Is on! In exactly 30 days you will be on or near Ferry Street in the Ironbound section of Newark. It has been announced that the event will indeed take place on June 7th-8th. Details to follow…

Just when we thought it was safe again:
A botched robbery early this morning left a 25-year-old man dead in Newark’s Ironbound section, authorities said.

The victim, Delvisson F. Campos, 25, of Newark, was shot once in the chest and once in the chin at about 3:20 a.m., near 270 Ferry St., authorities said. A man he was walking with escaped unharmed, said Essex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Paul Loriquet.

“Two individuals were walking down the street when they were approached by two perpetrators,” Loriquet said. “Detectives believe it was a robbery attempt.”

Campos was transported to University Hospital in Newark where he was pronounced dead at 3:52 a.m. said Newark Police Detective Todd McClendon.

No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing, Loriquet said.

Authorities have asked that anyone with any information about the shooting, please call Lt. Lou Carrega with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Squad at 973-621-4586.

Star-Ledger

lack of posts

As you have probably heard by now ex-Mayor of Newark, Sharpe James, has been handed a guilty verdict. Here is East Ward Councilman Augusto “Augie” Amador’s reaction as reported by the Star-Ledger:

East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador, who testified in the trial, called it “a sad day for Newark.”

“I feel sorry for his family and I feel sorry for those who put their trust in him,” Amador said. “We as public officials deposit our souls and our hearts in the hands of the people.”

Amador said he was a little surprised by the verdict, which he learned about online.

“I expected her to be found guilty,” he said, referring to Riley. Amador said he didn’t think it would have taken this long to convict her.

Amador said the jury was savvy enough to realize James’ defense, which blamed the council for the sales, was not true.

“The jury was smart enough to understand the responsibility for the process lied in the administration,” he said.

Full Star-Ledger coverage of Newark ex-Mayor Sharpe James’ trial.

Congratulations

to the “For Our Kids Team”

Barbara King

Eliana Pintor

Arelis Romero

Click here for the official results.

Data as of 10:25PM (April 15, 2008)

What do you think of the results? Leave us a comment below.

April 14th

The public is invited to the next meeting of the ” Ironbound Superneighborhood Council”, to take place on April 14, at 7:00 pm at the St. James Parish School Building (downstairs) on the corner of Madison & Elm St. (entrance is off the parking lot).

The Ironbound Superneigh-borhoods Council, organized and run by residents, is working on the following issues:

• Neighborhood Cleaning
• Neighborhood Beautification Projects (murals)
• Neighborhood Greening (tree plantings)
• New initiatives e.g. Welcome Wagon, etc.
• And other quality of life issues in the community

The Superneighborhood Councils can bring neighborhood issues to the City’s attention and call on the City for support for small projects. “What is needed is people with time, hope and energy who want to work together to make Ironbound a better place to live”, said one person involved in the process.

For more information call Nancy Zak, 973-589-3353 or Lisseth Russo, 973-344-2698.

[courtesy of LusoAmericano]

There New York Times printed an article about the local Portuguese club in the Ironbound. It was an article about amateur sports (soccer in this case) which also touched on the role of immigration in these popular amateur leagues. The article is posted below:

March 23, 2008

On State’s Fields, a World Cup in Miniature

By ELIZABETH DWOSKIN
NEWARKJOE R. MANSO reached his hand into a crowded display case one recent afternoon and pulled out a silver trophy that could have used a good polishing. It commemorated a soccer tournament — Portuguese v. Spaniards — played in Bayonne in April 1922.

Evoking the spirits of what must have been the immigrant players’ war-weary European brethren, the words, “In memory of all those who have lived and died for World Peace,” were etched in the metal cup.

Ninety years of immigrant soccer history in New Jersey are contained in this wall-length glass cabinet in the lobby of Newark’s Sport Clube Português. The sport club, which was founded in 1921 by Portuguese immigrants who came to work in the local tanneries and paint factories, is one of the state’s oldest ethnic soccer clubs.

The case’s rusted metal trophies and fraying cloth banners tell the story of games lost and won, leagues come and gone, and players who grew to manhood on the well-worn fields of the Ironbound section of this city.

Mr. Manso, 61, knows these stories by heart. He has been coaching adult men’s teams since he was 28, two decades after his family immigrated to Newark from a fishing village in Portugal. His team, also called the Sport Clube Português, is hoping this month will be the start of another victorious season after a four-year winning streak in what is known as the Champions League, an amateur league that is home to some of the most devoted adult soccer players in the region.

The 10-year-old League — which was started in New Jersey but now includes teams in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York — is known informally as the last stop for men over age 18 who are good enough to turn pro, and some of the players do. It is the older and more prestigious of two regional adult leagues affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation, the sport’s governing body.

With teams starkly divided along ethnic lines, the league has the character of a miniature World Cup. There are the White Eagles, made up primarily of Serbians from Hope, N.J., a small town near the Pennsylvania border, and Salamina, a Greek-Cypriot team from Staten Island. Some teams bear their double loyalties in their names: There are the Kearny Scots, from a club that was founded in the 19th century and now includes many non-Scots, and Garfield Vistula, whose name is a hybrid of the Jersey town and Poland’s longest river.

The Champions League is the strongest of a handful of remaining adult leagues that remind New Jerseyans of the way the sport used to be played, long before soccer moms and middle schoolers began to crowd suburban fields on Saturday mornings.

“Fifteen years ago the Ironbound alone had more than 10 teams,” said Mr. Manso, a local real estate agent, who was surprised to find an image of his 25-year-old self in a yellowing team photo tucked among the trophies. “But we’re the only ones left.”

For much of the last century, soccer clubs and leagues were a fixture in European immigrant neighborhoods throughout the state. There were Polish clubs in Kearny, Spanish clubs in Bayonne, German clubs in Trenton and Ukrainian Clubs in Newark. Some of these clubs and leagues are still around, but many lost players as immigration dried up and league members moved to other neighborhoods.

Pat Varsallona, the director of the 11-team league and the New Jersey Soccer Association — which oversees seven adult leagues, a number of which have Italian, Portuguese and German origins — founded it with the idea that he could round up the Northeast region’s best players to compete in a single high-quality league. He sought men, he said, who “wanted to win at all costs,” who would be willing to play without compensation but to train like professionals.

For these players, soccer — and the clubs that support it — has always been more than a game. It is a living connection to a world they never fully left behind. During World War II, players fleeing Europe were able to take refuge — and earn a living — playing for teams on the East Coast.

During the 1950s and ’60s, the most famous European teams — like England’s Chelsea and Portugal’s Benfica — came to play for immigrant crowds in the metropolitan area. Many of them dined in the club’s blue-tiled second-floor ballroom, where Mr. Manso’s son Jason — the goalie on his father’s team for 10 years — was married in December.

“Our fathers played here, and their fathers played here,” said Jason J. Manso, 28, who was passing by the club that afternoon. “So this really isn’t just a soccer team. It’s our home.” [permalink]

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Bethany Baptist Church
275 West Market Street, Newark

Tomorrow night:

Meet the candidates of the upcoming election at the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board Candidates Forum.
What to Look for in a Candidate*

• Does the candidate advocate for all children? If not, what does the candidate advocate for?
• What has the candidate done recently that shows an interest in public education?
• Which candidate’s view on the issues do you agree with?
• Which candidate demonstrates the most knowledge on the issues?
• Which candidate has the leadership qualities you are looking for?

*Excerpted from “Choosing a School Board Member for
the 21ST Century” by The league of Women Voters of New
Jersey Education Fund

or pdf

Forget the presidential election, the race for the Newark city council seat for the East Ward (2010) has already begun:

POW! The Ironbound Boys & Girls Club is offering boxing lessons for children ages 6-18 as well as adults:

• Learn how to box with our skilled professional instructor.
• Ages 6-18 meet Tuesday through Thursday from 4:30pm - 6:00pm.
• Adults meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00pm - 7:15pm.
• OPEN gym for ALL on Saturdays from 9 - 12pm.
• Contact Marta or Tim Flohr at 973.344.2698