The storefronts next to the Dunkin Donuts by the Grove Street Path entrance are available. Plenty of foot traffic. A few ne'er-do-wells wander around a bit, but I would think that would be a good location for just about any type of store. I don't know what the rent is, though.

I believe the plaza is actually called the Fitzgerald-Holota Memorial Plaza.

Set times will be ready a few days before the shows.

The headliners all get the spotlight all to themselves, so no worries about Tool vs My Bloody Valentine.

The only question regarding Tool is if Maynard will face the crowd.

They do list NJ Transit and the PATH as options. For the folks coming from Manhattan I guess their point is that if the PATH and ferry left Manhattan at the same time, the ferry would get you to the site quicker. It would take about half an hour to get to the concert grounds by foot from Grove. The ferry drops you off at the concert grounds.

Another thing to note is that the WTC/NWK/JSQ PATH line may be closed on this weekend, unless they decide to run it for the festival.

Anyway, for most JC residents access could not be easier.

Elbow at Glastonbury was a big party. At least that's how it looked on tv. Excellent band much loved in the UK, but underappreciated here.

The walk from Grove Street to the concert site makes the PATH the slowest form of transportation. Definitely the cheapest, though. And I think those are round trip prices for the ferry. But I could be wrong.

Anyway, this festival is already a major event and has attracted some of the biggest bands on the planet in its first two years. With Tool, the Beastie Boys, and Coldplay there is something for just about everyone this year. Its a very cool thing for Jersey City.

If the Liberty Harbor beer garden opens up in time for this festival, that could be a great pre-show hangout.

Solid lineup:

www.apwfestival.com

They claim to have made transportation improvements and they say they will enlarge the beer gardens. I like the beer garden idea, but they definitely need to increase the size. At least it is better than watching a band while standing ankle deep in plastic cups and beer mud.

I just doubt that you have no jealousy. Not going to waste the Listers time elaborating, though.

I have my doubts.

Lets just call this what it is. Jealousy. The working-class stiff sees a bunch of suits move into the neighborhood and the blood pressure goes up. It was fine when everyone wore a shirt with their name sewn on it and carried a lunchbox to work and knocked back a few Rheingolds at the end of the day. But the invasion of the suits and their preference for European lagers serves as visible evidence that blue-collar Charlie hasn't quite made it up the ladder as far as he would have liked. Charlie scrapes his knuckles and suffers backaches for his craft. Biff maybe will get carpal tunnel. Charlie builds things. Biff shuffles money around. It isn't fair!

Of course, the above scenario is really more of a caricature or sitcom. I think the typical new JC resident is similar to me. Not really young, but an urban professional (as opposed to amateur, I guess.) Raised in a union/middle class household, barely graduated college (financially and academically), found a job in finance that pays pretty well and scraped up enough to get a decent condo. Maybe they "settled" on JC or maybe they just really wanted to stay in NJ near friends and family. But we pretty much just want to live and let live. You can see us in the bars sometimes. We usually sit between the handful of obnoxious yuppies/fratboys/jocks/bigswingingjohnsons drinking Amstels and another handful of seething-with-jealousy, born-and-bred, JC-"educated", wannabe-anarchists knocking back something brewed within 20 miles.

I would suggest that the yuppies/fratboys/jocks/bigswingingjohnsons stop making it so easy to hate them, but I don't think that they can really help themselves. Anyway, they really are precious few of these creatures in Jersey City. Perhaps the ragers could do themselves a favor and stop even thinking about these folks. Just ignore them. And stop hating on all that is new. Its a big city. There are still plenty of other places you can go for whatever. Your health will benefit. I mean, some of you are already hating on a still-unopened deli.

A friggin' deli.

An abatement doesn't mean the condo owner pays less in taxes. They just pay a different sort of tax. The typical downtown high rise owner pays about 1.6% of the purchase price in PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes), which is a property tax of a different name (and not even deductible for state tax purposes.) The abatement, as far as I know, means they have the knowledge that their rate will not change or the property will not be revalued during the abatement period. And this money apparently goes straight to the city, as shakatah mentioned.

I could be wrong about all this and would love clarification. But if someone who owns a Trump condo that they bought for $700k is paying a PILOT of about $11k each year that is supposed to go straight to the city, how can they be accused of not sharing the burden?

Excellent work.

Tax-abated doesn't mean tax-exempt, though, right? Where does the money that a Trump or Athena or Gull's Cove homeowner pays in PILOT money go?

That you do not see the irony.

It is beyond me how this city can be struggling so badly amidst the influx of jobs and relatively high net worth residents who have moved here over the last few years.

Ok, maybe its not beyond me, since I have some guesses as to why, but still.

What is that giant sucking sound?

"Very well put Victoria, I've noticed this too. God forbid anyone talks about a yuppie, frat boy or hipster with a negative overtone, but its ok to talk bad about people in lesser income areas. Most of the time they're automatically labled "criminals"."

This is hilarious.

Somewhere in here:

http://www.libertyharbor.com/loc_area_flash.php

Quote:

What has your own existence contributed to the Jersey City community?

No legitimate, self-respecting yuppie would ever set foot in Hoboken OR Jersey City, anyway. Or do you just hate anyone who appears to have a job which pays more than $100k?

Quote:

Is this "tremendous addition" going into Gull's Cove or somewhere else in Liberty Harbor?

What's a teller?

Go regional. The nationals are going the way of the Big 3 auto companies. Pamrapo, Valley National, Provident, etc. deserve your money more than Chase and the rest. Wait, I know, you need ATMs all over the place. You can break that habit if you try.

Quote:

If your problem was with trust-funders and not women you should have written "Stupid Trust-Funder Income Not Known."

The only thing this alleged trust-funder may be in denial about is thinking that Jersey City is a welcoming place for a new arrival.

I still applaud it and respectfully disagree with Merriam and Webster. Their reasoning seems to be that since everyone else uses it that way, let's accept it. Same thing happened to the great Oxford (or serial) comma.

I dedicate this post to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

I, for one, applaud your use of "nauseated" instead of "nauseous."

Thanks for the input. I will check it out. Better than nothing, I guess.

With the arrival of spring comes the arrival of the golf season. I understand that there is a driving range in Lincoln Park. Has anyone been here? Is it a decent range? Is there parking on-site?

"We will be laying off the most nonessential, repetitive or duplicate positions anywhere," Tripodi said. "This is to create savings for the 2010 budget."

Which, of course, begs the question as to why there are nonessential, repetitive, and duplicate positions to begin with.

Quote:

You understate the obvious when you say "rough around the edges". If Pathmark had another store downtown at which they did not install bollards, then you could make a complaint that their policy is unfair or insensitive. But you have separate chains using different methods of "cart retention". Pathmark's is the most effective. And if you really hold the stores responsible, you should applaud Pathmark for keeping the sidewalks and their parking lot clear of the carts.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these bollards!"

Do they keep stats on "like" crimes? You know, when you beat on a certain group of people because you like them?