Jersey City cop to be stationed at every council meeting

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on January 09, 2013 at 7:06 PM

There will be a Jersey City police officer stationed at every City Council meeting until 30 minutes after it adjourns, thanks to a measure adopted by the council tonight.

The ordinance, a request of Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson, was adopted by an 8-1 vote, with only Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop voting against.

Richardson has told The Jersey Journal she doesn?t want to wait until a ?tragedy? occurs before the council decides it needs more protection. Though she first proposed the idea after the Dec. 14 Newtown school massacre, she said that was not the impetus for the plan.

Fulop said tonight he thinks stationing a police officer at the meeting would be ?overkill.? City Hall has a security guard on duty during the meetings, and anyone who enters the Grove Street building has to walk through a metal detector first, he noted.

?We don?t need police here when people are getting shot in the streets every day,? Fulop said.

Richardson, a former police officer herself, responded by saying that one officer standing inside the council chambers during meetings is not going to affect the city?s crime-fighting initiatives.

?You don?t want to wail until something actually happens and then say we wish we had the police here,? she said. ?There is crime right here.?

The council also adopted, by a 5-4 vote, a measure championed by Fulop that would tighten the city?s pay-to-play laws aimed at developers. Richardson was joined in opposition by council members Peter Brennan, Bill Gaughan and Michael Sottolano.

The council adopted a similar measure in December aimed at restricting campaign donations from city vendors. Mayor Jerramiah Healy vetoed that measure, saying it would not withstand legal scrutiny.

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

Architectural students have plans for historic Jersey City embankment

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
January 07, 2013 at 3:44 PM

Jersey City has high hopes for the Sixth Street Embankment property, which officials hope to turn into a park reminiscent of Manhattan?s High Line, but until then some architectural design students in the nation?s capital have a few ideas of their own.

The Catholic University of America graduate students will show their plans for the embankment next Friday in Manhattan. University professor Eric J. Jenkins said the students took on the project as an exercise to determine what cities can do with aging infrastructure.

?What do you do with these things?? Jenkins said, posing a question he said the students hope to answer. ?How do you preserve it? How do you make it part of Jersey City?s life as opposed to leaving it like it is??

The students, who visited Jersey City twice while they worked on the project, will unveil a 32-foot model of their plans for the embankment and the properties that lie just east and west of the disputed property.

The half-mile stone structure that formerly carried seven rail lines has been at the center of an eight-year legal dispute between the city, which wants to use some of the 6.5-acre parcel for open space, and developers Steve and Victoria Hyman, who purchased the lot from Conrail in 2003 for $3 million and seek to develop it.

The city, which contends it should have been given first chance to take the property before Conrail sold it to the Hymans, announced last February that it was close to a settlement with all parties that would have allowed the city to take possession of the property. That deal has since fallen through, and the litigation continues.

Jenkins said it is unlikely Jersey City will be able to recreate the High Line ? the abandoned rail line in Lower Manhattan that was transformed into a popular public park ? on this side of the Hudson River.

?The High Line requires a lot more behind it, if you will, to make it work,? he said, adding that Jersey City?s property is too small for that kind of transformation.

The Catholic University of America students will present their embankment plans on Friday, Jan. 18 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the New York American Institute of Architects Center for Architecture, 536 Laguardia Pl.

The presentation will be held in New York instead of Jersey City because it?s ?neutral? territory, according to Jenkins.

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

Jersey City's longest serving councilman says he won't run for sixth term

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
January 07, 2013 at 2:59 PM

In an expected development in Jersey City?s 2013 city election, Ward D City Councilman Bill Gaughan announced today he will not seek a sixth term on the nine-member body.

Gaughan, 74, the longest serving Jersey City council member, was first elected as the Ward D rep in July 1993. In a statement released today by Hudson County, where he serves as chief of staff, Gaughan called his council tenure ?an incredible 20 years.?

?Throughout this historically long opportunity to serve, I was glad to listen to the concerns of the people of The Heights and try as best I could to get city hall working on their side,? Gaughan said. ?The countless chances to intervene and make a difference in folk?s lives have truly been a blessing.?

Gaughan touts among his achievements the transformation of the city?s Waterfront ?from a rusted-out relic to a modern engine of growth;? a new city command center in The Heights; and his support of small-business development, particularly along Central Avenue.

Gaughan is the latest council member to announce he doesn?t plan to run in May?s city election, when the mayoralty and all nine council seats are up for grabs. Last week, Ward B Councilman David Donnelly announced he was bowing out of the race, and late last year Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano said he won?t run in May, either.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who counts Gaughan as an ally, had planned to replace Gaughan on his re-election ticket with Assemblyman Sean Connors.

But Connors, who had initially endorsed Healy in September, retracted the endorsement in November and the following month announced he will run in Ward D on a ticket with Healy foe Steve Fulop, the Ward E councilman and mayoral aspirant.

In his statement, Gaughan didn?t give a reason for his decision to retire from the council, other than saying it came after ?much personal reflection? and discussion with his family.

?You have to go back a long time to find a regular municipal election in which my name does not appear on the ballot, so no doubt this spring will be a little strange for me,? he said. ?But that doesn?t mean I will care any less about the outcome."

Ward D encompasses the Jersey City Heights

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Gas leak closes portion of Hoboken Avenue in Jersey City

By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal
January 04, 2013 at 5:12 PM

Hoboken Avenue in Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City has been closed from Summit Avenue to Central Avenue this afternoon after gas company officials got an unusually high reading of natural gas in the air.

Jersey City Fire Director Armando Roman confirmed that the gas leak is coming from a parking lot in the area of 450 Hoboken Ave. and PSE&G crews are working to find the leak. That area of Hoboken Road is near the Hudson County Administration Building to the south and State Highway 139 to the north.

Roman called it an "exterior leak," meaning that it is not coming from a home or commercial building, and could be a gas pipe break under the ground.

Roman said that vehicular and pedestrian traffic is being blocked in the area as a precaution. A fire official at the scene said that 450 Hoboken Ave., a Hudson County garage, has been evacuated.

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

Jersey City man pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter in 2011 killing

By Sarah Nathan/ The Jersey Journal
January 02, 2013 at 4:52 PM

A Jersey City man charged with the 2011 murder of a Newark man pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter this afternoon.

Rondell Jones, 23, appeared before Judge John Young in Hudson County Superior Court Wednesday. He stood straight alongside his attorney, Chris Kazlau, and answered the judge's questions clearly and without emotion.

Aggravated manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison. Jones also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, a sentence that would likely run concurrently with the aggravated manslaughter count. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Jones was originally charged with murder, but the offense was reduced as part of the plea deal, officials said.

Jones' mother sat in the back of the nearly empty courtroom and began to weep quietly, holding a tissue to her face, as Young explained every detail of the plea deal to Jones.

Jones was charged with fatally shooting Eric Thomas of Newark several times in the back after they had a dispute at a house party in Jersey City in March 2011. Jones fled after the shooting, but he was arrested several days later attempting to dispose of the semi-automatic pistol used to shoot Thomas.

When asked by Kazlau, Jones admitted that he fired several shots as Thomas was turning to walk away from him and that he did not shoot Thomas in an act of self-defense.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _with_2.html#incart_river

Seasoned With Invention and Irreverence
Restaurant Review: Thirty Acres in Jersey City

December 31, 2012
By PETE WELLS - The New York Times

ONE school of criticism holds that chefs should faithfully honor any cuisine they pilfer. But there?s an equally valid case for bold, fearless theft. A good pickpocket does not waste time with introductions.

Respect for Italian tradition would require Kevin Pemoulie to do something different with the remarkably fluffy gnocchi that his kitchen rolls out from starchy potatoes and fresh ricotta. It would suggest, at the very least, a straightforward tomato sauce in the Roman style.

At Thirty Acres, which he opened in Jersey City last spring, Mr. Pemoulie has nothing of the sort in mind for his stolen gnocchi. They are bound for Eastern Europe. He has prepared a sauce of mustard and sour cream, and he will toss it with saut?ed mushrooms and sauerkraut. He calls the dish ?gnocchi, pirogi style,? and that is just what they taste like.

Two traditions have been shamelessly looted for one plate, with deference to neither, and yet these Italian-Polish dumplings were more exciting than any number of earnest facsimiles. Creative stealing takes talent and nerve, and Mr. Pemoulie has both qualities in abundance.

After nearly five years as chef de cuisine at Momofuku Noodle Bar, he could be expected to know his way around Asia. The Japanese spice blend togarashi seasoned a generous handful of tender braised chickpeas, all right, sharing the plate with a square of Arctic char. But Mr. Pemoulie had also swabbed the plate with a purple swoosh of roasted beets pur?ed with lemon juice, a sauce that was as simple and right as it was free of Asian leanings.

To find a partner for a juicy, lightly smoky quail, Mr. Pemoulie went north for cranberries, then made a U-turn and headed south, cooking the berries into a spicy barbecue sauce that brought the all-American classic several extra layers of complexity.

To a chef like Mr. Pemoulie, the map is merely a point of departure, an invitation to cross borders and jump oceans without leaving the kitchen. The rest of us can catch a ride as long as we?re smart enough not to ask too many questions about where we?re going.

Thirty Acres challenges your sense of geography, starting with its location. Jersey City has not historically been the first place to look for innovative, serious-minded modern cooking. When Fran Schumer reviewed Thirty Acres in the Metropolitan section of The New York Times in June, she gave the restaurant her highest rating, ?Don?t Miss,? writing that it served ?a kind of cuisine I had never tasted in New Jersey.?

A restaurant like Thirty Acres would be a find in any state. It is the kind of place that can redraw regional boundaries, making the Hudson River no more of a barrier to eaters in search of inventive cooking than the East River has become in the past few years. For those who live near a PATH station, it may be easier to reach than several talked-about restaurants in Brooklyn.

Mr. Pemoulie, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Alex, could do more to invite travelers, however. Reservations are not taken for parties of fewer than five, and there is a particularly unwelcoming wrinkle. If you have to wait for a table and there is no room at the bar, a host will take your phone number and point you toward some nearby saloons. But then she will tell you that if you don?t pick up the phone, she will immediately move on to the next name on the list.

If you?ve ever missed a call while sitting inside a bar, this may strike you as inconsiderate at the least. Luckily, I passed the time enjoying the company of the high-spirited bartenders at a fusion place down the street called Sushi Tango, and my phone always rang.

After walking down blocks of neat townhouses that reminded me of Brooklyn, I was always happy to head toward the lights streaming from the windows that wrap around Thirty Acres? corner spot on Jersey Avenue. The 32-seat dining room is simple and relatively unornamented, apart from the pastel portraits of Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford on corrugated cardboard.

I don?t know what brought the ex-presidents to Jersey City, but their benign presence seems to have rubbed off on the servers, who are unusually friendly and free of pretense, and on the amateur disc jockey who stocked the playlist with tunes like ?Don?t Worry, Be Happy.?

The look of the menu is pure Momofuku, with its sans-serif font under boldface headings like ?Things? and ?Sweet Guys? (desserts). Under ?Raw? are two starters that give Mr. Pemoulie a chance to raid the larder of the Ashkenazi Jews, something he did frequently and successfully as fall changed to winter.

A mash of beets with horseradish, last seen at Passover trying to make the best of its unfortunate marriage to gefilte fish, tries out a new partner at Thirty Acres, East Coast oysters on the half shell, liberated for the night from their unfortunate liaison with cocktail sauce. This was one time when infidelity brought out the best in both accomplices.

Tasting cured belly of Arctic char sprinkled with sesame seeds and sea salt and accompanied by whipped scallion cream cheese, I could close my eyes and believe I was at a brunch catered by Russ & Daughters. The missing element, a bagel, wasn?t missed at all; it would have gummed up the gently sweet slices of fish.

We were still in Eastern Europe for a kind of pot roast of beef chuck under a shower of freshly grated horseradish and for braised cabbage wrapped around a cod fillet, although the Old Bay seasoning in the broth moved toward America again. The inspiration for a warm salad of spelt with sea urchin and triangles of Asian pear was harder to pinpoint, but I was taken aback by how well the earthy grains took to the sweet and briny urchin.

After appetizers and main courses of such sophistication, Sweet Guys like apple crisp and lemon bars (from a recipe by Mr. Pemoulie?s mother) can feel outclassed. Glassware, too, is a little too homey; the restaurant is B.Y.O.B., and if you?ve picked up a good bottle or anything sparkling, you may wince to see it poured into a water tumbler.

Both limitations probably stem from Mr. Pemoulie?s attempt to work in a space that is not as big as his ambitions. Like many chefs these days, he had to take his opportunities where he could steal them.

Thirty Acres

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500 Jersey Avenue (Wayne Street), Jersey City; (201) 435-3100; thirtyacres.tumblr.com.

ATMOSPHERE Spare and simple, with polished wood floors and a wall of glass along the street.

SERVICE Smiling and unintimidating.

SOUND LEVEL Moderate.

RECOMMENDED The menu changes too frequently for recommendations to be helpful.

DRINKS AND WINE No liquor license.

PRICES Appetizers, pasta and grains, $5 to $17; main courses, $26 to $27.

HOURS Monday to Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 6 to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 11 p.m.

RESERVATIONS Accepted only for parties of 5 to 8 people.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS The dining room and accessible restrooms are on the street level.

WHAT THE STARS MEAN Ratings range from zero to four stars and reflect the reviewer?s reaction primarily to food, with ambience, service and price taken into consideration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/din ... -in-jersey-city.html?_r=0

Council approves contract to perform inventory of Jersey City Museum

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on December 23, 2012 at 2:06 PM

A $74,160 contract to a city firm that will perform a complete inventory of the Jersey City Museum was approved unanimously by the City Council Wednesday night.
There are more than 10,000 pieces in the museum, which shut its doors two years ago amid financial struggles.

It reopened again this summer for limited exhibitions after the Jersey City Medical Center purchased the Montgomery Street facility and moved some of its administrative offices there.

Maryanne Kelleher, the city's cultural affairs director, told the council Monday that the city has a "fiduciary responsibility" to make sure all the art work is accounted for.

City firm Mana Contemporary will perform the inventory, providing the city a list of every object in the collection, as well as photographs of each piece.

Only two other firms submitted bids for the museum inventory project. One did not provide a quote, the other asked for $264,984.

Kelleher said all the city's efforts to obtain an inventory from museum officials were "unsuccessful."

Jersey City Museum officials could not be reached to comment.

The Montgomery Street museum closed its doors in December 2010, after years of struggling with lackluster fundraising and decreasing city funding. In 2009, the city gave the museum $625,000 in funding. By 2011, the amount was zero.

Founded in 1901 as part of the Jersey City Free Public Library, the museum has been housed in its Montgomery Street facility since 2001.

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

Jersey City wants $74K to pay for inventory of Jersey City Museum

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 19, 2012 at 3:38 PM

Jersey City officials have requested the City Council approve a $74,160 contract to a city firm to perform an inventory of the art housed at the Jersey City Museum.

There are more than 10,000 pieces in the museum, and the city has a ?fiduciary responsibility? to make sure all the pieces are there, Maryanne Kelleher, the city?s cultural affairs director, told the council Monday.

City firm Mana Contemporary would perform the inventory if the council approves the contract at its meeting tonight. Mana would be tasked with providing the city a list of every object in the collection, as well as photographs of each piece.

Only two other firms submitted bids for the museum inventory project. One did not provide a quote, the other asked for $264,984.

Kelleher said all the city?s efforts to obtain an inventory from museum officials were ?unsuccessful.?

Jersey City Museum officials could not be reached to comment.

The Montgomery Street museum closed its doors in December 2010, after years of struggling with lackluster fundraising and decreasing city funding. In 2009, the city gave the museum $625,000 in funding. By 2011, the amount was zero.

Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop in May 2011 proposed a measure creating a committee that would have taken stock of the museum's collection, a plan that Mayor Jerramiah Healy said at the time would ?stymie? the city?s own efforts to draw up an inventory.

Founded in 1901 as part of the Jersey City Free Public Library, the museum has been housed in its Montgomery Street facility since 2001.

The museum opened its doors this summer for limited exhibitions after the Jersey City Medical Center purchased the facility.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_wants_74k_to_pay_f.html

Jersey City law restricting reintroduction of failed measures is repealed by City Council

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 19, 2012 at 7:35 PM

A Jersey City law that implemented a six-month waiting period for City Council members to reintroduce failed ordinances is now set for repeal.

The council voted 6-3 tonight to repeal the 2010 law, which was adopted two years ago after Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop vowed to continue reintroducing ordinances unpopular with the council majority.

Council members Peter Brennan, Bill Gaughan and Michael Sottolano tonight voted against the move to repeal that law, with Sottolano saying he?d prefer to keep the six-month waiting period so the council?s agenda isn?t ?cluttered up? with the same business over and over.

Fulop tonight called himself the ?target? of the ordinance the council has now voted to repeal.

?We returned the policy to what it was for 50 years prior to Brennan and team introducing the prohibition that was clearly an effort to thwart my effort to curb political patronage in City Hall,? he said in a statement from his mayoral campaign.

The measures Fulop repeatedly reintroduced in 2010 would have banned political appointees on autonomous-agency broads from receiving health benefits and would have placed city seals on all city-owned vehicles.

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

Jersey City pay-to-play restrictions made stricter by City Council

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 20, 2012 at 12:07 AM

A measure revising Jersey City?s pay-to-play ban by further restricting political donations by city vendors has been adopted by the City Council.

The measure, backed by Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, restricts city vendors that win no-bid contracts from donating more than $200 to the campaigns of school-board candidates and to some state Senate and Assembly candidates.

The vendors will also be prohibited from advertising for municipal candidates and from participating in voter-registration and get-out-the-vote drives.

Fulop?s proposal was adopted tonight by a 5-4 vote, with the Downtown councilman finding support from council members Diane Coleman, David Donnelly, Nidia Lopez and Rolando Lavarro.

?There is no wrong time to do the right thing, and this is strict pay-to-play ? the strictest in the state,? Fulop said tonight. ?It?s not perfect, that?s for certain. It is certainly a step in the right direction.?

The measure adopted tonight also bans contributions above $200 to Jersey City political action committees, or PACs.

Fulop was instrumental in adopting the city?s original pay-to-play restrictions in 2008. The council had resisted that move at first, and voted to approve the restrictions only after Fulop won enough signatures to place the question on the ballot.

Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan, who tonight voted against Fulop?s measure, said the ordinance is too expansive and could be struck down in the courts.

?I think this has some real serious legal issues,? Gaughan said. ?I will vote no and I?ll see everybody in court?

The measure was competing with a similar ordinance that was less expansive but, according to its supporters, on surer legal footing than Fulop?s plan.

The council tabled that proposal by a 6-3 vote, with the same members who approved Fulop?s measure ? joined by Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson ? voting to table it.

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

$9.5M bond to pay for Jersey City retiree costs again rejected by City Council

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on December 19, 2012 at 9:21 PM

Jersey City will not be able to borrow $9.5 million to pay for costs associated with retiring employees, thanks to the City Council.

The council tonight voted down the city?s request to approve a $9.5 million bond ordinance by a 5-4 vote. It?s the second time in three weeks that the council has rejected the city?s request to borrow the funds.

Jack Kelly, the city?s business administrator, tonight blasted the council for the move, saying taxpayers will now have to cough up $204 more next year since the city will have to pay the $9.5 million outright instead of paying it off over three years.

The city inherited contracts that promised workers would receive accumulated sick-, vacation- and comp-time pay upon retirement, and now those workers have to be paid, Kelly said.

?By voting no on this ordinance you are asking the current taxpayers to shoulder a disproportionate liability created over a generation,? he said.

If the council had approved the bond ordinance, taxpayers would have paid an extra $66 this year and an extra $39 for the next two years, according to the city.


This is the third year in a row the city has planned to borrow to pay for retirement costs. The city has already paid out $6.7 million this year to retiring workers, and could pay nearly $3 million before 2012 ends, city officials have said.

Council members Diane Coleman, David Donnelly, Steve Fulop, Nidia Lopez and Rolando Lavarro voting against borrowing the $9.5 million, while Peter Brennan, Bill Gaughan, Viola Richardson and Michael Sottolano voted in favor.

Opponents of the bond ordinance said the city should investigate selling property it owns near the Jersey City Medical Center instead of borrowing yet again. Borrowing for a third year is not fiscally prudent, they said.

?I think if taxes go up, the mayor should be responsible for that,? Lopez said. ?He?s been around for eight years.?

Healy said in a statement that any plan to sell the property near JCMC is ?fiscally irresponsible? because there?s no guarantee the land will be sold.

Resident Mia Scanga urged the council to adopt changes that would cap terminal-leave payouts. Scanga said such payouts are a ?rip-off? of taxpayers.

?Just the thought that I should pay for a sick day that you didn?t take in 1985 at the salary you?re getting now really makes me throw up,? she said.

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

Political Insider: Keep Healy on toes, or maybe it's Cunningham

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
December 15, 2012 at 6:20 AM

There is nothing more trivial today than Hudson County politics. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones in that senseless taking of lives yesterday in Connecticut.

Even Mayor Jerramiah Healy and I briefly talked about it and ended the conversation with Healy wishing me a Merry Christmas and me wishing him the same. Really.

Let's start with an observation about the Jersey City mayoral race.

While most political observers call Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop the front-runner in the May city election for mayor, I always feel that a candidate who is ahead is in a more precarious position. In Fulop's case, the danger starts with the possibility that he could knock Healy out of contention too soon. He may want to carry the incumbent a few more rounds before it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that he is way ahead on the voters' score cards.

Fulop has the county Dem's favorite guy , former state Sen. Bernie Kenny of Hoboken, or at least his law firm, working on the councilman's election campaign. Is it not as good as an endorsement? a few more shots like this and there's the danger of the election being called on a technical knockout. The councilman has to play rope-a-dope.

Why? Because, according to some political folks who are not fanatics for one candidate or another, the danger is that should Healy suddenly announce he is not seeking re-election, there may be an independent effort to push state Sen. Sandra Cunningham into the fray.

There are many who believe that Cunningham would make a more formidable candidate against Fulop than Healy. The first people who would probably try to assess the possibility of Cunningham jumping into the campaign would be her political consigliere and operative Joe Cardwell and mentor, and Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak out of Elizabeth. This is assuming Cardwell can get involved in politics because there may be a stipulation that he must avoid it for a bit after being released while serving a six-month federal prison sentence this year for taking a $10,000 bribe from a federal informant.

If the 31st District senator gets involved, how soon before Jersey City Councilwoman Viola Richardson ( Would she run as an independent against Diane Coleman for the Ward F seat? Is that a step back?) starts making noise about running with Cunningham as her Assembly running mate -- sorry Charlie Mainor.

Cunningham would have two problems. She needs money and this is where Lesniak has to help, but he has his own re-election concerns next year. The other is putting together an organization, from scratch, to counter Fulop's obviously smoothly running ground game. Good luck with that. And stay tuned.

GOOD WILL TOWARD POLS -- NOT

Middlesex County Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono announced she will challenge Gov. Chris Christie in the 2013 election and there is speculation that state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, both Democrats, will also jump into the "Get Christie" race.

Just how will these possible candidates approach Hudson County Dems when they ask for their support? The answer is very cautiously because of the war between state Sens. Nick Sacco, D-32nd District and Brian P. Stack, D-33rd. The two are the respective mayors of the neighboring municipalities, North Bergen and Union City.

Sacco is the de facto head of the Hudson County Democratic Organization because whatever the North Bergen mayor wants, the HCDeadO leadership, including Chairman and Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, gets.

As most readers know, Stack is at present the non-Republican, anti-HCDeadO leader of the county. He is also considered by pundits as a close friend of Christie. While it's true that he agrees with much of what the governor represents and that the senator appears prescient, considering Christie's recent skyrocketing approval ratings, Stack bleeds Democrat. Ask former Gov. Jon Corzine who turned to Stack, when he felt abandoned in Hudson County, for help in on Election Day 2009 and the Union City mayor provided him with ballots in a losing cause.

In this nearly decade-old feud, the North Bergen mayor's attacks on Stack have been more sophisticated. He supports some Stack opponents by repackaging them as "civic" organizations. One outfit is called the Concerned Citizens of Union City and the other is Moving Hudson County Forward.

The latter group is pushing a video ad attacking Stack for bringing $25 million in state aid to Union City, while Jersey City received nothing. Stack's 33rd District was gerrymandered to include a piece of the Jersey City Heights, although there are at least three other state legislators from Hudson whose districts include a great deal more of the county seat.

Is it a coincidence that the feds are investigating Community Development in Union City and the state Attorney General has placed a magnifying glass over the North Bergen Department of Public Works and assorted officials? Or was the genesis of these probes the result of dime dropping by the antagonists?

So if you are running for governor, would you seek the support and primamry line of the HCDeadO, or perhaps a rival organization that may pop up with Mr. Sensitive Stack and allies that could include Cunningham and others.

It will be an interesting New Year.

INSIDER NOTES

-- Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari held his fundraiser this week at Puccini's and everyone was there, including Healy and Fulop. County Freeholder Anthony Romano of Hoboken was the MC and Healy, Sacco and county Executive Tom DeGise were speakers. Essentially they all said they would work hard to get Schillari re-elected next year. May have been about 400 people in attendance, including New York Giant fullback Henry Hynoski -- hey, I don't get it either.

-- After naming former school superintendent, ex-assemblyman, past royalty and asparagus soup and free-range chicken eater Charlie Epps and Peter Brennan, with an outside chance that Bill Gaughan running again should Jim Carroll balk at running as the Heights candidate on Healy's ticket, we should call the slate "Team Medicare." Yeah, I know there's also council candiates Omar Perez, at-alrge, and Dan Levin, Downtown. who lower the median age to "time to join the AARP."

Healy should have started with totally a new slate of candidates, all young people, business types. But he is true to his old neighborhood types or as one commenter calls them "beer drinkers not wine sippers." There's the problem. Mone on from Pabst.

-- I hear crickets in West New York. This does not bode well for the usually feisty and talkative Mayor and Dr. Felix Roque.

-- Does Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer no longer have any opposition? Or is she content just taking on the U.S. Senate and the leaky National Flood Insurance? Or did anyone notice she just "gave herself" a six-month extension on her adminstration's term of office.

-- Jersey City announced that they have a $100,000 police tower to help fight crime. New York City uses them at big events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade or a big demonstration. Send me your suggestions for using the tower, and nothing anatomical.

-- I don't want to do a Christmas column, but this will depend on what help I get from all of you. Send me your ideas of what gifts Santa can send your favorite political personality -- remember, this is a family newspaper.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... insider_keep_healy_o.html

Head of teachers union refuses to sign race to the top application, says its a contract: report

By The Jersey Journal
December 18, 2012 at 2:31 PM

Jersey City Educational Association head, Ronald Greco, was supposed to sign the district's application for the $40 million Race to the Top grants,but ultimately did not, saying the application read more like a contract, NJ Spotlight reported.

The application asked for new administrative positions, longer school days and financial incentives for schools and teachers, the article stated.

Greco, who ultimately refused to sign, posted his reasoning on the teachers union's website on November 9.

"The grant would be our new contract. It has spelled out extended day, extended week, and extended year. These are negotiable terms," Greco wrote on the website. "Now you know why I couldn't sign."

NJ Spotlight reported that Greco's refusal to submit the application "might signal that Jersey City schoolteachers might not be so accommodating to state demands."

Contract negotiations beginning this month with a new superintendent and "newly empowered" board of education, will be taking place during the mayoral campaign race in Jersey City, the article stated.

Incumbent Jerramiah Healy has support from the teachers union and city councilman Steven Fulop who supports charter schools and tenure reform are the two contenders for the spot.

To read the full report
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12 ... chers-and-administrators/

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

Jersey City swears in 22 new police officers, including one who created SIDS foundation

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
December 18, 2012 at 4:34 PM

The Jersey City Police Department swore in 22 new police officers at a City Hall ceremony Friday morning.

Sworn in were Alberto Vasquez, Joel Chaviano, Michael E. Sanchez, Gina M. Sandwith, Jose A. Mendez, Carlos M. Melendez, Ruben G. Munoz, Sergio V. Ortiz, Andrew M. Lane, Frank De Los Santos and Giovanni C. Bove, officials said.

Also taking the oath of office were Jonathan Hernandez, Kevin C. Geib, Nicholas R. Kenny, Roger Fritsch-Gil, Dignora M. Aquino, Joseph T. Murphy, Paul J. Tamburelli, Asif Y. Riaz, Matthew M. Ramos, Matthew G. Scalcione and Jennifer M. Szymanski officials said.

Rookie Officer Aquino lost her infant son to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome a year ago and has founded the Matthew Anthony Scarpa Foundation, aimed at creating awareness of SIDS and raising money for SIDS research.

"The loss was horrible, unexpected, hurtful," Aquino said yesterday of the death of Matthew Angelo Scarpa, who was 3 months old when he died on Jan 3. The child's father, Aquino's husband, is Jersey City Police Sgt. Michael Scarpa.

Aquino and Scarpa turned their tragedy into a positive force with establishment of the foundation, which is currently offering a full academic scholarship to a private Jersey City high school.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... 2_new_p.html#incart_river

Jersey City measure would require police presence at every City Council meeting

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 17, 2012 at 4:39 PM

A Jersey City police officer would be stationed at every City Council meeting to keep order, under a proposal under consideration this week by the council.

Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson, who is sponsoring the measure, said the Nov. 28 council meeting reminded her that she?s been meaning to ask for regular police presence in the council chambers for a long time.

The meeting, which didn?t adjourn until about 4 a.m., featured some contentious moments, including a short shouting match between two residents.

In Kirkwood, Mo., a gunman opened fire at a council meeting on Feb. 7, 2008, killing five, including two council members, before police shot him dead. Richardson, a former cop, said she wouldn?t want anything like that to happen in Jersey City.

?Just because we have not had an incident doesn?t mean that one can?t happen,? she said.

The measure is not a reaction to Friday's school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

The proposal up for discussion at Wednesday?s council meeting would require a police officer stationed until 30 minutes after the meeting is adjourned. The meetings generally occur every other Wednesday, starting at 6 p.m.

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

Steve Fulop, Jersey City Mayoral Candidate, Attacked For Republican-Linked Fundraiser

The Huffington Post | By John Celock Posted: 12/14/2012

The former chairwoman of the New Jersey Democratic Party on Friday called on a Democratic candidate for mayor of the state's second-largest city to return donations from a fundraiser co-hosted by a top Republican strategist.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing Township) issued a statement asking Jersey City mayoral candidate Steve Fulop (D) to return any "Republican money" from the Thursday fundraiser, co-hosted by Brian Nelson, a former executive director of the New Jersey Republican Party. In the statement, released by the campaign of Jersey City Mayor Jerry Healy (D), Watson Coleman questioned Fulop's Democratic ties to explain why she was involving herself in a race an hour's drive from her base in the Trenton suburbs.

?Normally, I wouldn?t get involved in a race far from home, but this is a troubling and unique case," Watson Coleman said. "If a candidate to lead one of New Jersey?s largest cities is willing to embrace such a notable Republican to fund his campaign, what does that say about Steve Fulop?s willingness to embrace regressive right-wing policies in the community he seeks to serve?"

Nelson sent an email Dec. 5 promoting the fundraiser at a restaurant in Rumson and identifying himself as co-host. Fulop spokesman Bruno Tedeschi said at the time that Nelson was not a co-host and was attending as a "decade-old friend."

Healy has previously attacked Fulop for the fundraiser. Nelson was treasurer for state Sen. Joe Kyrillos' unsuccessful GOP campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D) this year and has been named by Gov. Chris Christie (R) to the state Economic Development Authority. Nelson also worked for 2005 GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Forrester.

Fulop and Healy are locked in a bitter campaign in a May nonpartisan election to lead Jersey City. Fulop, a 35-year-old councilman for the city's waterfront, has staked out a reformist position in city government and in the campaign against the two-term incumbent.

Watson Coleman said she wanted to know if Fulop's fundraiser was proof of an ideological connection.

?At the very least, it is confusing, and at worst frightening, to think of the implications this would have upon the safety, health care and education of such an important urban area of our state," Watson Coleman said. "Steve Fulop claims to be a Democrat, and if that?s the case he should immediately return this money -? which clearly comes with ideological Republican strings attached.?

Tedeschi declined to comment on Watson Coleman's statement. Earlier this month, when Healy asked that the fundraiser be canceled, Tedeschi told PolitickerNJ.com that Healy has himself received GOP backing and once employed a Republican as his chief of staff.

"Steven has always been a Democrat. He is happy to have bi-partisan support in a non-partisan election in a city that has all types of people," Tedeschi told PolitickerNJ.com. "This is just more hypocrisy from a candidate at the helm of a sinking ship. In 2009, Healy sent out a letter from the chairman of the Republican Party endorsing him for re-election."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12 ... rsey-city-_n_2303802.html

New police unit arrests three men allegedly involved in Hoboken/Jersey City bike theft ring; recovers dozens of bikes

By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal
on December 12, 2012

HOBOKEN -- City police officers have arrested three men they say were involved in a bicycle theft ring in Jersey City and Hoboken.

Authorities also recovered roughly 50 stolen bicycles today that were packed into two vans.

Salah Mostefaoui, 46, was charged with fencing and receiving stolen property.

David Sarles, 49, of New York City was charged with conspiracy to fencing and receiving stolen property, police said.

A third unidentified man was charged with burglary and theft, officials said.

Members of a newly formed Street Crime Unit followed a known bike thief from the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station at the Hoboken Terminal to Jefferson and Ninth streets where they saw him break into a garage and steal a mountain bike around noon today, said unit leader Detective Sgt. Edwin Pantoja.

After arresting the man -- whose identity has not been released-- he agreed to assist the police, and took Detectives William Vera and Michael DePalma, along with members of the Jersey City Police Department, to a house on Union Street near West Side Avenue in Jersey City.

Soon after arriving Mostefaoui and Sarles drove up in a white van filled to the roof with bicycles, officials said.

With the police watching, Mostefaoui purchased the bicycle stolen in Hoboken for $150 from the man the police first followed, officials said.

At that point cops swooped in and arrested Sarles and Mostefaoui, reports said.

Police soon discovered a red Dodge van that was also packed with stolen bicycles, Pantoja said.

Police estimate there were 52 bikes, worth $40,000, in the vans, reports said. The bikes were likely to be sold in New York City, Pantoja said.

?This is a lucrative operation,? Pantoja said. ?They steal quality bicycles.?

Police Chief Anthony Falco said he started the Street Crimes Unit Monday, and Pantoja decided to target bicycle theft because the city has faced high level thefts for several months, he said.

?I have every confidence in the team I put together,? Falco said. ?In just a few days they have produced. Kudos to them and the Hoboken Police Department.?

Pantoja said that several of the bikes have been identified as reported stolen from Hoboken..

?We have bike lanes all over Hoboken and we are encouraging people to go green,? Pantoja said. ?People spend big money on a bicycle only to have someone walk in and take it. It is a great feeling to be able to return their property.?

Anyone who has had a bicycle stolen recently should call the Hoboken Police Department at (201) 420 2100

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ss ... pects_i.html#incart_river

Menendez says he was unaware arrested intern was sex offender, illegal immigrant By Matt Friedman/Statehouse Bureau December 12, 2012 at 5:41 PM TRENTON ? U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez said he did not know an intern at his office was a sex offender and illegal immigrant. ?There?s no way we could know about his status,? said Menendez in an interview on MSNBC this afternoon. ?There?s no way we could know about any allegation as a juvenile of what his background would be in terms of criminality.? According to the Associated Press, federal authorities arrested Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, 18, who came to the United States from Peru and allegedly overstayed on an expired visa. Citing a federal law enforcement source, the AP said officials at the Department of Homeland Security told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to hold off on the arrest until after Menendez?s November election. Sanchez committed the sex offense in 2010 but, because he was prosecuted as a minor, court records and the exact charges are not publicly available, the AP said. In the interview on MSNBC shortly after the new broke, Menendez said his staff found out about the arrest Monday and ?let the young man go? from the intern program. Menenedez said he personally didn?t know about the arrest until today. ?What we know is we have a non-paying college intern program. This young man applied to that process, got recommended by the school,? said Menendez, who had been previously booked by the cable news channel to discuss immigration reform. ?We ask status of all of those college interns... And we certainly wouldn?t have known through any background checks since he is a minor, about any sex offender status.? A spokesman for the Department Of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Menendez easily won his second full term in November against state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth). Kyrillos said he didn?t think the arrest would have swayed the election results if it had happened beforehand, but he said that if true it?s ?outrageously inappropriate? if Department of Homeland Security waited to arrest Sanchez until after the election. ?It wasn?t that they?re dealing with an illegal immigrant exclusively. They?re dealing with somebody who law enforcement has previously designated a sex offender,? he said. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... aware_a.html#incart_river

Promised Land
http://focusfeatures.com/promised_land

Jersey City man sentenced to 25 years for 2009 fatal shooting

December 11, 2012, 12:28 PM
By The Jersey Journal

A Jersey City man found guilty in October of aggravated manslaughter in a 2009 shooting death near a city park was sentenced to 25 years in prison today.

Anthony Rose, 27, was found guilty on Oct. 5 of fatally shooting Dareus Burgess, 28, on June 8, 2009. The jury in the case, which deliberated for less than two days, acquitted Rose on weapons offense charges.

Rose will get three years credit for the jail time he's already served. He faces a possibility of parole after he completes 85 percent of his sentence.

Rose didn't react when Superior Court Judge Lisa Rose handed down the sentence. He winced earlier when Hudson County Prosecutor Dave Rastogi, urging the judge not to be lenient, referred to the defendant as a drug dealer.

Police say Burgess was killed by Rose in a case of mistaken identity.

On June 7, 2009, Rose's girlfriend got into a fight with a woman and it was broken up by a friend of Burgess, police said. Rose got into a fight with the man and returned the next day to get his revenge, but killed Burgess, who was near the park, police said.

Rastogi argued that Rose was near the park at the time of the killing and his car was seen driving away from the area afterward.

Rastogi also presented a witness who told police he overheard Rose trying to obtain a gun hours after he was beaten up. Another man testified Rose had asked him to get him a gun to settle a beef and had also asked him to kill a man that day.

Staff writers and Michaelangelo Conte and Ana Ferrer contributed to this story.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ed_to_2.html#incart_river

December 10. 2012 2:14PM

Peapod inks lease for Jersey City distribution center
By Katie Eder - NJBIZ

Though Peapod had considered a site in New York for its new distribution center, the online grocery seller has signed a long-term lease for 345,000 square feet of industrial space in Jersey City, moving forward on a $34.6 million Urban Transit Hub incentive it was awarded in May to open the facility in New Jersey and create 380 jobs for the state.

Peapod, a subsidiary of Ahold USA Inc., will roughly split 740,000 square feet of warehouse space in the planned 880,000-square-foot Pulaski Distribution Center with Imperial Bag & Paper Co., which was approved for a $29.1 million Grow New Jersey tax credit by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in August.

According to Robert C. Kossar, executive managing director for Jones Lang LaSalle, which represented property owner Prologis in the lease transactions, "both companies went through an exhaustive process looking at properties close to New York because their businesses require them to be right on top of Manhattan, but a building like this flat out doesn't exist this close to New York City anywhere else."

"We were very focused on getting an e-commerce or a food business tenant for this property, and with Peapod, we got both," Kossar said.

In an e-mail through a spokesman, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno said both companies are "not only staying in New Jersey, but they're making significant financial investments and creating jobs for New Jerseyans," as Peapod will make a capital investment of more than $94 million, create 380 new jobs and 242 construction jobs and retain 90 jobs in the state, and Imperial Bag will make a capital investment of more than $57 million, create nearly 390 construction jobs and retain 364 jobs in the state.

"By working cooperatively with both companies, New Jersey was able to ensure that these companies and their workers not only stay in New Jersey for years to come, but also provide new opportunities (for) New Jerseyans long into the future," Guadagno said in an e-mail.

In a statement, Jay Cornforth, president of the east region of Prologis, said the planned logistics facility ? which is situated on a 50-acre former landfill site ? "is an important development project for Jersey City that will transform this former waste disposal site, help to advance economic conditions and improve the local community."

Kossar said construction on the warehouse is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013 and prepared for occupancy by early 2014.

http://www.njbiz.com/article/20121210 ... -City-distribution-center

Jersey City high-school graduation rate declines to 67 percent

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on December 10, 2012

Jersey City?s high-school graduation rate was 67 percent for the 2011-12 school year, a rate more than two points lower than it was the previous year.

State education officials last week released results from various statewide student exams, including the High School Proficiency Assessment. Statewide, the graduation rate increased to 86 percent, up three points from the previous year.

Jersey City schools chief Marcia V. Lyles said in a statement that the 29,000-student district is ?concerned,? but mindful that graduation rates ?are not a result of a one-year event or effort.?

"We are continuing to examine and implement practices and programs that we believe will improve our students' outcomes in the future,? Lyles said.

Last month, Lyles gave a presentation to the school board regarding the district?s academic progress, and she cited the 67 percent graduation rate. Of the students who don?t graduate, 13 percent drop out entirely, while the others transfer out or graduate later than they should, according to Lyles.

?That 13 percent is the number we must address,? she said then.

The district has six high schools. The graduation rate at McNair Academic High School was the highest, at 99 percent. Liberty High School came in at 81 percent, Ferris High School at 73 percent and Dickinson High School at 69 percent.

The lowest graduation rates in the district were recorded at Snyder High School (51 percent) and Lincoln High School (50 percent).

State officials calculate the graduation rates using a new, federally mandated methodology that the state says is ?more thorough? and provides a ?more accurate? accounting of the number of students who graduate from high school.

?The results for schools undergoing intensive turnarounds this year are particularly very encouraging, showing that while our achievement gaps across the state are persistent and unacceptably high, we can close them with dedicated support and interventions,? state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said in a statement.

In other urban districts, Camden?s graduation rate slid seven points to 49 percent, Newark?s rose the same amount to 69 percent and Paterson?s rose two points to 66 percent.

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

$o long, farewell
Taxpayers may have to fund hundreds of retirements

by E. Assata Wright - Reporter staff writer
Dec 09, 2012

The city?s 2013 budget is still several months away from being introduced and passed, but the city already expects that it will include a tax increase to pay for retirement benefits owed to hundreds of former city workers.

This comes after the City Council introduced a bond ordinance on Wednesday giving the city permission to borrow $9.5 million to cover what are known as ?terminal leave? payments to city workers who have retired.

The council considered but failed to introduce a similar measure on Nov. 28.

Under the original proposal introduced last month, the average taxpayer would have paid $40 each year in taxes for every $125,000 of property owned to cover retirement benefits between 2013 and 2017. But several members of the council were unhappy with this proposal and argued that they wanted to see this debt paid down sooner rather than later.

The revised proposal pays off a third of this $9.5 million debt in 2013, with the remaining two thirds to be paid off in equal installments between 2014 and 2017. If the revised plan were adopted by the City Council, property owners would pay $67 for every 125,000 of property owned next year and would pay $33 for every $125,000 of property owned in years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

However, these increases will likely be affected by other revenue and expenses once the 2013 budget is introduced, meaning the actual tax required to pay retiree benefits could increase or decrease.

For the revised ordinance to be introduced, it needed at least six votes from the council. Council members Michael Sottolano, Nidia Lopez, Steven Fulop, Peter Brennan, William Gaughan, Viola Richardson, and Diane Coleman all voted on Wednesday to introduce the revised proposal. Councilmen David Donnelly and Rolando Lavarro Jr. did not attend the special council meeting and thus did not vote on the measure.

A public hearing on the measure and vote for final adoption will be held at the council?s next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m.

The amount of money owed to retirees is only a small part of the city?s annual expenditures. The municipal budget for 2012 is $486 million.

Kelly: An ?ugly? issue

According to City Business Administrator Jack Kelly, who made a presentation to the City Council during the special session, the city has seen a dramatic increase in the number of retirees over the past two years.

?We have an issue that is ugly to begin with, and that is the issue of terminal leave,? Kelly told the Reporter after the vote. ?In 2010, the state legislature was talking about capping or eliminating terminal leave. As a result, there was an inordinate amount of people who retired. In 2010, we had 303 people who were eligible to retire. In 2011, we were down to 174 because 129 of them got nervous and they all packed it in.?

Terminal leave is any unused sick leave that workers accrue during their years of employment. In many municipalities senior employees who have been on the job for 20 years or more can sometimes have hundreds of unused sick days by the time they are ready to retire. When employees are owed payouts for their unused days, these payouts can top $100,000 or more.

The trend now is to cap or eliminate such terminal leave payments, and as a result, many municipal employees who have a lot of time accrued are choosing to retire.

Before the surge in retirements, Kelly said, the city had been spending about $4.5 million annually on terminal leave benefits for its retirees. By last year, however, this amount ballooned to $9.5 million. To address the problem, the city has, since 2010, chosen to borrow money rather than levy taxes to meet its terminal leave commitments. Under state law, these commitments can be financed over a period of five years.

Kelly noted that these commitments will decrease over time, since fewer municipal employees will be eligible for retirement in the coming years, and terminal leave payments are already being phased out. The city, he said, has been working to eliminate terminal leave by addressing the issue in its collective bargaining contracts that come up for renegotiation.

Fulop to Kelly: ?Show me the budget?

Despite the successful introduction, some council members still have concerns with the revised proposal and it?s unclear whether it will garner enough votes to pass on Dec. 19.

?I?m going to vote to introduce,? said Councilman Steven Fulop, who is running for mayor next year. ?But by no means should this be taken as a vote to adopt. There?s no budget yet. So, whether it?s $40, $67, there?s no revenue. There are no expenses. We haven?t done a budget yet for next year. The argument is, if you?re going to increase $40 or $67, then by the same token you should be able to say to the business administrator, ?Let me see the entire budget.? It should be a working document, if that?s the case. You can?t just pull one thing out of the air and say, ?This is going to cost this [amount of money] if we don?t pass this.? It doesn?t work that way.?

Councilwoman Viola Richardson also expressed a preference for spreading out the retirement debt over five years in equal payments, rather than paying off a third of the debt in the first year.

According to Kelly, this loan would not affect the state?s mandatory 2 percent tax increase cap since ?debt is excluded from our cap.?

http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_s ... ndary_stories_left_column

Two $15 million lawsuits against Jersey City police planned in case where mom, baby plunged 3 stories

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
December 07, 2012 at 8:12 PM

The Jersey City Police Department has been served with notices of two potential $15 million lawsuits alleging cops could have prevented the death of a 3-month-old who was in his mother's arms when she was pushed from a third-floor window.

Frederico Bruno, 19, is charged with killing his son, Damien, and attempting to murder the child's mother, Saydee Lee Figueroa, 20, who was stabbed and broke bones in the fall into a Rutgers Avenue yard on July 27.

He is also charged with attempting to murder Figueroa's friend, Madelyn Calderon, 21, who authorities say was stabbed in the arm and neck with a knife and meat cleaver.

The notices of claims -- one filed by Figueroa on behalf of her child, the other filed by Calderon -- say Bruno walked into a city police station shortly before the attack and asked an officer if there was a warrant for his arrest.

He was allowed to leave, the claim says, even though there were warrants against him based on recent domestic violence charges at the Rutgers Avenue apartment.

A temporary restraining order had also been issued and the notices allege police failed to serve him with the order.

Other defendants named in the notices of claim include Police Chief Tom Comey, police investigators and Bruno.

Jersey City Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said today that he had no comment on the filings.

In August, police told The Jersey Journal that Bruno had told a friend he believed there was a warrant for his arrest on domestic violence charges and the friend convinced him to surrender. Bruno went to a police station to ask if there was a warrant the day before the fatal attack and he identified himself to an officer who asked for identification, police said.

Bruno said he had no ID and as an officer reached for a piece of paper to write down his information, Bruno walked out, Police Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach said at the time.

But the notice of claims say Bruno was told by an officer that information about whether there was a warrant was not available at the police station. He was directed to contact the Warrant Squad and then he was allowed to leave, the notices says.

The notices of claims allege the July 27 attack would not have occurred if police had done their job and arrested Bruno. In August, police told the Jersey Journal that officers had gone to a number of locations attempting to serve Bruno, but had not found him.

With the filing of the notices, Evelyn Padin, the women's attorney, now has three years to file lawsuits.

"We intend to keep all options open," Padin said last week.

Police say on the day of the attack Bruno let himself into the apartment he once shared with Figueroa and their baby, and was hiding when they returned home with Calderon.

Bruno stabbed Calderon and Figueroa multiple times as the mother may have been shielding the baby, officials said. Bruno then shoved the mother and child with such force that an air conditioner unit, Figueroa and the baby plummeted from a window, police said.

Bruno then descended the fire escape to the yard and beat Figueroa with a piece of lawn furniture before fleeing, police said. A tip led to Bruno's arrest in Belleville, police said.

Although Bruno is being held on a $1 million bail, hearings are ongoing to make permanent the TRO. A hearing to be held last week was adjourned because a mix-up resulted in Bruno not been transported to court. It was rescheduled for Jan. 4.

"As far as I'm concerned, he can rot in hell, said Figueroa's mother, Haydee Morales, after the canceled hearing.

Asked if Figueroa still feared for her life, Padin said "Absolutely. Who wouldn't?"

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

N.J. corruption: A list of politicians doing the 'perp walk'

By David Chmiel/NJ.com
December 07, 2012 at 3:17 PM

In many circles, the passing of time is marked by annual traditions like the running of the bulls in Pamplona or the swallows returning to Capistrano. In New Jersey, our regular ritual is "the walking of the perps."

The arrest of Trenton Mayor Tony Mack on federal corruption charges Thursday is just the latest case of a politician in handcuffs after allegedly engaging in criminal activity. Mack's arrest came in a two-month period in which John Bencivengo resigned as mayor of Hamilton Township after he was convicted of taking bribes to influence the vote on a school-board contract. In October Ponzi-schemer-turned-FBI-turncoat Solomon Dwek was sentenced for his role in the biggest corruption sting in New Jersey.

New Jersey becomes an easy punchline when crooked politicians are involved. As U.S. Attorney, Chris Chrstie and his team of prosecutors busted more than 100 public officials between 2002 and when he began campaigning for governor.

Shockingly, the Garden State ranked 21st among crooked states in one poll. Two years of indictments could help us cross the Mason-Dixon line on our way into the top five made up of Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi and North Carolina. Delaware ranked fourth.

Do you believe we live in a corrupt state? Cast your vote here. But if you need to refresh your memory, check out a greatest-hits collection of politicians gone wrong since 2001:

Dec. 6, 2012
Mack, his brother Raphiel and supporter Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni, who owns JoJo's Steak House in Trenton, were arrested Thursday on corruption charges linked to a parking-garage deal in the city.

Nov. 20, 2012
Bencivengo was convicted of taking $12,400 in bribes from health-insurance broker on a school-board contract. He resigned Nov. 21. He will be sentenced Feb. 27.

October 19, 2012
In October, Ponzi-schemer-turned-FBI-turncoat Solomon Dwek was sentenced to four years as part of a deal he made in the biggest corruption case in state history. The high-profile criminal case, which stretched from Brooklyn to the Jersey Shore, ensnared politicians, rabbis and even a black-market kidney broker, ultimately netted 46 arrests.

2009
?Wayne Bryant, one of the state?s top Democrats, was sentenced to four years in prison for boosting his pension with a low-work job and steering grants to his employer, the scandal-plagued University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

?Joseph Coniglio, a former state senator, was convicted of pushing more than $1 million in taxpayer money to Hackensack University Medical Center after receiving a consulting job there. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

2008
?Former assemblyman Mims Hackett pleaded guilty to attempted extortion, winding up with a sentence of nine months in prison. He later received five years for official misconduct.

?Former assemblyman Alfred Steele, also a Baptist preacher, was pinched in the same sting that Hackett was involved in. Steele pleaded guilty to taking $15,500 in bribes and got 15 months in prison.

?Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges for steering city land to a girlfriend. the city?s last seven mayors, he was the fifth to face criminal charges. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

2007
Terrance Weldon, a former mayor of Ocean Township, pleaded guilty to extortion for taking $60,000 in bribes from developers. He was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison.

2006
John Lynch, a former Democratic political boss and Senate president, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud charges. He was sentenced to 39 months in jail, which he is finished in a Newark halfway house.

2005
?Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to extortion and tax evasion. The political kingpin admitted to taking $100,000 in bribes.

?Former Hoboken mayor Anthony J. Russo received a 30-month sentence after admitting to taking more than $300,000 in bribes in return for high-priced contracts.

?Anthony Impreveduto, a longtime Hudson County assemblyman, was placed on five years? probation and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to using campaign money to pay for income taxes, furniture, hearing aid and eyeglasses.

2003
?Marty Barnes was indicted for extortion and accepting bribes during his first full term as Paterson mayor. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

?Former Essex County Executive James Treffinger was sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to blocking a federal investigation and placing campaign workers on the county payroll.

2002
Former Newark mayor Kenneth Gibson was acquitted of conspiracy and misconduct, but later pleaded guilty to tax fraud. He received three years of probation.

2001
Former Camden mayor Milton Milan was convicted of taking payoffs from organized-crime members and kickbacks from contractors. He also laundered illegal drug profits and stealing campaign funds. Milan was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... f_the_p.html#incart_river

Ousted Jersey City schools chief running for City Council with Healy

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 07, 2012

Former Jersey City schools chief Charles T. Epps Jr. will run in next year?s city election for the Ward A City Council seat on Mayor Jerramiah Healy?s ticket, Healy?s campaign announced today.

Epps was ousted as schools superintendent last year, after more than 40 years with the district and more than a decade as its chief administrator. Today, he joined Councilman at large Peter Brennan as the newest additions to Healy?s ticket.

"While his opponents look to sell out our schools, families and future to the highest bidder, Mayor Healy always does what's best for Jersey City,? Epps said in a statement issued by the Healy campaign.

Healy?s opponent in next year?s mayoral race, Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, is largely credited ? or blamed, depending on who?s speaking ? for Epps? December 2011 retirement from the Jersey City school district.

Fulop has supported every successful candidate in the last three school elections, and it was after the April 2011 school election that school board members began a concerted effort to force Epps into retirement.

"I look forward to being part of the Healy team, as we continue making sure Jersey City is recognized as the world-class city it is for all the families who live here," Epps said.

Epps' tenure as Jersey City schools chief was tumultuous, with some critics carping about his two-year stint as assemblyman while he was running the school district. He also raised eyebrows with a taxpayer-funded trip to Great Britain and, more recently, when he said "young ladies" are the "community's worst enemy."

"Charles Epps' record speaks for itself and we are looking forward to highlighting it for voters during the campaign," Fulop spokesman Bruno Tedeschi said.

This is Epps? first bid for the City Council.

Brennan, meanwhile, is running for his fourth term on the council. He joined in 2001 as the Ward A rep, then became an at-large member in 2004 when Healy vacated that seat to become mayor.

Brennan, who owns a Greenville pub, was appointed the council?s president in 2009.

"Under Mayor Healy's leadership, Jersey City is clearly on the upswing, with reduced crime and five new parks in various stages of planning and construction throughout the city,? he said in the statement. ?I'm looking forward to continuing the progress for every family and all parts of this city we both love."

Today Healy also picked up the endorsements of current and former Ward A council members, including Michael Sottolano, the council's current Ward A rep, Kathy Curran and Tim Hawkes.

The Healy/Fulop matchup is set for May 14, 2013. The mayoralty and all nine council seats are up for grabs.

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

Jersey City Mayor Healy's re-election bid endorsed by two Puerto Rican leaders

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
December 07, 2012 at 9:34 AM

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy raked up the endorsements of Freeholder Chairman Eliu Rivera and a Puerto Rican senator yesterday, with the senator saying Healy is ?good for all Puerto Ricans.?

Rivera and Puerto Rican Sen. Jorge Suarez Caceres also gave a nod of approval to former mayoral aide Omar Perez, who Healy announced Wednesday is running on his ticket as an at-large City Council candidate.

?I think you have chosen an individual who is going to make a difference,? Rivera told Healy last night inside the Manila Avenue apartment complex Villa Borinquen.

Healy will face Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop in next May?s mayoral race. The mayor, seeking his third full term, has a ticket comprised so far of Perez and Ward E council candidate Dan Levin.

Caceres yesterday said Healy ?0?is ?a big supporter of the Latino community.?

?We are happy to support you,? he said.

Rivera, meanwhile, whom Healy called ?the godfather of the Puerto Rican community,? said he thinks Latinos should support Healy?s re-election bid because of the ?many changes? in the community under Healy?s leadership.

?He has held the fort together,? he said.

Last week, Fulop earned nods from a half-dozen black pastors and Freeholder Bill O?Dea. This week, Fulop received support from a slew of Latino leaders, while Healy won endorsements from two unions representing thousands of teachers and school workers.

Fulop campaign spokesman Bruno Tedeschi wasn?t impressed by Healy?s latest news.

?This is just a desperate man on a sinking ship,? Tedeschi said. ?He had to fly in a politician from Puerto Rico who has no ties to Jersey City.?

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

Move over, drivers: Jersey City plans to add 54 miles of bike lanes

By Sarah Nathan/ The Jersey Journal
on December 07, 2012 at 9:45 AM

Jersey City plans to create 54.7 miles of bike lanes and shared bike routes as part of the city's 365 Days of Green initiative, Mayor Jerramiah Healy announced Thursday.

Besides expanding the number of bike lanes in the city, the bike plan would help merchants purchase bike racks at a discounted price.

Planning Director Bob Cotter, supervising planner at the Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce Douglas Greenfeld and assistant city engineer Lee Klein joined Healy at the news conference.

Mayor Healy credited the city's young residents as a driving force behind the initiative.

?There's a new movement,? he said. ?It's a new goal and we thank a lot of our new people who have come to Jersey City in the last 10 to 15 years and their youth and their energy and their ideas. We know they've done it in Newark and it's being done in Hoboken and we're going to do it here in Jersey City.?

The 54.7 miles of designated bike paths will include 35.2 miles of bike lanes and 19.5 miles of shared lanes marked with "sharrows": arrows and bike symbols painted in the middle of a street to indicate a cyclist can use the entire lane. The experimental bike lanes on Grove Street will be made permanent this spring.

?We're obviously not going to put them in high-density traffic areas,? Healy said. ?But a lot of our side streets can accommodate bike lanes and we intend to do that.?

Although each neighborhood will have bike lanes, a large proportion of the lanes will be located in the Journal Square and Downtown areas.

The city has applied for a $1.4 million grant from the state Department of of Transportation to fund the program.

The project will be be implemented gradually each year until the city is saturated with bike lanes, Cotter said.

Sheree Davis, a state Department of Transportation representative from the Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs, praised the city for its Complete Streets initiative.

?There is passing a policy, but more better and more sweeter is implementing that policy,? Davis said. ?The bike lane and bike sharrow program is essential, not only for the city but for the state. We commend Jersey City for actually implementing this and putting their money where their mouth is.?

In addition to bike lanes, Healy has submitted revisions of cycling ordinances to the City Council for consideration at its Dec. 19 meeting. Some of the revisions include adding bicycle passenger safety requirements, allowing cyclists to ride on sidewalks, provided pedestrians are given the right-of-way and allowing the city engineer to specify certain sidewalks where cycling is prohibited.

To emphasize bicycle safety, the mayor also showed a public service announcement after the conference that discusses bike safety in the city. The PSA features a young woman riding around the city committing a variety of offenses such as not giving pedestrians the right-of-way and riding against traffic in bike lanes.

Members of Bike JC, an advocacy group that worked with the city on the program, were present at the meeting.


?I am confident that this is a step forward toward a more effective and safe street network in Jersey City,? Bike JC board member Matt Ward said.

Ralph Sinisi, owner of Grove Street Bicycles, said he's enthusiastic about the program.

?When we started the shop almost five years ago, there wasn't much knowledge about bikes at all on the streets,? Sinisi said. ?We've seen the amount of riders grow drastically. I'm really positive and happy about the city actually putting in the lanes.?



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

Jersey City taxi driver claims city inspector harasses him, calls him a terrorist

By Sarah Nathan/ The Jersey Journal
December 06, 2012 at 2:18 PM

A Jersey City taxi driver is suing a city inspector, claiming the inspector has cursed at him, called him a terrorist and made negative remarks about his religion.

Azaldeen Abdalaziz, a taxi driver for over 20 years, works the night shift and begins his evening in Journal Square during rush hour. Tracy Simmons is the city taxi inspector who works at the taxi stand and, according to Abdalaziz, Simmons has been trying to ruin his life for over a year.

?He's yelled at me saying I'm not allowed to be in this country, that I'm a terrorist,? said Abdalaziz. ?He's been cursing my mother, my father and my country.?

Abdalaziz moved to the United States from Egypt in 1987. An American citizen, he has lived with his wife and children in Jersey City for 25 years.

According to the complaint, filed in the Jersey City Municipal Court on Oct. 23, Simmons has been ?provoking? Abdalaziz to get out of his taxi and fight him. The suit also states Simmons ?makes racial remarks? about Abdalaziz?s religion.

Abdalaziz said Simmons is looking to revoke his license and he fears for his job.

?My work is on the line here and this guy has said to me, 'I'm going to make your life miserable',? Abdalaziz said.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill, speaking on behalf if the city and the employee, said the city has reviewed Abdalaziz?s allegations and found the inspector ?acted in a professional manner.?

?We believe that the harassment accusation is false and is potentially a retaliation against the inspector, who had issued Mr. Abdalaziz a summons for violating a city ordinance,? Morrill said.

According to Morrill, the summons cites Abdalaziz for harassment and abuse of a government officer.

In addition to starting legal procedures, Abdalaziz took his complaint to Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez, who invited Abdalaziz to share his experiences at a recent council meeting.

?What was really shocking to me was the rude gestures he said that were being made and the nature of these comments,? said Lopez. ?You have to treat people with respect.?

Lopez said she advised Abdalaziz to file a complaint in court and is glad to hear he is proceeding.

?These people are working very hard and I don't want them being intimidated, not in my ward. I will fight for that,? Lopez said.

The court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1 in Jersey City Municipal Court.

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