At least it wasn’t deepest, darkest Newark.
A couple of months ago I was on a road trip visiting relatives in Pennsylvania (I live in Colorado - quite a road trip), and I also had a meeting I had to attend in New York at the WTC. So I decided to drive to Penn Station in Newark and take the PATH train to the WTC.
Going in to Penn Station in the morning was OK, but when I left that evening driving through the neighborhoods surrounding it, I was just praying that the car didn’t break down. It was like something right out of a movie. I grew up in Illinois and saw the worst of Chicago, and we also used to visit St. Louis frequently, so I knew all about the areas to avoid there, worst of which is East St.Louis, but that drive through Newark triggered gut instincts that I hadn’t felt since the last time I had to drive through the heart of Oakland.