Comments on: COMMENTARY: Heroes, a Small World, and Nonsense

By: Joe Vaccaro

Joe Vaccaro — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 16:10:29 +0000

Thank you for this story!
It’s so good to read these snippets of history as seen through the eyes of people who lived during these different phases of America.

These stories keep me coming back to the CCW for entertainment and information.

Thanks again.

By: Andy Zahn

Andy Zahn — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 14:18:22 +0000

I never knew that Germans lived “Down Neck”. Dad lived on Shipman St & attended St Mary’s where the Mass was in German. He went to their school with the Brothers & they demanded perfection. They were the reason he went so far in his life.
After the army I spent a summer driving for Ballantine’s Brewery and saw the change in Newark’s, and for that matter all of Essex County’s, neighborhoods. In the area they still have fine foods but so many ethnic shops are gone and that goes pretty much for the whole state of NJ. We used to know where to get a great corned beef on Jewish rye, a wonderful Italian sausage sandwich, a “dirty” Jewish beef hot dog, a just smoked Polish Kielbasa and Jewish and Italian bakeries where the smell of fresh baked bread & rolls made you never want to leave. The fisheries and the great variety of sea food and places where you could get a take out of fried oysters or a quart of boiled shrimp.

By: Kearn Schemm

Kearn Schemm — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 07:36:53 +0000

As a fellow native of Newark, I found this all very interesting. I would disagree, however, that “Down Neck” (or Ironbound, as it is also called) was all Irish. There were plenty of Germans there too — so many that during WWI many of the street names were changed from German ones to “patriotic” American ones – one example is Wilson Ave. Now Down Neck is the most vibrant section of Newark with many Portuguese and Spanish restaurants and bakeries, a great place to eat.