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ScrollHectic t1_j567jbu wrote

Are we upset about the walkway being closed or the businesses? I agree, it would be great for the walkway to stay open late. I'm not sure how fair it is to force the businesses to stay open if they don't have the customers to support the cost of staying open late or on weekends. Downtown is still more or less dead evenings and weekends except for when there is an event. American Whisky and Redds outside of events rarely have people there and they both stay open late and on weekends. I don't see how a place selling cookies and without a liquor license is going to buck that trend. If the downtown restaurants aren't a destination yet, I'm not sure how the Gateway restaurants will be just because the walkway is open later. There just isn't enough critical mass, even with all the new development.

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LateNightNewYork t1_j570rpb wrote

There will never be critical mass if businesses continue to be erected at the exclusion of the 300,000+ people that actually live here. Trying to gentrify a 90% minority city with chains aimed at a small number of commuters is such a dumb strategy. Nobody moved to Jersey City or Brooklyn for Teriyaki Madness.

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iborg089 t1_j5821mw wrote

Your comment makes the more sense on this thread. And you are right, downtown at night and on weekends in basically a dead zone. Many people are just looking at something to be upset about, instead of complaining we could support the businesses with street level store fronts. I went to redd's a couple times when there were no events, and most of the time i was the only one in there or with (maybe) two other patrons. "Just Beclaw's" seafood place did not survive, dinosaur bbq and Joe's Crab Shack either. The new restaurant ( MAD FOR CHICKEN) is always empty.

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Echos_myron123 OP t1_j5aki9e wrote

The walkway is a public safety issue. People shouldn't have to cross the six lane McCarter Highway to get between downtown and the train station. It is not just about the businesses.

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thebruns t1_j56a3rf wrote

American Whiskey closes at 8pm on non-event days fyi

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