How this moment (re)defines the Hoboken scene

This was more than just a band winning an award last night at the Hoboken Music Awards. The Fuzzy Lemons create fun tunes that teach and entertain children. So the significance of them winning the Peoples Choice HMA speaks volumes since the music of the other nominees is of the adult sort.

In winning, the band joked that it was an honor to be recognized for their music by adults, especially since their usual audience was fast asleep by the time the awards ceremony began.

So, what’s the big deal? I’ll tell ya.

I was born on Hoboken. So was most of my family. They decided however to live about six miles away. That may not seem very far, but back in the 60s and 70s just a few miles here or there made the difference between an urban or suburban setting. Nowadays, with the urban reach of NYC swallowing up that radius and beyond, families are rethinking where to live.

I eventually returned to Hoboken in search of parties and music and whatnot.

Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of change. Some changes were hard to swallow. Like watching the old shipyards turned into luxury residences nobody I know can even afford. During the initial time of development of the 80s and 90s, Hoboken saw it’s cultural heart being torn out as well.

Where there were once any number of places to see quality live (original) music for example, there would soon only be two such places. Then, I could feel things changing. And that change was coming from an unlikely place.

In the last few years, I’ve seen my neighborhood change from transient spaces for drinking, sleeping and causing mayhem for college kids to a thriving community filled with families. There are children playing, drawing with chalk on sidewalks and parents congregating and saying hello to passersby. More than that, these young families have lead the fight for culture.

When they moved here, they began converting multi-family brownstones back to one-family homes. Their kids began to grow and soon the parents wanted their children to be entertained and challenged. That’s when the decades of so-called improvement revealed how hollow our cultural center had become.

For a while, many people (even me) thought of this town as simply a place to party. It was commonly felt that the baby stroller brigade — commanded by the upwardly mobile — was killing the town. Now it’s quite clear they were saving it.

I’ve seen first hand how these young families fought for improvements. Pushing those baby strollers to City Hall to be heard. Thanks to that, we have a museum, the building of a new movie theater, plans for a performing arts center, and more music and art than we’ve seen in a very long time. Understandable. After all, who wants to raise children in a cultural deadzone.

So, hats off to The Fuzzy Lemons. For being entertaining, for winning and for helping to make a cynic like me see a whole new potential in this town.

See Also:
The Fuzzy Lemons
Hoboken Music Awards