If you love Ninja Warrior, you’re going to love Hudson Play – an indoor obstacle park that has a Ninja Warrior course including speed wall rock climbing feature, a warped wall, and a host of other features.
“The idea is not to step onto the floor,” said Ilana Libman, co-owner of the facility located in the auditorium of a former Catholic grammar school on Brunswick Street in Jersey City.
Participants go from feature to feature using handholds, ropes, and other elements. In one sequence, a climber will go from holding onto bars to grabbing a rope-like net.
For kids or adults, the course weaves through the room that requires a person to climb, or jump, manager ropes and pulleys, and a variety of other obstacles to eventually bring you back to the point in which you started.
The idea is to test your skills and your ability to improve the total time it takes to get through it.
The Ninja Warrior course is inspired by the popular NBC TV Show and it designed to accommodate anyone from 5 years old to adult.
Less physical but equally intense is the virtual reality roller coaster, with 18 themes from space travel to kiddy rides. The cave theme provides more than a few heart-stopping moments especially when the imaginary track disappears out from under you. To inspire you, the stage area runs a constant film loop of Ninja Warrior going through a similar course.
“This place was inspired out of my needs.” — Ilana Libman
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Although the Ninja course is the most visible feature, Hudson Play is actually an event space that can be used for parties and other get-togethers.
Features include an imaginary playground where children can build their own playground out of blocks, or get help from parents as a kind of family bonding experience. There is another area for tabletop games, where families can gather as well.
The snack bar provides healthy refreshments, mostly organic.
“I call them guilt free refreshments,” Libman said. “Parents do not have to worry that their kids are eating junk.”
Six years in development
Libman said Hudson Play is something she envisioned more than six years ago, but could not find a space to make it happen.
“I’ve lived in Jersey City for 20 years,” Libman said. “This place was inspired out of my needs. Kids didn’t have any place to go.”
When she finally found a location she thought was adequate, someone got it first.
“I finally found a place on Pacific Avenue,.” Libman said. “But we didn’t get it.”
What she got, however, was a partner, named Jay Batra, a local IT executive who was seeking to develop something that would accommodate his kids.
“We were neighbors and both parents, and there were few opportunities in Hoboken or Jersey City for kids,” Batra said.
What they wanted was to create a place that has what they called “ambiance.”
“We wanted something nobody’s seen before,” Libman said.
The idea of the center is to provide the area with a space where they can hold events, not just one involving the Ninja course, but any kind of event from wedding to birthday celebrations. “Anything is possible,” Batra said.
Hudson Play has already done fundraisers for a number of local organizations and envisioned more in the future.
They have booked two-hour segments for birthday parties for young kids, or parties with themes, such as one that involved attendees dressing up as the characters from the film X-Men.
“This used to be a school, and a lot of people who come here remember when they came here,” Libman said. “They recall when this place was full of laughter. When the building closed, the laughter died. Well, now it’s been reborn.”
Classes and programs galore
The event space can handle groups as large as 350 people. While the regular hours of operations for the play space are from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (the health bar opens at 8 a.m.); 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, extended hours are available for groups and private events.
Hudson Play recently held a fundraiser for JC Lacrosse and held an end of the school year dance party as well. It has a fundraiser week Big Brother and Big Sisters of Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties from June 20 to 26.
Hudson Play offers a five week Ninja Warrior Training Group Class designed to improve core strength and hone techniques for improving time.
The snack bar offers healthy smoothies and fresh juices as well as gluten-free, vegan, and dairy-free snack options. Hudson Play is located at 189 Brunswick St. For more information email info@hudsonplaynj.com.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.