Junius Street (3)

This stop is a dense public housing mecca and an economic desert with a lot of barbed wire. Despite how many people live in the area, it’s quiet on the streets, probably because there isn’t much to do.

Junius Station, with a skyline view of the projects.

This stop has no commerce. No delis. No restaurants. No movie theaters, no stores. Nary a cafe! And Livonia “Park,” beneath the subway tracks, is a concrete landscape with some benches. Powell Street Garden, a community space, has a lot of promise, but it’s only open 20hrs/week April through October, and it looks disheveled in the winter.

Tabernacle Baptist Church sits below the elevated tracks of the the Junius Street station.

What is there, then? Extensive public housing. Two Baptist churches, outdoor basketball courts, some plastic playground structures, an underfunded senior center, a library (where you can play giant chess on a carpet), a very large, multi-ethnic budget grocery store (The Food Bazaar, which I love), and a mural by the Anti-Violence Project with very unfortunate tags.

Junius Street, between Livonia and Dumont, has a beautiful mural by the Anti Violence Project. But, uh…

Bring a basketball, a book, or grocery bags, because the only things I could figure out to do around here are 1) play basketball on an outdoor court, 2) go to the library, or 3) go grocery shopping at the Food Bazaar or Family Dollar.

But, who knows what the coming years may bring. Project 472 will smile when this write-up is completely inaccurate. I’d love to see this area thrive, especially given how many people live off this stop.