Re: 15th St Deli
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Are there actually any real delis other than 2nd Street Bakery in DTJC?
The lack of a real deli, or pizza by the slice places is so bizarre.
Posted on: 2016/2/29 21:37
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Re: BURGER EATERY on 1st & Erie
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I'm glad somebody agrees with me on the design choices, LOL. The glass is fine and probably should be there but why frosted? Seemed like they are trying to limit visibility, and in the process it REALLY isolates the space. In general, an awkward setup but it seems like they are not trying to draw much of a dine-in crowd. And yes, the name seems ridiculously generic, I'm not sure if it was intended that way or what, but as a details-oriented person this kills me, LOL.
That said, I finally tried the burger on Friday. It was tasty. A notch below Shake Shack and a bit pricier, but it was pretty tasty.
Posted on: 2016/2/28 18:03
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Re: Santiago Calatrava on his soon-to-be-opened WTC Transit Hub
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It's only February but I nominate Santiago Calatrava as douchebag of the year. I can't even believe somebody would make comments like that publicly. He sounds like a very bad person.
Man I hate everything this building stands for -- the person who designed it, it's complete lack of purpose, and the $4B that it cost, which could have actually changed the face of regional transit if spent in meaningful ways. Barf.
Posted on: 2016/2/27 19:38
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Re: The Draper
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Well bodhipooh you named a restaurant that happens to have a couple of beer taps (Skinners), so I guess I'm counting restaurants that happen to serve cocktails :) Although there are plenty of places I'd consider cocktail bars to varying degrees:
- Dullboy - The Archer - The Draper - Third and Vine (wine bar/cocktail bar) - South House (def more bar than restaurant, and the only thing they specialize in is cocktails - certainly not beer, by any means - terrible tap list) - LITM - more cocktail bar than any other type of bar - Union Republic (yes this one is restaurant first, cocktail bar second) For beer bars, I'll revise my statement a bit ... I'm referring to American craft beer/microbrews. There are very few that offer anything unique. Barcade is one, and really the only "good" one. Hopscotch ... I was there last Friday ... it IS actually a decent taplist, but oh my goodness the vibe in there has to be the worst out of any bar in JC. It felt like a Longhorn Steakhouse meets TGI Fridays, meets weird sports lounge. Good concept with all the taps, but really depressing vibe which to me, vibe is a huge part of the experience, so it really kills it for me. Iron Monkey -- they do have a LOT of beer. But it's not curated that well; rather, they have a lot of really weird stuff that is generally bad. Secondly, and most importantly, they never clean their tap lines, which leads to beer that tastes awful very often. Thirdly, they burn through bartenders, and NONE of the bartenders I've ever had there know anything whatsoever about beer. I mean nothing. That in and of itself makes it not a proper beer bar. Like Hopscotch ... good concept, very poorly executed. Wish somebody would buy that place, keep a similar concept, but execute it with better beers, cleaner tap lines, and just hire a few people who know a thing or two about beer. It really can't be that hard. Skinners - very few taps, and I've never seen anything that's recognized as above average beer, on tap there. I'll add that aside from Barcade, White Star in Hamilton Park usually has a pretty good taplist, although not huge. I wouldn't consider it a "beer bar", but it's acceptable as a beer drinking bar, and the vibe in there is pretty great.
Posted on: 2016/2/26 19:52
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Re: The Draper
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The pics of The Draper look nice. Weird name (reminds me of Don Draper, how could it not). I know it is supposed to mean something else though.
You know, I feel that there is a bit of a saturation of "cocktail lounges" in downtown JC. Meanwhile only one real proper craft beer bar (Barcade). Somebody stands to make a lot of money if they open a nice looking chill space with 15-20 very solid tap lines. It kind of doesn't exist here (Barcade is great but not really "chill" unless off-peak hours).
Posted on: 2016/2/26 15:25
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Re: The gentrification of ward A & F... The newbies vs the old timers.
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As diverse as Jersey City is, I feel that the Jewish community is barely represented at all here, which always surprised me.
Posted on: 2016/2/26 5:54
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Regarding Jersey City pubic transit:
https://smartasset.com/mortgage/best-c ... for-public-transportation Has problems but still better than most.
Posted on: 2016/2/26 5:20
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
To make sure we're on the same page. My points in this thread; I'm mostly referring to Downtown JC. I've never lived more than a 10-minute walk from a Path station, so my experience is skewed towards that experience. I COMPLETELY agree that the rest of Jersey City is underserved by transit, although it is probably FAR above the national average in terms of available transit. Many non-downtown JC neighborhoods have light rail access, and many (most?) have bus access. But I agree, underserved. Bringing it back to Downtown, which is where most development is, and therefore most relevant to this discussion. People like to pick on the Path. I've complained about the Path. The Path needs to get it's shit together, BUT it's generally pretty good, and the major issue - overcrowding - can probably be addressed by increasing train frequency. The period of time when the trains run every 5-6 minutes just needs to be extended. It's the "fringe" hours of the commute times that see the most overcrowding (like 7:00 pm for example). I may be in the minority, but I believe Path will ultimately be fine. As the system becomes strained, there will be enough pressure to push for increased frequency, longer platforms, etc. My pipe dream scenario is having the Path be acquired by the MTA, which is a transportation organization with accountability, as opposed to the Port Authority which is a crooked organization that cares more about real estate.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 22:30
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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El Squid, I'm also a big transit fan, trains mostly. Aside from situations that are overcrowded, I generally enjoy riding subways and trains.
The Amtrak ride from Penn Station to Boston is like heaven to me - cool scenery.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 22:17
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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El Squid gets it.
I think to be honest a big part of the problem is that Jersey City is in NJ, and NJ has never really had a "major" city, and certainly never had a major city in modern times. NJ is an overwhelmingly suburban state with only a few tiny, mostly crumbling "cities" that nobody in NJ generally cares about. So nobody in NJ really has any idea about true urban planning. That's why I made the snarky comment earlier about Jersey City being unable to shed it's "Jersey-ness". It's the whole mentality of "Well everyone must have a car, right? So for these new developments, let's demand that developers make a parking spot for every unit!". Completely insane in the context of Downtown Jersey City. It's this mentality that has to change, or Jersey City is seriously fucked.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 21:17
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
I don't take a car anywhere. Where are you going that requires driving to "get around our area"? If the answer is a list of places that are not near transit, then honestly maybe Jersey City/NYC area/or city living in general is not a good fit for you. There is a reason why city dwellers generally don't work in the suburbs. It kind of goes against the point of living in the city core, where most things are there for you - employment, entertainment, culture. Jersey City is a shitty place to live if you have, on a regular basis, life obligations (work, relationships, whatever) that are outside of the urban core. I give the same advice to friends who, over the years, have considered moving to JC when they work somewhere in a suburb. I did it for a year (my first year living here, 2006). It totally sucked. Path is not without flaws but it, combined with rail transit, and occasional Ubering, gets me where I need to go. I understand others may not have similar experiences, but then I think you honestly have to consider where you live.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 19:09
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
Downtown Jersey City (where most development is occurring and therefore the most valid area to discuss in this context) is about 30,000 per square mile. And that number will be almost doubling in the next 20 years with already-approved development. Still feel the same way? I'm not trying to be an ass but this is for reals.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 18:46
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
Good point. This is stereotyping a bit but it seems that most of the very active/vocal members of the neighborhood associations have been here a long time and are very, very averse to change, to development, and what they perceive as "crowding". I also imagine that a large percentage of these folks own cars and park in the street, which is clearly an immense headache that they fear getting worse. While these are respected members of the community and many of them are my neighbors, they are not forward thinkers. Question - how can those of us who are for a more urban environment, pedestrian friendliness, less parking in developments, etc - how can we organize our voices?
Posted on: 2016/2/25 18:37
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
You're not breaking anything to me. Jersey City will never be Manhattan in character, and neither will the outer boroughs. However, as vehicle ownership in urban cities continue to decline, shouldn't Jersey City be following that trend instead of bucking it? You bring up Queens, and I agree that JC has similarities to Queens in terms of car ownership, and I would argue that Downtown JC has numbers similar to northern Brooklyn in terms of car ownership (DTJC's might be slightly higher). Look at the developments in Brooklyn and Queens, how many parking spots are included in those developments, and you'll see my point succinctly illustrated. The parking requirements/trends in developments in JC are: 1. Completely out of line with current car ownership figures 2. Absurdly out of line with future car ownership figures 3. Completely bucking all trends of new urbanism which in 2016 in a dense, northeastern city is entirely unacceptable
Posted on: 2016/2/25 18:28
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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It's not only about including sidewalk facing retail, but it's also just about the pervasive nature of automobiles in cities. It changes everything.
Mooby is spot on. The reason Downtown Jersey City is nice looking, quaint, and desirable is that it was mostly built before cars existed. It's built to human scale, not to automobile scale. There are so, so many articles written about this, but here is one I came across just this week: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/0 ... y/388433/?utm_source=SFFB The fact that Jersey City is going against this, and so many of its residents are so up in arms about the parking bullshit, is troubling. And completely ridiculous. Jersey City holistically is the 3rd densest city in the US. Downtown JC is in the same density range as the majority of the 4 outer boroughs (and way denser than Staten Island). Somebody locally in power in JC has to wake up and realize that car ownership in dense cities is simply NOT the future, and change these ordinances for new developments. 1:1 parking in an extremely dense neighborhood, with extensive mass transit available to you 24/7, one mile from Manhattan, is so ridiculously absurd that it almost sounds like a joke. It seems that Jersey City really can't shake the "Jersey" mentality sometimes.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 16:20
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Re: Chic Pea
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Wow, some of the comments here are low. Why would anybody make fun of somebody so blatantly, especially knowing that there's a good chance she may read this site from time to time? It's just a person doing something she enjoys, and not hurting anybody.
I have no connection to Chicpea but I occasionally read the blog because it's about Jersey City.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 3:25
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Re: Howling Noise VVP
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It sounds like some sort of machine making the noise, maybe there is some kind of emergency crew working or something nearby.
Posted on: 2016/2/25 3:10
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Re: Romantic restaurant, 1st date?
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Quote:
Razza has been open for only about 2 years, right? Wow, you move fast if she is your wife already and that was your first date!
Posted on: 2016/2/24 21:09
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Quote:
Ok, so the rowhouses that line the streets that you try to park on. Each one of them on average holds between 3 and 6 residents. Each house is wide enough for one parked car. Very few downtowners own cars.
Posted on: 2016/2/24 4:50
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Re: Parking garages/lots?
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Quote:
100% spot on.
Posted on: 2016/2/23 6:36
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Re: Plan to lower parking minimums in Jersey City spurs anger
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Car ownership is very low in 07302. The fact that there is this obsession with having parking, and then expressing outrage when there is not a parking spot for every single fucking unit, is laugh worthy in new urbanism and is the exact opposite of how every other urban city is planning residences.
Vast majority of people who are moving to downtown JC are from: Kings, Queens, and New York county. Many, probably most, do NOT own cars. But a lot of these JC developments are including parking, so new residents, once already decided on JC, think "Hmm. There's a parking garage in our building! Maybe we SHOULD buy a car". This is very bad for many reasons.
Posted on: 2016/2/23 5:05
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Re: What's going there?
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Quote:
Yeah I think it's a more of a positive than a negative, I was more commenting on their feasibility of success given the other spots nearby.
Posted on: 2016/2/18 4:21
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Re: Chase branch closing in Old Colony Mall
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Quote:
Even if each of the stores in this strip mall were rented out and thriving, the fact that it's 80% surface parking is a colossal waste of space in a dense urban neighborhood. There is no chance it lasts as is for another decade. We'll see something proposed for this, my guess would be in the next couple of years.
Posted on: 2016/2/17 23:11
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Re: What's going there?
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Work seems to have stopped on Lackawanna, and I wasn't aware of a hair salon. I feel like downtown is a bit saturated with spots to get decent to good coffee.
Posted on: 2016/2/17 23:04
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Re: Chase branch closing in Old Colony Mall
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Quote:
It's not too far from anything - it's still on the outer edge of the Van Vorst Park neighborhood. It's only a 10 minute walk to Grove Path. It's prime real estate. I'm shocked and amazed that a development proposal has never surfaced here. ESPECIALLY now that Pathmark's gone. I wouldn't expect this property to look like it does today in 10 years. The land is way too valuable.
Posted on: 2016/2/17 15:01
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Re: Fuel Barge Sinks in Moriss Canal, fuel spilled into the water.
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This post is confusing, you mention to hide the illegal dumping, you mean the illegal dumping of fuel? Why would somebody dump fuel? Also, what is the Facebook page you're referring to?
Posted on: 2016/2/15 17:20
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Re: Moving to Jersey City? Join the Club.
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Yes completely different impression of JC 10 years ago.
People looking to go cheaper than Manhattan, looked into Brooklyn (only a couple of neighborhoods), or maybe Hoboken. If Hoboken was too expensive, Downtown JC was considered, maybe along with Queens. Things were super different 10 years ago. Brooklyn was still new at being cool, Queens was completely not cool at all yet. Now, everybody knows about JC, and the reaction to it is fairly positive, typically. Every now and then I get somebody who considers it simply "Jersey", but whatever.
Posted on: 2016/2/12 20:11
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Re: PJ Ryan's has a new Chef/Menu (hello vegan options)
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PJ Ryans is such a great location, but has such a shitty atmosphere. I have always wondered why the heck they covered all those big beautiful windows with the frosted glazing, and then pull the shades down on top of that (even at night). What a waste - can't see in or out. Super weird and ugly looking.
Oh well. Actually, their pub food is solid. I almost never go there, but it's OK if you want to watch a game.
Posted on: 2016/2/12 18:18
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Re: Hoboken is rejecting bike lanes
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Hoboken is one of the densest zip codes in the country, with tremendous public transit, which makes it completely absurd that people continue to make parking in Hoboken such an issue. Get rid of your damn car if you live in Hoboken. Unless you work in the far away suburbs (which I don't know why you'd choose to live in Hoboken in that case), or are disabled, why have a car in a place like Hoboken? Where the heck are all these people driving to on a regular basis that it's worth the actual daily headache and cost? Paramus to go shopping, or something? Get a Zipcar once a month or take an Uber even. Or do what most urban dwellers do and take a train to 5th Avenue or Soho, or Century 21, or anywhere, to go shopping. Newport Mall even.
I understand that there will always be some people who reverse commute, or work in industries that are typically located in suburbia (like Pharma, for example) and may still want to live a city life, but isn't the point of living in the urban core, working in the urban core and not having to worry about driving?
Posted on: 2016/2/10 1:49
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