How to spend a weekend in Jersey City—NYC’s colorful neighbor
This arts and culture hub is just a stone’s throw from the most famous city in the world. “Jersey City will also be one of the spots where, if you didn’t go, you missed out.”
New Jersey’s second-largest city has always lived in the shadow of its neighbor across the Hudson. Then again, most cities around the world are measured against New York City. But, for years, decades even, we’ve heard tell of Jersey City becoming “the Sixth Borough,” or something of the sort. It makes sense considering it’s just one stop on the PATH train (the subway that connects Manhattan’s west side to Jersey City, Hoboken, and Newark) if you’re heading Jersey-side from the World Trade Center, and just five stops if you’re coming from Midtown Manhattan, making it closer to Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Tribeca, and the Financial District than just about anywhere in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
Jersey City has long been a resplendent mélange of arts, music, food, style, and culture, thanks in large part to a robust blend of Black, South Asian, Italian-, Irish-, Polish-American, and Caribbean influence spanning the city’s Downtown, Heights, West Side, Greenville, Bergen-Lafayette, and Newport-Pavonia neighborhoods, among others.
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Day 1:
Once you’ve made your way to Jersey City (stay at the Canopy Hotel in Downtown’s Arts District or the Hyatt on the Hudson at Exchange Place, which overlooks the river), head up Marin Boulevard and see what’s on tap at Art House Productions, a stalwart arts organization that hosts live performances of all stripes, monthly art openings, and live music. After that, grab a pre-dinner drink at the Pet Shop, which, for decades was an actual pet shop before being reopened as a large bar and lounge that regularly features live music.
After that, stroll through the leafy, brownstone-laden Hamilton Park neighborhood and grab dinner at the Hamilton Inn, where, weather permitting, you should definitely sit outside and order the oysters. If you’re more of a Pabst-and-a-shot kind of person, duck into Lucky 7s, which is a popular local dive.
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