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Re: The nightmare that awaits N.J. if a Hudson rail tunnel is forced to close
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Home away from home
 
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Christie's announcement today has really stirred up old frustrations from 2010 when he cancelled the tunnel.
This was a project that had been in the works since 1995, had secured support and funding commitments from the federal government, NY, NJ, the Port Authority, NJT, MTA, and no doubt dozens of other state and federal bureaucracies. After 14 years spent herding all these cats in the same direction and getting the project fully funded it is shameful that our democracy allowed one myopic and power-hungry little man to derail the entire project. He is as short-sighted about the future of NJ as he is about his own health. He is a despicable politician. I look forward to his inevitable misappropriation of campaign funds that will put him in the big house rather than the White House.
Posted on: 2015/6/30 16:33
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Re: Hipster vandalizing Charles & Co. caught on tape
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Home away from home
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If JCPD want to swing by Barcade tonight between 9.30 and midnight they'll no doubt find this douche.
$10 says he'll be wearing the same outfit but with a PBR in his hand rather than a spray can.
Posted on: 2015/6/24 18:54
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Re: Monty's Public House
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Home away from home
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Some signs of life at Monty's - they have cordoned off the area in front of the entrance for some reason - perhaps to install a sign above the sidewalk. Anyone have any info on what's happening there?
Posted on: 2015/6/24 14:01
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Re: Anti-gentrification activist
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Home away from home
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Some of the barrage of criticism has clearly gotten through to her.
I just checked out the Tumblr page that started all this and the section inviting supporters to print out signs saying "Go home yuppie scum" and " Go eat brunch somewhere else" has been removed. You can still see the charming epithets in the JJ story, however. Also deleted is the section where supporters could submit and post their own gentrification horror stories. So if nothing else she's learned two valuable lessons: 1) to be more cautious in using invective online, and 2) unmoderated poster boards attract trolls - as any JCLister can attest.
Posted on: 2015/6/19 16:33
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Re: Anti-gentrification activist
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Caricature is the word. She is an almost flawless self-parody of what she's protesting. In fact, given the well-deserved scorn and ridicule she's attracted here, it wouldn't surprise me if for a second act she glibly insists that parody was her intention all along - and that we her tormentors have merely been participants in some sort of living interdisciplinary art installation or some other insufferably trite hipster pretentiousness.
Posted on: 2015/6/17 15:15
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Re: Anti-gentrification activist
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I invite you to take all the offense you wish. Most people would like to live a life where they can take low-paying but creatively fulfilling work. Unfortunately, in order to be able to own a place downtown and enjoy the restaurants, bars, amenities etc, most have to work long hours, in stressful jobs that don't enrich us culturally. This individual is laughably hypocritical. Self-described artists and writers are just the kind of bougie, hipster, gentrifying douches that she is railing against. Here's how you know you're a writer: if people will pay you to write. If you can't live on what they pay you, you're not a writer - your a bartender who does a bit of writing on the side. Check out her linkedin page, where she boasts about how she is a "bicoastal full-time diva" who sees the world through a "postcolonial lens". Check out her Twitter feed where she moans about "white people" outside her window at night. Black or Asian people who are drunk making noise late at night are fine apparently - it's the skin color that offends rather than the noise. How very postcolonial of her. This person is a spectacular moron. But again, please feel free to take umbrage at my position that this insipid individual should shut up and get a job, as some sort of attack on all folks who don't ride the PATH into the city every day.
Posted on: 2015/6/14 19:02
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Re: Anti-gentrification activist
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Home away from home
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Perhaps the fact that the "artist & writer" is free to meet a journalist for coffee in the middle of a workday might have something to do with the fact she can't afford to live here anymore. Get a job.
On the plus side, we now know how all those pizza joints downtown are able to stay in business....
Posted on: 2015/6/12 18:16
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Re: Prato Bakery - Erie Street
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Completely agree. Stopped in last Saturday for the prosciutto focaccia sandwich. Delicious, and reasonably priced - a drink and a sandwich for under $10. Place seems to be doing a roaring trade every morning when I pass on the way to work and when I pass on the weekend. Great addition to the neighborhood.
Posted on: 2015/5/17 21:16
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Re: Gargantuan Tower Proposed for Barrow and Christopher Columbus
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Quote:
I completely agree. Marin is a hideous thoroughfare. When I have friends come to visit my place, I always direct them to walk up Erie or Jersey Ave so they can see how beautiful Harsimus Cove and HP are. But more often than not they walk up Marin and mention how industrial and derelict it looks. The new high rises already going up are a vast improvement on the empty lots that were there before. Once the empty lot at Marin and Bay and the Budget car rental are developed, and the Shoprite, BBB, Pepboys mega development are finished, Marin will look so much better. But agree with opposition to a high rise at Barrow and Columbus. VVP, HC & HP's height restrictions should be respected, IMO. The Marin corridor is a different case altogether.
Posted on: 2015/5/15 12:11
Edited by Webmaster on 2015/5/15 14:43:16
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Re: Gargantuan Tower Proposed for Barrow and Christopher Columbus
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Interesting. This is the first I've heard about this high rise at Marin and 1st. Do you have any further details or links to any renderings? I assume it would be south-east side of the street, directly south of O'Hara's? Appreciate any more info anyone has.
Posted on: 2015/5/15 2:40
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Re: The $3,000 apartment, Asking (and getting) big rents is another sign the Gold Coast is booming
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Home away from home
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Rentals in DTJC are going nuts as we have discussed many times on these threads, but can the area truly be said to be "booming" if all the new construction, and consequently demand, is for rentals?
The article does not mention condo/coop/single family development at all, and while Fulop touts the 8,000 new units that will open up in JC in the next couple of years, I understand that almost all of them - if not all of them - will be rental buildings. I'm interested as to why none of these developers are going for condo construction versus rentals - why is that? I would think operating a high rise rental building is far more lucrative in the long run than condos, but are there other factors at play here?
Posted on: 2015/4/16 14:09
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Re: Port Liberte
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Quote:
Wow. Just read through the blog. That is some very depressing testimony from those poor people. Consider my curiosity well and truly satiated regarding Port Tyranny. Thanks for posting Jaded.
Posted on: 2015/4/7 1:49
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Re: Sohowest neighborhood
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Exactly. There is nothing back there in The Taint. No bars (sorry, I forgot Burkes), no restaurants, no stores (sorry, I forgot the Salvation Army), no mass transit and no easy access to NYC. What it does have is a homeless shelter, a housing project, an interstate off-ramp, several train track overpasses, a flooding problem and a chromium contamination. Essentially all the crummy parts about living in a city, with none of the good. I thought it might at least be cheap, but I see one-bed rentals at Cast Iron Lofts begin at $2,750, which is pretty much the same as the all-in cost for my two-bed condo in Hamilton Park. What a rip - anyone stupid enough to think that is a good detail probably should be paying $15 to ride the short bus into the city.
Posted on: 2015/4/6 17:44
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Port Liberte
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Home away from home
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I was riding my bike down the newly reopened Hudson Walkway through Port Liberte on Saturday and I was marveling at the townhouses that face the harbor, the Statue and the NYC skyline. I was also thinking about how trashed they must have gotten during Sandy.
Looking on Trulia today I see that quite a few of these townhouses on the water are up for sale, with a four bedroom asking $1.75m with property taxes of almost $31,000! The pricing seems to be all over the place though - you can find a one-bed apartment with a garage for just $185,000, which is astoundingly cheap, but it's asking a monthly HOA payment of $753 - which is almost as much as the mortgage payment ($875, or thereabouts). In fact there are a ton of places up for sale across Port Liberte and they can't all be down to Sandy damage - many of them are condos on high floors. There was that lawsuit that settled a couple of years back around poor construction standards, the original plan was for a development two or three times larger than this but the funding never materialized for the later phases, and the sole restaurant in the development never reopened after Sandy. It seems that the entire project has been kind of a shambles. What is going on with this place? Why are the HOA fees and property taxes so ludicrously expensive? Why are so many residents selling up?
Posted on: 2015/4/6 16:32
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Re: so I cut the CABLE cord, but….
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Did you pull the Fios box off the wall? What happened? Were you blinded by the fiber optic laser beam like some predicted?
Posted on: 2015/4/5 17:46
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Re: What's going there?
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Home away from home
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What's happening at the site of the Shell gas station on 12th Street between Erie and Manila? It's been closed for about a year but there are bulldozers there today and the store has been demolished. Only thing still standing is the overhang.
They can't be putting a residential building up there facing the Holland Tunnel plaza, surely...?
Posted on: 2015/4/1 19:58
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Re: Jersey City Tilted Kilt
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Its location certainly didn't help its chances, but it was a pretty dispiriting operation the three times I went in there. A very dark space full of disinterested bartenders and servers pouring beer at Manhattan prices with what I felt to be a sneer of disdain for the kind of pervy guys that would visit a place just to ogle somewhat plain-looking girls in plunging tops. That's the strong impression I had by the last time I stopped in, at least. If I was out for a sports event, I'd have passed right on by and headed to the Zeppelin. A Hooters with a faux Celtic bent is still a Hooters. Would a location on Newark Avenue have seen it survive? I lived on Grand Street back when they opened and I would still end up at The Merchant when out for a local drink even though this place was essentially across the street from me. And I spend a lot of time frequenting the better Irish pubs in NYC, so if they couldn't attract my business, it did not bode well for them. Never happy to see a local business fail, but if nothing else, it's a small victory against the Hoebrokenization of DTJC.
Posted on: 2015/3/31 2:30
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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Home away from home
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So after $4bn in the hole for the new WTC PATH station, now the Port Authority is mulling another $11bn for a rebuild of the Bus Terminal?!?!
Yes it's a hole, but it's a fricking bus station! Every bus station I have ever been to is a hole - because they are BUS STATIONS! $3bn for 1WTC, by far the most expensive skyscraper ever built; $4bn for the PATH terminal, by far the most expensive train station ever built. Now $11bn for this boondoggle - what a disgrace. Just to put this in perspective, the budget for the cancelled ARC Tunnel into Penn Station was $8.7 billion. Yet another vanity project from the PA which does virtually nothing to add capacity to the region's infrastructure or do anything to plan for the one million new people living in NYC by 2040, and the additional millions living in the metro area. The Port Authority is an embarrassment to the human species.
Posted on: 2015/3/17 17:55
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Re: What's going there?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Looks like the Art School was moving in there last night. A ton of easels set up and some paper signs on the windows. Is this permanent or is it another pop-up similar to how Kannibal took over the space for a few weeks before Christmas?
Posted on: 2015/3/17 15:49
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Re: Powerhouse Lounge
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Home away from home
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Walked past this joint tonight (under its current guise as 6th Borough) and there are signs up saying "Powerhouse Lounge is coming back! Reopening St. Patrick's Day!"
Anyone know what's happening here? Not that I'm a patron: a corporate happy hour Tuesday with all you can eat sushi is not really my scene...
Posted on: 2015/3/17 0:56
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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Home away from home
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On the issue of signalling, the NWK-WTC line has had this new and improved signalling system installed during the past year as part of the Sandy renovations, and JSQ-HOB-33RD is going to be next sometime soon, but does anyone know how closely trains can run behind each other?
One major advantage the London Underground has over the NYC Subway is that during rush hour in Zone 1 (center of the tube network) trains follow on from one another just a minute apart - and often times the next train arrives at the platform less than 60 seconds after the previous one has departed. I'm surprised that NYC has not been able to replicate the same frequency of service. When things are running smoothly at Grove Street in the morning rush, WTC and 33RD trains generally alternate running about 60-90 seconds apart, which is pretty good going IMO - on the rare days when there are no screw ups. Does anyone have any information on the increase in service frequency we can expect once all three PATH lines are upgraded?
Posted on: 2015/3/3 19:03
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Fascinating article. The two phrases in there "spiritual dimension" and "metaphysical element" probably answer Tommy's question about why the extravagant expense. There has to be something for the tourists from Nebraska to coo at when they come to the WTC and get that feeling of patriotic pride stirring. As for the NY & NJ commuters who work at or pass through the site every day and whose train fares and tunnel tolls actually fund the reconstruction of the entire site, giving them two extra cars on each PATH train or improved signaling to allow trains to run closer together, that ain't gonna cut it if all the PA cares about is an inspiring structure that will form a lump in the throats of middle Americans that will visit the WTC once in their lives and then go home and tell their friends what a great job the master planners have done.
Posted on: 2015/3/3 18:42
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I won't even try to defend the outrageous cost of the new WTC Hub, but as to why the tracks have not been extended to the Fulton Center, a couple of issues spring to mind: Any extension from the current track location would have to pass over or under the 1 train and the N,R train, then new tunnels and a station would have to be dug under the existing structures to the east of Church Street and west of Broadway - Century 21, Millennium Hotel, etc. And since the PATH tracks are way deeper than the 4,5 trains, the station would have had to be excavated underneath the busiest subway line in the country as trains continued to rumble overhead. Also, the PA does not own that land, so it would have to buy it/lease it from the MTA. For the sake of a 5 minute walk, I don't think its worth it. If they were going to spend $4 billion on anything, they should have hooked the PATH up to the 6 train at Brooklyn Bridge for a one seat ride from Newark to the Bronx, as explained in detail here. Yes there would have been engineering challenges to overcome, but it would have only needed 3,000 feet of tunneling to make the connection between the two. But the PATH train is hemorrhaging money and the MTA is already chronically underfunded in maintaining its aging system, so no one wanted it to happen. Instead the PA spent $4 billion on a shopping mall with a train station underneath it. Personally though, I think the guy running the Hudson News stand at WTC seems to be adequately meeting the retail needs of most commuters.
Posted on: 2015/3/2 21:07
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Re: Prospective new restaurant opening in Hamilton Park
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Home away from home
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More details on this place. Operators will be the same folks behind Dorrian's in Newport. Still no word on cuisine, but would assume modern American/Irish pub given their prior experience with Dorrian's. Hamilton Park Inn, 9th & Coles and White Star seem to have this part of DT saturated with the modern American bars, so not sure whether the nabe can support another one.
That said, an after-work bar in a commercial district like Newport is a very different proposition from a spot in a low-key neighborhood like HP, so perhaps they are planning something completely different. Couple of sizeable bureaucratic obstacles to navigate: a rezoning to put a restaurant in an area not zoned for food establishments, and a liquor license contingent upon annual approval from Cordero. Here is the latest info from HPNA: https://hpna.wildapricot.org/News/3234465 And here are the plans submitted for the building: https://hpna.wildapricot.org/Resources ... 3-225%20Pavonia%20Ave.pdf
Posted on: 2015/3/2 16:34
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Re: Abbey's Pub & Grill faces uncertain future
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Home away from home
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Quote:
This place is a hole. I stopped in one time and once only. $6 for a flat and somewhat gristly pint of Sam Adams, in a grimy glass. Can't imagine what horrors the kitchen would concoct. If you're looking for a nasty drink try the Barge. $3 for the can of brown water in that joint. Also completely agree about the disgusting sidewalk situation on Monmouth. Sunday mornings in the summer looks like a scene from The Walking Dead.
Posted on: 2015/2/28 14:56
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Re: Telco Loft on Erie
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Home away from home
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Perhaps if Talde turned down its infamously pumping music it might attract more customers AND the Telco Lofts might enjoy more rental success.
While management consultants charge hundreds of thousands for pearls of wisdom like this, I gift it to the thread for free. You're welcome JC.
Posted on: 2015/2/27 14:57
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Re: What's going there?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I saw something there too this morning about 11.15am. A ton of water right there in the recessed doorway which looked like melted snow, but that brown paper covering the door windows was wet on the inside. Looked like some kind of leak coming from the roof/burst pipes. This poor guy seems to have had a hell of a time getting this bar up and running. I hope for his sake that this is not another setback. If he ever opens up I'll stop in for a pint or three opening night just to get the guy on his feet.
Posted on: 2015/2/22 20:27
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Re: 33 Park Avenue, Two 44-Story Towers Coming to Jersey City
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Yup - take a look at this link. You might have to scroll through the images to find the streetplan for LHN, but St. Peter's Street will be the one running north-south parallel to Marin. Meaning that these two towers will be going up on the plot directly to the south of 18 Park. I hope the new occupants like living in the shade. Also, check out the stupid street names here: Avenue B, Avenue G and inexplicably, there is a Second Street. Also, why is Jersey Avenue hyphenated as "Jersey Avenue - First Street"? Are these developers planning to rename the entire streetscape downtown? If they had their way, the whole of JC would be lumbered with the god awful Soho West soubriquet...
Posted on: 2015/2/19 16:47
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Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
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Quote:
I agree that it's a shame that Cast Iron Lofts are neglecting to put in retail and are setting this development up to be another Newport, but realistically, do we think retailers would be interested in moving to this location? Situated in between the tunnel and the Hoboken tracks, there is no foot traffic back there at all, and I would assume the only business a store would get would be from the building residents and maybe Holland Gardens. If I were opening a store, looking at the wealth of new high-rises shortly to open on Marin, Washington, Hudson and Exchange Place that will probably compete with one another on price to attract retail to their building, opening up shop at 18th @ Jersey would look like a pretty lousy alternative.
Posted on: 2015/2/12 20:35
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Re: Rethink the grand plan of Jersey City !
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Quote:
Glad to see someone is still interested in discussing the original topic. I generally agree with all the points in The Guardian video, but in reference to the five story height limit, it's easy to see that the creators are talking about the ugly impact of skyscrapers in the City of London. A well developed and carefully planned cluster of skyscrapers has sprung up at Canary Wharf in the past 25 years, a smartly planned and ordered high rise neighborhood has been extremely well executed. I'd say the same for La Defense in Paris. The problem is that in the past ten years a series of skyscrapers have been built in the historic City of London with little regard to how they complement each other or how they cluster together on the skyline to create a visually pleasing spectacle. Instead, they seem randomly splattered across the Roman street plan and look plainly awful with no kind of continuity or sense of cohesion. For JC, since the Waterfront has already developed into a high-rise environment, then let it continue to have that quality - albeit with the ground level retail and hidden parking decks that we've talked about on other threads. But keep Van Vorst, Harsimus and Hamilton Park distinctly as they are. Any London-style dropping of high rises in the midst of what are supposed to be historic districts detracts rather than enhances them. And before someone screams "historic district", the City of London prevented high rise development after one ugly mistake in the early 80s until Tony Blair repealed the height restrictions. City Hall would just as easily make an exception for a high rise in a protected neighborhood if LeFrak or Silverman threw enough money at them.
Posted on: 2015/2/12 18:00
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