Part of High Street in Newark just south of University Heights used to have brick mansions, owned by the brewing families. “High Street” is now named MLK Blvd... and it is the shithole exactly like one would expect of said named streets.
I fondly recall seeing a guy jogging along MLK near NJIT and Rutgers-Newark... he had a kid-sized baseball bat tucked under his arm for self-defense.
Yes, that section is a zoo. A friend going to school there had his freshman orientation contact (a female professor) beaten and mugged in his first few weeks.
New Jersey’s cities lost the war on crime when NJ wouldn’t let the State Troopers stop the flow of guns and drugs coming up the NJ Turnpike. Hailed as a victory against racism, that change has led to a sharp increase in the murders of black and brown people (especially in the cities named here).
Pyhrric victory...