Thanks so much for the information (old and new). Hope all goes well as this is the last hurdle prior to closing (or so we would like to believe).

There you go, it's $45 to Manhattan.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_rate.shtml

Councilman Fulop,

How many petitions do you need signed to put your initiatives on the November ballot?

See this link: http://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/

I'm a transplanted former New Yorker and moved to Jersey City about 17 years ago, and although I do hear of crime and the crime rate here, I have to wonder where it is taking place. I don't doubt that it's going on, I'm just wondering where?

Hi
We're meeting some family from Europe at JFK and were how best to get from there back to JC - just curious if about a cab, or if we should reserve a car service (they're coming through customs so we're not sure of the timing)

We usually fly Newark, so we're not so experienced - any thoughts on price/strategy?

Thanks in advance

Just have brunch at Ox again...wish I had two stomachs...wanted more but just couldn't make it fit.

Check out the Baltimore's Power Plant website. I like it but I can definetly see some old timers not vibing the whole tourist district. This project was hugely successfull for Baltimore and has been recreated by other cities across the nation. Your thoughts?

http://www.powerplantlive.com/

Woe to the sorry lot of you who thrive on other people's troubles. Jerry is an amazing guy with a truly wonderful family and children who are blessed to have him as a father. Anyone who knew Jerry's late Jewish father, Arnold, knows that among his art collection was also Nazi parephnalia, as a reminder who is still here and who is not. Jerry lives a liberal life, as he was brought up, as is prevalent in the place and times in which we live, but does not deny his roots. As for his father in-law, if he was such an antisemite would he let his daughter marry a Jew, and warmly refer to Jerry as his "token Jew" for good luck!!! Also, anyone who knew Arnold Taufield would know that he was an avid arms collector, including classic pieces, swords, knives, etc. As an art collector it is not surprising that people would try to sell him hot items, and it looks like one or two succeeded. Does that make his son a criminal??? For twenty years, Jerry has been "sitting" on his father's belongings, not knowing what to do with them and not wanting to reopen the wound of his father's tragic murder. Instead of your scorn and jealousy, he is an exemplary citizen who could do well with the warmth and support of the community he serves. Shame on all of you!

SAM PESIN: Park protector

Following in his dad's footsteps, he guards Miss Liberty's backyard

Sunday, June 15, 2008
BY CHRISTINE V. BAIRD
Star-Ledger Staff

Sam Pesin can't help himself.

With a stunning view of the Statue of Liberty less than 2,000 feet across the harbor this chilly day, he's looking down, analyzing dirt on the covering of a sign that explains how his dad became known as the "father of Liberty State Park." He's trying to figure out if the grime is inside or outside.

"You know what I do? I clean it up on the anniversary of my dad's passing," he says. "They have a special cleaning fluid that I get from the maintenance staff."

Tending his father's legacy has become Pesin's passion, whether that means cleaning up the park or helping, as president of the Friends of Liberty State Park, an open-space advocacy group, to slay the next commercial giant trying to plop a golf course or water park on the public grounds.

It's not unusual for Pesin, a wiry 5-foot-3 with thick reddish hair and bushy gray beard, to jump the promenade's guard rail onto the rocks to clear trash that has washed ashore.

His pockets bulging with litter he has collected, Pesin walks through the park and is quickly recognized. "Hey, Sam, did you see the new plants and flowers we put on Freedom Way?" calls Dale Cummings, a park worker and Pesin fan.

"The thing about it is that he really cares. It's not political," says Cummings, who lives in Jersey City. And the park is "really important because it's right here in the inner city, right in the 'hood so to speak. It's needed."

A great story

The need for open space -- something Pesin's father fiercely believed in -- is why the son spends most of his time outside of teaching preschool looking out for the park. "To me, one of the greatest things about Liberty Park is that the people fought for a free park, putting democracy into action behind the Statue of Liberty," says Pesin, 58. "That's a really great story."

The story began 50 years ago, when his father, Morris, a store owner, paddled a canoe from the Jersey City waterfront of rotting piers and decaying rail yards to Liberty Island to show how quick a trip it would be. The time: about eight minutes.

The stunt was the idea of a Jersey Journal editor, to whom Pesin had complained for a year about a family trip to the Statue of Liberty that was marred by traffic to and from Manhattan, the only place to catch the ferry. Pesin also pointed out that New Jersey's waterfront wasteland was a "shameful" backdrop for Miss Liberty

Ethel Pesin, 93, says her husband asked her if he should get in a boat. She gave her blessings only after he confirmed his insurance was paid.

On June 13, 1958, Morris Pesin made the voyage that launched a park. That's when he and a handful of local activists started to get people -- from Jersey City neighbors to government officials -- excited about the idea.

Their vision was realized on Flag Day 1976, when Liberty State Park opened as New Jersey's bicentennial gift to the nation.

At the time, it was about 35 acres -- across from Lady Liberty at the end of a street named Morris Pesin Drive. Today, it's nearly 1,200 acres, with more than 300 open to the park's 4 million annual visitors.

Yesterday, Sam Pesin and his family were scheduled to re-enact the boat trip to commemorate the 50th anniversary and to place a wreath in Morris Pesin's honor on Liberty Island, a fitting Father's Day tribute.

"My father was a visionary leader, and I'm surely blessed to try to do my best to carry on in his giant footsteps, protecting his great legacy," Pesin says.

To do so, he spends countless hours writing letters, making phone calls, attending meetings and organizing rallies about park issues. The letter writing comes easiest. "You can just use every superlative in the dictionary and it matches the park," he says in his mellow voice.

Yet, when he's riled, you don't want to be the object of his ire, like the ice cream truck near the boarding area for the Liberty Island ferry that's playing a jarring tune nonstop. "They have to change that soundtrack. Maybe I have to picket it," he says, grinning.

Turning serious, he heads toward the construction site of a planned 9/11 memorial on the waterfront plaza.

"Look through the fence," he says. "Look at the Empire State Building."

A peek shows just its tip visible above the 10-foot hill that will be the base of a proposed 30-foot-tall monument. The rest of Manhattan, including Ground Zero, is obscured. The Friends group is suing the state over the memorial, which Pesin calls "view-blocking."

Feting the Friends

Pesin is anxiously running around the sun-filled second floor of the park's Liberty House restaurant one April afternoon, hosting a luncheon to honor volunteers and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Friends and the 50th anniversary of his dad's trip.

He wants to be sure everyone from the early activists to the current volunteers are thanked. Soon, a cake will arrive so the group can sing "Happy Birthday" in honor of the anniversaries.

"There is only one Sam," says his mother's friend, Eleanor Bouer, who unsuccessfully tries to get Pesin to stop to eat his chicken entree. "This park is his dream, his hope, his life."

Pesin doesn't accept praise easily, readily sharing it with others, especially his father, but he gets it anyway.

"It's not often that a son reaches, succeeds and sometimes surpasses his dad, but Sam has done so much more," says Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

When Morris Pesin died in 1992, after 16 years spent keeping amphitheaters, condominiums and amusement parks out of the state's largest urban park, his son stepped up.

"My dad would talk to me about the battles and history," says Pesin, who felt compelled to fight, too, despite a gentle nature better suited to dancing around with preschoolers.

He's an unlikely warrior, but plenty tough, says Greg Remaud, conservation director of NY/NJ Baykeeper, who has worked with Pesin on park issues for 10 years.

"He is without a doubt the purest, most golden-hearted person I have met in my life," says Remaud, who worried about how Pesin would handle Hudson County politics. "I get protective sometimes of Sam because he is pure. But he's tenacious doing what he thinks is right. That is critical as an advocate."

At the luncheon, a roomful of advocates share memories of battles fought by the Friends to keep the park free and green.

"I'll tell you what it is, it's politicians riding along the Turnpike, and they see these beautiful lawns out there and say, 'What can I put there?'" says John Tichenor, the group's first president. Even a doll museum was proposed, he says.

The Friends, a member of the state's Liberty State Park advisory committee, has helped stop, among other things, proposals for a water park and golf course and helped bring an end to the Liberty State Park Development Corp., an entity whose mission was to commercially develop the park.

Those grandiose projects were out of line with the park's master plan, says Robert Geddes, the architect who designed it. "The great achievement of the park is the crescent walk and the green park behind it," both of which have remained untouched by commercial development, he says.

At the luncheon, whistling starts when Charles Hannon, an 81-year-old Jersey City native, accepts a "byootiful" activist award and urges the crowd to keep fighting. "The battle is not over, but we will win," yells the World War II veteran.

Pesin contemplates the battle cry. "We always thought, 'Oh, we've reached a plateau and no more battles,'" he says wistfully. But another inevitably comes.

In addition to opposing the 9/11 memorial, an emotional issue for Pesin because it pits him against the victims' families, whom he respects, the group is fighting expansion of the private Liberty Landing Marina and the widening of a footpath into a road that will bring traffic through the park.

Child of the city

Born and raised in Jersey City, Pesin lives with his mother in a spacious apartment in a former industrial laundry near Tonnelle Avenue.

He's quick to offer a tour of his bedroom, a cluttered shrine to his dad, the walls covered with awards and citations, including Morris Pesin's 1985 award from President Ronald Reagan.

His mother just shakes her head. "Why do you bring people in here?" she asks.

Pesin comes from a progressive, politically active family. His parents met at a rally opposing Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.

Showmanship was key to Pesin family activism. When World War I ended, his grandfather delivered soda water in the Jersey City Heights with a coffin for Kaiser Wilhelm II attached to his horse-drawn carriage.

Morris Pesin, who was trained as a lawyer, won a city council seat by mounting a doghouse on his car roof, promising over a loudspeaker to be a watchdog. His campaign logo was a bespectacled German shepherd.

Sam Pesin is just himself. "You know Sam almost immediately," says baykeeper Remaud, but he's no pushover. "I can see a big, gruff developer saying, 'This is the guy whose gonna stop me?' But the fact of the matter is, he is exactly who is going to stop you. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have a free, open park. His dad would be so proud of what he's done as a man of the people."

Growing up, Pesin worked as a stock boy in the children's clothing shop his parents owned. "I never bought a piece of clothing 'til I was 24," he says. "They wanted me to be a model for the store, but I wanted to wear my jeans and T-shirts."

He studied political science at Boston University, tried law school and lived in a cabin in Vermont with no electricity for seven months. Summers were spent in Jersey City, except in 1969, when he went to Woodstock.

The summer the park opened, Pesin and his father went to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Jimmy Carter. "Despite our cultural differences, my liking rock 'n' roll and my father not, we always shared the same political views as pro-human rights Democrats," he says. "My father is my hero, though as a child it was Mickey Mantle."

After volunteering for a Head Start program in Boston, Pesin realized he liked working with kids, which he has done for 33 years. "The inherent goodness of children" motivates him, he says.

Currently, he's director of Garden Preschool Cooperative, a parent-run nonprofit in Jersey City. He uses his last name to spell out his educational philosophy: Physical, Emotional, Social, Intellectual Now.

At home in the park

Back at the park, Pesin stops at its playground, a space the Friends campaigned for after Pesin consulted the parks departments at Central Park and Prospect Park.

In this "uplifting" atmosphere, talk of battles ends. He points to trees and flowers the Friends donated, many planted by its volunteer gardeners. The group also sponsors concerts, history programs, marsh cleanups and a shuttle bus connecting the park to the light rail.

The recent news that 234 contaminated acres of the park's interior will be turned into a wildlife refuge and will be made off limits to developers, a project he supported, brings him joy.

"It's going to be mindboggling to have such a large natural area with trails in a metropolitan area," he says.

Pesin climbs to his favorite spot in the park, a landing atop a children's slide offering views of the park's historic trilogy -- the Central Railroad of New Jersey terminal, Ellis Island and Ms. Liberty, as Pesin mistakenly called her in the text he wrote for his dad's sign.

"People are going to think I'm a politically correct idiot," he says.

As he looks out, he gets dreamy. "You know what I'd like, it'll never happen of course, but if I retired from school, I'd like to live in Liberty Park in a tent or a cabin for the rest of my life," he says.

With that, the park's caretaker hops the slide back down to earth.

1. Favorite band: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

2. Last movie seen: "Freedom Writers" with Hilary Swank

3. Guilty pleasure: Chocolate ice cream

4. Hidden talent: Dancing to rock 'n' roll -- "more like a love than a talent"

5. Weakness: "Maybe leaving phone messages that are too long."

6. Person you'd most like to have lunch with: Nelson Mandela

Christine V. Baird may be reached at cbaird@starledger.com.

===========================================

A lead on lead in schools

Parents want info ASAP; Board of Ed gives results

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 06/14/2008


LEADING THE SCHOOLS? ? Jersey City School Superintendent Dr. Epps is the target of parents who wants lead testing in schools done sooner.

Parents of Jersey City schoolchildren want answers immediately about the lead levels in drinking water in the Jersey City public schools.

Members of Parents and Communities United for Education, a local grassroots organization, have petitioned School Superintendent Dr. Epps and members of the Board of Education in recent weeks to speed up water testing so that it can be done in time to tell parents from all schools about the results before the end of the school year.

They also want the results to be posted on the Jersey City Board of Education Web site (www.jcboe.org).

The testing is being done voluntarily by the Jersey City school system in all 45 of the city's public school buildings due to reports in January about the high level of lead in drinking water found at six schools (Schools 11, 23, 31, 6, 27, and 25).

Local newspaper articles said that some administrators in the school district knew about the lead problem for over a year in those schools, but did not tell parents.

PCUE members claimed that Dr. Epps verbally promised at a May 11 Board of Education facilities committee meeting that he would post the results of recent testing on the Board of Ed's Web site on June 6. They also have been waiting for letters notifying them of the test results.

Shut off at three schools

Last week, Roger Jones, spokesperson for the Board of Education, said the testing will conclude sometime between June 25 and July 1. Jones also said that letters were sent out to parents starting this past Thursday detailing the findings from seven schools as the result of the current testing.

Jones said that the recent results would be posted on the Board of Ed's Web site by this past Friday.

Jones said initial results from testing have led to the shut down of drinking sources at Snyder High School, Public School 29, and Academy 1.

Where lead lurks

Lead poisoning is estimated to affect over 300,000 children nationwide each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Children and adults sometimes suffer from exposure because they live in old homes painted with lead-based paint, which was used until 1978.

The exposure also comes from drinking water contaminated by lead as the result of old water pipes, or from living in areas contaminated by leaded gasoline, widely used in the U.S. until the 1970s.

In older urban areas like Jersey City, the problem is more prevalent.

Those exposed to lead can suffer from health problems including kidney failure or sight or hearing loss.

In children up to 3 years old, lead changes the cell structure and chemistry of developing brains, which can create maladies such as decreased intelligence, impaired cognitive function, and increased hyperactivity and aggression levels.

Lead in the body is measured by the Blood Lead Level (BLL), calculated in micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (ug/dL). The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta states that a BLL of 10 ug/dL or above is a cause for concern. However, lead can impair development even at a BLL of below 10 ug/dL.

Want answers now

Louella McFadden is a PCUE member and great-grandmother of a second grader at Public School 38, and the great aunt of pre-kindergarten student at Public School 15. McFadden said parents and guardians of children in the Jersey City school system want answers quickly so they know if their child needs to be tested for lead levels.

"On a personal level as a parent, as well as all [PCUE] parents, we are worried about our children," McFadden said. "I'm sure it doesn't take that long for testing results to come back."

McFadden said PCUE members are planning a protest on June 19 outside Public School 11 on Bergen Avenue, where the Board of Education monthly meeting is held, to make their displeasure known about the delayed test results.

Board of Ed spokesperson Jones said the reason the Board of Education hasn't sent out the results from the testing sooner is because they have to wait to receive it from the firm, Garden State Environmental, based in Glen Rock.

Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Power station to be relocated

First step in new 'Powerhouse' community...but work still ahead

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 06/14/2008

A POWERHOUSE PRESENTATION ? Robert Antonicello, executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, made a presentation to the City Council on Monday regarding plans to develop the old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse. However, they must first figure out where to relocate the smaller substation that is presently in front of it.
Can an area near a former railroad power station be transformed into a vibrant retail and residential community similar to Baltimore's Inner Harbor?

The City Council approved a resolution 9-0 at its Wednesday meeting that is the first step toward the long-awaited development of the old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse building on Washington Blvd. in downtown Jersey City.

The resolution calls for local agencies and the city to split the initial $600,000 cost of relocating a smaller power substation located directly in front of the Powerhouse, and stabilizing the old Powerhouse that has been abandoned for nearly 80 years.

The relocation of the smaller substation, which provides power to the PATH subway system, would then allow the city to acquire full ownership of the main Powerhouse building, which the city and the Port Authority currently co-own.

The Powerhouse building would be restored and converted to a shopping and entertainment complex, similar to what was done with the old Baltimore Power Station on Baltimore's inner harbor.

But the arrangement, which has been referred to as a "land swap" in the press, is complicated.

Where to move substation?

During the Wednesday council meeting, city Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said if the Port Authority and the city cannot agree on a relocation site, then the substation will have to stay in its current location.

Then, there is the issue of stabilizing the main Powerhouse building, which could take 36 to 48 months, according to Robert Antonicello, executive director of the JCRA.

However, city officials are willing to take on the complicated project for the possible payoff: they believe it could take five years to transform the Powerhouse into its new purpose.

History of the Powerhouse

The old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse building on Washington Blvd. once provided electricity for the massive Hudson Manhattan railroad (the precursor to the PATH system).

Construction of the original Powerhouse building started in 1906 and was completed in 1908. It's a steel-framed, 200,000-square-foot edifice with 28-inch-thick brick walls.

But it only operated until 1929 and was abandoned for many years, although the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey still used it as a power station.

There have been efforts since 1999 by the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy to preserve the building.

In July 2006, the JCRA designated Baltimore-based developer David Kordish as the developer of the Powerhouse building. Kordish developed the old Baltimore Power Plant on the waterfront into the ESPN Zone Restaurant and a Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Kordish will develop the Powerhouse after relocation of the substation and stabilization of the main Powerhouse take place.

The residential component

The Powerhouse is also considered the anchor for the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD), an 11-block area that stretches east to west from Marin to Washington boulevards and from north to south from Second to Bay streets. The PAD would have low-rise residential buildings including 10 percent affordable housing for artists, but would also be a restaurant, cultural and entertainment center for Downtown Jersey City.

John Gomez, founder of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, attended Wednesday's council meeting and said after the meeting that the council's resolution about the relocation was a "great step in the right direction."

Creating a new Powerhouse

Antonicello made a PowerPoint presentation at the council caucus on Monday.

There, he showed plans for the relocation and renderings of what the Powerhouse will look like when developed. He explained that the Powerhouse would be one part of a larger redevelopment effort that would connect the waterfront to the rest of downtown Jersey City.

Some on the council posed questions on the cost of remediation work that would need to done, the feasibility of stabilizing the Powerhouse building, and the issues of relocation.

Pro and con

After the meeting, Antonicello said, "This is an iconic landmark that if restored to its former glory can be a marquee destination for Jersey City."

But not so enthusiastic was Bob Lehrer, owner of the old Butler Brothers warehouse at 350 Warren St., one of the locations where the city may want to move the power station.

"[The city] has had one meeting with me," Lehrer said, "and they have not made me an offer for the building."

Comments on the story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Ox, 176 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, is offering a four-course tasting menu on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. 5:30 to 8 PM; $30. For reservations call 201-860-4000.

I live in the area, and we just had a dozen or more fire trucks go down Spruce and Stagg streets.. Anyone know what?s happening? Rescue 1 just left after being parked for a good 30-40mins on Kennedy, I haven?t seen other trucks started rolling out...

Did something major happen on 1/9 Tonnele?

Murders up a cool 140% from last year!!!
Linky

I went there ONCE and yes I experienced a shouting match between a woman and some humongous dude over a seat. They were obviously drunk. And yes, I witnessed the tiny female bartender try to calm them down and keep everyone happy. I felt worried for her and I kept a look to make sure she was ok but I agree that perhaps a bouncer is in order, but maybe I think all bars need that. I'm not sure. Alcohol can make some people wacky.

Quote:

From what I have witnessed, it appears that a male patron might get involved in breaking up a fight. It is good in a way because at least someone is willing to end any type of violence, but bad overall. Who the hell wants to go out at night to have a good time with friends and end up breaking up a fight because the owner and or management is too stupid and cheap to get a bouncer. What if the patron breaking up a fight gets hurt? I also feel sorry for the bartenders there. They are all female trying to maintain control of some *ucked up and violent person while trying to satisfy everyone else that is out to have a good time. I do not like going there with my boyfriend and friends. They are the type of men that will get involved in breaking up a fight. I don't want my boyfriend and friends possibly getting hurt. Something really bad is going to happen there one day. Just to let you know, anyone *ucks with my boyfriend and my friends, they will have pieces of glass stuck in their heads from me throwing my Corona at them...would you care for a lime with that *sshole?

The old building near the path, not too old.

Wtf lol, how do you make a mistake from +4% to -30%

Quote:


http://www.cnbc.com/id/25160675/for/cnbc/

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based on the burger and the steak? or other comperable dishes?

i know "better" is subjective, but not sure I see cause to base judgement on nothing tangible.

Lighthorse is an established, well regarded restaurant in this area, Embankement clearly has a lot of work to get to that level (noting that consistancy should be job #1 for any food establishment)

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Ew. And I hope you drowned your hands in disinfectant after handling that ticket.

i love jersey city

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Same guy. He has/had a bunch of other top end cars. Nearly all are white/cream with "Ben Love" emblazoned across the windshield.

It's usually 2 different firms/contractors. I used the following 5+ years ago:

Testing: Advanced Tank Services, Sparta NJ, 800-440-8265. We only did computerized accoustical testing, but I believe they offer soil sample testing as well, but it's likely more expensive.

Our tank passed, but we abandoned it a couple years later due to a change to gas heat.

Abandonment: US Tanks, Howell NJ, 732-961-2057. They specialize in foam fills, which is cheaper and less disruptive than removal, and has an advantage over sand filling in that if you do have to remove the tank later, it won't weigh a ton because it's filled with lightweight foam, not heavy sand.

Even if you're keeping oil heat, you should abandon the tank and put a new one in your basement. Sooner or later, all underground metal tanks fail. And as fellow jslist user 'worm' can tell you, it's very, very expensive when that happens.

We are looking for an engineer/contractor of good reputation with experience in Jersey City to inspect an in ground oil tank and if necessary, decommission it. Any recommendations pro or con are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

..."benny love"

I've seen a brand new cream-colored Bentley around downtown, I wonder if that was it (I figured it must've been Charles Epps' sweet civil servant ride)

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I had read that water fountains are often the cause of lead issues in schools -- they might want to test those and if so just get rid of them.

===============================

" Water Fountains May Pose Lead Risk

Washington--The water fountains in many schools contain unacceptably high levels of lead, health experts have told a House subcommittee.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment last month, two researchers who have studied the problem said that ''water from electric water coolers can be very high [in lead content] and can pose quite high toxicity risk for all individuals."

And because children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults, they said, school water coolers may pose... "

I keep forgetting that the schools use different under-ground water pipes then for residential homes !!!

Too much lead found in water at 7 schools

Saturday, June 14, 2008
By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Seven of 335 water sources in seven Jersey City public schools have elevated levels of lead, according to the first results of last month's water tests by the Jersey City Board of Education.

Earlier this year, six elementary schools - schools 6, 25, 27, 31, 11 and 23 - were discovered to have unacceptably high levels of lead in the drinking water, as part of the district's voluntary participation in a federal Environmental Protection Agency program.

The district has received results for seven schools tested by Garden State Environmental and will update the community on test results through letters distributed to families and staff, a press release stated. Letters will also be posted on the Board of Education's Web site.

Testing will be completed July 1, the release indicated.

The BOE will not begin cleanup of affected water sources until all test results are compiled and the EPA approves a plan, the release stated.

"Obviously we want to fast-track the remediation efforts we will likely undertake, and we plan to work with our expert environmental consultants so we can resolve these matters as quickly and efficiently as possible," district Superintendent Charles Epps Jr. said in the release.

A "flushing program," involving custodians opening taps to run water for a few minutes each morning, was initiated in February to reduce the amount of lead resulting from water sitting in pipes, the release said.

According to the EPA's Web site, exposure to elevated levels of lead, above 20 parts per billion, can stunt physical and mental development in children and cause increases in blood pressure in adults. Lead is especially dangerous for children, whose bodies absorb more of the chemical.

Grand jury indicts for fraud
Saturday, June 14, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Bergen County man who told police his $230,000 Bentley rolled down the Liberty State Park boat ramp into New York Bay was indicted this week by a Hudson County grand jury for insurance fraud, officials said.

Benny Love, 35, of Little Ferry, could face five to 10 years in prison and be ordered to pay $175,000 in restitution if convicted on the charges in the indictment signed by a judge Tuesday afternoon, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Zevits said yesterday.

Love, aka "Benny Rivera" has not been arrested, but is expected to surrender shortly, Zevits said.

Love's attorney, Daniel Welsh of Jersey City, said his client did nothing wrong.

"He is an innocent man and he looks forward to the opportunity to vindicate himself in court," Welsh said yesterday.

Zevits said Love owned the Bentley Arnage for about a year and a half in September 2007 and was having a lot of trouble with it. The dealer would not take it back because Love still owed $175,000 on it and that was more than the car was worth at the time, Zevits said.

That September he called police and told them he parked the car at the boat ramp and it rolled away. He said his camera strap hooked the gear shifter and pulled it into neutral and he managed to jump out as it rolled away, Zevits said.

Cops found the car 200 feet from the water's edge and when they towed it out, they found paper towels jammed under the break pedal and the car mat was on top of the accelerator, Zevits said.

An expert found that the camera strap could not easily have snagged the shifter and if the shifter was tugged while Love was getting out of the car, it would have been pulled in the wrong direction, Zevits said. It was also determined that if the car rolled down the ramp, it would not have been so far from shore, Zevits said.

Zevits added the trial will likely begin early next year.