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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
 
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Up in Fort Lee they call them the amigo van. If I remember correctly there are two lines. One is the bergenline and the other is paterson. Inside the bergenline van there is a list of destinations and rates. The amigo van is the only transportation available to go across the gwb, nj transit uses the lincoln tunnel. This is ridiculous if your destination is up north. Anyway I never rode the bergenline all the way through but round trip I think its journal square to gwb bus terminal. I don't like them, but what can you do.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 15:25
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Re: COMING SOON: A Sea of Concrete
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Home away from home
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Here we go again.
You have a huge public outcry against something that our politicians want to do, and there are attempts to marginalize the public as special interests ("yuppies with e-mail"). Well then, the obvious solution is to not simply send the e-mail, but to call Gaughan's office. Handy tip: To reach Gaughan you don't call him at his city council number, but call him at the county executive's office (he serves as Tom DeGise's Chief of Staff). The main number for the county executive is (201) 795-6200. Ask for Bill Gaughan. You will most likely be connected to Peggy, his assistant. She is a very nice woman and will take your message. So follow up with a phone call to Bill Gaughan and tell him you oppose the proposed changes to the R-1 zoning. One other thing to ask. In the Hudson County Reporter article published on Sunday, Bill Gaughan admitted that he had someone write the ordinance for him. He refused to disclose who it was, but that it was someone with expertise in urban planning that did not work for the city. Notably, the city's own planning department refused to recommend this ordinance. So it's not surprising that Gaughan went to the outside to find someone to write it. My guess it is someone who is a developer or beholden to developers who want to tear down older houses to build the new cookie cutter "Bayonne Boxes." But rather than make accusations, we should simply have full disclosure. This is a common problem. We most recently saw it with the Powerhouse Arts District, where the city agreed to capitulate to New Gold Equities's demands and rewrite the PAD redevelopment plan, even though planning was opposed to the settlement. We should not replace smart planning with politics. So when you call Gaughan's office, tell him not only that you oppose the ordinance, but that you demandi that he disclose the name of anyone who helped him craft the ordinance. Also tell him that any further work on this ordinance should be done not by anonymous friends of his, but should be done in open consultation with neighborhood associations, preservationists, and open space advocates. Joshua Parkhurst President Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy
Posted on: 2006/8/16 15:07
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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Some of these vans are a menace. There are ALWAYS several that lay in wait along 6th Street between the Mall and Shoprite/BJ's in spite of NO STANDING signs galore. Since there are no lights where people must cross it is imperative to see oncoming traffic.
These semi-parked vans obscure the view so a pedestrian cannot see oncoming traffic and must just pray and step into traffic and sooner or later there will be a car veering around the bus just in time to kill someone. They DON'T obey traffic laws and are generally a menace when several of them play leapfrog around a Port Authority bus to steal its fares. This game of tag with multi-ton vehicles makes Bergenline Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard even more dangerous than they need to be. IF the vans are allowed, the penalties should be trebled those for a regular car and they MUST be made to have adequate insurance or face being impounded by police and perhaps given to social organizations, senior citizens buildings, or the like.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 15:03
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Just can't stay away
 
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  "Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a broad term given to a variety of different transportation systems that, through infrastructural and scheduling improvements, attempt to use buses to provide a service that is of a higher quality than an ordinary bus line. Each BRT system utilizes different improvements, although many improvements are shared by many BRT systems. The goal of such systems is to at least approach the service quality of rail transit while still enjoying the cost savings of bus transit. The expression "BRT" is mainly used in North America; elsewhere, one may speak of Quality Bus or simply bus service while raising the quality.". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit What about a Bus Rapid Transit system to replace the jitney buses? A light rail system would take ten years to implement and build, while a bus rapid transit system could be built in only a year. You take a wide long boulevard, like JFK boulevard for example, and you dedicate a lane in each direction for buses only, and you rebuild the bus stations on each side so that they are more like the light rails stations, and you install sensors in the traffic lights to give buses right of way. This way the bus can bypass all the traffic jams, making the bus run more like a subway or light rail system.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 14:48
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Re: COMING SOON: A Sea of Concrete
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Home away from home
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My thoughts exactly. What a backwards idiot.
I'm sure those "people who want carports" have telephones and can write letters. How many calls and letters in support of this were received by council members? I'm sure it was below 50, if any at all. Quote:
Posted on: 2006/8/16 14:25
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Re: COMING SOON: A Sea of Concrete
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Not too shy to talk
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Jersey Journal 8/16/06:
"Just because we get 50 yuppies that send e-mails about saving the trees doesn't mean that we shouldn't consider it," [Councilman]Gaughan said. "Most people who want carports don't even have e-mail." Is this guy for real?
Posted on: 2006/8/16 12:46
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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Wow - so these could be banned from Newark Avenue Downtown if they are banned on the side streets!
That would be great! They could still go to the Jornal Square PATH. ====================================== OK so if that doesn't happen I should just get into this field! If they aren't banned then I am looking at getting one, two or more of them -- I found this one on ebay for under $2000! Click Here to see this GREAT BUS It is hard to believe but you don't even need to have a Commercial Drivers License - a CDL LICENSE to drive one of these in Jersey City! I just can't believe it.. And that min insurance is nothing - $10,000 per persson $100,000 max of coverage -- that must only cost $2,000 per year! OK so lets see, If I hire two drivers - two shifts - that's 16 hours per day, 4 trips per hour, 20 people a time -- one buss could gross $1,280 per day -- $39,680 per month -- $476,160 per year cash... OK, each bus is not always full and there is high gas prices, and other min costs Hmmm, ok maybe I'll net $200,000 per year per each bus I buy... (and hey it's cash and there are even bigger buses I can get) 
Posted on: 2006/8/16 2:29
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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Think I found it here:
http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/codes/jersey/ ? 307-38. Municipal consent to operate. A. No autobus shall be operated upon any street until the owner or owners thereof have obtained the consent of the Municipal Council of the City of Jersey City. B. No such consent shall become effective until the owner of an autobus has filed with the Municipal Clerk an insurance policy of a company licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey in the sum of $10,000 against loss from liability for bodily injury or death suffered by any one person and $100,000 for more than one person, and in the sum of $5,000 against loss on account of property damage suffered by any person or persons as a result of an accident occurring by reason of ownership, maintenance or use of an autobus upon the streets of this city. Consent to operate shall remain effective only so long as such policy remains fully in effect. Such insurance shall provide for the payment of any final judgment recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance and use of such autobus or any fault in respect thereto and shall be for the benefit of any person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid. C. A power of attorney shall be executed and delivered to the Municipal Clerk concurrently with the filing of a policy hereinbefore referred to, wherein the owner shall appoint the Business Administrator as his or her true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy filed. [Amended 8-13-1997 by Ord. No. 97-052] D. Any such consent may be revoked by the Municipal Council after notice and hearing whenever it shall appear that the person to whom such consent was granted has failed to furnish and keep in force the insurance and the power of attorney herein required.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 1:36
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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ECH do you have a ordinance #? I see these mini buses on side streets in front of my house all the time.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 1:28
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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By the way: these mini-bus things are forbidden to
come up Erie or Jersey or Grove. They can only operate on Newark Ave. Absolutely no side streets allowed. If you see them there, call the cops immediately. They used to come into the neighborhoods and sit and idle for long periods, spewing out that noxious exhaust into peoples' windows and doors. We went to the city council and got the council to stop them from coming into any residential area downtown, but of course they pay no attention and they continue to do as they please. The drivers are totally ignorant/disdainful of rules and regulations. E.P.A. has lots of info on the poisonous exhausts these junk-heaps cough out. Nasty, nasty, nasty. It would be great if we could get rid of them and replace them with law-abiding, organized, legal bus service. NJTransit is hopeless. We definitely need something else, but it ought to be on the up-and-up.
Posted on: 2006/8/16 1:04
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Re: Best pizza in JC????
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Newbie
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I'm kinda partial to Stellas right on Grove. Sometimes it's a miss, but on the weekends it's always great.
Mama Mia's is also awesome... and the slices are as big as your damn head!
Posted on: 2006/8/15 23:00
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Re: COMING SOON: A Sea of Concrete
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Good  Bad & Ugly  Glad the parking issue was tabled for now by planning board. My concerns are that the subtext of this issue is not about Gaughan's constituents wanting parking in front of their houses (I'm sure they do), but that as Joshua pointed out here above, this parking issue becomes the Trojan horse that allows developer encroachment/destruction of historic neighborhood houses, as well as historic houses not in a historic district. The proposed changes to the Master Plan for R1 zoning, with the setback proposal and front yard parking, cannibalizes the land/house use footprint and thereby provides the crack in the door for developers to move on all R1 zoning and by changing the Master Plan they will impact the historic neighborhoods as well, long term. The net result is that with all the 10/15K units planned downtown to 25,000 units citywide scheduled for development, the pressures of developers on council/mayor is to: *provide parking for their current developments (Hoboken requires 100% on site parking for new developments: see car stackers), *provide more available land for multi-apt condos for development This will result in a quick solution at the expense of all issues of open space for parks, historic neighborhood encroachment, disruption of R1 zoning and erosion of current zoning restrictions in the Master Plan allowing possible future development of multi-apt condo development. It's all a land grab by proxy for developers and filling the mayoral coffers with PILOTS/abatements/ward grants to assuage voters as the Mayor gets what he wants ( to subsidize the budget shortfall just like what Schundler did in FY 2000/2001 budget when he liquidated $40 million loan to Lefrak for .12cents on the dollar) and the developers get what they want: *more land for parking * more land for development downtown. Check this out here: A chronology of Schundler's mismanagement that nearly bankrupted Jersey City during one of the greatest economic booms!... 1992 to 2001 http://www.stopbretschundler.com/ Quote: "City ready to sell stake in Newport?. Price: 10 percent of '85 UDAG loan" read Brian Donohue's JJ front page article, 1/5/98. I know DanL and some other old timers like me know this fact and you newbies should check out the recent history of JC since '82 when Gerald ("Jerry") McCann was Mayor, then how Schundler used abatement PILOTS and barter donations to plug his budget shortfalls. As someone said to me: :SOS, just better packaging under Schundler" . 
Posted on: 2006/8/15 22:44
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 Help US Sue Spectra! Join OR Donate! |
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Just can't stay away
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Quote:
As noted before, AMB's lawyer for this project is former Ward A Councilman Robert Cavanaugh, an unsuccessful mayoral candidate in 2001 and a political ally of Healy in 1997. Anyone know the history between these two?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 21:51
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Home away from home
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Maybe they are going to store Bud Light in the warehouse?
Quote:
Posted on: 2006/8/15 21:21
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Re: Heights: Home Invasion at Gunpoint -- Three sleeping roommates woken by two gunmen
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Just can't stay away
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I think there is more to this story.
I will bet you the kid who got robbed went at out at 4:30 AM looking for drugs. Or, this kid had bought in the past and knew them, or maybe the kids who got robbed where drug dealers themselves. Dealers often rob other dealers. What if these robbers were white, hispanic, or asian? Maybe that is the reason why race it is not mentioned...
Posted on: 2006/8/15 20:36
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Re: NWA Hypocrit
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Just can't stay away
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Recently, some of her minions on the board started questioning her use of the race card and she promply deleted their posts as well.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 18:14
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Re: motorcycle parking
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Home away from home
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Well, I have a motorscooter in JC and basically no one knows how to handle it. The dmv has a hard time classifying scooters in general, and calling the JCPA will just frustrate you and waste your time. Parking your scooter on the street without a permit is no problem, as long as you move it for street cleaning. Sometimes i park mine on a wide sidewalk, outside my house. But im just lucky that i haven't had a problem yet.
Having a scooter is a huge pain in the ass b.c laws for them are so dated, and honestly, dmv officials just don't know how to handle them. They try and force you to get a motorcycle liscense, but then won't let you ride it on a highway, so how do you get the bike to rahway (the nearest motorcycle roadtest facility) to take the test?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 18:06
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Re: Healy fails to sway residents with plan for a mega-warehouse on the Hackensack River
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Home away from home
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Quote:
One wonders if Elnora Watson has been in the neighborhood for very long. City fathers have been promising that every new development will bring jobs for city residents. And, surprise surprise -- these claims are, er, falsehoods. Ms. Watson, try this exercise -- contact city hall and inquire about jobs for city residents from any of the past project (promises). Let me know how it works out for you. -M
Posted on: 2006/8/15 17:58
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I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
W. C. Fields |
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Re: Heights: Home Invasion at Gunpoint -- Three sleeping roommates woken by two gunmen
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Home away from home
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maybe the city and state should be calling in the National Guard. Crime seems to be so rampant in Jersey City.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 17:41
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Re: motorcycle parking
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Home away from home
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I might get a Vespa or something -- I see scooters parked on the sidewalk around town. But I have another question -- can two people ride on a scooter in NJ? I read about it online but I am not clear -- anyone know?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 17:21
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Home away from home
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You nailed it, there must be more here than meets the eye.
Why would the mayor who appears to not care about and not put forth much effort about anything, now out of the blue work so hard for this? Quote:
Posted on: 2006/8/15 17:16
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Re: motorcycle parking
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Home away from home
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Well the rules should be the same, but the parking permit decals are made to be stuck to the inside of a car window, therefore would be in reverse on a motorcycle fender.
I was told verbally by the Parking Authority 5 years ago that they do not ticket or tow motorcycles. Many people park bikes inside front gates, but that may not be legal, though never heard that anyone had trouble. Same on the side of the sidewalk, Give a call to the PA and ask for a supervisor do not rely on hearsay.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 17:08
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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I agree -- Ratslayer since you seem to know -- what besides an inspection happens for a taxi?
How is it that taxi cabs have more regulations than these broken down buses that carry 20+ people? Why don't the cab drivers and owners fight this -- is it that they too have it way to unregulated? It seems like someone is getting paid off in all this!
Posted on: 2006/8/15 16:47
Edited by GrovePath on 2006/8/15 17:11:38
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Quite a regular
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These buses do indeed fill a transportation void, but they are an accident waiting to happen. Say a full bus crashes as a result of driver negligence. Passengers are injured and even killed. WHO WILL PAY?? Because most drivers carry NO insurance, the victims are screwed. So much for justice in Husdon County. Our local leaders KNOW these driver's are breaking the damn law day and night. This is criminal. Time to regulate these buses. Christ, we regulate taxi cabs! And when the JC cabbies wanna increase fares, they can't do it without City Council approval, unlike the dollar bus drivers who raise fares any freaking time they want.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 16:35
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Re: Please stop the huge 9/11 memorial at LSP - it will ruin the park's views of the Manhattan skyline!
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Just can't stay away
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Do we all agree that we live in a world where the main goal of a terrorist is to inflict casaulties more so against the civilian population, regardless where on this planet we live?
Hopefully we will never experience a repeat of 9-11, but we did have a scare with the Holland Tunnel just a month ago. If the terrorists are successful, are we then going to build another memorial for that tragic event. Will it (the memorial) be bigger and how many lives will it take to qualify for a memorial to be built? War memorials should not be confused with my point of view, but we should look to have a significant memorial only where the incident took place and financially supporting it.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 16:17
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Home away from home
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Local residents don't want the jobs created by the warehouse.
They got welfare.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 16:09
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Just can't stay away
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I saw Healy on a television ad the other day pushing the warehouse. How much time and money is he spending on this and is it worth it?
A latest article in the Jersey Journal states that the warehouse will create 300 jobs. Is three hundred jobs for a city of 250,000 people a considerable amount? For the amount of space it is using it does not seem like it. Healy also states that it will only accept 75 deliveries a day which should not create traffic congestion. I am assuming that the 75 trucks do not stay there so that number has to be doubled. Would you want 150 trucks driving past your neighborhood every day? How can this not create congestion? It seems odd that Healy has invested way too much time on this issue. Am I missing something? It is not creating that many jobs, the amount of money received is decent but it won't make our lives any better, and the community does not support it. Perhaps I am being naive and the main issue is, what is HEALY getting out of this deal?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 15:57
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Home away from home
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I agree that something should happen -- NJ transit Big Buses coming from outside Jersey City should have to take the highways (turnpike and 1&9) as long as they can, and not be allowed to use JC's surface roads. Make them turn in on Marion - sorry if it takes 5 more min.
As for local buses - let's lose this crazy sea of broken down buses, retired from Disneyland -- and let's also lose the HUGE NJ Transit buses. Allow only small NJ Transit van/buses on surface roads in Jersey City. This would save the city a lot in road repair as well! Also, why can't Jersey City have safe bike lockers at all PATH stations - even if they cost $1 for the day that would still be attractive to many! Lastly, let's get taxi medallions of some sort! Quote:
Posted on: 2006/8/15 15:57
Edited by GrovePath on 2006/8/15 16:41:17
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Re: Please stop the huge 9/11 memorial at LSP - it will ruin the park's views of the Manhattan skyli
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Home away from home
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>>DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson e-mailed a letter to Pesin on Thursday reiterating her support for the memorial to continue being built as planned.
Jackson stated that "Based on my review of the process and the project design, I have decided to support the completion of the memorial as presently designed."
Jackson pointed out that the day after the June 13 meeting, there was another meeting with a memorial committee of 9/11 survivors and families of victims to review the design, discuss the current status of construction, and gauge if family members willing to accept changes to the design.
She states in the letter, "It was the consensus of those family members present that this project should move forward as designed and that they did not want to delay this Memorial to their loved ones and the many victims of September 11, 2001 any longer."
Pesin took Jackson to task for making her decision before the public meeting takes place.
"The Friends formally disagrees with the commissioner's position is now asking the governor directly to listen to public input and reverse this decision," said Pesin. "Lisa Jackson's premature decision violates the spirit of democracy."<<
That is exactly the problem.
The victims' families wield way too much political clout.
First they get $1 BILLION (now reduced to $1/2 billion) Ground Zero Memorial (an obscene amount of money for a memorial), and then they insist on putting this monstrosity in our faces.
And the politicians like Lisa Jackson kow-tow to them.
Politicians need to listen to all their constituents, not only to the victims' families.
Have we lost our collective marbles here?
Do the victims' families really want to honor their loved ones with a Memorial design to which there is a widespread opposition?
Or they don't care about what the public which uses the LSP thinks?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 15:36
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Re: Dollar Buses
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Just can't stay away
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I see NJ transit running these huge diesal buses with 3 passengers, and I see these dollar jitneys packed full.
It is a waste of money for NJ transit to be running these big, asthma causing buses on the same routes the dollar vans take. Also, the dollar vans are quick and they run on a regular basis...much more reliable than NJ transit. Plus, those little buck vans are much more manuverable than the long NJ transit buses, which when turning are a hazard to drivers and pedestrians. I think NJ transit should lease out the bus routes to private operators and retire the big buses. I think if the dollar vans where legitimatized then they could stop at the Journal Square bus terminal instead of stopping 3 blocks away at 5 corners, and they could use the NJ transit bus stops. It would totally improve transportation.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 15:30
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