The Jersey City Independent "

The Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (HDSID) in Jersey City is set to add a new cultural event to its already chock-full repertoire this weekend with the inaugural All About Downtown Street Festival. The festival, which runs from noon to 7 pm on Saturday at the Grove Street PATH plaza and along Newark Avenue west [...]

This September 17, the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (HDSID) and the Jersey City Craft Mafia are putting on the first-ever All About Downtown street festival in Jersey City, and they are looking for vendors to participate. The daylong festival, which will run along Newark Avenue between Grove Street and Jersey Avenue, will feature live [...]

Whether they were there for some last-minute holiday shopping or just to socialize with Jersey City’s craftiest folks, hundreds of people showed up at Grace Church Van Vorst on Sunday for the Jersey City Craft Mafia’s Handmade Holiday Market. “The community’s overwhelming support for shopping local from area artists this holiday season is what made [...]

The Jersey City Craft Mafia is looking for handmade artists, local organizations, demo leaders, gingerbread enthusiasts and — most importantly — fans of tacky holiday sweaters for its annual Handmade Holiday Market, which is slated for Sunday, December 19 at Grace Church Van Vorst. The event is a good way for Jersey City residents to [...]

At this year’s Jersey City Artists Studio Tour, the Jersey City Craft Mafia (JCCM) is teaming up with Art House Productions to host a two-day handmade arts event at Art House’s McWilliams Place headquarters. There will be tutorials, demos, a craft supply swap and other activities “geared towards bringing crafts out of the home and [...]

On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Jersey City one might wonder what to do. Extend brunch well into dinnertime? Stay home and catch up on missed episodes of your favorite shows on Hulu? Venture out into the rain to get going on the Christmas shopping you’ve neglected to start? Sure. Yes. Those are all good [...]

Of all the mafias that may or may not have been meeting in North Jersey on a rainy night earlier this month, it’s likely only one of them was gathering over organic cookies.

- Irene Borngraeber puts two cents in on how the businesses that participate in JC Fridays handle the art displayed during the events. “JC Fridays is not about art,” she concludes. Someone from Art House Productions responds in the comments: hopefully this conversation will continue and make JC Fridays even better. – Ian Sacs of [...]