|
Dalton has had enough of JCPA
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
 
|
Dalton has had enough of JCPA
Saturday, November 25, 2006 Jersey Journal A fter less than two years on the job, Bob Dalton, the executive director of the Jersey City Parking Authority, is expected to resign soon, sources say. When he was asked at Monday's JCPA board meeting about resigning, Dalton would only say "No comment." In a surprise move, former Jersey City Police Chief Robert Troy, who served as a member of the JCPA board until his retirement from the JCPD in July, was named by Mayor Jerramiah Healy to replace longtime commissioner Doris Suarez, whose appointment expired last month. Suarez, who served nearly 12 years, was the board's only Hispanic commissioner. Troy is the latest of several recent appointments to the board. Several months ago Healy named Michael Malloy to replace longtime commissioner Rosemarie Yorey. Yorey served as a JCPA commissioner for more than 25 years. Two other new commissioners, former Councilman James McLaughlin and Christine Pisano, began serving on the board in the past few months. The agency has been running a deficit for several years, but at Monday's meeting the board handed out bonuses ranging from $500 to $2,000 to 10 staffers in the enforcement and operations departments. Dalton said he recommended the bonuses to reward someemployees for work performed beyond their normal duties. In Dalton's brief time as executive director, the agency slowly dug its way out of a nearly $1 million deficit. During his report, Dalton unveiled plans to purchase a parking lot the JCPA is leasing from Lum, Manzo, Brasco and Positan. The authority has lost money on the operation of Newark Avenue location for years and has been trying, in vain, to find a way out of the lease. Colin Danzis, a deceased partner of the Roseland law firm that owns the lot, had told JCPA officials they could take the lot off his hands for $1 million. Several months ago, Dalton asked for and got permission to buy the property, claiming it was the only way to extricate the JCPA from the agreement. Under Dalton's watch the agency is trying out a new collection system that could eliminate parking meters at some of its facilities and is reviewing a new vehicle booting system. Dalton is also moving ahead on plans for the agency to issue bonds to pay for a new parking facility that would also house the agency's headquarters. That would eliminate paying the substantial rent the authority currently shells out for the 392 Central Ave. building it now leases. So, why is this paragon of efficiency departing the JCPA? Sources say Dalton has wearied of fighting with certain staffers who use their influence in the Mayor's Office to obtain pay hikes and other perks for themselves.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 14:28
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Post your Pimp Sightings Here
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Newbie
 
|
saw him wearing an all-lavender getup, coming out of the PATH WTC station last week.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 14:00
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Waterfront Abatements on Agenda at City Hall Tonight 11/21/06
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
 
|
Waterfront abatements pay the city 300-400% what the city would have received in ordinary taxes over the life of the abatement. In a condo developers pay the city approximately 120% what they would have paid under ordinary taxes. In a rental, they pay closer to 200%.
Before you jump DanL, I have been working on an explanation to you about why $1 sent directly to the city benefits you the taxpayer A LOT more than $1 sent to the county and shared with the other cities. Yes, I confess to being an utter nerd on this subject, but I've been actually putting together an excel spreadsheet on this (for the benefit of explaining to some New York City based clients as to why the PILOT program isn't worth the application) and eventually I will have time to redact the confidential information and also put this part on there. Paid work comes first, arguing on a website later. In the meanwhile, trust me, the city NEEDS the PILOT $, which is why they always grant the PILOT deal. Incidentally, the NY based developers who have been carpetbagging in JC lately all apply for the abatement program because the NYC abatement is very generous and is granted as-of-right. There, you just file the paperwork and get the abatement - no council approval, no politics, no donations to charities, no BS. The typical NYC abatement consists of 10 years of NO taxes followed by 10 years scaling gradually up to full taxes. When I show my NYC clients the math on the JC abatements, they are usually shocked that people even call it an abatement here. 
Posted on: 2006/11/25 13:38
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Jersey City School Board Gives Huge Pay Raises
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
What's so special about all these assistants. Perhaps if they found some not so special assistants they could pay them less. It's like the FBI. Have you noticed that all the agents are called "special agent"? No regular agents, all special agents. When everyone is special it kind of devalues the meaning of the word. So what do you get promoted to in the FBI? Maybe "really special agent" or "extra special agent"?
Posted on: 2006/11/25 4:35
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Liberty Harbor North
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
do they have any studios for sale around 500 sqf?
Would jumped on this deal a year back, but now am too scared to spend anything more than 200k with the way the market is going.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 3:48
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Jersey City School Board Gives Huge Pay Raises
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
|
What? No raise for Mr. Epps?
Posted on: 2006/11/25 3:42
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Waterfront Abatements on Agenda at City Hall Tonight 11/21/06
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Not too shy to talk
|
I've heard the taxes are about 50% less over the life of the abatement contract, although I have no proof of that.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 2:28
|
|||
|
||||
|
Jersey City School Board Gives Huge Pay Raises
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Not too shy to talk
|
Unbelievable pay raises and new jobs considering the city has failing schools and is technically bankrupt and controlled by the state. A few of them are political insiders.
School board members responsible: William DeRosa, Chairperson Franklin L. Williams, Vice Chairperson Ed Cheatam Anthony Cruz Anthony R. Cucci Dr. Peter J. Donnelly Jeffrey Dublin Suzanne T. Mack Angel L. Valentin New appointments for Jersey City's schools Friday, November 24, 2006 By KEN THORBOURNE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The Jersey City Board of Education made several appointments last week...Slattery will earn $134,178 annually. In addition, the board named Paula Christen special assistant to the associate superintendent for research, planning and evaluation. This is a new position and Christen will earn $115,329 annually, officials said. Gerry Crisonino was appointed special assistant in charge of communications and will be paid $84,693 a year. The board also appointed Noemi Velazquez as special assistant to the associate superintendent for programs and services and she will earn $122,461 annually. Ellen Ruane, the former principal at Snyder High School, was named special assistant to the superintendent with a concentration on high schools and will be paid $135,928 annually. Anthony Ruiz was appointed chief of administrative services, a post that will earn him $70,000 a year. ? 2006 The Jersey Journal ? 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 2:07
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: 2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
YEAH!
I was surprised when I was walking by this place in Paulus Hook -- I first thought it was some electrical supply place left over from the old days -- but I thought -- wow -- it seems to really be doing well! Wonder why!
Posted on: 2006/11/25 1:17
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: 2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Quote:
ummmm... because the company in question is based in Jersey City.
Posted on: 2006/11/25 0:20
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: 2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Quote:
stop being so ignorant and talk out of your ass. $7k is ok salary in china when you compare the cost of living there. In shanghai (the most expensive city in china other than hongkong), a nice meal costs $2. Most chinese are living just fine under those salaries, i would say probably better than lower-middle class in the US. It's only when you go for all luxury, then sky is the limit, but that's true anywhere in the world. Factory campus is common and most workers prefer it that way, because the housing and amenites are usually a lot better and more convenient. Plus the company usually offer steep discounts on rent/food to their workers living on campus. This is not the 1920s anymore like you imagined in the movies, with dark factories and evil bosses whipping their workers. Everything is globalized.... The biggest problem in china right now is unemployment for college graduates. Because of the chinese culture and improvements to cost of living in recent years, now every parent wants their child to goto college. To give you an idea how crazy this is getting, a 5th grader studies about 12 hours a day, mon to sat, which includes normal class, afterschool classes, followed by private tutors etc. On the exam day, streets are closed and all the hotels near exam centers are fully occupied by parents for their kids. As a result, china does not know what to do with its huge pool of college graduates, many cannot find whitecollar jobs. Yet bluecollar workforce is in short supply, so they have to be filled by farmers etc outside of the city. anyway didnt mean to turn this into a rant...
Posted on: 2006/11/24 20:02
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Waterfront Abatements on Agenda at City Hall Tonight 11/21/06
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
I for one would appreciate if Councilman Steve Fulop could outline how much the city will "lose" because of each of these abatements -- in this article he blasted these abatements as "gifts."
It is never very clear to me -- I know the schools and the county get "less" money but overall what does the city really get with these abatements. ================================== Council hands out more tax abatements Friday, November 24, 2006 By KEN THORBOURNE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The Jersey City City Council continued to crank out tax abatements this week. Six tax abatements were introduced for The Beacon, the $350 million project by Manhattan-based Metrovest Equities to transform the old Jersey City Medical Center complex into a swanky condo development. The council adopted four other abatements, three of them for waterfront projects. Following the pattern set more than a year ago, the six abatements introduced Tuesday for the Beacon run 30 years. The normal duration for tax abatements in the city is 20 years. The Beacon received an added break when it came to the gross annual revenue that has to be paid to the city. The normal payments-in-lieu-of-taxes are 16 percent of gross annual revenue. The six abatements introduced Tuesday call for PILOT payments of 12 percent - up from the 10 percent the project received a little more than a year ago for its first four properties. George Filopolous, principal of Metrovest Equities, told council members Monday that 250 of the 315 units in the first two buildings under construction have been sold. Those two buildings, the Rialto and the Capital, will open next spring, he said. The council also adopted 20-year tax breaks for Monaco North and South, a rental complex rising at the site of the old Doubletree Hotel at Washington and Sixth streets and a condominium complex at the foot of Second Street. Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop blasted these abatements as "gifts" and noted that Mayor Jerramiah Healy campaigned on the premise that waterfront abatements were no longer necessary. The waterfront abatements passed 6-2, with Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson joining Fulop in opposing them. At-Large Councilwoman Willie Flood was absent. A 20-year abatement for a market-rate condo project at 100 Water Street on the west side of the city was approved.
Posted on: 2006/11/24 16:53
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: 2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
|
They make it sound so sweet and wonderful. However, just think that you are living in a place where the company pay you piss-poor wages, but hey, you can go to the movies or spend some of those piss-poor wages.... in a movie theater and shops that we, the company, will provide..........
$7k a year might sound good (if you were earning nothing before) but once you spend a good amount of that 7K in the company store and on company provided accomodation, it's a lot less than 7K you have to send to your family. This is pure and simple explotation........ Why is this crap in a Jersey paper anyway? So we can all feel proud that outsourcing and exploitation is a good thing?
Posted on: 2006/11/24 14:33
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: 2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Bel Fuse knows on which side their bread is buttered.
I recently read that in China a freshly minted engineer employed by Chinese automakers Geely or Chery earns about $7k/year, and is quite happy. Cars are still crappy, but they will get better. In the meantime, Wall Street average salary (in the financial sector) is $8,300/week, and it's going up. Not sure what that means for JC, other than shorting the hell out of Detroit stocks might be a good idea...
Posted on: 2006/11/23 15:21
|
|||
|
||||
|
Jersey City gets property tax relief - $1.5M from state awarded grant
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
28 towns get property tax relief from $17.9M in grants
Thursday, November 23, 2006 BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG Star-Ledger Staff The state awarded grants totaling $17.9 million yesterday to 28 towns facing fiscal emergencies to help them stave off property tax increases. The "extraordinary aid" grants can only be used for property tax relief and are intended to assist municipalities facing "a severe fiscal crisis," according to the state Department of Community Affairs, which administers the program. To obtain the grants, towns must file an application and show they are taking "significant measures" to operate more efficiently. "This funding will help lessen the property tax burden for New Jersey residents and allow local governments to continue to improve the quality of life for their residents," Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin said. The largest grants, for $1.5 million each, went to Hillside, Bayonne, Jersey City and Passaic. The smallest grants of $150,000 each went to Piscataway, Hoboken, South Plainfield and Union Beach. Other grant recipients included Dunellen, $300,000; Edison, $700,000; Keansburg, $400,000; Lake Como, $250,000; Plainfield, $900,000; Roselle, $600,000; South Amboy, $850,000, and Woodbridge, $700,000. Towns in just three counties -- Hudson, Middlesex and Union -- got grants totaling $12 million, or two-thirds of the total. No municipalities in Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Ocean, Somerset, Sussex or Warren counties received aid. In two of the four towns that got maximum grants, elected officials also serve as lawmakers. The mayor of Bayonne is Sen. Joseph Doria (D-Hudson), while Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) serves on the Passaic City Council. Assemblyman Joseph Vas (D-Middlesex) is mayor of Perth Amboy, which got $700,000. In Lawnside, which got $550,000, Mayor Mark Bryant is the brother of Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), who lives in Lawnside. Sean Darcy, a spokesman for the Department of Community Affairs, said lawmakers did not determine which towns got grants. "This is based on individual town needs," Darcy said. "This is not legislative." Robert Schwaneberg covers state government. He may be reached at rschwaneberg@starledger.com or 609-989-0324.
Posted on: 2006/11/23 14:20
|
|||
|
||||
|
Crime rose 2.2 percent nationally - Jersey City and 18 other areas picked for national crime study.
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
18 Cities, Areas Picked for Crime Study
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government selected 18 cities and sprawling suburban regions Wednesday to study for clues on why homicides and other violent crimes are on the rise nationally. The Justice Department study comes after FBI data in September showed violent criminal activity - including rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault - rising by 2.2 percent from last year. That marked the first increase in violent crimes since 2001. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the study at a Boston meeting last month with police chiefs and other law enforcement officials. It will be rolled out in three phases: looking at crime increases in cities, analyzing those results for any trends, and identifying federal programs that can help. It was not clear whether more federal funding will be available for cities, but Justice Department officials said that "new initiatives" could be created, if necessary. The cities and regions are: Atlanta; Boston; metropolitan Charlotte, N.C.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Jersey City, N.J.; metropolitan Kansas City, Mo.; Miami; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Nashville, Tenn.; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Neb.; Portland, Ore.; San Bernardino County, Calif.; San Diego; and the cities constituting the Tidewater, Va., area. On the Net Justice Department: www.usdoj.gov/
Posted on: 2006/11/23 1:54
|
|||
|
||||
|
2,600 homes, cafeteria & movie theaters... Jersey City's Bel Fuse opens huge Chinese factory
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
A Chinese factory opened recently by Jersey City-based Bel Fuse makes the blue-collar grind there sound almost appealing.
The 15-acre facility, which has residences for 2,600 employees, includes "cafeteria service for 10,000 meals a day, a movie theater, basketball court, exercise room and additional indoor and outdoor facilities," according to a company statement. Bel Fuse, a publicly traded company, designs and manufactures electronic components. The company's new, 395,000-square-foot facility in Zhongshan has space for 5,000 workers and includes nine production lines able to "pick and place" more than 150 million components a month. http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?q ... yeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI= ================================== Bel Fuse Goes to China NJBIZ Staff -- 11/20/2006 Automotive, consumer electronics and telecommunications-products maker Bel Fuse in Jersey City has opened a new 15-acre facility in Zhongshan, China. The 395,000-square-foot Wing Ming facility will be staffed with 5,000 new employees. The manufacturing plant will produce DC-DC transformers and the company?s MagJack network connector modules. In addition to manufacturing equipment, the facility includes a movie theater, exercise room, basketball court and cafeteria service for 10,000 meals per day. http://www.njbiz.com
Posted on: 2006/11/23 1:23
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: In the dark on tax abatements -- Poll: Many don't understand
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Not too shy to talk
|
Just do a search on abatements, waterfront, and pilot programs on jclist. this has been covered indepth.the posts should still be around.
Posted on: 2006/11/23 0:03
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Liberty Harbor North
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Not too shy to talk
|
Quote:
Scott, you're going to be labeled an RE troll by some on this site given how few post you have but thanks for the info. $425 a square foot. Damn, Mocco is going to put the Beacon out of business. I think the Beacon is asking closer to $500+ per these days? Granted, nice architecture but given where we are in the cycle that area is going to take another 5-10 years to feel worth it.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 23:49
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
I saw a Path ad today on my way into 33rd st. An SUV suspended from the roof. After it was lowered it took off like a fish. The movie was on the conductors left side.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 23:26
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: New York magazine article on downtown Jersey City
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Both the Exchange Place and Grove Street PATH stations have been expanded to take 10 car trains instead of the current 8. So PATH is planning for more commuters on the Newark-WTC trains, which are the most crowded in the morning. They are also going to replace the entire fleet of trains in the next 5 years or so. Even without bigger trains, I'll take the PATH over the subway any day and people don't know crowding until they've taken the 4/5/6 or the L in the morning.
If I was going to worry about anything related to all the new development it would be traffic and where everyone is going to buy groceries. Quote:
Posted on: 2006/11/22 22:43
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Meeting Dates
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Quote:
Yeah, I reviewed it last night! Interesting in that from my notes posted earlier in this thread that they managed to come down on the high side of their prior estimate at the public mtg: Quote: BrightMoment wrote: Some of the costs seem on it's face to be totally out of line ($10,000 for 1 "Community Bulletin Board??)
Posted on: 2006/11/22 22:14
|
|||
 Help US Sue Spectra! Join OR Donate! |
||||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Quote:
Is there one on the driver side? I know there is one on the left side/south side. Yeah, if you don't know what I mean by "driverside". How about port side since its under the Hudson.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 22:09
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: NJ Attorney General - Corruption Is Charged Over a Common Practice
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
|
Quote:
Quote:
Clearly, Jersey City voters see it differently than Mr. Rabner, as both Richardson and Flood were elected.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 21:22
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Quote:
MarkCore wrote: if you look out the "driverside" of the PATH coming from NY to Exchange Place? l Is there one on the driver side? I know there is one on the left side/south side.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 20:42
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
I held back on replying, because I thought for sure we could all ban together to insist there are no movies, and MarkCore must be hallucinating something.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 19:45
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
|
The technology is based on the zoetrope, which has been around since the 19th century. The company responsible for the ads is Submedia. They used to have one between the 14th and 23rd Street PATH stops, IIRC.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 19:43
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Just can't stay away
|
It has been going on for quite a while - more than a year. I think it is now Johnny Walker. There have been auto ads too. Another featured attraction of the PATH starts tomorrow, I think - the Pavoniafeller Center Christmas tree lighting. Look out the leftside when coming from NY, about a minute or two before the Pavonia Newport station you will see a lit Christmas tree. It is there all year but just lit from Thanksgiving to New Year's.
Posted on: 2006/11/22 19:42
|
|||
|
Yes,we have no bananas.
(Silver & Cohn, 1923) 
|
||||
|
||||
|
Advertisement movie on PATH from WTC
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home away from home
|
Anyone know anything about that advertisement that plays if you look out the "driverside" of the PATH coming from NY to Exchange Place? .. I had to go into NY for work today and saw that. Very cool
Posted on: 2006/11/22 19:31
|
|||
|
||||
|
Re: New York magazine article on downtown Jersey City
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Newbie
|
Hey:
Thanks everyone for joining the discussion, and thanks to those who've emailed me directly. Just reading this thread has been great -- an instant primer on local concerns, etc. PhillyGirl -- I sent you a private message which basically asked you to contact me at adam_sternbergh at newyorkmag dot com. I'd love to talk to you further. Thanks!
Posted on: 2006/11/22 18:28
|
|||
|
||||