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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Pop Smoke Mural in Canarsie: The Redone Tribute to Brooklyn's Own (Photos)























It was only four months ago I went to see the Pop Smoke mural in his hometown Canarsie Brooklyn neighborhood. Opinions on social media and the Internet were not favorable to that mural that went up in February. There were supposed to be three murals around the Flatlands area (80th Street and Flatlands, Rockaway Parkway, and Conklin Avenue, and 82nd Street, and Flatlands Avenue) but only one was ever completed. Four months later with a posthumous debut album Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, a botched album cover art, new singles, a future deluxe album, and his alleged murderers arrested and charged, Pop Smoke's stardom and fan love have only been getting bigger.

The new vibrant mural was undertaken by Hattas Public Murals. 

Woo!











Sources:


1. Mahadevan, Tara, "Pop Smoke Tribute Mural Appears in His Brooklyn Neighborhood of Canarsie", July 9, 2020, Complex

2. Sacher, Andrew, "Pop Smoke honored with mural in Canarsie Brooklyn" July 12, 2020, BrooklynVegan

3. @HipHopCanada, "New mural goes up in Canarsie, Brooklyn to honour Pop Smoke", July 13, 2020,

4. Zhang, Charlie, "Pop Smoke Honored in Vibrant New York Mural", July 11, 2020, HypeBeast

5. "3 murals in Canarsie to honor slain rapper Pop Smoke", news12Brooklyn

🎨 More NYC Street Art & Hidden Landmarks

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