My family was from Naples lived on Mulberry St then moved over to Hoboken n finally settled in cliffside park, fairview & fort lee. So glad to hear you go back to keep the memories n traditions of ur family alive.
Yes, that was also a common jump. Lower Manhattan to Jersey or Staten Island. My uncle had an apartment on Baxter Street, directly opposite the back entrance of Most Precious Blood Church. Needless to say, I spent too much time in that neighborhood too

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He ended up owning the building, but sold it before the gentrification. He's dead now, anyway. But that would have been a nice little score for him. A studio in that neighborhood will run you at least $2,500 a month today. Yuppie City. It's insane when you think of what the rents used to be.