"We are not a city under siege," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement. "In fact, crime has dropped steadily here the last 18 months."

redd5 wrote:
statistics are great, but they're often misleading. it doesn't seem so horrible to me, that crime stats stayed the same for a particular month, year to year. but If they went way up, or down, that could be something interesting.

tern wrote:
Going back in this thread a litlle, can anyone explain how someone can tell whether I am home or not from my wireless network?

Robin.

soshin wrote:
Quote:

nugnfutz wrote:

2. I had a wireless lan that people outside the residence could use to detect activity. (Your wireless lan not only tells people that you're likely to have tech goodies, but can also indicate whether ur at home on not to a tech-savvy burglar).

Worth posting similar patterns/experiences if u have them.

I doubt this is really relavent, maybe if your burglar was James Bond yes, but not Timmy the crackhead.

Firstly, how would someone know where the wireless signal was originating in an area as squashed together as Downtown JC? and then be able to break your encryption, unless of course you don't have your encryption turned on which is kinda stupid in a built up area.

If you are not encrypted, don't go posting your credit card details on that wireless LAN anytime soon. FYI

RABBITRABBIT wrote:
Quote:

piglet wrote:
Hey, I forgot who said that the VV dog run doesn't stink. It does! I went by there the other day, when it was hot and humid and it smelled horribly....like urine and poop. I don't know what you people were talking about?

it was I who first mentioned the stink and all these do-gooders told me that i was crazy and that I should be nicer. we;;, being nice doesn't diminish that the park smells like a litter box on a hot day. Thnaks fior the vote of confidence. (Hear that parkie? The absorbant Turkish gravel FAILED!)

G_Elkind wrote:
4bailey:

A personal observation and a most-important correction:

Personal Observation:
The vote was what it was based on the choices provided.

I can't say the choices presented in this referendum were the perfect choices or even the best choices, however, these were the choices the city asked us to vote on based upon the recommendations of the professionals they hired for this purpose. (I often find myself saying something similar in many respects regarding the choices we face when voting in any of our municipal, state or federal elections.)

To speculate that the outcome was merely a "mommie" vote generated out of some unspecified "fear" or "security" concern sounds more like "blame" than it does sour grapes. Personally, I find this type of analysis to be more divisive than you may have found the choices themselves.

I could easily speculate alternative rationals for why the vote turned out the way it did that have nothing to do with a mommie vote or the dog run design. But such speculation does little to help move the conversation forward in a positive manner.

As has been mentioned here before, a final detailed plan will have to produced by the city architects.

There will be plenty of opportunity for additional input on specific design elements details to achieve an acceptable outcome for everyone. So rather than look backwards, I would hope you would look forward and participate actively in this important, next stage of developing the final park plan.

A Correction
As to the choices, the target of your criticism is misdirected.

The HPNA did NOT design the choices appearing on the ballot. Those choices presented by the city were those provided by the architects they hired - Schoor DePalma.

Quote:

Final Ballot Notes
This ballot is intended to gather the community?s views on the four concept plans presented by Schoor DePalma to the City of Jersey City. Please keep in mind that these four designs are concept plans, intended to address amenity inclusion and general location only. Details such as the size and shape of any amenity are flexible and are subject to revision after the ballot when the final construction plans are drawn.

http://hamiltonpark.org/ballot4/june9ballot.html

Rather than assigning blame, it's time for everyone to come together constructively and help finalize a park plan that works for everyone. I see that process happening as we speak and I am not discouraged by the outcome of the vote.

All the best.

Geoff

piglet wrote:
Hey, I forgot who said that the VV dog run doesn't stink. It does! I went by there the other day, when it was hot and humid and it smelled horribly....like urine and poop. I don't know what you people were talking about?

Annod wrote:
How does the number of voters here compare to the number of voters in the primary in Hamilton Park?

BrightMoment wrote:
Below is the .pdf of the HPNA letter submitted today into public record in response to the Draft Report of the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study. For more information on this study and the four proposed concept plans, please visit http://www.downtownjcras.com .

Special thanks to Jon Gellman for attending the Tuesday morning Steering Committee city meetings regarding this issue, and to all community members who have spoken out against the proposed 11th Street Viaduct that threatens our neighborhood.

Hope to see everyone at tomorrow's annual June festival in Hamilton Park!
- Jen Greely
**********************************************
Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association
Est. 1977

June 8, 2007
Re: Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access And Downtown Circulation Study

To Whom It May Concern:

For the past 30 years, the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) has been active in community affairs affecting the Hamilton Park neighborhood of Downtown Jersey City. The Hamilton Park neighborhood is bounded by Marin Boulevard to the east, Division Street to the west, 12th Street to the north, and 6th street to the south. With
around 100 dues-paying members and well-attended monthly public meetings, the HPNA takes seriously its role as a community sounding board and activist group for local issues.

As such, the HPNA participated in the 2007 meetings of the Steering Committee for the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study. It is extremely unfortunate that these meetings were held at 8:30 am on weekday mornings, making it very difficult for the HPNA to attend more meetings. As it was, our single representative had to take personal time from work in order to be briefed on these very important issues. The following summarizes concerns raised by residents of the Hamilton Park neighborhood as well as the unanimous consensus reached by voting dues-paying members of the HPNA at our May General Membership meeting.

Concept 1: Jersey Avenue Extension to Audrey Zapp Drive

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the construction of an emergency vehicle-access single lane road with bicycle access between Liberty State Park and Jersey Avenue. We strongly oppose the construction of a two-lane general traffic road.

Building the Jersey Avenue Extension would permit yet more cars to enter Downtown Jersey City at a particularly vulnerable location. Jersey Avenue and Grand Street is a
highly trafficked intersection for children traveling to and from two schools as well as a primary hospital for Jersey City. The flawed scoring model in the Draft Report does not
adequately provide for safety concerns of pedestrian schoolchildren making their way to class or emergency vehicles making their way to the hospital at the same time as the a.m. rush traffic period.

In addition, the construction of a Jersey Avenue Extension general access road would permit commuters to exit the New Jersey Turnpike and cut through Liberty State Park as
an attempted shortcut before reaching the Grand Street Exit, disrupting the peaceful nature of the open green space that is our local treasure in Liberty State Park. It would also permit commuters in cars to attempt access to the Holland Tunnel or Hoboken through the small, local streets of several historic districts. Already there are unsafe levels of commuter traffic along the historic streets of Erie and Monmouth, to which the Jersey Avenue Extension would undoubtedly worsen.

Concept 2: Center/Merseles Structure over Montgomery Street

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the construction of this revised Christopher Columbus exit off the New Jersey Turnpike. This structure would make for a safer exit from the Turnpike by avoiding cross-traffic and pedestrian traffic at Montgomery Street. We encourage planners to consider this Concept and in doing so, make every effort to maintain a safe pedestrian environment with alternative pedestrian means for those traveling on foot and by bicycle.

Concept 3: Merseles/Wilson/Aetna Street Extensions

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association opposes Concept 3. Although it might facilitate traffic flow in those few blocks, the additional traffic burden on neighboring streets that are not designed to support such congestion is detrimental to the overall community.

Concept 4: 11th Street Viaduct

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association vehemently opposes the construction of an elevated viaduct along 11th Street. This elevated highway would purportedly allow direct
access for cars exiting the New Jersey Turnpike to the Newport waterfront area of Jersey City in an effort to decrease congestion on other local streets. In doing so, it would also introduce an elevated highway to a quiet, historic neighborhood of brownstone-lined streets surrounding an historic park. The neighborhood would bear no direct benefit, yet would bear all the burden of having a highway cut through its quiet streets. Air quality and noise issues notwithstanding, the aesthetic disharmony introduced by constructing a highway through a 140-year old historic neighborhood is of grave concern.

Furthermore, this elevated viaduct would cut directly over the corner of Enos Jones Park on Brunswick Avenue. This infringes not only on the limited amount of green space available to Downtown Jersey City residents, but also raises safety concerns related to litter and exhaust fumes polluting the open space in and around the park itself. Residents of new-construction buildings along 10th Street also face the reality of having their views altered to look out on a highway passing directly outside their windows. Unfortunately, the model used for scoring the proposed traffic projects in the Draft Report does not address these vital quality of life issues at all. This flawed scoring model leads to an unbalanced evaluation score that does not reflect the burden borne by the Hamilton Park neighborhood should the 11th Street Viaduct become a reality.

At a time when neighboring metropolitan areas such as New York City are exploring ways of reducing vehicle congestion through innovative means such as congestion-use taxes and improved or extended public transportation, it is sad and counter-intuitive to build something as extensive as an elevated viaduct through an historic neighborhood to commuters in private vehicles. The Newport Waterfront area is already served by several means of public transportation, including a PATH station, a
New Jersey Transit Light Rail stop, ferry service, and numerous bus lines. Public funds should be spent on improving these existing modes of public transportation into an already thriving business community, not constructing an elevated viaduct for additional commuter traffic that ultimately threatens the safety and harmony of a quaint historic district of Downtown Jersey City.

Additional Thoughts

In addition to the aforementioned Concepts, the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supports the extended use and construction of bicycle lanes and improved pedestrian traffic signals, in addition to smart-growth plans for parking ratios throughout the Downtown area.

In order to curb the tide of commuter vehicle traffic speeding through the historic districts we also encourage planners to explore the possibility of alternate one-way sets of blocks on streets that are heavily traveled at high speeds. This method of having three or four blocks designated one-way north, then or four blocks designated one-way south along the same street (such as Monmouth Street, Coles Street, or Erie Street, all of which have serious problems with excessive commuter traffic) has been implemented in neighboring Hoboken with great success. It frustrates commuters trying to snake through downtown in order to avoid Holland Tunnel traffic and slows the flow of regular traffic through the historic neighborhoods, making it safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association and extended Hamilton Park community appreciates your consideration of our neighborhood views. We look forward to the opportunity to work further on helping to develop these plans in the coming years.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Z. Greely
President, Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association
Email: hpnajc@gmail.com
Website: www.hamiltonpark.org
Blog: http://hamiltonpark.blogspot.com

Ross_Ewage wrote:

....That's just politics.....

BrightMoment wrote:
Nice thoughtful post lunawolf3.

My only question is what option do you recommend we vote for in this ballot?

brewster wrote:
They were given a copy of the HPNA survey report, and included in their designs most of the features we said we wanted. Except a 2 tennis court run. How much clearer do you need?

brewster wrote:
"Opt-out" is not a legitimate alternative, not least because when there's a dog run community tolerance of dogs off leash will escalate.

brewster wrote:

Sweet. After all your careful analysis of the tort risks of walking a leashed dog past a fenced playground, you're going to turn yours loose wherever. Keep your liability insurance paid up.

Look, the city's designers clearly disagree with the size of the dog run we voted for, and we got half in every design. Let's work to expand the run what we can in whatever design is picked rather than make destructive "opt out" comments like you have.