City Gardens: Trenton's Lost Punk Rock Mecca

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The building seemed to sag against the Trenton sky, its walls leaning in a way that looked both tired and dangerous. I was driving, searching for a lunch spot after a morning spent exploring the city's industrial skeletons, when I saw it. A questionable choice, maybe, but curiosity is a powerful guide. I pulled over. Getting inside was one of the sketchiest entrances I’ve ever attempted. But once my feet were on the dusty floor, the danger faded. An enormous space stretched before me. It was sparse, cleaned out. My footsteps echoed where a stage once stood, a fact I’d later confirm in a NNKH YouTube video about the building’s past life as an underground punk club. The video showed a vibrant scene, an electric place. But the ghosts of that life were mostly gone. The long, rounded bar, where thousands of hands must have slapped down crumpled bills, had vanished. The dust-coated wine and shot glasses that once lined its shelves were gone, too. The club’s glittering crown jewel, a l...
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Concrete City








When the concrete doesn't set in.

I never thought this local city whenever I drove to a nearby state ever had any abandoned places for me to visit as I headed north. To my surprise, I came across a well-documented property within the city with real photos of the vacant property in all its glory. On a leisurely Sunday morning, I headed up to my usual haunts and stopped over on my way. Getting onto the property was at first tricky. A and I were about to risk it entering from another part of the property but we decided not to and boy did it turn in our favor. We found our way in by a well-worn path down the road and walked onto the site with abandon.



















Inside, documented information on the property was correct. The concrete equipment was hauled away during an auction and all that was left was two smaller buildings, one rusted machinery on top of a concrete block and a graffiti-tagged commercial long-haul trailer. The saleable equipment had already left the building. What was left of the remaining auction pieces was a lease which no one wanted apparently at this waterfront property.





Zombies inside? Too much Walking Dead?















According to the history of this place, the company was having financial difficulties for several years before bellying up. Striking workers were a present site outside the facility. Now, the property languishes, no longer mixing materials for solid foundations.


When art imitates life. Whilst leaving another spot whilst here we had encountered someone coming onto the property. We scuttled up the hill and explored for the next 45 minutes before leaving. To our surprise, we met an established artist who had a passion for painting abandoned spaces on canvas. We chatted for a bit and was thoroughly impressed. Here was someone who didn't create art by using a camera but manually drawing with her very hands. Sometimes you meet other explorers, other times you meet painters.





































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