Numerous studies have been done over the years on the effects of adding or expanding roads in order to ameliorate traffic problems and they all come to the same conclusion - the traffic just gets worse.

I find it ironic that someone referred to Liberty State Park as "a great open air park" when they're advocating adding more exhaust to that air. I agree the entrance on Jersey Avenue needs to be cleaned up, but making a road that encourages people to drive through the park into downtown isn't a very good option. And why isn't the city, which continues to give huge tax abatements to developers, demanding that the developers give something back to the city in the way of walkways, open spaces, trees, etc.?

I too tend to be very willing to cut through the back way every which way to shave off a few minutes travel time. What I have found though is that in most cases-- that is, only on extremely bad travel days, such as friday afternoons in the summer, a very rainy day, or the day before a long weekend will "shortcuts" ever actually be shorter. The other thing Ive found, in a very non-scientific way, is that most people aren't willing to change their commuting habits in the same way I will. Sure, there are "many" people who cut through the downtown, but the number of people who don't is still much greater. If we really want to talk about reducing downtown traffic, we should talk about expanding transit options, light, heavy, subterranean rail. For me, i think it very strange that anyone would drive all the way down 78 just to get off the freeway a 2 miles from the Holland tunnel and park in Lafayette to take the light rail. To me, that's counter intuitive. Rail stations should be built farther away-- the junction of 78 and the Tpk for instance, or out in Bridgewater at the junction of 78 and 287. But I digress.

In terms of traffic "cutting through" the downtown, I think its fairly self regulating in that the more people who do it, the more traffic there is, and thus the less time is saved, and so fewer people do it. Also, I think the people who "cut through" the downtown already do, and that changing the local road network isn't going to change the habits of people don't already cut through.

Also, if Liberty Harbor adds 8,000 residential units, and to what seems mostly young professionals, that's anywhere from 8,000 to 16,000 young professionals, many with cars and many who are just not that close to the PATH. I think Liberty Harbor will generate much more traffic than a Jersey Avenue Connector, and further a Jersey Avenue connector would let Liberty Harbor residents head West without going through Grand or Montgomery Streets to get to the Turnpike. While most Liberty harbor people are probably going to end up working in Manhattan, increasingly, people who work in the burbs are moving to urban areas like Jersey City. I don't think it would be unrealistic for a large percentage of the new Liberty harbor residents to work out along the 78 Corridor or 287-- Woodbridge, Edison, Newark, Bridgewater, Piscataway. So a Jersey Ave connection might actually lesson traffic downtown.

Quote:

Hmmm...

It seems that until the junk yard, cement plant, dry dock, and the canal itself are all cleaned up, a Jersey Ave entrance to the park won't be any *nicer* than any of the other entrances.

If we are only talking about easier access to LSP then opening Jersey Ave. to vehicular traffic benefits ONLY the residents of downtown, and would only shorten the drive by about 5 minutes tops.

This plan whether it is two lanes or four would certainly increase the number of cars on downtown streets coming from the suburbs. When I first moved to NJ in the suburbs I learned very quickly about the short-cut through downtown JC for when the extension is backed up. Commuters are using exit 14B and cutting through the park to either get to the tunnel or to park in JC and ferry across to Manhattan.

The increase in congestion downtown that would be caused by opening Jersey Ave. is not worth shaving a few minutes off my drive to LSP.

I think the biggest problem with the proposal is the name of the project. Obviously an "expressway" connotes "highway" to many people, but that is not necessarily what is being proposed. Montgomery street west of Jersey, for instance, is 4 lanes wide, 6 if you include the rows of parking on either side. Perhaps a better term would be "Jersey Avenue Connector" or "Bi-pass"

Connecting Jersey Avenue is not necessarily an evil plan either. It would help connect the downtown the southeastern end of Lafayette and aid in redeveloping that area. Of course it will probably bring more traffic to the downtown area, but since no one is talking about expanding Jersey Avenue north of Grand street, the limited width of the road will prevent a huge influx of cars.

As far as folks cutting through the downtown to get to the Tunnel from the turnpike, I think you are over estimating how adventurous and how knowledgeable most commuters are. Most commuters stick to their routine day in and day out and never venture off the main highway they take to work or that mapquest suggests to them. We all think its a great way to save a few minutes because we live here and drive these side roads every day, most commuters won't. They see jersey city from the elevated portion of the Turnpike but don't really understand how all the roads connect.

Quote:

This is an OK article, and maybe it shows why the Jersey Journal should consider improving both business and education coverage by hiring a full-time business reporter who would also be the education reporter.

Basically, what the people quoted here are trying to say, politely, is that it's hard to hire good people around here because, aside from the fact that the local public schools have a hard time pleasing yuppie mamas, they also have had a hard time educating kids to be good plumbers or carpenters.

One good thing about this article is that it somewhat gets away from the following pattern:

- JJ Cub Reporter interviews a hardcore socialist at some 1960s-era jobs or economic development agency about unmeployment and underemployment among local residents.

- The official trashes the waterfront companies for not meeting hiring commitments.

- The official and the reporter never really include the point that the businesses need employees with some skills, and a lot of the unemployed people in Jersey City lack those skills and have no great way to acquire those skills at any level that would impress an employer.

Of course, the waterfront companies should hire more local people. But this particular article points out that the community has an obligation to help make unemployed people employable, not just get unemployable people employed by fiat.

Quote:

a) I have my problems with specific Jersey Journal articles and editorial decisions, but, in general, it's a perfectly good little paper, and if people are reading the full text repostings here, I think it would be cool if at least they sometimes bought the paper at the newsstand or something, just to give it a little practical support before Newhouse strangles it.

b) It's good to see the Jersey Journal covering business a little more these past couple weeks, and the real estate columnist clearly at least has some clue how to do a good job and is trying. The recent special section articles have been fun, but I think they show why the Journal needs a reporter who covers business as a real beat and not just assign business articles to interns, special section reporters or general assignment reporters.

A paper like the Journal is never, ever going to cover business in a super-aggressive fashion, and that's fine. But one thing I notice about the special sections is that most of the articles are breathless puff pieces about giant real estate development companies or articles about cute little downtown businesses.

There aren't any articles in the special sections or in other papers about all of the people who come to small businesses around here asking them for bribes; about small businesses in the Heights, Journal Square or Greenville (OK, it's possible some were mentioned, but I don't remember seeing their names); about ways small business owners (or midsize or big business owners) would like to see local government rules and administrative practices change; or articles about the non-glamorous, midsize, workhorse businesses, like Bel-Fuse, that probably are the secretly the bedrock of our local economy. Example: before Manischewitz announced it was closing its plant, how many did you see the plant mentioned in the Journal? Not very many.

If the reporters and editors come to an understanding that the bad guys in most of these articles have to be government officials, general economic trends or companies outside the city, a reporter probably could write fairly aggressive, non-puffy articles without getting the paper into too much hot water.

Also: the Jersey Journal is part of the company that owns American City Business Journals. Maybe the Jersey Journal could get some help in this area if it got coaching from an editor at one of the business journals.

I would never "out" a lister's identity, but i have it on good authority that one of the people quoted in this very article is a JCLister most of us would recognize as a not-infrequent poster...

see http://www.njcu.edu/programs/wsdev/

I live on Jersey Avenue, one block from Grand. If you don't think people are getting off at the LSP exit and trying to negotiate to downtown JC or NYC, you obviously haven't gone running into LSP between 7am and 9am. It's backed up through the park (which people are also commuting to in order to take a ferry.) And Jersey at Grand is a parking lot, with both the hospital (and it's constant emergency vehicles) and the new 4000-student school creating lots of traffic. There are also multiple bus stops.
The city needs to look at developing a traffic plan (a tunnel that goes underneath downtown and comes up at the Holland would be utopian) whereby these cars and trucks would have the smoothest egress to downtown and the big apple.
Making Jersey, south of Grand, a four lane "Expressway" will only invite more traffic and make the area more dangerous for pedestrians, including the many kids crossing to the school and the gigantic boys club down the street on Grand. What's more, you're about to have thousands more people move into the townhouses on Grand, many of whom will probably want to drive somewhere, further increasing traffic.
I also constantly see people who don't know the lay of the land trying to make the connection, which isn't there, between Jersey and LSP, then meander about searching for the road through LSP to Bayonne or wherever they are going. Better signage is in order.
I'm not against opening the road on Jersey Avenue and creating a nice foot-bridge that won't flood everytime it rains, but it needs to be done with consideration for the people already in the vacinity and certainly shouldn't be termed an expressway, parkway, highway or anything else that will give people the idea that it's a high speed shortcut through JC.
OK, back to work.

I agree with Mr. Rogers. Open Jersey Avenue now.

I thought this when I lived in Harsimus Cove and I think it now that I live in Lafayette. The City should have done this 20 years ago. The Friends of Liberty State Park are against it because they don't want anyone to use the park except birds. Mia Scanga's against it because she and her crowd don't believe that the City has really given up on the old idea of completing 440 by having it connect to Jersey Avenue (right now it sort of dead ends south of Port Liberte). But that really is dead.

Yes there is a lot of commuter traffic in the morning and evening, but I think most of it heads to Exchange Place, not the Holland Tunnel. Thus an opened Jersey Avenue is going to dump onto Grand not to the Van Vorst neighborhood. Also, I believe the plans for the Mocco/Hyman property call for a boulevard along the Morris Canal. Thus, an opened Jersey Avenue's first outlet would be to that eventual boulevard. Penultimately, not opening the street would be another failure of nerve like allowing the construciton of gated commuities like Port Liberte and Avalon Cove. Lafayette might not be a field of lilies yet, but its trying and keeping Jersey Avenue closed would be a slap in its face. Finally, Pacific and Garfield are in despeate need of being relieved of carrying all north south traffic. This would help.

I agree! There needs to be another entrance to the park. I live in Hamilton Park and when I do drive to the park in the AM the traffic coming from Johnston and Pacific is a mess. One entrance is ridiculous and unsafe.

Whoever does opposse this is just a DT snob. Look, we all know there will be a lot more traffic in the coming years so now is the time to help these alrerady clogged streets. I watch school buses just creep along exhaust spewing away.......

I really can't believe the city has not done anything about this until now + our only enterance to the park is discusting and certainly does not reflect what a great open air park we have.

There are ways to open this road without making it a highway.Why should Garfield and johnston get all the traffic from downtown when we could get to LSP by Jersey.

We spent all that money on a dog run in VVP when we could have had a football field size run just past jersey ave.


Open Jersey Ave..........

Has anyone heard about this?

There is an attempt to sneak in a 2-4 lane road to Liberty State park via Jersey Ave...

They are going to discuss it at the meeting tonight.

I think its a bad idea. Traffic is already awful on Jersey ave...

http://www.jcreservoir.org/Links/Stea ... ark_-_FOSP_Statement.html

Jersey Ave. expressway plan eyed

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By COTTON DELO
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Garnering little attention since former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler's administration, the contentious Jersey Avenue expressway proposal is back on the table.

The expressway is one potential measure to alleviate Jersey City's traffic woes identified by the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study - a nearly two-year undertaking spearheaded by the Division of Planning.

The third of four scheduled public meetings on the findings will take place tonight at 6 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 280 Grove St., and concept drawings of potential projects will be displayed.

The expressway plan calls for connecting Downtown Jersey City with Liberty State Park by extending Jersey Avenue over the Morris Canal basin.

According to Naomi Hsu, a transportation planner with the Division of Planning, the study explores potential roadway and transit improvements to be implemented by 2020, and recommendations will be submitted to the city and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority - which funded the study - by April.

"Now that we have a sense of where development might occur and with what intensity, that's informing our traffic policy," she said.

Other potential improvements are flyovers of Center and Merseles streets over Montgomery Street, an extension of Merseles Street south to Wilson Street and a ramp off the New Jersey Turnpike providing direct access to Newport via 11th Street.

Hsu says analysis to determine which projects are most feasible and likely to yield positive results - based on criteria like cost and timeframe - must now be undertaken before the final report is submitted.

Some residents maintain that a Jersey Avenue expressway would jeopardize an urban oasis.

"Such a road would inevitably turn Phillip Street (on the western side of the park) into a highway, and then commuters would use the roads of Liberty State Park as a shortcut," said Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park.

COTTON DELO can be reached at cdelo@jjournal.com

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS IN HUDSON
For the job-hungry, there are plenty of choices

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By DORINE BETHEA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Lawrence Haynes is a fairly new employee at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson. He's a bellhop who enjoys his interaction with hotel guests.

Stefan Fritz is chef de cuisine at the full-service hotel that opened in the summer of 2002.

Luis Aponte, a parking attendant, works there, too.

The trio may not know it, but their jobs are in one of the fastest-growing industries in Hudson County: the hospitality and retail field, a significant factor in the area's economic growth that is reshaping the county's workforce and redirecting labor officials' training efforts.

The industry is one of four offering new, attractive employment opportunities in Hudson County, experts say. The others are corporate services and real estate, supply chain industries and manufacturing.

"There are a lot of job opportunities here," said Haynes, 35, a Newark resident who found his new job through a classified advertisement.

According to data compiled by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, finance and insurance had the largest employment pool in 2005, the most recent year with available figures. Then, the industry employed 16 percent of the county's total workforce of about 197,000.

The percentage reflects the rapid growth that occurred in the county's financial areas between 1992 and 2000, said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

"The future there really is Manhattan becoming too expensive and Manhattan not having any vacant space," Hughes said. "Wall Street West is really going to depend on firms spilling over from Manhattan to New Jersey because of cost reasons."

Within the county's financial district - mostly along the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City - the securities and commodities industry in 2005 paid the highest average annual salary, $156,339, according to the labor department.

"The fastest growing sector is the financial activity, but also health services are growing very fast in Hudson County and in the state as a whole," Hughes said. "Second is leisure and hospitality. People are working in hotels and people are working in restaurants. Hudson's labor force is growing at both ends."

That means nearly every type of job is available, from positions in Downtown Jersey City's financial district to jobs in retail shops and jobs that follow - like attorneys' offices - or are a part of growth and development.
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"Construction employment has been strong," Hughes said.

OFF THE WATERFRONT

New employment opportunities, however, aren't restricted to the waterfront.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy lobbied hard for property on Route 440 to become the site for a mega-warehouse that will create new several hundred jobs.

"New businesses bring jobs and pay substantial property taxes to our city," Healy said. "While Jersey City was once a major industrial center, the factories that once provided our citizens with solid employment have mostly left. Yet new types of businesses are taking their place and are providing new job opportunities."

According to Rutgers University research, Jersey City alone was responsible for 91 percent of the new jobs created in the state's urban areas that occurred in the 1990s.

"Whether it is a high-cube warehouse, a Wall Street financial firm or a luxury hotel," Healy said, "Jersey City's unique location that is proximate to Manhattan, Port Elizabeth-Newark, and major transportation arteries make it a desirable location for business to locate."

Overall, the 2006 New Jersey Labor Force estimates show a decline in the unemployment rates in most of the county's municipalities from January to December.

Union City and Kearny had the largest drop in unemployment rates during that time, going from 7.6 percent early last year to 5.7 percent in December, and from 6.2 percent to 4.3 percent, respectively, according to state labor estimates.

Jersey City's rate fell from 6.3 percent to 5.1 percent during that period. Hudson County's unemployment rate stood at 4.5 percent, compared to the state's 3.9 percent.

"The economy looks promising. There is work out there," said Anthony Corsi, director of the Hudson County Workforce Investment Board. "The key is training and education," especially for skilled work in finance and construction.

"An electrician's union requires strong math and science skills," he said. "It does take years to become a carpenter or a plumber."

New development is under way throughout the county, particularly in Jersey City where old warehouses are being redeveloped into luxurious residential units. Builders are as busy constructing in Weehawken and in Hoboken. Yet, despite all the development in Hudson County, the work crews are often out-of-towners.

"There are tremendous numbers of construction jobs that do not necessarily mean that there are Hudson County residents getting them," said Dan Frohwirth, director of real estate for the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. "Most of the jobs are major union jobs and, when you talk about putting up a Goldman Sachs, the tallest building in Jersey City, they really brought in very sophisticated steel workers."

Gary Morgan, 39, is a Jersey City native who still lives and works here. He has worked in the construction field more than 20 years.

"You see a lot more people from the area getting jobs compared to back then," Morgan said. He looks around the area and begins pointing to building on which he and his nephew, Albert Smith, 22, also of Jersey City, have worked.

TRAINING PROGRAMS

Frohwirth said the JCED works with companies to help increase jobs for local residents. For example, he said some developers have hosted job fairs to recruit potential construction workers from the area.

Similarly, within the first two years, 25 percent of new hires for businesses opening in an Urban Enterprise Zone - areas designated by the state that can charge half the sales tax in an effort to stimulate business - must be local residents. Companies that fail to meet that requirement pay the state up to $100,000. The state and city then use the money to pay for job training.

"They pay us money for us to help educate a workforce that can get jobs in the areas," Frohwirth said.

Corsi said his agency is part of a consortium that is working to prepare for future growth in the Meadowlands area. That includes East Newark, Harrison, Kearny, North Bergen and Secaucus, all of which are in Hudson County.

Working with several Hudson and Bergen county agencies, Corsi said the group has started developing strategies to respond to the regional economy. With more than 9,300 businesses in the Meadowlands, the area already employs 46,350 Hudson County residents.

"We're trying to respond to our economic and growth needs. There is a lot going on that neither one of us alone can address," Corsi said. "We have to do it together. We have to match up the needs of industry with the needs of our workforce."

Corsi said there are jobs here to employ Hudson County residents. The applicants, he said, must be prepared and qualified.

"If job seekers are not willing to keep skills and education current and not focus on the needs of the growing industries, their futures are not so bright," he said.

In addition, the women's advocacy group WomenRising of Jersey City is working now with the state Labor Department and Hudson Community College to train prospective employees in the hospitality industry.

Their free four-month training program covers three specific areas: housekeeping, introduction to hospitality and front desk.

"This is a segment of the economy that needs jobs," said Ilene Singh, a job developer for Community Partnerships and Hotel Employment, a component of WomenRising. "If you are good and you prove yourself on the job you can get promoted and you can get promoted fast."

Since the program began five years ago, it has trained and placed nearly 160 people in jobs, she said. Participants earn $9 to $11 an hour.

"Even though the salaries are not fabulous, if they want to stay in that placement they will get benefits," Singh said. "The benefits are generally good."

FROM NOTHING TO SOMETHING

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By DORINE BETHEA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NJCU West Campus just the start of proposed expansion

Once an old brownfields site is cleaned and redevelopment finished, New Jersey City University will open its new West Campus.

Stretching from Route 440 to West Side Avenue, it will add more housing for students and others, offer retail and commercial space and, maybe, become the permanent home for the city's Visual and Performing Arts High School.

The 22-acre site is in a historically industrial area and NJCU plans to redevelop the land that Baldwin Steel Co. once occupied into an urban campus that is convenient for walking and accessible to public transportation.

"It will give people an opportunity to live in a place where a car isn't always a necessity," said Howard Buxbaum, NJCU's vice president for administration and finance. "We see it as a revenue producing investment for the university."

NJCU's expansion is part of larger economic development plans for the city's west side. It is expected to be a catalyst for the Jersey City Bayside Redevelopment plan, a larger-scale project intended to revitalize the area. The Bayside plan covers a 75-acre area between Communipaw, Bergen and Stevens avenues and Newark Bay.

"All of that land was for industrial use. One by one industry closed or moved," Buxbaum said.

The university has been acquiring land in the area for many years and is now using some of the property for parking.

The West Campus is bounded by Carbon Place on the north, West Side Avenue on the east and the Home Depot on Route 440 to the south. Buxbaum said many portions of the project are still in the design phase. It is being designed to encourage pedestrian traffic and to take advantage of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system.

"We're actually going to build streets and roads on the site," he said.

Buxbaum said it will be at least a year before NJCU begins construction on the first of three expected phases. The initial phase will include housing for students and non-students, retail shops and some parking. At least 100 residential units will be built for roughly 300 students during the first phase - a $150 million investment.

Student housing has been scarce at NJCU for a long time. Only 3 percent of the university's 9,000 students live on campus, Buxbaum said.


"There is a demand for that even among our existing student body," he said.

An arts center would also be built in the project's first phase. Buxbaum said NJCU's performing arts program has needed a better facility for a long time.

Jersey City's Visual and Performing Arts High School, which has been on NJCU's campus for 15 years, is lobbying to relocate to the West Campus. The school serves nearly 300 students, who interact with NJCU faculty and use other resources at the university.

"It certainly is a very unique opportunity that we hope to pursue," said Nancy Healy, a supervisor at the school. "There are a lot of reasons now that we want to remain on campus."

If NJCU becomes the school's permanent home, it could serve 400 students. The school is relying on the state Schools Construction Corp. for funding and the agency has still not made a decision.

"Our first choice is on the campus of NJCU," Healy said.

Buxbaum said NJCU expects to receive state and federal aid to fund the entire project, which in today's dollars would cost up to $350 million.

The state Department of Environmental Protection lifted its moratorium on approving chromium cleanups last month. That allows NJCU officials to begin determining the manner in which it will clean up the site.

"It is a positive development for us," Buxbaum said. "It could have held us up if it hadn't come."

Gang indicted in teen's 2004 gun murder

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By ALI WINSTON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Some 21/2 years after 17-year-old Michael Taylor was gunned down on a Jersey City street corner, five members of a Jersey City-based set of the Bloods street gang have been indicted on federal charges in connection with his murder.

Taylor was shot multiple times - possibly in a case of mistaken identity - just after 10 p.m. on July 19, 2004, at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Wilkinson Avenue.

Stray shots wounded a 3-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man at a nearby family cook-out. A fourth person also was shot at but wasn't injured, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.

Charged with murder, murder conspiracy and four counts each of assault with a dangerous weapon, all in aid of racketeering, were Emanuel "Killer E" or "Emo" Jones, 22, of Jersey City; Torien "B.G." or "T-Bird" Brooks, 26, of Paterson; Anthony "Ant" Walker, 24, of Jersey City; David "D-Brim" Ariste, 25, of East Orange; and Matthew "Blood Money" Turner, 28, of Jersey City.

The five are reputed members of the Fruit Town Brims, a set of the Bloods operating in Jersey City and Paterson. Jones and Brooks were "status" members or leaders, while the rest were members and associates, according to authorities.

Because the charges were linked through racketeering, the five were charged Tuesday in federal court in Newark.

Ariste only faces federal charges, but Jones, Brooks, Walker and Turner had previously been charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said he would drop the local charges today after consulting with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A number of the defendants face additional charges on the state level. Turner is charged with aggravated assault in Hudson County for a June 2006 attack on three corrections officers - during his January hearing, Turner made an obscene gesture to a Journal photographer.

Ariste faces a separate gang-related murder charge in Passaic County. Brooks, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for a Passaic County robbery, did not appear in court on Tuesday.

Investigators believe Taylor was mistaken for someone who had earlier shot at Walker. Jones, who had been given a description of Walker's attacker, mistook Taylor for the gunman and opened fire, authorities say. Witnesses say Taylor died in the street, face-down in a pool of blood.

Taylor's shooting prompted outrage from members of the community, who described the former guard for St. Mary's High School basketball team as "a very good kid."

"An innocent young man was cut down, caught in the senseless cycle of gang violence," U.S. Attorney Chris Christie said. "We intend to bring the full weight of federal prosecution against these ruthless individuals."

The Fruit Town Brims, who established themselves in New Jersey during the mid-1990s, take their name from a section of the city of Compton, Calif., that has streets named after fruits.

They are the second Jersey City gang to be prosecuted on racketeering charges by the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 2005, 26 members of the infamous Lex Mob gang pleaded guilty to various federal charges, including racketeering conspiracy.

Development 'czar' is suggested

Jersey Journal
Thursday, March 01, 2007

Jersey City should consider hiring an economic development czar who would coordinate job creation and marketing, according to report released this week by a commission on the city's economic future.

In addition, the six-member Mayor's Council of Economic Advisors urged the city to consider creating a billboard tax and realty transfer fee, extending the residency requirements for firefighters and police beyond one year and seeking more revenue from the New York/New Jersey Port Authority, which owns large amounts of property in the city.

The city should continue to offer tax abatements on the waterfront, but needs to come up with a better way to link jobs for city residents with the tax breaks, the report said.


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Another article
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Politicial Insider Column: Healy gets advice he wants to hear

The Jersey Journal
Politicial Insider
Thursday, March 01, 2007

A special six-member commission was put together by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy with the mission of finding ways the city can improve its fiscal and economic future.

According to Journal columnist Jarrett Renshaw, the panel put effort into its 33-page report of findings and recommendations. The panel reported that the city's tax abatement policy is responsible for the economic flowering of the waterfront. It adds that it would be a mistake to end abatements because it would put new developers at a competitive disadvantage.

This commission is made up of business people. They are saying what the mayor cannot say without putting himself at a political disadvantage. While one can argue that tax abatements gave the city a Gold Coast of shiny new buildings - one has to ask, to what end?

Several administrations ago, when the city embarked on developing the waterfront, it was assumed that this new construction was to benefit all the people of Jersey City.

Today, the part of the city that is not on the waterfront has failed to advance beyond the economically stagnant days when the waterfront was just dilapidated railroad tracks and empty warehouses. Older shopping districts still struggle, affordable housing is a dream, and decent wages for the poorer among us are scarce.

One can argue that without the Gold Coast, city government could not function because the payments in lieu of taxes that are paid by the tax-abated cover a large part of its budget - the payroll. There has been no quantitative method developed by the city to determine whether tax abatements, especially in this millennium, have been a good idea - decades after they were used to entice major developers to this side of the Hudson.

Healy's blue-ribbon panel does show some independence by noting that the city's lower income residents have not benefited in the economic revival and suggesting that future tax abatements be linked to creating local jobs. The problem is that the courts have deemed job quotas unconstitutional.

Most of the other suggestions are a panoply of ideas the mayor has been trying to push, including a local realty transfer fee, designating a city development czar, getting more tax dollars from the Port Authority and adding more police officers.

The only question for the city administration is now what? Will it use the commission report to justify the administration's agenda - including more tax abatements?

what are they currently charging per square foot on the condos? have they come up to the new construction averages in downtown's high-end places?

That is excellent advice FAB. The little things you don't see really can add up - I remember I lived in a new "luxury" building once that had cheap PVC (or is it ABS?) plumbing. No leaks or anything, but anyone the neighbor above took a shower or flushed a toilet, the noise was anoyingly loud.

It's so hard to assess these things with new construction (when the building isn't up yet at least), but that checklist is definitely a good start.

Just wanted to give this a bump...

JCdowntown is sitting down with the Mayor for an interview that will be printed in our April issue. I would love to hear what questions and topics you would like to see the Mayor address.

Melissa
Editor-in-Chief
JCdowntown Magazine
melissamaguire@jcdowntownmag.com

I can remember a time when there were picturesque ruins scattered throughout the area. Does anyone remember the old brick feed mill warehouse which used to stand where a condo development now sits at Manila and 10th? The nature of these abandoned lots(oak trees, willows , sumac ,and yes, the dreaded ailathus) gave a relief to the feel of urban density in the area. Romantic or not they provided passive green spaces dotted through the community. As development accelerates we are losing these inbetween green spaces and with them a certain wild quality to the area which could be retained in part by saving the Embankment and perhaps accenting its flora with supplemental indigeonous plantings.
From what I've heard, there are no definite plans for the form a park would take, the projected streetscape drawings and photos are just some of the possibilities. The process would be subject to public review.
The real issue here is whether or not we can retain the Embankment, as is, for the city and public to decide what it may become as opposed to a private development which would demolish the structure.
Urban public parks should be more ambitious than the median shrubbery which border parking lots.
The Embankment would be a phenomenal asset to the residents of not just downtown but all of Jersey City.

check-list on any apartment or home you wish to purchase:

Are those appliances energy efficient and rated?

Are the floors cheap parquetry flooring or hardwood floors and do they have any noise dampeners between them and the concrete slab?

Are the doors and skirting boards made from solid timbers or cheap particle board composite? Are the kitchen cabinets and vaniety units made from the same cheap stuff?

Is the heating and cooling units insulated and energy rated?

Double glazing should be standard on all windows. (including balcony glass doors)

Are the walls insulated or have noise proofing qualities?

Gas is cheaper then electricity - is the burners and oven on gas?

With some of the 'expensive' well built apartments they will also insulated / noise proof all the plumbing as well.

What security is in place - lighting around the building, garage, front door with CCTV that you can access / view from your apartment etc.

Are all the common areas built using the same energy efficient equipment and are they using quality fittings and fixtures - including carpets, lighting, heating and cooling, elevators, electric roller doors for the garage etc. If they purcahse and use cheap products that look good but high maintenance, guess who will being paying for repairs or high running costs?

The list is never ending - don't be fooled by cosmetic features. Your goal is to buy a fuel efficent, maintenance free apartment with low overheads for your investment dollar.

PS, Ask if you can get a copy of the plans - you want a copy of what's below, above and next door. You don't want the upstairs laundry to be over your bedroom or the neighbors toilet next to the lounge etc.

Then think of the park as a way to save and preserve the embankments.

The Embankment initiative was formed in response to initial development ideas and threats of demolition.

At this point in time, I believe that if it does not become a park, it will be housing (and demolished). The property is presently in the hands of a private developer (though not known for building anything). The money for the city to acquire the property if the sale to the developer is reversed by the Surface Transportation Board or via eminent domain will be funds earmarked or grants for open/park space. There are no resources that would allow it to remain domant and given development pressures if it does not become a park, its is likely not to remain.

If the Embankment Coalition had not been able to formulate a viable plan to make it a park (which I believe they have), then I also would agree to leave it dormant until such time as it could be developed as open space.

It is time for the city and elected officials to put their words of support into actual actions or the embankments will really be history.

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So he is suspended without pay..... could he theoretically still function as a cop with an assualt charge on his record from his pre-cop days?

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Was the same professionalism and objectivity shown with your appointment lard-ass?

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Everyone knows I am generally a supporter of law enforcement.

However, in this case I have to say-

GREAT FECKIN' WORK, DOUCHEBAG.

I repeat the call for a nationwide search for a qualified outsider to run the police department.

FAB??? FAB??? i think he posted this story for you........

Jersey City police rookie charged with aggravated assault

WNBC / AP Wire - Feb 28

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) _ Jersey City police arrested one of their own after a rookie officer was identified as a suspect in a stabbing incident that occurred before he joined the force, officials said.

Albert Gonzalez, 22, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on aggravated assault and weapons charges in the stabbing of a 19-year-old man on May 5, 2006. The man suffered non-life threatening wounds after being stabbed in the torso and arm, authorities said.

"We are of course disappointed by the arrest of an officer, but I am pleased that the thorough investigation that led to this arrest and perhaps the closing of a violent criminal case did initiate in our office, showing our professionalism and objectivity when it comes to the police," Police Chief Tom Comey said in a news release.

Gonzalez, of Jersey City, graduated from the Jersey City Police Academy in December. He was not in the police academy or a sworn officer at the time of the stabbing, which police believe was sparked by a fight between two groups of young men. Police are still looking for more suspects.

Gonzalez, who was on a one-year probation as a new hire, has been suspended without pay.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/11138208/detail.html