I love Jersey City!  Turns out I’m not the only one, so to express the way I feel about this great place I decided to make this monopoly board.  Why Monopoly?  Well because it’s fun and everyone knows it!  I like having a certain twist on a classic favorite.

The first step was to figure out how the streets in JC would relate to the squares in Monopoly so I broke it down into sections.  We have the heights, downtown, and the hood.  Yes, I know Jersey City is huge and I couldn’t break down every part of it so I did what I thought would work.  It’s actually divided into two sections really: New Jersey City and Old Jersey City….which is kinda like ‘the force’…there’s the dark side and the light side.  But we mustn’t forget both!

In common Monopoly fashion, we have the properties based on pricing or at least the cheapest to the priciest or old JC to new JC. So we start off with those first two properties nobody buys because if someone lands on it you get like three cents, BUT what more suiting spots for the projects? Perfect! I know there are plenty of projects in JC so forgive me if I didn’t rep anyones block. Moving on we have the income tax refund because, lets be honest, everyone looks forward to that! As we continue through the hood we have the path train, community service and moving past MLK and Ocean we have the jail.  We’ve all been there before!

The biggest trouble I had with this was trying to put each street where they belong as far as near each other and section.  I did not perfect this part lol there are sections that jump around town but generally, they’re all in their designated chunk of city.  I’m sorry for those streets I couldn’t fit in.  My brainstorming for this piece left many things unable to fit.  I had to put certain streets though like Palisade, Hancock, Central, where I had spent so much of my youth!  Also Glenwood, because in highschool I hung out with a big group of friends who lived there so I was there often, but I had to fit important streets too such as Communipaw and Kennedy.  It was a mix of trying to please everyone and myself.  Always a challenge.

And the last stop in the hood of this Jersey City Monopoly is Montgomery which I chose specifically because as I was there recently you really see all kinds of life in that area.  On one side of the street there are shoppers, students and commuters who rush off to wherever they’re going…and on the other side of the street you see homeless people, folks standing around, shaking, looking a little fiendish, and elderly people just kinda hanging out.  Its so surreal to see from one side to the other.  I think its the official start of the hood so it had to go there.

Then comes the heights! And there is no parking ever! Also, throughout this board instead of putting the rail road company I mixed it up from Path train to Light rail because these things are very Jersey City and pays a little homage to our surrounding cities. When it came down to the properties as Electric Company and Waterworks I switched them for specific JC spots such as the Colgate Clock which is actually one of the largest clock in the world.  6th largest to be exact.  Suck it Big Ben!  But as we all know that clock is not in the heights, the spot just happens to be there. I also originally put that kickass statue of the dude getting stabbed from behind thats at exchange place.  Every time I pass that statue I stare in awe. BUT for this custom board we threw in some chicpea cuz shit, whats more JC than that!? There aren’t prices on the bottom of the squares as in standard monopoly, instead there are little doodles, some specific to their square and some random. The fun is finding them and seeing their connection.

Then comes downtown, one of the most fun spots in this city. I put Coles St there specifically because of the art shop on there!  My favorite in town, I would go in there and talk to the owner forever asking tips on how to make these visions I had in my mind a reality on walls. Also other popular streets such as Newark Ave. and Grove St. These streets have gotten such a remodeling over the years that they’ve become the face of the #makeityoursmovement and they had to be the bride and groom of this wonderful piece of mine. But of course you don’t have a spot as beautiful as downtown without a price to pay and thats why theres that Gentrification Tax. This board is all fun and games (literally lol) but the new vs old versions of this city is a real issue so I had to throw it in there.  I made this for the people and I hope they can appreciate it. I know people may not be thrilled with every choice I made on this board but there is a lot of fun packed in there. Take a Chance on Love! A reminder in most of my work as well as porky pig trying to lock you up, its a physical version of the madhouse thats going on in my head.

Also! As a Thank You to my favorite city I’m having a promotion for this board. Its usually $150, but if anyone who reads this wants one, mentioning you found out about this on Chicpea gets a discount and it’ll only be $120. Also customizable squares are available.  Anybody looking to purchase can email me: AbiLLity@gmail.com.

Lastly!  This Jersey City Monopoly board will be a mural!  I’m going to meet up with the folks at City Hall soon to figure out when, but the plan is to have it on Newark Ave in the pedestrian plaza.  And not only that…but it will be done on the floor so people can actively partake in a game of Jersey City Monopoly!  There’s more to reveal but why would you ruin a surprise like that? Stay tuned! Blessings!