Nikki Nailbomb and City Gardens

By: Karin Flannery

The 70’s and 80’s introduced an era of social change in American society. Evident inequalities in daily life were finding justice, and the prejudice expressed between races was slowly but surely declining. As members of different cultures and backgrounds were sharing experiences, the gap between races began to close. A common hot spot for these shared events was the nightclub, an establishment created for nighttime enjoyment, with a large focus on music. One of the most influential nightclubs in New Jersey was located right in the heart of Trenton. Founded by the Nalbone family, “City Gardens” became a prime location to share music, thoughts, and ideas. Although many people give credit to Randy Now, the promoter of City Gardens, the majority of its success is due to the work of the Nalbone family.

One of the best attributes of City Gardens was its ability to unify all visitors. It is human nature to live a life of pattern, and during times of intense change, whether beneficial or unfavorable, it is commonplace to find oneself feeling lost. City Gardens allowed all who felt lost to come together and feel integrated through the messages of the songs and the melodies of the instruments. It was not only a place to be entertained, but rather a safe haven to feel understood by a more experimental and artistic audience. Jon Stewart from the Daily Show spoke about this in an interview saying, “Finding City Gardens was like, ‘Oh maybe I’m not a giant weirdo. Maybe there are other people who have a similar sense of yearning for something other than what they have now. It was a very creative environment.” Nobody understands this better than Nikki Nailbomb, the daughter of the owner of City Gardens.

Randy Now is the face and name of City Gardens. Most people look at him as the man behind the musical insurrection. Although he did contribute a lot to City Gardens, more credit is due to the Nalbone family for operating the club, keeping the business running and using smart business tactics while running the place. Nikki Nailbomb explains first hand how her family worked behind the scenes.

In an interview conducted with Nikki Nailbomb, she tells us that her family to this day has negative feelings about Randy Now and some of the ways in which he conducted himself and acted. Nikki says, “Well my parents are creative funny smart business people. My dad was an awesome dark room photographer and he burned silk screened and made city gardens t-shirts. They fixed the building constantly and were super ‘by the books and by code’ behind the scenes to keep everything going. My dad bought pizza ovens and made pizzas with hot pickles on them, my mom was the bar manager and flew around hanging skeletons for Halloween and setting the party. They were always on the roof re-tarring it and dealing with knocked out teeth.” This Italian-American family, originally in it for the business, had to deal with issues they never saw coming such as filling in kicked-in holes in walls and keeping firearms out of their building. Although they were not used to the punk scene brought about by the community, they knew a good deal about music and learned to make things work and bring music-lovers together for a common purpose.

Regardless of who owned, operated, or promoted the night club, there is no doubt that City Gardens was an influential aspect of music culture in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. With constant entertainment that not only provided a source for social innovation as well as an outlet for daily life angst, the club helped to promote social change. At a time and place of intense racial emotions, the club allowed for bonding and relationship building.