One of my Uncles most favorite sayings, and he always said it to me whenever I was about to talk back lol

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As a Jersey guy I love my Jersey girls, forget about the Bruce Springsteen song for a bit. I am a product of the 70s 80s and early 90s. I can remember my mom and aunt like many mothers holding down a job coming home to cook and clean making sure our homework was done and some mothers even when out to do a second shift afterwards because it needed to be done in order to pay the bills.

Jersey Girls have a confidence like no others not to mention have the biggest hearts and well, not to mention if you get into an argument anywhere they have your back even when you are wrong they got you.

And well will give you the most Dead Pan Sarcastic answer in under a second…

So we cooked up a few designs for our Jersey Girls…

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Cawfee Jersey Style Jerz Wear

It’s Cawfee, not a Venti but Cawfee got that? Coming from my part of Jersey yes its Cawfee not Coffee not venti but Cawfee. Sometimes you just got to let people know right? One of our latest designs fro…

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One of the most annoying things to ever say to a true person from Jersey is to say Oh You’re from Joisey. For years I have been living in Florida and people ask me so where are you from? I say Jersey, not New Jersey not Old Jersey but Jersey.

Then they try and be cute and say oh Joisey with a chuckle, now to be fair in their mind they are trying to break the ice and make a joke. But I fully assure you when you say Joisey implying that is how we sound or talk you are just pissing us off but some of us will be nice about it and some of us well will let you know to not ever say that to us again.

How did it all Start?

Years ago in the early 80s, Saturday Night Live was struggling to be funny again after the original cast was gone. So they hired a so-called funny man named Joe Piscopo. Now I will say that I loved him in the movie he did with Danny Devito Wise Guys. And a few other things he did, but as a young comedian, he did a skit that would forever change how may see us as being from the great garden state.

I tried to find it on youtube but for some reason, it’s not there, but in short, it was him standing in the weeds but either the Turnpike or Parkway I can remember it was the early 80s an I was like 9 or 10 but he kept repeating “Are you from Josiey I’m From Joisey” over and over and somehow that just stuck in people’s minds it’s not as bad now as it was years ago but you will hear it on occasion.

So thank You Joe Piscopo for absolutely positively nothing you Hump and we will have words if I ever see you.

So now you know…

It’s Jersey

See a second more direct design below in case the one above is too nice for you

It’s Jersey Not Joisey You Hump

How many times when someone asks you where you are from and you say Jersey? And as soon as you do the person you are talking to has to be a wise ass and say “Oh Joisey”. Newsflash its Jers…

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Actually, I started Jer Z Wear for two reasons, 1st reason was the fact that I didn’t like the options that were offered to me to represent my home state that I love so much. I always felt I could do better than what is out there. And in my opinion, our designs represent the true Jerseyean.

And the 2nd reason is that all revenue from Jer Z Wear goes to fund the Non-Profit I started back in 2016 making it tax-exempt 501c3 in 2018 so I can do it full time. The JRX Foundation was started so I can feed and clothes the Homeless people and veterans I see every day on the street handing them out clothes, and hygiene packs to help them survive on the streets.

And then when a Storm or freak act of nature hits like Hurricane Michael or the Tornadoes in the Midwest we are there to aid in disaster relief and help during and after a tragic event. When the city of Newark had their mini-water crisis We Were There handing out bottles of water to people who could not get to the water stations due to the fact they had to work.

You can see all our adventures here on our Blog …

You see many misconceptions about starting a nonprofit is that the donations just roll in, and that is very far from the truth. Now if you are a big established nonprofit like the United Way, Unicef, or pick your cancer cause sure they roll in.

Now with a small nonprofit like us then in short no. We however get some donations here and there to help out here and there but many times I have to take a side job here and there for a few weeks which I have no problem with but I lose valuable time where I could be doing my full mission instead of just the local stuff when I can.

That is why Jer Z Wear and our other online stores in conjunction with our Amazon Smile are important the revenue from them keeps me on the road full time in between donations and odd jobs.

So for those who have been buying our designs… Thank You.. You are helping us more than you know. For those reading this thank you for your time and now you know just how important Jer Z Wear is.

I am Stephen Steenback Born October 30 1971 at St Barnabas Hospital in Livingston NJ. Raised in Maplewood by way of Newark (Nork) and Kearny. My Sicilian/Irish family hails from the North Ward of Newark 4th ave and Roseville ave. My Sicilian uncles one lived on 6th street and the other lived at 280 N 11th street. My Irish side ( My Dads side) lived on the corner of Wilson and Devon st in Kearny. My Dad would later live there after my parents fully separated in 1985.

I was a happy kid Maplewood was one of those Norman Rockwell towns kinda small and everyone knew everyone. And if you didn’t know someone you most likely knew someone who did. Even my pre-pre-school was in an old school house built in the 1800s. those were my earliest memories of 1976 I remember the old wood and the dirty windows but to me it was soooo cool.

Maplewood was incorporated in 1861 so there was a lot of history there when I was growing up hell the house I grew up in was so old some records say it was built in the 1900s and some say late 1800s. All I know is that it was the weirdest apt building I ever lived in and the most haunted yes I said Haunted.

If I wasn’t in Maplewood then I was with my uncle taking me to my other uncles in Newark getting some of the fine Italian Double Dog/ Sausage and Peppers or Dirty water dog dining. Or I was in Kearny with my dad and other cousins. I had a very awesome childhood and teenage years I really did.

I am from the time when my Sicilian Mother cooked her awesome food 5 to 6 days a week and eat out once a week. Getting Burger King and Mc Donalds was considered a treat, diners really didn’t count as anything special you were in there for lunch or just a few coffees all the time. And if you are not in a diner you were in a luncheonette (It was always Ralphs’s Luncheonette for me) Kinda the same thing but they closed before dinner.

I was in Our Lady of Sorrows till 4th grade then Jefferson before starting Maplewood Middle School then eventually graduating from Columbia High School in 1989. I was your typical gear head guido, I’d like to think I got a pretty good education. Even though my ADD wasn’t diagnosed until I was friggin 26, but hey what did they know back then right?

I would never change the era and the way I grew up, my parents and uncles worked very hard and gave me the work ethic and morals I have today. My neighborhood memories are amazing, from feeding the deer in the late 70s in the South Mountain Reservation. To the Memorial Day and 4th of July Parades going down Valley St. To the summer movies in the second part of Memorial Park.

To getting 3 or 4 of your best friends and just disappearing for a while on your BMX Bike or Skateboard till the sun went down on hot and humid summer nights. You see after 6 PM Maplewood and South Orange closed. Sure some gas stations were open, and the pizzerias and some sub shops were open till 11 PM if you really needed something to eat you had the 24 hr diners.

Fast forward to 2015 after a 25-year semi-kickboxing and boxing career, 21 years with FedEx Express I started in 1989 til 2011. I started building The JRX Foundation.. I decided two things I need to fund it somehow and I have not found one shirt I liked to show my Jersey Pride.

So I came out with Jer Z Wear and have not looked back.

Yes, all funds generated go to fund my NonProfit.

Whew well, that’s it for now stay tuned for more about my life and more designs from Jer Z Wear, I gotta give you guys some stories to look forward to heh heh…

Maplewood NJ Shirts

I have spent my childhood in many cities in North Jersey, but Maplewood is where I spent 90% of my time. One of the last Norman Rockwell kind of towns. You knew everyone and they knew you, of you k…

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Black Rifle Coffee Thoughts… Today I had some of the awesome Black Rifle Coffee, I think I had a little too much honestly. But yes we love this stuff and we hope you like it as well if you decide to try it…

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Thanks to that Douche Canoe Joe Piscopo who did a skit on Saturday Night Live in the early 80s. The you from Joisey I’m From Joisey one where he thinks it was actually funny. Well we are to tell you it isn’t and we have come up with this to let you know a real person from the great garden state says Jersey never Joisey.

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For those like me who grew up around Newark or Kearny. I had an awesome childhood I was raised in three areas Maplewood, Newark and Kearny. This is one of the reasons why I started Jer-Z Wear, I love my state and hometowns.

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If I wasn’t in Maplewood or Newark then I was in Kearny where my dad stayed and my Aunt and Cousins were there as well. My Aunt moved there sometime in the late 60s I believe when she got married my grandmother lived there as well this was my Irish side my dad’s side actually. They lived on the corner of Wilson and Devon st on the 3rd floor.

They moved on the other side to Wilson and Devon to a two family house sometime in the very early 80s they had the first floor. My dad first worked for Conrail then he got a job as a teamster delivering lumber for Morbach Kaslander. He would sometimes come to Maplewood for lunch when I was a kid and let me sit in his truck and blow the air horn.

I miss my dad he wasn’t perfect but he was a good man, and he loved me and that’s all I needed.

Now Kearny is also Soccer Town USA and with good reason, my older cousin played soccer for Queen of Peace then Montclair State College. I’ll never tell him how proud of him I am but he was a stud and should have been picked for the world cup in 1990 not friggin Tony Meola I’ll tell you that but there is politics in everything right?

Kearny is a mixture of a city and a town, Kearny ave is very city-like while you have some nice friggin houses and some big houses too that are mansion-like in fact yea there are some million-dollar homes. But then you have South Kearny which is warehouses and industrial-like. Skyler ave between the Belleville pike and Harrison ave is kinda city like. An make no mistake Kearny is one place where you better know how to use your hands if not you will learn really quick.

Kearny at one time was mostly Italian, Irish, and Scottish and man did you know it. In the 50s-60s and 70s if you tried to cross the Clay St bridge from Newark you were kindly told to turn around and go home. Eventually, there was a Portuguese influx in the 80s and Kearny started being more diverse.

The Food Of Kearny…

Kearny is surrounded by awesome diners, a few ok pizza places like Pizza Land. And a few very awesome Sub Shops like Big Stashes on Kearny Ave and D&F Deli on Davis Ave. You do have a local Quick Check that used to make some good food, haven’t been there in a while. Sadly Kearny is starting to get the big chains there like Applebees ( You will never catch me in there just saying) WAWA and of course Walmart but Worse comes to worse I’ll go to Shoprite and get some deli meats and some bread ( For the record they got some badass sandwich rolls)

Sadly the Stewarts Root Beer on Passiac ave has been closed for some time now. I was lucky enough to eat there before is closed up for good. And there is a Teixeira’s Bakery on Kearny ave that is just fantastic.

For breakfast there is no other place for me other than The Bagel House on the Belleville pike the coffee has its days but the food is always fantastic.

Now keep in mind these are just my opinions, many out there may read this and have some different views and that is fine no worries.

Kearny in a Nutshell

Is it a perfect Norman Rockwell town? Nope trust me it has its issues maybe more issues than any other place. Parts of Kearny border Newark and Jersey City. And Kearny is not for the thin skinned but its also a place where everyone just about knows everyone. With all the bars on Kearny Ave and on certain surrounding streets you are bound to run into someone you know. Or everyone who wasn’t there knows you were there because someone saw you and told everyone you were there.

If you go to the local Shoprite on Passiac ave you are definitely running into someone you know. Again it’s a town/city it’s big but not too big if that makes any sense. A lot of episodes of The Sopranos were shot there, Satriales was on Kearny ave but sadly it was torn down after the series ended its now a parking lot.

I love Kearny its has the perfect mixture for me, and I learned a lot living there. My very fist job out in the world was the old J&L Auto Parts on Bellegrove drive. Sure my first job was pumping gas but that was in Maplewood across the street where I lived and everyone knew me.

J&L was right outta high school I knew no one and really had no real-life experience yet. A few months later in November of ’89, I would start a second job at Newark airport for FedEx and work both till I had to give up one. Somedays I’d sleep in Maplewood and other days at my Aunts it was starting to be too much for an 18-19-year-old. But Jim was an awesome boss and became a great friend even after I left J&L.

I loved living in Kearny for the two years I was fully there, staying at my cousins crusin the ave on weekends from 89 to 91 working for Jim. I learned a lot over the years and I am very grateful for it.