Quote:

Is it, 'necessary'? Are you sure there is no waste, no corruption and no incompetence?

In the news today: New Jersey is the highest tax paying state in the union at the same time as being one of the most densely populated. That doesn't seem to add up

Study calls Jersey a taxing place to call home

If there is a student out there doing criminology or similar, all they would need to do is hook up a few of the responses here and you would have an ok essay for school.

Even the 'hard-line' approach could be added in, to give it an objective view point.

I loved reading this thread. I think I am the only person on this thread that has acutally represented tenants in Drug Holdovers in Housing Court so I feel obligated to weigh in.

I represented a 70 year old lady that worked for the City of New York and had lived in Public Housing her whole life. While she was at work (yes, at 70) her grandson sold drugs in the same hall where her apt. was located. He was caught and plead out. They sought to remove her from public housing.

NYCHA was proceeding with the eviction despite the circumstances. We won the case at trial but my client was very nearly evicted for no reason but for being a relative of a person who was selling drugs near her apartment.

I think the reservations expressed by the ED of Jersey City Public Housing is that this type of action ensares many law abiding people who have few choices as far as housing due to finanical conditions.

I agree those leaseholders that are actively engaged in selling drugs out of a public housing unit should be evicted but the blanket application of this policy is the problem.

I have seen people evicted due to the fact that they had taken in grandchildren where they had no idea any drugs were being sold out of the apartment, when they thought the kids were in school they were in fact partying at the apartment and selling drugs.

These are not turn the other way scenarios

I also agree that the evictions accomplish nothing as far as the "war on drugs" These actions are like squeezing a balloon..

The war on drugs itself is a failure; as long as the demand exists the supply will be there. We have spent billions and nothing has changed, nothing except the drugs are more expensive and more potent.

prisons are paid for by the taxpayer also. there's really no escape from having to pay for shitheads. the only question is: where will they do the least amount of harm?

short of creating a prison colony out of australia again, the best place to put them is prison.

that said, the prison system IS a joke. it neither deters, nor rehabilitates. of course, rehabilitation and job training is a good idea, but so are: cold fusion, universal health care, and water fountains that serve chocolate milk.

Quote:

Now they just have to ban IM and use of cell phones except on personal time. And THEN maybe the phones will get answered.

super-furry is right, just a log on is required and password system for staff. Then supervisors can check individual staff.

If the site isn't work related, then a verbal warning, followed by a written then termination.

Very simple process of installing a user name and password.
Maybe the JClist administrator can pay them a visit to show them this format!

All I'd include is a compulsory password change every 3 months since there are more then 1 user per computer.

Its amazing how the rest of the corporate world have these systems checks and balances, yet JC is behind on this.

It used to be that local government would lead the way on corporate governance and staff accountability but not here.

JC really is 'ass backwards'

Does looking at a pic of Healy naked on his porch count as a visit to a sex site?

The city's web infrastructure is fair to poor, and spending the 20k on this progam, at least on the surface, seems like another bad decision.

The city can view the logs and see every site that employees have visited, and take disciplinary action if necessary. Of course if a PC is shared among more than one user - that would be a problem.

Quote:

The "word" is that the main offending site was www.friendster.com. This is like a match.com site.

Apparently, secretaries were not even answering phones because they were too busy/concerned with working on "hooking up."

But, at least people were showing up for work (which is "progress" for Jersey City government).

-M

How many city employees were looking at sex sites at City Hall?

I have no problem with strict or zero tolerance legislation and enforcement relating to the illegal drug culture but where will these people go, with more then likely no skills or education - should we ship them back to Europe, Asia, the America's or Africa?

One would think that a prison is an ideal location for drug users to be cured of their addiction - a controlled environment where drugs SHOULDN'T make there way in.

As part of any rehabilitation or sentence inmates should be educated there with a trade, schooling or simply put to work but it appears instead, they are exposed to other forms of crime within that system with fellow inmates.

Crime and punishment will never be an 'easy fix' but throwing a criminal mind on the street will cause GREAT problems for the community. 2 words come to mine resentment and payback - with higher rent payments for their families will mean more crime.

Unfortunately our tax paying money has to go towards paying for the 'ill's' of our society - don't worry I don't like it neither but it is a necessary 'pain in the butt'.

Once again a few paragraphs can never answer a complex question.

Australian

You seem to forget that all of this is govt subsidized, i.e. paid for by the tax payers, you know...like you and I ??

Maybe you don;t have a problem paying rent for a drug dealer and his family, but I sure as hell do !!!!


CK

Throwing people out from public housing doesn't address the problem - it will just create new ones. (spare me a bench at Hamilton or VVPark for an example of many)

I can't believe that JC lawmakers are that dumb, its such a 'knee jerk' political reaction.

Another issue that makes me feel like I know what it must of felt like when the Roman Empire collapsed!

I don;t have any issues with being convicted before anyone gets tossed out onto the street, but lets all be fair when viewing this subject and look at all the facts, that I'm most certain the JJ has failed to print up .


These laws are on the books because all else has failed and it's probably one of the very few hammers that LE has available to deal with all this crap .

In most cases the money is so good that the family even though they may not agree with the activitys of some family member, they choose to turn the other way because of the income factor....

Unless anyone else on this board has anything constructive to add, please spare us all with the "Lets wait until proven guilty" BS, Because we all know what the real deal is here !!

CK

I'm no expert but I think that someone in the family or on the lease has to first be convicted of something -- however the issue is that it can be "drug related" and not a conviction for dealing drugs, before everyone in the unit can be all tossed out of public housing -- but again I am no expert -- But I do believe they have to first be "convicted" of something (drug related)

It is a problem though for Jersey City if Hoboken is kicking out all it's trouble makers (30 familys this year) from public housing (not to mention West New York) where are these people going to move? Jersey City?

So riddle me this cankicker? Let's say someone is accused of dealing drugs and it turns out they were innocent. Meanwhile their whole family has been evicted. What happens now?

I am all for a one strike and your out penalty in public housing. I just feel they should be found guilty first.

KILLED IN GUN BATTLE
Monday, August 28, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A former Jersey City man was killed and another remains hospitalized after cops said the two men opened fire on each other in the Booker T. Washington Public Housing Complex in the early morning hours yesterday, officials said.

Investigators believe the 2 a.m. shootout at the corner of Fremont and Bright streets may have been the result of an attempted robbery.

William Griffith, 24, a Jersey City man who had recently moved to Linden, was shot in the head and chest; Derrick Mack, 25, of Bidwell Avenue, was shot once in the back, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. Investigators believe the two men shot each other.

Griffith was pronounced dead on arrival at Jersey City Medical Center. But Mack, who fled the area, was driven by a friend to University Hospital in Newark. He told doctors he'd been shot during an attack in Newark, but Newark police investigated and found his story didn't hold water, DeFazio said.

Detectives from the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Squad went to University Hospital and arrested Mack after interviewing him, DeFazio said, adding he was charged with various weapons offenses but not with homicide. However, the investigation is ongoing.

The gun police believe Griffith used has been found, but they are still looking for the gun Mack had, DeFazio said.

Mack was convicted two years ago on various drugs and weapons offenses, according to the state Department of Corrections.

After the shooting, numerous Jersey City police officers were dispatched to the area on a report of a riot situation and they began dispersing the crowd, police reports said. Among the crowd was Johnny Rosa, 22, of Fremont Street, who refused to leave and then pushed an officer, reports said.

While being arrested, Rosa dropped a handgun, police said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.

-------------------------------------------------------------
and on the West side of town
------------------------------------------------------------
Similar crime happened in June
Monday, August 28, 2006

Yesterday's slaying is similar to another recent fatal shooting in Jersey City that investigators believe was a robbery attempt gone awry when the would-be victim pulled out a gun of his own.

Police responded early on the morning of June 4 to Kennedy Boulevard near Oxford Avenue, where they found Osmond Dixon, 20, dead on the sidewalk, a 9 mm handgun near his body.

Investigators believe Dixon and Tyshawn "Bang" Hines, 21, both of East Orange, had set out that morning to rob someone, but their intended victim - Kenneth Boykin, 26, of Jersey City, a convicted drug dealer, pulled out a gun and shot Dixon to death.

"It's a frightening coincidence that we have had two incidents of this type within months," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. "It's a very dangerous situation because innocent people are being put at risk."

Boykin is wanted on the charges of possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose and possession of a handgun by a felon; Hines is wanted on the charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, DeFazio said.

MICHAELANGELO CONTE

--------------------------------------------------------------
and in Greenville
--------------------------------------------------------------

Shots fired into crowd hit his legs
Monday, August 28, 2006

A Rahway man was in stable condition last night after he was shot in each leg when someone opened fire into a crowd on a Jersey City street corner just after midnight yesterday, officials said.

The 26-year-old victim was being treated at Jersey City Medical Center for non-life-threatening bullet wounds to each thigh, police reports said.

Police responded to Union Street at Ocean Avenue at 12:05 a.m. on a report of a shooting and spoke to a man who said he heard gunfire and ran outside to find the Rahway man had been shot, reports said. He told police the man got into a car and was driven away, reports said.

The officers then got a call from the medical center saying the victim was there, reports said. At the hospital the victim told police he was in the crowd at the corner when someone opened fire, reports said, adding he did not see the shooter.

At the scene police recovered a bloodstained T-shirt and tank top, as well as copper-colored bullet fragments, reports said.

It's that type of Liberal thinking that has allowed for this Bullshit to exist in our neighboorhoods for such a long time .

Hey, you can't help but to feel bad for this lady, but then again, this isn't something out of the blue, this is something that was allready known.....

CK

Yeah, we used to love it too. I don't mean to knock it and hope that I did just catch a few bad days. I think it may have been very hot days when we got the bad bread. It used to be great, as was the pizza. I'll try again though.

Still no excuse for the $3 slice! I think most places in the city are cheaper than that. I think its a better deal to just get a pie there.

Quote:

Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty?" So now we are in a county where mere accusation can deprive you of your home???

A sad world!

'One-strike' policy striking more often

Jersey Journal
Monday, August 28, 2006

The "one-strike" policy being more frequently used in Hoboken is also being used more in another city with a housing authority run by Bob DiVincent, West New York, and the policy could soon be on the upswing in other Hudson County public housing complexes, as well.

DiVincent said the policy of kicking out people accused of committing drug-related crimes along with anyone else living in their apartments makes public housing safer and sends a message that drugs won't be tolerated. Eviction proceedings are underway against 30 families in Hoboken this year, he said, while three families have been kicked out in West New York in the last two years.

But the policy is controversial, said Maria Maio, executive director of the Jersey City Housing Authority.

"The problem is evicting the entire family," Maio said. Three years ago, Jersey City had increased its usage of the policy and evicted nearly 30 families, said Maio. Its actions were met with much criticism, and it has since scaled back its use of the policy, she said.

Jersey City now gives families a second chance by removing the name of the offender from the lease. Under this condition, the rest of the family can avoid eviction, Maio said. Last year, just five families were evicted.

According to the North Bergen Housing Authority, that township evicted two families last year.

The Bayonne Housing Authority took three cases to court between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2006, said John Mahon, director of the Bayonne Housing Authority. Two cases resulted in evictions, while the third family was allowed to stay.

Access to sex sites limited for workers
Monday, August 28, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City municipal workers will now have to check their MySpace.com profile at home.

By the end of this week, the city's 1,050 computer workstations will be outfitted with a program that prevents access to sexual-oriented Web sites, and several other popular Internet spots, such as MySpace.com and eBay, a city spokesman said.

"The goal is to maximize the efficiency of the roughly 2,800-person municipal workforce," city spokesman Stan H. Eason said.

The program, called "Web Sense," costs roughly $20,000 and is part of an on-going upgrade to the city's computer system, Eason said.

The program identifies and automatically blocks sexual-oriented Web sites, Eason said. The city also is specifying other Web sites, including eBay and MySpace.com, to be blocked.

Eason wouldn't say if the city had a problem with workers visiting non-work related Web sites. But this program, would "safeguard" against that possibility, he said.

Earlier this year, City Hall blocked access to "getnj.com" - a local Internet message board known for anonymous, biting commentary on Hudson County politicians

Hey look at that - you quoted me NNJR, thanks!

I would've posted the same thing but as long as you took care of it, I'll comment on the other absurd law, the transfer tax fee.

So here's the thing - the legislators are such morons that they charge the full 1% transfer tax on a transfered property even if only a fractional interest is transfered. That means if someone owns a 10% investment stake in a building (as is common with commercial property) and that person sells his/her stake only, the tax charged is 1% of the whole properties sale value as if it had all been sold at the pro-rata price! No one in NJ or JC seems to understand how stupid this is, but as a result, you will see a major drop in property values because it becomes impossible to sell an investment in a commercial property and therefore because unwise to invest in them (property value goes down as a result of non-liquidity of asset).

So all the commercial property owners can march down to the tax assessors office and demonstrate how the law damaged their property values and get a decrease in their assessments in tax certiorari court - hence transfer tax goes up means real estate taxes go down.

Moron Mayor Martini never learns, you can't rob peter to pay paul.

i understand what you are saying, i just wish that you had posted your personal opinion, rather than quote another's.
of course any tax has the potential to be misappropriated, i just like to keep my fingers crossed and hope the "right thing" gets done.

I used to be a HUGE Esperanto's fan, recommended them to every new-comer to the neighborhood and am now embarrassed that I did so... things took a severe turn for the worse in the past few months. The Large pie is much smaller (I'm talking a delivered pie- not by the slice in the shop), the cheese seems low-quality and the dough is barely cooked. It just looks rushed and sloppy, all around. I've heard they're under new management, not sure how long.
It's a real shame, I used to CRAVE an Esperanto pie, so owners, if you're listening...please take some advice from a fan and follow the recipe/technique that many of my friends and I were so fond of about a year ago.

For now, I order from Carmine's if I want a pie delivered. They've been consistent, well-priced and damn good.

Thanks for all your hard work and If I'm not stuck at work I'll be there.
Some good news was the police were at Basic last week investigating an attempted break in.The officer there was very helpful and answered some of our questions about break-ins and he said they have made some arrests in some of the burgalaries. The police are paying attention, but clearly the more eyes which are watching in the neighborhoods, the better.

Quote:

can i just say i think this is so funny one little egyptian fish shack has received 39 passionate responses....only in jersey city. oh yeah, and that daffy duck sign is too funny.

Suez Canal is excellent food, though (humm d'allah)

Just in terms of optimizing parking, I don't think this would work. The problem is that a curb cut out has to remain empty of cars 24/7 while street parking opens up when people use their cars to go to work, etc. With on street parking if someone leaves to go to work (or whatever) that spot can be used by someone else. If the same person moves their car out of their (former) front yard, the driveway has to remain vacant.

The lack of garage or private parking is a problem for housing that was built before car ownership became common. Still, this idea strikes me as both making the problem worse and insired by people too lazy to walk a little.

Quote:

Quote:

Good point, brewster, but T&M even control the hearing process, as I signed the sheet to speak at the City Council mtg, and the T&M guy (forget his name) didn't use the sheet just pointed to whomever he wanted.

I got so tired raising my hands, all the time holding my crutches, that I just gave up. Watch out, as that most likely will be how they handle speakers at this mtg. too.

Here is what was said by Steven Fulop:

Quote:

The address is 1 McWilliams Place (map).

Quote: