NewarkBound’s publisher wants to dispel perceptions about long-struggling city by focusing on lively nightlife and arts scene.This is a new venture of DMC Publishing, whose principals, Victor Nichols, Pam Goldstein and Tony Jones, also operate Diversity Marketing and Communications, of Florham Park. Nichols, the publisher of NewarkBound, said his goal “is to get people with disposable income to come to Newark, and then get them to triangulate experiences. If you go to NJPAC for a play, you can come a little earlier and stop at the Newark Museum, or stay later and have dinner in the Ironbound or have a nightcap at one of the new bars that are popping up.”

He said the timing is right for NewarkBound, with the Super Bowl coming to the Meadowlands in 2014 and new downtown development changing the look of the city.

Nichols said NewarkBound will help counter some negative perceptions among out-of-towners.

“The elephant in the room is the perception of crime,” Nichols said. When people who don’t know the city consider coming in for dinner “the first thing in their mind is: ‘Is my car going to be safe? Am I going to be safe? Is it safe?’ You run a risk of being mugged when you go to New York City, but that is not a consideration when you are driving through the Lincoln Tunnel.”

Al Koeppe is president of the Newark Alliance, one of several key organizations in the city that have publicly welcomed the new magazine. Koeppe said he hopes NewarkBound encourages visitors to move beyond downtown and explore other parts of the city.

“Newark needs to have community connections within the city as well as outside the city,” he said. “This is a city of life. I’m not saying there are not problems, but there is life throughout the wards.”

Koeppe said he also would like to see NewarkBound “reflect the writings and experiences of Newarkers, who have experienced the city from different perspectives.” He said Newark needs to “create an identity that reflects the community itself.”

