JERSEY CITY LIST - Message Forum

Forum Index

Board index » All Posts (brewster)

Bottom

« 1 ... 152 153 154 (155) 156 157 158 ... 179 »

brewster

Re: New liquor store (Buy Rite) coming to downtown

#4621

Home away from home

I dropped in this afternoon. It's just awesome, particularly compared to the competition. I'm sure there's places somewhere with some better prices, but this is HERE! It's huge, and they're still stocking it.

I suggested booze tastings to the helpful guy who spent quite a while with me talking brandy & bourbon, but they said they couldn't legally do it.

I ended up buying a bottle of German brandy he said was cognac quality that seemed interesting, and a hard to find old favorite, Rebel Yell.

Posted on: 2009/11/20 3:14

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4622

Home away from home

Quote:

pooper wrote:
Quote:

brewster wrote:

All true Geoff. So what happens first? Do we get a group of stakeholders like HPNA, Lefrak, the Silvermans and large condo assn reps to meet with Steve Fulop about the subject and possible legislation needed?

Yes, make sure you have as few people at the table as possible. And make sure you get lots of money involved. That always clarifies the mission.

What park of PUBLIC park don't you get?

You've successfully convinced me this will never happen.

Never mind.

Posted on: 2009/11/20 0:09

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4623

Home away from home

Quote:

G_Elkind wrote:
As one of the progenitors of the Park Conservancy Fund concept, I would have to agree with Brewster that now is the time to re-examine this idea.

Although simple in principle, the challenge will be in properly structuring a 'balanced' governance structure for such a Fund to avoid being captured by any single set of interests -- be it developer, community organizations, or individual residents.

It may also require local legislation similar to that used to establish the various local special improvement districts around the city. Although the SIDs have their own operational and political challenges, a Park Conservancy Fund would need to be manged professionally, with full transparency and financial accountability to the local community that it would serve.

All the best.

Geoff

All true Geoff. So what happens first? Do we get a group of stakeholders like HPNA, Lefrak, the Silvermans and large condo assn reps to meet with Steve Fulop about the subject and possible legislation needed?

Posted on: 2009/11/19 22:57

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4624

Home away from home

Quote:

linky wrote:
I think the only option is to have private citizens volunteer to plant some extra stuff to help spruce up the obligatory plants that the city puts in there.

There is another option we've discussed for years, a Park Conservancy Fund to hire maintenance for the park with money raised from residents, condo assn's, corporations and developers. I've said for years I would donate $100 per year to the park. think how easily we could raise the money for a 1/2 time groundskeeper. Call it a generous $30K, that would only be 300 $100 donations, but I'll bet the Silvermans alone would be good for several thousand.

Maybe now's the time. We don't want our park crapped up again but we can't depend on a volunteer emerging as dedicated as Parkman. Let's put our money where our mouths are.

Posted on: 2009/11/19 18:47

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hawk on First and Erie

#4625

Home away from home

Quote:

slauben wrote:
It was pretty fearless, I tried to get a little closer and as soon as I took a step toward it, it turned right at me and took 2 steps toward me.

A true city dweller, attitude and all. "you lookin at me?"

My son regularly startles me when we're driving around town with shouts of "look, a hawk!!" But they're always up in the sky not lunching on a sedan. He keeps a raptor silhouette identifier book in the seat pocket in front of him.

Posted on: 2009/11/19 18:12

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4626

Home away from home

Quote:

2DogDoll wrote:
The City is sooooo full of s*it

Agreed. They pull bulls**t explanations out of their butts whenever they get caught doing stupid crap, like cutting down all the trees in the park at Jersey & Newark. The question is what do you expect HPNA to do at this point? HPNA officers were apparently not notified in advance, the contractor likely made an "executive decision" based on it being easier for him not to worry about the welfare of the plants. It's done, let's see what we get as replacement.

Posted on: 2009/11/19 3:52

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4627

Home away from home

Quote:

PBW wrote:
Quote:

Iwitness wrote:

On a completely different (but ironic) topic, isn't the fountain everybody here is whining about supposed to be an approximation of some historic fountain that Minnie found a picture of, and insisted on being incorporated into the project?

Here's a postcard I found of HP. Fountain seems like it's twice as big as they new one. I only saw the new one from a distance and may be wrong.

http://picasaweb.google.com/BrendanWe ... andom#5405174247917214626

If you look at the circular fence around the fountain you'll see it's foreshortened into an ellipse, and the standing adults at left are at the end of the ellipse. Geometrically this means the adults can be no less than (depending on the focal length) at the same distance from the camera as the fountain, likely closer. With that as a given, the fountain looks at least 10'-12' high to me.

Posted on: 2009/11/17 21:48

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4628

Home away from home

Quote:

2DogDoll wrote:
Brewster:
2. Are you also saying that because people volunteer their time they are above criticism and should not be held accountable for the results of their actions? Does that apply to ?praise? as well, or is that only limited to ?criticism.?

3. If the HPNA regularly reviewed the progress of the park as per information posted on the HPNA blog site, why didn?t they know about the planned removal. If, according to the HPNA Bylaws, the HPNA is the designated spokesmen for the residents of the community, why put the onus on me to contact the city leadership?

While I appreciate the feeling of having put your time in (I'm about there myself), I don't think that's carte blanc to blame HPNA's board for lack of omniscience. There's a big difference between holding a group accountable for something they DID, vs. something they did not do or missed. Not only might they not have been told even if they had asked directly, but not everyone sees the park every day (I don't). I believe what was suggested was not that you contact the city but that you contact the HPNA if you see something awry.

BTW, I believe most of those plantings were less than 11 years old, and were planted by Alan & Cynthia after they bought a house on the park at that time.

Posted on: 2009/11/17 19:06

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Wave of gentrification that leapfrogged the Hudson has reached new heights - Jersey City Heights

#4629

Home away from home

Quote:

cyclotronic wrote:
This is why Jersey City needs more than the few downtown historic districts. We need them in parts of the Heights, near Lincoln Park, Bergen Hill, etc. Everyone loves bitching about the added overheard and cost of owning a home in a historic district, but downtown would be just as patchy, covered in vinyl, etc, etc if it wasn't for them. It's a shame this wasn't done years ago. In my own neighborhood I've seen so much destroyed in the 7-8 years I've been here.

I've been told that neighborhood movements to create new historic districts have been uniformly killed by property owners fearful of added expense after hearing stories of the "take no prisoners" Historic Preservation Board.

What we need is "historic lite" districts, that conserve the essence of neighborhoods without striving for "museum quality". Something that would encourage traditional flat roof & cornice facades, and discourage pink brick monstrosities and vinyl siding without mandating historic only materials (requiring wooden windows) or exact restoration of what was in an 80 year old photo.

Posted on: 2009/11/16 21:30

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4630

Home away from home

I recall the plantings were supposed to be left intact, but anyone who has ever renovated knows no plan survives contact with the enemy, er, contractor.

2DogDoll, HPNA consists of nothing but your neighbors who try and help to limit of their valuable time and abilities. No one is infallible, and the amount of work put in by a very few people (including Sam) is staggering. Get off your righteous horse, people volunteering their precious time don't deserve your slagging. I don't recall anytime in the last decade any HPNA member being turned away from joining the HPNA board. Give it a try. Or at least be understanding, if your own life is too busy, how hard it is for the people who do put themselves out.

Posted on: 2009/11/16 21:17

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Hamilton Park Renovation - Update

#4631

Home away from home

This is what you get when your city makes most of it's revenue dissapear into a "unions & contracting" black hole and only leaves scraps for serving the people. You get the cheapest possible crap for the parks, like the fountain also. This tasteful playground was in Presidio Heights, San Francisco. Sometimes you get what you pay for, just not in JC. Click on thumbnails for full images

Posted on: 2009/11/16 17:08

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here

#4632

Home away from home

Quote:

neverleft wrote: I think you all have it wrong?click on the link below for a truely ironic beard!!! yummy <-- click here from this truely ironic web site www.hairychin.net

Okay, if we're going to play THAT game! The one on the right is the lady, hows that for ironic beard? (Hedwig and the Angry Inch is all irony) Resized Image

Posted on: 2009/11/13 18:38

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here

#4633

Home away from home

Quote:

fasteddie wrote:
Quote:

heights wrote:
If you want the same tranquil atmosphere of DT JC without the Hipster/Yuppie scene then try the Heights best kept secret, away from it all

Actually, we are here among you, right under your nose but so uber ironic that you don't realize. We have taken irony to a whole nother level. We dress like students, we dress like housewives or in a suit and a tie, I changed my hairstyle so many times now don't know what I look like.

Yes, David Byrne would definitely be at the top the OP's hipster sh*tlist as he rides by on an ironic retro bicycle.

BTW, how do I tell if my beard's ironic, or simply a symbol of how lazy I am that it lets me get away with the least possible grooming? Or IS THAT the irony? That people think beards mean anything at all? Personally I think shaving is an affectation of artificially prolonged adolescence. Time was when people knew when to grow up! (and grow great big muttonchop sideburns too)

Posted on: 2009/11/13 0:43

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: (yet another) accident down by 440 and Communipaw **11/12/09 4pm**

#4634

Home away from home

I was wondering why JFK was such a mess through Journal Sq when I was trying to drive home my son's friend. It was brutal.

Posted on: 2009/11/12 22:13

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here

#4635

Home away from home

Quote:

crushthedemoniac wrote:
Not in the slightest bit dramatic why would you say that my post is dramatic? Its the truth, im just saying I see very little difference between Downtown JC and Hoboken now.

Hey, you want to know something different? They just elected a mayor & government that isn't in the pocket of unions and developers, because yuppie scum actually outvoted the "born & raised" drones who have let the corrupt machine run both Hoboken and JC into the ground. It did help that their mayor was arrested for not being as cagey as ours about how he took his payoffs.

If it wasn't for gentrifyers both towns would have continued their crumble to dust, because the home values were so low nothing was worth fixing, "just let it buuuurn."

"Boo hoo, those yuppies built a new house in that empty drug dealer filled lot and renovated that rotting out shell. THEY SUCK! How dare they drive up rents because I wanted to buy a new car and a big screen instead of a buying my home"

12 years ago you could have bought an apartment downtown for $40k, entire multifamilies were under $200k . The many working class people who had bought their homes here then & previously are definitely NOT boo-hooing Downtown's rebirth. They've gotten a real piece of the American dream, not to mention safer streets.

Posted on: 2009/11/11 3:14

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Ode to my lost home/ My first posting in 11 years of living here

#4636

Home away from home

Quote:

EthanCrane wrote:
Yep, that's it exactly: the smug I-was-here-first attitude that so often shows up on JC List.

BTW, being here 11 years doesn't make you a long-timer. I also moved here in '98 and I'm happy with the neighborhood improvements.

No, the Hard Grove isn't what it was. I guess that's white people's fault.

I think it depends on who you know and hang with. We've been here 12 and don't feel like "old timers". And I don't miss the drug dealers across the street or the latin music blasting out of windows at all hours or the break ins by the junkie friends of our neighbors.

Posted on: 2009/11/10 20:48

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Palisade Ave./Heights: NJ Transit accident injures six people - Bus pulls out, hit by speeding car

#4637

Home away from home

Quote:

kitten wrote:
Quote:

fasteddie wrote:
Quote:

kitten wrote:
I agree about the buses though. They don't pull over to the curb and it really pisses me off.

It annoys me too but I think the reason they don't pull into the bus stops is because the cars won't give them a break to pull back out into traffic again and the reason cars won't give them a break is because they don't want to be driving behind a bus, myself included.

I know! I do see this and I see a lot of drivers don't understand that you are supposed to yield to buses.

The worst to me though, is when you pull over for an ambulance and then the cars coming up behind you act like it is an opportunity to pass and won't let you back in... this has only happened to me on Palisades Avenue. It's kind of one of the craziest places to drive.

Yeah, but that "behind the bus" thing is circular because if they actually pulled out then it wouldn't suck to be behind a bus. Palisade does particularly suck, If I'm going up as far Palisade Lumber I'll take the Baldwin/Webster route, much faster with almost no buses.

Posted on: 2009/11/8 4:53

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Palisade Ave./Heights: NJ Transit accident injures six people - Bus pulls out, hit by speeding car

#4638

Home away from home

You know, I don't doubt the guy was speeding a bit, but all those frigging buses act like there's no one else on the road. They stop without pulling to the curb even when the bus stop is perfectly clear, and turn or pull out regardless of traffic and just expect you to watch out. This time it failed.

BTW, the Mercedes didn't have airbags? Must be a "classic" then.

Posted on: 2009/11/7 16:46

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Tenant background/cedit check agency recommendation

#4639

Home away from home

Quote:

teacher wrote:
How does one submit damaging info on past tenants that fail to pay or reneg on the lease duration?

I think filing evictions will show up in the eviction report, but it's a good question what else you can do. It's not like you can evict a lease breaker-- or can you? Technically they're still in residence and not paying....

Posted on: 2009/11/7 6:24

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Tenant background/cedit check agency recommendation

#4640

Home away from home

MrLandlord.com

Easy, quick and $10 for single source credit check, add on for multiple agencies and criminal or eviction reports. We've been very happy since we started checking out prospects there.

Posted on: 2009/11/6 3:32

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Are you allowed to BeeKeep in the city?

#4641

Home away from home

And think about the farmers markets. When we visit the Pequest Hatchery festival out past Hackettstown we always make a point of buying a 5lb jug of local NJ honey to help support the local beekeepers.

Posted on: 2009/11/6 3:29

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Only in Jersey City

#4642

Home away from home

Boots in JC aren't about scofflaws like most places, they're simply about extortion since the policy was of booting 1st time offenders with no outstanding tickets. Supposedly Steve Fulop has gotten that changed, since it was apparently illegal, but I wonder if this car had any outstanding tickets or not.

Posted on: 2009/11/4 18:47

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Why net nuetrality is important

#4643

Home away from home

Apparently the OP is unable to tell a "work of art" when he sees one. Personally, I believe broadband should be a regulated market utility like post ATT pre-VOIP telecom, but presenting stuff like this doesn't as fact helps no one.

Posted on: 2009/10/29 5:28

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Anti-gay group plans protests in Jersey City

#4644

Home away from home

I know it's hard to resist the bait, but ANY attention is what these morons want. The media should have ignored them, as the synagogue requested it's members to. A hater has no interest in shouting to an empty street with no cameras.

Posted on: 2009/10/28 21:57

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: City Planner Cotter only helps himself.......

#4645

Home away from home

While I doubt Mr. Cotter has much control over the road surfacing, I'll venture that if there has been any planning going on in JC, I've yet to detect it. Consider the basic concept of new parks for new neighborhoods. Parks define some of the best neighborhoods in our city and elsewhere, Hamilton, Lincoln, Van Vorst, Church Sq, Washington Sq, Central and Riverside parks.

Yet (very unlike Hoboken or Battery Park City) there's no significant park in all of the waterfront north of the Morris Canal, just tiny "greenspaces" and the walkway. Look at Liberty North, bigger than the Van Vorst neighborhood, yet no real park there (I define real park as 1 block like Van Vorst or larger). Before the development flatlined there were plans for residential redevelopment in the "Jersey Ave redevelopment zone" N of 14th, but, yet again, no park planned, in fact the city sold it's property there.

It's just pathetic, and parks are simply the most glaring and obvious measure of "planning". Some urban development critics like James Howard Kunstler say that "city planners" generally have devolved into simple code enforcers. Lord knows what goes on here at a more detailed level. Lets not even get started on the short lives and untimely deaths of the WALDO and "powerhouse arts district".

Posted on: 2009/10/28 18:59

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Holding tanks, pumping stations for flood prevention

#4646

Home away from home

Quote:

ianmac47 wrote:
An interesting concern with the new pumping stations is that once they are operational, the EPA might shut them down because they would be pumping effluent into the Hudson River.

It's gonna end in the river because the '"Combined Sewer Outfall" system is designed that way, the treatment plant can only handle a fraction of rainfall. The only question is whether it takes a trip to your basement and streets first.

Too bad some of that stimulus money couldn't have been spent on sewer updates rather than streets upgrades to bring more cars downtown.

Posted on: 2009/10/27 15:19

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: Holding tanks, pumping stations for flood prevention

#4647

Home away from home

Quote:

hero69 wrote:
Has the City or the JMUA done anything to remedy the flooding downtown? I believe NYC is building massive holding tanks so that it can be certain to treat the water.

Hoboken is building pumping stations, but JC, as always, is status quo.

Posted on: 2009/10/26 21:50

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: MSNBC List of best cities to raise kids

#4648

Home away from home

Quote:

jennymayla wrote:
it's cities, not towns, so there's that.

the fact that we are above san francisco is mind-boggling.

SF is VERY expensive, and they account for affordability in the index. It's nice to see them focus on actual cities instead of little "hothouse flower" towns. Not that Burlington is much of a city, it's the size of Hoboken.

Posted on: 2009/10/21 3:11

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: MSNBC List of best cities to raise kids

#4649

Home away from home

Quote:

susiederkins wrote:
Quote:
I'm sorry, I know I live here and I love it. BUT-I would not raise kids here. No way, no how!!

Agreed. Kids need a safe place to run around, ride bikes, and play street hockey. They shouldn't have to worry about stray bullets or homeless drug addicts when they're walking home from school.

Sad to say, but your (and my) idyllic recollections of childhood are obsolete. Kids don't walk home from school anymore, ESPECIALLY in the burbs! Middle class and up kids everywhere simply don't get the autonomy & unsupervised time that was normal 40 years ago.

And if you're not parents, you may not realize how dense and high quality the resources for raising kids are here. My son fences, we have a seriously world class fencing academy here on 16th street, minutes away. The same goes for dance, art and many other enrichments.

Posted on: 2009/10/21 1:20

Topic | Forum

brewster

Re: MSNBC List of best cities to raise kids

#4650

Home away from home

Quote:

sassinak wrote:
what a ridiculous list.. did you happen to take a look at the stuff that they used as criteria in coming up with this.

Hush. I love stuff like this to send to my mother in law who's still horrified we live in the city. Her attitude is "cities are a tolerated evil for poor people, but why would one choose to live in one?". This from a woman who recycles and composts obsessively, but lives alone in a 4000 sq ft house.

My favorite thing to tell her is her grandchildren have a far lower chance of dying here than in the burbs, since they won't ever drive anywhere as teens. Rural and suburban kids die all the time from drunk or just stupid driving, at a far higher rate than any urban violence can achieve.

Posted on: 2009/10/21 0:06

Topic | Forum

Top

« 1 ... 152 153 154 (155) 156 157 158 ... 179 »