Jersey City council to strip MUA commissioners of health benefits

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 25, 2013 at 6:58 PM

A measure stripping health benefits from Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority commissioners is on the agenda for next week?s City Council meeting.

The five MUA commissioners only work part-time ? the commissioners meet once a month ? and aren?t paid, but two of them, Nicholaos I. Economou and Lewis W. Matthias, receive city benefits, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

The benefits cost the city $50,000 annually, ?not including the cultural message of entitlement,? Morrill said.

This is a pet issue for Mayor Steve Fulop, who attempted to strip all MUA commissioners of their benefits back in 2010, when he represented Ward E on the City Council. He didn?t find enough supporters on the council for the measure to move forward.

The council subsequently curtailed benefits, making them for the commissioner only and not their families members, and forced commissioners to kick in a portion of the premiums.


In 2011, Fulop won enough support to take benefits away from new MUA commissioners. Next week?s action will be ?closing the loop here,? Fulop said in a statement.

Councilman Rolando Lavarro will introduce the ordinance at next week?s meeting, and in the statement he called the action ?long overdue.?

?This is an important step in restoring public confidence in city government,? Lavarro said.

MUA Chair Eileen Gaughan did not return a request for comment. Eileen Matthias, Lewis? wife, told The Jersey Journal that council members themselves shouldn't receive "free benefits."

?Why do they get it?? she said. ?It?s that g?damn Fulop. I can?t stand him. And you can quote me.?

The council meets for its next regular meeting on Wednesday, July 31 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... s_of_health_benefits.html

Police warn of con artists preying on Jersey City residents

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
July 25, 2013 at 10:19 AM

Jersey City police are warning residents of two scams being used to defraud residents out of hundreds of dollars and The Jersey Journal received a report of a third.

?These are both serious scams that are taking place, where residents are being defrauded hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars, and we want to make the public aware so they do not fall victim to this fraudulent operation,? said Mayor Steven M. Fulop. ?Anyone who has been a victim of this type of scam should report it to the police immediately.?

The first con, which first appeared just over a year ago and has recently resurfaced, involves the perpetrator calling residents and saying they are holding a family member hostage and demanding money for their safe release, Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said.

In some cases, the caller says he has been involved in a car accident with a family member of the victim and he is with the family member and demands money to fix his vehicle or else. Police officials say the victims are kept on the phone while they travel to the Western Union and transfer funds, anywhere from $100 to $2,000, or buy a green dot money pack and provide the card number and pin over the phone, Morrill said.

The second scam targets the immigrant community, particularly the Indian and Hispanic community, with the perpetrators calling residents and saying they are from the Department of Homeland Security and that their immigration paperwork is not valid and an arrest warrant has been issued, Morrill said.

The caller then demands $700 or $800 to resolve the warrant and stays on the phone with the victim while he or she purchases the green dot money pack card and provides the information over the phone. In more than one instance, the perpetrator called back saying the money was never received and makes the demand again.

The police department has received numerous reports on both scams. If a resident receives a call of this nature, he or she should immediately call the police department at 201-547-5477 to report the incident. Do not provide any money or other information over the phone, Morrill said.

A Jersey City woman told The Jersey Journal of yet another scam. She said received a call from a man saying was with Publisher?s Clearinghouse and told her she won a car and more than $1.1 million. She told him it was a scam but he told her it wasn't, that a television crew would be at her home later in the day, her car would be delivered at 3 p.m. and the money would come the next day. All she had to do was buy a green dot money pack and send $100 for delivery of the car.

She bought the card and called the man giving him the card number and pin so he could collect the money and he told her the car was on its way. Later he called to get her bank account number so the prize money could be deposited but by then she had realized it was a scam and had called police.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/07/post_337.html

Cory Booker meets with voters in Jersey City

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 24, 2013 at 9:45 PM

Newark Mayor Cory Booker greeted commuters in Jersey City today as part of his campaign to win a U.S. Senate seat in October.

Booker, appearing with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, shook hands with riders and posted for pictures with them at the top of the escalator at the Grove Street PATH station.

Bergen Avenue man Ahmad McKinney, 54, said he happened to be in the area for an eye doctor?s appointment when he ran into the crowd circling the two mayors at Grove Street Plaza.

?This is amazing,? McKinney said. ?Not only is he a great mayor, but he was a great wide receiver at Stanford.?

Booker, who wants to succeed the late Frank Lautenberg in the Senate, is facing off in an Aug. 13 primary against U.S. Rep. Rush Holt Jr., Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone. Polls show Booker is heavily favored to win.

On Oct. 16, the winner of the Democratic primary will face either Alieta Eck or Steve Lonegan, both Republicans.

McKinney said he plans on voting for Booker both times.

?Of course I am. I voted for Fulop, too,? he said, mispronouncing Fulop?s name.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ey_city.html#incart_river

Ex-Hudson County Director of Weights and Measures Araujo found guilty of reckless driving

By Anthony J. Machcinski/The Jersey Journal
July 24, 2013 at 6:48 PM

The former Hudson County director of Weights and Measures, who was charged with driving while intoxicated in a county-issued car last year, was found guilty today of a reckless driving charge in Florham Park Municipal Court, court officials said.

Christian Araujo, 38, a former lieutenant in the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, will have his license suspended for 80 days as a result of the incident, officials said.

Araujo was found not guilty on the DWI charge.

Florham Park police said Araujo was off-duty and "engaged in a sexual activity" when they approached his car in the back of a church parking lot at 3:40 a.m. on July 4, 2012.

He was charged with DWI after failing sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the legal limit of .08, police said.

Araujo, a Secaucus resident who ran for a City Council seat in Jersey City in 2009, resigned from his title of director days after the incident.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... driving.html#incart_river

Jersey City renames Mayor's Action Bureau, opens it for additional hours

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 24, 2013 at 1:17 PM

Jersey City?s Mayor?s Action Bureau has been rechristened the Resident Response Center, part of Mayor Steve Fulop?s effort to give the office a larger role in city government.

The RRC will also open for additional hours ? from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ? starting in August. City officials announced the changes today, saying they would help streamline the constituent-service process, guarantee response times and help the city track how it?s using resources.

Last week, the City Council adopted a $515 million budget for 2013 that includes $547,000 in salaries for the RRC, a boost of $181,000 from from last year?s budget. Councilman at large Rolando Lavarro, a Fulop ally, defended the increase, saying the city needs a ?strong? constituent-services office to respond to various issues.

?The Mayor?s Action Bureau is being strengthened because there is a strong call from Jersey City residents, and this last election showed that, to improve life for Jersey City residents,? Lavarro said.

A 311 call center Fulop has promised to bring to Jersey City ? New York City started its own in 2003 ? will work in conjunction with the RRC, the city said today.

You can contact the RRC at (201) 547-4900 and (201) 547-5555

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... for_additional_hours.html

Slain Jersey City woman Shannan Gilbert, L.I. murders subject of new book

By Alexander W. Silady/The Jersey Journal
July 24, 2013 at 10:33 AM

Robert Kolker, an author and contributing editor at New York magazine, has released a new book that hits close to home for some Jersey City residents.

The book, Lost Girls, released by HarperCollins on July 9, is about the unsolved killings of five escorts on Long Island, believed to be the work of a serial killer. One of the slain women, Shannan Gilbert, was a resident of Jersey City.

Gilbert, 24, went missing in May 2010, sparking a far-reaching investigation that gripped public interest for months. She worked as an escort over Craigslist, and had disappeared after meeting a client in Oak Beach, Long Island at about 2 a.m. on May 1. Her driver described her as "delirious" and "irrational" on the day of her disappearance, and said she had a history of cocaine abuse and suffered from bipolar disorder.

Four women's bodies were found on the south shore of Long Island in December 2010, and though all of them were believed to be murdered escorts, none of them belonged to Gilbert, prolonging the investigation and the heartbreak of Gilbert's friends and family.

The search and mystery as to whether Gilbert was dead or alive came to a close a year later when Gilbert's remains were identified in December 2011. It is not known who killed her or the other four women whose remains were uncovered, though the cases are believed to all be related.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ew_book.html#incart_river

Jersey City mayor says recently-released criminals responsible for spate of gun violence in city

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
July 23, 2013 at 10:44 PM

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said tonight that a spate of recent gun violence in the city might be attributable to the recent release from prison of three criminals who have returned to the city.

?I think that there are several bad actors,? Fulop said following an anti-violence meeting at the Mary McLeod Bethune Center that was organized by state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham.

?My understanding is they exited the prison system at the same time and returned to Jersey City at the same time and gang violence escalated coinciding with some of those actors,? the mayor said. ?The police department is being aggressive about it and it is a challenge but I think we are going to be turning the corner very shortly.?

The fatal shooting of 23-year-old Amin Sumter of Gifford Avenue, on Crescent Avenue Street Friday night was the latest incident of the fatal gun violence the city is experiencing this summer.

Sumter?s murder was the fifth homicide in Jersey City this month, the sixth since June 30 and the 12th this year. The city saw only 13 homicides in all of last year, which city officials said was a record low.

Tonight's meeting at the center brought together police, clergy, community leaders, nonprofit groups, and elected officials to come up with solutions to the rampant gun violence.

Some of the participants said more recreational programs needed to be developed, while others said the issue was getting young people to know about the programs that already exist.

Churches needed to be more involved, some said people. Others advocated for putting more cops on foot patrol so they get to know residents.

Freeholder Bill O?Dea, who led another meeting tonight aimed at starting a citizens patrol, said there is a need for re-entry program for youthful offenders. Freeholder Jeff Dublin put the onus on families to teach their kids right from wrong.

The mayor?s choice for the new public safety director, James Shea, told the room of about 100 people, that the community and police need to work hand in glove.

?Everyone has to work together and the police department has to be out there in the community,? said Shea , a former Marine and a 23-year veteran of the New York Police Department who most recently coordinated the New York City-wide Youth Crime and Gang Initiative.

Police officials said they have shifted resources to Greenville from other areas in the city.

Others attending tonight?s event included: state Assemblyman Charles Maynor, Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino, Jersey City City Council members Michael Yun, Richard Boggiano, Joyce Watterman, Daniel Rivera and Diane Coleman, as well as former Deputy Mayor Kabili Tayari, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry and Jersey City NAACP President Bill Braker.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... tys_wave_of_violence.html

City Council to combine fire, police departments in Jersey City

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 23, 2013 at 3:43 PM

UPDATE: The meeting has been canceled.

Jersey City is taking its first steps toward creating a public-safety department that will oversee both police and fire departments.

The City Council is meeting for a special meeting tomorrow to introduce two measures creating the new department and the post of public-safety director. Mayor Steve Fulop last week announced the he wants James Shea, a New York City deputy police chief, to lead the new division.

He would also oversee the city Office of Emergency Management.

Tomorrow?s measures will likely pass, with Fulop allies controlling seven of the council?s nine seats. But their passage will probably not be unanimous, with Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano, a retired police detective, on the record as opposing the creation of the new department.

At last week?s council meeting, which featured fire and police union officials blasting Fulop for combining their departments, Boggiano agreed.

?You are 100 percent right,? he said. ?The police department should have its own director, the fire department should have its own director.?

Fulop has said he believes combining the two departments ? which has been attempted at least twice before city officials broke them up again ? will cut costs.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ey_city.html#incart_river

Year-long construction project to begin on Newark Avenue in Jersey City

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 23, 2013 at 5:11 PM

Motorists in Jersey City?s Journal Square, get ready for a year-long headache.

The city plans to begin construction tomorrow on a streetscape improvement project that could take up to 12 months to complete.

The state-funded work will occur on a nearly half-mile stretch of Newark Avenue from Summit to Tonnelle avenues and on one block of Liberty Avenue from Newark to Van Winkle avenues.

The city will resurface streets, replace curbs and sidewalks, install curb ramps and add decorative street lights, greenery and traffic striping, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Work on Newark Avenue will begin at Summit Avenue and proceed west, Morrill said, adding that city engineers believe the construction will be complete by December.

Construction will be performed on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ey_city.html#incart_river

Political Insider: Will McGreevey earn his nice salary?

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
July 22, 2013 at 3:17 PM

When Steven Fulop was about to get sworn in as mayor of Jersey City, he first had his City Hall office and adjoining rooms painted white. With an inauguration approaching, the last thing he wanted was for visiting dignitaries to see a dingy chief executive?s office with clutter and faded, dark walls.

Let?s face it, the building facade also needs a power wash. The same can be said with the city, where some high-powered governing is needed to clean up the mess.

This week, the mayor accepted an invitation to sit with The Jersey Journal Editorial Board for a chat. Journal reporter Terrence McDonald has had several articles this week that came out of the session, including Fulop?s selection of deputy mayors and other posts. There?s still one coming on his transition report.

It was not like the mayor did not expect it. It started with a lengthy discussion about the hiring of former gov. Jim McGreevey as head of the city jobs commission. Some members of the Editorial Board were incredulous that the best person Fulop could find for the post is the disgraced McGreevey, who resigned before completing his first term as the state?s top executive.

The mayor defended the selection, noting that besides bringing obvious attention to the post, McGreevey has had a decade of prison ministry, helping convicts find employment and working with addicts. Everyone was familiar with the HBO documentary, ?Fall to Grace,? about the former governor?s jailhouse work. We take the point of view that documentaries are never neutral. ?Let?s see how he does a year from now,? the mayor said of McGreevey.

McGreevey?s transformation from Machiavelli to a modern day St. Thomas Aquinas aside, I just wonder why the onetime mayor of Woodbridge lobbied for the post. It?s also obvious that the ex-gov got help from one high-powered lawyer with whom he had a relationship during his gubernatorial days. This legal eagle also helped quarterback Fulop?s vaunted transition report.

It comes down to one thing ? McGreevey needs the $110,000 annual salary. I can?t see his expanded role springboarding him to any return to political prominence, as some critics believe. I do sense that the most controversial figure in the Fulop administration does enjoy the limelight. Fulop is right, time ? and jobs ? will tell.

INSIDER NOTES:

? During the mayoral campaign, Fulop met with leaders of the local affiliates of the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades, seeking the support among the council?s 15 affiliate unions. He could only muster an endorsement from two. The rest backed incumbent Jerramiah Healy.

It wasn?t because Healy had any ideas about how to help the union find jobs or anything, ahem, constructive. Fulop was told, ?We just know Jerry.?
The reformer was told if he somehow managed to pull an upset (snicker), he would be invited to speak at the council?s Atlantic City convention.

Early Wednesday morning, Fulop drove down to Atlantic City. The mayor talked to them about his plans to entice development to all parts of the city, providing more employment opportunities. City jobs commission head and talisman McGreevey accompanied the mayor.

? Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise has started his ?convince the county mayors he?s serious about running for re-election? tour. Having several small fundraising events, DeGise now has a large scale fund-raiser scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Maritime Parc restaurant and catering facility in Liberty State Park, Jersey City.
DeGise wants to stop any rumors that he?s ready to retire. The election is in 2015.

? Fulop has discovered two wall safes in his mayoral office that no one knows how to open. He checked with former mayor Gerald McCann, who said he has no idea and amazingly has never seen them opened. There is a ?What?s in Al Capone?s vault?? potential here. I suggested to Fulop that there may be a number of experts in the Hudson County jail who could help. His answer was an unintelligible grunt.

-- Kearny has a new 25-foot fire boat they call ?Marine 3,? which I presume means it cost more than $300,000 to carry three firefighters. Mayor Al Santos called it ?a priority? because the town is surrounded by rivers. Hopefully it?s properly equipped with a wet bar and at least a half-dozen fishing rod holders. Kidding, guys

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... mcgreev.html#incart_river

Family Promise to benefit from Barclays PGA Tour in Jersey City

By Independent Press
on July 13, 2013 at 2:53 PM

PGA Tour fans interested in attending The Barclays golf tournament next month in Jersey City can benefit Family Promise by buying their tickets through a special website benefiting local charities.

Family Promise is a national nonprofit with 182 affiliates dedicated to helping homeless families. ?We are pleased to be a part of the unique fundraising effort organized by The Barclays 2013. Funds raised from the event will provide families with shelter, meals, housing and job opportunities,? said Karen Olson, president of Family Promise.

The Barclays, to be held Aug. 20-25 at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, will feature the top 125 players on the PGA Tour. Golfers Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and Jason Day are some of the players who have qualified to play in the tournament.

Ticket buyers should go to www.buytfc.com, the website of the PGA Tour?s ?Tickets Fore Charity? program. Two types of tickets are available: a good-any-one-day grounds ticket for $55, and a weekly grounds ticket for $125. Seventy-five percent of the net proceeds from tournament ticket sales will benefit Family Promise when ticket buyers use the promotion code CLUBHOUSE13. The other 25 percent goes to The First Tee of Metropolitan New York ? an initiative of the World Golf Foundation aimed at positively impacting the lives of young people through the game of golf. Up to three youth, ages 18 and younger, are admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticketed adult.

In 2011 and 2012, more than $470,000 was generated for local charities, and the tournament has set a goal of $350,000 for 2013. The PGA Tour, its players and tournaments support more than 3,000 charities nationwide. In 2012, The Barclays donated $1.4 million to local charities.

Founded in 1986 in Summit on the belief that Americans are compassionate people who want to make a difference, Family Promise today comprises 182 Affiliates across 41 states and engages 160,000 volunteers from coast to coast. The organization, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has served more than 500,000 people since its inception. Nearly 80% of the families served secure permanent or transitional housing after leaving Family Promise. Family Promise?s vision is a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future together. For more information about Family Promise, please visit www.familypromise.org

The Barclays has been a part of the PGA TOUR schedule since 1967 when Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural event at Westchester Country Club. Since that time, some of the greatest players in the game have earned the title including World Golf Hall of Famers Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Raymond Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, Hale Irwin and Curtis Strange. As the first of four playoff events, The Barclays plays a leading role in the FedExCup, the season-long competition that is the centerpiece of the PGA TOUR season. For tournament information, please visit www.thebarclaysgolf.com

http://www.nj.com/independentpress/in ... mise_to_benefit_from.html

http://thebarclays.barclaysgolf.com/index.html

Jersey City public safety unions' honchos fume over director pick, merger

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 18, 2013 at 8:06 AM

Officials with Jersey City public safety unions blasted Mayor Steve Fulop's administration yesterday for choosing someone from outside Jersey City to lead a new public safety department, saying the move is a "slap in the face" to officials who already work for the city.
Joseph W. Krajnik, president of the Uniformed Firefighter Association of Jersey City, said the new public safety director, who will be named at a press conference today, has "never walked a street in Jersey City."

"It's a slap in the face to every police officer, police superior, fire officer and firefighter's face to go out of Jersey City to pick a public safety director," Krajnik, a Lyndhurst resident, told the City Council at its meeting yesterday morning. "We've got the best of the best."

Sgt. Robert J. Kearns, president of the Jersey City Police Superior Officers' Association, agreed, saying he worries that the new director will have a steep learning curve as he learns about Jersey City and the two departments he will lead.

"Obviously, I believe it should be someone from within," Kearns, who lives in Jersey City, told The Jersey Journal. "Why not one of our own people? Why not at least look at it?"

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said the "rhetoric" expressed at yesterday's City Council meeting "is more of the same people protecting the status quo."

"We opened the process to internal candidates and it is ironic the union leadership is complaining about needing to live in Jersey City when they themselves don't live in the city," Morrill added.

Fulop plans to merge the administrative functions of the police and fire departments into one public safety department. Instead of one administrator leading each department, the new director will lead both. Each department will still have a uniformed chief.

The new mayor, who took office on July 1, hired a firm led by Howard Safir, a former police and fire commissioner in New York City, to find the new director. His identity will be revealed today at noon at City Hall.

Kearns said he has not been told who the new director will be.

In a meeting with The Jersey Journal this week, Fulop said the new director is from outside Jersey City but will move here. He has "a special background for what we're trying to do," said Fulop, who has called public safety a top priority for his administration.

The union officials who spoke yesterday also object to one director leading both departments. Peter Nowak, president of the Jersey City Fire Officers Association, said the move is a "mistake."

"You need a police director and a fire director, and that's how Newark operates," Nowak said.

Morrill said merging the running of the two departments will cut costs and save tax dollars while creating efficiency by eliminating duplicate overhead.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... y_public_safety_unio.html

Political Insider: Police ramp up efforts against Jersey City street crimes

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
July 17, 2013 at 8:33 PM

This past weekend, the Jersey City Police Department made a statement by placing a mobile command center and police tower in the vicinity of the Hub shopping mall on King Drive. Walking police officers were highly visible on neighborhood corners normally used as open-air drug markets.

Considering the violence of the last couple of weeks, this is all welcome, but those public safety resources will not be there day after day.

After a meeting last night with worshippers at the mosque at Montgomery Street near Florence Street that was riddled with bullets Monday night, Acting Police Chief Joseph Connors acknowledged they were picking their spots. The police wanted to assure folks and show some muscle on the streets.

Today, the police ?Eye in the Sky? three-story tower was erected near the place of worship, presumably to spot trouble on the horizon. The tower was a purchase by the former mayor Jerramiah Healy administration and doesn't have much mileage on it since it was used mostly at festivals and other non-lethal sites.

The meeting with mosque worshippers included Mayor Steve Fulop, City Council members including Chico Ramchal, Rolando Lavarro and Richard Boggiano, Freeholder Bill O?Dea and a bevy of police superiors, was closed to the media. Sorry if I missed any of you, but I didn?t have much access, even though I know how to behave in a mosque. I dress modestly. I would have not pointed my feet at the Qibla. And I don't chew gum. A couple of summers on the Libyan coast in my early 20s taught me something more than just saying ?assalam allaikum.?

All that was expressed was the new administration?s concern and that the city is trying to upgrade public safety, according to the mayor who adds that members of the mosque were his earliest and strongest backers when he first ran for office.

One big upgrade is at the top. Fulop is to name a public safety director tomorrow at noon and he?s excited about the quality of the candidate.

So many people have been calling me to say they know the identity of the mystery hire, from former State Police Superintendent Joseph Santiago to Big Apple ex-police commissioner William Braxton. I consider these a little "out there" and more than not likely. The mayor has managed to keep the name secret by telling just a handful of people, even excluding City Council members. It's a big deal for him -- and the city. Local public safety unions feel someone in-house could have been selected.

I told him last night that more than likely his big hire is recently retired with a long and impressive resume and probably he is out of New York.

?He could very well be from another state,? the mayor said. OK, this confirms that he?s from New York. I?m betting it?s Fulop, not me, who should never play poker. We?ll find out soon enough.

INSIDER NOTES

? Urban Concerns, the activist organization head by Bruce Alston and Robert Mays, held one of its anti-crime sessions yesterday evening at the Hank Gallo Community Center in Lincoln Park. It was scheduled after the shooting death of a Ward B 23-year-old man who was killed over a cellphone theft.

There were about 25 people at the session and several passionate individuals spoke. Ward B Councilman Ramchal and Freeholder O?Dea were present, as well as activist Esther Wintner. The group has been successfully obtaining names of more than 75 people who have volunteered for committees and who are expected to meet in the near future.

O?Dea said there are simple things that can be done to improve life in the city. He said just reading to a child early in life can have a significant impact on their upbringing. An entire generation of city residents could be helped by following the New York City Imagination Library initiative at http://www.nycimaginationlibrary.org/ If you're a parent of a young child, just take click on the link.

? Bayonne Third Ward Councilman Ray Greaves was seen at a local diner with election campaign ronin Tom Bertoli. Bertoli is fresh off Fulop?s successful election and is now working with the campaign for U.S. Senate of Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Is there any doubt by now? Anyone seen Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith lately?

-- Hoboken Democrats held their fundraiser at The Water Club and about 75 people attended. Barbara Buono showed up and spoke. Other speakers were Hudson County Dem Organization head and Assemblyman Vinnie Prieto of Secaucus and Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver out of Essex County. Both Cryans were there: Jamie, Hoboken Dem head, and Joseph, assemblyman out of Union. Mayor Dawn Zimmer was not present, say my eyes and ears, possibly because council members Mike Russo and Theresa Castellano were. Rich guy developer Frank Raia was present and he's telling anyone that he never had an argument with Zimmer over his desire to run on her ticket. Lies, all lies, he insists.

-- If you are wondering, Fulop performed a wedding soon after being sworn in. He said it was for a pal. They did not have to skip stones across the Hudson River to have the solemn ceremony certified.

-- Robert Knapp, chairman of the Jersey City Employment & Training Program, said he expects resistance on the nonprofit's board to Fulop's choice of former Gov. Jim McGreevey as head of the city's job program. Well, I believe Knapp may have a change of heart after a call from a local state senator. I did notice that the former head of the program, Keith Davis, is sticking around as deputy director.

-- Anyone got a sprinkler cap?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... ce_ramp.html#incart_river

Jersey City mosques to receive extra police protection during Ramadan

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
July 17, 2013 at 8:06 PM

Jersey City police have posted a surveillance tower and a police cruiser at the mosque that was riddled by gunfire Monday night and there will be an increased police presence at all city mosques during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Last night, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Jersey City Acting Police Chief Joseph Connors visited the Muslim Federation of New Jersey mosque and community center at Montgomery and Florence streets and assured about 150 congregants that the mosque was not the target of the gunfire that struck the building Monday.

"I gave them an update on where we were are in the investigation and we talked about increasing (police) visibility during the month of Ramadan, while all indication are that the issue was not related to religion," Fulop said today.

"We and the entire administration want all communities in the city to feel safe and make sure they recognize that," Fulop continued. "There is increased activity at every mosque in the city (during Ramadan) and there will be a police presence (during times of) significant prayer activity.

"We feel safe," said Amir Khan of Wayne Street who has been at the mosque for 12 years and lives on Wayne Street. "It wasn't anything about targeting us. We see that."

Today, a police cruiser was stationed at the Muslim Federation of New Jersey and the police "eye in the sky" tower had been erected. The tower is about three stories tall and has a tinted glass room at the top and surveillance camera.

Khan said on a normal night about 25 people may attend evening prayers at the mosque, but during Ramadan, hundreds may attend. During Ramadan, evening prayers are much longer and congregations can empty out onto the street as late as 12:30 a.m.

Asked how the congregation reacted to Fulop's visit and the increased police presence, Khan said "The people were thankful, grateful. Everyone liked the way the mayor handled it."

On Monday, one bullet slammed through the Montgomery Street mosque's partially rolled-down metal door, shattering a glass pane behind it. Two bullets buried themselves in a wall just inside the mosque's front doors, and other bullets struck parked cars, blowing out windows and flattening a tire.

Syad Abdasi, general secretary of the Muslim Federation of New Jersey, said the prayer service was ending on Monday around midnight when and a group of kids had walked out of the mosque when six or seven shots rang out and they came back in running and out of breath.

The 23-year-old man police say was the intended target ran into the mosque, knocking people down and running out a side door, Abdasi said.

The Newark man later returned and told police left a nearby store noticed a man across Montgomery Street wearing a hoodie despite the sweltering heat and another with a bandanna over his face.

Figuring something bad was about to happen, the Newark man told police he asked a person in front of the mosque if he could borrow a cellphone since his own was dead. That's when gunfire erupted from the top of a staircase leading down to the common courtyard at the Montgomery Gardens housing complex.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ramadan.html#incart_river

Watchdog group calls for transparency in Port Authority budget

Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger By Steve Strunsky/The Star-Ledger
July 16, 2013 at 4:08 PM

The Citizens Budgets Commission, a New York City-based watchdog group, said the budgeting process of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, despite the agency's repeated pledge of transparency, lacks precisely that.

So, the commission today called for the upcoming budget to include more detail and to be accompanied by a capital plan. The commission also released a letter to the Port Authority's executive director that contained a series of recommendations for reforms, some of which mirror processes already in place at other public agencies in the region.

"Prior to 2013 the agency prepared a detailed annual budget that included capital and operating expenses for each activity, but it did not have regularly updated multi-year financial plans for operating or capital expenses," Carol Kellermann, the commission's president, wrote to Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye.

"Its 2013 operating budget is a shorter and less detailed document than that of previous years and was adopted without opportunity for prior public scrutiny," Kellermann wrote.

The Port Authority board currently approves capital investments on a project-by-project basis, wrote Kellermann, adding that Port Authority is working on a capital plan.

The Port Authority issued a statement saying some of what the citizen commission, or CBC, is calling for is already in the works.

?Many of the CBC?s recommendations are already in place or underway at the Port Authority and as the CBC already knew, the agency announced work on its long-term capital plan months ago," the statement read. "The soon-to-be released capital budget is currently undergoing one of the most deliberate, detailed evaluations in agency history. The budget will lay out not only a short-term spending plan, but also a long-term capital strategy and vision for the bi-state agency."

"(The Port Authority's) 2013 operating budget is a shorter and less detailed document than that of previous years and was adopted without opportunity for prior public scrutiny. It contains major categories of operating expenses, but no capital budget

In December, the board adopted a $2.58 billion budget for the 2013 calendar year, which included salaries for the agency's 6,777 employees and other ongoing operating costs. But unlike previous years, there was no accompanying capital budget detailing spending on major projects, which is often comparable in size to the spending plan for operations. The 2012 capital budget was $3.66 billion.

Most of the agency's revenues are derived from rent at its airports, sea ports and other facilities, and from tolls at its bridges and tunnels. Capital items are typical financed by bonds, repaid by subsequent revenues.

The CBC has been critical of the Port Authority in the past. Days before the agency adopted its 2013 operating budget, the CBC issued a report finding that Port Authority Police officers were paid more than their counterparts in the New York City and Newark police departments, and on the New York and New Jersey State Police departments.

The Port Authority's failure to present a capital budget as it usually does in December followed an effort in July 2012 by the AAA clubs of New York and Northern New Jersey to obtain capital spending records from the agency. AAA filed a motion in federal court in Manhattan seeking the records under a lawsuit that sought to determine whether it was illegally spending toll money on the World Trade Center's redevelopment. The ruling on the motion was not definitive, and AAA has not received the documents it wants.

Marta Genovese, a AAA New York spokeswoman, applauded the CBC, saying the group was calling for rational steps that would enhance transparency and accountability.

?Despite the Port Authority?s talking about transparency, it seems like they?ve gone backward this year,? said Genovese.

In the letter to Foye, the CBC made six recommendations:

1. The Port Authority "should have a detailed annual operating budget and a four-year financial plan," prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

2. "The operating budget should be adopted only after opportunities for public review and should be revised and updated during the fiscal year," with the release of a preliminary budget in July, updated and adopted in December, and updated again in February.

3. The agency's capital budgeting should be guided by a 10-to-20-year strategy, revised every four years, and based on assessments of facilities maintenance and other needs.

4. The agency should produce annual and four-year capital commitment plans, revised annually, that specify projects to be initiated and their expected cost, accompanied by a financing plan that indicates revenue sources for each project.

5. Agency staff should produce quarterly reports to the board of commissioners and the public on the status of each capital project, as gauged by independent engineering consultants.

6. Quarterly reports should be made to commissioners with performance measures of activities and accomplishments, comparing actual and targeted performance.

"The staff and I would be glad to discuss them with you and your colleagues," Kellermann concluded in her letter. "We look forward to continuing to work constructively with you."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013 ... _budget.html#incart_river

Former Wall Street executive, NYC nonprofit official named Jersey City deputy mayors

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 16, 2013 at 1:32 PM

A former Wall Street executive and a top official at one of New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's signature education efforts are Jersey City?s two new deputy mayors.

John Thieroff, 47, formerly a senior vice president at GE Capital and the mastermind behind Fulop?s decisive win in May?s mayoral contest, will handle financial issues, while Vivian Brady-Phillips, executive vice president at NYC Leadership Academy, will concentrate on social services, according to Mayor Steve Fulop.

Each will earn a $110,000 salary. They replace Kabili Tayari, who returned to his previous post at the city Department of Public Works after Fulop became mayor, and Raj Mukherji, a lobbyist who is now running for a seat in the state Assembly.

Tayari made a similar salary to Thieroff and Brady-Phillips, while Mukherji worked for $1 plus benefits. Fulop has said he wants the deputy mayor position to be an integral part of his administration, and not a "political badge."

?I think that the team there is going to be something terrific,? Fulop said yesterday in a meeting with editors of The Jersey Journal.

Fulop said he had planned to release information about the new deputy mayors next week. After pressing by The Jersey Journal, which noted that if taxpayers are paying their salaries the information should be public now, Fulop revealed their names.

The city said the extra deputy mayor salary will balance out thanks to the recent resignation of Carl Cazplicki, the former heard of the city Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce. Czaplicki made a $121,638 salary and he will not be replaced, the city said today.

Thieroff has more than 20 years working in the banking and financial industries for Standard & Poor?s, GE Capital and Chemical Bank. His professional background is focused on corporate credit and debt capital markets.

Brady-Phillips, meanwhile, oversaw NYC Leadership Academy?s community and foundation relations, communications and legal affairs. Previously she served as the nonprofit?s chief of staff.

Both live in Jersey City. Brady-Phillips took a ?massive pay cut? to work for the city, according to Fulop.

Thieroff was seen as a likely pick for deputy mayor or chief of staff after Fulop won the May 14 mayoral race. Brady-Phillips was selected after she and more than 400 others sent their resumes to the city seeking employment, Fulop said.

?I think that, because of the resume process, we?re picking up a lot of people with really great skills at a discount,? the mayor said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _mayors.html#incart_river

Chair of Jersey City jobs program predicts fight over McGreevey appointment

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 16, 2013 at 2:57 PM

The chair of a Jersey City jobs program that Mayor Steve Fulop wants former Gov. Jim McGreevey to run is predicting a battle over the appointment, noting that only the program?s board of directors can hire and fire its employees.

Last week, Fulop stunned political observers when he announced he wants McGreevey, 55, to head the Jersey City Employment and Training Program, a 20-year-old nonprofit that administers the city?s job training plan.

But Bob Knapp, who chairs the program?s seven-member board of directors, said he believes the board will stand by the program?s current director, Keith Davis.

?We want to work with the new administration, we want to do what?s right by the city,? Knapp said. ?However, the city does not have the authority to appoint or terminate an executive director.?

Fulop wants McGreevey to run the JCETP and work with the city to create a re-entry program for ex-inmates. McGreevey helps to run a similar program for Hudson County, which the former governor says has been successful in getting former prisoners jobs and housing.

Knapp, the deputy director of the Hudson County Welfare Division, lobbied hard for Fulop?s main opponent in the May 14 mayoral race, former Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Fulop noted that when asked about Knapp?s thoughts on the McGreevey appointment.

?I really don?t think it?s going to be an issue,? Fulop said in a meeting with editors of The Jersey Journal. ?His board is appointed by us.?

Knapp, who said he wouldn't mind McGreevey taking another job with the city, notes that only two members of the board have terms expiring this year. Fulop brushed aside Knapp?s concerns.

?I suspect the majority will be fine with change,? Fulop said. ?I don?t think anyone can say that place has achieved everything it?s capable of achieving.?

In the meeting with The Jersey Journal, Fulop again defended his choice to team up with McGreevey, who is set to join the city payroll in September at an annual salary of $110,000.

McGreevey in 2004 resigned as governor after declaring himself a ?gay American.? At the time, he was facing a sexual harassment suit on behalf of a former lover whom McGreevey appointed as a homeland-security advisor, despite the man?s scant qualifications.

Fulop said he isn?t concerned with McGreevey?s past troubles.

?I?m looking at his performance over the last 10 years,? he said. ?It?s probably second to none as it relates to prisoner re-entry.?

McGreevey currently ministers to drug-addicted female inmates at the Hudson County jail. He said his volunteer work there will continue when he begins working for the city.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... cgreevey_appointment.html

Another delay for $13M public golf course to be built in Jersey City

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 15, 2013 at 9:11 AM

A contractor helping to create the $13 million golf course in Jersey City?s Lincoln Park West has received a third extension from a county agency that is creating the long-delayed course.

Five of the Hudson County Improvement Authority?s nine commissioners voted unanimously at a special meeting on Wednesday afternoon to give Fairview firm Persistent Construction Company until Sept. 15 to deliver roughly 60,000 cubic yards of soil to the future site of the nine-hole golf course.

The long-awaited project is now set for completion by the spring of 2015, according to HCIA Executive Director Norman Guerra. In 2010, county officials had opened it would be open in 2012.

Before the HCIA commissioners approved the extension, Freeholder Bill O?Dea, who has expressed concern over the project?s delays, convinced the board to add clauses allowing the HCIA to take more control.

?It?s important to me that we control that process to make sure the (soil) gets there as quickly as possible,? O?Dea said.

Thanks to O?Dea?s involvement, the HCIA will now be the entity determining what soil goes to the site ? meaning a company besides Persistent can provide the material ? and it will now need to be notified five days prior to any soil delivery to that too much soil isn't provided.

The hold up, according to Persistent owner Anthony Grano, is that the residential-level soil his company is delivering to the site needs to be approved through an at-times lengthy process set up by state environmental officials.

The company has already delivered more than1 million cubic yards of soil to the golf course site.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ey_city.html#incart_river

McGreevey says new role will help create "one Jersey City"

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 12, 2013 at 4:15 PM

Former Gov. James McGreevey?s new gig with Jersey City will help further Mayor Steve Fulop?s pledge to unify the city, the ex-governor told The Jersey Journal today.

The revitalization of the Waterfront should benefit residents who live in the city?s more distressed neighborhoods, said McGreevey, who in September will start a new job heading a job-training city agency and help to develop a reentry program for ex-inmates.

?Jersey City is blessed with a mayor who understands that employment and training has to be accessible to every family,? he said. ?And particularly for the ex-offender that we have to be creative in securing their sobriety and placing them on a path to productive citizenship.?

The former governor, who resigned in 2004 after revealing his homosexuality, said working for Jersey City is not a step toward a political comeback.

?God forbid,? he said. ?Those days are long in the rearview mirror.?

Fulop?s office announced McGreevey?s new job this morning, saying McGreevey will make $110,000 as executive director of the Jersey City Employment & Training Commission.

McGreevey, 55, has spent the last several years working with female inmates at the Hudson County jail, ministering to them and mentoring them once they are released. The recidivism rate among inmates in the program, he said, has dipped dramatically as a result.

?The opportunity to work with these women is a great source of strength and blessing to me,? he said.

McGreevey, who lives in Plainfield, has no immediate plans to move to Hudson County.

The Fulop-McGreevey partnership is an interesting one, said Jonathan Wharton, a political-science professor at Stevens Institute of Technology who worked in the state Legislature when McGreevey was governor.

Fulop has cast himself as the man who will reform the notoriously dirty politics of Jersey City. But working with a governor who resigned in disgrace amid corruption allegations will likely not tarnish the new mayor, Wharton said.

Most New Jersey residents probably remember McGreevey?s famous 2004 coming out and his messy divorce rather than the scandal that erupted when he hired his secret lover as a homeland security advisor, according to Wharton.

?For someone like Fulop, a prominent name like McGreevey will help him bolster the city and his administration,? he said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... eate_one_jersey_city.html

In Jersey City, First on the Block With a Rooftop Lounge

New York Times
By RONDA KAYSEN
Published: July 12, 2013

Nearly three decades after the LeFrak Organization began transforming a rail yard along the Jersey City waterfront into a planned community of glassy office towers and soaring residences, it has built the neighborhood?s first luxury high-rise, a blue-glass-and-steel tower that overlooks the Hudson.

At 600 acres, the Newport neighborhood dwarfs the 92-acre Battery Park City in Manhattan. But while Battery Park City has ample luxury housing, Newport?s developer has not ventured into the luxury market until now. For years Newport was a patchwork of isolated high-rises creating an almost corporate atmosphere. Its main attractions were cheaper rents and a short PATH train ride to Manhattan.

But Newport has grown up and now has several restaurants, a gourmet supermarket, shops, a private school and a new waterfront park that organizes summer events. When the 19-story Laguna opens this month at 45 Park Lane South, it will be the first in the neighborhood to offer luxuries like a rooftop lounge, a screening room, a fitness center and a children?s playroom.

?Newport really has evolved,? said Matt Brown, a broker with the Hudson Realty Group at Halstead Property. ?The addition of the waterfront park was just huge. It?s really spectacular. Ten years ago I had a lot of people complaining that the buildings were dated, and you didn?t have a park or a grocery store.?

When LeFrak broke ground on Newport in 1986, this slice of the Hudson River waterfront was an outpost of warehouses and rail yards. For decades, LeFrak developed the site, shying away from luxury residential as the neighborhood lacked key amenities to draw high-end tenants. But eventually the Jersey City waterfront transformed, and luxury towers started to rise in other parts of the city. Today Newport has 15,000 residents and 20,000 office workers. Once-quiet streets are bustling with office workers and babies in strollers.

The Laguna has a modern aesthetic, with interiors designed by the Stephen B. Jacobs Group and Andi Pepper Interior Design, the team that designed the Edge in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan. Apartments have views of the New York City skyline and kitchens with stainless-steel appliances, espresso-colored cabinets and quartz countertops. West Elm and BoConcept decorated the model apartments.

?This building was, for us, a pretty dramatic step up,? said Mario Gaztambide, the vice president for residential asset management of the LeFrak Organization.

Interest in the 158-unit building has been strong. Since leasing began in early June, LeFrak has rented 40 percent of the units. Tenants will begin moving in in mid-July, although many of the upper floors are still under construction.

The rents reflect the Laguna?s upscale image: one-bedrooms start at $2,790 a month, two-bedrooms at $3,790; the remaining three-bedroom rents for $6,300. The 2,000-square-foot penthouse, a three-bedroom apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and a 1,000-square-foot private terrace, has not been priced yet.

The Laguna?s offerings might be a bargain by Manhattan standards, where the median rent in the second quarter was $3,500 a month, according to data provided by Trulia.com. But they are high for Jersey City, whose median over the same period was $1,900 a month.

?There is a demand and people are paying up for it because there is very little supply,? said Ritu Kothari, who signed a lease with her husband, Deep, for a 1,750-square-foot three-bedroom at the Laguna for $4,620 a month. With a baby due in October, the couple wanted more space than they have in their two-bedroom in Midtown Manhattan. ?If you want a big space in a location that?s nice,? she said, ?you have to pay up for it.?

The Laguna is a short walk from the Hoboken and Newport PATH stations, which both offer a 15-minute ride to Midtown or the World Trade Center. The building also overlooks Newport Green, a 4.25-acre waterfront park with a carousel that opened last year. On a scorching recent summer morning, toddlers dashed through playground sprinklers, and sunbathers lounged on an artificial beach overlooking the riverfront esplanade.

The Laguna marks the beginning of the end of development for Newport, as it is the first building to be complete in the final phase of the project. LeFrak plans four to six more commercial and residential buildings, which will translate into another 3,000 residential units, Mr. Gaztambide said.

?What?s going to characterize this next phase of development is, it is all going to happen around this park,? he added, referring to Newport Green. ?It is something that, we believe, sets this apart.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/rea ... -rooftop-lounge.html?_r=0

Jersey City police to crack down on drunk driving this weekend

By Alexander W. Silady/The Jersey Journal
on July 11, 2013 at 7:18 PM

Jersey City cops will be setting up a DWI checkpoint this weekend, thanks to a grant from the state's Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund.

Officials declined to give specifics on when and where the checkpoint will be but did say officers will also be extra vigilant in looking for moving violations such as speeding, aggressive driving, driving while using a cell phone and failure to buckle seat belts.
Jersey City police will be using radar to nab motorists who are speeding and driving aggressively, the department said in a statement.

The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety has selected July as the month to specifically target speeding and aggressive driving.

Other JCPD enforcement efforts this summer include the Cops in Shops program, targeting retailers who sell alcohol to underage customers, the department said.

Funded by the Department of Justice and administered locally by the New Jersey?s Division of Alcohol and Beverage Control, Cops in Shops places undercover officers in liquor stores to look for the sale of alcohol to minors as well as those of legal age to purchase it for them.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... driving_this_weekend.html

Wall Street Journal
NY CULTURE Updated July 10, 2013, 9:01 p.m. ET

New Arts Venues are Planned in Jersey City
Developers Set Sights on New Multipurpose Theaters

By JENNIFER WEISS
As anyone who lives there will tell you, property values and rents have soared in much of Jersey City as new residents have come in droves. But the arts scene in New Jersey's second-largest city has not kept pace when it comes to public entertainment venues. While the historic Loews Jersey Theatre shows movies and hosts a smattering of events, most of the city's theater and live music is still confined to restaurants, bars and borrowed spaces.

That could soon change. A developer and his partner have set their sights on an old theater on the western edge of Jersey City's downtown and are planning an arts venue that will present a dynamic mix of theater, music and family-friendly fare that they liken to the programming at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The plans come at a time when the area is mourning the imminent loss of a beloved nearby venue: Maxwell's, the legendary club in Hoboken, which is set to close July 31 after 35 years of luring local music lovers?including many New Yorkers?to a town one-fifth the size of Jersey City.

The White Eagle Hall, a century-old building on Newark Avenue that has fallen into disrepair, is under an extensive renovation with an opening eyed for spring 2014. Owner Ben LoPiccolo and his partner, Olga Levina, have unveiled plans for a multipurpose theater, arts and music venue that could accommodate about 400 people sitting and 800 standing in its main hall, which includes a balcony. On the ground floor, two restaurants that would also host live music are planned.

The smaller restaurant would be opened by the owners of Madame Claude Cafe, a beloved French spot a block away that hosts co-owner Mattias Gustafsson's four-piece band, Manouche Bag, on Thursday nights. Plans for the larger space have not yet been announced.

Mr. LoPiccolo confirmed that he has had discussions with Todd Abramson, the co-owner and booker of Maxwell's, about a new collaboration. Mr. Abramson, who also books acts at the Bell House in Brooklyn and occasionally at the Landmark Loews Jersey Theatre, has pointed to Jersey City as a possible location for a new project. He indicated that White Eagle Hall was an option but said he's been looking at other sites in Jersey City as well, many "unsuitable."

"I've had a few conversations with Ben," Mr. Abramson said of Mr. LoPiccolo. "My sense is that there would be much more support for what I do in Jersey City from both residents and the city itself than I'm finding in Hoboken right now."

The region's music scene stands to take a huge hit when Maxwell's closes. But Mr. Abramson sees Jersey City as the Brooklyn to Hoboken's Manhattan, in a sense?a place with a more varied and artsy population, where many of Maxwell's 20-something regulars went when they fled Hoboken for cheaper housing.

"I understand that the closing of Maxwell's creates a void in New Jersey and I'd like to be the person to turn around and fill that void," he said.

While Jersey City has faced some of the same growing pains as its smaller neighbor?including parking issues, which Mr. Abramson said were instrumental in his decision to close Maxwell's?excitement for new development percolated in the months leading up to the election of Steven Fulop, the new, 36-year-old mayor.

Two other theaters could eventually come to the city's downtown, where much of the new development has been concentrated. A 550-seat theater is planned as part of Toll Brothers' Provost Square residential and retail development in the Powerhouse Arts District, and developer SILVERMAN has a redevelopment plan for a lot nearby at Grove and Morgan streets and Marin Boulevard that includes provisions for a community theater.

Over on Newark Avenue, the heart of a restaurant row that Mr. Fulop pushed for when he was a councilman for the ward, "there's a lot of bars and restaurants that attract a similar clientele to Maxwell's," Mr. Abramson said. New York-based businesses now in the neighborhood include Barcade and Two Boots Pizza; Thirty Acres, opened by a former chef from the Momofuku Noodle Bar and his wife; and Greenpoint's Word Bookstore, which is planning a new location a stone's throw from the Grove Street PATH Plaza.

There is some distance between the White Eagle Hall and the buzzy end of Newark Avenue near the PATH. The yellow-brick building with an eagle on the facade sits in a less-developed part of the neighborhood, though new businesses have opened in recent years, and a new luxury apartment building, 340 Third Street, has gone up. The hall is in the midst of a major renovation that Mr. LoPiccolo estimates will cost in excess of $3 million. But even as rain dribbled through the ceiling and spilled down a wall on a recent day, the glamour of the space was unmistakable. Vintage details remain, such as two stained-glass skylights in the main hall decorated with the silhouettes of a man and a woman.

Mr. LoPiccolo has committed to preserving the building's historical details and charm even as he adds modern necessities such as soundproofing. "It's going to be a destination yet again," said John Gomez, a local historian and teacher. "This is what I live for in preservation, buildings being renovated and reused and not just sitting there abandoned."

The White Eagle Hall was a social hall for St. Anthony of Padua, a parish that formed to serve the area's Polish community. It has hosted wrestling matches, political events and bingo. For many years, it was a practice hall for the St. Anthony's Friars, the nationally recognized basketball program run by famed coach Bob Hurley.

"He said, 'This place spoke to me,'" recalled Ms. Levina, who has two children with Mr. LoPiccolo. The family lives in Short Hills. "He said, 'I know it's expensive, but we have to turn this into a theater.'"

Mr. LoPiccolo said the building first caught his eye seven or eight years ago. At the time, it was priced above $2 million?workable for a tear-down and condo development, he said, but not a theater.

"I said to her, 'I can't knock it down, I'm not going to touch it but it would be great if it would be a real venue for downtown,' so I walked away," he said.

When he returned, the price had dropped significantly, and he purchased the theater last year for $1.1 million.

He and Ms. Levina see the need for an arts venue downtown, where he has been building housing for years and where Ms. Levina helms the Jersey City Theater Center, founded by the couple in 2006. She said she envisions an ambitious roster of national and international programming, and has reached out to some of the city's many local arts groups as well. The couple is also working with an arts and culture consultant.

Mr. LoPiccolo described the programming planned for the theater as "a little bit of everything," but with a feel more like BAM than its suburban New Jersey neighbors. "Fashion, modern dance?so many things can happen here," he said.

In the absence of a dedicated music venue in Jersey City, bands have been playing a patchwork of outdoor festivals and bars, restaurants, and arts venues. Bigger-ticket acts such as Beck, Yo La Tengo and Bright Eyes have filled the Landmark Loews Jersey Theatre in Journal Square?booked by Mr. Abramson?but live music there has been on hold while the historic theater invests in new stage lighting and sound equipment.

Last year, the city retooled its entertainment ordinance, making it easier for restaurants in certain districts to host live music. Local event promoter Anthony "Dancing Tony" Susco said two or three new places could be booking bands by next year. That comes as excellent news for music lovers who have been relying on Maxwell's?which holds only about 200 people?for decades.

"I'm hopeful about it," said Donovan Cain, who plays bass with the Jersey City band the Milwaukees, of the White Eagle Hall. "Regardless, I would like to see a venue in Jersey City, period."

A version of this article appeared July 10, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: As Jersey City Grows, the Arts Bloom.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/S ... MDExNDAyWj.html#printMode

Jersey City schools hire consultants to draft $165K strategic plan

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 09, 2013 at 2:06 PM

Two Baltimore-based education consultants were awarded a joint, $165,100 contract last night to draft a strategic plan for the Jersey City public school district.

UPD and Cross & Joftus, two firms that specialize in k-12 education, will work with school officials to complete the plan by December 2013. The Jersey City Board of Education approved their bid last night by an 8-1 vote, with only member Gerald Lyons voting against.

The plan would include research on successful education models, recommendations of new programs and more.

The district has started writing strategic plans before, but district spokeswoman Maryann Dickar said they haven?t been completed. Some speakers at last night?s meeting said they believe its Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles? job to complete a new plan, but Dickar said the two firms hired last night will help Lyles? efforts to improve test scores, school facilities and more.

?We haven?t gotten a long-term, comprehensive plan that unifies all the efforts into a real focused set of goals,? Dickar said.

Representatives of the two firms said last night that they have worked in school districts in Chicago, Baltimore and Camden, a district that was recently taken over by state education officials.

Douglass Austin, president and CEO of UPD, told the BOE last night that his firm has an approach ?intended to address exactly what you need.?

?We?re not going to tell you how to improve your district. We?re going to extract that from you,? he said. ?You?re all the experts on Jersey City Public Schools, not us.?

BOE member Marilyn Roman, a former schoolteacher, expressed concern that the district would not be able to implement the strategic plan.

?We do some things very well here and we do some things miserably,? Roman said, adding that the plan should describe ?an activity that has to be done in terms of the schools" and also specify "the people that are going to do it.?

The district is now going to draw up a contract with UPD and Cross & Joftus. Dickar said if the agreement is finalized by the middle of this month, the December 2013 deadline for the consultants? report should be met.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ic_plan.html#incart_river

Teens learn about nautical life on schooner

By Marli Horwitz/The Jersey Journal
July 09, 2013 at 1:01 PM

Despite some overcast weather and a little sprinkle of rain, it was all hands on deck last Tuesday morning for 14 members of the Boys and Girls Club summer teen program.

The high school students climbed aboard the A.J Meerwald, NJ?s official tall ship, for a three-hour sail around the New York Harbor.

The 85-year-old schooner, originally built to collect oysters, was docked in Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It now serves as a ?sailing classroom? and stops in ports from Delaware to Connecticut.

The students learned ship terminology and commands, hoisted the 2,000-pound sail, helped pull in the trawl net, and even sang a ship shanty to accompany their work.

They were also taught about the economic and ecological effects of oil as cargo, the pros and cons of renewable energy, diverse marine life, and how the environment affects the ocean.

?It was a really great experience overall,? said Nydreama McDuffie, 16.
?I liked looking at the clams and looking inside when one was opened.?

Erykah Smith-Thomas, 14, described learning about the importance of using energy from multiple sources, and the dangers and frequency of oil leaks during transportation.

Iyana Correia, 14, and Alecia Legette, 15, both agreed learning about the horseshoe crabs was of great interest.

?Their blood is blue because of the copper element,? Iyana told The Jersey Journal.

Members of the 10-person crew on board detailed life aboard the A.J. Meerwald upon students? request.

?It?s not just an adventure, it?s a way of life,? said Monica Halverson, who directed activities on board.

Boys and Girls Club Director of Program Development and Teen Services Janet Wallach was all smiles as she watched the young students enjoy a new experience.

?These student members choose to do something positive, they choose to come to the club,? she said. ?It?s a very special place.?

The trip even inspired some students to apply for scholarships to the A.J. Meerwald?s Maritime Camp, a 5-day, 4-night adventure on board that takes place this week.

?I had more fun than I thought,? said Amina Thomas, 14. ?It was definitely worth waking up for.?

The Hudson County Boys and Girls Club has locations in both Jersey City and Hoboken.

It serves students after school during the year and runs a six-week program, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during the summer. More than 2,000 children in the county participate in programs at the club.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... cal_lif.html#incart_river

Peter Stuyvesant monument will return to Jersey City

By Yarleen Hernandez/The Jersey Journal
July 09, 2013 at 7:18 PM

Peter Stuyvesant is going ?home? again.
Not to the Netherlands, but to a cozy spot he?s grown accustomed to ? at School 11 in Jersey City.

Removed from outside the Bergen Avenue school in February 2010, the one-ton bronze statue is now sitting at the city?s Department Public Works garage on Route 440.

Construction began last week on Bergen Avenue and Academy Street for a foundation for the statue, a concrete pad that will hold the statue?s base, pedestal, and the statue of the former Dutch Director-General of New Netherlands (now called New York) and the governor who authorized the Village of Bergen (the area surrounding Journal Square) to be built in 1660.

A $25,000 grant from the Hudson County Open Space and Historic Preservation Trust Fund paid for the restoration of the bronze ?Bergen Monument? and the foundation that is under construction.

But the cost to restore the statue?s base and pedestal, complete with original inscriptions and images of sailing ships, will cost at least another $100,000, according to John Hallanan, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy.
Hallanan said the city will be applying next month for more county trust fund grants to get the job done.

?The material to use is granite, because it is durable,? Hallanan said. ?That?s what was built on it originally. It?s not a cheap material.?

Hallanan could not say when the project would be finished.

The city briefly lost custody of the statue in 2010.

Under the impression it was theirs to give away, the Jersey City Board of Education donated the statue to Hudson County Community College to be used as the centerpiece for the pocket park opposite the college?s Culinary Arts Center on Newkirk Street.

During that episode, workers removed the statue and its base and pedestal were destroyed, Hallanan said.

?There was public outcry,? said Hallanan. ?There were legal questions for the school board to give the statue away and whether the community college was rightfully in possession.?

The issue of ownership has since been resolved in the city?s favor. When the monument is put back at the school, it will be on the sidewalk instead of behind the school?s iron fence.

The statue was restored by Jersey City-based Zakalak Restoration Arts.

The monument is 20 to 21 feet tall and 19 feet wide,

The well-known sculptor John Massey Rhind made the statue for $15,000 and donated it to the village in October 1913.

This October will mark its 100-year anniversary.

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Watterman, Jersey City Councilwoman at large, changes her mind, won?t hire her daughter

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 05, 2013 at 2:45 PM

Jersey City City Councilwoman at large Joyce Watterman, who had been planning to hire her daughter as her paid council aide, announced Wednesday through the city that she has opted to appoint someone else to the position.

Watterman, 55, who was the top vote-getter in both the May 14 municipal race and the June 11 runoff election, said in a statement from the city that her daughter, Jennifer, will instead work in her office in an unpaid capacity.

"My daughter is one of the brightest and most dedicated people I know, and has a superior work ethic," Watterman said. "She understands and cares about the community, which is why she asked how she can be of assistance to me in this new role. I am thrilled she has agreed to serve in a volunteer capacity."

Earlier this week, The Jersey Journal reported that Watterman intended to hire her daughter as council aide, a job that comes with a $15,000 annual salary, benefits and pension credits. Watterman, who ran in May?s election on a ticket headed by Mayor Steve Fulop, initially defended the choice, saying that her daughter has experience as an administrative assistant.

But Fulop, who railed against nepotism and patronage during his successful campaign for mayor, told The Jersey Journal that he would urge Watterman to select someone other than her daughter to work in her office.

Watterman said Wednesday she will seek applicants for the job from the community at large.

The statement from the city said Watterman would be breaking from the policies of the past by not hiring her daughter after all.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... jersey_city_councilw.html

In inaugural address, Jersey City's new mayor pledges to run an honest government

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
July 02, 2013 at 1:00 AM

Steven M. Fulop became Jersey City?s 49th mayor today, pledging in an inaugural speech delivered outside City Hall to thousands of supporters that he will oversee an ?efficient? government that will help create one ?beloved community.?

Fulop, 36, is a Wall Street trader and former Downtown City Councilman whose opponents deride as a yuppie who cares only for the city?s tony Waterfront. In his roughly 20-minute address tonight, he noted the disparity between the wealthier Downtown and less affluent inner city.

Despite Jersey City's multitude of varied neighborhoods, he said, the city rises and falls ?as a single community."

?We cannot subscribe to the false choice, between the prosperity of Downtown and the potential of our older neighborhoods,? he said.

The new mayor promised tonight to improve education for the city?s youth, encourage increased investment and get city residents back to work.

But Fulop, who defeated former Mayor Jerramiah Healy on May 14 after focusing heavily on the 2009 corruption sweep that landed numerous Healy allies behind bars on bribery charges, elicited sustained applause for a fourth pledge: to run a government that works.

?Recognizing the rich and colorful legacy of many of Jersey City's past mayors, I offer this one promise: we will be both honest and competent,? he said.

Fulop?s speech came at the tail end of a roughly hour-long ceremony that featured speeches by Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Mahdi Hemingway, a Jersey City man and close friend of Fulop?s since the mayor?s first run for council in 2005.

Christie took the stage to loud cheers and some scattered boos, with his gubernatorial opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono, seated nearby.

?New Jersey cannot reach its true greatness without Jersey City reaching its greatness, too,? Christie said. ?Today is a day filled with hope and promise that new leadership can help us accomplish that goal.?

Heningway, 29, had the crowd in stitches describing his ?unlikely? friendship with the new mayor. Though Fulop?s political ambition made him suspicious when they first met, he said, he?s since come to believe that Fulop is the ?extra push? Jersey City needs.

?Steve is your man,? Hemingway said.

Fulop's ceremonial swearing in (he officially became mayor just after midnight Sunday) came in the middle of a block party only slightly marred by persistent rain that disappeared just before the official proceedings began.

Joan Pusaver, 84, called Fulop?s speech ?beautiful.? Pusaver, who expressed disappointment that she wasn?t able to snag Christie for a personal chat, said she?s hopeful about Jersey City?s future under the new mayor.

?He?s got new ideas, new perspectives on a lot of things that he?s going to do,? he said. ?I hope everything works out for him.?

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