Northgate 1: Use the Back Door

Haddon Ave

Filth. Drugs. Violence. Scum: not the first words many associate with the place where they call home. This is, however, how many think of Northgate 1 in Camden, NJ. Located at a very different end of Haddon Avenue sits this brown high-rise littered with balconies. There are some hidden gems within this building; you just need to look close enough.

The entrance is a small, unsuspecting door covered by a blue canopy exclaiming “Northgate 1” in dirty white letters on a navy background. A pair of cloudy glass doors sits beneath the canopy. Beneath the entrance is a memorial. Pictures, stuffed animals, and notes clutter the wall and ground, wet and bearing the stains of time. They are the remnants of the latest victim of the violence.

Main Entrance

At Northgate1, you do not use the front entrance. It leads into a narrow hallway among elevators with men, the kind you turn and run from, crowded around. Many of them are either on drugs or are drug dealers, and some are gang members. If you choose to enter through those cloudy doors, you are up for grabs, especially if you look like you don’t belong. Although this is intimidating, there is a light at the end if you keep exploring.

Residents, guest, and friends use the left elevator. If you use the right elevator, you are a customer. It’s best to avoid the elevators completely if possible. They are loud, gray, smelly boxes with old food wrappers and crushed bottles piled in the corner.

Back Entrance

Use the back entrance. Although it has its own fair share of people around it, they are not expecting the same thing as those salivating at the front. Past the back door entrance is a security station with Joe, the only security guard. He is willing to open the community center whenever he is on duty.

The community center is in a hallway directly between the two entrances. This hallway is painted all white, giving a false sterile appearance. It is dark and poorly lit. At the end is a door with peeling paint and the tiny words “Community Center” in faded black letters. The center screams of neglect. Mismatched ceiling tiles and buzzing lights are overhead. On the dirty glass windows near the door is a painted mural of pink and blue flowers.

The worst are the pink chairs. The fabric is stained with unidentifiable substances. Many prefer to stand than sit in those chairs. Old stained white tables are folded up against the wall. That’s it. Nothing else is found in the community center except Ms. Karen.

Ms. Karen is the superwoman of Northgate 1. She fixes everything for the tenants and is found trying to raise the spirits of the adults and keep the children occupied. When someone needs something, they go to Ms. Karen. She always has an answer, a smile, a prayer.

Sunny D is the mascot of Northgate 1. He is seven, and he is already scamming people for money and hitting on pretty girls. He wants to be a “gangsta” when he grows up, and, like Ms. Karen, is a permanent fixture in North Gate 1.

The Community Center

Children of all ages run around the center, filling it with giggles and shouts. If the front entrance is the dark of Northgate 1, than this is the light.

Outside, objects fall from the sky. Many residents throw things out their windows and off their balconies. All manner of baby toys, blocks, pillows, trash, and any item the children can get their hands on are thrown out the window. If this is questioned, the residents shrug it off. It happens all the time.

Even with the hidden gems like Ms. Karen and her community center, Northgate 1 is often thought of as a center for scum and violence; often, this is true. Northgate 1 can be an imposing building reeking of danger. But it can also be a home for those like Sunny D and Ms. Karen.