Newark / Harrison / Kearny / Wilson Avenue

 

Bridge over Passaic River linking Newark to Harrison and Kearny. 

Newark & Harrison.

Corner of Barbara Street and Wilson Avenue. where I first lived when I moved into the States in 1971. 

Wilson Avenue with Rome Street on the left and Jabez Street on the right. 

Newark's Ironbound section. 

Background of my visits to the USA 1971 - 1975 - 1989 - 2000

After I left the USA in late 1976, my life took a different turn. At first I had intended my Brazilian stay to be short but it ended lasting 5 years until, finally, I migrated to Sydney, Australia in September 1981. After living in Oz for most of the 1980s I bought myself a round-the-world ticket from Aerolineas Argentinas-KLM after I got my papers sorted out. 

First I visited my family in São Paulo, staying with them for 5 months, then I flew over to NYC in the late spring of 1989, but spent only a few days there, contrary to my original intention. I originally planned to stay in the USA for the summer. I intended to visit the Catskills and maybe find a job at the Nevele Country Club in Ellenville, N.Y. make a little money and continue flying to Europe where I had a few capital cities to visit. It didn't turn out the way I planned so before the week was done I up from Newark, N.J., went to JFK, jumped back into a KLM jet and flew to Amsterdam, Rome, London and back to Sydney before the Northern summer was over. 

Eleven years later

Since I arrived in Newark, N.J., on a Sunday, 28 May 2000, I made a point of going places I had never been before like walking up Wilson Avenue past the Go-go Bar on Barbara Street, where I had lived in 1971. Believe it or not, I had never been to the Newark International Airport except once, in April 1972, when I flew over to San Francisco. I must have taken a cab from the Ironbound to get there. 

I turned right from Ferry Street into Jackson Street and walked crossed the bridge over the Passaic River to Harrison-Kerney, N.J. I even made a point of getting as far as the Harrison PATH station and got onto the train bound to 33rd Street in Manhattan. 

I felt a funny feeling in my gut when I saw the train arriving in Harrison from Newark. It reminded me of the times I and Damazio used to take that same train in February 1972 to go to 9th Street to take an English course at New York University. Then the ground was covered with snow though.