“My local bookstore is better than yours!”
Kieanna Childs Alexander
“Classics is, in my mind, a true community center and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Richard Behrens, The Trenton Review
“Trenton desperately needs a ‘Think Tank’ of visionaries, leaders, movers and shakers. The future of Trenton is too important to ignore!”
David Byers
“For the past two years, the community collaboration at Classics has, to date, donated enough books so that every Columbus School student has chosen a book to add to their home library.”
Sharon Coats, Columbus Elementary School
“Classics is a critical part of our city’s revival. It has been a pioneer in community outreach, taking steps that other Trentonians only think about.”
Julie D. D. Coston
“I’d already taken the Isles job and no way was I living not-in-Trenton — but everything was still crazy, I was still commuting in from North Jersey, it was tough finding an apt, and it was just gloomy sometimes — and Chris Shimchick brought me to Classics, and there was James Baldwin. So that was the moment when I was like ‘hey, it’s gonna be okay – Trenton’s gonna be okay.”
Iana Dikidjieva
“This book store it not just a book store, its a community melting pot and meeting place. It’s a bright spot in the city of Trenton.”
Todd Evans, Capital City Open Mic
“Classics has donated hundreds of children’s books to literacy projects based in Trenton but also reaching to disadvantaged children in Africa. When the history of great bookstores is written Classics will be rated with City Lights.”
Harold Fleming, Society of Friends
“The Scrabble community at Classics is a tightly-knit group of disparate members; all kinds of shapes, sizes, ages, races, religions, personality types and geography being represented. The community is also very loyal, not only to the game, but to each other.”
Didi Goldmark
“Classics is one of Trenton’s prime assets. No city can be said to be civilized without bookstores and Classics is one of the best. Highly knowledgeable staff, well organized stock and fair prices. Also – a real center of the community with interesting stuff always going on. Even when events aren’t scheduled, there is usually good conversation in progress.”
A. Toby Grace, Out in Jersey
“I don’t know anyone in Barnes&Nobles but everyone in Classics knows me. Bought 3 books today.”
Darren Freedom Green
“This bookstore is excellent. It’s overwhelming, actually, so many great books in a concentrated space.”
Hessian reenactor
“If it wasn’t for Classics, and the various extra-hours events hosted there, …I would not have found my new career.”
Arthur Iurilli
“The Classics Bookshop was, from the start, the best place to ask questions about Trenton, and find out “who was involved with what.”
Harry Jackendoff
“I can’t imagine an entity that (builds community) more than Classics. They have what appears to be one continual community meeting, with people dropping in 6 days a week.”
Eric E. Jackson
“The Scrabble Club at Classics saved my life. By the end of a year-long, never-miss-a-Friday-night Scrabble routine, I had made dozens of new friends and even found a job.”
Tasha Kersey
“I believe that when people socialize and talk together, the community grows stronger. People who otherwise might never meet can share ideas and resources. This is true with Classics events.”
Sharon Levy, Taking Tea in Style
“Classics community involvement continues to play an integral part in efforts by the Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) to bring life to downtown Trenton.”
Eva Loayza
“The Classics Saturday Event Series is an important force for bringing people together. I read my poetry there in collaboration with jazz musician Tommy Gryce and brought in students, friends and people I did not know from all over Central Jersey.”
Doughtry (Doc) Long
“Classics is part chapel, part candy store and I am seven and my mom has just given me a quarter for penny candy.”
Sid Manikos
“Classics has become a community building environment which both me and my girls would lament being without.”
Najah Masudi
“Moving here to Trenton has presented its own challenges and while I am grateful to the growth, development, accomplishments and the particular people that have either enriched my life or have taught me a very valuable lesson, there is NOTHING that brings me more joy in this City than visiting our own local Classic Books & Gifts store located at 4 West Lafayette Street in Trenton, NJ….”
Aubrey Mollinedo
“My sister was not going to consider having her wedding at the Trenton Marriott, until I told her how comfortable I am attending Friday Night Scrabble games at the book store. I have found myself advocating for the revitalizing of the city of Trenton.”
Kyla Mostello
“Not only is it a superb second-hand bookshop, where one can browse for hours, find great bargains and meet interesting people, but it offers a whole array of outreach activities. Classics has become an exemplar of how Trenton’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity can be transformed into a force for positive social change on an ongoing basis.”
Jon Naar
“Classics Bookstore in Trenton is more than a bookshop. It’s a happening.”
Beth Plankey
“At the BOOST meeting, we were in our infancy and the meeting at Classics allowed potential BOOST stakeholders to bond in an intimate, educational,a nd ideally located downtown location and setting.”
Tim Razzaq, BOOST
“I used to show up, play a few games of Scrabble and go home, but I’ve found the relationship has expanded. I’ve since taught several origami classes at the bookstore, made new friends and, most importantly, gotten to know the city of Trenton.”
Daniel Robinson, Classics Scrabble Invitational Tournament Champion 2007
“Classics has become a focal point not only for linking organizations, but also has become a place where the community in Trenton gathers to define needs and share solutions to community problems.”
Bill Rovner, Children’s Futures
“I ended up jobless and living in a filthy warehouse where I was locked in every night without the freedom to come and go. The people I have met at Classics have provided me not only with a respite from my situation, but with contacts in the community to help get out of the spot I was in.”
(George) Sando
“One of the truly unique things about Classics is that both black and white people feel comfortable there. This is the kind of situation that builds community, acknowledging and furthering the best of what it means to live in a diverse city.”
Bea Scala-Fischler
“I applaud Classics for working to overcome a challenge that has faced our city for a very long time.”
Cordelia M. Staton
“A warm space that offers the freedom of speech for all who enter, as well as wonderful books to read for the children of the community.”
Chef Elizabeth Stelling, Cultural Art Expression
“There is no enterprise more involved in bringing together people and organizations to air and discuss current issues and no citizen more committed than Eric Maywar to a vital downtown and an informed and engaged community.”
Janet Stern and George Theodoridis
“I am a member of the Urban Studies Group which meets at Classics every other week to read books that directly address issues faced by the citizens of Trenton. I can’t think of a business in Trenton so dedicated to the community.”
Pat Stewart, South Trenton Residents Society
“Classics is increasingly seen as the source for many creative new ideas for the revitalization of Trenton and its downtown area. It is also a critical partner for many local community members and emerging leaders….”
John Thurber, Thomas Edison State College
“Although I live and work in New York City, I am in Trenton each Friday evening as a participant in the Classics Bookstore’s Scrabble Club. I have been able to witness, with a significant degree of awe, how Eric Maywar’s networking skills have brought people from extremely divergent backgrounds together in downtown Trenton. In the best sense of the word “community,” Eric believes it is his moral obligation to give back to his business’ patrons something more than simple mercantile exchange.”
Mark Walter