Newark's 2 Gateway Center

McCarter Highway corner with Market Street, Newark, N.J.

2 Gateway is a Class A office building on the corner of Market Street and McCarter Highway in the heart of Newark's "Billion Dollar Triangle". The 18-story building was completed in 1972, and underwent renovations in 1994 and 2015.

When I arrived in Newark on 2nd October 1971, 2 Gateway was still under construction. Five months later, late March, I flew from Newark to San Francisco, having stayed at Nino's best friend's apartment on Larkin Street for six weeks. By 18 May 1972, my own birthday I was leaving San Francisco's Bay Area through the Oakland Bay Bridge, east-bound back to Newark, N.J. on a trip in a Volkswagen bug driven by Carey, a tall American blonde fellow with a blond beard and Paul, a Native American young man sporting a long straight hair. We drove through Reno, Boulder, Colorado, Chicago, Toledo, Ohio and finally arrived in Newark, New Jersey on the 25th May 1972.

First thing I realized as soon I could see the Greater New York metropolitan area was the pollution covered horizon I had never known for I'd arrived in the USA in the Fall with windy, clear skies every single day. I could see New York City skyline from afar but woe me, it was amidst a cloud of fog and pollution. Things didn't look well. 

When the car reached Ferry Street, around 2:00 pm on a Thursday, I felt my heart sink. I had returned to that place again... and in a worse condition now for it was hot and dirty like John Sebastian's 1966's 'Summer in the city'. I felt a pinch in the pit of my stomach only to think I would have to get myself a place to sleep before night fall. As I didn't know how to start, I asked Carey to drop me off on Ferry Street, so I could walk Wilson Avenue up to the go-go bar, on Barbara Street where I knew Rodrigo worked as a cook at the kitchen. I hoped he was still there and my prayers were answered. 

I said hello and asked Rodrigo if I could leave my stuff with him; he still lived in the same bedroom upstairs I guess. Rodrigo was the same good man; he didn't ask many questions, went on with whatever he was doing. I left my luggage and guitar with him and went out in search of a place I could stay overnight. I had only a couple of friends I could turn to: Kuwenderson (from Bahia) and Damazio (from Guarulhos). Both lived in the Sing Sing tenement.  I don't know who I tried first.

The Ironbound looked much worse than in the Fall or Winter... it looked dirty like the NYC skyline. There was a lot more people on the streets than before. Young men would park their cars next to the kerb, open their car doors and listened to radio blasting Puerto Rican hits. I turned into Market Street southbound until I got to Fleming Avenue where Prudential Apartments aka Sing Sing or Ballentine (due to its proximity to that brewery) is located in the block between Lexington & Oxford streets. It must have been near 5:00 pm but the sun was still shine. 

Before I could enter the gate that led to the Apartments I saw a little crowd of most Brazilian young men loitering and talking to each other waiting for the twilight time. Most of them had just returned from their jobs and didn't feel like staying in-doors so they went outside to meet their mates. I distinctly remember a certain fellow from São Paulo who was the most talkative of all. He must have been in his early 30s considering his somewhat grey hair. He worked as a truck driver and like everyone else would only talk about the day he would return to Brazil full of dollars. He went into details how he would start a business to sell a concotion made of eggplant & spices which recipe he inherited from his Italian grandmother. He went on and on and everyone seemed to be taken by his narrative. 

Actually, I think I met Damazio first and we ended up in the midst of that Guarulhense gang.  Everyone had a word of advice to you. Cri-Cri was a young man from Guarulhos whose dream was to be the owner of a fleet of trucks when he went back to Brazil. People said he was very parsimonious and never spent more than he could. To me he seemed like anyone else with a black shock of straight hair. He was even a pleasant person. He knew he was seen as being a miserly by most of the crowd but he didn't care. He was proud of his saved dollars in some bank in the Ironbound.

Later on later Damazio took me to some apartments where I had a chance to make some acquaintences. Funny that I had to go into a major crisis (homelessness) to finally go and mingle with the Brazilian crowd that lived in Sing Sing. 

Finding employment in June was not easy for most factories were about to close for their yearly vacations.

Suddenly I was living a new phase after having spent glorious 6 weeks in San Francisco, California. I was living the life of a homeless person. I slept wherever I was given an invitation to spend the night which was mostly with Kuwenderson who begrudgingly helped me but declined to lend me a few dollars as if money was sacred and belonged to God even though he was an atheist.

That's when I was told there was a cleaning job going on at 2 Gateway, near Penn Station that had just been opened recently. I can't recall for the life of me who took me there at around 5:00 pm, just when the crowd who worked at that building complex ran for their trains at Penn Station which took them home to Manhattan and elsewhere.

I was shown a great area on the 1st floor of that black building which one could call a food court. Even though it was hot outside, the air-conditioned building was a little chilly. I was given a massive vacuum cleaner in order to clean the carpeted floor. But first one had to get all the chairs upon the tables. As the room was humongous it took a considerable time to get all the chairs up. The job wasn't that bad, but there was a problem: I would work by myself from 5:00 through 8:00 pm and there was not a single soul around. There was not a boss or anyone I could ask any question or relate too. I felt really lonely and the vastness of the place reduced me to insignificance. I never really bothered working hard...but working with nobody in sight was not my cup of tea. I felt I didn't belong to the human race. I felt the whole world had gone home and I was left behind. I don't remember exactly how I spent those 3 hours but I was sure the cleaning business could keep their money for I would leave never to return again. And that's was my experience working as an industrial cleaner at 2 Gateway, in Newark, N.J. in the summer of 1972. 

aerial view of the area next to Penn Station and the Passaic River. 

view North along New Jersey State Route 21 (McCarter Highway) at Edison Place, Essex County, New Jersey. 2 Gateway Center on the left & 1 Gateway Center on the right-hand-side.

The many buildings at the Gateway Complex with skyways interconnecting them to Newark's Penn Station.

The Gateway Center is a commercial complex in Newark, N.J. with a floor area of 43,378 m2. Located downtown just west of Newark Pennsylvania Station between Raymond Boulevard and Market Street; McCarter Highway runs through the complex. 

Skyways and pedestrian malls interconnect all of the office towers, a Hilton Hotel, the train station, and the Newark Legal Center. Built in phases in the late 20th century the Complex comprises some of the tallest buildings in the city, two designed by Victor Gruen Associates and two by Grad Associates.

The Gateway Center was conceived as part of the "New Newark". Built in an urban renewal area that was considered blighted especially by the race riots of 1967. It was an early attempt to restore the reputation and rejuvenate business in Newark which had experienced severe urban decay in the previous decade. Prudential Insurance originally committed $18 million of long-term financing. The first phase included Gateway One, a concourse and shopping mall, and the Downtowner Motor Inn, which later became a Hilton hotel. 

The second phase, Gateway Two, was offices of Western Electric Company. The complex was self-contained, allowing tenants and visitors to remain within the interior. A pedestrian mall one level above the street connected all parts of the complex connected to Penn Station by a glass-enclosed skywalk that extended over Raymond Plaza. 

Another skywalk extended across McCarter Highway to connect Gateway One and Gateway Two. The skywalks were intended to separate vehicular and pedestrian traffic and provided safety and security to wary commuters. These were completed by 1972.

Gateway Three and Gateway Four were completed in 1985 and 1988, respectively. Original plans called for a Gateway Five and a Gateway Six, but are unbuilt, the available land leased as parking areas near the Prudential Center and Mulberry Commons. In 2019 it was announced a major renovation of the public spaces would be made to better integrate the complex into the street level of the city.

2 Gateway is a Class A office building on the corner of Market Street and McCarter Highway in the heart of Newark's "Billion Dollar Triangle". The 18-story building was completed in 1972 and underwent renovations in 1994 and 2015. 

The building totals 832,550 square feet. It is the first building in New Jersey to earn the Platinum certification from WiredScore for its best-in-class infrastructure and connectivity. The building has also been awarded U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star label for its superior environmental protection. 

Tenants also have access to a wide array of on-site amenities, including a fitness center, banking facility, café and conferencing center. In Spring 2015, The Gateway Project, a gallery space, rentable artist studio and work spaces opened as a permanent fixture in 2 Gateway's concourse. 

NJTV, New Jersey’s public television network, relocated its headquarters to 2 Gateway Center in May 2015. NJTV's Agnes Varis Studio allows people and commuters passing through the concourse to view into the studio which will be home to NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams.