City lawyer charged in violence

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An attorney for the City of Jersey City was arrested twice on domestic violence charges this week after allegedly beating and choking his domestic violence counselor girlfriend, officials said.

Jersey City Assistant Corporation Counsel Henry Derek Edley, 57, of Seventh Street in Downtown Jersey City, was arrested hours after an incident at his girlfriend's Laidlaw Avenue home Sunday at 1:09 a.m., officials said.

Before his arrest he allegedly made a threatening call to the 38-year-old woman that was recorded on her voice mail and given to police, officials said. When Edley got out of the lockup Monday morning about 7 he was arrested again in connection with the threatening call, officials said.

Edley made his first appearance on the original charge of aggravated assault in Central Judicial Processing on Monday and posted bail, officials said. He then appeared in CJP again yesterday on the most recent charge of making terroristic threats and posted bail again, officials said.

Edley's attorney, Alfonso Robinson III of Jersey City, said "Mr. Edley is a city employee, he has been very cooperative with the police, and is trying to get the matter to its proper resolution." The attorney noted that Edley was arrested at his own home on Sunday without resistance.

The victim, a WomenRising domestic violence services counselor, told police that she and Edley had been involved about three years.

She said that on Sunday when she and Edley returned home after a party he began punching her in the face, reports said. She said he tried strangling her when she fell into a bathtub and she kicked him in order to escape, reports said.

The domestic violence counselor ran into her backyard and climbed a fence into the next yard, reports said, adding that people at the party next door helped her over. Someone at the party called police as Edley walked away on Laidlaw, and he was later arrested, reports said.

The victim was transported by ambulance to Christ Hospital for treatment, reports said. She was then taken to the North District police station and a judge signed a temporary restraining order for her, reports said.

Edley is a former public defender who worked in Hudson County Superior Court. His boss, Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis, declined to comment.

Cops' security jobs getting new system

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

It's taken a year and a half, but Jersey City is finally overhauling its system for hiring out off-duty cops - and in the nick of time.

Already given two extensions from the state to put the entire process under the control of the Police Department, the city's latest deadline is July 1.

In the past, the Jersey City Police Department officials referred police officers to whoever called in looking for security help. The private companies paid the officers and in some cases renegotiated fees with them.

But in 2004, the state enacted "The Security Officer Registration Act," stating any law enforcement officer performing the duties of a security officer must be directly compensated by his or her department or they must become a registered security officer of a licensed security company, which would require additional mandatory training.

To comply with the law, an ordinance up for introduction tonight would establish an "Off-Duty Employment Trust Account," which the companies hiring the officers would pay into.

The department in turn would pay the officers, insuring that proper pension payments and disability coverage would extend to the officers, even while they are working for a private entity, city officials said.

The rates established in the ordinance range from $25 to $50 per hour. The private entities hiring the officers would also pay the city a $5-an-hour administrative fee, which will bring about $1 million a year into city coffers, officials said.

Working with police brass, the ordinance was fashioned by a City Council committee consisting of council members Viola Richardson, Bill Gaughan and Mary Spinello. Richardson is a former police officer.

Attention Hudson County Sheriff's Officer Jennifer Ocasio - not good enough. She would have known this guy very well to lend him her car.
I would find it hard to believe that she was unaware of his drugs and guns.

PROBATION OVER - SACK HER NOW

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Well, I guess it's now obvious who to ask where to buy exotic herbs . . .

Cops: He had drugs, gun in sheriff's officer's auto

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City police busted a Rahway man inside a car belonging to a Hudson County sheriff's officer after finding bags of marijuana and a gun in the vehicle, police said.

Travis Lee Bruce, 24, was arrested at a gas station on Beacon Avenue at Kennedy Boulevard at 10:48 a.m. Sunday and charged with numerous weapons and drug dealing offenses, reports said. He was in a black Mitsubishi Gallant belonging to Hudson County Sheriff's Officer Jennifer Ocasio when taken into custody, reports said.

Ocasio was issued a ticket for allowing an unlicensed driver to use her car, reports said. Hudson County Sheriff Joseph Cassidy said his office is filing administrative charges against Ocasio, and is also assisting Jersey City police in the investigation.

Plainclothes officers were at the Exxon station when Bruce bought a cigar and got back into the driver's seat of Ocasio's car, where they saw him rolling a marijuana cigarette in the cigar's shell, reports said. The cops took him out of the car and inside the driver's side armrest they found a bag containing smaller bags of marijuana, reports said.

Bruce was taken into custody and the officers then learned the car belonged to Ocasio, so they reached out to her, reports said.

While one of the cops was driving the car to the police station he found a fully loaded .38 caliber handgun under the driver's seat, reports said. Bruce told police the gun was his, and said he bought it on the street near his home for his own protection, reports said.

Police removed Ocasio's baton, her eight-pointed sheriff's hat and her state Police Benevolent Association shield from the car, and the items were taken by a sheriff's office lieutenant who responded to the North District, reports said.

Ocasio graduated from the academy less than a year ago and she is still a probationary officer. She is assigned to the security detail in Hudson County Superior Court courtrooms in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City, Cassidy said.

The relationship between Bruce and Ocasio is not yet clear, Cassidy said.

Police would not release Edley's mug shot.

Any business opening here will face the perspective of hiring nit the best people in the world, but certainly the most demanding and the most expensive. People who think having a job has its upside are leaving North-East in droves (I can't give you the link, but I remember Atlanta being the town of choice for new graduates).
Industry is gone, and the times when it helped the RE bubble are even further away.
I think that in HK, e.g., most people are there to work, while many people in Manhattan and in some warehouses in JC are still here because they see themselves as artists and artists prefer places where rich people have their holidays. Artists have to be in a permanent vacation, to have their inner muse talk to them, and this is why, I don't know how, they pay rents as high as hotel bills in other parts of the country. I don't imagine many people from an Asian equivalent of South Carolina bragging about their holidays in HK, or about the night life and the inspiration that the HK sunset provides.
One should not compare NYC with other cities, but with vacation places. What is the trend on RE across the sea from Hawaii?

"So, what happens when values drop, as they invariably will do this year?"

The ratio is based on the trailing 12 months data and during that period (2006) prices in Jersey City most certainly went up. Therefore the Ratio is going down again this year (.24 to .25 are the rumored estimates). If the average sales prices in JC ever went obviously down, the Ratio would go up.

In practice that RARELY ever happens because responsible municipalities would typically have to go through a revaluation at least once every real estate cycle. In Jersey City, we are all still waiting, waiting, and waiting for the pols to do the responsible thing and reset the taxes - or go to the State for sweeping property tax reform like they did in California 30 years ago (Proposition 13). You won't likely see the Ratio go up in Jersey City as long as all the new construction continues, because the new condo prices have not dropped on a year over year basis even if home sales in Central Jersey have seen some price drops.

PS. Groucho you are very welcome.

I feel like a jerk for even asking this. This dog (a pitbull, not being biased against them- this is just so you know the size) runs free on it's walks because it's owner is an elderly woman with a walker. When anyone walks their dog in the neighborhood and this dog sees it, it will go out of it's way to come over. I have never seen it attack, but I feel like it is an accident waiting to happen. What if it startles someones dog and a fight breaks out? The owner is usually a good 1/2 block away, and has to walk slowly, so it isn't like she could do anything. I have had it come after my tiny dog (who is leashed) on several occations, but I will just pick her up and walk away with the other dog following me untill the owner calls it back (it doesn't always come when called either). It is sometimes a little scary- having a random dog following you jumping up behind you to check out your dog. I have said something to her on several occations, but she just ignores me. I know it is the law where we live that all dogs must be leashed. So, should I just let it go and mind my own business or do I call animal control? Please don't hate me for asking this, I know she can't keep up with her dog, but there are so many children and other dogs in the area it just can't be safe...

Aside from the comedy and the machine, Healy's making real positive impacts in JC. What am i missing?

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Global warming/flooding, terrorism and U.S. government policy are wildcards, but, all other things being equal, obviously you're right.

Prices were low here because of crime and pollution, and because poverty led to weak services (e.g., schools).

But it's just amazing to be able to walk from Sweet Priscilla's to the Little Lady Ferry, then choose between taking the ferry to the Statue of Liberty park and Manhattan, in half an hour.

I also think that most of Jersey City has great architecture and a great street layout. It's not quite as stunning as the most beautiful parts of Brooklyn, but it's way nicer than, say, most of Astoria.

Another reason that Jersey City should do well is that, if a serious petroleum shortage develops, people who now live in places like Montclair might prefer to live here.

Research London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris....prime markets everywhere in fact...you cannot buy real estate at NJ waterfront prices so close to a major city anywhere else in the world. Areas within a short commute of Manhattan are still grossly undervalued compared to other major capital cities. Heck sell - the only reason why international buyers aren't breaking down doors in the NY area atm is US foreign policy. You want a huge increase in your RE investment - buy JC/Brooklyn/Weehawken/Bayonne and even Hoboken. Might need to wait a few years - but seriously though, this RE bubble hasn't even started.

"Jersey City is really coming its own as a real estate market. Probably prices would be going up 20 percent a year if the overall market were doing better. So, it seems as if 3% growth really does represent a mild slump here, not any kind of exuberance."

Yeah, too bad the party on Wall St. is about to end, isn't it?

Greenspan not worried Chinese will dump Treasuries - There is little reason to fear a wholesale pullout by China out of U.S. government bonds, Greenspan said the reason such a withdrawal was unlikely was that China would not have anyone to sell the securities to...Greenspan reinforced the nervousness, saying that a global liquidity boom which he traced back to the end of the Cold War would not go on forever. "Enjoy it while it lasts," he told the audience



The maestro of the bubble has spoken, and this time he's not lying!

Say Buh-Bye to the JC RE Bubble...

Can you say 14% 30 year mortgage rates?

I knew you could

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Some complications:

- Jersey City is really coming its own as a real estate market. Probably prices would be going up 20 percent a year if the overall market were doing better. So, it seems as if 3% growth really does represent a mild slump here, not any kind of exuberance.

- I'm not sure whether it's easy to do an apples-to-apples comparison here, given all of the luxury condo construction here. If you adjust for the quality of the housing stock, maybe the average, quality-adjusted price per square foot has gone down (or gone up more than 3.%), even if the unadjusted price per unit has gone up 3.2%.

Two quotes from the JJ:

"He said the pair looked familiar and may have been in the store recently to case it"

AND

"Murray said the gun case was unlocked because he was making new labels for the guns"

Sooooo....they cased the joint earlier when the gun case was locked, but figured a simple "buy-a-paintball-gun" scam would work? Meh. Or more likely the gun case was unlocked the first time they cased the joint.

thanks for the info JCLAW

This site will help people get quotes from the 'right' people for the specific job required.

http://www.renovationexperts.com/googleindex.asp?n=verizon_click

When I was looking for work, I had my fat-ass name on that site and was as busy as a rooster in a hen house - once my name was 'known' I removed by name from the site.
You shouldn't find any 'cowboys' recommended from this site and you will get a fast response from interested contractors, so no-one is wasting no-ones time.

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Now we have another illegal gun on the streets because of our legal gun shop. We need to find a way to shut this guy down. He's a nut. His last episode is barely out of the papers -- the one where he could have gone around a double-parked car, but instead chose to shoot his gun into the air -- and now we get this.

This crime happened because he left a gun case unlocked. That's criminal stupidity. How do we petition to get his gun dealer's license revoked?

Actually, I used RWC several times and they were pretty helpful. From time to time it can be difficult to get someone on the phone, but all in all they showed up when they said they would, did a neat and professional job, and in one case where they cracked a couple tiles installing a bathroom window, they were quick to make the necessary repairs. I'll use them again.

For replacement glass panes, I highly recommend Raymond Glass. I called them to replace a big piece in an old brownstone door and they did it within 24 hours and with good handiwork. Price was reasonable too, I thought, for being a thick door-sized pane.

They might do whole windows/frames as well. I would use them for anything after my experience.

Don't use RWC. They were horrible to me. Mean, unpleasant, combative, etc.

So, what happens when values drop, as they invariably will do this year?

I know, it's a rhetorical question, but with the budget deficits I do think the question is hangin' out there in the ether...

A bunch of accountants at the State Division of Community Affairs determine the Equilization Ratio based on comparative home sales from one year to the next. The Equilization Ratio goes down by the % amount that the average home in a municipality appreciated in value each year. The NJ-DCA generates a new annual equilization ratio for each municipality.

For example, if in Jersey City this year's ratio is .28 and home prices increased on average 10% this year, the EQ Ratio would drop to about .25 in the following year.

So, who controls the "equilization" rate and how difficult is it for "elected" officials to play with it?

I guess this means that no politicians own towing compainies.

But I think it's a good bill.

The property tax rate is only half of the tax equation. Tax is calculated by multiplying value x rate x "equilization ratio"

The current equilization ratio for Jersey City is 28%5. Therefore the true Jersey City tax rate is .28 x .05175 = 1.44%

If you want proof that the Ratio really is .28, call the people on this page:

http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/finance.html

For further reference, read the section "Equalized Tax Rate" in the state document:

http://www.state.nj.us/dca/lgs/annual ... sary.shtml#Tax_Rate_and_L

An old but interesting article on how screwed up NJ's tax system is - you can infer yourself how this works with respect to newly valued (ie. newly built) properties such as the new condos on the waterfront is

http://www.aptcnet.com/articles/much_new_jersey.htm

I've been looking into property tax issues in Hudson County recently and found the following link:

NJ State Property Tax rates by County

Description of Property Tax Table

Seems the official 2006 property tax rate for JC is 5.175% and for Ho-broken it's 3.434%!

These numbers do in fact add-up correctly if you research property tax assessments, which 99% of the time result in the property values being FAR under market/mortgage values...

If push came to shove and some collectivist tax & spend politicos came to power, those "tax breaks" wherein the properties are under-assessed, could change overnight

I'm just saying...

BTW, has anyone seen any air standards test results for the shore club sitting on top of the exhaust vent for the Holland Tunnel?

Trying to make a point on the workload of the city cops compared to these other special law enforcement organisations. And yes, 9 times out of 10 it is bullcrap that people call in. This is Jersey CITY, not suburbia, grow thicker skin, or move to suburbia.

Treasury Yields Rise to Highest in Five Years on Growth Concern

A bad week for Bear Stearns "Now the Wall Street Journal reports that those pesky subprime mortgages (again) have done damage,"

Housing slump into '08 likely, study finds - "The implosion of the subprime mortgage market is likely to prolong the national housing slump,"

Anyone knows what this means for the real estate/mortgage situation for these silly sellers scrambling to exit the market right now?

Anyone wanna buy a clue?

North Jersey RE Crash update:

Hoboken 07030 YTD -7.0%

Jersey City 07310 YTD +3.2%

Hmmm, seems the irrational exhuberance is still increasing in JC

Gonna be a LONG way to slide back to 2001 prices to return to mean...

P.S. Ever notice that housing in this area NEVER has the property taxes assessed at current value, no less the actual mortgage held for the location?

Me thinks that once the right group of politicians get pushed into a corner that lil' mistake will be corrected

Can anyone recommend a reliable and reasonable company for new windows ? Just got a quote from Sears which was very high.

shouldn't the headline have said "Downtown Gun Fight"?

that's how it would've been written if it was in the heights....

eh, Grove?