Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and its contractors have provided updated information about the construction around the Exit 14A toll plaza. The news items in this update cover activities through mid-December 2016.
In the toll plaza, renovation of the existing toll utility building continues. Reconstruction continues on Lanes 11 and 12. Continue reading New Jersey Turnpike 14A Construction Update
BALLETÂ
NIMBUS DANCE WORKS, Frank R. Conwell MS4 Auditorium, 107 Bright St, JC. (201) 377-0718; www.nimbusdanceworks.org. Dec. 13-18. Tix: $11 – $40 (early bird prices through 12/4; group discounts available) Nimbus Dance Works presents JERSEY CITY NUTCRACKER 2016. “Jersey City’s largest annual performing arts event. Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet re-imagined with Jersey City flavor. Join Nimbus Dance Works, Jersey City’s acclaimed professional dance company for the 7th year of its annual holiday tradition: Jersey City Nutcracker. Jersey City Nutcracker tells the story of two children’s urban holiday adventure leading them through fantasy, adversity and celebration and, along the way, teaching them lessons about friendship and community. Choreographed and directed by Nimbus Artistic Director Samuel Pott, this adaption of Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic is performed by a stand-out cast of professional dancers from Nimbus Dance Works joined by youth and adults from the community as they portray familiar characters such as the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Rat King, the Arabian Princess and Drosselmeyer – all with a Jersey City twist!â€Â  (Appropriate for all ages; barrier-free event.)
Continue reading DECEMBER ARTScene  Cultural Happenings in & around Hudson Â
Exhibits at Bridge Gallery in Bayonne; Gallery 14 Maple in Morristown
 By Sally Deering
Dark-eyed women in traditional clothing are painted against a backdrop of bands of colors filled with rows of tiny fish, elephants and other imagery of India. They are the paintings of artist Nupur Nishith, a resident of Bayonne who moved to the U.S. a little over five years ago with an MBA and several years of working for a bank. Instead of following a banking career, though, Nishith decided to follow her passion for art.
Continue reading VISIONS OF INDIA-Bayonne Artist Nupur Nishith creates Traditional Folk Paintings
In this years O.I.K.K.A World Karate Championship once again, York Watson-Byrd dominated the Kumite Division and Won the Black Belt World Isshin Ryu Fighting Division. He placed 2nd in Forms and 2nd in Weapons. In the Advanced 2, 4th and 5th Division, Kenneth Jackson II clinched 3rd in Kumite coming back to win against several formidable opponents.
Newcomer Nicholas Brea, 16 year old White Belt took 1st in the Adult 18-40 Division, beating an Orange Belt to win the Adult Novice Division While fellow newcomer Michael Townes, yellow belt, placed 3rd in the same division and 2nd in forms.
In the female 18-34 year old Division, Brown Belt Adama Wiggan, Age 32 placed 2nd in Kumite and 2nd in Kata with an outstanding performance. Ciara Castillo won 2nd in Kumite, and Samir O’Neill also took home 2nd in Kumite.
Art Transforms Cast Iron Lofts Hi-Rise into Urban Landmark
 
By Sally Deering
 Photos by FermÃn Mendoza
You can see it from Rt. 139 feeding into the Holland Tunnel or catch it from downtown Jersey City as you head into Hoboken. David Bowie’s image 18-stories high on the side of the Cast Iron Lofts in Jersey City, painted by international muralist Eduardo Kobra.  Bowie passed-away January 10th of this year, but his music and artistry live on throughout the world; and Kobra’s mural is now part of the Jersey City landscape, an urban landmark and the latest addition to the Jersey City Mural Arts Program.
On Fri, Nov. 4, Mayor Steven M. Fulop, members of the City Council, local real estate developers, and local artists welcomed Kobra to Jersey City and thanked him for painting the dazzling, eye-catching image of David Bowie. Mayor Fulop held the press conference on the building’s 5th floor deck where visitors could get an up-close look at the mural, and meet and take pictures with Kobra who spent the past few weeks painting from a scaffold hanging 180-feet off the side of the Cast Iron Lofts hi-rise on Jersey Avenue.  Continue reading KOBRA & BOWIE Int’l Muralist KOBRA paints 18-story David Bowie in Jersey City
 Cuban Dishes, Hispanic Wines and Mouth-Watering Mojitos
  Open, Sexy Atmosp  here with plenty of Cuban Hospitality Â
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 By Sally Deering
La Isla Restaurant on Washington Street up the block from City Hall has been a Hoboken staple, serving Cuban cuisine in a tiny space where you have to step outside to change your mind. Riding on the success of its downtown location, La Isla Uptown located on 12th Street and Maxwell Place takes Cuban cuisine to a whole new level in an atmosphere that’s open, aery and filled with Cuban hospitality.
At La Isla Uptown, its more of a fine-dining experience compared to the luncheonette feeling of La Isla downtown, says wine director and general manager Andres Montoya. The uptown restaurant is huge and open with seating for one-hundred in the dining room, at the bar, and in the front of the restaurant that features a counter and stools for those who want to dine and dash. The floor-to-ceiling glass walls, marble floor tiles, and the ceiling fans in dark brown wood make a visitor feel as if they stepped inside a Havana bistro. Along with the beautiful décor, La Isla Uptown has a liquor license which means great wine, beer and Mojitos, Montoya says. Continue reading LA ISLA RESTAURANT UPTOWN HOBOKEN
By Sally Deering
 Over the years, Hoboken’s become a pricey place to hang your hat, but on the bright side. Hoboken’s artist population has not withered due to the city’s high cost of living. Through good and bad economic times, Hoboken’s artist community continues to thrive, entertain and nourish the city’s need for culture, ideas and visions expressed outside the box.
Continue reading HOB ART 37-37th Hoboken Artists Studio Tour
Cellar 335 in JC, Asian American Fusion with a Side of Polynesian Kitsch
By Sally Deering
The buzz on Newark Ave in Jersey City continues to be: when will White Eagle Hall open and when do the bands come on? Meanwhile, just a few steps beneath the White Eagle hall entrance, Cellar 335 has just opened and it’s a cool looking place.
Cellar 335 is the newest addition to Jersey City’s downtown restaurant and bar scene, a cool new eatery designed in urban industrial décor and with a kitschy “let’s have fun†vibe. A darkly-lit Tiki bar stands out in the dark mysteriousness of the bar area as soon as you step in from outside. The bar flanks the left side of the bistro with roomy space between barstools and lots of space for standing and mingling. To the right, there’s an enclosed dining room – the type where you make an entrance – that offers dark wood tables, a muted red background and overhanging lights that slide on wires above, so the lighting can change in an instant. Continue reading I KNOW A COOL, SECLUDED PLACE Cellar 335 in Jersey City
 VISUAL ARTS
MANA CONTEMPORARY, 818 Newark Ave, JC, (201) 604-2702, www.manacontemporary.com. Through Feb. 25, 2017; hosted by Mana Contemporary’s Middle East Center for the Arts (MECA): TEXTILE – TERRITORY – TEXT; a group show that examines “concepts of identity, belonging, abjection, and exile in contemporary textile art works by Middle Eastern artists Etti Abergel, Andi Arnovitz, Asad Azi, Hila Lulu Lin Farah Kufr Birim, Fatma Shanan Dery, Mervat Essa, Leor Grady, Buthina Milhem, Yoav Raban, Farid Abu Shakra, Tal Shoshan, Nevet Yitzhak, Amira Ziyan. Curated by Irena Gordon, the show features video installations, animation, painting, photography, and sculpture.
DEEP SPACE GALLERY, 77 Cornelison Ave, JC (201) 777-0166. Opening Oct. 15 GLOSSBLACK, solo exhibition. “Raised in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, Jimmy is an American graffiti writer who began painting in the early 2000s. Today, with over a decade of work under his belt, he has solidified himself as a nationally recognized practitioner of the art. As graffiti culture rises in popularity, he manages to continually find new territory, creating pieces that are instantly recognizable. Working predominantly in aerosol and oil paint, his dynamic lettering styles, layering techniques, craftsmanship, and dedication to detail result in striking works of art.†For more info, www.glossblack.org.
Continue reading NOVEMBER ARTScene  Cultural Happenings in & around Hudson
