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Scottacus

Re: IRS Filing status - civil union? domestic partner? Other?

#31

Home away from home

I hate to say this, but this is one of those complex situations where you probably would need to talk to a tax specialist.

If two people have entered into a civil union in NJ, then they can file taxes jointly in NJ as civil union partners. For tax purposes a civil union is the same as marriage, so yes you can claim a civil union partner as a dependent just as a spouse. You have to actually have had a civil union though.

For federal tax purposes, civil unions (and same-sex marriages in other states) are not recognized at all so you would have to file as single. However, in some circumstances you can claim a "non-related" person as a dependent, so it gets complicated.

Posted on: 2012/2/13 20:38

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Scottacus

Re: 'Jersey Shore' Spin-Off in Jersey City

#32

Home away from home

It's happening... Apparently MTV film crews were scouting at K9dergarten yesterday.

Posted on: 2012/2/9 2:59

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Scottacus

Re: Unique mix of cuisines offered at Nanking - Downtown at Exchange Place

#33

Home away from home

How is Nanking? Well, let's just say that the name is appropriate.

Why, you might ask? Well like the atrocities associated with the Rape of Nanking, your stomach will feel violated after you eat there.

And yes, I recognize this review is in poor taste, but then again so is the food there.

Posted on: 2012/1/26 2:12

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Scottacus

Re: Congress might cripple the free and open internet

#34

Home away from home

Quote:

heights wrote:
This is the first time we have had free media speech, now that we are hooked on the net it will be more rigid in its use just like all the other mediums that are monitored out there. It probably should have been that way in the first place if it were we would be used to it by now. We have gone wild with this newfound freedom and because of this; I am in favor of this so-called censorship. The net has become a dangerous place, day in and day out we hear of children getting into trouble because of the net, people losing their life savings or lives due to its mal use. There are always special instructions on how to use the internet such as be careful. With underage children there are documentaries stating the evils that are in their path because of their unsupervised use. Perhaps we should buy them a disc as we did books and pull the plug. Look how jobs are limiting its use censoring certain websites based on types of interest. I can see why the government is making the information highway a police state it was only a matter of time.

Wow. Everything about this statement is profoundly wrong.

SOPA will do nothing to protect children. It won't make the internet a less dangerous place (although it's not any more or less dangerous than any other aspect of life). It is purportedly designed to stop online piracy of music and movies, but as it is written it would allow any law enforcement organization to order websites to be blocked without any due process and for reasons far beyond its stated cause. It was clearly written by media lobbyists and promoted by politicians who have no idea how the internet works.

Further, your statement that the internet somehow needs censorship to be safe reflects your own fears and misunderstandings than any objective reality. How would censoring the internet protect children? There are already several laws that prohibit companies from collecting personal information from children. And it's parents' responsibilities to keep their children safe on the internet, just as it is in every other part of life.

Scams like phishing are already illegal, so how is censorship going to stop them? Wouldn't the government's efforts be better placed educating people about avoiding phishing scams?

The internet does not make people lose their life savings. Stupidity or gullibility does. There were scammers before the internet and there are scammers now.

If you are scared of the internet and wants to be protected from it, just don't go online. The rest of us don't need censorship to protect us.

Posted on: 2012/1/18 18:33

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Scottacus

Re: Tell Trader Joe's to come near the Grove Station!

#35

Home away from home

Quote:

user1111 wrote:
Salaries are too low in JC the average salary in JC as a city is about 20K... I spoke with a rep from TJ and he said they will not be coming anytime soon.... downtown is nice, but mostly renters with very little income.

Trader Joes is one of the most secretive companies in the world (their paranoia and secrecy is legendary), and I can assure you that almost no one working at a local store has any concrete knowledge about their future expansion plans.

I have no idea if TJs will ever come to JC, but I can be pretty sure whoever you talked do doesn't either.

BTW the statistic you mentioned is not one that retail planners look at. At all. Ever. Median income is irrelevant to a store siting decision. The key statistic tends to be the number of people who fit the primary and secondary target demographics that are within X miles.

If a city's median income mattered? According to the Census Bureau the median household income in Jersey City is $51,826. Which is actually higher than the New York City median income of $50,173.

Posted on: 2012/1/11 21:29

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Scottacus

Re: Dames Coffee - Jersey Ave betw 3rd & 4th

#36

Home away from home

This place makes really excellent coffee, but their flakiness about opening can be a little frustrating. Coffee places, of literally any kind of shop, should open in the morning.

Posted on: 2011/12/9 1:06

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Scottacus

Re: Tilted Kilt - Pub & Eatery (&boobs)

#37

Home away from home

I really do hate to crap on new businesses opening up in JC, but this place looks like a total cluster.

Pretty much every location for this chain across the country has 2 stars on Yelp.

Posted on: 2011/11/29 17:59

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Scottacus

Re: BE CAREFUL: SKIMMING DEVICE ON GROVE STREET PATH TICKET MACHINE

#38

Home away from home

Thanks for the heads up. Did you call the PA police to report the issue?

Posted on: 2011/11/29 17:48

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Scottacus

Re: New York Times: A Rising Rental Market in the Downtown Jersey City

#39

Home away from home

Although most of the NYT real estate section stores are complete fluff pieces, this trend definitely seems to be true.

225 Grand filled up very quickly even though the rents are high and the apartments themselves are unremarkable (and another building like it is going up behind Gulls Cove).

And I have friends in 70 Greene who will be facing a $500 a month rent increase (!) when their leases expire. Crazy.

Posted on: 2011/11/22 17:55

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Scottacus

Re: Grove Pointe ridiculous rent increase

#40

Home away from home

If you knew going in you were getting a limited-term incentive, and now that term is up, I don't see the issue.

Yes, you are seeing a large increase but if you knew 2 years ago that this incentive would end it is 100% expected. And the $50 base rent increase is not particularly unreasonable.

The incentive got you to move in (as it was designed to do), and now you have to decide whether the hassle of moving somewhere else is worth that money you'll save.

You could try to negotiate by threatening to move out, and you could probably get them to at least drop the extra $50. But your success at negotiating will depend on how well units are renting there these days.

Posted on: 2011/11/16 22:13

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Scottacus

Re: CMAS Alert??

#41

Home away from home

Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
Quote:

lomotion1 wrote:
Just received a CMAS alert on my wife's phone. Anyone else receive one? I hope they are just testing it out.

http://www.cmasalert.com/cmas.html

One of 2 possibilities:
1. Your wife has posted her cellphone number online, and that online site has shared it with CMAS.
2. CMAS are randomly sending text messages hoping to hit cellphones.

If you suspect 1, call your cellphone provider and change your number.

If 2, DO NOT reply to the message, and don't ever click on any UNSUBSCRIBE links. If you have done so - again get your number changed. If they are randomly "phishing", any response tells them your number is active.

Wow, jump to conclusions much?

15 seconds of Googling shows that this is a service that carriers like AT&T or Verizon sign up for to send emergency alerts. It's not some sort of phishing scam.

The "test" messages are slightly annoying but there's no need to be concerned about them.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.j ... 2&cv=820#fbid=7lkseF9oYf6

Posted on: 2011/11/2 19:46

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Scottacus

Re: Rustique Pizza - Jersey Avenue - Hamilton Park

#42

Home away from home

For what it's worth, I ordered a pizza from them under the new management and found it to be very good - basically as good as the pizza was on a very good day under the old management. Which is actually very good.

Although I do also like the pizza at Abbondanza, this place still has my favorite pizza in JC.

And good on them for responding to the post.

Posted on: 2011/10/26 21:39

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Advice for Marketing a for sale by owner condo

#43

Home away from home

As much as it sucks, the best advice is not to market your house as a FSBO. In this kind of market, you probably need the exposure being in the MLS provides.

Also consider whether someone can be home most of the time to allow for showings, whether you can really set the right price without having access to good comparable sales (the data in Zillow and Trulia isn't always the best). and other such considerations.

Your options for advertising your home are relatively limited outside of the MLS - Craigslist (probably the best choice), Zillow, Trulia. Most sites that pull data directly from the MLS won't include additional listings.

(BTW I'm not a realtor... I've just seen friends try to do this and end up using a realtor in the end.)

Posted on: 2011/10/21 14:04

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Scottacus

Re: Wittpenn Bridge area below JSQ: JC woman in BMW carjacked by armed man in Mercedes Benz

#44

Home away from home

She is lucky.

Questions about why someone who lives on Waldo Avenue would have an $80K car aside, she may even get the car back if it has the BMW version of OnStar in it.

If she left the car running and had the key in her pocket when the thieves drove off, the thieves would be in for a surprise - when they try to start the car again they won't be able to.

Posted on: 2011/10/20 14:21

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Scottacus

Re: Hoboken Taxis - How much?

#45

Home away from home

It's a $5 flat fare anywhere in Hoboken for up to 4 people traveling together, which is a pretty good deal if you're going to the other end of town.

Just keep in mind that Hoboken cabs are notorious for forcing you to share with 1 or more other riders - which means if you're dropped off last it can take a while to get uptown.

Posted on: 2011/10/17 14:00

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Scottacus

Re: JC Post Office - Be Very Afraid

#46

Home away from home

Quote:

PathH8Tr wrote:
I have had two items to be mailed to my address within a 6 week period - carrying $50 gift cards for Home Depot (redeemed from my credit card rewards points) not ever make it to my address. I contacted the credit card company and they informed me that they have had issues often with gift cards making it to their destination through the USPS. They've tried to have the envelope be non-descript in order to not trigger the postal workers to know they are gift cards, however, the credit card company stated the best recommendation is to redeem my points in cash, to be mailed in the form of a check from them, to avoid this issue.

I find it no coincidence my regular postal carrier (who I love and who I tip during the holidays) was away on medical leave during this time. All of a sudden all my missing weekly magazine subscriptions (Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, The New Yorker) are showing up in my mail box again.

Be careful - obviously this credit card company is looking in to it, but if you want to be vigilant yourself - don't do gift cards through the mail.

If you think a postal employee may have stolen your mail, you should definitely fill out a mail theft report at https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/mlntrcvd.aspx. If the inspectors get enough reports they really will look into the matter.

Posted on: 2011/9/14 18:17

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Scottacus

Re: ABBONDANZA TRATTORA at Liberty Harbor

#47

Home away from home

Had dinner here the other week (first week they were open). They were pretty busy (which was interesting since they haven't yet widely advertised).

The food was very good. The menu is classic red-sauce Italian, and all the dishes we tried were very strong renditions of those classics. Not sure if the pasta was fresh or dried, but either way it was cooked very well, and the meat dishes we tried were also very good.

Service was great when we first arrived but slowed down a bit as the place filled up. Considering they had only been open a few days things were pretty smooth though.

Prices are very reasonable and portions are big. The value is actually pretty impressive, as many of the dishes are enough for two full meals and most of the entrees are $15 or less.

The outdoor sign mentions brick oven pizza but when we there there there was no pizza on the menu. Maybe it's for takeout only, or maybe it's coming soon.

Either way it's a nice addition to the neighborhood and we'll definitely be back.

Posted on: 2011/9/6 13:35

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Large Party in Liberty State Park?

#48

Home away from home

Assuming they weren't flooded too badly, you could also try doing the event at Maritime Parc.

Might be sort of expensive though.

Posted on: 2011/8/30 18:39

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Speeding Ticket

#49

Home away from home

Quote:

roskoe99 wrote:
If the officer does not appear, then you should request a hearing and move the court for a dismissal. The officer's testimony is needed to make out a case, and you should never take a deal if the officer is a no show.

THis may be popular wisdom, but it doesn't work that way in NJ municipal courts. The officer almost never comes to court for your first appearance and that is when you are offered a plea bargain by the prosecutor. Only if you decide against the plea, and you are scheduled for trial, is the officer subpoenaed.

Fighting a ticket in court is a huge hassle in NJ. You will have to appear in court at least twice, as the first appearance is for pre-trial conference and only then, when you plead not guilty, will you get a court date for your trial. And because trials are usually last on the docket in municipal court, don't be surprised if you end up waiting around only to have your case rescheduled.

Posted on: 2011/6/23 21:08

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Satis Bistro - THUMBS DOWN

#50

Home away from home

Quote:

balthazar wrote:
Went here for brunch last weekend. The waiter could give a hoot that we were actually CUSTOMERS. "Hey guys (we are both women), want to sit here?" Gee - thanks for the welcome, pal. Oh, and it was worst seat in the house (right by the door on a cold day) when others were empty. My friend and I both had the fritatta - was like a pile of Elmer's glue. Thankfully, we brought wine to slug it down with. What a waste. Next time I will head back to Le Source, where the bartenders and staff are charming.

Let's see:
1) First post, and user joined 5 minutes before posting.
2) Name checks and recommends competitor restaurant (one which at best gets mixed reviews)

Shill probability: 65%

Posted on: 2011/5/26 0:07

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Haircut for Guys

#51

Home away from home

Astro is both awesomely interesting and very good at cutting men's hair.

Cha Cha is also pretty good. She seems to move places a lot though... she's been at Balance, another place on Grove that closed, Studio 17, and now Salon X.

Posted on: 2011/5/12 2:31

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Building behind Boys and Girls Club

#52

Home away from home

It would make sense that Metro Homes is going to redo the plans for Gulls Cove II with more 1 bedrooms. Liberty Harbor is converting most of the large townhouses to 1-bedroom condos as well.

But with all the inventory coming on relatively soon in Liberty Harbor I wonder if Metro Homes might wait a bit before starting, as the market may not be able to bear that much capacity all at once (20-30 units at Liberty Harbor plus many more at Gulls Cove.)

Posted on: 2011/5/3 2:42

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Registering a business name

#53

Home away from home

If you want to stop others from using a name in commerce you should file for a trademark, especially if you will be doing business online.

Getting a business license from the city only entitles you to do business within city limits. You can file for a dba with the state, but that provides limited protection. So a trademark (which is filed with the federal Patent and Trademark Office) is what you want.

Posted on: 2011/4/22 0:52

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Park & Sixth Update

#54

Home away from home

Thanks Brian.

Your very candid update is a nice change from the excuses a lot of places make, and it's great news your hours will be extended. It's particularly good to hear that you'll be open on Sundays soon, too.

Posted on: 2011/3/24 23:17

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: My landlady is #### me. Any advice?

#55

Home away from home

Teacher, you have no idea what you are talking about. Landlords are required to provide essential utilities (heat, water, sewer) at all times and to repair problems within a reasonable amount of time. Unlike the dropped call you mention, the lack of any of these is a serious health concern and landlords can be fined or even jailed for failure to provide them.

Risk of theft, cost, or hassle aside, if you sign up to be a landlord you sign up to provide these things to your tenants. if it's too much hassle or expense for someone, they shouldn't be a landlord.

The OP is probably best off just finding somewhere else to live and skipping his/her last month's rent to make up for the potential non-return of security deposit. And yes once you move out you should report the illegal apartment so another renter doesn't have to deal with lack of heat.

OP, keep in mind that even in an illegal apartment the landlord must follow the legal process to evict, and this of course would reveal that the apartment is illegal. So you may have that leverage.

Posted on: 2011/2/10 3:52

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Movies I liked on Netflix Instant

#56

Home away from home

Nice idea for a thread. Many great suggestions already.

Exit Through the Gift Shop was really good.

Also, the original UK version of Skins was way better than the crap new MTV version.

Posted on: 2011/1/19 19:59

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Scottacus

Re: Satis Bistro -Cafe - Gelato in Paulus Hook

#57

Home away from home

Tried Satis the other night and enjoyed it quite a bit.

The food we got was very good - bacon-wrapped dates, bresaola, short rib, and jumbo prawns. The gelato sundaes were also quite good as well.

Given how busy the place was (there was a very large group plus a full house) the service was good. Food came out pretty quickly, which is more than I can say for Marco & Pepe. I didn't get a particularly brusque tone from the waiter as some others seem to have.

I thought the prices were quite reasonable, although the appetizers were a tad on the small side for the price. In any case our total bill was quite reasonable. And BYO certainly helps on the cost front.

Posted on: 2011/1/14 22:27

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Rumi Turkish Grill - 60 Sussex St

#58

Home away from home

Quote:

CatDog wrote:
I went there a while ago at lunchtime, and while it seemed a good place to get a sandwich, it was hardly real Turkish food. The food was ok, and the red lentil soup was good, but not a very Turkish menu. They?ve got hamburgers on the menu, and regular sandwiches, and the breakfast menu is entirely pancakes, omelettes, and other non-Turkish things. Appetizers are mostly just American things as well. Fries with a gyro? And the bread I was given was some cheap pita bread? What about real bread for my soup? Where?s the clotted cream & honey for breakfast? The pide? The lahmacun? The sigara borek?

Also when I went the place was super busy with only one waitress. Might have had someone call in sick that day so I won?t hold that against them. Definitely a lunchtime type of place.

You should try it at dinner - they have a very Turkish menu at dinner (sigara borek, manti, iskender, etc.) So if it's actual Turkish food you are looking for, it may not be a lunchtime kind of place

Posted on: 2011/1/14 22:22

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Scottacus

Re: Stay classy A&P

#59

Home away from home

Quote:

I know nothing about supermarkets

Quote:

I fail to see how after a week they were still not receiving new shipments when other stores in the area had been getting new deliveries.

Sunday was the day after New Year's.

Supermarkets generally get no deliveries on holidays. They also get fewer deliveries on Sundays. So a lot of supermarkets were low on stock on Sunday since it was the second day in a row without deliveries.

Some items can be restocked from the storeroom. But most supermarkets don't keep a large inventory of produce so it won't spoil, and many items like Coke are shelved directly by the manufacturer (and the store doesn't keep any stock). So on days like Sunday, some things are just out of stock.

I would bet most supermarkets were light on stock Sunday, ShopRite and Stop & Shop included.

Posted on: 2011/1/4 14:34

Topic | Forum

Scottacus

Re: Taqueria

#60

Home away from home

Quote:

spider wrote:
i guess it's authentic mexican to have a very limited menu of 5 things and ACDC bar stools.

Viewpoints about the owners' service/attitude aside, it actually is quite common for taquerias / taco stands in LA and much of the Southwest to have a limited menu focused on tacos.

Posted on: 2010/12/14 15:28

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