Thursday, November 20th, 2025 Join the Hoboken Historical Museum virtually at 7 PM when Joe Pantoliano sits down with his daughter, Daniella Pantoliano, for our their next episode of Hoboken Talks!

Joe Pantoliano is a beloved and renowned American actor of the screen and stage. He has over 200 credits to his name. On the big screen, Joe is known for his roles in such films as “The Goonies,” “La Bamba,” “The Fugitive,” “The Matrix,” “Memento,” and the “Bad Boys” trilogy. Joe has also appeared on numerous television series over the years, including “Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue,” “The Sopranos,” and “Sense8.”

Some of his best career roles include Ralph Cifaretto on The Sopranos, Bob Keane in La Bamba, Cypher in The Matrix, Teddy in Memento, Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Guido “the Killer Pimp” in Risky Business and Jennifer Tilly’s violent mobster boyfriend Caesar in Bound. He also played Deputy U.S. Marshal Cosmo Renfro in both The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals.

?Joe won an Emmy in 2003 for Best Supporting Actor for his work on The Sopranos. He was also recently nominated for an Emmy as an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for The Last of Us.

He is often referred to as “Joey Pants,” because of the difficulty some people have pronouncing his Italian surname Pantoliano.

Joe was born on September 12, 1951, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents Dominic and Mary. His father was a factory foreman and hearse driver, while his mother was a seamstress and bookie.

As a youth, Joe moved with his family to the New Jersey borough of Cliffside Park, where he went to Cliffside Park High School. Later, he studied at the performing arts organization HB Studio in New York City.

Joe will be interviewed by his daughter Daniella, a Hoboken girl who was raised on her Dad’s tales of growing up here. Daniella is now proud to call Hoboken home for over a decade. She serves as a teacher at a local school, the Hugs and Bugs Club.

We are very excited for this episode. Please tune in on November 20th

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June 8 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Step beyond the brownstones and discover Hoboken’s hidden green spaces on the Secret Garden Tour! This self-guided walking tour offers a rare glimpse into some of the city’s most enchanting private gardens, showcasing lush landscapes, creative urban retreats, and historic courtyards.

The post Hoboken Secret Gardens Tour first appeared on River View Observer.

What are you doing this Sunday?

Gearing up to talk with homeowners and tour their beautiful, historic homes. Join at the Hoboken Historical Museum’s 34th Hoboken House Tour! On Sunday, December 11, Museum Director Bob Foster and Hoboken Talks producer Rand Hoppe will livestream their visits to a curated selection of homes that represent a range of Hoboken lifestyles. And this time, there’s two ways to experience it! Join us and your neighbors right here at the Museum for a big-screen Watch Party, food and drinks provided. Or, relax in your own home and view on the Museum’s YouTube channel. It’s like Bob and Rand took over HGTV! Except instead of commercials, we’re bringing it full-on Hoboken-style with special guest sculptor Chris Dahlberg unveiling his bronze bust of Sinatra in our latest Upper Gallery exhibit, “Making the Sinatra Bust.” Action-packed!

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From City Hall: “This year marks the 122nd year of marching up Washington Street in honor of those that made the ultimate sacrifice.”  

Walk with the Museum in honor of our servicemen and women, and their families. Community, commemoration and celebration! Floats and marching bands! Be a part of it. Meet up with us in front of City Hall on Wednesday, May 25th at 6:15. The parade up “The Avenue” begins at 6:30.

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The Hoboken Historical Museum at 1301 Hudson Street announces a new exhibit by Hoboken master painter Lou Carbone on Saturday, May 7, with an opening reception with the artist from 2 – 5pm. “COVID” consists of 25 16 x 20 acrylic paintings Lou did under quarantine. Lou Carbone’s “COVID” in the Museum’s Upper Gallery runs from Saturday, May 7 until Sunday, July 3. To see more of Louâ€s work, click here.

With diverse influences that include cubism, surrealism and the Mexican muralists, Louâ€s paintings are a series of pictorial spaces borne of personal experience as filtered through dreams and illusions. The images of anonymous figures in common settings depict ritual happening combined with feelings of sexual tension that are woven with a quiet elegant motion.

Each canvas is a merging of fact and fantasy that opens a window to animated yet mysterious places. Many of the objects and figures are structured, ordered and linear yet they create elements that have references to the mystical and spiritual, using multiple perspective and intense color. Lou has developed an assortment of visual symbols in an effort to pare cultural traditions and rituals to their essence and intensify the relationships between his subjects. His tools may be color, line and composition but the imagery is formed through the visceral process of thought.

The post COVID: recent paintings by Lou Carbone opens Saturday May 7, 2 – 5pm Hoboken Historical Museum, 1301 Hudson Street first appeared on River View Observer.

Sinatra’s 99th Birthday Bash This Friday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m., don’t miss  the very special Frank Sinatra 99th Birthday Bash, with a performance by 2007 Sinatra Idol Contest winner, Peter Cafasso (tickets are $20). His performance captures the authentic Hoboken spirit of the “Chairman of the Board.”

Hoboken Historical Museum
1301 Hudson St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030

201-656-2240

The post Frank Sinatra Birthday Bash at the Hoboken Historical Museum first appeared on River View Observer.

SHOW AND TELL

By Sally Deering

A 10-foot map of the U.S. made of souvenir plates from all 50 states; candy-colored 1960s-inspired pop art paintings; spray painted murals; all this and more goes on exhibit this weekend at the Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour.

The Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour is a free, self-guided walking tour of artists†studios, galleries and group exhibitions that begins Fri, Nov. 7 and runs through Sun, Nov. 9, with more than 100 local artists participating. City Hall, Monroe Street Arts Center, Hoboken Historical Museum and Maxwellâ€s bar and restaurant are some of the 24 venues where artists will be exhibiting their work. Many will share their process; others will share interesting conversations; itâ€s all what makes this yearly event so interesting. (Jersey City had their studio tour last week!)

An annual tradition in Hoboken (Jersey City had its studio tour last week), the Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour covers the entire mile-square waterfront city. It offers artists the opportunity to show and sell their work,, and visitors the chance to visit the artists†studios, public art spaces and even restaurants to see work by artists who help make the place hip.

HOME PLATE MOSAIC AT SCHNACKIEâ€S – YOWZA!

Joyce Flinn, co-owner of the lovingly restored Schnackenbergâ€s Luncheonette (with her husband Eugene) on Washington Street in Hoboken, created a 10 foot-by-6-foot map of the U.S. using souvenir plates collected from all 50 states. The piece can be viewed over a jelly doughnut from one of the cozy booths or an Egg Cream from a spinning stool at the soda fountain.

Flinn got the idea from something she did at her restaurant Amandaâ€s, just a block down on Washington. At Amandaâ€s, sometimes she would put down an old souvenir plate as a conversation starter for a couple on a date. When plates broke, Flinn saved the pieces. When she saw a map of the U.S. made from old license plates, she got inspired; the mosaic took 1-1/2 years to complete.

“Collecting the plates took longer than making the mosaic itself,” Flinn says. “A few dedicated family members and friends went to garage sales and thrift shops over the span of five or so years. The goal was to keep the price of each plate purchase to $3 or less. No antique stores or ebay, except for the last elusive state North Dakota which doesn’t seem to have too much in the way of tourist destinations.”

“Home Plate” weighs more than 500 pounds, and if possible, plates are positioned in the spot of the view depicted. New Jersey features a NJ Turnpike plate, the Seal of the State of New Jersey, cranberries (for the bogs in South Jersey) and the Jersey Shore. Flinn placed a Holland American tile (for the Holland American ships that came to port in the Hudson River) to reflect the difficulty of the immigrants who came through Ellis Island, including her grandfather, whose picture also hangs in Schnackieâ€s.

BE LIKE SINATRA; DO IT YOUR WAY

The Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour is a freestyle experience; just pick up a map at Hobokenâ€s City Hall (94 Washington Street) and start walking. Since Hoboken is only a mile-square, itâ€s a great way to get to know the neighborhoods and the artists who live in Hoboken or close by. Jersey City resident Robert J. Piersanti is artist-in-residence at the Paul Vincent Gallery on Harrison Street (near Observer Highway). Originally from South River, Piersantiâ€s 1960s-inspired pop art portraits have been featured in art galleries and local art shows

“Hotrods, rock stars, space cadettes, mermaids and cowgirls, are visual symbols of my suburban 60s childhood,” Piersanti says. “Through my paintings I combine these pop culture themes and graphics with snapshots of striking people I meet. I scour flea markets and junk shops finding artifacts that rekindle my past visual fire.”

For the Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour, Piersanti, who paints acrylics on canvas, will feature new contemporary portraits and pop culture-inspired images, he says, and the show will include rarely-shown drawings and prints, and a new mini-series of paintings on skateboards and wooden boxes.

PAINTING WITH GLASS, FROM SENEGAL WITH LOVE

One of the stops on the Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour is 235 Garden Street where artist Ibou Ndoye will exhibit samples of his work in mixed-media. A glass painting artist, Ndoye grew up as the oldest of four boys in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. His mother worked as a dressmaker and his grandmother, a tie-dye artist. Surrounded by colorful African textiles and fabrics, Ndoye says he grew up “socializing with art and cohabitating with colors” from a very young age.

In the 1980s, Ndoye began his career as a painter in Senegal during a period called the “Set Setal,” or clean-up movement which encouraged artists to embellish the environment by expressing themselves through murals on building facades. After that, Ndoyeâ€s interests changed to glass painting, a tradition brought from the Middle East to Senegal more than a hundred years before.

ART BEYOND THE BAR & RESTAURANT

More than 100 artists will be participating in this yearâ€s Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour. Thatâ€s a lot of creative energy busting out of Hoboken which, like Jersey City and other towns in Hudson, seems to have more bars & restaurants than art galleries. To fill that gap, the annual studio tour offers artists the opportunity to show their work, and gives visitors the opportunity to see local artists creating work that goes beyond the bar.

If you go:

Fri, Nov. 7 through Sun, Nov. 9, noon to 6 pm

Hoboken Artists†Studio Tour

City of Hoboken

Free Tour Map at City Hall

94 Washington St (First & Newark)

(Three blocks from PATH, NY Waterway ferries and Hudson-Bergen Light Rai)

www.hobokennj.org

 

(Check the Studio Tour Map for exact times and locals of artists†exhibits.)

 

 

 

 

 

The post 100 Artists to Show their Work at Hoboken Artists’ Studio Tour 2014 first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Chances are if you moved to Hoboken, Jersey City or any one of Hudsonâ€s 13 cities and towns, you may not know much about where you live – the highs, the lows, the skeletons in the closet.

On Sat, Oct. 18^th, from 10 am to 4 pm, New Jersey City University (NJCU) and the Hudson County History Advocates team up for an all-day birthday bash to celebrate New Jerseyâ€s 350^th (1664-2014) with displays from over 50 Hudson County organizations and cultural groups, documentary films by local filmmakers, talks by authors who penned books about New Jerseyâ€s Whoâ€s Who and ‘Who Wasâ€, vintage photos and postcards, antique appraisals (just like “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS) and a treasure hunt and goody bags for kids.

In addition, the history fair will have an “Ask Granny” family history workshop led by the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society.

All this packed into one day to give locals, whether newbies or long-time residents, the opportunity to learn more about this wild and crazy place called Hudson County.

Carmela Karnoutsos, Professor Emeritus at New Jersey City University is one of the event planners, along with Robert Foster, Executive Director of the Hoboken Historical Museum.

“The History Fair is part of a state-wide initiative to celebrate New Jerseyâ€s heritage and all it brings to people today,” Karnoutsos says. “Itâ€s an opportunity to educate the public about the state, the individual communities, and the people who work in history at the local level. Here in Hudson, we have a number of people who help preserve Hudson Countyâ€s history on an ongoing basis.”

JERSEY BY THE BOOK

Several authors will give talks about their books and New Jersey history.

 Steve Hartâ€s talk may be of special interest to fans of the HBO hit series ‘BOARDWALK EMPIREâ€. Hart is the author of American Dictators: Frank Hague, Nucky Johnson, and the Perfection of the Urban Political Machine, and will give a talk about the former Jersey City mayor and other colorful Jerseyians. Hart also wrote The Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder and the Construction of America’s First Superhighway (The New Press, 2007).

Joseph G. Bilby, author of 350 Years of New Jersey History, From Stuyvesant to Sandy (with James M. Madden and Harry Ziegler) will share insights about his research of New Jersey. Bilby is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum in Sea Girt, and columnist for The Civil War News.

 Holly Metz of Hoboken will speak about her book Killing the Poormaster: A Saga of Poverty, Corruption, and Murder in the Great Depression (Lawrence Hill Books). Metz has written extensively on legal, cultural, and social issues for the American Bar Association and for publications including The Progressive, Labor History, Metropolis, and The New York Times.

Architectural historian John Gomez, author of Legendary Locals of Jersey City (Arcadia Publishing 2014) will give a talk. Gomez holds a Masterâ€s Degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, and is the founder of the non-profit Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. In 2012, he established the Historic Preservation Network, an online portal for architectural and preservation history, theory, discovery, discussion and discourse.

Neal Brunson, author of “AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN JERSEY CITY” will give a talk about the African American urban experience. Brunson is the director of the Afro-American Museum in Jersey City.

 JERSEY ON FILM AND VIDEO

Four documentary films about Hudson-living promise to be a highlight. The documentary “Hidden Footsteps,” narrated by former mayor Glenn D. Cunningham and produced by Arnold McKinnon in 1991 will be shown. The film is the result of Cunninghamâ€s statewide research to trace the beginnings of African slavery in Jersey City, the status of slaves under New Jerseyâ€s brand of abolition, the use of the Jersey City waterfront for the Underground Railroad, and the cityâ€s role in the Civil War.

NJCU professor Jane Steuerwald will introduce two video documentaries by students of the NJCU Media Arts Department: “Jersey City: 24 Hours in Public Places” an exploration of the diverse cultural, historic, gritty, and eccentric places in Jersey City, and “Immigrant Stories in Film and Video” which tells nine immigrants†personal stories.

The screenings will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

The Embankment Preservation Coalition will present “Jersey City: Soft Focus,” a film produced and directed by Vance Stevens, about Americaâ€s Bicentennial. The film tells the story of the Hudson area from glaciers to European settlement, and through the 1970s, using photos, film clips and animation. It covers the areaâ€s industry, immigrant populations and colorful leaders.

POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST

A huge treat at the History Fair will be highlights from the vintage postcard collection of Cynthia Harris, a researcher and archivist at the New Jersey Room of the JC Free Public Library. Harris will also give a talk and share insights into Hudsonâ€s past illustrated by postcards from the early 20th century.

PARTICIPATING GROUPS

It takes a village to put together an event this big, and the groups participating in the History Fair include the Afro American Historic and Genealogical Society, Bayonne Historical Society, Inc., County of Hudson Board of Chosen Freeholders, Free Public Library/Cultural Center of Bayonne, Friends of Liberty State Park, Friends of Loewâ€s Theatre, George Washington Society, Historic Preservation Network, Hoboken Historical Museum, Hudson County Genealogical & Historical Society, Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, Jersey City Parks Coalition, Joyce-Herbert VFW Post 226 Veterans Museum, Photographer Leon Yost, Lincoln Association of Jersey City, NJCU Dept. of History, NJCU: Past and Present Project, NJCU Office of Admissions, Old Bergen Reformed Church, Project Greenville, Provident Savings Bank Foundation, Richard La Rovere Historic Art Prints, South Greenville Neighborhood Assn., Stevens Institute of Technology, Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium, and the West Side Community Alliance.

The History Fair is just one of many events happening state-wide all year long to celebrate New Jerseyâ€s 350^th birthday. To find other Jersey celebrations, go to www.officalnj350.com.

 If you go:

Sat, Oct. 18, 10 am-4pm

Hudson County History Fair

New Jersey City University (NJCU)

Gilligan Student Union Building

2039 Kennedy Boulevard

Free Admission and Free Parking

For more info:

www.hobokenhistoricalmuseum.org

www.hudsoncountynjgenealogy.org

www.officalnj350.com

The post Party like its 1664! – History Buffs Dust off Archives and Host History Fair to celebrate NJ’s 350th Birthday first appeared on River View Observer.