Want Lung Cancer?
Go ahead, spend $500,000 for a home that sits upon millions of tons of buried and highly toxic chromium.

Quote:

Damn straight! Go Indians!

Wow, the article brings back memories of running relays at the Armory for grammar school. It wasn't too bad, from what I remember, 'cept that we got dusted by St. Aedan's. And the Jersey City armory track from that time compared pretty well to the wooden track at the 168th armory in the city.

who cares?

Guess you didn't read far enough, sounded like to me that these were options and not installed by default.

There was also some confusion if there were concrete borders between the units.

Reading through the posts on the Kannekt board, it seems that all the units in this development come with heavy duty surround sound speaker systems embedded in the walls and ceilings. Doesn't this seem like it would create a nightmare situation as far as noise between units goes?

N.J. has site issues for indoor track

By PAUL SCHWARTZ -- The Record -- Dec 14

Mike Glynn remembers when indoor track was more properly called "winter track."

"When I first started coaching in New Jersey in 1967, few schools had winter track at all," said Glynn, now a coach at Ridgewood, then the coach of a fledgling Paramus Catholic program. "We started a meet at PC, but we ran it outdoors on our track. Queen of Peace and St. Joseph Regional also ran meets outdoors during the winter. But we were really at the mercy of the weather.

"Once it snowed so hard before the meet, we had to have 80 guys with shovels and whatever snowblowers we could round up to clear the track so we could have the meet," he said. "But we had the meet."

"Maybe there were 100 schools total in the whole state that had the sport. There weren't many places where you could run. And maybe there were 10 to 15 meets a year. The highlights of the year for a team were the State relays and the State championships."

That's why it's ironic that nearly 40 years later, with the state of the indoor sport at its peak in New Jersey, with more than 300 schools competing and more than 100 meets to choose from, that the State championships and State relays championships nearly didn't happen this season. And why, despite the increase in interest and intensity in the indoor season, it may continue to be a struggle to keep State championship track and field at the level New Jerseyans have come to expect.

For many years the State relays and individual championship series, five dates in all, were held at Princeton University's Jadwin Gym. With the relays held in four sessions, usually over a Saturday and Sunday in mid-January, and the individual group championships usually held in four sessions over consecutive Sundays in mid-February, the season was capped by the State Meet of Champions in late February.

But as NJSIAA assistant director Don Danser explained, over the past five or six years, Princeton no longer seemed interested in providing the dates needed to run the State series.

"Every year, it got more and more difficult to get the dates we needed at the times that fit with the program we wanted to run," said Danser, who has been involved with the State track program since 1972. "They seemed to want us out of there because they said their own programs were expanding, and that hosting meets like ours was too much of an inconvenience."

So this year, when Princeton cut the five dates to just one, in early February, the NJSIAA pulled out completely. But that left the question: What now?

"We wanted to give every opportunity to continue a program that attracted a lot of interest that otherwise would have been discontinued," said Danser. "We didn't have any serious discussions about discontinuing the program, but we might have had to set rigorous qualifying standards which we've never had before."

Places such as the Rothman Center at Fairleigh Dickinson, Drew University and Red Bank, which host invitationals, are not large enough to host even the smallest group meet. And Rutgers had no seating and an odd-sized track in its bubble.

That left the renovated Jersey City Armory, which returned to action last year after a long hiatus, as the only current site in New Jersey remotely able to host a meet of 60-70 schools. Then the Toms River school district announced that it would build a bubble with a six-lane, 200-meter track to be ready by the winter and Danser jumped in.

The State Relays will be in Jersey City in seven sessions over three days in mid-January. There will be eight sessions over four days in mid-February at Toms River for the group meets, and the State Meet of Champions will be split over two days: the boys Feb. 24 and the girls on Feb. 25, the first time the meet will be split.

"We also made some preliminary arrangements to move the group meets to Jersey City if the bubble wasn't ready," said Danser recently. "We didn't want to put all our eggs in a basket that wasn't built yet."

There will be unavoidable problems at meets, both at Jersey City and Toms River.

The lighting has been fixed at the Jersey City Armory, but the bathroom project has been stalled, forcing the use of portable toilets outside the armory. And while the Armory has enough seating to handle the revised schedule with only one sex and only one group at a session, except for Group 1, the limited floor space will be a challenge for high jumpers, shot putters and meet clerking. And there are no pole vault facilities.

That's not a problem at Toms River, and there's enough room for the high jump and shot, too. But with only 1,400 seats instead of the 6,000 at Jadwin, tight quarters are expected for each of the sessions planned.

"I really feel for the kids and the program on a state level," said Danser. "We have nowhere near the facilities a state like ours should have for a program that is the fifth-largest in terms of schools of the 33 sports we run. It's not fair to the sport. But somehow the kids, the coaches and the officials deal with adversity and we'll make it work."

Blog: www.northjersey.com/varsityaces/schwartz

Cheaper chopper serves Newark fliers

By RICHARD NEWMAN - The Record - Dec 14

Tony Spero flying the new Newark-lower-Manhattan helicopter shuttle in a demonstration run over Port Newark on Wednesday.

A helicopter lift to lower Manhattan from Newark Airport is about to get more affordable.

Shuttles that cost $159 each way, plus fees, are scheduled to begin Monday from Continental Airline's Terminal C to the Downtown Manhattan Heliport.

The new service by U.S. Helicopter -- a start-up that has been shuttling American Airlines passengers from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Wall Street since March -- will be the only scheduled helicopter shuttle service linking Newark Liberty International and Manhattan. Flights are to take off once an hour.

A charter operator, Helicopter Flight Services Inc., already offers flights between Newark and Manhattan for $1,250 each way, which breaks down to about $313 each for four passengers.

And, of course, there are other options such as a taxicabs and the AirTrain rail service, both of which cost much less but take much longer.

But certain premium travelers will likely jump at the chance to avoid ground transportation.

"The biggest benefit is the time savings," said Monisa Cline, staff vice president of North American sales for Continental, which is allowing U.S. Helicopter to use Gate 71 at its Terminal C as part of a marketing agreement. Continental expects the shuttle, which takes less than eight minutes, will help lure more high-yielding corporate customers to its Northeast hub. "Our sales team is talking this up," Cline said.

The primary market is midlevel managers at large companies whose travel policies permit use of limousine service, said U.S. Helicopter CEO Jerry Murphy, who rode along on several demonstration flights Wednesday for the media.

Reporters and photographers were searched by federal screeners in Terminal C before descending a stairway to the tarmac where a Continental van delivered them a few hundred yards to the blue Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.

The aircraft's cabin is about the size of a minivan and seats eight, not counting the pilot and co-pilot.

The demonstration flight that lifted off at 10:20 a.m. quickly climbed to about 1,100 feet, and soared over the turnpike and Jersey City row houses before buzzing past the Statue of Liberty and touching down smoothly less than seven minutes later at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport.

Travelers who depart from lower Manhattan to catch a Continental flight from Terminal C need to be screened only once, at the heliport, where they can receive both their helicopter and airplane boarding passes. That means no waiting on long check-in and security lines at Newark.

Their luggage also needs just one screening.

"Screening over there is a huge benefit," Cline said.

If the helicopters are grounded because of bad weather, the company will substitute limo service.

E-mail: newman@northjersey.com

A 'large step' for Square's tall order

By KEN THORBOURNE -- JERSEY JOURNAL -- Dec 14

What would be the tallest building ever in Journal Square has received preliminary site plan approval from the Jersey City Planning Board.

The development - to be built adjacent to the Journal Square Transportation Center - calls for two mammoth towers, rising 52 and 46 stories, containing 1,034 apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail, and four levels of parking, officials said.

It would occupy the site of the block of buildings that once included the Hotel-on-the-Square.

This project "is going to bring life back to Journal Square," declared Planning Board Member Larry Eccleston, as he voted to move the development forward with some minor revisions.

Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Harwood Properties, the Jersey City-based developer, called the board's 8-0 vote, " a great move for Jersey City. One large step."

In the most detailed public presentation on the proposal to date, representatives of Harwood gave the Planning Board a PowerPoint presentation on the $350 million project, and even provided samples of the bricks and stone likely to be used in construction.

The first three levels of the project - including the basement - will be devoted to retail. On top of these floors will sit four levels of parking to accommodate 805 cars, they said.

The two towers will share a seven-story base, with the seventh floor housing some of the development's swankiest amenities, including an indoor swimming pool, roof garden, playground and dog run, and for each tower, a game room, conference room and fitness center.

The facade of the building will be a combination of brick, glass, metal panels and metal trim, representatives said. The four parking levels - accessible from Sip Avenue - will be camouflaged with visually interesting, shimmering signs, the representatives said.

The building will even have its own Times Square element - a wrap-around ticker giving news, sports and weather, one official said.

The Planning Board readily accepted a few minor deviations from the redevelopment plan for the area proposed by the developer, most of them having to do with setback requirements.

The most significant change requested by the Planning Board of the developer was to move the development slightly further west in order to expand the walkway from Sip Avenue to the Journal Square Transportation Center from 5 feet to 10 feet.

"That may be a problem structurally, but we are checking it out," attorney Eugene Paolino said.

Harwood hopes to break ground early next year and has said the project will take two years to build.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy sounded like he was looking forward to the groundbreaking.

"Many administrations over the past 15 years talked about doing something at Journal Square. We are doing something about it," he said yesterday.

NYTIMES: Ad-Hoc Minimalism: Antonio Vieira scrounged much of the furniture for his Jersey City apartment from sidewalks

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/garden/14ajp5.html
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Ad-Hoc Minimalism

By TOM DOLBY -- Dec 14
New York Times: Home & Garden Section

In assisting Christopher Coleman at his Brooklyn design firm, Antonio Vieira, 33, generally has more space to work with than the 400 square feet afforded him by his Jersey City apartment. Mr. Vieira, who is from Venezuela, lives in the one-bedroom with his partner, Carlos Rivas, 31, and their tiger-striped tabby cat.

The shortage of space did not deter the two in their ambitions when they moved in five years ago. After refinishing the floors and painting the walls, they moved on to more serious creative challenges presented by the lackluster pair of rooms.

In the kitchen, they covered an uneven, crumbling plaster wall with white plastic place mats that cost 50 cents each. Mr. Vieira then spent two weeks painting the wall with yellow spirals, making it look like Op Art wallpaper and brightening up an otherwise unremarkable dining nook. They found nearly every piece of their furniture on the street, and Mr. Vieira often did the refinishing or reupholstering himself.

?We have a lot of friends, and we always tell them, ?If you see something on the street and you don?t want it and you think it?s beautiful, please take it and we will go to your apartment to pick it up,? ? Mr. Vieira said.

With its colorful vases, glass orbs and boldly graphic black and white throw pillows, the living room is reminiscent of Mr. Coleman?s style, which is notable for a strong rectilinear use of color that creates spaces that are minimalist but not cold. In Mr. Vieira?s version, though, materials and objects have been put to particularly unorthodox use: the wrapping paper from Moss in SoHo that has been framed as art, for example, and the mirror from Mr. Coleman?s line of children?s furniture that hangs in the dining area. (It sells for $1,950 but was given to Mr. Vieira by the designer.)

Another unusual solution appears in the bedroom. When Mr. Rivas realized that a double bed would take too much space, he decided the couple should instead buy a $349 Ikea bunk bed, which they outfitted with grown-up accessories like coordinating red and white pillows that Mr. Vieira sewed himself.

?Before, I was a little upset, because he was like, ?We?re going to have two beds,? ? Mr. Vieira said. ?But now I?m so happy. I can sleep better.?

Me too!

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Bullets slip through hole in gun laws
Probe links ammo sales to gangs

BY NICHOLAS CLUNN -- The Asbury Park Press -- 12/13/06

TRENTON ? Criminal offenders bought handgun ammunition from nine stores in Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to testimony heard Tuesday by a state panel investigating the link between bullet sales and street violence.

Seven of those stores were in Ocean County, which ranked first among the 19 counties probed by the State Commission of Investigation, an independent watchdog of state government.

The commission used those figures to expose the lack of state laws regulating ammunition sales and how some of those purchases end up in the guns of gang members who use violence to control some of New Jersey's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Most sales to criminal offenders in the Shore area and elsewhere were legal, as vendors are only required to write details about the sale into a log book and to make sure that buyers of handgun bullets are at least 21 years old.

"You can be a convicted criminal and buy as much as you want," said Lt. Col. Frank E. Rodgers, deputy superintendent of investigations for the State Police.

Rodgers was one of several high-ranking law enforcement officials who testified before the commission, which is preparing a report to be released early next year about how the state can better regulate ammunition sales.

The commission surveyed 60 of the 330 state-licensed retailers of ammunition and found that 43 had conducted sales with at least one criminal offender. The stores were located in all but two counties.

Drug dealers, sex offenders and individuals convicted of aggravated assault were among the shoppers. The rounds of choice were the often-lethal hollow-point bullets for 9 mm pistols and .357-caliber Magnums, rounds often used in homicides, said Thomas R. Maltese, the commission's investigations administrator.

The commission was able to find criminal offenders among shoppers by conducting background checks on names listedin the log books kept by vendors.

Lee Seglem, commission spokesman, said the commission could not release the names of the stores that sold ammunition to criminal offenders, citing the possibility of retaliation against those businesses.

Investigators also used confidential informants with criminal records to attempt to buy bullets. They succeeded in 22 out of 25 attempts, Maltese said.

In one instance, Maltese said, a vendor joked with an informant about using the bullets for murder by asking, "Who are you going to kill with this box?"

Ammunition has also been traded on the street for heroin, cash and protection, Maltese said.

A confidential informant identified only as "Mr. Smith" testified that while underage, he or she had bought ammunition 135 times over a three-year period for a Bloods gang leader in an unidentified New Jersey city.

The commission placed the informant in a different room and distorted the informant's voice to protect the identity of the witness.

To stay low-profile, gangs often have nonmembers buy ammunition, testified U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie. Called "straw purchasers," these buyers are sometimes college students looking to make quick money, he said.

"There is not a county in this state where there isn't a gang problem," said Christie, who noted that Asbury Park has a "significant" gang problem.

Commission investigators also showed how easy it was to buy ammunition over the Internet. Maltese said he did not have to submit his date of birth or driver's license number when he used a credit card to order 1,200 hollow-point bullets through a Web site run by Cabela's, a national retailer of hunting gear.

"It's like buying a toaster or a coat over the Internet," he said.

Commissioners also heard testimony from law enforcement officials on how the state should regulate ammunition sales.

Some ideas came from three officers who work in a section of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office that deals with gang-related crime.

Brian Rubino, a captain with the prosecutor's office, said vendors would confront suspicious buyers more often if the state required regular reviews of purchase records by local law enforcement officers.

"I don't think they are in a position to turn them away," he said.

Rubino also said a sign notifying buyers about such reviews might intimidate straw purchasers and people who plan to use the rounds to commit a crime.

Other witnesses suggested making it illegal for criminal offenders to buy ammunition, requiring special identification cards for ammunition buyers, and equipping vendors with computers to log purchases.

Nicholas Clunn: (732) 643-4072 or nclunn@app.com

Council moving to cut 'tear-down' incentives

Jersey Journal -- Dec. 13

The Jersey City City Council plans to introduce an ordinance tonight to stem the tide of developers practicing "tear-downs" - buying a single-family home on a large lot, ripping it down and replacing it with two smaller homes.

The special "R-1A" zone would apply to a few blocks - mostly within an area bordered by Gifford Avenue to the north, Harrison Avenue on the south, Bergen Avenue on the east and West Side Avenue on the west.

"This will make it much more difficult if not impossible to get a subdivision from the city and hopefully diminish the incentives to tear down these homes," said Jeff Wenger, principal planner for the city's Division of Planning.

"The gist of this is to protect the character of the district," Wenger added.

Originally, the new zone also was to include a swath of Greenville. But Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano, who represents the area, objected on the grounds that the ordinance would diminish the value of the homes and the homeowners weren't fully informed.

The council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., City Hall, 280 Grove St.

KEN THORBOURNE

Include them as having one of the best lunch bargains in town. $5.95 for soup and a choice of beef, pork, chicken, fish & rice. Not a huge portion, but enough. I kinda blew the budget concept though with a pitcher of sangria, but it was worth it :). I don't why they were so dead though.

I bought at the Beacon and I'm not worried about the people who live in Montgomery Gardens, I grew up in a public housing project in Connecticut called Washington Village. We were poor, but like most folks around us, our parents were law abiding and hard working - when they could find work. The people in Montgomery Gardens are the same.
There was a public housing study done in the mid to late 90's in Jersey City that found that 50% of the police calls were produced by less than 17% of the units, so even when there is a problem there, it's just a few problematic people, not the majority. It's also true that a lot of the problems in public housing are caused by the outside elements that public housing often attracts, and the lack of anything constructive for people under 18 to do there. The city should address that. What we don't need is a greater police presence. If the Beacon has a police mini station it won't reduce crime significantly, it'll just mean the paperwork gets done faster.
The thing I don't like about living near Montgomery Gardens is that the place is unattractive, hasn't aged well, and is an outmoded form of public housing that is difficult to police and maintain. When you add to that the projected cuts of 60 staff to the Jersey City Public Housing Authority expected in 2007, its not a good solution to the need for low income housing in Jersey City either.
Project Hope IV, which is a federal program to replace outmoded high rises with lower density buildings and townhouses that blend better with a community and have a relationship with the street, is a much better solution to housing for the poor. Jersey City has two Project Hope IV sites and hopes to expand them in the next 5 years.
Montgomery Gardens in not in the current 5 year plan for Jersey City Public Housing, but the plan is amended from time to time. With Democratic Control of Congress about to exert itself, there may be more money to expand Project Hope IV sites in Jersey City and across the country.
Wanting something better than Montgomery Gardens does not have to be an expression of racism or NIMBY, it could be a reflection of how we, as a society, care for the least powerful. I'm constantly amazed at how cynical some of the posters are on this site.
The people who are buying at the Beacon, at least the ones I've talked to, are decent people buying a home, not speculators, who are looking to get as much for their dollars as they can. They bought at the Beacon knowing what was around the complex, no one at the sales office told them anything was going to be demolished, and they bought anyway, why not wish them well?
Who is more a part of the problems in a city, those who put money into an area and hope it improves, or those who say I would never buy there because its overpriced, and the area is bad, and the developers are dishonest, and so on? What would the area you live in look like today if others had felt that way about the rest of Jersey City over the last 20 years?

Its on the agenda for thursday night.Usualy Dan L.posts the agenda.

MY Friend lives within a certain distance from the site so he got notified by law.You can call the planning bd and they may or may not be helpful.

The city should post all board meetings on their web site but don't hold your breath waiting.

I live 'very close' to 361, so trust me, I'm all for the redevelopment of that area. Looked like nothing was going on there this morning, though, so I guess they delivered equipment and its just sitting there at the moment. The lot across the street - 380 I believe, has been sitting dormant for quite some time now as well. It appeared that they had a traffic study going on with some equipment to track traffic along Division street in August, but other than this, no signs of site preparation for construction there.

Does anyone know what that rusted van is doing on the site? It's been sitting there since the beginning of the summer, and they keep moving it around.

Again...where did you hear about this action to be taken, mrrogers?

Jcwalkingman your making my point. This guy has been fooling around with this job for over a year.He just wants to max out the site.

I am not anti development i am anti ugly development. That lot is not as big as you think.Most of the land belongs to the turnpike and a big chunk still belongs to the city which was going to expand the park for the kids.

i'm in total agreement about that area of newark ave being an eyesore. These two new buildings with retail on the bottom will be good anchors there.

What i don't like is a builder who agrees to a certain size building where the community had input,starts the job and then reapplies during the holidays (less people show up)for a much bigger building.

In last nite's balmy air, the smell of sewers, as I
was walking up Dr'erie St. was tres pronounced.
By the time I got to Third St., the stink wafting
from the corner catchbasins was so strong, it
was like what one imagines inhaling from the cloaca of
hell to be like. Makes a person's eyes water.
I wonder how people manage to live in houses
located on corners, since the catchbasins are
right there close by, pumping out that
foetid perfume day and nite. Even the rats
are wearing clothespins on their little noses.

If the City of Jersey City can't manage to flush
away it current modest amount of waste, what's gonna happen
when the ten trillion new condos start pumping
out crap into the system. It is gonna get
positively science fictiony around here in
pretty short order. Order your nose plugs now,
mes amis.

The smell was gaggingly strong last night and this morning. I am going to ask Santa for lots of air purifiers in addition to calling and complaining today.

They have been slowly demolishing 111 First for the past two weeks, taking it down section by section. Apparently, they are putting each section of the facade in its own storage container in preparation for rebuilding it as part of the new Koolhaas tower.

mrrogers - where did you get this info from??

Seems like progress is on-and-off at the site...it picks up dramatically for a few weeks and then stops completely for a few...new equipment was delivered a few days ago, I guess to start spreading gravel for the foundation/first floor.

I'm all in favor of seeing that thing rise 12 stories.

In seriousness, btw, there are very good pro-development reasons to oppose ugly buildings, i.e. they make an area less desirable.

Quote:

you're either with the developers, or with the terrorists!

I think, in this thread in particular, you might accurately be describing mrrogers as somebody afraid of change for change's sake. But your inability to distinguish somebody who simply doesn't want development at all, from somebody who wants development to take place in step with the changing needs of the community and within the context of the area in question says more about your (in)ability to process issues that have more than two clear sides.

it's childish to think the issue is as simple as pro-development or anti-development, and it makes you sound as if you aren't capable of complex thought. which, maybe you aren't.

Quote:

If you all were on a board dedicated to building design we would still be staring at vinyl siding and abandon buildings.

I'm not saying the buildings are masterpieces but what are you really expecting? Not every building can be the 8th wonder of the world.

I think people are complaining because they are afraid of the changing landscape so hey take it out on things they have no control over.

Are people seriously upset that someone wants to clean up Newark avenue? This isn't a historic neighborhood. This isn't a neighborhood of three story brownstones. The developer isn't giving the boot to local artists. It is vacant land in a part of the downtown starved for development. The density of a twelve story building at the west end of Newark will anchor that end of the block. It will provide a customer base to support businesses on the far western end of Newark Avenue. It will in essence, bring much needed redevelopment to to Newark Avenue.

once again, NNJR oversimplifies a complicated issue. it's not either/or as far as development goes.

Grove Pointe is ugly as all get out, and that's what the majority of people here point(e) to when complaining about it. Should that site have been developed for residential use? Absolutely. Should the planning board just rubber-stamp every proposal that gets handed to it, regardless of the design and the environmental impact on the neighborhood? No way.

I think the Marbella is a really ugly building. That doesn't mean I'm anti-development, it means i'm anti-ugly-architecture. It also doesn't mean i think buildings of its size are always a bad idea.

That said, I'm on record here and elsewhere as supporting development when it's thought-out and appropriate for the neighborhood, and not hideously ugly. I think the area near the turnpike overpass on Newark could be a good spot for taller buildings.

Oh no, so wait, what neat box does that put me in? Anti-development or pro-development?


Quote:

NNJR, comparing what i said to wishing someone gets cancer is ridiculous don't ask to get cancer,its not a choice.Building an over size building under the turnpike is a business decision this guy made.

As far as it maybe being a cool looking building,whats the chance of that in JC.Can you say Grove pionte.ECH

Besides, more "luxury" apartments flooding the market could just lead to lower prices for everyone. Who knows, maybe in a couple years I'll scoop up an "amenities" condo, that is, if these buildings are not rotting or collapsing by then.