Hoboken bookstore to host author reading and discussion

HOBOKEN– David Goodwin, author of “The Left Bank of the Hudson: Jersey City and the Artists of 111 First Street,” will appear at Little City Books, 100 Bloomfield St. in Hoboken, on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. for a reading and discussion.
The book embraces art, real estate, development, the life and culture of a city, and also lots of drama, as you might expect from Hudson County politicians.
In the late 1980s, a handful of artists priced out of Manhattan and desperately needing affordable studio space discovered 111 First St., a former P. Lorillard Tobacco Company warehouse. Over the next two decades, an eclectic collection of painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and writers dreamt and toiled within the building’s labyrinthine halls. The local arts scene flourished, igniting hope that Jersey City would emerge as the next grassroots center of the art world.
However, a rising real estate market coupled with a provincial political establishment threatened the community at 111 First St. The artists found themselves entangled in a long, complicated, and vicious fight for their place in the building and for the physical survival of 111 First St. itself, a site that held so much potential, so much promise for Jersey City. “Left Bank of the Hudson” offers a window into the demographic, political, and socio-economic changes experienced by Jersey City during the last 30 years.
Goodwin’s book is seen as a well-documented narrative about the role artists play in economically improving cities.