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Re: How to get JC parking permit, if I am not an owner of the car?
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Quote:
Before the grandmother even does that, I'd look into the insurance ramifications of having the car registered in JC. Given that auto insurers charge much higher premiums for cars registered in Hudson County, this may not be a cost-effective option.
Posted on: 2014/11/21 16:25
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Re: Front yard parking
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Quote:
Like Foursquare, I never saw much point to the change.org online petitions. Look, if you care enough about an issue, take the time to write your own e-mail (or letter on paper) to the elected officials who represent you. Do it in your own words, and not a form e-mail that a group has distributed to everyone. This has almost always gotten me a response from the elected official and tells me my voice has been heard.
Posted on: 2014/11/19 15:02
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Re: Lions of Judah being removed from church/synagogue/mosque on Grove?
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Quote:
If it's a landmark building, I believe people would object. Preservationists are pretty rabid. I wonder if the mosque is going to try to argue some sort of religious exemption to the preservation rules. If so and they win, there's a paranoid side of me that wonders if it's the tip of the iceberg. What next? Would they demand that women passing by on the sidewalk be modestly attired - no bare arms or legs? That the clothing store a couple doors down cover up those "sexy" mannequins? That the bike lane be removed because women wearing shorts might ride their bikes in front of the mosque? If all this sounds farfetched, it's not. It's been happening in places like Williamsburg, where the ultra-Orthodox Jews have demanded the secular population acquiesce to their values.
Posted on: 2014/11/19 14:50
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Re: Lions of Judah being removed from church/synagogue/mosque on Grove?
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As a landmarked building in a historic district, I thought any facade change would be a non-starter. Or am I wrong about that building's landmark status? Then again if there's one thing I've learned after all these years in JC, if you have enough money and the right connections, you can pretty much do what you want, the Historic Preservation Commission notwithstanding. They bought the building knowing it used to be synagogue and that it was a historic building would need to follow preservation rules. If that bothered them, they should've bought a different building.
Posted on: 2014/11/19 14:25
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Re: Jersey City councilman wants to pull the plug on red-light cameras
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I wouldn't be surprised if they continued to issue tickets from these cameras after Dec. 16 on the bet most people won't know about the plug being pulled and will continue to pay up. And even if you did know, the entire system is set up so that drivers who are wrongly ticketed find it easier to just pay up than contest the ticket.
I was all in favor of these red light cameras when they first came out, but now I just see too many abuses - from shortened yellow lights to people being ticketed on the basis of faulty video in which there are gaps with seconds missing, or people being forced to run a red light because the ambulance behind them isn't captured by the video. The system might work if it wasn't outsourced to a private company whose motive isn't to make the streets safer but to grab as much revenue as possible. It would also help if there were a fair appeals process that didn't require people to take a day off work. I hardly drive - perhaps 2-3 times a month - and I'm very careful. If I speed at all, it's 2-3 mph above the limit, max. I'm constantly aggravating the drivers behind me by yielding to pedestrians and coming to full stops at red lights before making that right turn. For all my caution and attention, I still avoid those red-light intersections whenever possible. Why? Because I can't shake the feeling that the set-up is designed to nail me no matter what.
Posted on: 2014/11/15 15:42
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Re: Advice needed on a situation
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Also, I don't understand the damage inflation between your posts. How did you go from $460 ($300 for the sink + $160 install) in your initial post to "after just paying over $700 to get it installed" in post #7. If some "not highly visible" nicks on a sink are the worst contractor experience you've ever had, I'd say you're luckier than most homeowners.
Posted on: 2014/11/14 23:54
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Re: Advice needed on a situation
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Quote:
Let it go.
Posted on: 2014/11/14 23:38
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Re: Adding a floor to a condo building Downtown
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Quote:
Speaking very frankly and without malice, if you were in my building and if I were on the board, I would oppose your plan and recommend other building owners vote against it. The reason is very simple. There is almost no upside for the other owners but plenty of (potentially costly) downside. While the additional floor would enhance your unit's value, I don't see how it would improve the building as a whole or other units. We had a similar situation at a previous building lived in, and I was on the board. One of the owners wanted to expand his unit. A 15-minute phone conversation with the HOA's lawyer convinced me this was a bad idea. While expanding outward on a ground floor unit in this case isn't as drastic as adding an entire floor, it is nonetheless major construction - and that always carries risk of damage to the building and other units. The unit owner, of course, will assume all responsibility for damage, but let's say something goes horribly wrong and he's now on the hook for five or six figures in damages. He's a middle class owner and simply doesn't have the means to make things right. Sure, the other owners can band together and sue, but that costs thousands upfront to retain a lawyer. You can even win a judgment against the owner, but any decent lawyer will tell you winning a judgment and actually collecting on it are two completely different things. You could file a lien on the condo unit, but get in line because your claim comes behind any claim the mortgage lender and the lender for this ambitious home improvement might have on the property. One compromise might be to offer a hefty sum in escrow to deal with any potential damage to the building and other units. It'll depend on the size of the building I can't imagine anything less than $20k-$30k for a small building. Even if you were to get this additional floor built, do you really want to be put in a position where your neighbors will blame you for every crack in the wall and other problem that shows up down the road? It may not be related to your construction, but I guarantee you, human nature being what it is, there will be people saying "Well, I never had this problem until you built your addition on the roof." There is a reason why people generally don't build additions to condos. Save that for a single-family home. Luckily in the end, we weren't put in a position of having to say "no" to our neighbor. He abandoned the idea and decided to simply buy a bigger place once he realistically priced the actual cost. On top of construction, the cost for the lawyer(s), engineer and architect meant the total outlay far exceeded any financial sense as well as his credit line. Then there was the emotional cost of time and aggravation.
Posted on: 2014/11/13 20:02
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Re: Adding a floor to a condo building Downtown
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A lawyer is a good place to start. Beyond approval from your condo association and board, this will likely entail an amendment to the master deed for your building as this will change the floor plan and the total square footage of your unit. As voting rights and maintenance fees are usually set according to a unit's percentage of the total square footage in the building, yours are likely to go up. Also be aware that many buildings' bylaws require a two-thirds or three-quarters supermajority approval for any amendments to the master deed. The condo association may very well retain its own attorney to protect the interests of the building and the other owners in this matter - but at your expense.
Beyond that, get a very good engineer. During the real-estate boom 10 years ago, a lot of buildings in JC added floors on top of existing roofs. In many cases, the work was poorly executed, resulting in leaky roofs, extensive water damage and litigation. This in turn damaged the value of all the units in the building, because honestly who would want to buy into a building like that?
Posted on: 2014/11/13 16:29
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Re: Women Begging with Children on NYC Streets
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Gypsies, or Roma. I first started noticing them on the subway a few years ago when before you hardly ever saw them in NYC. They're everywhere in Europe, and if you've lived there for any amount of time, you learn to spot them pretty quickly. They don't send their kids to school and start training them when they're pretty young to be ninja pickpockets. The money gets turned over to the head of their clan - kinda like an organized crime family. Needless to say, I absolutely refuse to give to them. If you really want to help destitute women and children, there are legit charities you can give to.
Posted on: 2014/11/12 23:56
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Re: Boston Marathon Bomber's widow spied in Hamilton Park today
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She'll fit in just fine here.
Posted on: 2014/11/10 13:14
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Re: Video evidence of highly suspicious roadblock on NJ Turnpike
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Yeah, yeah, we all know that you live in big bad part of town and nothing fazes you. People are right to be concerned, even if no one was killed. We all travel on the Turnpike extension and it's a pretty busy stretch of road - that's why this is surprising. Even if these guys had no intent to rob, carjack or murder anyone, they could have easily caused an accident with that fake roadblock. By all means, feel free to stop and see what these guys want since you're not afraid of anything. You're a much better citizen/neighbor than I am.
Posted on: 2014/11/6 15:09
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Re: Video evidence of highly suspicious roadblock on NJ Turnpike
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Scary. This reminds me of a sad incident involving a girl I went to high school with. Several years after graduation she was attending a cousin's wedding and after the reception was driving alone on a rural stretch of road in the Midwest. Some guy using fake flashing lights pulled her over and the worst thing imaginable happened. If you're driving alone at night and you're not sure if it's the police trying to pull you over, call 911 and ask them to verify, or better yet, keep driving to the nearest police station or populated area. I remember on a road trip to national parks out West a few years back being creeped out by long stretches of road without cell service and 40-50+ miles between any towns or signs of civilization. Luckily, NJ isn't like that.
Posted on: 2014/11/6 14:21
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Re: Whole Foods in JC?
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Agreed, you shouldn't have to. But 'til then, you can't really starve or eat processed food. So, you cope. They entire retail scene in JC is abysmal. I made one of my rare trips to Newport Mall a few weeks ago and discovered the Gap is no longer there. Not that I ever get anything from there besides some basic t-shirts. But an American mall without a Gap? Unheard of.
Posted on: 2014/10/16 13:32
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Re: Whole Foods in JC?
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Pssssst. The Hoboken Shop Rite has a better fish department - and you get to miss all the craziness that is the JC location. And if you're coming home via the 33rd Street PATH, Citarella sits right atop the 9th Street station.
Posted on: 2014/10/16 13:00
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Re: tree slaughter on Erie Street
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NYC does that, but they tend to get overheated power lines and fires on really hot summer days (and the occasional dog or pedestrian electrocuted by a metal grate or manhole cover). Also, above-ground power lines mean crews can fix them much more quickly when there's a problem. With the exception of Sandy, I've never had a power outage last more than a few hours here. No thanks, I'll stick with the ugly-but-practical power line setup we have now.
Posted on: 2014/10/15 14:08
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Re: Downtown Jersey City businesses take on local farmers market
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I used to love their stuffed grape leaves, but they've become this soggy inedible mush. A lot of their meats seem greasier, too. My mom used to always want to stop at Ibby's when she was visiting to get the shawarma, but she stopped going a few years back. She, too, said she thought the meats were greasier. I always chalked up the slide in quality to the owner not being around as much as he used to. On the other hand, the hummus is still good.
Posted on: 2014/10/10 14:55
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Re: Downtown Jersey City businesses take on local farmers market
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I, too, would like to know the full list of 17 whiners, so I can refrain from patronizing them. That must be part of the public record somewhere. Two Boots has already mentioned some of them, and with the exception of La Conguita, all serve pretty mediocre food. Ibbys was good when I first moved to JC a dozen years ago, but the quality has slipped noticeably over the past five years or so. Aaron, your pizza is OK, but I think your bigger problem is an oversaturation of pizza joints in a very small area. If I want empanadas, that's what I'm gonna get. Forcing them from the market isn't gonna drive me to pick up something else at Two Boots or any other restaurant.
Posted on: 2014/10/9 23:04
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Re: Downtown Jersey City businesses take on local farmers market
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Kind of ironic when you consider many of the food vendors at the farmers market also own brick-and-mortar establishments in JC. If the owner of Grove Square Bistro can't draw customers in spite of his hot location, I'd say his problems go well beyond someone selling BBQ sandwiches a few feet from his restaurant. What makes him think I'm going to dine at his eat-in restaurant and pay over $20 for a meal if I can't get $5 worth of empanadas on my way home from the PATH? I have been to Grove Square and am not inclined to return for reasons that have nothing to do with the vendors at the market. On the flip side, I keep going back to Roman Nose, even on days when the farmers market is there.
Posted on: 2014/10/8 20:23
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Re: Landlord Registration Form/Fee for Condos over 5 Units
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Hmmmm. I'd call the Resident's Response Center and ask them about this. Check with Candice Osborne's office, too. Her ward has the densest concentration of condos. Can they justify the $10/unit annual fee and why hasn't this been communicated across the city? They should already have a database of all condo owners. It's called the property tax rolls. Have a close look at your neighbor's letter. Does it mention this project, or is the letter citing the landlord registration ordinance?
EDIT: I'm just not buying what the Housing Department is telling you. Something stinks. You can't threaten someone with a fine and possible imprisonment (as mentioned in your initial post) without a specific ordinance/law authorizing that. And I haven't heard of any new post-Sandy ordinances or laws authorizing the Housing Department to create a database of condo owners and collect a fee to do so - especially when all that info is already available online via the tax collector.
Posted on: 2014/10/8 15:34
Edited by JadedJC on 2014/10/8 15:53:04
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Re: Landlord Registration Form/Fee for Condos over 5 Units
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Definitely have the property manager look into it, or better yet an attorney if your condo association has one. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the employee you spoke to completely misunderstands the law.
I remember a copy of the city ordinance was attached to the form, and I read it carefully. The law is specific in requiring any owner of more than 5 units in a single building to register and pay the $10/unit fee. If no one in your building owns more than 5 units, I don't see why anyone should be required to register let alone pay a fee. It shouldn't be a condo association matter either - it should be the responsibility of any owner who falls under the requirement. I haven't heard of any condo building paying this fee. I can't imagine any of the associations of huge buildings like Crystal Point or 77 Hudson ponying up $10/unit annually - that adds up quickly.
Posted on: 2014/10/8 15:04
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Re: Landlord Registration Form/Fee for Condos over 5 Units
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The city introduced this a couple years ago. I remember cynically thinking at the time that it was a Healy way to generate some revenue without actually raising taxes going into his re-election bid. It was also a way for them to create a database, I think, to make sure landlords were following rent control laws as well as score political points with renters.
I remember getting that notice in the mail in early 2013. The city had done a mass mailing of the form to every homeowner. Everyone I knew who received it decided to ignore it (None of my JC friends rent out more than one condo anyway). I called the housing department to clarify what was going on. Since I didn't own 5 units in my building, the law didn't apply to me. The guy on the phone asked me to do them a "favor" by filling out the form and checking boxes saying I was exempt. I ignored that request, because I got the feeling that doing so would simply put my name in some file/database with the onus falling on me every year to prove to these idiots that I didn't own 5 units in my building. Sounds to me like your neighbor may have fallen into such a Kafkaesque trap.
Posted on: 2014/10/8 14:35
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Re: Taqueria on Grove & Bay Street
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Quote:
Speaking of guac, Blue Moon, the restaurant on Montgomery, has a stand at the Grove Street farmers market where they make guac to order. You tell them the heat level you want. It's $8 and they throw in a pretty generous-sized bag of chips. It's the best guac I've found downtown (not that I'm a Mexican food expert). I know it's easy to make yourself, but sometimes I'm just too damn lazy.
Posted on: 2014/10/7 15:00
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Re: Isn't enough space' on street, so park in garages
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Quote:
Where have I said I don't want to pay for my own parking? I suggest you read my post again. Slowly. The fact is, I live in a high rise and pay for my parking. I'm pissed off at the people in my building who are too cheap to pay for parking and think it's OK to park on crosswalks, in front of fire hydrants, too close to corners, etc.
Posted on: 2014/9/11 14:31
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Re: Isn't enough space' on street, so park in garages
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Quote:
Actually NO ONE is breaking the law if they park overnight in a permit area. The parking regs DO allow anyone and everyone to park on the street between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekend and holidays. You can call JCPA all you want to complain about a non-permit car parked on the street at 8 p.m., but as far as they're concerned, the car is legally parked. The permit only comes into play when you want to park on a zoned street for more than two hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday. I'm not saying this is fair, but these are the regulations as they're currently written.
Posted on: 2014/9/11 13:32
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Re: Isn't enough space' on street, so park in garages
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Quote:
No, the rules are pretty uniform downtown with regards to permit parking. They currently allow anyone to park overnight (so long as the car is gone by 8 a.m.) and throughout the weekend and on holidays. The permit system was designed to discourage suburban commuters from using JC streets as a park-and-ride for the PATH train. I don't think they envisioned future high-rise dwellers also using street parking when they first established these rules. I completely agree that if you live in a building with available parking, you should use it, even if you have to pay. Parking is a privilege, not a constitutional right.
Posted on: 2014/9/11 13:16
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I'm going to Newark airport, but I think I'll give myself a generous cushion of time just in case. From Newark Penn Station, I'm going to try, for the first time, the bus to the airport that other people have mentioned.
Posted on: 2014/9/9 18:25
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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I have a flight on Thursday morning and am planning to get to the airport via public transportation. Does anyone know if WTC-Newark PATH service will be affected by the Sept. 11 ceremonies? Of course, I can't find any useful info on the PATH website.
Posted on: 2014/9/9 14:22
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Re: 9-year-old girl accidentally kills gun instructor with Uzi: cops
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Firearms were invented for the purpose of winning wars. How do you win wars? You kill people, capture their territory and subjugate them. Like the nuclear bomb, it is not one of mankind's prouder achievements. You could argue it was a necessary evil at the time of its invention. Whatever the circumstances, it's not an invention any child needs to celebrate let alone play with like its an amusement park attraction.
Posted on: 2014/9/5 13:45
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Re: UBER - car service in Jersey City
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Quote:
You neglected to note the last three paragraphs of that article, which basically proves my point: Uber has responded by saying it?s primarily a technology business and doesn?t need to comply with local and state taxi and limo laws that may require higher safety standards. So, if Uber doesn?t need to comply with local and state laws, what happens if one of its passengers is injured in a crash? "This question is no longer theoretical. Sadly, lawyers and safety inspectors are asking the question after a recent tragedy in San Francisco, where a 6-year old girl was killed and her mother and brother were seriously injured when an ?Uber-contracted driver? allegedly turned into the crosswalk without yielding, running down the entire family, according to an article by Tech Crunch, ?Uber?s Denial of Liability in Girl?s Death Raises Accident Accountability Questions.?
Posted on: 2014/8/20 13:40
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