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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Brooklyn's Secret Cove


 




One of Brooklyn's best-kept secrets or shall I say the most underdeveloped park in Brooklyn. Herein lies a small hidden cove home to an abandoned boat that has been permanently moored in this cove as far back as 2012. Will Ellis, AbandonedNYC's, writer and explorer, checked out this small waterfront way back in the day in 2014. In addition, Atlas Obscura also wrote a small undated piece on this abandoned vessel.

A couple months ago, a generous low tide allowed me to get up close and personal with this wet bucket of metal, plastic, and seaweed. I've always had it on my ever-long and expanding list of locations to visit since I viewed it on Will Ellis' website years ago when I was giddy with excitement when I first started exploring as a hobby and now as a serious life endeavor. I can see why it can be considered a "secret cove" since it is pretty much off the beaten path. You wouldn't know it was there if you didn't trudge through the grass and low and behold see the ruined vessel sitting on its side amongst the slippery mucky rocks.

According to Ellis' article, this waterfront was made possible by the nearby Verazzano Bridge construction debris which to this day stands quite mountainous from the shores of Brooklyn. If you would like to see dated photos from its construction, check out Dave Frieder's wonderful article here.

Status: Still within secluded cove...may have moved a bit or submerged again.

Sources:

1. Ellis, Will, "Brooklyn Wild: Gravesend's Accidental Park", February 2, 2014, AbandonedNYC
2. Frieder, Dave, "Bridge in the Back Yard: Construction of the Verrazano-Narrows", August 17, 2003, Forgotten New York
3. Kadinsky, Sergey, "Calvert Vaux Park, Brooklyn", January 22, 2017, Hidden Waters Blog






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