NJ Devils and owners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer are betting big on Newark

NEWARK — Joshua Harris and David Blitzer have never been afraid to invest in cities that others tend to overlook. The Devils owners are betting big on Newark with the desire to turn it into a favorable option to New York City, much the same way they’re betting on a city farther south in New Jersey, Camden, which happens to be right across the river from their basketball team. 

Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment has quite the impressive portfolio of teams and venues with the Devils, the Prudential Center, the Philadelphia 76ers and Crystal Palace FC, but the owners believe there is more to life than wins and losses.

Their visions extend well past the ice and the hardwood; their visions lie in the communities outside of the venues.

Which is why Harris and his wife, Marjorie, were at B.R.I.C.K Peshine Academy in Newark on a sweltering Tuesday morning. The Devils have been longtime partners with DREAM, formerly Harlem RBI, an organization that provides inner-city youth with academic and athletic opportunities. The Harris Family Charitable Foundation recently helped with a grant for a new literacy program, and Harris was on hand to talk to kids in the program about the importance of academics in sports. 

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Investing in the community is all part of their vision to build up Newark into the next Hoboken or Jersey City. 

“The vision for Newark is to attract over time people into the area that then have the opportunity not only to work in Newark, but to work in New York City,” Harris said. “Once they get to Newark, local business will be supported by the kind of economic development.”

HBSE is working with developers and the city to revitalize the downtown area by creating an entertainment district that will not only draw more fans to Devils games, but turn the Prudential Center into a destination venue for concert goers and families looking for a night out.

They hope to develop the area between Newark Penn Station and the Prudential Center, making it safer while helping the local economy. 

There’s no sugarcoating Newark’s reputation. The high violent crime and homelessness rates don’t exactly scream family friendly. But Harris, Blitzer and their charitable organizations are imaging a new Newark, and they want others to share their vision. 

“When you get outside, people remember some of the difficult things that happened here,” Harris said. “Our job is to attract people to come in because it’s pretty good here. So the more we can do that, the better.”

Thousands of residential units are going up in new or restored buildings, many with sparkling views of the New York skyline, and the city recently made a pitch to Amazon to bring HQ2 to New Jersey’s largest city. Harris notes that Newark is cheaper than Brooklyn and just as convenient to Manhattan, but it takes more than just a hockey team and affordable housing to draw people away from a cultural epicenter such as New York. 

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“We’ve got to do things that make people’s lives better and that’s what we’re doing here and we’re right in the middle of it,” he said. “Whether it be investing in local businesses, helping kids that don’t have the same advantages as us growing up, whether it be putting on a great show at the Pru Center or drawing a world-class entertainment to the Pru Center and also getting people to Newark.”