There are 8 million stories in the naked city, plus another 2-3 million, give or take, if you count the transplants who still commute in for work from the surrounding cities and towns in Long Island, Connecticut and, yes, New Jersey.
From Bloomberg to Bloomfield is my story, a native New Yorker on his third go-round living in the Garden State, now as a first-time homeowner in the town of Bloomfield, which is in Essex County, due West of the Lincoln Tunnel and just north of Newark and East Orange, which are effectively the Bronx to Bloomfield’s Mt. Vernon, the former being where I’m from originally, the latter where I lived for most of my high school years.
The plan is to chronicle the ups and downs of homeownership alongside observations and commentary about my new hometown, including reviews of everything from local restaurants (ie: State Street Grill is a way overrated diner, while Vinnie’s Pizzeria and Restaurant is awesome) to the local paper (Bloomfield Life is a tad bit amateurish, but I’m a sucker for truly local news and the Police Blotter has always fascinated me) to the local bochinchera (Baristanet.com is always an interesting read for the cynical and uppity spin on things), and the intention is to remain as anonymous as is reasonably possible since the last thing I need is yet another blog attached to my name!
We closed on our house about six weeks ago and officially moved in less than two weeks ago, so there’s already plenty I have to catch up on, starting with the easy stuff — reviews of Vinnie’s, Stamna, Aki, Cuban Pete’s (in Montclair) and the local diner scene. Stay tuned, and welcome!
