Pazman has quite eloquently pointed out that it is not the Embankment supporters that are delaying anything, or hindering progress. Rather, it is they who came up with the vision for the Embankment, and have taken action to secure funding sources outside the city's coffers.

But I am curious as to skadave's description of the situation as "the Problem of the Embankment." Certainly, it would be great to use it as a park so that it could be more fully appreciated and enjoyed. But most residents in the area don't consider the structure a problem.

At the very least, we have a structure which serves as a reminder of the railroad past of this city, and provides environmental benefits as well. It's a lot like the Reservoir in that respect, in that when it was left along, it showcased the remarkable powers of nature, and demonstrated how it could be incorporated into the plan for open space.

I want the park built sooner rather than later, but I don't see the Embankment, even unused, as a blight.

Joshua Parkhurst
President
Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy

I think it is really important to keep the embankment in place whether a park is built there in the near future. Actually, I am not sure that I would even use an elevated fairly isolated park right now given that people are getting mugged during the day at street level. I am confident, however, that eventually a park on the embankment will a safe, enjoyable place and a great addition to the neighborhood. As a previous poster pointed out - once it's gone it is gone.

To all of you who follow the park situation in JC - will there ever be a way to get to LSP by bike other than getting off the riverwalk and going inland to Jersey Avenue?

I think this is the old Payless Shoe storefront. I was parking in front of it way back in May/June when I first noticed it. At that time I saw this Asian man and woman going around the store seemingly thinking of how to arrange/model things. A few days later they posted a note saying a Thai place would be opening soon. They're sure taking their time, it's already been 3-4 months! I haven't peeked inside in months, is there any development?

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1. There is no reason why building the park should take as long as ten years.

2. Applying your rationale, Liberty State Park should have become condos. Short-term planning is not always in everyone's best interests.

3. Building condos on the embankment would not solve the open space problem that we have downtown, which, given the development, will get worse over time.

4. The builder, not the city, is the one holding the property hostage. The embankment was not offered for sale in a legal manner. In addition, it is my understanding that the developer has in the past purchased properties in order to obtain leverage, and without the intention of building anything on the properties. NYTIMES, August 3, 2005.

5. Your local, state and federal representatives, who represent more than a "small group of people", all support the project. Senator Mendendez obtained $1.6 million in federal funding for the project.

Anyone who is interested should check out the embankment website - http://www.embankment.org/

And finally, as stated in the New York Times on August 3, 2005:

In Paris, there's the Promenade Plant?e, an abandoned railroad viaduct transformed into a narrow, three-mile elevated walking trail near the Place de la Bastille. In Manhattan, there's the High Line, the proposed mile-and-a-half park along an abandoned railroad viaduct 30 feet above the streets of Chelsea. And in Jersey City, there's the Harsimus Stem Embankment, which, without as fancy a pedigree, has the potential to be as worthy as either of them, as long as it can negotiate the perilous waters of Hudson County politics -- no small hurdle.

I know it is taboo to speak against the "build my park" crowd but here goes.

If this park that we speak of would be built in the next ten years I would be all for it. However, at the rate we are going it will remain a wall that holds Creflo A Dollar billboards for eternity.

Do I want the embankment to become Condo Row? Not really, especially if they are given permission to make them 70 stories tall. But I really don't want to stare at the run down "No Justice No Peace" graffiti covered embankment either.

It comes down to this. Building condos will have the problem of the embankment solved in 3 years. Building a park will be a headache that will take an absurd amount of time to accomplish. What do you think our local government would favor? They will do everything in their power to make the park a difficult task to accomplish (they'll probably even bring in their token "let's make it into baseball fields" guy and a dog owner).

I just hope that a small group of people won't hold a piece of property hostage for the next 30 years in hopes that it will become green space.

I must say that I have always really liked the idea of a jogging and bike path -- I am not even against healy's idea of a light rail train also using it (and maybe funding the buildout) -- that would take more cars off downtown and the trains are quit -- what I can't believe however is that the other light rail was built without a bike path and jogging trail.

However I am not sure where the train would come from -- could it get up to the heights? If so it would be nice for them and it would as I said take traffic off downtown -- maybe limit it to one stop at brunswick and then non-stop to the end of the line and just have one long train with only a few stops that goes back and forth. Maybe build a large park and ride over by Tonnelle 1/9 as a starting point.

Maybe I need coffee.

I strongly believe that only good option is to preserve the embankment as a park/nature trail.

First, we need more open space in downtown. Once the land is gone, we won't get it back. While I applaud much of the downtown development, the fact is that none of it the development has involved the creation of substantial public spaces, which are the lifeblood of a community. Think of New York without Central Park, Washington Square Park or Prospect Park. With the embankment we have an opportunity to create a beautiful green trail right in the heart of our nineteenth century historic streetscapes.

Second, building the park would vastly increase the desireability and value of the surrounding neighborhood. I for one, was attracted to the area in part because Hamilton Park is a urban oasis of greenery. It will be nice to go for a walk along a green trail with your friends, family or dog. Honestly, how many people would rather that Hamilton and Van Voorst parks be turned into condo developments in the name of preventing crime?

Third, the embankment would be another link to J.C.'s historic past as a transportation and manufacturing center. We have already lost the Powerhouse Arts District. We don't want to lose another structure that makes Jersey City unique.

Fourth, the embankment would ultimately lead to a reduction, not increase, in crime. Central Park is the safest precinct in Manhattan. The embankment could be policed at least as well as, if not better than, any neighborhood in the city, using a combination of periodic patrols and cameras. The embankment plan provides for a well-lit, open space. Access to the embankment could be closed off after dark. If kids sneak into the park after dark, they'll be easier to catch, since there will be fewer directions in which to run. Despite the complaints about crime over the past summer, there is no doubt that J.C. has undergone, and continues to undergo, substantial improvement. As it does, the crime rate will lower. I can understand why some people may be afraid that a park would contribute to crime. However, I believe that their fears are unfounded.

I've been using J&J HVAC for 4-5 years and have been very happy with their service and prices. Call Joe @ 201-390-2111

Current Show - the How to Guide to the JC Municipal Court -
Meet Chief Judge Wanda Molina and Rebecca Mason, the JC Court Director...
33,000 traffic tickets are issued each month and you can be sure most come from the Downtown / Waterfront area!
Find out how to contest your traffic ticket and how to reschedule your appearance date to a convenient time & date
Find out how to negotiate points in a moving violation,i.e. speeding, running lights....
If you're a tenant, find out about Housing Court and how it works. Lots of valuable info regarding the various courts. This show will be streaming off our website soon.

Show Schedules:
Jersey City - Comcast's public access Channel 51 -
Mondays at 9:30 PM
Wednesdays at 8:30 PM
Thursdays at 7:30 PM

Hoboken, North Bergen, Weehawken and Union City - Cablevision's public access Channel 19-
Thursdays at 9:30 PM
Saturdays at 8 PM

valid points but honestly those horrible modern two familiy houses tha they're building all over jersey city should not be allowed in the historic area.

I'm pro parks too, but it seems to me the embankment coalition folks are in denial on that issue. I can't see a park being created that can't be observed, at least in this city. As it is there's condoms and KY being pulled out of the HP gazebo shrubbery. Can you imagine what would go on up on an embankment?

One of my wishes for Jersey City is that they would devote more resources to parks and open space. However, looking at the embankment ? how would you build a park there and monitor what was going on inside it. From what I have seen of the embankments they are mostly above street level. How do you keep it a safe park and keep the thugletts from taking it over??? I am not pro-development but I was just wondering if anyone else had thought about this.

I pray they forbid people from building on the embankment. With all the skyscrapers they're building, where are the parks?

Is this meeting open to the public? If so, where do we go?

There will be a special Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, September 26 to consider possibly both the blight study and redevelopment plan for the PJP Landfill site on the westside of Jersey City. While the mayor has been promoting a high cube truck warehouse, residents and county officials would like to see the site used for recreation and open space.

Also note, while the developer, AMB has stated that the would do the warehouse project without a tax abatement, a redevelopment plan would now permit the city issue one.

Please see below, a developer is seeking approvals to build housing on the eastern portion of the 6th Street Embankment.

The Board of Adjustement (Zoning) will hear the case on Thursday, September 21.


Please be advised the following items will be heard at the next Regular Meeting of the Jersey City Board of
Adjustment, scheduled for Thursday, September 21, 2006, 6:00 p.m. in the Council Caucus Room, Room
204, 2nd floor, City Hall, 280 Grove Street, Jersey City, New Jersey.

8. Case: Z06-034 ?A? Appeal
Applicant: 247 Manila Ave, LLC
Attorney: Michele R. Donato
Address: 441-447 Manila Ave
Block: 247 Lots: 50A
Zone: Grove Street NDP Area Redevelopment Plan
For: Appeal of the decision of the Zoning Official that one and two family housing
is not a permitted use on the subject lot


9. Case: Z06-033 ?A? Appeal
Applicant: 212 Marin Blvd, LLC
Attorney: Michele R. Donato
Address: 437 Luis M. Marin Blvd
Block: 212 Lots: M
Zone: Luis Mu?oz Marin Blvd Redevelopment Plan
For: Appeal of the decision of the Zoning Official that one and two family housing
is not a permitted use on the subject lot

Jersey City shows off new rescue boat to work rivers
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City officials unveiled the city's new rescue boat at a City Hall ceremony yesterday.

"With the rapid growth along the waterfront we need a rapid response boat that can quickly navigate the shallow waters of the Hudson and the Hackensack," Fire Department Director Armando Roman said.

The boat was paid for using a $27,695 grant from Frenkel & Co., Inc. and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, officials said. Frenkel CEO John F. Kelly said Jersey City needs the help and his organization was happy to provide it.

"With Jersey City presently suffering a $40 million budget deficit, there are no funds available for this desperately needed rescue boat, so we are very proud to be able to give back to the community in such a meaningful way," Kelly said.

Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, a property and casualty company, supports firefighters for safer communities through the Fireman's Fund Heritage program, said company spokesman Danny Perry.

24 arrested at housing complex
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Local, county and federal law enforcement arrested 24 people in Jersey City's Booker T. Washington Public Housing Complex last week and they are still looking for one man wanted on the charge of distributing heroin, officials said.

"We plan to continue to monitor the open air illegal drug activity going on at that site and are continuing this cooperation with the Jersey City Housing Authority and various law enforcement agencies," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday.

Some of those arrested were wanted on outstanding warrants, but surveillance led to the arrest of a number of people for drug possession and loitering to commit a drug offense, DeFazio said.

Authorities then charged those believed to be dealing the drugs, DeFazio said.

Police are still looking for Darnell Parsons, 29, of Fremont Street, who is wanted on the charge of distributing heroin within 500 feet of public housing, DeFazio said.

Of those arrested, Derrick Gosa, 18, had 44 vials of suspected cocaine on him, DeFazio said.

Johnny Rosa, 22, of Fremont Street, was arrested during the three-day sweep and charged with distributing heroin within 500 ft. of public housing, DeFazio said. Rosa was present on Aug. 27 when William Griffith, 24, was killed in the complex, DeFazio said.

Rosa refused to leave the area after the shooting and allegedly pushed an officer before dropping a gun, police said. He was not charged in the homicide and was out on a $50,000 bail when he was arrested last week.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Parsons or information about crime in the housing complex, should call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office at (201) 795-5976.

Jersey City set for 4th Navratri festival
India Post News Service

JERSEY CITY, NJ: Thousands are expected to converge on Jersey City's Little India neighborhood on September 29, 30 and Oct 6, 7 as the local merchant association announced the 4th Navratri celebrations. It is an annual event that has soared in popularity in the four years it has been organized.

The free cultural event is jointly hosted by the Jersey City Asian Merchant Association (JCAMA) with Govinda Sanskar Center, the Journal Square Restoration Corporation, and Jersey City's Urban Enterprise Zone. The merchants association gives its residents a heady dose of India with its annual street Navratri festival.

As in the past years, this year also the organizers have obtained a city permit to close off Newark Avenue, between Kennedy Boulevard and Tonnelle Avenue, for four nights. The organizers say the raas garba on the streets on India Square is unique and perhaps the only one of its kind in the United States.

The preparations for the Navratri event were kicked off at a meeting at Rasoi restaurant on September 6, which was attended by Jersey City officials, merchants and Dinsha Patel, India's minister of state for petroleum and natural gas.

Traditionally a nine-day festival, Navratri is celebrated in autumn in honor of the goddess Durga.

"That the festivities have successfully spilled out onto Newark Avenue for four years now is a sure sign of the Asian Indian community's growing economic and political importance in Hudson County, said Raju Patel, president of the Jersey City Asian Merchant Association.

Residents says that from the days of the infamous "Dotbuster" attacks in Jersey City in the late 1980s, New Jersey's second largest city is on the rise, driven by the energy and resolve of thousands of newly settled Asian Indians.

"Today, Jersey City is home to the second largest Asian Indian population in New Jersey, second only to Edison," said Patel quoting Census data.

Asian Indians, who numbered about 25,000 out of the total city population of 240,000 at the last Census count, are driving the economy in Jersey City, say local officials.

Most of the 84 shops on Newark Avenue, officially renamed India Square, are owned by Asian Indians and the local merchant's association has much to do with booming business in the neighborhood.

Patel said the Navratri festival would give the community the chance to share some of its good fortune. Organizers plan to raffle round-trip tickets to India, gold and diamond jewelry, Indian movie DVDs and dinners in Little India restaurants.

Some of the money raised by the raffle, Patel said, will be donated to Hudson County Community Ekal Vidyalaya (A one teacher school), an effort to spread education in rural India. Supportive dollars will also be made available to medical institutions serving the poor in Jersey City.

"We're celebrating our heritage," Patel said. "And we're going to try to raise some money for people in India and others in Hudson County, but not just Indians."

While the festival is primarily a religious one, Patel said Little India's celebration would focus on the cultural aspects of Navratri. The principal attraction at the festival will be music and dancing on the street by colorfully-dressed people, just as it is celebrated in Gujarat.

The festival has attracted an average of 10,000 people for the last four years, the organizers say, adding there are some surprise attractions this time. On the days of the festival, shops will remain open until late, with many restaurants offering special Navratri meals. Free water and tea will also be made available for the festival revelers.

I also find it funny that the article cites a guy who designs toilet brushes for Target as an example of "art and life" mixing.

That is perhaps the single worst piece of writing that has every appeared in the New York Times. Atrocious. And wholly without a point.

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[sarcasm]Yeah, but at least we won't have to put up with those selfish, grimey artists.

Let them eat cake!

Have you seen my Prada? . . . [/sarcasm]

Very little JC elected officials do is without conflict of interest.

I wish Councilman Fulop luck on this one.....

The greater conflict is when the elected officials take campaign contributions and then vote and act on behalf the the very donors, approve favorable zoning or tax abatements. Illegal should not be the issue, bribes are still bribes, graft is still graft. Most of us care about what we have done at the end of a day and how we impact other people. Most of these people are a of a different breed.

The Powerhouse Arts District is defunct. It is exists in name only. The 111 First Street site has been rezoned for a skyscraper.

Don't hold your breath, JC will be flooded with new residential units and the only attribute is the commute to Manhattan. Limited parks and recreational facilities, limited nightlife and entertainment, soulless..... no city centre, no identity, probably a lot of transience....


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Hooray! the value of my condo is gonna double again!

Architect chosen for 111 first site: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/nyr ... ect.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/rea ... ef=realestate&oref=slogin

Where Home Is an Art Gallery
Timothy Ivy for The New York Times

ART and life are mixing it up more and more often these days in the realm of New Jersey real estate.

The Powerhouse Arts District, a place for artists to both live and work, is taking shape in Jersey City, and another arts district is being born amid the big old factory buildings in Orange. In Hoboken, the architect and designer Michael Graves is creating kitchens and baths for condominiums at the Maxwell Place tower.

There will be an outdoor ?art walk? at the Siena condo complex when it opens in Montclair, and the Reserve at Glen Ridge offers a community courtyard that is envisioned as an outdoor sculpture garden.

For high-end custom homes, gallery space is starting to ?almost be a given, like an elevator, or a whirlpool,? observed Pinnacle Custom?s president, Michael Cantor, whose company is building an 18,000-square-foot home in Saddle River in northern Bergen County.

Even when there isn?t a blueprint or a special district or a custom builder, a home gallery can emerge more organically, of course.

This is the case in a roomy 10th-floor condo at the top of a 40-year-old building in East Orange, where the owner has created a gallery of his own.

In the living room of Bradford Brown?s place on Prospect Street, the furniture is rather sparse ? a sofa, a television set, a few occasional tables ? but the art is definitely living large.

Mr. Brown, a noted illustrator who has recently branched into a style he calls ?sculptural painting,? fills the big room, which is glassed on one side and overlooks the city of Newark, with his vibrant images of people: photo-realist drawings, simple portraits and, the newest work, bas relief created by applying paint over concrete on canvas.

Two weeks ago, as he prepared for an exhibit of portraits, ?Legends of Jazz? at the Paterson Museum ? running through this weekend and then moving to the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark ? Mr. Brown?s home gallery had a smoky nightclub ambience even in broad daylight, emanating from the images of the legends. The group was assembled on large black canvases, their individual features evident as through a haze, their music somehow clear and sharp to the ear, even in silence.

?I used this sculptural technique to get more realistic about jazz,? said Mr. Brown, who himself plays the jazz trumpet, practicing an hour a day in the living room/gallery. ?I think giving the images texture makes them more expressive. Struggle, pain ? all the feelings and history the musician puts into the music ? I wanted those things to be felt when you see the panting.?

Mr. Brown grouped the Legends paintings on one side of the room as if the subjects were jamming. Dizzy Gillespie?s right cheek ballooned out as he blew the trumpet; it was actually a salad bowl glued to the canvas and painted over. Tito Puente?s drumsticks drew a faint arc in the darkness; real sticks glued in a fan pattern provided the visual sensation.

This scene unfolded in what is not particularly interesting space, with plain walls, utilitarian sliding glass doors, some household detritus and a few house plants as backdrop.

?I knew as soon as I saw it that this was my gallery,? Mr. Brown recalled. ?We were looking for a home, but there had to be a place for me to work and show the work.?

It was the very plainness of the 2,900-square-foot unit that appealed to him, he said, because that provided a sense of blank slates to fill.

Also, the big central living space with a large balcony was perfect for parties, informal unveilings and shows, he realized instantly, Mr. Brown said.

In the four years since moving in to the condo, Mr. Brown and his wife, Diane, have kept his art at the center of their social life. They hold big holiday parties featuring his trumpet improvisations and her secret-recipe punch. And when Mr. Brown finishes a family portrait, or a formal one ? he has done many of the official renderings of Newark City Council members ? there is always a ritual fete.

Among his other endeavors, Mr. Brown teaches art at a Newark vocational high school. So, some of his party/exhibits have a younger flavor, and the open gallery/living room floor becomes a dance hall, too.

Mr. Brown, 50, works mostly in a bedroom off the central hallway of the apartment. There is a desk piled high with binders holding pictures of his work, everything from a Fortune magazine cover of a corporate mogul to book-cover drawings of Albert Einstein, Alex Haley and Pablo Picasso to a series of illustrations developing the character of the American Girl doll Addy (the originals were purchased by Whitney Houston).

Other tables and desks hold his photographic equipment, poster-making equipment, paints and canvases that are works in progress.

Elsewhere in the apartment, rooms serve the purpose for which they were designed, but the art is omnipresent. In the dining room, illustrations of major sports figures ? ?Sweetness,? ?The Worm? and ?Magic,? among them ? preside above the dinner table and bar. The hallways, the bathrooms, the kitchen are crowded with images of larger-than-life personalities.

Mr. Brown said his own beginnings were humble. He attended a public high school in New York, concentrating on the arts, and won a scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

The penthouse space where he lives and works today had smaller beginnings too. It was originally two rental apartments, which were combined by a long-ago tenant, Ernest Booker, now the municipal judge in Montclair. Mr. Brown bought the place at the time the building was converted to condominiums four years ago.

?A lot of people have been through here in the last four years,? he said with a smile, and gestured toward the group of jazz greats. ?Some of them stayed for a while.?

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It has been extensively documented that, as you pointed out, artists (and, btw, gays, too), have been for decades revitalizing decrepit neighborhoods while being priced out of those they had already revitalized.

So, nothing new.

Except that recently, in Hudson, NY, they actually BOUGHT properties and are now sitting very pretty, having set up galleries, shops, workshops, etc, in their own buildings.

Many urban areas owe these groups a debt of gratitude, no doubt.

But RE is a tough biz, and artists tend not to think about the business side a lot.

But they should, because their knack for finding the "next great place" is uncommon.

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Okay, I've realized you just don't read carefully. First, I'm not an artist. Never said I was. Second, if you didn't realize it, my Prada reference was sarcasm.