Historic building gone
Saturday, August 19, 2006
By JENNIFER MARKOWITZ
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City said it issued stop-work order

Jersey City lost one of its oldest houses when two 19th-century buildings were recently demolished on Sherman Avenue.

The house closest to the street, built in the 1870s, was demolished legally over a week ago and the second structure, of Dutch-influenced architecture and believed to have been built 20 to 40 years earlier, was illegally destroyed on Wednesday, city officials said yesterday.

After the demolition of the first structure the city issued a stop-work order to prevent the destruction of the older building when it was discovered that it may be more than 150 years old, said Barbara Netchert, acting director of the city Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce. A city ordinance prohibits demolition of houses more than 150 years old without the approval of City Council.

Because the age of the building was in doubt, the city issued a stop-work order until it could be determined, but demolition went ahead anyway, Netchert said.

The property owner, Bob Sacks of Sacks Realty, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Calls to his attorney were also not returned.

Netchert said the city is now trying to determine what to do next.

Jacob Morgan, who lives next to the demolished site, said he first saw demolition notices about a month ago.

"I am unhappy because that house cannot come back again," he said. "It was a greedy act to knock down history."

Joshua Parkhurst, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, said that he would like to see construction of a similar building.

"A stop-work order is not enough. We have laws, but people just break them," he said. "More needs to be done to preserve history."

Well we went over and the first thing we saw was a big sign on the door borrowed from Sea World in Florida with whales and dolphins, yes WHALES and DOLPHINS.

The place does look somehow like you are inside a fish tank - we ordered the calamari (not deep fried) in the red sauce ($8) -- with salid (just got cucumbers and lettuce) in a nice light dressing $2 (no oil) great stuff.

The rice wasn't ready so we got it to go and had it at home with rice from a near by chinese place.

What a great cheap meal!

I talked to the owner Hasan-- he didn't know what the Village Voice is or how to get it -- I told him it was all over Manhattan -- he told me "what good is that!" -- haha -- I told him that it is also placed on Grove Street in red boxes and around Exchange Place -- and of course over in Hoboken.

He looked at me and said I remember you! You were in here awhile back -- I said no -- I think maybe that was the guy who wrote the article.

They are muslim so maybe SOME of you should stay home!Great place inside. Clean enough!

Map of the Muslim world on the wall. and a great sign in farsi (or whatever it is) for a seafood place (maybe this place) with Daffy Duck.

Must say -- the Muslim free newspapers (this weeks and last weeks) were pretty shocking -- the cover photos of little kids dead and bleeding was a bit off putting -- so you might want to bring reading material or call in advance for a take out order -- (201)333-5305 or 333-5357

I tried to get a take-out menu -- all I could get was his business card!

It would be fun to eat in there though! When you get there you will know what I mean.

It is just a block from the Little India area of Newark Avenue.

(Oh and something else, I found funny -- this place had a glowing review way back in 1995 in the New York Times - he has it hanging on the wall -- Thanks MCA for reposting it above!)

I don't know, I was down there and I thought about killing that mouse!

And those tourists -- what's up with them!

I'm so there too -- I'm going for lunch right now!

I'm going to try the calamari ($8) flooded with a red sauce that owes much to Italian marinara, with the herbal seasoning shifted in a Middle Eastern direction. And I'm getting a dirty rice and a small salad!

STATE MOVES AHEAD WITH 9/11 MEMORIAL
Friday, August 18, 2006
By JACK HERMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The state has no plans to alter the 9/11 memorial it is building at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, even as local opposition mounts.

On Wednesday night, hundreds of residents, politicians and park enthusiasts gathered in front of the construction site for the memorial, in the northeast corner of the park, saying it will obscure the park's "sacred" view of lower Manhattan.

Jay Watson, deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseeing the project, told the crowd he was there to listen, but later said the project has been "vetted enough," and the state has no plans to hold a public hearing.

State Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Jersey City, said yesterday he has introduced legislation which would require the state to hold a hearing and also wrote a letter to DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson asking questions about the project's funding and construction.

Others, including the Friends of Liberty State Park and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, have written letters asking Gov. Jon Corzine to intervene.

Calls to Corzine's office were not returned yesterday.

Bruce Kane, who lost his 40-year-old son in the World Trade Center attack and was on the committee that picked the memorial, said the idea to build a memorial in Liberty State Park has been in the works since the victims' families met for a candlelight vigil two weeks after Sept. 11, 2001.

A group of artists and architects whittled down 352 selections to 16, which a group of victims' families chose from.

Most of the ideas were impractical, environmentally unsound or too expensive, Kane said. They eventually decided upon two 30-feet tall, 200-feet long stainless steel walls, which will be cut into a gently sloped hill and be perpendicular to the water.

"The twin walls are focused on Ground Zero and provide a powerful, contemplative space for the names," according to the Web site of architect Frederic Schwartz. "The memorial's strength lies in its simplicity and ability to resonate as it honors not only those lost but also New Jersey's witnesses, survivors and volunteers."

Almost everyone attending Wednesday night's three-hour, open-air meeting - including many local politicians - hope to see the memorial moved somewhere else in the park. The Friends of Liberty State Park suggested moving the monument, redesigning it or having a public meeting to discuss it.

"People should not have to walk up or around a 10-foot high hill that is a couple of hundred feet long, or walk through walls that are 30 feet high and 200 feet long just to see the powerful open vistas," said Friends of Liberty State Park President Sam Pesin. "It blocks the sacred view of Ground Zero, lower New York City and the Hudson River."

Pesin also said he objects to the fact that the DEP charged his group the normal $1,000 fee for holding the meeting there.

Newhouse News Services contributed to this report

Hotel tax introduced by council
Friday, August 18, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Following up on legislation Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy pushed at the state level, the City Council introduced the so-called "hotel tax" at its Wednesday meeting.

The ordinance, which is likely to be adopted at the council's meeting next month, would add roughly $5 million a year to the city's coffers, officials said.

The ordinance doesn't raise the 6 percent local occupancy tax already in place but it eliminates the ability of hotels to deduct real estate taxes - or payments-in-lieu of taxes in the case of tax-abated properties - from the total they turn over to the city.

Taking this option away from the hotels required a state law, which was passed last month.

John Rojan, manager of the Courtyard By Marriott on the Jersey City waterfront, told council members on Wednesday that the ordinance could well cost his mostly minority work force jobs.

"I was concerned if the owners now have to pay this money, rates might have to be raised," Rojan said. "It could slow the occupancy growth. It could affect our employment status as well."

Jersey City Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly responded quickly, saying the hotel industry has long charged the tax, but it was used to offset the taxes and not used to provide property tax relief to the residents.

"The rates in the local hotels have gone up 40 percent over the past several years, and we are just getting what we rightfully deserve," O'Reilly said.

Journal staff writer Jarrett Renshaw contributed to this report

Jersey City mayor charges Shore officer with assault
Friday, August 18, 2006
BY MARYANN SPOTO
Star-Ledger Staff

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and his wife have filed charges against a Bradley Beach police officer who they claim manhandled them after the mayor tried to quell a lovers' spat near a bar earlier this summer.

Lodging a complaint in municipal court Tuesday, Healy accused officer Terry Browning of aggravated assault, official misconduct and other charges in the June 17 incident.

Because the complaint involves indictable offenses, the matter now goes to Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin for review. He can either keep all or a portion of the case or send it back to the municipal court level.

Besides aggravated assault and official misconduct -- two crimes that are handled in state Superior Court -- Healy charged Browning with simple assault and harassment, disorderly persons offenses handled on the municipal level.

Healy's wife, Maureen, filed charges of simple assault, harassment and official misconduct.

According to the mayor, the incident began when he spotted an arguing couple on his way out of his sister's bar, Barry's Tavern on Main Street, around 1:30 a.m. Healy said a young man was on top of a car, yelling at a young woman standing on the sidewalk. In recounting the incident the following day, Healy said he told the young man to quiet down or police would respond.

Shortly after that, police did arrive. Healy said he was pounced on when he approached one of the officers, Browning, to tell him that the young woman had nothing to do with the fight.

In his complaint, Healy says Browning grabbed his right hand and "twisted his arm behind his back, threw him to the ground, pushed his face into the asphalt, knocked his glasses off, causing scrapes, cuts and bruising about his body."

Browning also committed aggravated assault, the complaint alleges, by knocking Healy's glasses off and by spraying him in the eyes with a chemical, causing him temporary loss of his sight.

These actions constituted "an unauthorized exercise of his official functions," the basis of the official-misconduct allegation, the complaint said.

Maureen Healy said Browning used his knee to hold her husband's neck and head to the ground. When she tried to retrieve his glasses, Browning pushed her, causing her to fall to the ground, she said. She said in the complaint that she suffered abrasions to her right ankle and a swollen, sprained middle finger.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Leonard Guida said at the time that Healy "involved himself in the investigation" after being warned he'd be arrested if he stayed.

Healy was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, two disorderly persons offenses.

Clothier arrested for drug sales, pirated CDs
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By JACK HERMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Police in Jersey City busted the manager of a local clothing store who was peddling a bit more than the latest fashions, officials said.

Suvie J. Winruit, 33, was arrested late Sunday afternoon for selling drugs along with bootleg movies and music from his "Street Fashion Store" on West Side Avenue, authorities said.

"Our 'Zero Tolerance' efforts to stamp out the illegal narcotics trade in our city may take us in different directions, but so be it to fight any crime that supports illegal drug trafficking," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement.

The Narcotics Squad, under the command of Sgt. John Redmond, initially took Winruit into custody for distributing large amounts of marijuana from his store. But a follow-up search turned up thousands of counterfeit DVDs and CDs, officials said.

Police discovered seven resealable bags of pot, 2,480 DVDs and 4,620 CDs, officials said. All the movies and music are believed to be illegally duplicated copies, officials said.

Winruit was charged with possession and distribution of marijuana within a school zone and violations of the New Jersey Anti-Piracy Act, officials said.

Julio C. Chevalier, 44, of Boyd Avenue, was also arrested after police nabbed him leaving the store with a bag of marijuana, officials said.

Archdiocese allowed pollution at PJP, according to McCann
Thursday, August 17, 2006

Former Jersey City Mayor Gerry McCann - a proud Irish Catholic and former altar boy - ripped the Newark Archdiocese yesterday, saying it has failed to live up to its responsibilities at the PJP landfill site.

"The Catholic Church is skirting their responsibility," McCann said in a five-minute rant at yesterday's City Council meeting. "When I was mayor, we filed a lawsuit against them, and a priest came up to me and said I wasn't being a good Catholic."

The former mayor said the Newark Archdiocese has never taken responsibility for "allowing" contaminated material to be dumped on the PJP site, owned by the Church, which led to a number of underground fires at the site and legal action by the city.

Archdiocese spokesman James Goodness referred all questions to the Church's attorney, who couldn't be reached for comment.

After a long dispute involving a number of parties, Waste Management Inc. has signed a consent order with the state to clean up the site.

Council members didn't respond to McCann's comments.

From Men' s Health Magazine

How Angry Is Your City?
A side-by-side ranking of where residents are the most steamed

Our search for evidence of urban anger began with the percentage of men with high blood pressure, from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (as calculated by Sperling's BestPlaces). We then factored in FBI rates of aggravated assaults and Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers on workplace deaths from assaults and other violence. And because rage and the road often go hand in hand, we also included traffic-congestion data from the Texas Transportation Institute, as well as speeding citations per state from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Does your city's rank rankle you? We kind of figured it would.

(From most to least angry cities)

1. Orlando, FL

2. St. Petersburg, FL

3. Detroit, MI

4. Baltimore, MD

5. Nashville, TN

6. Wilmington, DE

7. Miami, FL

8. Memphis, TN

9. Jacksonville, FL

10. St. Louis, MO

11. Chicago, IL

12. Tampa, FL

13. Jackson, MS

14. Albuquerque, NM

15. Charlotte, NC

16. Dallas, TX

17. Houston, TX

18. Tucson, AZ

19. Indianapolis, IN

20. Wichita, KS

21. Birmingham, AL

22. Providence, RI

23. Durham , NC

24. Altanta, GA

25. Washington, DC

26. Denver, CO

27. Philadelphia, PA

28. Baton Rouge, LA

29. Fort Worth, TX

30. Phoenix, AZ

31. Lubbock, TX

32. Cleveland, OH

33. Greensboro, NC

34. Cincinnati, OH

35. Arlington, TX

36. Los Angeles, CA

37. Buffalo, NY

38. Grand Rapids, MI

39. Boston, MA

40. Columbia, SC

41. Tulsa, OK

42. Aurora, CO

43. Seattle, WA

44. Sacramento, CA

45. San Diego, CA

46. Montgomery, AL

47. Raleigh, NC

48. Yonkers, NY

49. Oakland, CA

50. Fort Wayne, IN

51. Newark, NJ

52. Las Vegas, NV

53. Columbus, OH

54. St. Paul, MN

55. Charleston, WV

56. Kansas City, MO

57. New York, NY

58. Oklahoma, OK

59. Toledo, OH

60. San Antonio, TX

61. Riverside, CA

62. Modesto, CA

63. Louisville, KY

64. Honolulu, HI

65. Richmond, VA

66. San Francisco, CA

67. Bakersfield, CA

68. Spokane, WA

69. Milwaukee, WI

70. Jersey City, NJ

71. Lexington, KY

72. Little Rock, AR

73. Lincoln, NE

74. Billings, MT

75. San Jose, CA

76. Hartford, CT

77. Minneapolis, MN

78. Boise, ID

79. Anaheim, CA

80. Norfolk, VA

81. Austin, TX

82. Fremont, CA

83. Fresno, CA

84. Anchorage, AK

85. Cheyenne, WY

86. Rochester, NY

87. Madison, WI

88. Salt Lake City, UT

89. Omaha, NE

90. Pittsburgh, PA

91. Colorado Springs, CO

92. El Paso, TX

93. Sioux Falls, SD

94. Des Moines, IA

95. Burlington, VT

96. Portland, OR

97. Corpus Christi, TX

98. Fargo, ND

99. Bangor, ME

100. Manchester, NH

Carport, garage vote delayed
Thursday, August 17, 2006

A vote on changes to residential zoning laws that would have allowed future and current homeowners to build carports and garages throughout the city was tabled by the Jersey City City Council at a meeting yesterday.

The proposed ordinance would have allowed property owners with at least 15 feet of property between their home and the sidewalk to build a carport.
Advertisement

The changes would have also reduced the required backyard space from 30 feet to 20 feet, enabling developers to set back homes by 10 feet to accommodate a driveway or garage.

"I am glad the council tabled this, and I hope it's one of those that they keep tabled forever," said one resident.

Councilman Bill Gaughan, who spearheaded the proposal, said the city must begin a debate on the parking problem and come up with some solutions.

"No matter what happens. We got to do something," said Gaughan. In the fall, he hopes to bring together members of the council, the community and Parking Authority officials to help tackle the problem.

One of the items they will look at is eliminating the city's 10 parking zones and creating one master zone, he said.

JARRETT RENSHAW

Hoboken housing aide admits embezzlement
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/17/06

NEWARK: The former accounting manager at the Hoboken Housing Authority pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling $111,083 from the agency by writing checks to himself, federal prosecutors said.

Eric D. Hurt admitted he wrote 34 such checks from August 2001 to February 2004, falsely reporting that the checks were to vendors. Hurt, 38, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement and one count of a false tax return for 2003. He is to be sentenced Nov. 21 by U.S. District Judge Harold A. Ackerman and could get up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Attacks-Memorial


JERSEY CITY, N.J. (2006-08-17) Hudson County officials say a memorial
to New Jersey's nine-eleven victims will ruin the view of Manhattan's skyline and ground zero. During a Friends of Liberty State Park meeting in Jersey City yesterday, the officials urged Governor Corzine to redesign or relocate the monument. "Empty Sky" was selected by a panel of family members nearly two years ago. Two stainless steel walls would stretch 200 feet long and rise 30 feet high. It will display the names of the more than 700 New Jerseyans who died on nine-eleven. Supporters say the memorial is designed to focus on the void left where the World Trade Center towers stood. Assemblyman Louis Manzo has introduced a bill to require a public hearing on the project.

http://publicbroadcasting.net/thenigh ... CLE_ID=955823§ionID=1

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'PILE OF DIRT' CAUSES STIR
Thursday, August 17, 2006
By JACK HERMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

9/11 memorial site irks residents

Dozens of New Jersey residents told state officials last night that a planned 9/11 memorial for Liberty State Park would block views of the Manhattan skyline.

"We were just shocked when we saw this pile of dirt," said John Seborowki of Jersey City at the open-air meeting held at the park, referring to the mound upon which the planned memorial would sit.

"Nothing against the memorial," added Seborowki, who lost two friends on 9/11. "They should do something. But it is a shame that people make these decisions without consulting the public."

The proposed memorial is to feature two stainless steel walls 30 feet tall and 200 feet long on top of a hill at least 10 feet high. It is to fit near the Central Railroad of New Jersey Train Terminal.

The Friends of Liberty State Park held the meeting because it felt the state's Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseeing the project, failed to take the public's concerns into account.

DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said before last night's meeting that state officials met with 9/11 family members in June and decided to keep the current plan in place, because even though the memorial might "impact the view from some portions of the park," the park's walkway is more than a mile long.

Last night, DEP Deputy Commissioner Jay Watson said he was there "to listen."

"We believe this is a great monument," Watson said. "We really believe this a feature to bring people into the park."

To the cheers of many in the crowd, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy also weighed in last night.

"There's not a vista like this any place on earth," said Healy, referring to the Manhattan skyline in the distance. "We're asking you to put the memorial some place else." Newhouse News Service contributed to this report.

Yum!

Click here to go to the Village Voice

Single-minded Egyptian fish joint rules near Journal Square

by Robert Sietsema -Village Voice
August 17th, 2006 3:50 PM

You might go just for the neon. Waves of it course across the rear wall, upon which a happy blue porgy and pink octopus dance, and orange Arabic script crawls across the front windows. In addition, there are nautical motifs galore, including lighthouses and carved boats. You'll feel as if you were dining in a ship's galley, or maybe in Sea World. Open more than a decade, Suez Canal is one of the Egyptian fish restaurants that constitute Jersey City's greatest culinary asset, though light years away from the high-rises and shopping opportunities of Harborside and Newport Mall. The proprietors are from Port Said, at the mouth of the Suez Canal, where fresh fish is an obsession.

In fact, fish is so much the focus of the menu, there's little else to eat. If you prefer, you can begin with a rudimentary salad of iceberg, purple onions, tomatoes, and cukes in a bare-bones vinaigrette (large, $2; colossal, $4), which could be readily shared, respectively, by two or four persons. The best part: There's no balsamic vinegar anywhere on the premises! Then there's the thing I call the eggplant appetizer ($2), even though most diners use it as a side dish. Fried rounds of aubergine are heaped with diced tomatoes and mild green chiles, then sprinkled with dill, which is not the first herb you'd expect to find sprouting next to the Suez Canal. These two starters are sided with pitas warmed on the grill and a saucer of herbed tahini.

Apart from the starters, and a big plate of dirty rice that can be ordered separately, the rest of the menu is entirely seafood. First off, there are whole fish. These are dipped in whole-wheat flour, blackened over charcoal, then baptized with salt water. This process renders the skin inedible, but turns the flesh supremely sweet and moist. One evening, proprietor Hasan El Khodairy sidled up and showed us how to peel the skin away before attacking our foot-long sea bass. The market price was $8—but what planet is that market on, we wondered as we tore into the wonderful fish? We learned to extract more flavor by dipping our pitas in the cooking moisture that accumulated in the bottom of the metal salver. There are usually a couple of other whole fish available in the same price range, including red mullet and porgy.

Being sophisticated New Yorkers, we initially eschewed the fried filets. Were we ever full of shit! Described simply as "white fish," the breaded and boneless grouper filet ($8) flops over the sides of the plate, crisp and chestnut-colored. Alone, it would have made a perfect meal. But it came flooded with a thick tart garlic sauce that seeped into the flesh as we cut through the breading, making the fish seem like an aquatic take on chicken-fried steak. More surprises were in store on subsequent visits. Shrimp and calamari are available singly ($8) or in combination ($14). They come flooded with a red sauce that owes much to Italian marinara, with the herbal seasoning shifted in a Middle Eastern direction. After exhausting the plate of dirty rice we ordered with it, we looked around sheepishly. Then we were unable to restrain ourselves from tilting the plate and drinking the remaining fluid as if it were a soup.

Increase to proposed tower approved by city
Thursday, August 17, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Global financial giant Goldman Sachs received city approval yesterday to increase the size of a proposed office tower on the Jersey City waterfront from 185 feet to 500 feet, but plans to build a public atrium in the new facility were scrapped.

The changes were included in amendments to the Colgate Redevelopment plan unanimously approved by the Jersey City City Council yesterday.

Under the old redevelopment plan, Goldman Sachs promised to build a curved, glass roof public atrium connecting the Hudson Walkway with Hudson Street.

The amended plan now calls for an open-air plaza, which city officials say will provide better views of the Manhattan skyline. The plaza will feature a number of retail shops.

In addition, the city amended the redevelopment plan to allow for a 500-foot building at 50 Hudson St.

Behind the scenes, several city officials raised questions about the intentions of Goldman Sachs.

The company's current Jersey City building - the state's tallest with a capacity for about 5,000 employees - is less than half full. And of the company's 2,140 employees, only 149 live in Jersey City, according to city records.

"Goldman has been a great neighbor, but I just hope that they plan to build it," Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said.

Goldman Sachs officials said they plan to have their current building "two-thirds" full by next year.

Wow - so these could be banned from Newark Avenue Downtown if they are banned on the side streets!

That would be great!

They could still go to the Jornal Square PATH.

======================================

OK so if that doesn't happen I should just get into this field! If they aren't banned then I am looking at getting one, two or more of them -- I found this one on ebay for under $2000!

Click Here to see this GREAT BUS

It is hard to believe but you don't even need to have a Commercial Drivers License - a CDL LICENSE to drive one of these in Jersey City!

I just can't believe it..

And that min insurance is nothing - $10,000 per persson $100,000 max of coverage -- that must only cost $2,000 per year!

OK so lets see, If I hire two drivers - two shifts - that's 16 hours per day, 4 trips per hour, 20 people a time -- one buss could gross $1,280 per day -- $39,680 per month -- $476,160 per year cash...

OK, each bus is not always full and there is high gas prices, and other min costs
Hmmm, ok maybe I'll net $200,000 per year per each bus I buy... (and hey it's cash and there are even bigger buses I can get)

I might get a Vespa or something -- I see scooters parked on the sidewalk around town. But I have another question -- can two people ride on a scooter in NJ? I read about it online but I am not clear -- anyone know?

I agree -- Ratslayer since you seem to know -- what besides an inspection happens for a taxi?

How is it that taxi cabs have more regulations than these broken down buses that carry 20+ people?

Why don't the cab drivers and owners fight this -- is it that they too have it way to unregulated?

It seems like someone is getting paid off in all this!

I agree that something should happen -- NJ transit Big Buses coming from outside Jersey City should have to take the highways (turnpike and 1&9) as long as they can, and not be allowed to use JC's surface roads. Make them turn in on Marion - sorry if it takes 5 more min.

As for local buses - let's lose this crazy sea of broken down buses, retired from Disneyland -- and let's also lose the HUGE NJ Transit buses. Allow only small NJ Transit van/buses on surface roads in Jersey City. This would save the city a lot in road repair as well!

Also, why can't Jersey City have safe bike lockers at all PATH stations - even if they cost $1 for the day that would still be attractive to many!

Lastly, let's get taxi medallions of some sort!

Quote:

I would love more information -- what race are the two gunmen and the third guy in the white get away car?

I would also love to hear what the other roommates think.

It seems odd for the one roommate to be out at 4am and run into THESE guys who demand him to take them to his house!

I am only guessing but it this seems that this 22 year old roommate might like to buy drugs off the street -- Otherwise there are really crazy criminals out there.

Ok, there are but still...

I might be wrong here but something doesn't add up.

I lost a relative who worked at Canter Fitzgerald -- I don't see how ruining Liberty State Park helps.

This thing is dumb!

These Buses should be inspected more and there are too many -- they run almost empty most of the time!

Jersey City like New York should have Taxi Medallions.

It would bring in a lot of money for the city and it would fund the inspection of these cabs and buses. It costs $250,000 to buy just one in NYC for a cab (not even one of these broken down stinking empty buses)

Why are we giving it away in Jersey City?

Healy fails to sway residents
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
By EARL MORGAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

They came.

They listened.

But no minds seemed to change last week, as Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy spent nearly two hours at Temple Beth-El last Thursday trying to sell his plan for a mega-warehouse on the Hackensack River waterfront.

"He just doesn't understand that we don't want it," said a member of the Harrison Avenue Block Association, the group that sponsored the meeting.

Many in the crowd of nearly 50 said the project would only mean more traffic congestion along Routes 1&9, dismissing Healy's arguments that the warehouse would produce 300-plus jobs and $1 million a year in ratables.

Healy has been feuding with Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and members of the City Council over the future of the PJP landfill. DeGise is known to prefer developing the site as recreation.

Healy mentioned the county's interest in creating soccer fields and a nine-hole golf course on the site. "But the county recently backed off the idea of a golf course," the mayor said.

Robert Cavanaugh of the law firm Waters McPherson told the crowd that truck traffic coming and going into the proposed 883,000-square-foot mega-warehouse would be limited to 75 trips a day.

But participants at the meeting continued to harbor their doubts about the traffic and the number of jobs that would actually go to Jersey City residents.

Cavanaugh said that officials of the California-based AMB Corp., the company seeking to build the warehouse, are willing to sign a binding agreement to that effect. Cavanaugh also said that AMB will not seek tax abatements from the city.

Downtown Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop attended, but didn't comment. Ward B Councilwoman Mary Spinello, who represents the Marion neighborhood where the warehouse would go, said she was at the meeting only to hear the community's concerns.

Elnora Watson, president of the Urban League of Hudson County, spoke on behalf of the project saying it will produce badly needed jobs for people in her community.

2 gunmen: 'Take us to your home'
Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Two men forced a Jersey City Heights man at gunpoint to lead them to his home and then robbed him and three other victims early Saturday morning, reports said.

The 22-year-old victim, who lives on Lincoln Street, said he left his house and walked east toward Central Avenue just before 4 a.m., when two men approached him and threw him to the ground, reports said.

They pointed guns at him and ordered him to let them into his house, the victim told police.

"If you want to live, take us to your home and give us your money," one of the attackers said.

Once inside the house, the gunmen ordered him to his knees as they searched the basement. When the robbers came upon his two roommates, they made them lie face down on the ground, victims told police.

The robbers then riffled through the victims' wallets and dressers, grabbing two cell phones, money and bank cards, reports said. The robbers then found a fourth man, who screamed for police, reports said. They grabbed another $20 from a table as they fled the house.

Both men were described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, in their early 20s, with scruffy facial hair - one skinny and one of medium build. One of the victims also said he saw a man in a white car slowly follow the robbers on Lincoln Street, reports said.

Police Director Sam Jefferson asks anyone with information to contact the Jersey City Police Department at (201) 547-JAIL.

Warehouse, golf course, or parks?

City, county, and public debating what to build on PJP landfill

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 08/12/2006

HEALY MAKES THE CASE – Mayor Jerramiah Healy speaks on the proposed AMB Warehouse at a community meeting Thursday night.
Officials and the public are debating whether a proposed warehouse should be built off Highway 1/9 on the old PJP Landfill site.

The council will vote on zoning the land for the warehouse at a meeting this coming Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Mary McLeod Bethune Community Center, 140 Martin Luther King Dr.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy has been a staunch proponent of the warehouse because it is expected to bring about 400 permanent jobs for local residents, operating on a 24-hour, seven-day weekly schedule. It also would bring more than $1 million in taxes.

The project has faced intense opposition from residents living near the site, who claim that trucks going to the location would bring increased traffic on Highway 1/9.

Residents have been concerned enough about the issue that there was a community meeting Thursday night at the Temple Beth-El on Kennedy Boulevard.

Hudson County officials want the land to host a golf course and have been pursuing county and state funds to acquire the land.

The warehouse

The 883,000 square-foot AMB Warehouse would function as a distribution center for items brought from ports in Newark and Elizabeth.

It would be built by the San Francisco-based AMB Corporation on 54 acres of land, taking up 41 of those acres. AMB is currently under contract to purchase the property from its current owner, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. The entire site is over 80 acres, with 30 acres also owned by the Siegel Brothers, who operate a trucking facility on the land.

The warehouse is slated to have 36-foot high ceilings, a sprinkler system, 158 loading docks, 344 parking spaces, and 192 trailer storage spaces.

Some residents would like the area developed as a park or recreation fields.

However, the future of the warehouse and the site comes down to a City Council vote.

Tour of similar warehouse in Cranbury

In order for the warehouse to be built, the City Council must vote to amend a city land development law, which would allow for the proposed AMB Warehouse.

The area is currently zoned for retail stores, residential homes, and office space.

At the July 19 City Council meeting, the council postponed voting, as Mayor Healy requested, to allow the public to learn more about the warehouse. Healy suspected the warehouse would be rejected in a close City Council vote.

Recently, City Council members were taken on a tour, organized by Healy and AMB, of another warehouse AMB built in Cranbury to see a facility similar to the one proposed for the PJP Landfill site.

The tour was arranged to convince opposing or undecided council members to vote in favor of the warehouse.

Did the tour change any minds?

Ward D City Councilman Steven Fulop said last week that it did not change his opposition to the warehouse.

"I [asked] Mayor Healy a month ago how we would feel about living next to a warehouse," said Fulop.

Ward D City Councilman Bill Gaughan refused to tour the Cranbury facility.

"I didn't need to take a trip at 8 a.m. to go down the [New Jersey] Turnpike. I know what a high cube warehouse looks like," said Gaughan.

County puts aside funds for same land



Some believe that Gaughan, City Council President Mariano Vega, and City Councilman at-Large Peter Brennan are opposing the warehouse to allow county officials to acquire the property. But all three have denied that their opposition is politically motivated.

County officials voted to put aside $4 million in Open Space Trust Funds when the County Freeholders met this past Thursday.

Healy met on Tuesday at City Hall with county officials, including Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, and on Thursday with AMB representatives to resolve the issue.

Both possibilities at once

What if there were a warehouse and open space on the same site?

Ward C City Councilman Steve Lipski and Ward B City Councilwoman Mary Spinello are proposing to declare the landfill as an area in need of redevelopment, which would allow the city to either buy or condemn the site. Then it could be re-shaped to accommodate both the warehouse and open space.

What has been the response?

Spinello said that the compromise will be discussed further at the council caucus meeting Monday morning. Fulop was not impressed.

"This compromise comes down to the city getting what it wants, the warehouse and the county getting what they wants with the open space, but the people getting screwed," said Fulop.

Robert Cavanaugh, attorney for AMB Corporation, said earlier last week that he was waiting to hear from city and county representatives about the compromise.

"When they are prepared, we will be there to listen," said Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh, a former Jersey City councilman, was surprised that council approval for the warehouse was taking so long, as the issue has been discussed since February this year.

"When I was on the City Council, if there was a proposal for a job producer that wasn't a garbage transfer station, there would be immediate movement," said Cavanaugh.

Thursday meeting


On Thursday, residents met to discuss the issue with officials at Temple Beth-El on Kennedy Boulevard.

For two hours, Healy, along with AMB representatives, addressed the concerns of residents who live an area primarily between Communipaw Avenue and Lincoln Park.

Their questions ranged from the amount of trucks that will be traveling in and out of the warehouse to the amount of jobs at the warehouse that will actually available for Jersey City residents.

Healy mentioned that AMB, based on a meeting earlier in the day, has made a commitment to set aside five acres of open space on the site and contribute $500,000 for improvements in Ward B, where the warehouse is located.

It this getting out of hand?


But are various forces using government employees to get residents to support their side?

Three Downtown Jersey City residents, who wanted to remain unnamed, said last week that they were approached by a city fireman at the Shop Rite supermarket near Newport Mall and by a city Recreation Department worker in Hamilton Park to sign a petition in support of the warehouse.

When Healy was asked after Thursday's meeting about city employees taking part in this petition drive, he said that Hudson County government employees had also been doing the same thing.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

Should people park on their own property?

Residents say council measure will subtract, rather than add, parking

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 08/12/2006


SPEAKING ON ZONING – City Planner Claire Davis addresses the Jersey City Planning Board on the proposed changes to the city’s R-1 zoning regulations.
Ward D City Councilman Bill Gaughan says he wants to create more parking. But residents say his proposal will actually take away street parking.

Gaughan's ordinance, introduced at the July 19 City Council meeting, would let homeowners with 15 feet of space in front of their house park on their land.

But other residents say that the curb cuts will take away on-street parking.

The ordinance would apply to the city's R-1 zones, where one and two-family homes are located.

Gaughan said he wrote the ordinance in response to complaints he received from his constituents in the Heights section over the lack of parking.

"Parking is a problem, not in Ward D where I represent over 19,000 people, but throughout the city," said Gaughan. "People tell me more about parking than other issues, and if anyone has a better suggestion, let me know."

Gaughan said he enlisted the help of a friend whom he would not name but who is a "a professional planner who does not work for the city."

While there is agreement that there needs to be more parking, there is disapproval about Gaughan's approach to the problem.

Will speak out Wednesday

Among those in opposition is Becky Hoffman, president of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, who sees far less parking will be produced if the ordinance is approved at the next council meeting this coming Wednesday. The association represents many residents living in Gaughan's ward.

"You'll have all these curb cuts, and you have driveways two feet apart from one of another that will cut down on on-street parking," said Hoffman.

Residents aren't only ones who are unsure about Gaughan's idea.

Some of his City Council colleagues would like to see this ordinance studied further. One of them is Ward E City Councilman Steven Fulop.

"It's a knee-jerk reaction that I don't think will solve the issue of parking," said Fulop. "It would be like paving over Pershing Field to produce more parking."

Pershing Field is a city park located between Summit and Central Avenues, within Gaughan's ward.

Change in the zoning



The change in the R-1 zoning would allow houses to be built further back from the street, allowing for more parking in front of the house. Before, the setback from the street was 10 feet, but with the change, a 15-foot setback would be allowed.

In accordance with that, back yards could be smaller. The rear yard setback would be cut from 30 feet to 20 feet.

In terms of parking, the maximum length of a curb cut along the street would be 10 feet along the street. The maximum width of a driveway and garage would be 12 feet.

Garages built in any new two-family home have to be 13 feet wide and 44 feet wide and should accommodate at least two cars.

Part of the ordinance does not pertain to parking. Because the houses may have to be slimmer, building heights could be three stories with floor-to-ceiling height between 9 to 12 feet, with at least two floors connected solely by staircase.

A setback that many see as a setback



Some residents are concerned that residents may tear down the front of their house to make room for parking, and this could affect historic houses that are not actually located in one of the city's four designated historic districts.

Homes in historic district are protected by stringent regulations put down by the city's historic commission that govern how the exteriors are changed. Houses outside of the district, however, can be changed.

Joshua Parkhurst, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, said last week that the ramifications of any change to the city's R-1 zoning would be tremendous from a historic preservation standpoint.

Many historic homes do not have enough set back from the front property line to comply with the proposed zoning changes, and therefore would either be torn down or renovated to allow for more front yard room.

"This would give developers carte blanche to tear down historic buildings," said Parkhurst.

"I live in a brownstone in an historic district in Downtown Jersey City which is protected, Parkhurst said, "but there are areas such as the Italian Village and Bergen Hill where homes will be greatly impacted."

Parkhurst also took issue with other proposed changes such as decreasing the backyard space from 30 feet to 20 feet.

"This reduction of backyards is a stealth de-greening and a loss of privacy," said Parkhurst.

Monya McCarty, a Heights resident and another member of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, would like to see the ordinance studied further, and not during summer months when people are away.

"When we pay taxes, we pay for due process. It shouldn't be circumvented in July and August," said McCarty at Tuesday night's Planning Board meeting.

Planning Board gives thumbs down



The Jersey City Planning Board had a meeting Tuesday and voted to recommend to the City Council that the ordinance not be adopted, and should be sent back to the city's Planning Department for further study.

Commissioner Leon Yost asked Robert Cotter, head of the city's Planning Department, to draft a letter to the City Council stating that the Planning Board disapproved of the ordinance.

"Streets are for cars and sidewalks are for people," said Yost. "The minute people start going out into the street and cars start going onto the sidewalks, then it is anarchy and chaos."

Residents at the Planning Board meeting also complained that cars parked in the new driveways would stick out into the sidewalks. They said cars could hit people who have to walk into the street to avoid cars getting out of their driveways.

Planning Board Commissioner Michael Sottolano, who is also a city councilman representing the Greenville section, agreed with Yost about recommending that the City Council vote against the ordinance.

He also expected that this issue will be discussed further at the council caucus Monday morning, where a decision may be made to table the ordinance for further study.

What's next?



When asked about the Planning Board's reaction, Gaughan said that he had no problem with their recommendation, but will still pursue the ordinance with some further changes.

As far as other council members, City Council President Mariano Vega said last week that he would like to see further study of the ordinance before the council votes on the matter.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy's spokesperson, Maria Pignataro, said that Healy "is currently looking into the proposed amendments to the R-1 zoning and is not in favor of many of them."

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

Manzo: Not too late to change memorial
Monday, August 14, 2006
By BONNIE FRIEDMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, sent a letter to Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Brooklawn, asking him to "fast-track" a bill that would require the state to hold a public meeting to discuss the controversial Sept. 11 memorial slated for Liberty State Park.

"The site where it is currently slated to be constructed will prospectively obstruct the majestic views of the New York skyline," the letter stated. "Furthermore, the sentiment that the sight of the skyline should be available to radiate the spirit of those that perished on that fateful day remains popular."

The 9/11 memorial, called "Empty Sky," features two 30-foot high and 200-foot long stainless steel walls perched on a 10-foot high grassy knoll.

Members of the Friends of Liberty State Park, an advocacy group, say it's not too late to re-think the design, which family members of Sept. 11 victims chose out of a field of 320 designs.

The Friends of Liberty State Park are holding a meeting Wednesday to discuss the issue

Have fence, will climb
By Robert Klose

When I first came to live in Maine many years ago, one of the first things I noticed was the absence of fences. Even in the towns, the front yards seemed to fuse with one another, constituting a continuous strip of green from house to house, like a commons.

My previous state of residence had been New Jersey, where it's a different story altogether. In a place one-quarter the size of Maine - but with seven times the population - land was a much scarcer commodity. Houses were separated by only a few feet of space, and lest there be any question about where one property ended and the next began, a great array of fences made an unmistakable statement about boundaries.
In the Monitor

I grew up in Jersey City, in a quiet but kid-filled neighborhood nestled between New York Bay and the Hackensack River. All - and I mean all - of the lots were separated by fences: chain link, picket, wrought iron, cedar post, plank. You name it, we had it. Some were tall, some short. Some in poor repair, others maintained like the Masada against the infiltrations of neighborhood mischiefmakers (like me).

The ironic thing about fences is that, to a kid, they don't represent a limit so much as a challenge. For example, the DeMarcos lived across the street from us and their backyard was enclosed by a chain-link fence. The problem with chain link is that it tantalizes a boy by providing a barrier that also shows him what's on the other side, as if it's saying, "Don't come onto our property, because, as you can plainly see, we have a peach tree perfect for climbing."

I climbed that peach tree one day during the summer of my 12th year. I had to. It was tempting me. I crawled out on a stout limb and reached for the largest, plumpest peach I could find. Squatting on that limb, I bit into it and the juice exploded and ran down my chin and the front of my T-shirt. That's when Mrs. DeMarco came out, wielding a broom and yelling to beat the band. She got close enough to swat me on the seat of my pants, and I barely got back over the fence before she made contact again.

The thing was, once I was clear of her property she calmed down, thinking perhaps that the one good swat she had landed was a fair trade for the peach I had eaten.

I hopped every fence in my neighborhood. Sometimes it was just to see what was on the other side. At other times it was to escape a bully, take a shortcut, or, most often, just for the fun of it. I remember one occasion when I hopped the tall green picket fence that separated my house from the Strengerses' next door. It was the most gratuitous fence jumping I'd ever done, because all I wanted was to climb up onto the Strengerses' garage roof so I could hop from their garage onto ours. It was silly, but I couldn't help it because it was a fence.

Here in Maine, my neighborhood is bereft of fences. I acknowledge the democracy of the situation, the implication that fenceless lots point up a degree of community and trust. I watch as my 10-year-old son rides his bike down the street and occasionally detours into a neighbor's yard, and then continues on into a second and then a third yard before returning to our property. A fenceless place means there's nothing to stop a boy from following his will.

There is beauty in this, just as there is beauty in the challenges posed by fences, but it has led me to ask myself a question: What would my son do with a fence if he met one?

The scientist in me couldn't ignore this thought. And so, just the other day, I took off with Anton and a soccer ball in search of a fence. We found a dandy one: a tall chain-link deal, at his elementary school. I didn't tell him what I was up to, but wasted no time in kicking the ball over the fence. Now he had two choices: go around the thing or up and over. What would he do?

I all but choked up when he clambered over, as if born to it. I would like to be able to say that I followed my son over the fence. But I didn't. I have had my fence-climbing days, and I am satisfied with the memories. And now my son has had a taste. But with the dearth of fences in Maine, there's little prospect that he will develop the habit of hopping them.

Pity.

The developer Larry A. Silverstein has been betting that tenants for the new office towers at ground zero will finally come knocking on his doors when space gets tight in Midtown and rents soar to unprecedented levels.

Indeed, after largely ignoring his newly built skyscraper at 7 World Trade Center for two years, tenants like Moody’s Investors Service; Mansueto Ventures, a business magazine publisher; and Darby & Darby, a law firm, have suddenly started leasing space there that would bring hundreds of workers downtown.

But leasing is also getting hot again one mile to the west, in Jersey City, where a forest of office towers grew up on the waterfront in the 1990’s as companies fled the higher costs of Manhattan.

Citigroup, which announced two years ago that it was moving 1,600 workers to western New Jersey from downtown, just signed a lease that would send another 1,200 high-paying executives from Lower Manhattan to the Newport complex in Jersey City. Deutsche Bank is nearing completion of a deal to move 1,200 workers to the Harborside complex in Jersey City from Manhattan.

Until recently, the percentage of vacant offices in Jersey City languished in the double digits, refusing to budge. So most developers scurried to erect condominium towers. But after word of Citigroup’s possible move to Jersey City first surfaced three months ago, the level of interest in the New Jersey waterfront by New York-based companies has jumped to the point where the developer Richard Lefrak is considering building his eighth office tower in Jersey City, at a site now earmarked for residential development.

“There’s a lot of activity on the waterfront,” said Mitchell E. Hersh, chief executive of Mack-Cali Realty, which owns the Harborside complex and is negotiating with Deutsche Bank. “Rents here are roughly half of what they are in Midtown. We’re seeing a lot of interest, corporate expansions as well as financial services.”

The moves by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are only the latest illustrations of the difficulty of retaining jobs in New York City and rebuilding the business district in Lower Manhattan. Increasingly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, financial institutions and other companies have sought to decentralize. And with rents rising again in Manhattan, there is an economic incentive to relocate at least technical jobs to less-expensive places.

In the past, the battle for jobs has often led to border wars, as New Jersey offered sizable subsidies to lure companies across the Hudson and New York countered with tax breaks of its own to keep the companies in place. Many economists condemned the strategy as self-defeating for both sides.

Eric J. Deutsch, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, a business group, said that demand was still growing downtown, especially since rents in some prime Midtown buildings have climbed above $100 per square foot a year. In the last 18 months, he said, companies from outside Lower Manhattan have leased 1.5 million square feet of space downtown. In addition, Royal Bank of Canada, the AIG insurance company and Legg Mason, the brokerage firm, are all about to sign leases for some of the large blocks of downtown space.

To retain jobs and handle growth, he said, there is a need for more new buildings. “While the New Jersey waterfront will always be a lower-cost alternative,” Mr. Deutsch added, “Lower Manhattan is the ideal location and a better value for tenants who want to be in New York City.”

There are four new towers planned for ground zero, with 8.8 million square feet of space, and they face a lot of competition from New Jersey, which offers even larger tax breaks and other subsidies than a tenant can get downtown.

The lure of lower costs and tax breaks can be enticing, even to a company like Citigroup, whose chief executive, Charles Prince, is co-chairman of the Partnership for New York City, a civic group working to entice companies downtown.

After Citigroup announced in 2004 that it was sending 1,600 workers from Lower Manhattan to Warren, N.J., a spokeswoman vowed: “We’re keeping all our space in Lower Manhattan. We’re not giving up an inch of space.”

But now the bank has sold its building at 250 West Street and is moving the executives who worked there to Jersey City.

The average rent downtown may be $38.57 a square foot per year, 35 percent cheaper than the Midtown average, according to CB Richard Ellis, a real estate broker. But the average on the Jersey waterfront is only $28.87 a square foot. And under New Jersey’s Business Employment Incentive Program, Citigroup will get a tax rebate worth an estimated $37.1 million over 10 years and Deutsche Bank will get one worth about $22 million over the same time period.

Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, said yesterday that the bank remained the largest private employer in New York City. “We expect to continue to add jobs here and to keep our headquarters here,” she said.

Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, said that another border war would be unwise.

“What’s important to New York is that these jobs remain within our regional economy,” she said. “We’re long past days where New Jersey is the enemy. It’s more important that these jobs don’t move to Maryland, Tampa or India.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/nyr ... 1towers.html?ref=nyregion

NJ awards $21.9M jobs grant to Deutsche Bank
by David Jones - Crain's New York

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is trying to lure Deutsche Bank to Jersey City with a $21.9 million business employment incentive grant.

The NJEDA is hoping the money will interest Deutsche Bank to relocate 1,200 employees to Harborside Financial Center, a waterfront office complex located next to commuter ferry service and the PATH train, from its other offices. The bank is already leasing 90,000 square feet at Harborside.

Deutsche Bank, which had to apply for the grant, has not indicated whether it will definitely expand in New Jersey, but it told New Jersey authorities that it planned to expanding its offices in New York or expanding in New Jersey.

"Some companies execute the grant and some companies don't," said Glenn Phillips, spokesman for the Economic Development Authority. "It's one of the factors a company will consider in deciding to relocate to New Jersey."

The incentive grant, which has a ten-year term, is awarded based on a formula that gives back 80% of the income tax that new employees would pay New Jersey.

Deutsche Bank said it has about 10,000 employees in the New York area, including 350 in New Jersey. Most of the New Jersey employees currently work in the Harborside complex.

In 2001, Deutsche Bank received a $1.7 million business employment incentive grant to relocate 80 workers to Summit, N.J.