Quote:Well I don't know if I would go that far, but in Hudson County it makes sense. Kearny, Harrison, and East Newark could stay out there on their own, but the other Hudson cities should merge.

Some other places, like Morris County, have some pretty obvious problems as well.




edit: actually, Monmouth looks even worse

Ah here we go "Instant runoff voting" and Australia, India, Ireland, and some cities in the US all use it in some form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

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When I spoke to the City Clerk on Election Day, the # he told me Watterman had to cross was higher than the number posted in the final tally, which means a runoff is still happening.

What we should have is a ranked system, like some places (can't recall where) have. So you might vote in the following manner:

1: Fletch
2: Levin
3: Osborne

In this instance, if the voting breakdown were
Osborne: 30%
Levin: 30%
Fletch: 20%

Then rather than having a runoff, since your first choice wasn't among the top two, your vote would apply to the highest-ranked person in the top two (Levin).

I know I have heard of other places using systems like this, and it would prevent runoffs, saving us time and money. It would be a bit confusing to implement and explain at first, but I think people would grasp the idea pretty quickly.

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They have a $1,899 home purchase deal if you go through their title company. Rates are very competitive and they close quickly if you have your stuff together and pro-actively stay in touch with them and your own lawyer. Currently 3.5% for 30-year fixed, no points. Lower than both Sovereign and Citi. Co-op rates might be higher, though.

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FINAL NUMBERS FINALLY IN: Can someone recalculate based the numbers below based on 100% reporting.

Jersey City Council-At-Large
181/181 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
NP - Peter M. BRENNAN 1B 10,921 12.74%
NP - Viola S. RICHARDSON 2B 12,186 14.22%
NP - Omar PEREZ 3B 10,107 11.79%
NP - 0 0.00%
NP - Ramon ''Ray'' REGALADO 5B 3,442 4.02%
NP - Sean M. CONNELLY 6B 4,186 4.88%
NP - 0 0.00%
NP - Joyce E. WATTERMAN 8B 15,170 17.70%
NP - Daniel RIVERA 9B 14,629 17.07%
NP - Rolando R. LAVARRO, Jr. 10B 15,000 17.50%
Personal Choice 79 0.09%
Total 85,720 100.00%

The NYTimes just did a nice article on MANA Contemporary:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/nyr ... html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

It's being discussed around the corner, here:

http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewt ... c_id=29453&post_id=315199

Hello Bike JC Members and Jersey City Residents,

With just a bit over 2 weeks until the 4th Annual Ward Tour we thought it would be important to have one last meeting to go through all volunteer areas. We will cover setup/breakdown, registration, marshaling and the After Tour Festival.

Please join us on Tuesday May 28, 2013 at 730pm. The meeting will take place in the Jersey City Art School Garden, 326 5th Street. You may enter through the embankment alley between Monmouth & Coles.

Please come dressed to paint if you'd like to help paint signs for the event. Sangria will be served and feel free to BYOB.

Thanks for your continued support and see you then!

I hear all this talk about good customer service from banks, what do you get with it? My interaction with my bank is me paying my mortgage. Additionally would you guys being willing to take a mortgage 1/10 a percent higher for this customer service? Just curious.

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Yes, it's near India Square. I've been to a few of their openings. It's an incredible place! The space is enormous and you can spend a whole afternoon there without seeing everything. At a typical opening, they have had several different shows in their large galleries, but you can also watch dance rehearsals, visit artist studios, and listen to live music in the cafe.

In terms of the art, some of the art has been really high-level (although not all), including some big names (e.g., a Keith Haring show, pieces by Carsten Holler). The Middle Eastern Center for the Arts (MECA), which is part of Mana, has had intellectually interesting shows, too, including one by Israeli artists from five or six different religious backgrounds that explored Middle Eastern politics.

It's also really professionally done. They have complimentary wine in the main gallery, food for sale in the cafe, professional catalogs/newsletters, and a space for children (which was great when I brought my young nephews).

I plan to be a regular at their openings, and also to bring out-of-town guests there on Saturdays. It didn't used to be open on the weekends at all except for openings, so I'm excited that that's changing. Mana is a huge boon for JC.

Valley National Bank In downtown has a $499 refinance offer and I beleive has also a promotion for purchases. Good customer service and a small bank.

I currently have three properties and two are mortgaged through Hudson City Savings, they are great my third is through Xcel Federal Credit Union which is also fantastic. I would stay away from super banks.

My closings were a long time ago, 1997 and 2003. They were on time. Refinanced in 2010. The refinance took a long time though. My interest rate did not change. I had what they quoted. I didn't really shop around. I have my checking account with them.

Did you say "co-op"? Mine were condos. My co-worker bought a co-op in Manhattan, and he went to the headquarters at 51st and Park. He closed this January. He said that they were very fast. He closed within one month. But he has an account with them and he had the downpayment available in the account to show them.

It's a great art venue - gallery spaces and artist studios.
www.artmanafest.com

Also dance - http://www.armitagegonedance.org/

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Didn't this place have a well known exhibit a few years back. I remember seeing a bunch of people walking around there and reading about something happening around there.

Saw this article in the Times and was thoroughly surprised. Has anyone been here? What's it like? At first I thought they were talking about one of the warehouses in the PAD but it's up past India Square, right?

By ALLAN KOZINN
Published: May 16, 2013
New York Times

JERSEY CITY ? MANA Contemporary might be one of the art world?s best-kept secrets. From the outside, at the moment, it looks like what its shell actually is: a cluster of warehouse and factory buildings left over from a grimy industrial age, tucked into the heart of this city.

But if Eugene Lemay has his way ? and as both a businessman and an artist, he has a combination of financial backing and single-mindedness that makes it seem possible ? Mana will be an irresistible arts destination within a couple of years.

?It?s not a dream,? Mr. Lemay, Mana?s chief executive, said matter-of-factly. ?It?s going to happen.?

So far one building in the complex has been mostly rebuilt to house dozens of light, high-ceilinged artists? studios, as well as all the ancillary services an artist could want, including a supply shop and framing, packing, conservation, restoration and storage. There are also music rehearsal rooms, and a dance rehearsal space, shared by Karole Armitage?s and Shen Wei?s troupes, with a glass wall so visitors can watch dancers at work.

A boiler room also serves as an exhibition space, with an avant-garde sound installation, ?Tick Talk,? featuring an electronic score by Ziv Yonatan and visual pieces by Lily Rattok. New shows in four other galleries opened recently. A first-floor space has about 150 prints and 500 Polaroids by the Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki; ?Obsession,? a group show drawn from the holdings of five collectors (and meant to illuminate the passions that drive them), take up two galleries on the first and sixth floors. And Mana?s Middle East Center for the Arts (yes, they call it Meca) is showing ?Voices From the Interior,? an exhibition of video art by Palestinian women living in Israel.

A gallery for Far Eastern art is under construction, as is a chamber music hall with high-tech recording facilities. (A deal to sell concerts from Mana on iTunes is already in place.) By September, Mr. Lemay said, Mana will have a foundry for sculptors, and much of the paved space between the buildings will be a sculpture garden. Beyond that, Mana?s plans call for a 1,400-seat theater, four restaurants, several more art exhibition spaces and studios for 250 artists, as well as studios for architects and interior designers.

Mr. Lemay is so sure that Mana will become a magnet for artists and art aficionados that he is planning to convert one of his buildings into a hotel, for people who went to spend several days exploring the center.

All this began with a moving truck in 1983, when Moishe Mana, a 25-year-old Israeli who, after dropping out of law school in Tel Aviv and working odd jobs in New York, acquired a van and advertised himself as a mover. He soon met Mr. Lemay, an Israeli artist and photographer with an unusual back story: born to a Lebanese Christian family in Grand Rapids, Mich., he moved to Israel in 1969 after his family converted to Judaism, and he fought in the Lebanon war of 1982. Mr. Mana hired Mr. Lemay to drive his van, and soon Mr. Lemay was his right-hand man.

The company, Moishe?s Moving and Storage, expanded quickly, opening branches across the country (it is now in nine cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) and opening a handful of subsidiary storage businesses, including companies that specialize in storage for documents, video, wine, clothing (for the fashion industry) and art.

?With Moishe?s Moving,? Mr. Lemay said, ?we were a success overnight because at the time movers in New York were working from 9 to 5, and I promised 24-7. With document storage, we were the first to use a bar code system, so if you needed something, I could promise you delivery in two hours, when other companies promised two days.?

Mr. Lemay would not discuss the value of Mana Contemporary, which is privately held and is part of the Moishe?s empire, nor would he say how much the company is spending on the center, which includes a handful of nonprofit foundations but is mostly, as Mr. Lemay puts it, ?a business,? meant to turn a profit. His current reticence notwithstanding, he told The Wall Street Journal in 2011 that Mr. Mana?s company had put $4 million to $6 million into renovating the first 500,000 square feet. Today, the space is 1.5 million square feet on 35 acres, of which about 150,000 square feet are devoted to the foundations, including galleries and public areas. Mr. Lemay said that Mr. Mana had given him a completely free hand in running the center.

?This is the heart of Mana? Shai Baitel, Mana?s vice president for strategy, said of the nonprofit part of the business. ?And even the parts of the property that are for-profit, like the artist studios, are open to the public to come in and see ? to watch the artists at work, to get inspired and to learn.?

It was a chance encounter with the Israeli photo-realist painter Yigal Ozeri that led Mr. Lemay to build Mana. As Mr. Ozeri remembers it, his first conversation with Mr. Lemay was about creating a museum of graffiti. But they quickly saw that bigger things were possible. The art storage business was the key: some of Moishe?s clients were major collectors, so why not build a space where they could show their collections instead of keeping them crated? Several jumped at the chance.

?Of course they did,? Mr. Lemay said. ?Storage is a graveyard. If you have a collection of, say, 4,000 pieces, you want people to see them.?

From there, the idea mushroomed. In 2011 Mr. Lemay built studios for himself and Mr. Ozeri, and Mr. Ozeri used his contacts in the art world to attract other artists to the space. About 120 painters, sculptors and photographers now have studios at Mana. Mr. Baitel said that there would be 200 by the end of the year, and 250 by early 2014.

Having a show at Mana is a potential perquisite. Michael Zansky ? whose ?Giants and Dwarfs? show is in a 5,000-square-foot-gallery that will do double duty as a beer garden and includes nearly 200 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood panels ? said he was astonished by the space Mana provided him.

?These panels encompass the history of what I?m involved with,? Mr. Zansky said. ?Few institutions can handle something on this scale.?

For some artists, like Ray Smith, whose ?Here/Now? retrospective filled a large gallery on Mana?s sixth floor in March and April, Mana became a life raft after Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Lemay called to ask how Mr. Smith?s studio had fared. When Mr. Smith told him that the studio was flooded and that large pieces were floating in river water, Mr. Lemay had his moving and restoration crews snap into action.

?They picked up a collection of works I?d done over the last 28 years, and saved,? said Mr. Smith, who has been working mostly at Mana since the hurricane. ?And seeing everything cleaned up, put together and hanging was very emotional. It?s actually the best show I?ve ever had.?

Mr. Lemay installed a restaurant partly because he knew that the artists who worked at Mana needed to eat, but also because he believed that when artists meet, ideas are born.

?Artists usually go into their studios, and you don?t find them,? he said. ?But here we get them out of their rooms. They go to the restaurant, they meet each other and they talk, and they think about collaborating.?

In addition to viewing the galleries, visitors to Mana are free to roam the halls, watching artists, dancers and musicians at work. They need only present themselves at the front desk, Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and they will be shown around.

So far the traffic has been modest. Exhibition openings have been well attended, but the center as a whole has not had a grand opening. Mr. Baitel said that would probably happen at the end of this year, when the sculpture garden and other elements are completed.

But as Mr. Lemay sees it, wandering viewers are a crucial part of the equation. He has made it clear to the artists on site that visitors are likely to stop in and watch them at work, he said, and they were fine with that.

?Process is the key,? Mr. Lemay said, speaking in his own studio, which is dominated by a series of huge paintings made of fragments from condolence letters to Israeli and Arab parents who lost sons in war, for a show that opened in Tel Aviv in April. ?People walk into my studio and I show them what I?m working on. As an artist, I admit, sometimes that?s uncomfortable. But it?s also interesting. It?s what it?s about. Because what is art? Is it the final, polished product? That?s part of it. But it?s much more interesting to see the work take shape.?

IF YOU GO

WHERE 888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City; (201) 604-2702; manafinearts.com.

WHEN Open Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

GETTING THERE From Manhattan, take the PATH train to Journal Square. Mana is a 10-minute walk from the station north along John F. Kennedy Boulevard, and west onto Newark Avenue.

WHERE TO EAT Cafe on the fourth floor.

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That's awesome! Resistance is futile, indeed.

I have all my mortgages with Bayonne Community Bank. Their customer service is top notch.

I originally ended up with them because none of my properties can be financed through Fannie or Freddie. I can only use a portfolio lender.

Hi Annod,


Thanks for your advice. How was citi in regards to keeping close to their initial quotes? I also I heard they can take 90 days to close. What were your closings like--were they on time?

Obama was able to run for Senate as a Democrat because at the time he entered the race, the Republican candidate was seen as a shoe in, and other Democrats wanted to preserve their war chests and efforts for other offices. Campaigns expend a lot of political capital and losing a race can end a career and influence.

But as the election unfolded, Jack Ryan, candidate for Senate, had his divorce papers unsealed. His wife, actress Jeri Ryan of Star Trek fame, revealed that Jack brought her to sex clubs in New York City. Combined with Obama's charisma and well run campaign, the sex scandal ended the campaign of Jack Ryan, the one time presumed winner.

So in a way, Obama owes his presidency to Star Trek.

2nd on Hudson City Savings

neverleft wrote:
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Team Fulop does not take anything for granted. We are going to work to get every single one of our candidates elected. Period.

But all the Ward B candidates are decent, honest, and talented people. Jerry Meyers, just like Esther Winter and Isaiah Gadsden, is a person of his word. To get off the ballot, you just need to ask the City Clerk BY MONDAY 5/20, to remove your name.

Even more importantly, I think Mr. Meyers is doing this not just because of the difficulties of continuing the race. On Tuesday the City overwhelmingly chose to go in a new direction. Many of Mayor Healy's supporters will genuinely want to support this and help make our new Mayor successful. Because it's best for the City, and we all care about Jersey City.

I tip my hat to Jerry Meyers, as well as to Esther and Chris, for having the courage to stand up and run, and the decency to run a pretty civil and clean race. It says a lot for the west side of Jersey City that the voters had four good choices. I am sure that each will be a significant part of helping to make the West Side the Best Side.

Quote:
Obama's rise was ridiculously quick. The only difference I'd argue here is that Obama was the better option in each election he was in. This isn't to say that Steve isn't a better option than Booker or Buono could possibly be. I'll just state that I've seen Booker improve Newark while we've yet to see Mayor Fulop make moves to improve JC.

My personal hope is that he is everything that his voters believe him to be. I want to see him fulfill that promise and be the mayor this great town deserves. He's young and has plenty of time to move onto a bigger platform.

You know full well that all those attached to the Healy ticket are as mad as hornets with regards to Healy running his mouth about his 2004 nude photo.

Think of all the donor money and volunteer hours that went up in smoke as soon as Healy spilled the beans to Tom Moran of the Jersey Journal! And then to add salt to their wounds Healy's response the following day was, "I wasn't thinkin' to good."

I hope they all bow out like Meyers. If anything just to show their utter disdain for Healy's sabotaging of their campaigns.

From JJ comments..Quote:

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It's like a kid in the womb the parents are already filling out applications for high school and colleges.

Then there should still be a runoff between Ramchal and Eshter Winter.

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The voting machines do have these counters. Those #s weren't on the unofficial election tally I have, so I don't know them, but county election folks do.

The clerk has assured me, in no uncertain terms, that there aren't enough provisionals to get Watterman (the leading vote-getter in the at-large race) over the threshold that would bring in the other two top finishers. He may be certifying the results today, so I may post something later confirming the final numbers.

Thanks jcgirl. Haven't been able to confirm that anywhere!