Dinosaurs On The Hudson
Real vs. fake, local giants, music & meatballs and more!
It’s been a minute! But we’re back refreshed and renewed. FYI before we roll, note that this year’s Weehawken Day is Saturday September 13, and registration began August 20. As of this writing, the Weehawken website doesn’t have the info, but all the details are here on their Facebook page. It’s only open to Weehawken residents, and it’s one of our personal favorite events, so if you live in a different town, sorry. Anyway, so much to get to, so here goes…
Historic Prehistoric River Ramblers
Anyone reading this remember seeing 8 dinos float by in 1963? According to the original Sinclair Oil flier this boat would’ve been on the river across from Weehawken at 11:30AM on October 17, 1963. The sculptures were made near Hudson, NY and travelled more than 100 miles downriver to be displayed at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
Fun fact: Apparently every family that visited the Dinoland exhibit got a coupon for a free gallon of gas. You can even buy a photo print from this voyage entitled “Barge of Beasts” on The NY Times website here. And it’s super short, but there’s a newsreel showing them floating by our shores. It’s very cool, and it’s below.
Speaking of massive talent…
Are you guys aware we have a local studio famous for producing giant sculptures? It’s called Themendous and sits on 32nd street in Union City right next to the Weehawken border. They call themselves the “king of huge” and have built some of the world’s most iconic installations, including work on the ginormous confetti-shooting hot dog that hit Times Square last summer.
They do so much that we’re just going to rip the description from their website:
Themendous specializes in three dimensional form and sculpture displays for experiential marketing events, brand and product launches, concerts and sporting events, private and corporate celebrations, award ceremonies, interactive displays, exhibit and trade show booths, theatrical and film productions, high-profile social happenings, top industry luxury brands, window and retail displays as well as theming for restaurants, night clubs, amusement parks, museums, family entertainment centers, mini golf, black light attractions, and did we mention Google?
Yay to having local artists and makers among us!
Go Wild & Support This Local Artist
Born in Bangkok, raised in England, and currently based in Weehawken, neighbor Lalit Sritara is a recent graduate of the NYU Tisch MFA Musical Theatre Writing Program. She’s just released a single called Feral and you all should take a listen and support. The music video is below.
Of it she says, “it’s a theatre-pop song about a princess and a feral creature, and it’s based on a true story. Is it about a man-child or an actual animal? You decide!”
🎤 Karaoke: Friday 8/29 at the Weehawken Elks
It can be hard to get people out of the house, but when you do, magic happens.
🎧 Renowned KJ
hosts & you sing! 🎵✨🍹💵 Cash Bar opens at 7PM —🎙️🎶 Singing starts at 8 PM
No cover, cash-only bar. Bring your friends, grab a cheap drink, play darts or pool, and sing your heart out. Here’s a quick video of an Elks karaoke night if you haven’t been:
‘Fake’ Flood Video Is Very Real
On August 17, a woman named Kat from Edgewater, NJ shared a video on a local Facebook group that showed flooding on River Road by the Galaxy Towers, in Guttenberg. Her super-short action-packed video, seen below, had this caption when originally posted: “So much water gets dumped on to RR during these torrential downpours, it’s no wonder it gets flooded immediately.”
The part I found interesting, apart from the raging rapids, is that in the comments, a few people accused her of posting a fake video. One person said simply, “fake” another said, “AI” and yet another claimed it was an “ancient pic.”
Other commenters backed her up, one commented to say it was North Bergen (it’s not, but is in fact a few feet from the border), and yet the ones who just dropped into the comments to accuse her of posting a fake video really bugged me, because it seemed legit, and she was answering to them. So I decided to try and get the full story and see if I could prove the authenticity.
After I got in touch, she told me that she had been dropping her nephew back to the Galaxy after grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, and that he took the video. She even provided the location and timestamp info, seen below.
I asked her what it felt like to be accused of faking the video.
“Yeah. We live in a strange world. The people on that FB group are from this area. For them not to recognize the Galaxy building and also the fact that I’ve been a member of that group for something like 8 years is just strange/stupid.”
We couldn’t agree more. Thanks for the insight, Kat! And since the seemingly unchecked development down there continues to pave over any vegetation that might soak up the deluge, remember to dress appropriately the next time you head to Trader Joe’s.
🍝🎸Hoboken’s Music & Meatballs Returns
If you love playing and/or listening to music, good vibes, community spirit, food and things that really are unique, Music & Meatballs is all that. Started by Al Festa, it’s an open mic-ish artist-filled daytime party with food (yes meatballs too) that is potluck-style and located within his sign shop in Hoboken.
After a summer break, the next one is Sunday, September 7th, and if interested, you should check out the website to learn more and RSVP at musicandmeatballs.com.
🛥️ Ferry Interesting
FBW is a local group whose full name is “Fund for a Better Waterfront” but when I see it, the letters reverse in my head, and I think it’s “Friends with benefits” — anyway — there are benefits to knowing what’s happening with the ferry, and this recent article from August 20 will explain all.
Long story short, there’s a new facility coming, and it won’t be moving — it’s staying in Weehawken. But the project has been scaled back and some commitment to electric boats has been made. Anyway, it is a long story, and if interested, check out the article linked below:
💸 That’s $16 Billion You’ll Never See
I got a new roof on my house a few years ago, and what stinks about it is that it’s really expensive and unlike a kitchen or bath renovation, you can’t invite friends over and show it off. Actually you could, but it’s not really a brag to open a bottle of wine and say, “See how it’s not raining in our house? Cool, right?”
In much the same way, $16 billion is currently being spent on the Gateway Tunnel project that will add two new lines for passenger rail between North Hudson and Manhattan, but it’s not much to look at, because it’s all happening under your feet or underwater. It’s expected to be completed 10 years from now, and there are multiple sites where the work is taking place. Like maybe you noticed the construction site right in the middle of the Hudson? That’s a riverbed “ground stabilization project.”
Anyway, it’s pretty interesting, and all the details (and a lot of photos) are available online thanks to Colleen Wilson, transportation reporter at the Bergen Record: northjersey.com/story/news/transportation/2025/07/10/5-projects-new-nj-ny-gateway-rail-tunnel/84525116007/
Related, our previous story on the multi-million $ Dyke’s Lumber sale as part of the project: Feeling It In The Lumber Region
Fort Lee: Barrymore Film Center Seeks Performers & Visual Artists Too
Seems like there’s paid opportunities for performers of all stripes and wall space for art. See all the types of performers they are looking for here: barrymorefilmcenter.org/live
Deadline for artists is September 5th and that opportunity is here.
Thanks to neighbor Janet for writing in with this opportunity!
🛠️ Help Fix Stuff At Hoboken Library’s 1st ‘Repair Cafe’
They want volunteers, and so even though it’s in the future — October 4th to be exact — we’re sharing now because it’s cool and they want to recruit volunteers now. See below:
Our Weehawken Lidl Board Video Gets 4k Views
OK yeah, 4000 views isn’t viral, but it’s nothing to sneeze at. We made a video showing the evolution of the message board at Lidl, put it on Instagram, and people seemed to like it. If you haven’t seen it, it’s below.
🎶 So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen Goodbye
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That dinosaur barge would have been interesting to see, but have you seen the video of an elephant surfing down the Hudson River? It's on You Tube.