COP'S SON IN ROB RAP
Dad is in courtroom to show support for 22-year-old already facing a murder trial

Nov.14, 2006 - By MICHAELANGELO CONTE - JERSEY JOURNAL

The son of a Jersey City police officer, already out on bail for murder charges, made his first court appearance yesterday on new charges, two days after allegedly robbing a corner store in Greenville, officials said.

Police Detective Benjamin Wilson Jr. was in court as his son appeared on video link from the Hudson County jail. The detective made hand gestures apparently conveying support to his son, Benjamin Wilson III.

At the time of his arrest Saturday, Benjamin Wilson III, 22, was out on a $220,000 bail after being indicted on charges of murder, aggravated arson and weapons offenses related to the Oct. 23, 2005, shooting death of Emerson Scott, 23, of Jersey City, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

Authorities believe Wilson III shot Scott in the head, then set the building on fire in an attempt to cover it up.

"Because you have another case before Judge Kenny, you will now be held with no bail," Central Judicial Processing Judge Richard Nieto ruled yesterday, referring to Hudson County Superior Court Judge Camille Kenny.

It is likely Wilson III's bail status will be considered by Kenny today.

Officers responding to the robbery at the New Minimarket, at 2125 Kennedy Blvd., only a few blocks from the South District Police Station, got there in time to see Wilson III, and Marcus Pettiford, 21, of Garfield Avenue, leaving the area, officials said.

Officers followed them to a Grant Avenue building, where the two men, apparently spotting the cops tailing them, ran inside, reports said.

Police chased them into an apartment, where they found the two men, as well as Eric Sessoms, 18, of Clinton Avenue, and Najee Ford, 18, of Ocean Avenue, officials said. Police also found 77 vials of suspected cocaine, a stash of guns and proceeds from the store robbery, officials said. All four men were arrested.

DeFazio said Wilson III and Pettiford appear to be too young to match the description of the man who killed a Heights bodega owner recently, but he said his office will run ballistics tests on the guns found in the Grant Avenue apartment.

Investigators believe Wilson III held the 9 mm handgun during Saturday's robbery, said Police Director Sam Jefferson said. The apartment where the four men were arrested was the residence of a friend of Ford, Jefferson said.

Nieto yesterday set Pettiford's bail at $150,000, Ford's at $25,000 and Sessoms' at $15,000.

Wilson's murder trial was to begin during the first week of December, but the new charges may delay that, authorities said.

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Haha

Yeah -- very true -- slow news day -- but I must say I got into the story and went for it!

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Please keep in mind
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I think I can speak for everyone (well maybe not...) but what most of us don't want is more crap written about Jersey City.

We are as close as Brooklyn but we get a lot of crazy stereotypes spouted out by some writers...

Check out The Village Voice:

"As we ascend the PATH station escalator leading to a strange and unfamiliar land, a friendly stranger stands waiting at the summit, a sort of greeter-wrangler who with one glance knows precisely what we seek. He points us in the direction of the Yo La Tengo concert. This is his job, apparently, and he knows who to look for. Specifically, "confused white people." He smiles. We smile. Welcome to Jersey City."

see this thread

( or how about this gem! )

Urban Travel Guide -- "Hairy-backed shmucks mount Midtown floozies back in their Jersey City condos."


See this thread

I could go on and on but..

Just don't add to the list!

I think you are right to concentrate on people who moved here within the last year. A lot of people on this list are people against the changes coming to downtown for one reason or another -- perhaps because they fear losing their rent deals, perhaps because they fear losing the easy parking, or often because many have political axes to grind. Regardless don't get fooled -- Downtown Jersey City is about the same size as Hoboken and crime-wise it is not too much different. Sure it feels a little more edgy sometimes but there was none (or perhaps one) murder downtown last year. See the recent thread with the stats on here -- posted a few days ago.

You have to come over and look for yourself, again I think you are right to find new comers to talk to -- people who have picked Downtown Jersey City over Brooklyn, Manhattan or Queens. My girlfriend and I lived in Brooklyn and moved here because it was closer, cheaper and with all the changes that have happened over the past few years -- it is now even nicer and dare I say "safer" than where we left.

If you do come over -- besides checking out all the nice places off Newark Avenue on Grove street ( and there are a ton of places on or around Grove ) your best bet if you are looking for new comers is to come over some late afternoon / evening -- just take a walk -- go get something to eat at Madame Claude's French Bistro -- a 5min walk on Newark Avenue to Brunswick Avenue @ 4th Street.
( http://www.madameclaudecafe.com ) and stop and have a beer at Abbey's Hookah Bar ( http://abbeyspub.com) Wess the bar manager at Abbey's is a New York actor and a real new comer to Jersey City. He can introduce you to a lot of other new comers.

As you take this walk down Newark Avenue check out the L.I.T.M. lounge, the hip Oasis Juice Bar, Metropolis Music Store ( www.JerseyCityMusic.com ), If it is early enough look into Baker Boys Cafe, notice new places like "It's Greek to Me", check out the thai restaurants, the asian markets, Side-by-Side Tavern, Pecoraro Bakery & Brick Oven Pizza, there are a few vintage stores -- after you eat at Madame Claude's walk back and forth on Brunswick -- there you'll find Another Man's Treasure Vintage store, Residue Gallery, a cool used record store, Brunswick Window Gallery and the White Star Bar -- if it is in the daytime find The Second Street Bakery -- what a blast from the past a true 1940's deli.

Yeah, and if you can (again if you have the time) also check out Journal Square and what is going on at the Loew's Theater with all the concerts by the likes of bands like Yo La Tengo and Beck's band -- the guy who runs Maxwell's in Hoboken is booking the talent. Up there you will find Little India (go to Dossa Hut -- it was written up in the Village Voice) lots of young new comers are moving into this area and also to the Heights area (above Hoboken) There are a few cool young hip bars starting up -- like Corkscrew in the heights -- has music on Saturday nights.
For more information search any of these places on here ( jclist.com ) and you will find threads about them.

Good Luck -- I for one hope you do a nice piece ( maybe not "Fluff" ) but let people know that Jersey City is an option to Brooklyn! It is better! I for one love all the new faces and I am happy that the towers being built on Newark Avenue and seemingly everywhere else in Downtown Jersey City will bring over a lot more New Yorkers or should I say Ex-New Yorkers!

An accident or deliberate act? Ship tragedy still a mystery
BY SHANNON MULLEN, Asbury Park Press

For 72 years, the Morro Castle tragedy off the Jersey coast has been shrouded in mystery.

Was the fire that swept through the luxury liner at the end of its weeklong cruise to Havana deliberately set?

Was the captain's sudden death just hours before the fire the result of a heart attack, or was it foul play?

And what about radioman George W. Rogers, who initially was hailed as a hero for remaining at his post to transmit distress calls despite the encroaching flames? Was he actually the villian of the story, responsible for the deaths of at least 134 passengers and crew?

Judging from Brian Hicks' new book about the doomed ship, the answers to those questions might never be known for sure.

Several books have been written on the subject over the years, but "When the Dancing Stopped: The Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster and Its Deadly Wake," published in October by Free Press, is the first to draw from the FBI's voluminous Morro Castle case file, which was declassified in the mid 1990s as a result of a court fight by a group of researchers including retired Belmar photojournalist James T. McDonnell.

Vivid narrative account

Despite the book jacket's provocative wording ("On a shipboard night of art-deco glamour, a madman worked his evil"), Hicks, a senior writer for The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, S.C., doesn't claim to have solved the mystery. In fact, he found no hard evidence in the FBI file that Rogers did anything other than his duty the night of the fire, despite the fact that he later proved to be a murderous psychopath.

Instead, "When the Dancing Stopped" offers a vivid narrative account of the Morro Castle's fateful final voyage and its aftermath, focusing on a handful of central characters. Chief among them is the late Thomas S. Torresson Jr., a longtime Dover Township, N.J., resident who was then a 16-year-old third assistant purser aboard the Morro Castle.

Though the book reads like a mystery novel, Hicks, a 39-year-old veteran journalist who also is co-author of "Raising the Hundley," is adamant that nothing in the story is fictionalized. That includes the dialogue, which is all based on sworn testimony, letters, memos, interviews or newspaper accounts.

"It's not really history if you make some of it up," Hicks said in a recent telephone interview.

Violent storms, a suspicious fire and a true story as gripping as the Morro Castle saga hardly needs embellishment.

The famed Ward Line cruise ship boasted of having the best safety technology available. But in the predawn hours of Sept. 8, 1934, with the crew reeling from the news of Capt. Robert Willmott's death from an apparent heart attack and a pair of violent storms bearing down on the ship as it neared New York City, a suspicious fire broke out in a storage locker in a corner of the ship's Writing Room.

Fanned by the headwinds, the fire quickly raged out of control before anyone thought to deploy the automated fire walls, one of the Morro Castle's vaunted safety innovations. Chaos ensued. In the absence of a coordinated evacuation, many passengers were left to fend for themselves, though Torresson, whom Hicks interviewed in depth before the former assistant purser's death last year, risked his life trying to save others.

The acting captain, William Warms, sleep-deprived and seemingly in shock from the sudden confluence of events, indecisively fettered away crucial minutes before finally authorizing Rogers to send out a distress call, though Hicks says Rogers could have saved many lives by acting sooner, even if it wasn't protocol. By the time Warms thought to pull the Morro Castle out of the wind and head for shore, the fire had knocked out the ship's engines, lights and steering capability, leaving the doomed liner adrift in the darkness, several miles from the beach. Ultimately, the ship broke free from a Coast Guard cutter that attempted to tow it back to port, and it ran aground less than 200 feet from Asbury Park's Convention Hall.

Rogers' sinister side

Rogers basked in the praise the press heaped on him from the moment he first came ashore. A Broadway theater booked him for a lucrative weeklong run, and his hometown of Bayonne feted him as a hero. But as the FBI soon discovered, Rogers had a sinister side.

A smarmy, nearly 300-pound man with oddly pursed lips and what Torresson described as a menacing air, Rogers brought trouble with him wherever he went. In his school days, he had been expelled for sodomizing a younger boy, Hicks relates, and prior to joining the crew of the Morro Castle he was suspected of torching the radio shop he worked at to conceal the fact that he was stealing from his employer.

An electronics whiz, he was hired after the Morro Castle incident to modernize the Bayonne police department's radio system, but when his supervisor, Vincent Doyle, was nearly killed by a homemade bomb, the evidence led straight to Rogers, who was ultimately convicted of the crime.

According to Doyle's unpublished memoir, Rogers had good reason for wanting him dead.

One day while the two were alone in their workshop, Hicks writes, Rogers boasted to Doyle that he knew precisely how the Morro Castle fire had started. He described in detail how an incendiary fountain pen filled with acid and combustible powder, separated by a thin sheet of copper -- which acted as a timing device -- had been planted in the breast pocket of a waiter's jacket that was hung in the Writing Room locker. When the copper sheet dissolved, the pen exploded, igniting turpentine and paint that was stored in the locker.

Stunned, Doyle said he pressed Rogers about how he knew such specifics, and finally asked him, "Why did you do it?" "For a second, Rogers said nothing," Hicks recounts, "then spewed vitriol with his answer: 'The Ward Line stinks and the skipper was lousy.' " Incredibly, after just a few years behind bars for the bombing, Rogers was granted a wartime parole to serve as a radioman aboard a U.S. Liberty ship. During his brief service, he helped oust the ship's captain, whom he accused of being a Nazi sympathizer.

Afterward, Rogers went to work in a Jersey City electronics plant. While he was there, he was suspected of poisoning the water cooler after a female co-worker he was obsessed with married another man. Finally, in 1953, Rogers was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal slayings of a neighborhood friend and his adult daughter in Bayonne. Less than five years later, Rogers died of a heart attack, without having divulged any more secrets about the Morro Castle.

The FBI case file shows that it had long suspected Rogers was involved in the Morro Castle fire, and possibly even Captain Willmott's death, but the circumstantial evidence against him only proved he was capable of such a sinister crime, and he was never charged.

James T. McDonnell and Fred Rasmussen, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, who together fought the FBI to gain access to its case file on the Morro Castle, suspected that Rogers set the fire as part of an insurance conspiracy by the Ward Line, and for years they promised to publish a book that would prove their theory. They never did find conclusive evidence, though, and after McDonnell developed health problems, the project was shelved.

"Bob and I both think it's there. We felt we got close to it," Rasmussen said.

Hicks doesn't make any definitive claims about Rogers' culpability, preferring to lay out the available evidence so readers can "draw their own conclusion."

In essence, he said, what the book reveals is that "all the rumors about this guy were probably right, and here are some reasons why." With just a few survivors left -- Hicks knows of only three -- and the FBI case file now laid bare, that might be the closest anyone can come to cracking the case.

Morro Castle life preserver donated to N.J. lighthouse

It's in bad shape, but still an historical gem: a life preserver from the famed Morro Castle cruise ship.

Robert H. Bossett, 85, of Brielle, N.J., has held onto it all these years since that unforgettable day in 1934 when he watched from the beach in Sea Girt, N.J., as lifeboats and survivors came ashore.

He was just 13 years old then. It was so dreary and foggy that morning he never saw the ship itself, which was on fire a few miles offshore, but he could smell the smoke.

He and a close friend had hurried to the beach as lifeguards and other good Samaritans mobilized to help the traumatized victims. Being teenagers, the boys couldn't resist helping themselves to some souvenirs.

"Everyone was taking something," Bossett recalled. "I mean, there were a lot of things."

Bossett came away with a water cask, an oar, a baling scoop and a life preserver. Years later, when he came home after serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, everything but the life preserver had somehow wandered off. Over time, mice ruined the cork, but enough of the life preserver survived that Bossett recently decided to donate it to the Sea Girt Lighthouse, which has a display of Morro Castle memorabilia. The display features an oar, photographs and news clippings about the disaster.

William Dunn, a trustee of the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee, said the life preserver will be restored as much as possible.

Shannon Mullen

Downtown is VASTLY better and safer than two years ago or even last year -- there are tons more restaurants and other amenities.

Even Newark Avenue is looking better -- you should check out some of the places downtown and talk to real people not us. Once the new towers are built things should really be much much better downtown. There are lots of new people moving downtown already!

A lot of people on this list are really affraid that change will make them loose their parking spaces or cause their rents to rise too much.

Downtown gets better everyday! If you want a list of great places to go to downtown just ask!

Got to love it!

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http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/ ... p?int_sec=2&int_new=18139

The Precipice Alliance Debuts With Mary Ellen Carroll

NEW YORK.- The Precipice Alliance, a non-profit corporation collaborating with artists to direct public attention to global warming, launches its mission with an inaugural artwork by the contemporary artist Mary Ellen Carroll. This large-scale project will consist of 8-foot high illuminated characters, spelling out the phrase: IT IS GREEN THINKS NATURE EVEN IN THE DARK. The nearly 900-foot-long piece will be installed in the window bays of all five former American Can factory buildings (CANCO lofts) in Jersey City, New Jersey on November 1st, 2006 and will be exhibited for six months, through April 2007. The work will be illuminated at night, and will be visible to tens of thousands of commuters daily traveling on the Pulaski Skyway and the New Jersey Turnpike. It will also be visible by air to passengers flying into Newark Airport, reaching millions of viewers. An event will take place on November 13th to celebrate the launch of this organization and its first project.

Describing the reasons behind his decision to create The Precipice Alliance, co-founder Joel Sternfeld explains "Like everybody, I'd been following the predictions about global warming out of the corner of my eye for the last 20 years. But after I went to the UN conference on climate change in Montreal in December 2005, I knew I had to do something. I had no idea there was so little time left to prevent irreversible catastrophic consequences." Co-founder Donna Wingate adds, ?Timing is very critical for this issue. We are at a stage where a brief opportunity exists to mitigate the substantial, potentially irreversible effects of global warming. Public awareness is absolutely essential in creating solutions.?

Mary Ellen Carroll?s artwork, known as ?indestructible language?, explores the random nature of language, as a continuous loop that one can enter at various points. Carroll?s choice of phrase serves as a reiterative device, highlighting the environmental issues that are the Precipice Alliance?s main focus. ?IT IS? immediately states that the issue at hand is one of extreme relevance; in fact the hazards of greenhouse gas emissions are proven scientific fact. ?GREEN? carries with it multiple interpretations: ominous connotations pertaining to money and greenhouse gas emissions, and simultaneously the color of nature and earth. ?THINKS? reinforces the human capability to engage in cognitive thought, while ?NATURE? echoes the use of ?GREEN? earlier. ?EVEN? denotes that this as a non-partisan issue, while ?IN THE DARK? is both literal and metaphorical: the lead-glass tubing will only be lit and visible in the dark. It also confronts the viewer, asking them to engage with this crucial issue.

For indestructible language, Mary Ellen Carroll worked with Chester Jenkins at Village Type and Design and Matt Dilling at LiteBrite Neon to create a new type specifically for the artwork. Village creates lettering, type, and design for cultural and commercial clients, including 2x4, Pentagram, the London Design Festival, and the National Football League. Matt Dilling at LiteBrite Neon is the manufacturer of the sign.

In accordance with the program mission, educating the public about practical steps to conserve energy and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, the artwork will be carbon neutral, using low-wattage, energy-efficient transformers and lead-free glass tubing. Solar panels installed at the site, combined with ?greentags? from Bonneville Environmental Foundation will offset the energy consumed. Limited silk-screen editions created by the artist specifically for this project will also be available.

Artist Joel Sternfeld and Executive Director Donna Wingate have founded The Precipice Alliance, a sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, with the goal of increasing awareness of the global effects of climate change. With this in mind, the Alliance plans to fund high profile, innovative public artworks that specifically address this urgent matter while simultaneously functioning as an educational and informational forum. By executing large-scale contemporary artworks in public venues, and aligning each artwork with a specific environmental initiative and related public response, the Alliance believes that artists can give forum and focus to intangible concepts and deliver powerful messages about the critical challenge of combating global warming. Their next project will involve a collaboration with artist Alexis Rockman, who will produce four extreme weather artworks to be displayed in four states (Colorado, Mississippi, Texas, and Kansas), with an accompanying billboard campaign. Further information is available on www.precipice-alliance.org. The website, as well as the organization?s logo and identity were created by design studio 2x4.

The conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll lives and works in New York City, and her projects have always been concerned with notions of representation and identification, which reveal a dedication to political and social critique. She is the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Pollack/Krasner Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Fellowship, and her work has been exhibited at many national and international galleries and institutions, including the Whitney Museum, ICA London, and MOMUK Vienna.

CANCO lofts is the largest and most innovative rehabilitation of an industrial facility in the New York metropolitan area, built from the 1 million square foot factory that once housed the American Can Company in Jersey City. Industrial by heritage and contemporary in design, this unique new condominium community offers dramatic, light-filled spaces and luxury loft living minutes from Manhattan.

Residents sound off about neighborhood watch programs
Monday, November 13, 2006

O fficers in the Jersey City Police Community Relations unit got an earful from those in attendance at a meeting to discuss new neighborhood watch programs.

The meeting began with comments from Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey. Deputy Police Director Al Pease, Greenville Councilman Peter Brennan and Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson also attended.

Citing a family emergency, Comey left early after turning the meeting over to Police Officer Lorenzo Tosado of Police Community Relations, who gave a slide presentation explaining how the block watch program can be organized by neighborhood associations.

"Block watch" is not a new concept, neither here nor elsewhere. In fact, there are many streets in the city with neighborhood block watch signs.

During the question-and-answer period that ensued, it became clear many residents fear that the criminals will be the ones doing the watching, and would take revenge on anyone who calls the police. Others believe people related to criminals participate in such programs as a way to tip off their kin to police activity.

Both Tosado and Community Relations Commander Thomas Julian attempted to allay their fears by saying the program has devised a way of maintaining their anonymity.

Eventually, as very often happens at police community meetings, audience members started quizzing officials about police response and quality of life issues. Local merchant Pat Sebrone made an impassioned statement about what she described as deteriorating conditions on Martin Luther King Drive.

Sebrone spoke about the number of street lights that are out on MLK Drive as an example. Drug dealers often disable street lights to make it easier for them to sell their wares at night in the shadows of a street corner, she said.

Councilwoman Richardson told the crowd that at one point she and her office, in conjunction with the Jersey City Department of Public Works, documented hundreds of lights that were broken on MLK Drive.

"They fixed every one of them," Richardson said. "But almost as soon as they were replaced or fixed, they were broken again."

One resident wanted to know if more closed-circuit TV cameras can be installed in their neighborhood. Julian said the cameras were obtained through a state and federal grants.

4 arrested after police tail store robbery suspects
Monday, November 13, 2006

Four Jersey City men were arrested Saturday night after cops followed two men after the robbery of a convenience store, reports said.

According to Police Sgt. Edgar Martinez, Marcus Pettiford, 21, of Garfield Avenue, and Benjamin Wilson, 22, of Union Street, used a 9 mm handgun to do a "stick-up job" at the New Minimarket, 2125 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City.

Cops arrived at the scene in time to follow the pair from the convenience store to a building on Grant Avenue, Martinez said.

The two men then bolted into an apartment and the police ran after them, Martinez said. Inside the apartment, cops found two more men - Eric Sessoms, 18, of Clinton Avenue, and Najee Ford, 18, of Ocean Avenue, in addition to Wilson and Pettiford.

Police also found in the apartment a stash of guns, drugs and proceeds from the store robbery, Martinez said.

By the end of the search, all four occupants faced a bevy of charges, Martinez said.

Pettiford and Wilson, the pair who had initially robbed the convenience store, were charged with robbery and weapons possession.

Sessoms was charged for the 77 vials of cocaine that were found in the house, while Ford was hauled in for having a stolen weapon, Martinez said.

GREG HANLON

RENOVATION RESISTANCE
Monday, November 13, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Historic Commission is overruled

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy's top policy adviser received a thumbs down from the city's Historic Preservation Commission for plans to renovate and expand a townhome he owns in Harsimus Cove.

But eight days later, Chief of Staff Carl Czaplicki received a much different response from the city's Planning Board - unanimous approval.

Czaplicki wants to restore the front facade of his Second Street property and build a four-story addition in the rear of the home.

The Preservation Commission on Oct. 16 denied the proposal, saying it threatened to ruin the character of the building. Board members also said they were concerned the proposed plans were not a compatible use of the building, according to city documents.

"I tried for a year to work with the staff of the Historic Commission, but in the end they were offering me their opinion on what my house should look like and not dealing with things that were within their power," said Czaplicki, who added that many people share their frustration with the commission.

Stephen Gucciardo, the Preservation Commission chairman, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

However, in actions in historic districts that also require Planning Board approval, the Preservation Commission only acts as an advisory board, Planning Board Chairman Mike Ryan said. The Planning Board has the final say.

"Our staff recommended approval, and, in the end, the Historic Preservation Commission only provides an opinion," Ryan said.

Ryan added that Dan Wrieden, the Preservation Commission liaison to the Planning Board, told him all of the Preservation Commission's concerns were addressed in the final plans.

Czaplicki says he didn't have time to go back before the Preservation Commission with the final plans.

"If I waited to go back to the (Historic Commission) in order to get their recommendation, it would have been January until I got in front of the Planning Board, and I and my family could not wait that long," Czaplicki said.

Ryan said Czaplicki didn't receive any "special treatment," but not everyone agrees.

Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said other residents would have worked with the Preservation Commission or would have been rejected by the Planning Board.

"I think it's a tale of two cities, one set of rules for residents and another set of rules for the mayor's office," Fulop said. "When it's convenient for the administration, they hide behind the Historic Commission, but when it's about personal gains, they claim they are just following the rules," Fulop said.

Healy's response: "Steve is entitled to his opinion, but as always, I disagree with Steve."

Politicians double-dip to earn 6-digit paychecks
Monday, November 13, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Social Security paychecks? Fuggedaboutit.

A large number of Hudson County pols are bankrolling a career in public life into cozy, taxpayer funded retirement plan thanks to spreading themselves out in a number of different jobs, according to The Jersey Journal's review of state pension records.

The Journal review shows that 13 elected officials in Hudson County earn six-figure salaries - and a host of others below that threshold - through a combination of different public jobs, including two pols who rank third and fifth in the state when it comes to prolific pension takers.

Embattled Jersey City School Superintendent and state Assemblyman Charles T. Epps Jr. tops the Hudson County list - and ranks third in the state - with a combined salary of $268,993. That does not include his $1,000 a month in a housing allowance as superintendent. Epps did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Nicholas Sacco, a frequent target of government reformers for his bevy of vocations, finished second in the county and fifth in the state with a combined salary of $247,558 related to his jobs as state senator, North Bergen mayor and assistant superintendent in the North Bergen School District.

"I strongly disagree with any suggestion that my 39-year career in public service constitutes any pension abuse," Sacco said in a written statement. "If three different people held the same positions that I hold, the cost to the taxpayer for salaries and pension would be the same and health benefit costs would actually be higher. To suggest anything else is a deliberate attempt to mislead people."

The other "six-figure" pols who multiple two taxpayer paychecks include:

-Sal Vega, who makes a combined $153,894 as a Hudson County freeholder, West New York commissioner and West New York school athletic director. (Vega, who became West New York mayor last week, is expected also to be named assemblyman, replacing newly-elected Rep. Albio Sires in both posts. Vega is expected to step down as freeholder but not from his other jobs.)

-Vincent Prieto, who makes a combined $151,390 as Secaucus construction code/plumbing and state assemblyman.

-Mariano Vega, who makes a combined $147,450 as a Jersey City councilman and Hudson County director of parks.

-James Doran, who makes a combined $144,136 as a Harrison councilman and Hudson County Vocational School principal/supervisor.

-Bill Gaughan, who makes a combined $139,965 as chief of staff to Hudson County Executive Tom Degise and Jersey City councilman.

-Richard Turner, who makes a combined $133,618 as mayor of Weehawken, West New York business administrator and a member of the state's Local Finance Board. (On Friday, Turner resigned as business administrator and will now serve as Rep. Sires' regional director.)

-Joseph V. Doria Jr., who makes a combined $121,000 as Bayonne mayor and state senator.

-Albert Cifelli, who makes a combined $118,321 as Harrison tax assessor, Harrison public defender and a Hudson County freeholder.

-Hugh Cabrera, who makes a combined $113,750 as North Bergen Board of Education secretary and North Bergen commissioner.

-Viola Richardson, who makes a combined $108,746 as a Jersey City councilwoman and Hudson County program monitor.

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State: No conflict with Spinello's multiple jobs
Monday, November 13, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A state board has ruled it's OK for Mary Spinello to be both a Jersey City councilwoman and the deputy executive director of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority.

"I'm glad it's put to rest," said Spinello, who represents Ward B. "The city has said it doesn't see it as an issue, but it's nice to have an outside party confirm what I believe was right all along."

The state Local Finance Board revealed its findings in a Oct. 23 letter written to Spinello and shared with City Council on Wednesday. The letter, signed by board chair Susan Jacobucci, didn't indicate who complained about Spinello.

The complaint argued that Spinello couldn't be independent since she worked for an agency whose board members are appointed by the mayor and raised questions about Spinello voting to put her boss, JCIA Executive Director Oren K. Dabney, in charge of filing a recycling grant.

The letter states there's nothing in Spinello's situation to indicate "one office is subordinate to another, or subject to its supervision or control, or the duties clash."

And voting to place Dabney in charge of a grant was "innocuous," the letter stated.

Before the council voted last month to allow a huge warehouse to be built on landfill site in Spinello's ward, Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop went to the newly reconstituted Jersey City Ethics Board and charged Spinello had a conflict of interest. The JCIA has levied fines on a company occupying the landfill site, Fulop said.

Fulop also filed a complaint against City Council President Mariano Vega, who initially wanted open space at the site. Vega is in charge of acquiring open space for the county.
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Government workers earn several salaries
Monday, November 13, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Joseph Zavarindo is a busy man.

In addition to serving as a captain in the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, he also serves as a fire marshal, building sub-code official, fire sub-code official and fire prevention official in three Bergen County towns. (Like many firefighters, Zavarindo works 24 hours straight in the firehouse, followed by 72 hours off.)

Zavarindo, who refused comment, earns about $163,645 in taxpayer money annually.

He also can look forward to a nice retirement, courtesy of a state law that allows him to increase his pension through cobbling together a number of different part-time public jobs.

A Jersey Journal review of state pension records obtained under the Open Public Records Acts shows that in Hudson County, roughly 440 government workers collect paychecks from at least one Hudson County government agency plus hold at least one other public job here or elsewhere.

The combined salaries of these government workers - including one who holds seven jobs - amounts to more than $36 million in taxpayer money now, and millions more later in retirement benefits.

"It's a cultural problem in Hudson County, clearly," said Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop. "People still have this machine party mentality that you repay people with multiple jobs."

Others, like Christopher Pianese, who works as a part-time chief financial officer for North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, argue that multiple jobs are the definition of efficiency itself by offering part-time jobs for full-time positions, thereby cutting costs.

"If Hudson Regional hired a full-time CFO, they would pay more than $100,000, but they get me, with my experience, for substantially less and there's no benefits," said Pianese, who collects a combined $174,769 with his other jobs as North Bergen business administrator and as a consultant for the North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority.

The practice is under fire from Republicans and reformers who are seeking more government efficiency and who want to trim the state budget.

"We need reform. We are going to keep pushing for one job, one pension," said Republican state Sen. William Gormley, who sits on the committee that is looking into pension reform.

"I would guess that Hudson County sits near the top of the list. It has a long tradition in the state and Hague would be proud," Gormley said. "Until we change the system, people all over the country are going to think of New Jersey as an HBO show on Sunday night, and that's an insult to the good people of the state."

New Jersey has about 514,000 employees contributing to the pension fund, 210,000 retired employees receiving pensions and 358,000 active and retired workers receiving health benefits, according to state officials.

The state still owes $5.5 billion in pension contributions from previous years and officials say that it needs another $24 billion to make the asset fully funded.

By 2010, the state's Division of Pensions and Benefits estimates, benefits costs for employees and retirees will take up 21 percent of state spending.

Professionals who work part-time for multiple government bodies, from towns to parking authorities, receive pension rights from each one. Retirement benefits are not billed directly to local taxpayers, but they impact the state budget.

According to the list recently released, the state's top 50 earners qualify for pensions ranging from $40,000 to more than $135,000.

Herbert Klitzner, for example, attorney for North Bergen Township and the Union City Board of Education, makes $218,326 annually and would be eligible for a hefty pension.

Klitzner recently told the New York Times that "You can make more money as a lawyer in private practice, but you make it up with the benefits."

Sal Bonaccorsi, as another example, has a combined $203,286 salary serving as the tax assessor in Hoboken, Union City and West New York.

I don't see them really leaving Manhattan but it would be great for Jersey City if they move all or some of their offices here.

http://www.curbed.com/ -- See the first link on Curbed entitled:

"Merrill Lynch may leave NYC for 'hot to trot' NJ"

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Merrill Lynch may leave NYC

Merrill Lynch & Co. may decide within six months whether to remain in lower Manhattan, relocate to midtown or even New Jersey.
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Julie Satow -- Crains' Business -- Nov. 10, 2006

Merrill Lynch & Co. may decide within six months whether to remain in lower Manhattan?where it has been based since its founding in 1914?or relocate to midtown or even to the suburbs.

The giant securities firm has hired a broker, and Chief Executive E. Stanley O?Neal has met with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who is expected to make a strong effort to lure the company to his state.

?We are in the midst of evaluating our options, given that we have impending lease expiration,? says a Merrill spokeswoman.

At stake is the headquarters of a firm with $48 billion in revenues and with more than 9,000 highly paid staffers downtown, who are spread out across 3 million square feet of space. Merrill?s lease at the World Financial Center, where it occupies all of Tower 4 and a portion of Tower 2, will expire in 2013. Merrill also owns its former headquarters building at 222 Broadway, on the other side of Ground Zero, where it occupies 660,000 square feet.

Remaining at the World Financial Center is a possibility, but a problematic one. Merrill has occupied the bulk of that space for nearly 20 years, and while there have been updates to the company?s cavernous trading floor?a key part of the headquarters operation?it is no longer state-of-the-art. Undertaking the necessary renovations would be expensive and disruptive.

Merrill has hired brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle and begun the search so early because its space requirements are so large that no single existing building in the city would fill the bill. Complicating matters, the investment bank needs a huge open floorplate able to accommodate its trading floor.

Merrill could possibly move to one of the four buildings expected to rise at the World Trade Center over the next few years. However, brokers say that the company has already ruled out a move to the Freedom Tower, the site?s centerpiece.

Midtown options include a new building that could be developed on the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania. The property, on Seventh Avenue across from Madison Square Garden, is owned by Vornado Realty Trust. There is also the possibility of a long-discussed new building above the Port Authority Bus Terminal, at Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street. Lawrence Ruben Co. began talks with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey earlier this year about such a project.

Merrill will likely look at Hudson Yards on the far West Side, but unless the No. 7 subway line is extended, the area will continue to have inadequate access to public transportation.

What worries city and state officials is the prospect that Merrill could leave New York altogether. Brokers say the investment bank has already looked at locations in Connecticut, where there are plenty of alternatives, as is the case in New Jersey.

News of Merrill?s possible move has triggered a quiet scramble among suitors in neighboring states.

?New Jersey is hot to trot,? says one real estate industry insider familiar with the discussions. A call to Mr. Corzine?s office was not returned.

Given the flexibility of modern-day investment banking, New York City officials have reason to be concerned.

?Merrill Lynch could move its trading business from Manhattan,? says David Arena, president of the New York region for Grubb & Ellis. ?It already operates successfully in New Jersey, and other firms?like UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland in Connecticut?have proved that you can trade in locations other than New York City.?

If Merrill departs, it would be a blow to downtown?s status as a financial hub. Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Chase moved their headquarters out of downtown long ago, but they still have huge offices there.

At this point, Merrill is likely to sit back and let various city and state governments compete for the honor of hosting a top Wall Street player?and for the huge accompanying flow of tax payments. That approach worked well for Goldman Sachs. In exchange for agreeing last year to build a $2 billion, 2-million-square-foot headquarters at the northern tip of Battery Park City, the bank is receiving $150 million in city and state tax breaks and $1.6 billion in federally subsidized Liberty Bonds.

John Cahill, Gov. George Pataki?s downtown czar, said at the time the Goldman deal was inked that he believed that Goldman?s continuing presence in lower Manhattan would help keep Merrill there.

Calls to the city about Merrill?s plans were not returned. A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents lower Manhattan, says that Mr. Silver was unaware of Merrill?s possible departure. He adds, ?He will contact the company and do everything he can to ensure it remains in lower Manhattan.?

I agree -- who doesn't want a safer Jersey City -- at least the numbers are going in the right direction!

And 20 murders for all of Jersey City (none downtown) really beats 38 murders (or whatever it was last year this time)

I can feel the difference downtown! It is GOOD! But sure lets get it as safe as Manhattan!

I've met a lot of current and former Rutgers' students lately. I think quite a few just moved in on Newark Avenue near Brunswick. They had a party with like 20 people last night!

Also Abbey's Pub just had that big Rutgers game night -- so yeah maybe it is just that with their team winning -- it makes their presence more apparent -- but I do think more and more are moving here.

Welcome any Rutgers people out there -- it's great school!

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Here is another two articles from the "Newark Metro" -- Rutgers' Online magazine

http://www.newarkmetro.rutgers.edu/reports/display.php?id=66
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Gentrification in Downtown Jersey City
By Yaniv Gafner

Many immigrant families are moving away from downtown Jersey City. The rents are becoming unbearable for them. As more and more of them leave, more and more young and single professionals are moving in. Downtown Jersey City is changing from a relatively poor neighborhood into a trendy upper-middle-class one.

In the past three years the area has been undergoing some dramatic changes, especially since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Many financial corporations, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Merrill Lynch and the investment firm Charles Schwab, have relocated to Jersey City or expanded their offices in Jersey City after the attacks.

Many high-rise buildings are popping up near the waterfront, and new restaurants and hotels are opening to accommodate the growing population. ?Three years ago there was nothing here,? says John Mansilla, an office administrator who has been living in the neighborhood for the past seven years.

Mansilla is moving away. ?After many years of renting,? he says, ?I decided to purchase a property. But the prices around here are out of control so I had to look elsewhere.? According to Mansilla, rents and property values are skyrocketing. ?A studio that went for $700 is now $1,200 and a house that went for $200K is now $400K,? he says.

Standing on his balcony on the 20th floor of an apartment building, Mansilla pointed out a huge sign hanging at the front of a building offering ?luxury rentals.? He says, ?There was nothing luxurious about this town when I moved here.? Abandoned buildings and rail tracks can still be spotted in certain areas as reminders of the way things used to look.

?When things started getting luxurious, most immigrants simply couldn?t afford to live in this building,? Mansilla explained. ?So now instead of six or seven family members living in a one-bedroom apartment, you have a single woman lawyer or something.? In many ways, the story of the building is the story of the city. What used to be poor, dirty and cheap is now luxurious, clean and expensive.

In addition to the waterfront development, the city is promoting the restoration of the historic district in downtown Jersey City. The looks of buildings and storefronts is designed to give the district an ?old town? feel while maintaining modern shops and restaurants. The downtown area also enjoys a newly renovated museum and public library.

Mansilla?s apartment is full of packed boxes in preparation for his move. ?I wouldn?t leave if I could afford to buy property here,? he says, ?I like this neighborhood.? As we turned back from the balcony into his living room, Mansilla said, ?I practically lost my view.? Pointing his finger at buildings all around us he says, ?I used to see the entire lower Manhattan skyline, but now all I see is the tip of the Empire State Building.

Still, to the south one can view the Liberty State Park marina, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. ?At least they can?t build on the water,? Mansilla laughs, closing the balcony door behind him.

Yaniv Gafner is a journalism and media studies major at Rutgers-Newark.

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Here is also another article
============================

Living in Jersey City, Remembering the Philippines
By Rosanne Lugtu

From Olongapo to Jersey City
In the ?60s, in the Filipino city of Olongapo, my father and uncles would gather in the backyard of their cramped, multifamily apartment building. They would slap away at mosquitoes in the tropical heat of the night and engage in good-humored, slightly drunken conversation over San Miguel beers (Filipino-brewed!) and lechon, strips of pork. Then, as now, they were light-hearted, earnest and family-oriented?the true Filipino, or ?Pinoy,? spirit.

In 2002, on a brisk April evening in Jersey City, my uncle Jesse Zuniga Lugtu pops open a second bottle of Heineken, takes a sip, then places it on the counter next the keys of his Mercedes-Benz. Meanwhile, I pour myself a Pepsi in a Styrofoam cup. We are seated at a homemade bar in my Uncle Pete?s basement. Uncle Jesse is still sober enough to speak intelligently and cohesively but is also relaxed enough to converse easily and openly. His brothers Pete and Hermo?Hermo is my father?chime in on occasion with helpful additions to our discussion.

The brothers awaken each other?s memories as they unravel and excavate the past?memories of sustaining on one sack of rice a week; of humming and hip-swinging to Elvis? ?Hound Dog,? but most vividly of simultaneously supporting and grieving for their brother Angelo, the activist of the Lugtu family. My father and uncles admire their younger sibling?s intense altruism, seeing him as a symbol of what the Philippines needed to lift itself out of hardship. Even from their American homes?with all the provisions of daily life in their grasp?my uncles still apply Angelo?s values of self-sacrifice, perseverance and simplicity. All three brothers enthusiastically share their thoughts, but the discussion remains grounded in the articulations of Uncle Jesse.

A Dream Kindled
Jesse, born on December 8, 1934, in Lubao, Pampanga?a province of the Philippines that has housed the Lugtu family for generations?told his story:

?My younger brothers and I love discussing our roots. We never hide the fact that we come from a very poor family. There were eleven of us children, me being the eldest. We were raised under two parents, Jesus and Generosa?all of us, and only one gainfully employed person in the family: our father. We lived from one payday to another. I have known how it feels to be hungry, short of everything that you needed.?

This was hardly an anomalous story in Filipino society. The nation?s centuries-old oligarchic system has long yielded a huge gap between the wealthy elite and the impoverished majority. Jesse explained his own experiences with class discrimination:

?The poor common folk were severely discriminated against in the areas of housing, employment, advancement opportunities, etc. Our family was denied a very decent house because most of the people who owned apartments wouldn?t offer them to us?they questioned our capability to pay them rent. We settled with what we received, which was usually a one-room apartment, where we all slept on the floor.?

By the early ?60s, Jesse was attending the Feati Institute of Technology to pursue a career in engineering. But because of the heavy financial burden on his father, he had to quit his studies and seek employment. His contributions certainly helped, but in 1961 he married Lourdes Ong and became a family man.

In 1965, he began to work as a payroll clerk at the supply depot of the Subic Naval Base, which served American troops fighting in Vietnam. The base?s budget was in American dollars, so Jesse earned much more than the average Filipino laborer. He was also fortunate to work in a tolerant atmosphere.

?When I was working at the base, I did not know the meaning of discrimination. We were all Filipino, and, although our supervisors were American, we were never refused as inferiors. I loved my job and employer. There was no doubt in my mind that what prompted me to emigrate to America was the fulfillment of the great American dream.?

Martyred by Injustice
The American presence in Jesse?s life in the Philippines during the 1960s certainly played an active role in his future. But this experience can be evaluated on a larger scale. Well-versed in Filipino history, my uncle provided a brief synopsis of American involvement in his homeland. The Philippines were a colony of Spain from 1521 until the conclusion of the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the United States occupied the islands as a commonwealth. Even after the Filipino liberation in 1946, America remained a strong influence?both positive and negative?on the Philippines and its government, education, public ideology and popular culture.

The 1960s was the height of the Cold War between Communist countries and the United States and its allies. ?It was a kind of ?if you?re not with me, you?re against me? among countries in the world,? said Uncle Jesse. The Philippines, traditionally a U.S. ally, was aligned with the United States. But among the Filipino population, there was a division of allegiance.

Many Filipinos admired the democratic system of the United States. When news of President John F. Kennedy?s assassination reached the Philippines, they responded sympathetically. They admired the phrase: ?Ask not what your country can do for you?ask what you can do for your country.? Some of these people included supporters of President Ferdinand Marcos, who held close ties with the United States throughout his administration in the ?60s. The ideals expressed in Kennedy?s statement were followed up in Marcos? campaign speeches, which emphasized values of ?dedication? and ?discipline.?

Meanwhile, other Filipinos saw the United States as imperialist. They instead wanted to model the Philippines after the Soviet Union or China. By 1969, the peso was under pressure, the stock market began a steady decline and prices soared. In this context Marcos? emphasis on discipline, dedication, integrity and simplicity appeared hypocritical and produced explosive protests. Rebellion would later reach its height in the 1970s when Marcos declared martial law, but the heat of insurgency was brewing decades before, especially among the restless younger generations. The 1960s basically marked a period when early efforts were being made to organize and mobilize leftist and nationalist underground organizations. While the civil rights movement was America?s top news, the Filipinos were boiling with their own struggle for equality.

Pampanga?the home of the Lugtu family?was a breeding ground for revolutionaries and the birthplace of Uncle Angelo, more fondly remembered simply as ?Loy.? At that point during the interview, Uncle Jesse paused in deep repose. He then resumed thoughtfully:

?Your Uncle Loy has always been regarded as the personal hero of the family, from me to my youngest brother Gil. He not only devoted his life to help the Lugtus recover from poverty, but he also dedicated himself to introducing a kind of government that would alleviate the living standards of all Filipinos in general.?

Loy was a student activist at the University of the East in Manila. ?Loy?s personal aims,? Uncle Jesse said, ?were improving the livelihood of the average Filipino and allowing for the distribution of the country?s wealth to the masses. His values were through and through positive, humanitarian ones.?

Uncle Loy died at a violent demonstration in 1973. Decades later, my uncles still miss Loy and his altruism. ?The problem of the country was so enormous that it needed a strong leader to resolve the burdens of the poor,? said Uncle Jesse. ?Who else but our personal hero?? My father and Uncle Pete nodded morosely in agreement.

Uncle Jesse explained the enduring problem of the Philippines:
?My personal sense of this situation is that poverty was and still is rampant because of the population explosion; resources are being unequally distributed and infrastructures have remained stagnant. This was and still is aggravated by incompetent leadership, graft, corruption and a lack of determination to cure a sick society by those who are in the position to initiate corrective actions.?

Despite the long, massive struggle?the organizations and demonstrations, the speeches and programs, the loss of lives?the Philippines remains in a state of economic and political crisis. The majority of the victims are naturally lower-class Filipinos.

Rock ?n? Roll Sweeps Pinoy Streets
Amidst the political and economic turbulence of the 1960s, Filipino youth found relaxation, entertainment and hope in their daily lives. The American presence was not simply confined to the political history of the Philippines. Jesse was already in his late twenties and early thirties in the ?60s, but he was well aware of how popular American culture had entranced the Filipino youth?with manic results.

?Did you wear bell-bottoms?? I asked out of sheer curiosity.

?Yes,? he admitted, slightly embarrassed.

Suddenly, boisterous singing resounded from across the room.
My mother and two aunts were ?karaoke-ing? to the Beatles? 1963 hit single ?Love Me Do.? My mother was doing the watusi. Minutes later, she burst into the twist. I laughed hysterically. My father and uncles burst into fits of equally hysterical laughter, made more thunderous by their inebriated states.

My Uncle Pete piped in. ?Look around the bar.?

I looked around the bar. It was a full-fledged shrine to Elvis, complete with humongous posters, scrapbook outtakes and a hip-swinging pendulum Elvis clock! My Uncle Pete was an Elvis disciple.
After gulping down more Heineken, my Uncle Jesse said: ?American influence on Filipino culture? There?s your answer.?

More answers were to come. My aunts and uncles added their stories, transporting me to the ?60s and to the Filipino city streets, where there stood flocks of Filipino youth?men and women with black-haired Twiggy-style pixie cuts, Beatle mop-tops and Jackie Kennedy pageboys. Their oft-undernourished bodies were adorned with miniskirts, cat-eyeglasses, flared hipster pants and hippie-chic blouses with psychedelic prints. At the local theater, the movie listings contained an assortment of popular American movies: The Ten Commandments, The Sound of Music, West Side Story and Bruce Lee flicks dubbed into English. If you switched on the black-and-white television (had you enough pesos to acquire one), the theme to Bonanza might burst through the speaker. Your younger sister might have had a crush on James Dean. Enter a classroom?pick any elementary school, high school or college?and the Filipino teachers would conduct their lectures in English.

?The deeply rooted American culture was imbued in the minds of Filipino. It was and still is 100 percent American. Since this was the game every day, I came to love it and became obsessed with it,? my Uncle Jesse admitted. Naturally, he was not the only one with this mindset. If the Filipino youth could not physically be in America, they could somehow make their visions of paradise incarnate in the clothes they wore, the shows and songs they tuned into and the films they watched.

Changed Backdrop, Unchanged Hearts
For the Lugtu family, the paradiselike vision would not remain merely a vision. In 1968, President Johnson ratified a new immigration policy, which abolished the old quota system, refocused admission requirements on skills rather than on national origin, and ultimately resulted in a flooding of Asian and African immigrants looking for jobs in America. In 1973, Jesse Lugtu and his family arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York. Now in the ?land of opportunity,? one of the first moves he opted to make was to resume his college education. With poverty no longer an impediment, he took advantage of student loans and attended New York University. Joining the American workforce was another significant step, although not a necessarily difficult one:

?Growing up in the Philippines was, relatively speaking, a constant ?struggle.? But personally, daily ?struggle? was not a big deal to me because I was used to it. It was a way of life! This level of experience was my golden asset when I emigrated to the United States. What was a heavy burden to others at work was ?peanuts? to me. I was always trained to be a hard worker. I was rated an excellent worker by my employers, which gave me an excellent shot at opportunities that opened along the way. On the whole, any hardship that we as a family encountered, we encountered very easily and we survived. My family generally are survivors!?

My Uncle Jesse?s third bottle of Heineken is nearly empty, as were those of my father and Uncle Pete. The hours are approaching midnight. All are clearly exhausted, but the enthusiasm that perpetuated our discussion from the beginning is hardly extinguished. Indeed, members of the Lugtu family now proudly call themselves Filipino-American. But despite the contrast between the family?s early history and Filipino-American life?despite the fact that we can now easily afford quality education, designer clothing, automatic cars, a refrigerator consistently packed with food?the Lugtus still retain the same spirit that carried them through hardship in the Philippines.

?And what about now?? I asked.

?I?m in America now, but it?s not the materialistic goods that truly make me happy. Sure, I have my Benz. But I also have a good home, a secure job that pays well, a faithful loving wife, and my children and grandchildren. One of my daughters is a registered nurse in the state of New York,? he said with a tone of resolve and pride. ?When I was growing up, my dream included all of those things. The American dream is achievable for people like us, if the desire is there. I certainly had that desire, and I certainly think that I have achieved that dream,? he concluded resolutely. ?Your Uncle Loy taught us to be selfless, broad-minded and determined. He tried to live what we call the essence of life. We are trying to do that now.?

Rosanne Lugtu is an Honors College student and English major at Rutgers-Newark.

Yeah Jsalt is right -- go easy on our Ms. Robin Laverne Wilson -- she is still an undergraduate!

I posted it because I think it is nice to see the take of someone in college.

On a side note has anyone else noticed the FLOOD of Rugters students moving Downtown?

Quote:

What a shocker!

Crime down in all categories except rape

Some politicians heartened, others skeptical after stats released for first nine months of 2006

Ricardo Kaulessar -- Hudson Reporter -- 11/10/2006

During a press conference to announce a new emergency services communications center on Monday (see story in Hudson Reporter - http://www.hudsonreporter.com), the city announced that most violent and non-violent crime statistics in Jersey City were down during the first nine months of this year, compared with the same period last year.

From January through September 2006, there were 20 homicides, compared to 26 in 2005. That represents a 23 percent decrease.

Assaults were down from 3,257 last year to 3,058 this year, and robberies are down from 1,147 to 1,211. Both of those categories represent a 5 percent decrease.

However, rape is up from 34 last year to 51 this year. In the non-violent crime category, burglary went down 23 percent, auto theft 20 percent and larceny theft down 4 percent.

Police Chief Thomas Comey hailed the decreases as the result of active patrolling by the police.

"We are getting more police on the streets in the police cars and on bikes," said Comey. "And we are hitting hot spots hard and will continue to do so as long as we have Compstat." Compstat is a police management system that has been in operation in the Jersey City Police Department since March, with the commanders of the city's four districts continually meeting with top brass.

Comey went to say that he was "not completely satisfied and wanted crime numbers go down further" and that the police will be seeing 45 new officers in December.

When asked why rape had increased, Comey said he would talk to the Sex Crimes unit for more details, but could not be reached for a followup by press time.

The announcement came on the heels of the city's most recent homicide on the afternoon of Oct. 29 in Jersey City Heights, when shopkeeper Fidelina Claros was killed during a botched robbery of her deli.

Reactions

Not everyone was immediately excited by the statistics last week.

City Councilman Viola Richardson, a former Jersey City police officer, was skeptical.

"I need to study these numbers further, but I find hard it to believe that crime has gone down, said Richardson, as she cited a triple shooting that occurred at the intersection of Union Street and Martin Luther King Drive three days before the groundbreaking.

And what do the residents of Jersey City think about crime in their town?

Pam is a Downtown Jersey City resident and is a member of Downtown Jersey City Watch, a grassroots organization made up of downtown residents who have all been victims of crime. They patrol various Downtown streets with the help of the Guardian Angels.

Pam said she was only made aware of the decreases in crime announced by the police after speaking to the Jersey City Reporter. But she said she hoped those numbers would be broken down further to show the numbers in each of the city's six wards.

Pam bases her belief on what her fellow Downtown Jersey City Watch members have been seeking as they have been given stats verbally by the police at their monthly meetings but "not in writing."

"If there true decrease in crime, we would like to see exactly where the decreases such as in various areas of Downtown and a breakdown of how many robberies occurred in Harsimus Cove in January as opposed to August," said Pam.

She also said she knew of some members "who will say there is an increase in crime, and some who will say there is a decrease."

But Pam did acknowledge she has seen an increased police presence in her neighborhood when going out on patrols with fellow members.

Fellow Downtown resident Dale Hardman also echoed Pam's sentiments in asking for exact numbers.

Hardman said in an e-mail, "I hope that the release of crime stats for January-September 2006 will be made available to the DJCW in detailed form showing stats for the East District by each of the [district's] Zones 1 through 6, and that comparable stats for Jan-September 2005 will be released for all incidents reported as well."

Hardman said that both himself and City Councilman Steven Fulop have asked for the same breakdown of crime numbers.

Lavern Webb Washington, a lifelong city resident, was dismissive. Washington is a constant presence at City Council meetings where echoes the same refrain: "We need jobs and recreation!"

She said there has been a significant uptick in crime especially amongst young people because there are few jobs and other opportunities to get them off the streets. She also heads the Randolph Avenue and Harmon Street Block Association.

"There's still killings, there's still kids hanging out on street corners," said Washington. "There are 10, 15 people calling me everyday saying 'Can you find me any jobs?' "

Politicians want more than just numbers

Both Fulop and City Council President Mariano Vega agreed that there was progress in terms of the police fighting crime, but said they wanted more.

Fulop said he was impressed with Comey being more proactive than his predecessor, but that "crime numbers are still too high."

"I can say there is definitely a police presence and it is welcome by the community, but there's still a lot of work that has to be done on stopping robberies," said Fulop. "I wouldn't say it is a success but there is movement in the right direction. The numbers are still too high."

Vega's wife Sonia was the victim of a mugging earlier this year. But he was heartened by the results.

"I have no reason to doubt the numbers," he said. "Our police force is professional law enforcement, and I don't think it would be in their best interest to give false numbers, and I hope the numbers continue to go down," said Vega.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

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The hard numbers

The crime stats released by the Jersey City Police Department was culled from incidents reported during the period of January-September 2006 and then submitted to the State Police for verification. They are compared to the numbers from January-September 2005.

Homicides: 26 - 2005; 20 - 2006

Robbery: 1211 - 2005; 1147 - 2006

Assault: 3257 - 2005; 3058 - 2006

Rape: 34 - 2005: 51 - 2006

Burglary: 1687 - 2005: 1304 - 2006

Larceny: 3497 - 2005; 3359 - 2006

Auto Theft: 1475 - 2005; 1183 - 2006

Curing what ails the Jersey City Medical Center
Report by Chicago firm calls for cuts in salaries, services

Ricardo Kaulessar - Hudson Reporter - 11/10/2006

KEEPING IT RUNNING ? The Jersey City Medical Center located on Grand Street.
What would it take to get the Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) to be a healthier financial institution?

A report prepared in October by the Chicago-based Wellspring Partners calls for cutting staff and various services programs and attracting more private care physicians and a better paying clientele.

The report also points out that LibertyHealth Systems, the parent company for the Medical Center, will need to cut 212 full-time jobs with 65 coming from the Jersey City Medical Center.

According to the report, issued Oct. 10 but only recently made public, the Medical Center is facing increasing gaps in their $360 million budget over the next three years - $20M in 2006, $48M in 2007 and $66 million in 2008 - even after receiving state funding.

The report goes on to say if improvements aren't made to the financial situation of the LibertyHealth System, it will run out of cash in early 2007.

The report states, "The System is dependent on extraordinary state funding indefinitely" and "Given the charity care volume at JCMC, additional state support may be required."

Charity care is reimbursable care that a hospital provides to patients without insurance or funds to pay.

The report also outlines $34 million in state aid that is promised for FY 2007 and 2008, but says that there will still be a $32 million hole in the budget.

Fifteen million dollars of this financial hole could be filled through staff cuts, better collection of bills and restructuring contracts, with another $17 million to be supplemented through cutting a number of programs.

Why it was prepared

Wellspring Partners began preparing the report after former Jersey City Medical Center head Dr. Jonathan Metsch requested it in order to satisfy a state mandate.

However, Metsch resigned after the report's findings were completed. He has thusfar declined to comment on his reasons.

Dealing with charity care

Alan Marcus, the spokesperson for the Jersey City Medical Center, spoke last week on one key problem afflicting the hospital - charity care.

"There are things that the hospital can do or any organization can do to get better," he said, "but the problem is not going to be resolved at the Jersey City Medical Center or at other health care institutions until the issue of how to deliver care to those [poor] populations are better dealt with."

The Medical Center averaged $77 million in charity care expenses per year for the past three years. The state gave the center a little over $52 million in charity care funds last year.

"In the case of the Jersey City Medical Center, 64 percent of the patients are Medicaid and charity care, and there's not enough [paying] patients," said George Whetsell, the founder of Wellspring Partners. Whetsell also said there was not enough money coming from other sources such as Medicare and managed care programs.

Rosemary McFadden, vice chair of LibertyHealth, pointed out that the state's funding of hospitals has been frozen at a specific amount since 2002, which creates a deficit.

But she said the hospital has to fulfill its goal as a healthcare facility - even at a cost.

"That's always been the mission of the Jersey City Medical Center...to treat anybody who shows up in our emergency room," said McFadden.

Whetsell also pointed that the Medical Center incurred other expenses from running the ambulance service for Jersey City, a training center for new doctors, and its designation as a Level 2 Trauma medical facility that provides 24-hour trauma surgery for adults and children.

Making the improvements

McFadden said the facility must court private physicians to send their patients to the hospital.

"We realize we have to work on improving our relationships with private doctors [because] many of their patients are being sent to other hospitals rather than to the Medical Center," said McFadden.

She said the Medical Center will soon build a nearby complex for private practitioners, so they can send their patients a short distance.

McFadden also said a number of staff in top positions have either left or will be cut back because they were hired specifically to get the current hospital built and smooth the transition from the old hospital building to the new one.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

5 in masks posing as cops rob 3
Saturday, November 11, 2006
By ALI WINSTON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Three Jersey City men were mugged early yesterday morning by five masked men posing as police officers on Bentley Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, according to police reports.

The men were robbed of a total of $590 in cash and two cell phones, police said.

At 12:50 a.m., the three men - ages 35, 20, and 33 - were standing on the corner when a silver Mercedes with New Jersey plates pulled up and five men dressed in black jumped out, wearing masks and flashing badges, reports said.

They ordered the victims against the wall, frisked them and demanded if they had any drugs, police said.

All three victims were led to believe the men were police officers, and they did not resist, police said.

After emptying the victims' pockets the masked robbers got back into the Mercedes and drove off, police said.

The three men jumped into the car of one victim's girlfriend, who had been waiting for them nearby, and attempted to follow the Mercedes, but they lost track of the car at the entrance to Route 280, reports said.

Downtown Jersey City
By Robin Laverne Wilson -- 10/2006 -- Rutgers Online

The armpit of metropolitan New York is cleaning itself up, applying some deodorant and rapidly becoming attractive to post-9/11 evacuees and transplant pseudo-New Yorkers. A walk through downtown Jersey City reveals a unique hybrid of Brooklyn-style brownstones and historic districts, embattled, old warehouses becoming lofts and artists? studios, the remains of ethnic enclaves, impending new condo towers and a waterside mini-mirror of Battery Park City known as Pavonia-Newport. On the waterfront, a 10-minute walk away, you can see the New York City skyline and feel as though you can touch where the Twin Towers once stood.

Formerly known as ?Jersey Shitty,? and a once-embittered urban center in the shadow of New York City, Jersey City is ironically the true home of the Statue of Liberty. But the freedom to walk safely through its downtown was once a dream.

Crime here may be substantially lower than in recent decades, but it is not gone. Still, the denseness of businesses and residences in commuter-laden downtown Jersey City pushes people out onto the sidewalks. And the infusion of new people, with grassroots community-building initiatives alongside surging property values, has shaken up the crime-ridden status quo. The new blood has taken a consistent stand against knuckleheads roving the streets.

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson commuter train, better known as the PATH, is the artery that gives downtown Jersey City its ultimate appeal. Transplants like me, who are true New Yorkers at heart, acknowledge that it is significantly cheaper on this side of the Hudson. We rely on this 24-hour lifeline that runs from Newark to Jersey City to midtown Manhattan, for only $1.50 each way. The trains are mostly on time, the stations are clean, and the anchor is the Grove Street stop, where blight and boom, apathy and ambition meet and respectfully greet at the pedestrian intersections of Grove Street with Jersey and Newark avenues.

Weekday mornings until about 9:30, the Grove Street station bustles with commuters departing in both directions. The yuppies insert their full-fare MetroCards in the turnstiles for the World Trade Center train, which reopened in 2004. They seem to reluctantly clutch their Dunkin Donuts coffee, resenting it for not being Starbucks or another fancy brand and for reminding the upwardly mobile corporate types that they have not fully overtaken the blue-collar ways of this town, where many commute to their midtown Manhattan jobs via the 33rd Street train.

The artists, intellectuals and bohemians drink Spanish bodega coffee with milk or herbal tea while listening to their iPods. Hopeful students, jaded urban youth and hardened laborers insert their PATH Quick Cards and also wait on the other side of the station for the Newark train. Almost all have a paper in tow: the free commuter papers, amNewYork and Metro, or the New York Post, which is double the price for being 10 minutes away from New York. With that exception, the station is almost as New York City as it is New Jersey.

Above ground, locals raise the gates and prepare for business. Construction resumes on the Grove Pointe Towers that loom over the station entrance; the residential high-rise will be the newest and most inland of local developments. Homeless men and women emerge from sleeping in front of the Employment Commission to resume their duty as dirty but benign neighbors. They sit across from the liquor store with the pigeons in the plaza all day, waiting for scraps of food or change. Women haul shopping carts. There?s the old Latino man who voluntarily directs traffic on behalf of pedestrians outside the station?s busy intersection and tells everyone, ?I love you, man!? John, the old vet with a bum leg whom the Veterans? Administration has abandoned, drinks to euthanize the pain. He always has a kind word and rarely asks for spare change.

City Hall is two blocks away. Its classic marble architecture and courtyard are neither inviting nor foreboding. It just stands calmly, a landmark with little bustle, as a witness to the quiet revolution of commerce and dining on the south side of Grove Street. The newest establishments invite the mid- to moderate income sets. At Marco & Pepe, you could convince yourself that you are in Chelsea, brunching at a sidewalk caf? complete with white tablecloth, napkins, unpronounceable menu items and little dogs parked by the table. The Merchant, right across from City Hall, fills in for a typical bland Wall Street pub?dark wood interior, sports on the televisions and ?80s rock playing on the jukebox. Pedestrian traffic feels imminently foreboding south of The Merchant, as it is not as well lit and the blocks are patchy. But the pub?s late hours help stave off trouble for the sparse sidewalk traffic to the end of the block.

Starving artists and thrifty types shun the idea of Jersey food at New York prices and instead opt for the local ethnic fare. Shadman has some of the best Pakistani food outside of Jersey City?s Little India district. Ibby?s Falafel is addictive, and related to the proprietor of the renowned Mamoun?s in Greenwich Village. Across the station on the corner, Hard Grove Caf? remains steadfast and popular despite health code violations that temporarily shut it down in 2004. North of Newark Avenue, Grove turns into Manila Street in honor of the local Filipino community down the block. La Conguita restaurant on one corner and its grocery store directly across serve the neighborhood with inexpensive and savory Latino food from across the Americas. This corner remains busy, as the bright street lights, restaurants and residences provide comfort for the late-night commuters returning home.

By 5 p.m., Mexican families with flower carts wait outside the train station. Whoever has something to say or sell hawks his flyers to the steady stream of returning people. Newark and Jersey avenues are now at their busiest. It is mostly businesses, with about half of the buildings with residents upstairs. Despite the boom, many buildings a block or two from the train station inexplicably still hold the same ?Lofts for Sale or Rent? signs since I arrived three years ago. What is potentially the most prime real estate in the metropolitan area is often overlooked for the flashy new condos by the water, away from the locals.

Between 7 and 9 p.m., the gates start coming down. Most of the pedestrians briskly walk home, while the extra careful or distant take a $5 cab ride from the station. Newark Avenue remains brightly lit and populated enough to be relatively safe until past midnight, now that a city ordinance has been passed to allow restaurants and bars to remain open until 2 a.m. Afterward, a few 24-hour bodegas, the late-night halal chicken shack and intermittent vehicular traffic keep you from feeling abandoned. I park my bike in front of the bohemian bar, LITM, knowing that it will be there when I return and offer me a speedy ride home. Yuppies determined to keep their property values up refuse to succumb to the occasional spate of crime, and respond with signs to inform the community of incidents and effectively keep watch. As a result, police patrols by car and on foot have increased, and the levels of yahooing and loitering have significantly decreased.

The rest of Jersey City is miles away from the influx of real estate, commerce and finance in the downtown district. Even one stop down from Grove Street, at Journal Square, the blight still trumps any attempts at a boom. Downtown Jersey City is the great compromise: one foot in New Jersey, one foot in New York City, and the best of both.

Robin Laverne Wilson is an Honors College interdisciplinary major senior
at Rutgers-Newark.

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Also a Rutgers Online Photo essay on the
Indian Market, Jersey City
By Binita Shah

http://www.newarkmetro.rutgers.edu/photo/display.php?id=26

The Indian market in Jersey City, on Newark Avenue near Journal Square, provides fresh fruits and vegetables for Indians, Pakistanis and Americans of all national backgrounds and races.

For Indian immigrants, the stores and stands offer both the products that can be found in any American market and special items, such as tindora, a green vegetable that is prepared with curry and served with rice. The merchants also speak the languages of Indian immigrants, such as Hindi or Gujarati. Nearby are Indian restaurants and a Hindu temple.

For me, the crowds and vitality of the market capture the essence of Indian life in Jersey City. That's why I photographed them.

If you want to visit the market, which is open daily except Monday and is busiest from noon to 7 pm, take the PATH train to Journal Square and walk down Kennedy Boulevard to its intersection with Newark Avenue.

Binita Shah, a business major at Rutgers-Newark, lives in Jersey City.

City should let go of Loew's funding
Earl Morgan -- Friday, November 10, 2006

Throngs of costumed youngsters filled the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theater on Journal Square last week for the sixth annual Halloween party hosted by local radio and cable television personality Pat O'Melia.

The evening was big fun. A trove of prizes were awarded for the best costume. Microwave ovens and vacuum cleaners were raffled off to lucky winners.

The audience also was treated to a display of martial arts techniques by students of the New Jersey Tae kwon do Youth Foundation, located on Jersey City's Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; a spirited saber fencing demonstration by Steve Kaplan and Rosa Cartegena of Jersey City's Cobra Fencing Club; and a magic show by Luis Montenegro.

Going by the grins on their faces, real estate developer Joe Panepinto, Ward B Councilwoman Mary Spinello and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise - who acted as judges for the costume contest - enjoyed themselves as much as the kids.

O'Melia's annual Halloween bash explodes the myth that no one cares. He's been able to get Panepinto, along with other developers, including Steve Hyman, owner of the Flintkote property; George Filopoulos, who is redeveloping the former Jersey City Medical Center; and waterfront developer Dean Geibel, as well as local businesses such as the DiFeo Auto Group and Home Depot to donate the costumes and raffles prizes.

And a group of Dickinson High School students volunteered their time to work as stage hands and help clean the theater after the party.

Who says nobody cares? O'Melia's party reaffirms just how the Loew's can act as a catalyst to pull a deteriorating Journal Square out of its doldrums.

Once a bustling, 24 hour-a-day commerce destination, Journal Square offered restaurants and chain stores, not to mention its three movie theaters - the State, the Stanley and, of course, the Loew's.

As things stand now, often by 9 p.m., the Square is virtually deserted. What with the advent of cable TV, shopping malls and the Internet, the Square may never return to the glory days of yesteryear - but at the very least it can, and should, be commercially viable.

"What's the plan for Journal Square?" a merchant who is struggling to survive in the area asked me several days ago. It's a good question.

The only thing we know that's in its future is the residential towers development slated for the old Hotel on the Square site. But it will, in all likelihood, be filled with people who will do nothing but sleep on this side of the Hudson. They will do their working, eating and shopping in Manhattan and its environs.

But looking back at the last few weeks, when we had the Halloween party, three concerts and a program of Halloween movies, all bringing thousands to the Square, and we see the potential. The throngs of the hungry and the thirsty leaving the concert meant big bucks for Boulevard Drinks and the Journal Square Pub as well as a bonanza of sales for other business in the Square.

If proof is still needed to demonstrate the potential viability of the Loew's, attendance at those events should cinch it. If a theater that is only partially restored can generate that kind of attendance, imagine what will happen once the Loew's seating, air conditioning, balcony, lights and stage improvements are completed?

Funds to cover some of the work is currently in the hands of City Hall. That includes a $50,000 donation the city got as part of a deal to extend a tax exemption on the ADP Building in Journal Square for another 20 years.

Another $165,000 earmarked for the Loew's that is part of another settlement involving 111 First St. is in the city's hands. DeGise has committed $750,000 for a modern air conditioning system for the theater.

Whether or not there are plans for resurrecting Journal Square as a commercial hub, restoring the Loew's, enabling it to become a venue able to host productions - and therefore bringing five or six thousand people to the Square, five or six days a week - will go a long way to giving the area a needed boost.

Hopefully, the administration, which for some reason continues to drag its heels, will finally see the light and release the funds it's holding for the theater.

I agree that there should be more activities for youth -- I also think way too much money goes to organized sports -- it is one thing to get kids playing sports but quite another to spend a lot of money to support teams with few players.

Money should be spent on intellectual activities -- not on spectator sports. They waste tons of money!

Also all city libraries should be open nights till 9:30 pm and open long hours on weekends too -- who uses libraries on weekday mornings anyway?

Jersey City needs to think out of the box -- I also think we need free city wide wi-fi!

The fun of fusion
In Jersey City, sushi comes with a sense of humor
Friday, November 10, 2006
BY PETER GENOVESE - Star Ledger

EAT WITH PETE

"Fusion" is the kind of word that causes a frisson among some restaurant reviewers, especially when it refers to Asian fusion. Is any culinary term more overworked? Isn't all food fusion to some degree, drawing upon multiple influences?

Fortunately, Wild Fusion in Jersey City is a casual, fun restaurant, and evidence they don't take themselves seriously here comes just inside the front door, in the presence of a imposing stone dragon covered in dollar bills.

"For luck," explained manager Yennie Shim.

The playful menu is dotted with such dishes as Golden Treasure Tofu, Holy Basil Fried Rice, Grove Roll (the restaurant is located on Grove Street); Crazy Tuna Roll and the Fancy Rock Roll .

Let's not forget the Jersey Roll, the Fantastic Roll, the Out of Control Roll, the Romantic Roll, the Hot Lover Roll, and the Three Stooges Roll, with seaweed, tuna, salmon, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayo, shaved bonito and fish roe.

My friend Joyce and I felt like the two Stooges trying to find a liquor store in the neighborhood. A helpful waiter pointed us down the street, to what he said was a liquor store next to the Dunkin' Donuts. The only thing there was a vacant storefront. We then headed to a convenience store a block away, where one customer pointed us to Palace Drugs, across the street.

A drug store allowed to sell wine and beer? Surely we misheard him. We dawdled in the street, unsure what to do next. "The drug store!" shouted the convenience store guy, now out on the sidewalk.

Sure enough, Palace Drugs is now a liquor store; there are a few bottles of aspirin and lotion in the window, although whether they are for sale or serve as the world's smallest apothecary museum is not clear.

After all that, nothing -- not even an Out of Control Roll -- could possibly faze us.

The 40-seat restaurant opened two years ago. We started with three appetizers. Mango tuna ($9) was a mini-mountain of greens topped with tasty strips of tuna and ringed by a decorative orange glaze. The accompanying sesame-flavored "special sauce" was not so much a showstopper as a solid second act.

The chicken satay ($5, also available with beef) was tender and pleasingly greasy, and the peanut dipping sauce was subtle, if lacking in character. The Appetizer Samples ($10), with two Thai spring rolls, two Shanghai shrimp rolls and three pieces of chicken tempura, is fusion personified. One note: If you like your food spicy, you will want to rachet up the heat here. The sampler and the satay were marked as "hot & spicy" on the menu, but fell far short of that description.

Crispy red snapper ($17) with sweet onions and pepper, consisted of three Jaws-sized pieces of fish, nicely fried like the tempura. The accompanying Penang curry was smooth and satisfying, but also didn't live up to the "hot & spicy" billing.

The coconut fried rice with beef ($8.50; chicken, vegetable, shrimp and seafood also available) was enlivened with coconut shreds, eggs and raisins. "I'm loving the curry,' said Joyce, a fan of Curry in a Hurry in the city.

We thought about traveling to Rachel, the well-liked cafe down the down the street, for desert, but instead we decided to try the Japanese cheesecake ($5), which seemed somewhere between cheesecake and tiramisu. Different, but not especially memorable.

The menu is wide-ranging (salads, soup, sushi bar, noodle bar, rice and vegetarian dishes, and $6.50 and $7 lunch specials), although we couldn't figure out why the item numbering went from 1 to 6, jumped to 101, hit every number through 120, then jumped again, to 131. Where was the guy in the convenience store when we needed him?

Where should Pete eat next? Call him at (973) 392-1765 or e-mail to pgenovese@starledger.com

Indian fare with flair in Downtown Jersey City
Mango featured on Amiya menu in drinks, appetizers and more
Friday, November 10, 2006
BY S.J. GINTZLER
For the Star-Ledger

EATING OUT

A classy restaurant located on the ground floor of a corporate building in Jersey City's booming financial district, Amiya claims to serve "contemporary" North Indian cuisine.

The two-year-old eatery actually offers polished presentations of traditional fare, mixed with just a handful of updated dishes. But that worked for us.

Ambiance: Sleek and smart. The Eastern influence is implied: Oversized tasseled lanterns hang from high ceilings and gossamer curtains cloak floor-to-ceiling windows. An elaborate candelabra and recorded music add the final flourish.

Staff: Kind and accommodat ing, though somewhat overwhelmed by the full house on a recent weekend. Service improved as the crowd thinned out.

Food: The restaurant's namesake ingredient -- amiya is Hindi for "green mango" -- is mixed into both drinks and dishes, including a mango spritzer (with rum, mango juice, orange juice and Sprite) and crab cakes topped with a mango salsa (a starter, $8.95). Entrees and ap petizers are expertly executed and attractively presented.

Crisp, house-made pappadam (lentil crackers) came with sweet/tangy tamarind and feisty mint chutneys. The Amiya tandoori starter platter ($16.95) was a showy assortment of skewered, smoked minced lamb seasoned with coriander, ginger and garlic; zesty chili-rubbed tandoori shrimp; succulent yogurt-marinated chicken smoked in the tandoor, and fish tikka -- fleshy, flaky white fish marinated in minced spinach and spices. Vegetable samosas ($4.95), two fried pastries filled with assertively seasoned cubed potatoes and peas, were delicious. So was the tangy-sweet mango shrimp ($8.95; $17.95, entree), a stew of jumbo prawns and thinly sliced mango in a suitably fruity sauce.

A basket of three breads ($8.95) -- garlic naan, paratha pudina (whole wheat with fresh mint) and kulcha (stuffed with chickpeas and potatoes) comple mented entrees.

Sarson saag paneer ($10.95), a fiery blend of creamy, rib-sticking mustard greens and mild cubed cheese, ruled. A lavish lamb bi ryani ($13.95) mingled aromatic, slow-cooked basmati rice with tender cubed meat and sliced hard-boiled egg. Shrimp kadai ($17.95) -- a mildly spicy melange of jumbos, chopped peppers and onion stewed in a thick red chili sauce -- was particularly toothsome. Our meal was tempered by cooling swigs of India's King Fisher beer ($5; $8).

If you choose only one dessert, make it kulfi ($4.45), kitchen- made pistachio ice cream topped with a tousle of orange-tinted vermicelli. Now that's what we call a contemporary combo.

Food:***

Ambience: ***

Service: ** 1/2

Overall: ***

Juvenile crimes way up
Friday, November 10, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City police are monitoring a dramatic spike in juvenile crime over the past two months.

"We have seen an increase that is concerning me, and through COMPSTAT we have been better able to put our resources where we can attempt to deal with it," said Police Chief Tom Comey, referring to the department's computerized crime tracking system.

There were 144 juvenile arrests in the city last month, compared to only 76 in the same period last year, Capt. Hugh Donaghue said, and 102 juvenile arrests in September, compared to only 57 during that period in 2005.

The numbers from August and July, on the other hand, are only up slightly from the previous year: There were 79 juveniles arrested this August, compared to 77 last year, and 82 in July, compared to 74 in 2005.

A number of recent incidents illustrate a surge in criminal activity by young people.

On Monday at 6 p.m., officers said they spotted a group of 10 boys standing at the corner of Grant and West Side avenues. Police followed them until they surrounded and attacked a 14-year-old boy, knocking him to the ground and searching his pockets. The boys ran when the cops intervened, but they caught and arrested a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old on robbery charges, reports said.

And on Saturday, police arrested a 13-year-old boy who had mugged another boy, and in another incident found three teen-agers who'd been shot in the legs during a fight at Atlantic Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

But statistics show most types of crime are down in Jersey City, Donaghue said.

From January to September, there were 4,328 violent incidents reported in Jersey City, compared to 4,528 in 2005, Donaghue said.

This landlord is still trying to get his money!

Just make sure he is who he says he is -- GS can tell you that they use his firm. Also do ask for a letter from his company stating how long they plan to have him in JC.

You know, if you are willing to gamble with short term renters from outside the USA - you might consider creating a furnished apartment and have short leases -- you could get a real premium -- not sure about here but it is common elsewhere.

Too many headaches for me!

Good Luck with it!

Quote:

Call it 'Hudson County Plaza' --Former Block Drug to be workplace for 1,100 county employees

Ricardo Kaulessar- Hudson Reporter --10/28/2006

It will cost $50 million and takes two years of work, but by late 2008, the old Block Drug headquarters on Cornelison Avenue in Jersey City will become Hudson County Plaza, the new home to 1,100 county employees.

The nearly 80-year-old building was once the national headquarters for Block Drug, which developed, manufactured and marketed pharmaceutical and household products such as Sensodyne Toothpaste, 1000 Flushes, and Gold Bond Powder.

Block Drug was sold to the British-based GlaxoSmithKline in 2001. Hudson County purchased the Block Drug building from GlaxoSmithKline in 2004 for approximately $15 million.

County officials gave a media tour of the building on Oct. 17, and presented completed design plans.

The 292,000 of 340,000 square foot building will house 14 county departments including the Hudson County Sheriff's Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Also, there will be a new, county-operated chest clinic to replace the old county facility located at Murdoch Hall in the former Jersey City Medical Center.

Staff from the old clinic is slated to occupy the new building first, since their current lease at their old location is expected to expire by the end of the year.

They will be followed by the Sheriff's Office, then other departments.

Changes to the building include new entrances, two new elevators, new lighting fixtures, and a new air conditioning system for the clinic.

Assistant County Administrator David Drumeler said the first phase of the project will be asbestos removal from inside the building's walls starting by the end of the November.

In early January, bids will go out for the rest of the construction.

The estimated cost of the upgrades and changes will be approximately $36 million.

The center of county operations

Drumeler said before the tour that relocating most county services under one roof will be helpful in the long run.

"While we will spend more upfront to bring Hudson County Plaza online, there is no doubt that the long-term benefit, both financially and from a service perspective, will be worth it," said Drumeler.

He said that the county has been leasing spaces for county departments in a building on Newkirk Avenue and in other parts of Hudson County, which was becoming a money waster.

County spokesperson Jim Kennelly pointed out that there will be a good deal of work that was at first not anticipated, since the county was unaware there was more space than expected.

"We initially thought we would do what is called a dust-off. That is, we would go in and used what space was available," Kennelly said, "but what we found was there were about 100,000 square feet of labs and other space. So let's go forward and use every available space."

Drumeler noted that GlaxoSmithKline did about $5 million in improvements when they occupied the building.

The tour made its way from the first floor, where the chest clinic will be located, to the seventh floor, where employees from the county's Department of Health and Human Services (expected to occupy 65 percent of the building) will be placed.

Other floors will hold the County Clerk, Superintendent of Elections, the Board of Elections, and the Sheriff's Department, which will be responsible for the 24-hour security for the building.

From Block Drug to Hudson County Plaza

The Block Drug property is a total of 16 acres. The Block Drug building is seven stories high, sitting on little over 13 acres of land that also includes 600 parking spaces. A second nearby parcel is nearly 3 acres.

According to Joe Baker, member of a small crew of ex-Block Drug employees who have been maintaining the building since it closed, said the building has existed on the site since 1928. Block Drug moved into the building in the 1950s after it moved from a building on Baldwin Avenue.

The county retained several employees from Block Drug to take care of the interior and exterior of the building. There is a front gate leading from Cornelison Avenue and a back entrance on Academy Street.

Transformation from Block Drug to the new Hudson County Plaza will feature upgraded grounds, including a small public park, widened sidewalks, and new bus stops and new landscaping.

"One of the things the county executive [Tom DeGise] talked about was we wanted to support the neighborhood," said Kennelly. "We want to make this more inviting. You'll have 1,100 employees working here, and people coming in and out."

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

Jersey City developers defy housing slowdown
A dozen rental and condo projects under way downtown; projects increase off the waterfront

By John Celock - The Real Deal - New York Real Estate

There may be a drop in the real estate market, but the news hasn't hit developers in Jersey City. Jersey City is on track to become New Jersey's largest city, overtaking Newark, before the end of the decade.

City officials can point to at least a dozen new development projects currently under construction in its downtown. This is in addition to major development projects under construction along the entire "Gold Coast," the string of communities on the west bank of the Hudson River across from Manhattan, which are adding several thousand more condo and rental units to the mix.

David Barry, president of Applied Development Company, is currently working on several projects in Jersey City that will add almost 4,000 rental, condominium and townhouse units to the waterfront. These include the Columbia Towers, a rental building slated to open in June 2007 that will be adjacent to the Grove Street PATH Station; Port Liberte, a mixed-use waterfront community near the Statue of Liberty; and the Liberty National Golf Course condominiums.

"Jersey City is the most dynamic market in Hudson County," said Barry, who also works in Hoboken and other areas. "It's on its way to being a true 24-hour city."

Port Liberte, which has sold half of its planned 1,800 units to date, is a mix of townhomes and condos abutting Liberty State Park and the Hudson River. Barry noted that the community differs from most of the new waterfront developments in its size. The buildings are relatively low, while most new projects in Jersey City are larger, usually topping off at 25 to 50 stories.


Weighing a housing glut

With the downturn in the housing market, including throughout northern New Jersey, some have questioned if Jersey City and the Gold Coast can maintain the rapid building that has defined the area. James Hughes, a housing economist at Rutgers University, said that while the Gold Coast may be exempt from the housing decline, he does question whether all of the units planned will actually be built.

But Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop is more sanguine.

"It's a unique market dynamic," said Fulop, who represents the downtown and waterfront districts. "We are somewhat insulated from what else is going on in the housing market."

Fulop points toward the still-rising housing prices in Manhattan (where inventory is nonetheless piling up) as a benefit to the Jersey City market, along with his community's close proximity to Manhattan. He noted that the development market has changed scope in recent years, with more apartments being designed for families rather than singles. While development is up, Fulop sees areas where Jersey City can improve itself.

"What we need to do better is marketing," he said. "People across the river don't know what is going on here."

He had proposed earmarking funds from a recently passed hotel tax in the city for tourism and marketing programs, similar to ones New York City has implemented, predicting a spike in interest from potential residents. On Sept. 13, the City Council voted to dedicate the money from the tax, which was opposed by the development community, to property tax relief.

Maria Pignataro, spokeswoman for Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, questioned Fulop's call for increased marketing, noting that the city has several programs currently under way.


Development beyond the waterfront

The building spree in Jersey City is not limited to the waterfront. New development has taken hold in the Bergen/Lafayette neighborhood, just south of Liberty State Park. And increasing debate exists on the development of land along the Hackensack River at the city's western edge: should the use be residential or industrial?

Exeter Properties has been focused on several projects in the inland parts of downtown, primarily centered in the Hamilton Park historic district, several blocks in from the water. Eric Silverman, the company's president, said Exeter has two projects currently in the works in Hamilton Square -- the development of the Schroeder Lofts and the conversion of the former St. Francis Hospital into 225 apartments along with ground-floor retail space.

With the hospital conversion slated to be completed in either late 2007 or early 2008, Silverman said his company is currently searching for stores to occupy the retail space. A national coffee chain is close to signing a lease, and Exeter is in the process of negotiating with several restaurants and a health club.

"It's a real neighborhood," Silverman said of his interest in the Hamilton Park neighborhood. "It is sterile living in some of the waterfront areas. Here, you feel like you're a part of a community. It is one of the best urban neighborhoods in New Jersey."


Tax breaks fuel building

Tax abatements have been credited with helping fuel the surging development in Jersey City over the past decade and a half.

Abatements bring tax breaks for a 20-year period that are tied to annual revenue for rental projects and are set at a locked-in rate for condos, which allows developers to not pass on property tax hikes to tenants and to owners.

Now there is debate over whether the practice should continue to the extent it has already been used.

Councilman Steven Fulop has issued calls for the city government to grant fewer abatements than it has in recent years. (At times, Fulop has been the sole vote against granting certain residential abatements.) He said that with the city's increased development, abatements are not needed on every project.

Fulop noted that the division of abatement funds directing this revenue solely to the city, rather than to the county or the schools, is one of his main problems with their use.

"We are moving toward a family environment and you are seeing more families on the street," he said. "You shortchange the schools and county with this."

Maria Pignataro, spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah Healy, said the mayor is generally in favor of tax abatements in the city, but reviews each on a case-by-case basis. She said that Healy believes the abatements are beneficial to the city's treasury and can be used to spur development in the parts of the city that have not been developed as much as the waterfront.

"The mayor feels tax abatements bring in ratables for the city," Pignataro said.

David Barry, president of Applied Development Company, one of Jersey City's largest developers, said tax abatements have been beneficial to the development community and to his projects.

But Barry also said he would like to take the abatement program out of the hands of municipal government and place it with the state. He said this would allow for an equitable system to be developed amongst communities, rather than a different policy in each community.

In addition, he said it would take the issue of abatements out of the local political arena, which he said can sometimes kill a planned abatement if community groups oppose it.

"New Jersey is a home-rule state and it's a patchwork of local concerns," Barry said. "It is not efficient."


Condo builders pushing north to Palisades

With growing development of New Jersey's Gold Coast rapidly taking up the available waterfront land in prime areas like Jersey City and Hoboken, developers and residents are beginning to increasingly look north for new rentals and condominiums.

Port Imperial is the largest project on the Palisades waterfront, stretching from the northern border of Hoboken up to West New York and Guttenberg, encompassing 200 acres in all.

Roseland Property Company has taken the lead on the project, which started in 1991 and is still under development. Portions have also been sold to homebuilder K. Hovnanian for development.

According to Andrew Miller, a vice president with Roseland and Port Imperial project manager, the development started as a way to transform brownfields lining the water to new housing alternatives to Manhattan. The original development built several hundred condominium and rental units lining the water and has grown with the addition of more units, along with multimillion-dollar townhouses.

"Hoboken and Jersey City have reputations and they are known," said Miller. "Port Imperial is the diamond in the rough. It is becoming an established community on a daily basis.

To compete with his neighbors to the south, Miller said that Port Imperial will be gaining more retail space in coming months, including 130,000 square feet of retail in the West New York part of the development. The new condos in this portion contain a Starbucks that opened on Sept. 18, along with an A & P supermarket and a Ben & Jerry's. In addition, a new ferry terminal to Manhattan has been built along with new stations of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system.

"We are rounding out the place to be self-sufficient," Miller said. "You won't have to trek to Edgewater for stuff."
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