Method Climbing is a unique space in Newark. You wouldn’t believe it but the basement of Walker House hosts a 12,000 square-foot rock climbing facility and gym. The space is a draw for rock climbing and bouldering enthusiasts, as well as many people who are interested but not experienced in the sport. On top of that, they operate a full-service café seven days a week.

Rich Song, one of the partners in the business, comes onto the podcast to discuss how the gym came about, opportunities and challenges that have faced them along the way, and what he hopes the space will be.

We are turning the tables this time! Tehsuan Glover, a local journalist and sartorial savant, recorded this conversation with our host, Manny Antunes, in May 2022. While there are some dated references, the conversation remains fresh and topical. We covered nearly everything under the sun: Manny’s journey through his careers; Newark elections; rap and hip & hop; the artistic process; cocktails; our ambitions.

Note: We recorded during a thunderstorm. We apologize for the shock!

Guest:

Tehsuan Glover—Tehsuan is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Newark Times, a locally-based and sourced publication that covers the news and events of Newark. He is also an excellent dresser.

Background & Articles:

The Newark Times: here

Robert Caro’s LBJ Series: here

Manny’s Newarker Piece about the 2022 Election: here

Manny’s Newarker Piece about the Equalization Tables: here

In 1999, the Newark Alliance was founded to lead efforts around the ongoing economic revitalization of Newark, with the goal of “transform[ing Newark] into a better and safer place to work, live, learn, play, and do business.” Part of this vision includes turning Newark into a true “regional city” through efforts in four broad strategic areas. The Alliance is supported by several, major private sector institutions including Audible, Mars Wrigley, RWJBarnabas, Prudential, and PSEG, as well as several public sector institutions like NJIT, Rutgers, NJPAC, University Hospital, and the MCJ Amelior Foundations. The Alliance leads many marquee programs, including the Newark Anchor Collaborative, Hire Newark, Live Local, and Career Works.

Evan Weiss became the President and CEO of the Newark Alliance in December 2021. He previously was the Senior Advisor for Finance and Major Projects to Governor Phil Murphy, where he led the state’s fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and was the point person for key initiatives in Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. Evan joins the podcast to discuss his vision for the Alliance and what his plans for the organization are.

Guest:

Evan Weiss—Evan is the President and CEO of the Newark Alliance, assuming the role in December 2021. He was Senior Advisor for Finance for Major Projects to Governor Murphy. Before that, he was Director at the Pennsylvania Economy League and HJA Strategies. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago.

Background & Articles:

Website for the Newark Alliance: here

News about the Greenway: here

The Newark Gift Card: here

Quote:

“It was clear now why Yahweh had not struck down the tower, had not punished men for wishing to reach beyond the bounds set for them: for the longest journey would merely return them to the place whence they’d come.”—Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang

Newark’s municipal elections are in full swing. Walking around the city, you will see political advertisements promoting the different candidates running for office. . According to the city clerk’s office, there are 25 candidates running for 10 offices, including mayor, councilperson at large, and councilperson for the respective wards across the city. You may see debates on local television, read profiles in newspapers, engage with campaign volunteers on the street, or even attend events with the candidates. Here, on the podcast, we are striving to do our part in highlighting the importance of this election with interviews of candidates who have accepted our invitation to come on. Today, we have Councilwoman LaMonica McIver on to talk about her bid for re-election, her campaign for office, and her platform. Councilwoman McIver represents the Central Ward—which encompasses areas traditionally considered downtown, the area around University Hospital, much of Springfield Avenue, and most of Lower Broadway.

Guest:

LaMonica McIver—Councilwoman McIver currently represents the Central Ward (which happens to be my district) on the Newark City Council, a seat she has held since 2018, when she was first elected to the position. She grew up in the Central Ward and is a graduate of Central High School, Bloomfield College, and Seton Hall University. Before holding elected office, she worked in Newark Public Schools, serving as a clerk, a system analyst, and eventually as a Human Resources Regional Partners. She founded Newark GALS, Inc. in 2021, a nonprofit that provides enrichment camps for young women in Newark. Councilwoman McIver is also running on the Team Baraka ticket, which includes candidates endorsed by Mayor Baraka.

Background & Articles:

McIver’s Candidate Website: here

Newark Election Registration: here

2022 is an election year in Newark. Candidates for mayor and council have declared their intention to run, and votes will be cast on May 10. Newark has off-off cycle elections, in that our elections occur off-cycle from both the New Jersey and U.S. Presidential elections and the federally-recognized election day in November.

Mark Bonamo has joined the podcast to discuss the lay of the election landscape and what to expect from this cycle.

Pod & Market will invite all candidates for city-wide office onto the podcast for a short interview segment to provide the residents of Newark (and those interested) with information about these candidates. (The host of the podcast is actively supporting one of the candidates for the East Ward seat and will therefore be looking for guest hosts to conduct those interviews.)

Note: This conversation was recorded a few days before the window for submitting candidate petitions closed. Much of what was discussed in the episode remains relevant and on-point. If you would like to keep up with the election, please check out local news outlets like TAPInto Newark for up-to-date information.

Guest:

Mark Bonamo—Mark is the Editor-in-Chief of TAPInto Newark and a Newark resident. He has long reported on local news and politics in Newark. For the last three years, TAPInto Newark has been recognized as the state’s best local news website by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Background & Articles:

Register to Vote: here

TAPInto Newark: here

Newark City Clerk’s Google Drive: here

U.S. Census Page for Newark: here

Sharpe James Threatens Suit for Certification Denial: here

Wikipedia on 2014 Newark Mayor Election: here

Justice Department’s Announcement of Charges Against Joseph McCallum: here

Amador Announces Stepping Down from Council: here

Quote:

“Democracy in an era of enormously complex global constellations and powers requires a people who are educated, thoughtful, and democratic in sensibility. This means a people modestly knowing about these constellations and powers; a people with capacities of discernment and judgment in relation to what it reads, watches, or hears about a range of developments in its world; and a people oriented toward common concerns and governing itself.”—Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution by Wendy Brown

“Harlem. 2005. Let’s say that you are a sixty-nine-year-old Jamaican man called Stanford, or Stan for short, who once faked your own death.” Thus begins These Ghosts Are Family, the debut novel of Maisy Card. Published in 2020, These Ghosts Are Family is the intergenerational story of the Paisley Family, one that harbors many secrets, including the faked death of Abel Paisely, which starts the book, and how the family grapples with history, trauma, slavery, White guilt, abandonment, poverty, and the Jamaican diaspora, among many other issues. Mia Alvar of the New York Times Book Review described the book as “a rich, ambitious debut novel, [where the] the ghosts bracingly remind [the reader] that no family history is comprehensive, that some riddles of ancestry and heritage persist beyond this lifetime.” Hannah Giorgis of the Atlantic wrote that the novel “moves across time and space as it deftly weaves the families’ paths . . . a tale of the most monstrous acts: intimate betrayals with unthinkable consequences.” Bookpage, in my favorite single line of any review of this book, said “There is magic in these pages.”

Maisy joins to podcast to discuss releasing her debut novel, the inspirations for her book, the themes present in her book, and her future plans as a writer.

Guest:

Maisy Card—Maisy is an author, librarian, and Newark resident. She was born in Portmore, Jamaica and was raised in Queens. She is also a graduate of Wesleyan University and of Brooklyn College’s MFA in Fiction program. Aside from being an adjunct in writing at Columbia, she was also a librarian at Newark Public Library and is a librarian with Donald Payne Tech. 

Background & Articles:

Maisy Card’s author page: here

These Ghosts Are Family Book Page: here

Bookmarks Collection of Reviews of the Book: here

Quote:

“Underneath the eloquence, the glamour, the scholarly associations, however stirring or seductive, the heat of such language is languishing, or perhaps not beating at all–if the bird is already dead.” Toni Morrison, Lecture for the Nobel Prize in Literature [source: The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations]