We had a not-charming drive through Paterson, NJ on Saturday while trying to map out plans for my father-in-law's funeral events.
I told my brother I would not drive through that city (pop 157,000) again without a firearm and/or a police escort. This once entirely safe and prosperous east coast city (like Bridgeport, Hartford, or Waterbury CT) has become a frightening and dangerous place. Filthy too. Garbage on streets, emply storefronts, stumbling addicts, and worse.
OK, I am a privileged white guy with a nice car with out of state plates. It is interesting how quickly these medium-sized cities met their downfalls. I'm not sure I can even blame politicians for it. Economics. Mrs. BD said it's like a 3rd world place and I said it was worse than Haiti. 4th world. Tons of Moslem immigrants, but they are not the problem although I noticed the storefront Moslem places collecting goods for the Palestinians. OK - I get tribalism. Normal. I did not dare take a photo, but I was driving anyway - to Totowa.
There are large parts of New Jersey that are comfortable, even lovely suburban and rural areas, but sheesh. Montclair is very pleasant, and only minutes from NYC by train.
Poet and physician William Carlos Williams wrote his masterpiece Paterson, of which Book 1 is the most worth checking out. It is termed "imagist" writing, but what writing is not?
