Opening the pedestrian plaza showed real vision. That in and of itself created something visionary that WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED with the old guard. The city murals are amazing. All in all Fulop's Jersey City is much improved. The parks our better, the schools are better, our lives are better. I know we have our specific issues with some of his policies but lets at least acknowledges his successes.

He may say strange things but the art museum he did in Milwaukee is beautiful. Also the WTC PATH is going to be absolutely stunning. I'm so excited for it to fully open.

Does anyone when the pools will be opened and neighborhood sprinklers turned on. Thanks!

They are open weekdays 4:00pm-7:00pm until the end of the school year. Not sure about the hours on weakens.. If anyone from the city is on here it would be helpful to get a link to a pool and sprinkler park schedule.

Will it be open after school? Do you know where official hours are posted?

I played in this league a couple years ago. It's medium level co-ed indoor soccer, pretty fun.

I am Parent Council President at #5 school. We would love to have them. Please contact me @ ps5parentcouncilpresident@gmail.com
Thanks,
Felicia

Wow this is great. Thank you! I am PC president at PS#5 and I would like to share this with my parents. I imported to my Google Calendar, if you are a member of the JC Schools Yahoo group you may want to post this, I think people would appreciate it.

Hi,
I am the parent council president at #5 school and my son attends the dual language program. If you PM I can send you my information and set up a tour of the school it is a great program and starts in Pre-K 4. You will have to apply next year and interview for the program there are usually more applications than spaces available.

Being in the PTA and on School Leadership is great preparation for serving on the BOE. Parent leaders in the schools spend an incredible amount of time and effort, on the ground, improving our schools. As a parent leader Vidya fought and received school bus service for the students at Academy 1. She fought policy and was able to get the students who were forced to wait outside in inclement weather at school 38 to be let in the building early. I sit with her on the Parent Advisory Committee and have seen her hold officials accountable for the promises they make. These aren?t the things that make it into the newspaper but they improve the lives of our students.

As Parent Council President at my son?s school, I do parent outreach, tours, plan special events and carnivals. These seem like little things but in fact they go a long way towards building community and improving the schools from the ground up. Look at Sterling Waterman, in my opinion the most effective BOE member, what was his best qualification he was a PTA parent leader. He will tell you that himself.

There are no camps here. Vidya?s team is entirely made up of parents with their kids in the LOCAL public school system. Many, like myself, are parent leaders at their schools. That is our camp and our team. I personally like Steven Fulop and think he has done a lot for Ward E. I just know Vidya, I sit with her on two different parent leadership boards. She is smart, active and involved. I have had a chance to interview all of the candidates and from my perspective she is the best. She knows the most about what is going on on the ground floor and has already fought for change. Please read the JC independent article, she gives more detail on her background and views than most of the other candidates. I think you will be impressed.

Please see Vidya's JC independent interview for specifics her answers are quite detailed..

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... nd-carol-harrison-arnold/

This is a small local election, I believe Carol Lester won last year with less than 5000 votes. Vidya can absolutely win. Sometimes saying a candidate can't win is just a tactic, like it was used by Hillary Clinton, when she said Obama couldn't win in the 2008 election. YES WE CAN! Go Vidya:)

This is a small local election, I believe Carol Lester won last year with less than 5000 votes. Vidya can absolutely win. Sometimes saying a candidate can't win is just a tactic, like it was used by Hillary Clinton, when she said Obama couldn't win in the 2008 election. YES WE CAN! Go Vidya:)

I spoken with Vidya at length about her opinion of Dr. Epps and she is NOT a supporter. Vidya believes that we need to have a nationwide search for superintendent. Her thinking is in line with Board Members Sterling Waterman and Carol Lester. Any candidate that says anything different is misrepresenting her viewpoint.

Vidya proved last night that she is the strongest candidate in the field. We encourage anyone who has any doubts to come and see for yourself.

Jersey City Coalition of Parent/Teacher Organizations Candidate Forum: Wednesday, April 13 from 6 to 8 pm; at Ferris High School (35 Colgate Street).

First of all Candace thank you for your response and for all of the effort you put in to choosing these candidates. That being said, I am not comfortable with the strategy of picking a "TEAM" when choosing which candidates to support. This isn't a project or a sports game these candidates will be elected as INDIVIDUALS. There is no guarantee that all three will be elected so each one should be the best choice on their own. Last election I voted for all three Fulop candidates and I have been disappointed in the performance of one. Just because Fulop endorses a team we still need to pick each candidate by their own merits. So Marvin, while he seems like a nice guy, still lacks the necessary experience and skill set to serve.

I actually had the opportunity to hear Marvin Adames speak recently and while he seems like a nice guy with an interesting story... he also seemed completely unqualified to be running for the Board of Ed. Yes he is a lawyer in Newark but he didn't seem to have much familiarity with current educational issues, in fact it seems like it has been awhile since he has set foot in a public school. In addition, I see nowhere in his bio that he has done ANYTHING with youth outreach or education. Has he coached basketball?, run a youth program?, been involved with a local Boys and Girls Club? I also believe he has only lived in Jersey City for two years. His child is not even school aged so he has not had to navigate any school system. Unless he has political aspirations, I do not understand why he is running for the BOE. I would like to know why he was chosen? What did the Fulop advisory board see in him that qualified him to serve on the board?

This school was started by Mrs. Jolly, who taught in the toddler program at OLC for many years. I knew she is a great teacher but I just had a chance to check out the school and was very impressed. They have a nice facility and good teacher:student ratios, which I think is the MOST important thing in Early Childhood education. I plan on sending my toddler there in September. I like that it is a small school too, they do individual lesson plans for every child.

Abode Ally is great http://abodeallymaidcleaning.com
Have been using bi-weekly for four years...always good.

Tried it last week and it was good with VERY GOOD prices. We had the the fried Calamari and pulled pork sandwich to go. I did try to call Saturday Night for takeout but no luck. I don't have a problem with the owners OPENLY posting specials here. It's actually kinda cool.

My son's elementary school PS #5 in downtown is actually doing quite well considering that approx 70% of students receive federal lunch aid. It is true that LCCS does somewhat better but they have only about 30% of students receiving lunch assistance. In fact our Math scores in many grades are comparable to LCCS. LA scores are somewhat lower but that is to be expected since the majority of students come from non-English speaking homes.
The middle school grades at #5 do somewhat worse but that is partially because our top students leave to go to the competitive middle schools. I also think the test scores at #16 and #37 have improved.
There are very complex problems in urban schools. People tend to oversimplify the solutions. But one thing that would really help our schools is socioeconomic change ... families sending their kids to the public schools and getting involved. It is the one thing that will have immediate change and impact. If you live in downtown, the Heights, and other areas that have socioeconomic diversity consider sending your children to their LOCAL school. In the long run it will benefit us all.

The sandwiches are awesome! I've tried the Moroccan Chicken, Merguez, and Shwarma all have been great. You can get a pita or a hero and the price is very good for the amount and quantity that you get.

I didn't mean to sound elitist when I said "downtown." I agree that it should be citywide but it is much more difficult choice for people to send their children to a "failing" school then to one that has a lot of already has some class diversity and infrastructure in place, which is the case with some of the downtown schools. If you check the test scores for the lower grades at some schools (5, 9, 37) you'll see a great deal of improvement. But thanks for the info about the candidate.

Hi Mr. Waterman,
I am very glad to see your post here. I am a downtown resident and my son attends Pre-K at school Number 5. I really believe that the way to change JC schools is for more of the new residents to send their kids to public schools and increase the parent participation. I also think the time is right and the place to start is the downtown schools. If you agree, how can the board of ed best help facilitate this.

There's a new high end tailor mens clothes shop on Monmouth btw 3rd and 4th. I think it's called DeCarlos and his stuff is BEAUTIFUL and custom made.

I live in the area too (monmouth Street) and am a pregnant woman and feel pretty safe walking. If it's really late I sometimes do opt for a cab. Of course there are a few scuzzy bars in the neighborhood but I really do like this section of downtown. It feels a little less gentrified and more like a real neighborhood and it's still much more affordable than some others Grove Street, Paulus Hook. I also think our neighborhood is safer and nicer than Dixon Mills b/c its further from the projects and their are more single and two family homes. I used to live near Dixon Mills on Wayne and Varick and some of those blocks just seemed sketchier.

There is a great playground on 9th and Brunswick..it just doesn't have any shade. I actually hesitate to post this because it's not too crowded yet...