they don't get enough recess. Teachers/Administrators view it as a hassle (accidents, falls, etc) and as such do the bare minimum to get the kids out.

Our experience was that kids couldn't go out until after every kid had finished their lunch. This drove me crazy as it penalized kids who ate quickly so they could get outside and run around.

Every study under the sun shows that longer recess correlates to better classroom focus/test scores/etc...

Couple points - all along Newark Ave/Grove Street there are apartments. Furthermore amplified music travels and that is a source of QOL frustration for those on residential blocks close to the overlay zones.

Yes Newark is commercial. But there is a big difference between retail stores and Restaurants in Name Only (which are really bars) that stay open til 2AM.

No question the original sin is the Restaurant Overlay. It wasn't well thought out and no one put much thought into the unintended consequences. Couple that with JC's inability to enforce laws on the book (think noise ordinances) and it is no surprise QOL is an issue around these establishments.

It's gonna get worse as the restaurants are going further from Pedestrian Plaza into areas that most would consider residential.

Every applicant claims to be a "quaint neighbor friendly" restaurant. Please. It's much easier to make fast money selling booze to the broboken drunks than serving gourmet fare to the foodies.

It's really sad to think that huge Hoboken style bars are the best JC could come up with to replace all the 99 cent stores. Blown opportunity in my book...

The Broboken type bars have not raised property values. The NYC/Brooklyn spillover has raised property values. The marginal property OWNER in DTJC is not doing shots at 2AM at Porta

A study of film history offers the solution. As seen in Roadhouse any late night bar a la the Double Deuce needs to hire its own team of coolers like Dalton to contain the problems...

Part of the problem is historically JC enforcement on bar related quality of life issues has not exactly been strong. They trot out the usual excuse of we have bigger problems elsewhere, not enough manpower, etc. As they are doing now btw.

As such the bar owners feel emboldened to do whatever they want and will wait unil (if) JC does anything to clamp down on their drunken patrons.

Yes make all SID businesses pay for the problems being caused by a handful of bars that everyone knows are the source of trouble. Makes a lot of sense. Kind of like having the US taxpayer pay for the problems caused by a handful of banks in 2008. JC needs to figure out a way to make the problem bars solve/pay for this issue. How about if you are open past 11PM you're in the club that has to pay to fix the issue.

The pedestrian plaza is an asset to DTJC until the hours of 12-3AM. That's when the drunks take over and it becomes a zoo.

JC code has very little protection for residents who like to keep normal hours. Restaurants (which are really bars) are permitted in places you'd never expect and if you look around DTJC you see lots of places being converted to bars. Anyplace with a liquor license open past 11PM will lead to noise issues, drunks, etc. Instead of allowing them to dot the entire downtown, JC should come up with one area where late night establishments are allowed. That way people know it and if they chose to live close by they know what they are getting into.

I'd love to know if JC has even once enforced the noise ordinance that Rich Boggiano made law last year???

If the FED is serious about raising rates (so they have some wiggle room to cut when the inevitable downturn occurs) then that may put a bit of a damper on the RE bonanza. I'm not sure at what point rates get people's attention, but with rates going up theoretically asset prices should come down in lockstep. We shall see.

The industry will be under increased pressure if the number of over-residential home flights continue to grow. Why the FAA isn't leaning harder on the helo industry to use quieter equipment is beyond me.

NYC was aggressive in the Giuliani years and shut down one upper east side heliport and moved all the tourist flights to the downtown helipad (good for midtown not good for JC).

Sadly Fulop rubber stamped DiBlasio's embarrassing giveaway deal to the heli-tourism operators last year. That deal has done basically nothing to quiet down the Hudson corridor and further entrenched an industry that reduces residents' quality of life and home values.

Until JC stands up for itself we will continue to get a lotta flyovers...

Jolly - what are the routes helicopters are supposed to use when going from Kearny to the NYC helipads? My understanding is they are supposed to go over 139 and 14th Street/Holland Tunnel which is why that Target and Acme get a ton of low flying overheads.

Yet down in the Van Vorst area we get double digits flights overhead daily. Some are higher than others. The number of flights has gotten steadily worse over the past decade.

Would be nice if the industry made a bigger push for quieter equipment...

Ha - the FAA has very few rules for helicopters and good luck getting them to enforce anything. They leave it up to the Pilot in Command. Go spend half hour in front of the Acme or Target and tell me you don't see choppers regularly flying well under 1000 feet.

It's the wild west in the sky when it comes to helicopters and unfortunately JC is right on the flight path between the Kearny helipad where most go overnight and the NYC helipads.

not sure I follow your logic. Of course a highly populated city should theoretically have lower taxes than a suburb with 2 acre minimum lots. JC has a much bigger denominator than Summit. Yet post-Reval DTJC owners will be paying Summit type property taxes. I am not sure people are going to like that given the overall value proposition. Brooklyn rowhouses pay much lower percentages in RE taxes relative to FMV as NYC has an even bigger denominator than JC.

My view is that JC taxes at 1.8 - 2.2% of FMV will be a strong headwind if the Reval is done accurately. I think people would rather pay a higher price for their asset (equity) and lower taxes than the other way around. We'll find out eventually...

The phase in logic doesn't add up. Most DTJC rowhouse owners CAN PAY, they just don't want to pay. The artist who bought in 1995 and has a $1mm unrealized capital gain can borrow against equity to pay. The yuppie who bought in the last 3 years can pay.

Turn your argument around - do you think the guy in BELA who has been overpaying for years thinks the phase in is fair? Should he keep overpaying albeit in smaller amounts each year?

JC is long overdue to fix this reverse Robin Hood mess.

Any reval appraisals will take into consideration the new tax structure when valuing the homes. It is simple bond math.

The bigger issue is will DTJC rowhouses be attractive when they sport 30K in property taxes. I think the psychology is the million dollar question..

Steve knows he's on thin ice with a lot of the DTJC voters who are less than pleased with what he has actually done while in office.

Throw in another 10-20K per year in RE taxes for the $1mm plus rowhouse crowd and you can bet the votes/donations will be tough to come by...

great spot; will be back many times...

guessing your average BELA or heights commercial establishment does not pay such low taxes relative to Market Value of building...

totally agree. Simple math is not fear mongering. RE brokers really should do the right thing and disclose the probability that many homes will see significant tax increases. I'm not holding my breath...

I really think the test for DTJC RE is psychological. It was one thing when you could get a single family rowhouse for $1mm and change and pay 12K in taxes. It's a whole different ballgame when you are paying $2mm+ and 40K in RE taxes. All of sudden the so-so services, weak public schools, PATH crowding, etc don't seem like such a good value for the RE taxes being paid. Put another way - will people pay Summit, NJ taxes and accept inner city service levels.

Time will tell...

so check this out - 133 Mercer St being listed for $3.595mm. They list in their financials page that they pay about 21K in property tax. If they even get 2.5mm they are still gonna see a big uptick in property taxes.

This building is cut up into 4 floor through rentals. It is well maintained and still has a lot of detail.

Maybe I'm underestimating the feeding frenzy in DTJC but I'm not sure 3.595mm is realistic with a $131K rent roll. Perhaps others who know mutli family finance can chime in on what a typical multiple is to annual roll.

Here's the webpage for the building with details...
http://www.133mercer.com/financials.html

small biz owners around Paulus Hook have expensive leases and these guys are cooking with high quality ingredients. I'm happy to pay a bit more for the real deal.

yeah will likely get them overhauled.

If anyone has any people or places they recommend for this type of work LMK. Thanks...

Speakers are Fried Studio IV from early 80s and they have Hiquphon tweeters. The company still makes Fried replacements and I may have to go that route.

In 3 Stooges fashion I bobbled the tweeter and it fell about a foot and hit the driver frame. It hasn't been happy since...

Listening to my Dad's hand me down Dual 604 right now. Hope you can get yours in order.

Does anyone know of a speaker repair shop that can deal with early 80s Fried speakers that have soldered connections? I managed to damage one tweeter and need some help...

that article, even if half accurate, is totally depressing...

These are the people in charge of a roughly $675mm budget...

Highly recommend Vogue Cafe. Croissants and sandwiches are made on site by very friendly owner/operators.

So many of the places opening around DTJC are run by professional restaurant groups. It's refreshing to have some new owner operated places that deliver great quality and a bit more authenticity.

Maybe they are stuck in a long lease but it seems ridiculous to keep that much space for what is essentially a handful of ATM machines. There were 2 when i was last in there a few weeks ago.

Totally depressing, that building has a ton of great architectural detail but you'd never know inside...

If given a choice between NYC and JC they will stay on the NJ side. Just like they do with the endless heli-tours...

The news choppers are very annoying. They never hover over NYC they hammer NJ. These choppers will be replaced by drones - the sooner the better.

Let city hall know they hurt your quality of life. They do track a Aviation noise complaints

well if 2% is the going rate for JC property taxes and some chump hits their $3mm ask, they're looking at a cool $60K a year in taxes. Not bad for getting your trash hauled and mediocre to bad school options.

Though they are close to the PATH...

well if 2% is the going rate for JC property taxes and some chump hits their $3mm ask, they're looking at a cool $60K a year in taxes. Not bad for getting your trash hauled and mediocre to bad school options.

Though they are close to the PATH...

the can is also kicked down the road with unrealistic pension return assumptions. Low fixed income rates and volatile equities make actuarial assumptions tough.