On the wall of one of my favorite restaurants, there is a framed poster from the 1940s. The poster reads Benefit Dance featuring Frank Sinatra to be held at the Jersey City Garden. How cool! An old poster of Ol’ Blue Eyes singing in Jersey City. I knew Sinatra was a Hoboken kid but what I didn’t know, were his ties to Jersey City.
The leader of The Rat Pack moved to 137 Bergen Avenue in Jersey City after marrying first wife, and Jersey City native, Nancy Barbato. Sinatra’s first two children, Nancy and Frank, Jr., were both born in Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital (now The Beacon)[1]. Sinatra’s first stint as a radio singer was on the local station (WAAT) in Late 1936, a 15-minute show for which he earned 75 cents[2]. The list goes on and the rest is history.
What stood out to me the most about the poster was not the fact that Sinatra performed in Jersey City but the venue itself, The Jersey City Garden. Naturally I started to imagine it was somewhat like the other famous Garden across the Hudson. The address on the poster reads Franklin St. and Ogden Ave. That’s right in the neighborhood. How could I have missed such a place, and with a name like that?
Turns out I missed it because it doesn’t exist anymore. The Jersey City Garden was ruined in a fire in 1970. The building had been vacant for a few years before two youths set it on fire. The Jersey City Garden was built shortly after the turn of the century.[3] It was an event hall used as a boxing and wrestling arena, dance hall and for Jersey City’s infamous political functions. At different points in history it was known as Grand View Hall (c. 1915-1920s) and the Grotto Auditorium (c. 1930s and 1940s). It was closed in the 1960s and was vacant until it ultimately was destroyed. [4]
Jersey City’s most infamous mayor, Frank Hague, used the venue to meet with hundreds of his leading party workers where he exhorted them to get out the vote. In his speech he famously said: “Three hundred and sixty-four days you want favors from me, now one day in the year I come to you”.[5]
The top boxing match at the Grotto Auditorium was the bout of Piskin vs Makar, where Mike Piskin beat Mickey Makar by TKO in round 10 of 15 for the USA New Jersey State welterweight title in 1940.[6] The list of local boxing legends that passed through the venue includes Vince Fratello, inducted in the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1989, who reportedly made $350 a fight boxing at the Grotto Auditorium.[7]
Today the site of the old Jersey City Garden is home to Alaris Health at HarborView, a rehabilitation and long term care facility for the elderly, who has had its share of controversy over the years. It’s unfortunate that these, now historic, buildings are no longer around but at least they can be revived, even if just for this post, through something as simple as a poster on a wall.
Feel free to reach out with additional information regarding the venue or if there are any other pieces of history in your neighborhood you would like me to research.
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[1] http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2016/04/at_last_margaret_hague_hospital_birthplace_of_thou.html
[2] http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/sinatra.shtml
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/01/archives/fire-in-jersey-city-destroys-old-arena-and-dance-hall.html?_r=0
[4] Jersey City 1940-1960: The Dan McNulty Collection (Page 9)
[5] Battleground New Jersey: Vanderbilt, Hague, and Their Fight for Justice (Page 80)
[6] http://boxrec.com/calendar?v=d&d=1940-04-23
[7] http://www.njboxinghof.org/vince-fratello/
I remember the fire. We had just moved to the Heights in 1970. I never knew what the building originally was. I thought some sort of city building like an armory. If I remember correctly the fire was in the summer time. Thanks for the post!
In the early 60’s all the Heights families would take there children to see Santa Claus at the Arena. All the kids under 12 would receive a gift from Santa.
While doing some demo in my old JC house, I found a ticket for the Grand View Auditorium dated 1907. My friend did a little digging for me and found this article. So cool get a little glimpse of the people who built the house that I love.