Re: Will fire department cutbacks threaten public safety? Union says yes; city says no
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Home away from home
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+1 They are at the heart of the problem of municipal finances.
Posted on: 2010/2/8 20:41
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Re: Ready to give up living in this city...
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Home away from home
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Thanks for the explanation. I don't think this discussion is off topic since the quality, or lack thereof, of our school system is a large part of the reason that many of the new transplants to JC don't stay for the long run. Hamilton Park is currently over-run by toddlers, but I'm guessing that many of these families will leave once their children become school-age. And the problems with our schools are of a piece with the problems that the OP is confronted with.
Posted on: 2010/2/5 19:55
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Re: Ready to give up living in this city...
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Why couldn't the state Supreme Court decision be over-ruled by a new set of state Supreme Court justices? As you said, they recently decided to change the formula. On the other hand, could the Abbott funding partially explain the under-performance of the JC school system: if they were more successful, they might lose some of their funding? As T-Bird pointed out, $123 million is a lot of money. Subsidies are great: they lock in the behavior you're trying to get rid of.
Posted on: 2010/2/5 19:33
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Re: Ready to give up living in this city...
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I'd like to add that property taxes in the NJ suburbs close to New York are about twice what they are here for equally priced properties. The primary reason the suburban taxes are so high is because they're forced by court order to subsidize the poor, urban areas of the state, Jersey City being one of them. While this situation has lasted for a long time, it would make sense to me that at some point in the future, it would end. This would mean that places like our fair city would no longer receive the subsidies and would have to make up the shortfall with more property taxes. And the amount of the subsidy is huge (I don't have the exact figure right now). That would get ugly. So if you think there's any likelihood of that happening, you'd be selling JC and buying the burbs.
Posted on: 2010/2/5 18:39
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Re: McCann to sue Fulop
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I meant appointed from the standpoint that if he's the machine's man for the next election, it would take a formidable get out the vote effort by the opposition for him not to become the mayor.
Posted on: 2010/2/3 22:02
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Re: McCann to sue Fulop
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The thought of Connors being appointed mayor by the machine is chilling. I hope the real estate market has picked up by then so I can bail out before that happens.
Posted on: 2010/2/3 21:55
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Re: Rally at City Hall Wednesday, Jan 27?
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Home away from home
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You seem like a bright fellow. Why don't you do some research into how many captains there are in the JCPD and JCFD, what the overhead is of the Dept of Ed, and the rest of the city govt while you're at it, how much nepotism there is in city govt and how many sweetheart contracts are handed out. The overhead could be cut without reducing the services we get. Cutting rank and file is a scare tactic used by those in power to keep the public at bay. It's a lot easier to do than to cut out their cronies.
Posted on: 2010/1/28 16:19
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Re: Rally at City Hall Wednesday, Jan 27?
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Home away from home
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Thanks for bringing Bush into the discussion. It's nice to see that Republicans are alive and well in Jersey City politics.
Posted on: 2010/1/28 16:15
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Re: Rally at City Hall Wednesday, Jan 27?
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Home away from home
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The chairman of the JCIA is a P. Terrell Flood, any relation to Willie Flood? I was at the meeting last night and I'm afraid unless there are street demonstrations on this issue, we will get nowhere. The issue is that the council members except for Fulop are part of the Healy team. They do Healy's bidding. They know the public has contempt for them and they in turn have contempt for the public. They're comfortably ensconced in their positions until next election and then they'll do the same thing they did last year: hold the line on taxes right before the election to make them look better and recruit their special interests to get out the vote. We're toast until the next election and the biggest risk is that the ire and energy you saw last night will be dissipated by then. I think the best thing that could happen is that the message gets around to all of yesterday's attendees that we have to become activists for change during the next election. The people who turned out yesterday were a committed, enthusiastic bunch and if they use their enthusiasm and commitment during the next election cycle, we may have some hope. The Healy team needs to be voted out.
Posted on: 2010/1/28 15:57
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Re: Property Taxes will increase as Jersey City introduces $507 Million budget
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I will be there as well. Let's hope for a big turnout.
Posted on: 2010/1/23 23:06
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Re: PEOPLE NOT CURBING THEIR DOGS!!!
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Home away from home
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I'm afraid it was our good councilperson's idea to remove the trash cans. If you do speak to him, you might want to ask whether the experiment worked.
Posted on: 2010/1/22 18:46
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Re: Jersey City's schools again do poorly on tests; Bayonne's do well
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Thanks for your perspective. A few of points: 1. I don't equate handicapped students with disruptive students. I'm sure most handicapped students want to learn. 2. The separation should take place only after a clear pattern of behavior has been established and after other corrective measures have been taken, in my opinion, in middle school, not earlier. 3. The separated kids would receive special attention to address their socialization issues. This special attention could do a lot of good if it keeps these kids out of the path to truancy and crime. In other words, these kids may need something other than a traditional education and they're not getting it now. 4. I would consider our inner city school systems as already being on the "slippery slope", so why not try to do something different?
Posted on: 2010/1/18 14:20
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Re: Jersey City's schools again do poorly on tests; Bayonne's do well
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Home away from home
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What I was suggesting was separating disruptive kids from the rest of the school population. The disruptive kids need special attention. You can think of them as gifted, if you'd like. In the process, you get an environment more conducive to learning for the rest of the students and one in which teachers are able to do their jobs. It's a win/win. The disruptive kids get specialized attention, the rest of the students get a better learning environment. And with respect to Epps, I just don't see the justification. It's a big job to spend a lot of money running a school district into mediocrity? I might agree with you if it was a matter of running a mediocre school district on a tight budget, or a good school district with a big budget, but neither of these are our case.
Posted on: 2010/1/16 20:44
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Re: Jersey City's schools again do poorly on tests; Bayonne's do well
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Home away from home
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I think the school system should do a better job separating students that want to learn from those that don't. I think there is a small number of students who make it hard for other students to learn and for teachers to teach. The former should be put in a special, alternate school school system. As far as Epps's salary goes, the problem is that it's too high for someone who provides "more of the same" mediocre leadership and management. In other words, you should be able to get someone with his management and leadership skills for much less.
Posted on: 2010/1/16 15:11
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Re: Property taxes likely to go up again.... a lot!
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A couple of questions: 1. How did the city manage in prior years on considerably smaller budgets? 2. Are you getting much better services now than in the past? Keep in mind that inflation over the past decade has been in the 2% - 3% range each year, and city budgets have grown at much faster rates.
Posted on: 2010/1/15 18:15
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Re: Property taxes likely to go up again.... a lot!
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Not all downtown property owners will be hurt by a reval. Anyone that's recently bought a new or refurbished property downtown (ex tax-abated/PILOTed properties) should see their taxes go down. And I think there are a lot of those out there.
Posted on: 2010/1/15 2:30
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Re: Downtown JC - Car Burglarized at corner of Jersey Ave and Mercer St.
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These break-ins are likely one or two man crime waves. That's what I've gleaned from attending the Captain's meeting over the past years. Once they get caught, the wave stops. The break-ins happen whether employment is high or low.
Posted on: 2010/1/9 17:22
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Re: NYTimes: As Population Shifts in Harlem, Blacks Lose Their Majority
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It matters greatly to the New York Times. A large percentage of their stories have a racial angle (at least they did a few years ago, last time I checked).
Posted on: 2010/1/5 20:29
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Re: Carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling SUV
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Home away from home
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Let see ... 1. Dogs don't commute to work (they don't drive cars either) 2. Dogs weigh less than humans (most of the time) and therefore consume less calories than humans (generally speaking it takes more carbon to produce and transport more calories worth of food) 3. Dogs life span is shorter than humans 4. Dogs don't erect complex structures (as in buildings), which requires carbon to do 5. Dogs don't go on planes, unless they're taken by humans, 6. Etc, etc You get the point, I hope.
Posted on: 2009/12/23 15:22
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Re: Carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling SUV
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I'm sure the carbon footprint of humans is much bigger than that of dogs. Just like SUV's man creates other men (and women), so you follow the argument to its logical conclusion.
Posted on: 2009/12/22 18:28
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Re: Real estate prices in Jersey City
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If you use the mortgage underwriting standard that says the occupancy costs should not be more than 1/3 of pre-tax income, $2,800/mo would imply pre-tax income of $100,800, or $50,400 each for a couple where both work. I don't think it's hard to imagine there are people out there making that kind of money.
Posted on: 2009/12/6 23:13
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Re: New liquor store (Buy Rite) coming to downtown
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Went for the first time today and can attest to the mind-boggling selection of beers. This is a must-go place for beer lovers. I could have spent 1/2 hr just going through it all.
The wine selection's pretty good too and prices decent. I'm sure it will only get better since they still have a lot of empty shelf space. Great addition to the area
Posted on: 2009/11/20 19:26
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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It would be a PUBLiC park with private maintenance. How's that for the best of both worlds? I'm all for the conservancy idea and would gladly pitch in.
Posted on: 2009/11/20 19:12
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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Home away from home
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What plants around the gazebo are you talking about? I participated in last springs park cleanup and spent most of my time cleaning and trimming plants around the gazebo and I can tell you that that area hadn't been cared for in months. All of the plants were completely overgrown, the ground around them was filthy with bottles, garbage, etc., it stunk of urine and alcohol, and so on. This was no one's garden. I'm sure whatever's coming around the gazebo will be better than what was there.
Posted on: 2009/11/19 15:03
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Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update
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A pickup truck crashed into the fence sometime before Sunday morning. I saw the crew from Greene construction putting the fence back up Sunday morning and someone tending to the banged up pickup truck. Interestingly, there were no cops around, so the accident could have happened much earlier.
Posted on: 2009/11/16 15:14
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Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here
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I guess what I was trying to say is that when things change in a way that you don't like, there's usually a solution and often a silver lining. Yes, moving is a pain, but when you move from a more-yuppified area to a lesser one, you usually save money on rent. I'm sure there are other benefits as well. And keep in mind that one neighborhood's loss is another's gain.
Posted on: 2009/11/10 21:42
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Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here
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Well I'm sorry, but if the OP's issue was only with VVP and not Jersey City as a whole, he/she should have been more explicit.
Posted on: 2009/11/10 21:23
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Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here
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Don't be so blue, there are still plenty of parts of Jersey City that are rough like the good ole days. Maybe not downtown, but certainly pockets of Greenville, Bergen Lafayette and others. You could probably move to MLK Dr. and it would seem like '98 all over again.
Posted on: 2009/11/10 21:13
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Re: Dickinson High: Threatened gang fight leads to arrest of 3 students for marijuana & 51 vials coc
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Kids like these are a big part of what bring inner city school districts like our down. They make it hard to attract and keep good teachers and principals, make it hard for other kids to learn and scare away middle class families who would otherwise stay and send their children to local schools. When we figure out how to deal with these "kids", and I don't mean after the fact, we'll start fixing our inner city public schools.
Posted on: 2009/10/24 20:05
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