSeaRocksBoundsStormDisasterEnd Of The WorldJerseyJersey City Author:Laura E. Richards
“I believe the challenge the city faces is attracting continued development into the inner and western part of Jersey City. Nobody should be left behind as Jersey City continues to prosper and grow.” ShouldBelieveFacesLeftI BelieveGrowsChallengesCitiesBehindsDevelopmentWesternLeft BehindJerseyJersey City Author:Frank Vincent