Thanks. The downvotes got me thinking I was going crazy. 😆

The thing about crime in Newark, especially violent crime and such, is that it's not really involving random people on the street. It's between people who know each other and have beef with each other. With most cities, you can reduce the crime rate with education and community outreach. However, when it's your cousin being a punk, no amount of community outreach is going to prevent the dumb fuck from stirring up a fight.

You remember how there was all that talk about stranger danger in the 1990s? And then you looked at statistics, and saw that the vast VAST majority of kidnapping, molestation, rape, etc was done by people that the child already knew, and that there wasn't this huge mess of strangers eager to steal some punk ass kid? That's the deal with violent crime in Newark. Nobody is going to jump you for your discount Nike shoes, and GAP Outlet jeans. They don't give a crap.

What will happen is that people will solve their issues with fists instead of words, but that doesn't really involve innocent bystanders. If you're generally a good person, people will leave you alone. I'm a skinny gay dude swanning about the neighbourhood, and nobody gives a fuck, because I mind my own business, and keep it moving.

EDIT: If you leave your bike locked up to something with a cheap ass chain, it's going to get jacked. Keep an eye on your crap, and you'll be fine. Also, be friendly to the unhoused people hanging around. They're not going to bother you, but an acknowledgement of "good morning" or something isn't going to hurt you. The most that someone will ask is if you can spare a buck or two for a coffee or if someone can bum a cigarette. A simple, "sorry, I'm out, but good luck" will go far. Your kindness is rewarded with information, like "Hey, that door over there is locked right now. Try that next one over," and everyone around there keeps an eye on you to make sure nobody's bothering you.

Something Arcology? I played this in middle school on the Mac at my history teacher’s class room during lunch.

Peperidge Farm remembers.

So my friend of almost a decade lives in NJ and has done for as long as I’ve known her. I discovered a bus that will take me from about 2~ish blocks from my place, and drops off in front of her apartment building. Yes it takes about an hour, but it’s super cool to me that I can hit up other locations in jersey without having to detour to Manhattan.

Am Indian and live in Newark near Rutgers. People are pretty friendly overall and Indians fit right in. As long as you’re polite and respectful to others, they will show you the same respect and kindness. It’s an incredibly diverse area. The local stores don’t have a ton of Indian stuff but there’s pretty easy transit options to go get Indian stuff.

/r/tili

If it helps, I remember nothing of Prince valiant, but Hagar the Horrible I do recall. Which is such a weird specific comic that I thought must have been a fever dream, because nobody else has heard of it.

Hagar the Horrible?

If you want to make BANK, do Texas next. Those folk are mad obsessed with things in the shape of their state.

Also, wtf was the tow truck doing the day before thanksgiving!? I know at least two people who’ve been towed even though they had every right to be there.

Sounds like a fun Friday night to me.

Wait. Why do you need a drivers license to get fried pickles?

/r/angryupvote

People are generally helpful. They see you struggling with boxes or something, and someone is going to hold the door for you. When it’s ass o’clock, and you’re trying to get into penn station, one of the folks who hang out will let you know that the door you’re about to walk up to is gonna be locked, so try that next one over. When you’re at the Shop Rite, and you’re about to grab a janky cart, either a store worker or some random person will tell you, “nah, that cart is messed up, try the ones over there.” Yeah it’s a small thing, but there’s this feeling of “these folks in this neighbourhood are my people, and I’m gonna look out for them.”

People are also pretty damn friendly. Ever since moving here, the daily strangers (the folk you pass by every day who see you but you don’t stop and talk to) who will do the head tilt in your direction is way more than anywhere else I’ve know. Or, if you’re both headed somewhere, someone will feel comfortable chat with you if they see that you’re going there. There was this time my friend and I were headed into the Whole Foods, and this lady was like “so how do you get there [from the parking garage]?” We ended up chatting from the parking garage all the way to the entrance, and then a bit more.

There’s a ton of stuff to do that isn’t eating or getting drunk. I’ve been places where there’s an active night life. You can have a nice meal. You can go to a bar. You can go to a bar and have a nice meal. Maybe you can get some coffee or something. Newark has a ton of stuff that’s family friendly, or fun to do if you’re not into getting drunk. There’s poetry readings, art to look at, comedy shows (technically at bars usually, but still), street fairs galore. Every other weekend there’s some excuse to get out and wander the festival for whatever it is that they’re celebrating. Even if you don’t have kids, it’s still fun to get out and meet the people who live near you, and vibe with them for a spell. And by and large, the events are either free or relatively low cost.

And of course, our biggest superpower is that we’re diverse. I can hear several languages wherever I go, and I think that’s awesome. I don’t feel like the only brown person, or that all the brown people are there to serve the overwhelmingly white majority of people in that area. There are folk of all different races, and nobody gives me a second glance. There’s queer people all over the place, and nobody gives a crap about it. I can walk around with my boyfriend, both of us with painted nails and bright vibrant clothes, and nobody gives us a second glance. Unless it’s to say “hey how you doing?”

Honestly, of the cities I’ve lived in, this one is possibly the weirdest but also the one that’s captured my heart the most.

I’m not your guy, friend

Just as an FYI. If you’re not from around here, be prepared for insane crowds. Every asshole from miles around hits up the city bars and such, to say nothing of the madness that is Times Square and that entire clusterfuck of a neighbourhood. And add that to the assholes who live here already. And that’s on a Tuesday. On the weekends, it’s more insane and crowded. In New Year’s Eve?

It’s massive insane drunken crowds, all of whom are cramming into every mass transit available, because you are not getting a cab even if you’re paying with gold. Be prepared for really long, obnoxious waits. Make sure that whatever plan you have, you get out of the city first before trying to do anything else, no matter what that method is. If it’s the bus, do that. If it’s the rail, do that. Be prepared for random shit to be cancelled for no reason.

That said, you’re going from a mega huge city to another one. If plan A, B and E are all garbage or cancelled or massively delayed, plans C and D will work. It might be annoying, but you’re probably not going to get stranded unless a serious catastrophe happens. Once you’re back in NJ, someone is going to be headed to the airport, so you will find an Uber. In the years I’ve lived here, going around and nearby the airport is a nothing wait for me.

If your bus plan goes to hell, someone will know how to point you towards Penn Station, where you have both path trains and Nj transit trains. One of them will get you across the water to NJ.

Listen. I’m happy to support local business as long as they don’t newark their opening hours. Coffee shop? Let’s open from 9 am - 3 pm, and close on Mondays. Bodega? Let’s open either never even with the open sign turned on, or from 11 - 4 pm. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄😐🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

They’re not too pleased with you either, buddy.

And then the gun stood up and clapped.

What the hell is wrong with people? Cripes.

And please use the non emergency phone number to call them, and not 911.

I buy them on blu ray because I don’t want to be arsed to bother with any streaming issues. I want his dulcet tones to wash over me, and I want it now.

This right here.

https://newjersey.craigslist.org/hss/d/maplewood-hi-tech-handyman-computers-tv/7547287083.html

This guy may not know Spanish, but would likely know someone who does. Looks like he does all the computer-y stuff people need, and his prices look reasonable.