Wasn't there a recent thread about a similar scenario - a neighbor saw a lot of activity outside of a house but wasn't sure what to do? By alerting the city, a potential tragedy, however remote, has been avoided.

I hope they throw the book at the homeowner. I also believe that the tenants have recourse in court against the landlord to recover back rent and then some for paying for an illegal residence.

If anyone does move forward with a hen coop, I'd love to hear about the results. This sounds like a terrific idea. I wonder though, what happens in the colder months. Can chickens live outside in the winter?

I heard about this project while listening to WNYC. There are only three Hudson County comments so far - and one comment mentioning how Hamilton Park has changed since the renovation.

From the WNYC site:

Every 10 years the country "counts heads" and uses those numbers to determine everything from election districts to funding levels. But the story of our neighborhoods, cities, and states is much deeper than what's in the numbers.

Join the Brian Lehrer Show as we make sure our listeners count, from in-depth coverage of the census process to interactive projects and all sorts of stories about who we are and how we live in 2010.

Link to Survey Page & Comments

Great job JCPD North...I can't even imagine the horror that this little boy is going through.

-------------------------------------------------------
From the Jersey Journal

A Newark man has been charged with attempted murder after throwing gasoline on a 9-year-old boy and his father and trying to set the dad on fire on a Jersey City street this morning, officials said.

Tracy Ferguson, 39, was looking to exact revenge on the father -- his old girlfriend's new boyfriend -- officials said.

Ferguson was arrested at Franklin Street and Palisade Avenue by police officers who chased him down after he attacked the father and son on Hancock Avenue as the dad was walking to boy to School 8 at 8:30 a.m., Police Chief Tom Comey said at a news conference this afternoon.

Ferguson was charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated arson, weapons offenses related to a stun gun he was carrying and numerous other offenses, Comey said.

Police said Ferguson has prior arrests in Newark and East Orange.

This afternoon the boy remains at the Jersey City Medical Center where he is being treated for chemical burns to his scalp from the gasoline but he is expected to be OK and will likely be released later today, officials said.

The father, who is thought to be the target of the attack, is at the hospital with the boy.

Comey said police in the Heights have responded to previous calls of domestic violence in which Ferguson has allegedly tried to exact jealous revenge on his ex-girlfriend.

gasoline-douse-jersey-city-2.jpgPamela Suchy/The Jersey JournalJersey City Police Capt. Phil Zacche speaks at this afternoon's news conference about an attack on a man and his 9-year-old son who were doused with gasoline. Police Chief Tom Comey is third from left.
This morning Ferguson hid between two parked cars and when the victim and boy walked past he threw a large soft drink cup full of gasoline on them, Comey said, adding that he then took out a flare and tried to ignite it but could not.

"If he got it ignited, we would have had a very different situation," Comey said.

It was then that Officer Elaine Disbrow passed by and the frantic victim showed her his gasoline-soaked shirt and said, "He's trying to kill me. He's throwing gasoline."

Ferguson took off and the victim ran after him, police.

Disbrow broadcast a description of Ferguson and his direction of flight. Officers Victor Alsina and Lamor Nelson joined the chase and when they caught up with the victim and Ferguson at Palisade and Franklin, the victim shouted, "That's the may that tried to set me on fire."

Alsina ordered Ferguson to halt and realized he was trying to hide something.

"I told him, 'Stop, let me see your hands,'" Alsina said at the news conference. "He complied and that's when the stun gun fell out of his hands."

Ferguson was arrested without incident and is being processed in the North District police station.

"He shows no remorse," Comey said. "He's as cold and calm as can be."

The chief praised the work of the officers saying, "It was their quick thinking that averted a tragedy."

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said the charge of attempted murder carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each victim upon conviction. The prosecutor said aggravated arson carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

Story Link - JJournal

Try Hamilton Park Montessori - you will be very pleased, although I don't know what the waiting list looks like.

Hi Brooklyn,

I am very sorry to hear your partner isn't well. A well run hospice program can bring a lot of comfort to someone that is terminally ill.

Here is a link to several alternatives in Hudson County:

HOSPICE IN HUDSON COUNTY

You may also want to contact your social worker at the hospital (call patient relations and they will direct you) who could help make a recommendation for the hospice that is connected to the hospital your partner is in.

Hospice can be at your home, or also in a facility that specializes in end-of-life care. That's a decision for your partner to make. If at home, your partner should be eligible for an on-site aid to help. A hospice social worker can also lend psychological support to your partner as well as yourself.

Remember, hospice is a choice that can be reversed if a new treatment comes along that may bring hope to your partner. This is not always known and can cause anxiety for a patient that chooses hospice and thinks that there is no way to reverse the decision.

End of life pain can be significant so make sure you stay on top of your hospice caregivers if your partner shows discomfort. There have been good advances in this area and you can easily learn to administer drugs to alleviate pain if need be in a homecare setting.

And finally, please, please, please make sure your partner's end of life wishes and healthcare directives are in order and readily available. There are plenty of websites that offer this info for free in PDF form. If your partner wishes to have a DNR (do not resusciate) order, hang it on the refrigerator in plain site and carry a copy with you if you are the main caregiver. This is an uncomfortable thing to consider and discuss, but you should get all of this in order immediately. Your social worker can help broach this subject, too, if help is needed.

Again, I am very sorry and hope your partner finds peace and comfort in their days...and I hope you do, too.

I remember hearing a radio interview with one of the survivors of a chlorine leak accident in South Carolina in 2005. It was chilling - not a thing they could do as the cloud rolled through.

Graniteville Accident

I tried Kumon in Journal Square for my daughter as an addition to homeschooling. At the time, she was above her grade in math and reading. They tested her and found her level and provided her with on-site and additional work for home.

She quickly became bored because the Kumon method, as I viewed it, was based upon mastering a level of skills by constant repetition.

Your child gets a ream of worksheets and does tasks over and over again until they master that level and move on. The "proctors" in the room are teenagers - a fact that I didn't like as I believed I would be paying for adult, trained supervision. If your child is in need of assistance, a teen will be helping them, based upon my experience at the center.

In the end, I found the place dull, a bit depressing, and not at all challenging for a bright child. Some of the children there looked lost and struggling. The teens that were there were often engaged in their own little conversations which I felt were distracting to the children that were trying to learn.

Depending upon your child's age, you can do the exact same work with online worksheets or even skills workbooks that you can buy at Staples or online. For math work, I've heard a lot of wonderful things about the Saxon method. I'm a Montessori fan for learning for ages 3 to 6 and you can do a lot of the skills at home. Try Ebay for materials at a great price.

At the end of a month, we left Kumon. My daughter quipped that she knew why their logo character wasn't smiling. I have to agree that she was right.

This sounds like the guy that was in the mall a few weeks ago:

Jersey Journal Story

Facts & figures

?Most of the career firefighters (74%) are in communities that protect 25,000 or more people.

?Most of the volunteer firefighters (94%) are in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 people, and more than half are located in small, rural departments protecting fewer than 2,500 people.

?In 2008, a total of 104 firefighters were fatally injured while on duty. Of these, 42 were career, 54 were volunteer, and 8 were no-municipal (those not employed by local, public fire departments).

?In 2008, 79,700 firefighters were injured in the line of duty. 36,595 of these injuries occurred on the fireground.

?There were an estimated 14,950 collisions involving fire department emergency vehicles while responding to or returning from incidents. These collisions resulted in 670 firefighter injuries.

SOURCE

This is a terrific site...do check out the posts!

It's not the best of areas and is quite noisy with bus and ambulance traffic (Christ Hospital is right down the street).

As with any area that someone intends to move to, just go hang out there at regular intervals. In this case, Friday night at about 10pm should provide your answer pretty quickly.

Go further into the Heights for a more neighborhood feel.

Yeah, that's the ticket...

Thank you 5th. Welcome to JCList.

Are you specifically in law enforcement and connected to this case?

Go to the online Jersey City tax search website. Find out who the owner is and send them a registered letter politely alerting them to the fact that there is a growing and smelly heap of trash outside of their home.

They may be absentee owners, in foreclosure, elderly, etc. and not know (I'm giving them the benefit of a doubt).

If they don't respond by clearing up the mess, get your neighbors together and clean it up. It will be to the benefit of the community and you'll rack of good nature karma points!

Good luck.

An incident similar (but more violent as the child was actually assaulted) to this happened recently at the Palisades Mall in Rockland County.

Read Story Here

The footage was released to the public and the individual was identified shortly thereafter. He was from New Jersey and was tied to an attempted abduction in New Jersey.

Why this footage hasn't been released yet is a mystery to me, and probably to other parents in the area as well. So 5th, if you're connected to law enforcement, could you enlighten us curious civilians?


Thanks.

Has anyone heard the reasons behind today's incident? Any insights would be appreciated.

Jersey City cops say 9-year-old Secaucus girl was fondled in Newport mall store
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
May 10, 2010, 8:49PM

Hudson County Special Victims Unit detectives are investigating an incident in which a 9-year-old Secaucus girl was fondled by a stranger while she played on a mattress display in a store in the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City on Sunday, officials said.

Police at the Newport Substation said the victim told them that at about 5:35 p.m. she was jumping up and down on a mattress in Sears when a man approached her and began rubbing her inner thigh, officials said.

The man asked the 9-year-old for a kiss and then asked her to go with him, but she got off the mattress and ran to her father, officials said.

The victim and her father left Sears immediately and located a mall security guard who called police, officials said.

The victim described the man as being about 30 years old, wearing blue jeans, a light-colored shirt and a black jacket, and carrying shopping bags from Disney and Kohl's.

Police searched the area for a man fitting the description but came up empty, officials said.

The alleged behavior constitutes the crime of criminal sexual conduct but that charge would be upgraded to sexual assault due to the young age of the victim, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday, adding that investigators are reviewing security video from Sears.

I have heard very good comments about Primary Prep located in the Journal Square area. They begin at PreK and I believe, have classes to 8th grade.

The downtown schools almost always have long waiting lists for the PreK-3 slots.

What was the report about?

JERSEY CITY, NJ (WABC) -- Police in Jersey City are looking for the hit-and-run driver who killed a pedestrian early Saturday morning.

It happened on Oakland Avenue around 5:30 am.

Police say a woman was crossing the street when she was mowed down by a silver-colored SUV that never slowed or stopped. The victim was identified as Maria Concepcion, a resident of Jersey City.

Jersey City police are asking anyone who may have witnessed this fatal hit and run to give them a call.

I am seeking to connect with local groups that support home schooling. Are there any in the area?

Thanks!

Here's the Jersey City contact information for donations:

Career Gear Jersey City

c/o Dress For Success Hudson County

187 Brunswick Street

Jersey City, NJ 07302

Office: (201) 222-8787

Fax: (201) 222-0017

Hudsoncounty@dressforsuccess.org

www.dressforsuccess.org/hudsoncounty

Drop off hours from 9:30am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday

I have read in a few places that the families are having difficulty paying for this couple's funeral expenses. If someone can pass along the following information to either family, it may be helpful:

1. The state provides a victim's assistance fund that may offer aid in several different ways. Learn more here:

http://www.nj.gov/oag/njvictims/eligibility.html

2. I also highly recommend you contact the Jerramiah T. Healy Foundation which is a very generous organization offering grants for situations exactly like this. They work quickly and are exceptionally compassionate. Learn more here:

http://healycharitablefoundation.com/

My thoughts go out to the friends and family of this lovely couple during a time of such sadness.

Interesting article in Essence Magazine - reporting a bit more fully on the details of the robbery. A comment by a reader indicates that a "suspect" has been arrested. Don't know if that is accurate, but I certainly hope this is true.

ESSENCE MAGAZINE STORY

Quote:

+1

I don't have the exact name, but I've been using a produce store that is located near the corner of Tonnelle and Newark Avenue (the store is on Tonnelle). It's set back a bit from the street, across from Singh Pizza) in Little India.

Their fruit quality has been excellent in bulk - far better than what I've seen at BJ's or supermarkets.

Good luck!

Just PMd you.

I used Dr. Alvarez at HUMD and have recommended him several times. I had a great experience there. You do have to schlep to Hackensack, but I felt it was worth it, based upon my preference to have my child in a well equipped hospital with an excellent NICU.

http://www.humed.com/obgyn/medical_staff.php

Good luck!

There has been a very, very sweet black cat, probably under a year old, hanging out in the vicinity of Webster and Hutton Street. It was going back and forth between 41 and 40 Hutton tonight and then back to the corner house on Webster and Hutton.

It has a collar with a little silver bell, no tag.

My neighbor told me it has been in the area for about three days. He also let me know he called animal control several times about the cat.

I cannot take the cat in, but if someone is in the area and sees him, he really is a cutie and seems lost.