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Is there ANYONE on the planet who would opt for the smaller apartment given these 2 choices?

If you have the option to bail out I would recommend it.

I lived in a far better neighborhood in the Heights and judged the area to be unsafe. Webster and Hutton was FAR worse than where I lived. The area is improving from what I hear but I would not consider it.


Light Rail is NOT a good option for Webster and Hutton so you are most likely going to be stuck with the Palisade Avenue buses, not bad during the day, slow at night. Be VERY careful walking home alone at night even just those 2 blocks.
As a renter and an NYC commuter, the Waterfront is a FAR more logical choice.

I have lived in the Heights and have always thought the architectural quality approached GHASTLY. There are exceptions but the basic Heights home was a thrown together wood and shingle one or two family home that weathered very poorly and was saved for a few more decades by a coating of aluminum siding. I have never lived anywhere else where the usual constuction form was so shoddy. I am often amazed that a huge fire hasn't somewhere along the way consumed most of the place.

I find it difficult to believe that development of any kind would not be an improvement to most neighborhoods with a very few exceptions along Summit Avenue and Sherman Place, and perhaps a smattering on Manhattan Avenue and Palisades Avenue.

I am not of the school that preaches anything that is standing is worth saving. But I'm sure there are people who can find some beauty in these multicolored aluminum sided shacks...not me, though.

I DESPISE Comcast. It is a penny piching horror of a company who thinks not one whit of its customers.
THey get away with MURDER because in this era of "Corporations can do no wrong" they are allowed to use borderline fraudulent techniques to extract more and more dollars from a trapped public.

Cable companies are MANDATED to give a decent level of minimum service. Well Concast gets around this by "accidentally" broadcasting a signal that results in an unwatchable picture on local channnels unless you rent THEIR BOX. THEN they exclude 5 channels that are iincluded with EVERY OTHER cable bompanies Basic Level...they call this the "VALUE PACK"...so actual BASIC service winds up costing nearly $70. And those DEALS where you get decent service at a decent price for 3 months, 6 months or a year and then they count on your forgetting to cancel when the price doubles or triples. Their nickel and diming and bait and switch techniques should earn them a Congressional investigation.

May they rot in the deepest pit of Hell. I would no longer switch my Verizon DSL or Verizon phone for another Comcast service than I would hang 12 pound weights from my nipples.
I pray daily for the Verizon FIOS system to get to JC so I can go to Comcast's Kennedy BOulevard Comcast office and take a good fat $hit on their lobby floor!

I'm with the Slowskies...Comcast is evil incarnate.

I suppose you should judge yourself lucky no to have wound up renditioned to Guantanamo for several years without trial.
We now live in a Lewis Carrol world of topsy turvy insanity thanks to George W. Bush and his power hungry henchman.

Remember, "We have nothing to feart but FEAR itself." That meaningful phrase of FDR has never been more apt.

Hey, 2 buildings fell dozen 6 years ago. Yes terrible...but now it's time to let go of the reign of terror.

[quote]He added: "Speaking of water, if you've ever had our Jersey City water, I believe it's the finest in the country."[quote]

If the kids actually TASTED Jersey City water this week, they's KNOW the mayor was a liar.
The slop coming out of our pipes since October 3 has been undrinkable.

I hope our Watchung Mountain water is back soon.

Is there any chance that our mayor ever THINKS before he talks?

Did they report the coliform count they got? I probably don't have that much in my COLON!

Liberty State Park needs a 9/11 memorial as much as it needs another yacht marina.
Enough already with these stupid memorials blighting the landscape EVERYWHERE.

Liberty Park needs green open space. PERIOD!

Quote: I find that hard to believe...where ARE these homes? The only new construction to speak of since 1993 has been on the waterfront and there have been precisely ZERO units of affordable housing built there in that timeframe. Quote: Even though that was written in ENGLISH I Think it STILL might have been written by Marie Antionette as in "Don't worry dear, as homes fall apart they will always become available to the poor. In any case, it isn't true because old inner city housing has become much more valuable than newly thrown together junk because the former is built better. There are NO areas of JC that cost less than they did 10 years ago. <>

I'm sure that in almost every 'burb in the country you can see the same headlines:

REAL ESTATE PRICES DROP EVERYWHERE BUT HERE!

Newspapers owe a lot of their revenue to real estate sales and they put the "proper" spin on these stories.

Yes, they are dropping/will drop in Jersey City just like they will drop in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx. Staten island and Morristown.

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That's pretty thick stuff, it won't roll!
Do you mean .5 or .05 millimeters, or more likely, 5 MILS which is .005 inches (I think)?

I've seen the results of a sprinkler that went off because the retaining fuse metal gave way...there was no fire, just a defective sprinkler head.
The apartment was empty at the time and the results were quite horrific with water flowing under walls to adjoining apartements. It was only noticed when the water ran down the hall and into the elevator wells.

Even in my own apartment I had to have several walls removed because some NOOODGE managed to puncture one of the pipes with a drywall screw.

Sprinklers scare me big time.

But then, I guess nobody was ever KILLED by a sprinkler malfunction like they can be with a fire.

I would be perfectly content to live in a fireproof apartment with steel studs and concrete floor and roof with no sprinkler protection, It's the old apartments with wooden studs, roofs and floors that scare me.
Retrofitting of sprinklers into older structures is going to be plug-ugly and should NOT be mandated any more than forcing everyone to own steel furniture.

The reason for theis overreaction is clearly the result of firemen running unprepared into several high rise fires (WTC, DeutcheBank) and the answer might well be better training of firemen rather than rebuilding the world.

Along with the bridge, the Lefrak Organization, the developers of the Newport residential/retail section of Jersey City, plan to build a temporary walkway from the bridge into Newport that will be completed in advance of the pedestrian bridge.


From bitter experience I can give GOOD odds that Lefrak is lying.
Let's see how it plays out.

My favorite line:
"and two dozen plasma television screens that will show live scenes of the Manhattan skyline as well as community news flashes."

I don't know why they didn't incorporate views of the Eiffel Tower and the Sphinx while they were at it manufacturing fake "views."
Any good views showing the BOTTOM of the Pulaski skyway.

Yah GOTTA LOVE Real Estate hype.

Isn't it a rather tedious uphill walk to get to Journal Square PATH which is the only route to the Manhattan job engine. Or do you climb up the skyway to hail a bus on 1&9 for a ride through the tunnel?

(I haven't been to Little India in a couple years so I cannot comment on whether Newark Avenue looks much worse than before...the stretch down the hill from JFK Boulevard was never much of anything to start with. Have to get up there and do a buffet lunch soon.)

I thought SOPRANO CARTING had the contract for snow removal in Northe Jersey?

Yep,

This replaces warehouses that were formerly filled with actual products awaiting shipment...aka jobs.

Certainly the deed is not silent on the matter. If the words "parking for an autombile" or some such is mentioned it probably means just that. I'm sure such language is used.

I would imagine using spaces alternately for cars and for piles of storage material (aka junk) would be something of a nightmare...I'm surprised the condo association waited so long to enforce it.

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Yeah sure it would be nice to give EVERYONE easy walking access to the park BUT if one place has to be chosen the ONLY logical point for crossing the Morris Canal is the shortest distance needed to continue the walkway ALONG THE HUDSON...that point is accross from the teeny part of Liberty Park NORTH of the Morris "canal." to the finished walkway in the park. Sad for those who live on Brunswick Avvenue but I don't think any people in Hudson County are responsible for Brunswick Avenues NOT being near the Hudson River, nor for Kennedy nor Tonnelle Boulevards being inland.

The Walkway is mandated by law and private interests are ignoring and avoiding that mandate at every opportunity. They, whether developers or marina operators, should be made to pay a pretty penny for flouting this Waterfront Walkway plan. New York City managed to fight FAR stronger developers and look at the glorious length of walkway they developed AND in far less time then NJ, AND in an area where land values are arguably the highest in the WORLD AND where the entire Hudsoon was the largest MARINA in the world, with piers from the Battery to beyong midtown.
Must Jersey City ALWAYS behave like some third world Mafiosa fiefdom where NOTHING accomplished without endless bribery.

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Dear Lord, THIS is supposed to pass for an argument for preventing the continuance of the Walkway in a reasonable straight line along the river. They need a GAS PUMP for boats. I guess Manhattan could have said "so how are we going to get fuel into the QE2, ergo no walkway?"
If your argument is a joke it's hilarious. If not, it's REALLY, REALLY sad.


Hmm, walkway across the Hudson crossing its international freighter and liner traffic...beyond impossible. REALLY beyond impossible.
A pedestrian/bike TUNNEL is far more reasonable.
Here's a scenario: The Holland Tunnel needs replacement before it reaches it's century life. Build a NEW wider tube for cars and use one of the two old tubes for pedestrians and bikes. A nice 30 minute walk or a 5 minute ride to Canal Street and up or down the Walkway... the REAL Walkway. AND that tube is already IN...obsolete for the high volume of cars but ideal for thousands of bikers.

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Yes, that's true...and of course there's nothing to stop people from walking to Kennedy Boulevard along Grand Street and then back into the park.
Perhaps one could walk along the walkway and then at Exchange Place take the Light Rail to the Park and then walk the mile or so back to the walway.
Or if money isn't an object one could be picked up by helicopter at Portside and be taken a couple hundred feet accross the Marina entrance.

Is there something inherently difficult to understand about the concept of a CONTINUOUS WALKWAY ALONG THE HUDSON?
If they could do it in Manhattan, I'm sure they could manage it in a burb like Jersey City...except for the cheaply greased palms in JC.

I KNOW this is akin to the words of Karl Marx but how about CLOSING THE MARINA to anything that will not fit under whatever bridge is used.

Or better yet, CLOSING THE MARINA. Period.

That marina is in a state park. There is no private interest involved that cannot be legally "taken."

Access by foot to one of the very rare inter-city State Parks should not be held hostage to yacht owners desires for convenient cruising. Let them park at some ramshackle down near Keansburg...or Tierra del Fuego!

Stratocaster,

Thank you for rescuing that valuable and hard-won data before the inevitable deletion.
The price comparisons are fascinating and VERY telling.

AND I'm sure MUCH has transpired in the last 3 months.

Just a little addition: Without getting too specific, with regards the longest quote in Post #1, I KNOW that someone paid/closed on an apartment for $50,000 MORE than the highest price listed for an apartment several floors lower...closing 4/07. So the span between high and low is apt to have been much higher than the June poster wrote.

What is the lag before the city publishes closing prices? Back a decade ago the lag was something on the order of 6 months when they would suddenly play "catch-up" and list 20 apartments or more in one building. How current are they today?

edit,
Oops, sorry if I repeated JCLaw's assertion about that time lag.

The REAL question is when will Newport complete it's share of the Walkway. Having a bridge to nowhere will do no good in 2009 if Lefrak has no plans to complete it's Walkway until 2020.

Marz,

When do you need a place?

These disguised real estate ads are annoying.

Buy NOW...low interest , no down payment...deals won't last.

They don't belong in a discussion group and should be reserved for paid advertising space..


Of course, If GROVEPATH owns the web page then, of course he can post, tout, or SELL whatever he wishes.

I've thought about that neighborhood many times over the last 30 years.
I have always judged it unsafe and that was a reason that I moved from the HEIGHTS to Newport when it was built.

My standard has always been what is the situation walking home from Journal Square at 1 AM perhaps a little bit tipsy.

Maybe it's changed...maybe not.

OK, understood...
The exemption applies to those collecting SS or SSI regardless of age.
I wasn't sure if the youngsters got in on it.

Now what determines the DATE? The postmark? The date of receipt?

I guess if there is regular quibbling the landlord will wind up in court at some point.

Judges are usually ISSUE ORIENTED as in:
"Did you get the rent?"
"Yes!"
"Then why are we all here?"

And don't overlook DAYGLO PUCE!
A side-offset with matching Madonnas is always a nice additional touch...especially in Downtown JC.

Hey, it's still Jersey City where the last mayor put up lighted St. Josephs, Jesuses, and shepherds and sheep all over City Hall's lawn.

When you try to class up your row house with images of Independence Hall, sit down and relax a few moments chanting..."IT'S JERSEY CITY!"

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And somebody's brother-in-law gets to walk away with the $100 Grand.

I had understood the 5-day extension law as pertaining only to those of Social Security age (not sure if SS disability counts.)

Reading the excerpted sections of the act it seems that is also what they are attempting to say. I must say, the law is VERY clumsily worded.

1. Who would say ALL people are protected, and then add
2. Only seniors are protected.

I think my former understanding remains correct...only seniors.

In this month therefore, "regular" people must pay by September 4th (the first business day) and seniors get to wait until September 11th.

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I think louche may be referring to Her Grace, Margaret, the Dutchess of Thatcher... or perhaps the OTHER Princess Margaret, the one with the REAL power.

New York City has proven the Rent Control works. It has also been the rule of law in Jersey City for more than the last 30 years but unscrupulous landlords aided by corrupt city officials tend to look the other way when rent are raised sjy high during vacancies...in JC, this is strictly illegal. Rents can be raised each year only 4% or the CPI, whichever is less.
The waterfront development has been "exempted" from rent control.

So that's precisely the same as the tariff for Newport Health and Fitness.