Passersby drawn to a 33-by-33-foot, Jersey City-themed Monopoly board being painted on the Newark Avenue pedestrian plaza had mostly positive reactions today to the artwork.
JERSEY CITY -- Passersby drawn to a 33-by-33-foot, Jersey City-themed Monopoly board being painted on the Newark Avenue pedestrian plaza had mostly positive reactions today to the artwork.
Michael McWilliams of Jersey Avenue called the board "a good idea."
"The kids can get excited about it, the adults can get excited about it," the 50-year-old said, adding that he believes it could help attract people to the city.
Friends and longtime city residents Angel Molina, Julio Colan and Jose Molina made similar remarks, saying the board is "good for kids."
"When that's ready, you'll see a lot of kids playing," Colan said.
Jersey City Heights artist Mr. Abillity -- aka Gary Wynans -- started the project on Wednesday and hopes to have it completed next week. A mayoral aide recruited Wynans for the task after seeing a design he had originally created for himself and posted on Facebook.
McWilliams was glad to see the board will include nods to not only downtown Jersey City but also Greenville, the Heights and other areas.
"It should reflect all of Jersey City...It should reflect everybody," he said.
Meanwhile, Emanuel, 33, of the city's Bergen-Lafayette section also gave the plan for the board a good review, saying "everybody likes Monopoly and everyone knows Monopoly."
His wife Desiree supported the work in progress as well, though she questioned why Monopoly boards aren't being painted in other sections of the city besides Downtown.
"I grew up down here, don't get me wrong, but I think that this is welcome in other places as well. There's other people who would like to enjoy these amenities as well," the 31-year-old said.
Wynans said today that he has gotten mostly positive feedback about the project, highlighting a young boy and a woman who were very happy to hear that he intends to make the board playable.
As for the harsher feedback, Wynans said some passersby saw the artwork as a symbol of unwelcome gentrification, linking the game of Monopoly to the idea of developers "buying up properties in Jersey City"
Nevertheless, the artist said he is trying to keep things optimistic. He has previously said "the intention is to have fun with your city."
Jonathan Lin may be reached at jlin@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @jlin_jj. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.