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Re: Fulop Calls for Resignation of Police Chief Robert Troy
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Home away from home
 
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Councilman Fulop,
Please post the actual letter to Mayor Healy, as you stated you would in your post. This will allow people to judge for themselves as to whether this was hypocritical political grandstanding or whether you have put forth constructive ideas and solutions to the issues related to Jersey City crime and that you have discussed your ideas and solutions with Police Chief Troy and that he has been unresponsive. Solely, calling for the Police Chief's resignation is not a solution, next Fulop will be calling for Mayor Healy's resignation which is not a solution..... nor would recalling Fulop be a solution (as many do suggest on the www.getnj.com message board). Lets see Councilman Fulop's constructive and feasible ideas and solutions to solve the "crime problem". ----------------------------------------------------------------- From today's JJ article - Meanwhile, Healy is questioning Fulop's motives. "It's like he's putting gasoline on the fire, and it appears to be becoming a pattern," the mayor said. Fulop - one of two City Council members who didn't run on the mayor's ticket - said his motives are protecting the people of the city. " Quote:
Posted on: 2006/1/25 14:21
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Re: Fulop Calls for Resignation of Police Chief Robert Troy
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Home away from home
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From the Jersey City Reporter, June 10, 2005 -
"A more realistic rumor says Fulop will run against Healy in 2009 backed by former Police Chief Ron Buonocore. Perhaps this is why Healy forgot to make note of him. " See this link for full column Ron Buonocore was the Director of Public Works and then Police Chief under Mayor Cunningham. During this time the NTF (neighborhood task force) and community policing were dropped. Robert Troy was appointed Police Chief in December 2004. It is hard to believe that this action alone triggered the subsequent increase in violent crime. After accounting for two unusual mass murders, it is more likely a carry over from the Buonocore tenure. What political spin. Quote:
Posted on: 2006/1/24 20:15
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Re: Jersey City Traffic Study - Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study
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Home away from home
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The first public meeting has been rescheduled and will be held on Wednesday, February 1 at 6 PM in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 280 Grove Street. The purpose of this meeting is to solicit input from the public regarding problems in the regional and local transportation networks.
Also, a website has been created for the study: www.downtownjcras.com.
Posted on: 2006/1/19 17:56
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Re: Jersey City Traffic Study - Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study
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Home away from home
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Please note that the City Planning Department has postponed this public meeting so as not to conflict with city budget hearings. A new date will be posted shortly.
Posted on: 2006/1/14 15:54
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Re: Why does JC have financial problems - Start here
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Home away from home
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Bringing this thread up per a request by a poster on the "Interesting" thread that we need not just focus on our Ward E Councilman. Though, these kind of "deals" seem to be the more run of the mill, what I found unique at the time was the willingness of these council candidates to talk freely about it to the press.
Posted on: 2006/1/12 22:34
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Re: Jersey City Traffic Study - Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study
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Home away from home
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*****PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN LOCATION*****
The first public meeting for the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study will be at the theater at the JERSEY CITY MUSEUM, 350 Montgomery Street at the corner of Monmouth Street. Same date and time.
Posted on: 2006/1/10 16:29
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Jersey City Traffic Study - Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study
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Home away from home
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The first public meeting for the Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study will be held on Wednesday, January 18 at 6 PM. The meeting will be in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall (280 Grove Street). The purpose of the meeting is to introduce the public to the study and the consultant team, as well as to solicit input on the existing transportation network.
As soon as the study's website is up, I will post the link.
Posted on: 2006/1/4 20:34
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Re: 44% increase in water and sewage charges
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Home away from home
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Not only is the MUA a muddy mess that needs to be cleaned up, but by spinning it off, the city has at least politically, washed its hands of the huge liability of upgrading our aging sewer system with existing breeches and decades old repair plans, how much..... 100's of millions....
For a start, get rid of the political board, get rid of board cars, family health insurance for board members and put the board meetings in city hall.... It is hard to not say that millions of our dollars are going down the drain.
Posted on: 2005/12/30 2:44
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Re: Those New construction 2 Families
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Home away from home
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The Historic District requirements/guidlines are codified into zoning. Zoning can address some of the concerns mentioned, lot coverage, density, height, curb cuts for driveways and even materials used along with percentages of glass, masonary, metal etc. However, only the Historic District ordinances can prevent (or try to prevent) tear downs. Historic District status can also provide tax credits for commerical and residential rental properties, but not owner occupried housing.
This thread has veered away from the initial questions. Regarding Historic District problems, as posted on other threads, I believe the problem to be education and communication. With regard to tear downs and "ugly" infill housing, zoning can help, but will not be complete protection. It is not just these two family plus bonus (I call them Staten Island houses) that may be a problem but pretty much all infill architecture, subjectively, fake, cheap and crappy. Also, note that there are beautiful brownstone blocks that have survived and been restored both in Jersey City and Hoboken that are not located in historic districts.
Posted on: 2005/12/28 3:29
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Re: What is the mission of a Historic District? (moved from What's this letter from Warren G. Curtin?)
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Home away from home
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Surely, it is possible to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of an idea, object, theory, artifact, artwork, country, people.... after learning more about it/them etc.
Whether one knew in advance or not that they were buying property in a historic district, would it not be sensible to learn more about the district, the ordinance and historic preservation in general before attacking it/trying to gut it or eliminated as was suggested by many Hamiton Park property owners last year. Why "a large representative slice of Hamilton Park Historic District can be so at odds with what we're told residents of the other districts believe." -- Good question. Quote:
Posted on: 2005/12/15 3:00
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Re: What's this letter from Warren G. Curtin about?
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Home away from home
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This really should be a different thread - what Brewster describes and the images linked to is NOT Historic Preservation and neither are faux or generic period elements.
The building design in the link could be sited anywhere, but certainly not appropriate and nothing like it was ever located in what is now the Hamilton Park Historic District. Are original drawings still available to view online? There are many ways to have contemporary/modern archecture "fit" in or be compatiable with historic areas and fabric - proportion, bulk, density, volume, materials, carrying through horizontal and vertical lines, evoking styles and form etc. An architect could do a much better job articulating this than I can as I certainly am not implying that a glass sheathed bulding is appropriate. A good example is Bell Fuse in Paulus Hook. I did see on the watch dog website - www.25mc.org the following- "The architecture will complement the historic district and possess aesthetic integrity." What Brewster describes sounds like the medicore at best infill architecture that has been built in the downtown historic districts. While barely complementing the historic district, they certainly do not "possess aesthetic integrity." As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe it comes down to education and if the city cannot do it, possibly the neighborhood association(s) could coordinate something with the Landmarks Conservancy and bring in an outside expert skilled in community education.
Posted on: 2005/12/10 16:07
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Re: HPNA neglects to hold Nominations for Elections
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Home away from home
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I am not clear as to what the criticism has become.
1) HPNA is criticized because new members do not immediately have voting rights that day/meeting? It would seem prudent to some kind of waiting period even if only one month. We cannot show up on Election Day to register and vote the same day. If permitted this would allow packing a meeting on a particular issue and overide the "real" membership. 2) HPNA is criticized for wanting officers; Pres., VP etc to have previously served as a Trustee/Board Member and met attendence requirements. This sounds reasonable, provides for continuity, board development, knowledge of both the issues and what is truley involved with the position of responsibility. The best I can conclude is that HPNA delayed elections to January to implement these changes, rather than do so earlier in the year, the changes were not on a published agenda of some type and newsletters are not always delivered to all. There are also complaints that meetings run long and the list of topics is also lenghty. Is this a gripe that there is alot to deal with or does this reflect the importance or relavence of these types of organizations. Has the HPNA published a full agenda in advance of general meetings in the past or just hightlights or guests? While not a member, I receive the HPNA monthly newletter by e-mail. Hand delivering of newletters to all of the residents of the area every month is a large task for a changing cast of volunteers. Even people who agree to help out with deliveries can "forget" or just not do it. Do the HPNA critics regulary volunteer to distribute newsletters? I do agree that major or controversial issues and votes should be announced in advance. So work on this issue. How does the "competing" Friends of Hamilton Park grant voting rights to members and nominate/elect officers? For what it is worth, when I contributed to the HPNA fund to replace the fence, I made my check payable to HPNA. However, when I looked at the FofHP website - www.friendsofhp.com - I see that contributions are requested made payable to "Cash". For that matter why is a supposed community group a dot com etc. I have been an advocate for strong neighborhood associations and hope that the "critics" will participate in the process as the means to have HPNA become more like what they may want. All that is involved is attending monthly meetings, volunteering some time, offering to join the board (if so inclined) - participate.
Posted on: 2005/12/10 15:46
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Re: What's this letter from Warren G. Curtin about?
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Home away from home
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The example sited hightlights the education and communication problems.
Using a period fence is not appropriate (especially in this instance) and blurs history. This building is adjacent to 5 or 6 other homes with the exact same original fence and across the street from 6 more homes with the same original fence. A period, but not original design fence would compromise the historic integrity of the block. This becomes the Disney version of history. However, the homeowner is not forced to spend money to replicate the original fence, he can replace the chain link fence with something that is contempory, but clearly delineates that it was not the original fence. At the point that I heard the example cited in Brewster's post, the homeowner had not taken any application to the Historic Commission and had only seeked or explored a Certificate of No Effect from the Historic Preservation Officer. The regulations are part of zoning and property owners both within and outside historic districts are subject to zoning regulations and restrictions. Quote:
Posted on: 2005/12/8 13:49
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Re: What's this letter from Warren G. Curtin about?
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Home away from home
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I say nay to changes in the ordinance!
While I have not seen the final proposed changes, I have seen an earlier draft, observed an HPNA meeting on this subject, heard many of the HP complaints and heard many of the arguements including a few conversations with Mr. Curtin. The problems appear to me to be education (lack of understanding requirements/procedures) and people (communication) related and not with the ordinance. Unfortunately, many people do not "discover" that they live in a historic district and its requirements until they begin to do some exterior work. There is no information on the municipal website, there is insufficient municipal staffing and a general lack of understanding. Some ideas- 1) Require that realtors disclose that a property is in a historic district in its listing. 2) Require the designation is on municipal tax bills. 3) Require an annual seminar or town meeting on historic district requirements and responsibilities (this could be done by DCNA or a neighborhood association). The Historic Preservation Officer has been a guest at HCA meetings to describe the process and answer questions; there were no complaints from members or residents. 4) The City Planning Department needs more staffing. I believe that it was reported that the Historic Preservation Officer heard in excess of 300 application in 2004, no wonder some have complained he can be hard to reach. Yes, we can grumble about additional time, effort and cost involved, but as Council President Vega explained during the Warehouse Historic Designation votes, the highest per square foot prices in the city are not on the waterfront, but in the historic districts. The ordinance also protects you from your neighbor doing something that could compromise your property, block or district. Lets not change or weaken what has worked, but improve the process to work with the existing ordinance. Daniel Levin 3rd St.
Posted on: 2005/12/7 23:12
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Re: Preservation Alert - Powerhouse Arts District Endangered
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Home away from home
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Is there any more information on the second reason?
Not only could this logic potential invalidate every historic designation by the city, but many if not most city resolutions and ordinances. Council members typically speak out in support of issues. It would seem that this logic could invalidate this redevelopment plan and others. Of course, the failure of the city to do this correctly is inexcusable (or is it intentional). Where was the Law Department and why did they not ensure that there were no procedural flaws and that these ordinances could stand a court test (especially since a court battle was anticipated). Quote:
Posted on: 2005/11/22 17:39
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Re: Golden Cicada Help from ACLU
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Home away from home
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Thank the power of increasing regional media coverage for the city backing off. As of Thursday evening, Mr. Tan said that no one with the city would talk to him or even just take and read his brief, not the mayor or any council members, all just brushed him off. I imagine he was surprised by this sudden about turn.
He told me and another, that his battle was not about the money or even winning, but that he just wanted to be acknowledged and listened to. Thank the press, the media, and maybe Tuesday's election. Oh, by the way, he also suggested calling first before comming by to make sure the kitchen is open; 201.432.0048 (Golden Cicada).
Posted on: 2005/11/7 1:50
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Re: HPNA neglects to hold Nominations for Elections
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Home away from home
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I am relunctant to comment. Also, did not attend the meeting. However, I do know most of those involved, the past accomplishments of the HPNA and its value to the downtown community.
I hope they find a way to work it out! A vibrant and strong neighborhood association can advocate and protect your interests, be a much needed city government watchdog, and be a progressive voice in our less than progressive city. The only excuse I can offer is that people are so embattled and burned out by the city that it is carrying over to each other. Neighborhood associations have played an important role in the rebirth of downtown and what little sound and rational development that has occured. Of late, there have been efforts to marginalize neighborhood and community groups, putting even more pressure on already overworked and exhausted volunteers. For those involved, please do not let this happen. A previous post described what was done to overcome an inactive neighborhood assocation in the Lincoln Park area. HPNA is not inactive. If HPNA blows apart, it is poor government and reckless developers that win, not you and I. Work it out. Become stonger.
Posted on: 2005/11/3 18:30
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Re: Golden Cicada Help from ACLU
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An outpouring of public opposition helped stop the city from taking the Flamingo Restaurant by Exchange Pl. to widen Greene St., though I am not sure if the Golden Cicada holds the same public affection as the Flamingo does.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the Golden Cicada shuttered for a couple of years before recently reopening maybe 6-12 months ago.
Posted on: 2005/10/8 14:35
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Re: Flooding (help)
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Home away from home
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I suggest to try to determine the cause of the flooding.
Was your drain clogged and the flooding from the rainwater or did sewer water back up through the drain? Did water come in through any other drains/toilets? Did water come through cracks in the floor and walls. The western part of downtown is below sealevel / used to be marshes and prone to flooding. Also as mentioned many experience problems with sewer water backing up from the mains.
Posted on: 2005/7/7 19:51
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Why does JC have financial problems - Start here
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Home away from home
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Where do our tax dollars (and abatement PILOT) money go, lets start here as published in the 2/20 JC Reporter:
02/20/2005 Ah, the political season has begun Announcements for mayor, council seats spur intrigue Ricardo Kaulessar Reporter staff writer Councilwoman Viola Richardson: Richardson said she was contacted by Healy three weeks before the announcement about joining his ticket, but it didn't work out. "When he asked me, I said that I would definitely think about it, but there were certain conditions that we had to work out beforehand," said Richardson. One of those conditions was that Richardson's son-in-law, an employee of the city's Division of Commerce would be considered for the position of director when former director Lenny Grenier stepped down on Jan. 31. But the position ended up going to another person. Former Councilwoman and elected member of JC Board of Education Willie Flood: Flood said at the luncheon that a deal was made with Healy in the months after the November special election, allowing for her to run on his slate. "We met, and he asked me if I would run with him," she said. "I agreed, but I wanted to make sure that the young people who worked on my campaign would be offered some kind of employment since they worked for no money." Flood said the employment would either be on a city or county administrative level.
Posted on: 2005/2/22 0:51
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Re: Should Downtown Jersey City Secede?
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Home away from home
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No.
Posted on: 2004/11/9 17:39
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white mortar
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Home away from home
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At our June Harsimus Cove Assn meeting, Dan Wrieden explained that these were the results of miscommunication between the contractors/himself and contractors not doing what was approved. The white mortar could be remedied by staining with tea. We also discussed that a mortar sample could easily determine what had been previously used.
Posted on: 2004/10/16 15:07
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