Police chief ready to call it a career?
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Is Police Chief Robert Troy calling it quits?

Well, that depends on who you ask.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said yesterday that he expects the city's top cop to retire within the next "three to four weeks."

"He's had a long and prestigious career, and he's put in his time," said Healy, who would not comment on any successor, but added that he does have a person in mind.

Meanwhile, Police Director Sam Jefferson said yesterday that after several conversations with Troy during the past few weeks, he expects the chief to retire by the first of July.

"His performance was as good as any other chief we have ever had, and better than some," Jefferson said.

Troy could not be reached for comment, but department spokesman Sgt. Edgar Martinez said the chief "has not made any decision at all," regarding his retirement date.

Martinez said Troy and his wife spoke this weekend about the possibility of retiring soon and that he went as far mentioning the possibility to the mayor yesterday. But the chief feels like he has a number of things he still wants to accomplish within the Police Department and regarding reducing crime in the city, Martinez said.

Healy was later asked about Troy's comments, and he reiterated that he thought Troy was going to retire in three to four weeks, but he said "nothing is etched in stone."

If Troy does retire, sources inside City Hall said there is a short list of possible successors, including Troy's current chief of staff Lt. Tom Comey and Jersey City Parking Authority Executive Director Bob Dalton, a former Jersey City police officer and former dean of students at Hudson Catholic Regional High School.

Healy, in one of his first moves in office, appointed Troy as police chief in November 2004. Troy, a 25-year veteran, was the commander of the department's Bureau of Criminal Identification.

Though brief, Troy's tenure has not been without its controversy.

Citing last year's highest homicide total since 1982 as the main reason, Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop called for Troy's resignation earlier this year, but the call was met with strong support for Troy from other council members and the mayor.

"Change is going to be a good thing for Bobby Troy and the city," said Fulop yesterday. "I wish him the best of luck."

COLLEGE STUDENT KILLED IN SQUARE
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A St. Peter's College student was fatally stabbed in the chest Sunday night in front of the Journal Square Transportation Center, leaving a trail of blood as he stumbled through the facility before collapsing.

Nicholas M. Perhacs, 19, of Beach Street in the Jersey City Heights, was stabbed once in the upper chest about 8 p.m. while standing in front of the Jackie Robinson Statue on Kennedy Boulevard, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday.

He was pronounced dead at the Jersey City Medical Center at 11:30 p.m., DeFazio said.

Perhacs graduated from Hudson Catholic High School in 2004 while using the last name Matulic, school officials said. Police officials confirmed Perhacs had used the name Matulic.

Witnesses told police Emanuel Reyes, 20, of Summit Avenue in Jersey City, stabbed Perhacs, and police have issued a warrant for his arrest on the charge of murder, DeFazio said.

The stabbing likely stemmed from a previous fight between Perhacs and Reyes, DeFazio said, adding that Reyes ran after the incident and police are still looking for him.

After he was stabbed, Perhacs staggered up the steps and down the walkway behind the PATH building before collapsing near the Port Authority Police Emergency Services garage, at the rear of the main Hudson County College building, DeFazio said.

Yesterday, a spattered trail of blood was still visible on the paving stones in front of the Jackie Robinson statue.

Perhacs' family members told a reporter they were too distraught to comment yesterday.

Perhacs was an excellent football player and was a member of the team that went to the state playoffs in 2003, said Hudson Catholic High School Athletic Director Rob Stern.

"He was a great athlete, real fast runner, and he played bigger than he was," said Stern. "I was blessed, I had a beautiful baby girl born just the other day, and then I got a phone call about Nick this morning. It was just devastating to me. It's vicious, the world we live in. You hear things like this every day and then it hits you in the face."

Hudson Catholic Director of Admissions Terry Matthews called Perhacs a wonderful kid who was genuinely respectful and had leadership ability.

"It's an absolute shame," Matthews said. "He was a good student and his whole life was in front of him. He was a genuinely good kid."

Although Hudson Catholic's school year is ended, Matthews said counseling will be provided to students who want to talk about Perhacs' death. He said he'd been calling several of Perhacs' friends to tell them of the tragedy.

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office is investigating Perhacs' murder with the help of the Port Authority Police Department and the Jersey City Police Department's Major Case Squad.

Anyone with information on the murder or on Reyes' whereabouts is asked to call county homicide investigators at (201) 915-1345.

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Most violence? Jersey City tops state, FBI says
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
By JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT

Jersey City has the most violent crime of any big city in the state, according to FBI statistics released yesterday.

The city saw increases last year in murders, robberies and other violent crimes, according to the FBI's statistics compiled from New Jersey's six largest cities. Jersey City is the only Hudson County municipality on the list.

Jersey City saw increases in all of its violent crime indexes, except for forcible rape. The murder rate increased 65.2 percent, with 38 murders in 2005 compared with 23 in 2004.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said statistics from the first six months of this year show the city is moving in the right direction.

"There is no other administration or police department in the state that has done more to fight guns and gangs on the streets," Healy said, pointing to three proposed gun control ordinances and the hiring of more cops.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said he hopes 2005 was an aberrant year and said the general trend since the early 1990 has been a decline in crime.

"One year doesn't make a trend," DeFazio said. "I think the homicide rate in Jersey City (in 2005) was tragically inflated, especially by multiple murders."

The Armanious family of four was slain in their Heights home Jan. 11, while three members of the Wilson family were stabbed to death in their Wegman Parkway home on Sept. 19 or 20.

"Law enforcement has to come together with new initiatives, strength and resolve," said DeFazio, adding: "We have to remember that much of crime is driven by social ills that are beyond the control of the police and the prosecutors. People have to take responsibility for their antisocial behavior."

The FBI tracks crime statistics nationwide. Beside Jersey City, the New Jersey cities whose statistics were released were Newark, Paterson, Woodbridge Township, Edison Township and Elizabeth. Of the six cities, Jersey City's statistics were the worst, Woodbridge's the best.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FBI: Violent crime up in majority of NJ's biggest cities

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ
Associated Press Writer

June 12, 2006, 4:23 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Murders, rapes, robberies and other violent crimes measured by the FBI rose in the majority of New Jersey's six largest cities in 2005, according to FBI statistics released Monday.

The FBI measures statistics in cities with a population of 100,000 or more.

Jersey City saw increases in all of its violent crime indexes, except for forcible rape. The murder rate increased 65.2 percent with 38 murders in 2005 compared with 23 in 2004.

Beside Jersey City, the cities whose statistics were released were Newark, Paterson, Woodbridge Township, Edison Township and Elizabeth. The violent crimes measured were murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, property crime, burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

Of the six cities, Jersey City's statistics were the worst, Woodbridge's the best.

Newark, the state's largest city, saw its overall violent crime index decline, with decreases in robberies, property crimes, burglaries, larceny thefts and motor vehicle thefts. But the murder rate increased 15.5 percent with 97 murders in 2005, compared to 84 in 2004, and forcible rapes were up 13.7 percent.

The FBI data, compiled from reports by more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies, does not contain overall crime numbers in any category nor does it offer any explanation for the changes. The FBI's final annual crime report comes out in the fall.

Criminal justice experts said the statistics reflect the nation's complacency in fighting crime, a product of dramatic declines in the 1990s and the abandonment of effective programs that emphasized prevention, putting more police officers on the street and controlling the spread of guns.

In New Jersey, Michael Wagers, executive director of the Police Institute at Rutgers-Newark, attributed the bulk of violence to the availability of guns.

"Nine out of 10 homicides in Newark were committed with a gun, compared with the national average of 6 or 7 homicides," Wagers said. "It's alarming to see a number of cities in New Jersey see an uptick in violent crime."

Overall violent crime increased in Paterson, Edison and Elizabeth. Paterson and Elizabeth also saw their murder rates and forcible rapes increase.

Edison had no murders in 2005, compared to two in 2004. The city also saw a decline in its forcible rapes _ 6 in 2005 and 7 in 2004. But an increase in robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and arsons increased the city's overall violent crimes total.

Woodbridge had the best statistics with its overall violent crime totals down. The city had two murders last year compared with four in 2004, and decreased property crimes, aggravated assaults, burglaries and arsons. But forcible rapes and robberies were way up _ the city saw a 70 percent increase in rapes with 17 in 2005 compared to 10 in 2004, and a 40 percent increase in robberies with 81 in 2005, compared to 58 in 2004.

From Jersey Journal

Fulop opposes 2 proposed new taxes
Monday, June 12, 2006

Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop, who is frequently at odds with the city's administration, will ask the City Council this week to voice its opposition to a proposed city payroll tax and increase in the real estate transfer fee.

"In a year in which Jersey City residents are hit with an 18 percent tax hike from the city and another 9 percent from the county, this proposed legislation would directly and unfairly further impact our homeowners and businesses," Fulop said.

Fulop said he will attempt to introduce a resolution at Wednesday night's City Council meeting opposing the two bills. One bill would increase the real estate transfer fee, while the other includes the hotel tax and payroll tax.

He said he supports the hotel tax, but it's tied to the payroll tax.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who has pushed the bills, said that Fulop is doing a disservice to his constituents.

"I respect Steve's right to disagree, but not just for the sake of disagreeing," Healy said.

Healy said the real estate transfer fee "is something he should get behind and he's only hurting the people he represents."

Healy supports that fee as well as the hotel tax, but has not stated where he stands on the payroll tax.

Fulop responded, "The mayor has never seen a tax he didn't like."

JARRETT RENSHAW

---------------------------
Manzo, Stack support, then switch on Assembly bill
Monday, June 12, 2006

The two bills that would create three new taxes in Jersey City were sponsored by all of the county's representatives in the Assembly: Joan Quigley, Charles T. Epps Jr. and Lou Manzo, all of Jersey City; Vincent Prieto of Secaucus; Albio Sires of West New York; and Brian Stack of Union City.

But Stack and Manzo - the only two officials to return the newspaper's phone calls Friday - now say they plan to pull their support for the real estate transfer fee and the payroll tax, but will continue to support the hotel occupancy tax.

Both explained the reversal from sponsoring a bill to opposing it by saying they'd changed their minds after they were asked about it by The Jersey Journal. Instead, Manzo is pitching a bill -with Stack's support - that would allow Jersey City to get more revenue out of vacant or abandoned property.

"My bill would create more revenue than the real estate transfer fee and the payroll tax, and it would likely get more support," Manzo said. "Plus, it would help force real estate speculators to do something with their property."

----------------

Course owners appeal 2004 tax amount
Thursday, June 08, 2006

It will cost $400,000 for golfers to play the Liberty National Golf Course on the Jersey City waterfront after it opens next Wednesday.

Yet, when it comes to paying property taxes, the owners of golf course and the posh Port Libert? condo development on the Jersey City waterfront - Liberty National Development Co. and Applied Development in Hoboken - aren't missing a putt.

These owners have filed a 2004 tax appeal challenging the city's tax assessment of $26.6 million, which required them to fork over $1.2 million in taxes, said Michelle Hennessy, a tax assessor for the city

The matter hasn't reached state tax court yet, she said. And the owners haven't even said what they believe the correct assessment is. But talks are taking place with the club and condo owners, she said.

Antimo Del Vecchhio, an attorney representing the owners, didn't return phone calls to comment.

Wish someone else was running for Hudson County register!
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Willie Flood, Jersey City councilwoman at large, runs unopposed for the Democrats, while Ondeka Sumter runs unopposed for the Republicans.
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Can we get a Bill passed so that people can only hold one job at a time!

-----------------
From today's Philly Inquirer,

With Menendez moving to the Senate, there has been a mudslinging contest between Democrats Albio Sires and Joe Vas for his U.S. House seat.

While Vas, an assemblyman and Perth Amboy's mayor, and Sires, an assemblyman and West New York's mayor, have similar views on most issues, each has sought to draw a distinction by exposing his rival as sleazy not for what he has done but for whom he knows.

A Sires radio ad has attacked Vas for asking for leniency for a man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. And a Vas TV ad informed viewers that Sires' chief fund-raiser was convicted in a West New York sports-betting scandal.

John Guarini is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the House seat.

9/11 tribute controversy spurs bill
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
By BONNIE FRIEDMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City lawmaker is hoping to avoid a repeat of the controversy brewing over the state's 9/11 memorial planned for Liberty State Park by crafting state legislation that would require holding public hearings before major changes are approved for state parks.

Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, drafted the legislation in response to a recent uproar lodged by Friends of Liberty State Park, an advocacy group critical of the memorial - or more precisely, the mound it sits on, which is blocking views of Manhattan.

"Local residents should have a say with regard to the state parks they pay for with their tax dollars and use as recreational outlets, just as they do with the parks at the local level," Manzo said.

"In the instance of the 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park, while it appears to be unanimous that the memorial is desired, the public should be able to chime in with reference to the nature of the construction as well as its placement within the park."

Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park, praised Manzo's initiative.

"As a champion of public good, Assemblyman Manzo understands that the people have the inherent right to express themselves on projects for publicly owned land," he said. "The DEP doesn't own (parks), people own them."

Several members of Friends of Liberty State Park are expected to meet with Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson in the next couple of weeks, Pesin said.

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

In with the new Newport
Friday, June 2, 2006
By PRASHANT GOPAL
STAFF WRITER

JERSEY CITY -- The main developer of the landmark Newport office, retail and residential complex announced Thursday that it is adding four more glass-and-steel towers.

And Richard LeFrak -- whose late father, Sam LeFrak, broke ground on the Newport City complex on June 4, 1986 -- also announced Thursday that the LeFrak Organization will subsequently build additional buildings to extend the development to the Hoboken line.


Newport, which is credited with starting Jersey City's revival 20 years ago, now consists of nine high-rise rental apartment buildings with 3,476 units and two condo buildings with 659 units. It also includes a 1.2 million-square-foot shopping mall, 5 million square feet of office space, outdoor shops, restaurants, parks, a swim club and fitness center, private schools, a Marriott Hotel and a marina. The development sits right outside the Newport/Pavonia PATH station.

The four buildings announced Thursday include The Ellipse, a 325-apartment tower with a glass-and-steel elliptical design; The Aqua, a 363-unit, 31-story apartment building; a 429-room Westin Hotel; and the 28-story, 220-unit Shore Club Condominiums at Newport North Tower (the south tower already is under construction).

The developer celebrated the 20th anniversary of Newport on Thursday with the groundbreaking of the hotel.

"They started a snowball running, and it started here in Newport," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said during the ceremony.

Richard LeFrak said Thursday that by the time his company builds out the complex, there will be 9,000 residential units.

He was joined Thursday by a long list of dignitaries, including Governor Corzine, former Gov. Jim Florio and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

Richard LeFrak's son, Harrison T. LeFrak, 34, said he attended the groundbreaking 20 years ago and couldn't imagine at the time that abandoned rail terminals and river piers could be transformed into a bustling community, now home to more than 8,000 residents.

He said Newport has developed its own identity, so much so that residents of nearby developments also identify themselves as Newport residents.

Sonia Maldonado of the Newport Waterfront Association said she moved to the development from Manhattan nine years ago.

"It has the sophistication of Manhattan," Maldonado said.

"But it's laid back enough that it has a suburban feel."

Developers plan to bolster Jersey City waterfront
Friday, June 02, 2006
BY STEVE CHAMBERS
Star-Ledger Staff

Nearly two decades to the day after they broke ground on a questionable gamble to transform Jersey City's waterfront, members of the LeFrak and Simon families un veiled plans yesterday for four more buildings in the Newport complex.

Top government officials in attendance, including Gov. Jon Cor zine and U.S. Sen. Frank Lauten berg (D-N.J.), praised the influence of the families in transforming the northeast corner of Jersey City into the leading edge of the Hudson River Gold Coast.

Richard LeFrak, son of the late Samuel LeFrak, who along with Melvin Simon started Newport on June 4, 1986, said the family was committed to completing the 500-acre project all the way to the Hoboken border.

"Twenty years ago, my father and Mel stood on this land and made a public promise to transform Jersey City's eyesore -- its abandoned and deteriorated Hud son River waterfront -- into a beautiful, vibrant and economically viable, showcase urban community," LeFrak said. "We have kept that promise."

LeFrak said he and his sons, Jamie and Harrison, intend to double the number of residential units to roughly 9,000 and will add 11 acres of parkland, another 1 million square feet of office space and amenities including an ice-skating rink.

The complex already includes more than 4,000 residential units, 5 million square feet of office space and the Newport Centre Mall.

He said $2.5 billion in private capital has already poured into the site, and the new buildings represent an investment of another $750 million. New construction includes three residential high-rise towers and a Westin hotel and conference center.

The jewel will be the Ellipse, a 460-foot tower of steel and glass that will contain 325 apartments.

The LeFraks have long been sensitive to criticism that their complex has an antiseptic feel, despite its coming of age in recent years with the addition of ethnic restaurants and a private elemen tary school. The Ellipse is being designed by a well-known architec tural and planning firm, Arquitec tonica, which has built space-age creations from Miami to Manila.

The LeFraks spared no expense at an anniversary celebration yesterday, trotting out a mini-documentary on the complex that vividly contrasted the waterfront of the 1980s -- with dilapidated rail yards, construction debris and packs of wild dogs -- with the thriving complex of today. It fea tured tributes from three governors -- Corzine and predecessors Jim Florio and Tom Kean -- and re membrances from Sam LeFrak, who died in 2003.

A commissioned study by Rutgers University's Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy reported that the complex had paid $870 million in taxes and generated another $430 million in income-tax revenues and $291 million in other taxes. The same study found the complex created 22,500 construction jobs and houses 30,000 business-operations jobs -- 10 percent of Hudson County's job base and nearly one-quarter of all jobs in the city.

Richard LeFrak also acknowledged the assistance of government funding in the success of the project, most notably the Hudson- Bergen Light Rail, which runs between Newport Centre Mall and the residential and office properties that line the waterfront.

The complex also benefited from tax abatements and, most re cently, state legislation that will allow the LeFraks to recoup up to $20 million from an environmental cleanup fund that didn't exist when they were building the development.

Corzine said public investment is justified, because Newport has become an economic engine and job creator that has benefited the entire state.

"This is one of the most exciting places in all of New Jersey," he said.

Thanks SuperFurry,

Speaking of Healy, I must say that overall I really still like him. Here is a nice article from today's " Chatham Courier" about their town's mayor and ours....
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The lives of two mayors converge where the concrete leads down to the docks
By MAX PIZARRO Editor -- 05/31/2006

The two men's Irish immigrant families came of age in Jersey City, daunted by the tall towers on the other side of the water, emboldened by the knowledge that the Statue of Liberty stands on the Jersey side of the harbor. Both of their fathers died when they were boys and they had to shoulder the man's jobs in between the stickball games, balance what they learned from the priests with what they received from the streets.

Whether it was a memory of the father who was a chemist in the case of one of them or the father who was a cop in County Kerry turned tavern owner a mile north of the city, coupled with the living exhortations of their mothers and their own ruminations on bar stool, at desk and in the confessional, they ultimately came to the same conclusion: education was the way forward.
One became an engineer, the other a lawyer.
One stayed in the city, the other eventually moved to the suburbs.
One married a woman named Maureen. The other married Eileen.
One belongs to the Democratic Party and ran for office after serving as the chief judge of Jersey City Municipal Court. The other holds membership in the GOP, and ran after serving on the School District of the Chathams. They came up with politics in their blood, denizens of a port town where in the first part of the 20th Century Mayor Frank Hague built Jersey City Medical Center as a fortress of socialized medicine, the nucleus of government programs that would become a model for Roosevelt's New Deal. Forged by the same city's culture, born in the glow of taverns where people talked about politics as much as sports, they would both - not inevitably but certainly understandably - become mayors.
They would become Mayor William "Bill" O'Connor of Chatham Township, and Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City.
Though they have never met each other and the towns they govern are, by any reckoning, polar opposites, O'Connor and Healy remain tempered by the same city, their political instincts shaped by the same toughness.
"My old man was a tavern owner," said Healy, sitting at a table in the mayor's chambers on Grove Street in Jersey City last Thursday afternoon. "He owned a place called Healy's Bar at 2603 Paterson Plank Road."
Healy's been living with this memory his whole life, since 1956, and so when he speaks of how his father died he doesn't choke up. He speaks through a half smile of resignation and admiration.
"He brought this one guy in out of the gutter," said Healy. "He was trying to help the guy and the irony is one night the guy hit my father over the head with a baseball bat and killed him.
"He didn't die that night," the mayor said. "He came home. He had diabetes. The cut became infected. He died a couple of days later."
The mayor's director of communications, Maria Pignataro, brought out a framed picture of the tavern keeper, the older Healy, who would have been 107 years old last month. "Both of my parents were part of the immigrant movement in the 1930s," Healy said. "They came from separate counties in Ireland."
For Healy, mayor of a city of 260,000, blocked into neighborhoods made up of everyone from Coptics to Mexicans, African-Americans to Puerto Ricans, Irish to Italians, all of Jersey's disparate tatters compressed into one Hudson County city, the tavern provided an Iceman Cometh beginning for the Jersey City characters he encountered in a law career and judgeship and now - as mayor.
"I don't know if you could have a better education about human nature than in that place (the tavern)," he said. "Inside and out, upside down."
He was raised by his mother, Catherine.
The early trajectory straight into the social rumble came similarly for O'Connor, now mayor of a town of 10,000, who was also raised by his mother. His chemist father died when he was 8 years old. His grandfather, County Mayo born and bred, ran a bar on Edge Avenue in Jersey City. When the future township mayor's grandmother tried to get a job at Colgate-Palmolive, they gave her the same line they gave every immigrant nursing a brogue: no Irish need apply.
Born in Jersey City Medical Center, O'Connor grew up on Garfield and Wegman avenues, where the clothes stretched across lines tethered from one house to another, in a world of the 1950s and 1960s in which the women stayed home while the men worked and the children walked everywhere.
"The car was simply not important," O'Connor said. "You walked to the baseball field. You played stickball in the street. You played until nightfall and then you played hide and go seek. I'm partial to porches, always have been, because while we were playing, our parents talked to each other on the porches. Porches create neighborhoods.
"Nobody took vacations at that time," the mayor added. "You went to Keansburg. This was right after they built the Garden State Parkway so even then it was starting to get a little faded, but Jackie Gleason still liked it. I remember seeing him there when I was a kid."
That closeness provided by neighborhoods with people on porches and essentials like the grocery store, church, schools and baseball diamond just blocks away kept Healy and his family in Jersey City.
Born in Bergen, Healy met his future wife in the city where his own parents settled, at Journal Square. They stayed in the city because it was convenient.
"The rent was cheaper in Jersey City," Healy said. "Later (as their family grew) we bought a house here."
By 1980, a lot of the old Irish immigrant offspring had moved to Monmouth, Ocean and Bergen. But for the Healys, staying in Jersey City made sense. Maureen Healy is a nurse, and she worked at Jersey City Medical Center. The mayor also worked in the city when he went into law practice, and he could walk 10-12 blocks to his job.
"All of our kids walked down the front steps into St. Nicholas' Grammar School," the mayor recalled. "The fact that we all walked to work or to school gave us the added incentive to stay here."
When he was in his teens, O'Connor and his family moved out of his grandparents' house to Bayonne. Then he went to college. He never returned to live in Jersey City, but he met his future wife Eileen on the steps of Twombley Hall at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Florham Park. She was raised on the same block in Jersey City, though they never met until that day in Morris County.
They stayed here.
Politics
Healy said he never grew up dreaming of going into politics. But as it turns out he couldn't escape it.
He entered the fray relatively late in life when he left his private practice and became chief judge of Jersey City Municipal Court. He said he thought the mayor at the time - Bret Schundler - was abusing his executive power during the blizzard of 1996 by teaming with the parking authority to issue snow removal tickets. Healy said it was the city's way around not issue parking tickets because there were two and a half feet of snow on the ground.
When Healy threw the snow removal cases out, the mayor's office and the parking authority resisted and re-instated the tickets the judge had already torn up.
"I chased them out of the courtroom," he recalled. ""If you parked at a meter and the meter was broken, they were giving you a ticket anyway. I told the parking authority that there is no city ordinance to permit you to do such a thing. I was viewed as an impediment."
He decided if that were the case he'd try to personally block Schundler's re-election.
So he ran for mayor, nearly knocking the knuckles off his hands when he ran up and down streets in neighborhoods where he said a lot of residents feared to tread. Schundler ultimately beat Healy - "he sent out 12 or 13 mailings in the final week against our one" - but the Irish American came back as an at-large candidate, won handily, and then assumed the mayor's post in 2004 after the sudden death of Mayor Glenn Cunningham.
Last year, Healy won election to his first four-year term. With his background as a judge it surprised no one when he emerged as a law and order mayor.
"The biggest thing we face is crime, specifically gun violence, gang activity and drugs," said Healy. "We hired 200 new cops in 17 months; of course, we also lost 125 to retirement. We expanded the use of TV crime cameras and instituted a business curfew. We instituted the most successful gun buyback program in the State of New Jersey, collecting 897 guns out of households.
"Our streets were in terrible condition when we came into office," Healy said. "You'd have a flat tire or break an axel going over them. We've paved a lot of potholes. These were the issues when I ran ten years ago. These were the issues 20 years ago in Jersey City."
For O'Connor, now in his second, one-year term as mayor of Chatham Township, high crime is not the issue. But the influx of housing development - the knock down and rebuild projects ongoing in some of Chatham Township's most affluent neighborhoods - is not dissimilar from the private facelifts Jersey City is undergoing on its waterfront.
"Twenty-five years ago," said Healy, "that waterfront was made up of nothing but abandoned docks and abandoned railroad yards. It looked like a vast wasteland. There was nothing here, despite the tremendous assets that we have."
The work goes on, the glass and steel rises, and some of the old timers grumble about the loss of the old look. They say the waterfront was rundown but it had character.
Though much of the old Jersey City is gone, its tradition of politics in some form, whether embodied by Healy in the city itself, or O'Connor in the suburbs, endures.
"The thing about Jersey City was that politics was interwoven in the fabric of life," said O'Connor. "My uncle worked for the parks department. My father-in-law worked for the sewage department. The candidate got you the job, you supported the candidate and it was all part of the machine. There was never any sense that this was corrupt. It was all viewed very positively. It was part of life. Jobs. Politics. Life."
O'Connor said he learned two valuable political lessons from Jersey City.
"The first is I developed a tolerance for the foibles of human nature," he said. "I developed a sense of the human condition, and how important it is to work for the betterment of everyone. The other important lesson is the lesson of disenfranchisement; the memory of people who were not brought into the political stream."
"Frank was pure politics," said Healy as he considered the impact of Frank Hague. "He ran the world's greatest, most successful political machine. He got elected and he got his people elected. He wielded power over who got elected in presidential elections. He found ways to get food and coal to the people, and this was very good. He also stood up to the railroads.
"But," and Healy was clear in his rejection of Hague-style strong arm tactics, "the downside to Frank was that he didn't permit any freedom of expression. What he ran here was not a democracy.
"We have a much more enlightened constituency now," Healy added. "The stuff he got away with would never happen now with newspapers and television media and the Internet."
O'Connor agreed.
"I think we had a much better educated and better informed populace now," O'Connor said. "What Hague perpetuated was a huge, closed system, and you either got in or you were disenfranchised."
Both chief executives speak about their constant efforts at consensus building. "As a mayor there are some things where you have to compromise," said O'Connor. "then there are those things where there is no comprise, and you have to recognize which is which."
Chatham Township and Jersey City.
They are a half an hour apart, yet with the exception of O'Connor the ties to the waterfront daily die as Flynn's Tavern on River Road, owned by Catherine Flynn of Jersey, closed this year; as did Volume One Books on Green Village Road, which was owned by Jersey City native John Flynn.
"The Irish guys come out to the suburbs and they get fat and complacent, same as everybody else, end up playing golf and disengaged from politics until they are indistinguishable from everyone else," someone ribbed the mayor of Chatham Township recently on the eve of a committee meeting, and the laugh came into O'Connor's voice but only very briefly and then the denial was unmistakable.
"Not me," he said.
Back in Jersey City, the light rail runs along the waterfront, where the broken down docks have turned into prime real estate, where the likes of Terry Malloy in a windbreaker are lost in the crowds of the latte sipping financial set.
But Healy isn't worried. He refuses to sentimentalize.
"As far as I'm concerned," he said, "then rising tide lifts all boats that are marooned to that dock. Some neighborhoods that were in bad shape have become the hottest properties in Jersey City. We have four Path stops and three ferry stops in Jersey City. These neighborhoods are attractive to real estate and investment."
The character of the city isn't going to change. He has two sons on the city fire department, and is still singing Sinatra songs to his own guitar accompaniment.
"We have enough characters left in the old neighborhoods," Healy. "We have characters being bred here everyday in the schools, churches, and," he added with a grin, "I have to say, taverns."

Likely true -- I might get a scooter but I think the SUV'ers might be a bit much to take.

Also I think you can't ride two on a scooter in NJ - a law that should be changed!

http://urbannerd.com/2005/05/21/purpo ... -suv-while-on-my-scooter/

Quote:

Yeah there seems to be an anger management problem here -- maybe guns are a bad thing for him to have access to.

from the charges: "Mathus allegedly refused to wait and, ignoring the worker's instructions, drove around him and continued through the work area, hitting another DOT employee"

MyKatIsGoing I agree -- bikes should be able to use the Holland tunnel -- at least off rush hour -- how can we work towards this goal -- it's good for NYC and Jersey City. Traffic is slow through the tunnel and once it gets into Manhattan anyway.

I like the way you are thinking!

Quote:

I hope your are kidding -- he works for the Jersey City Police Department as a "Gun Instructor" and he is also a retired Jersey City Cop and he did this here in Jersey City.

Oh I guess you are right..... who cares about stuff like this ....lets get back to trash on the streets and dog runs!


Quote:

FROM NEWSDAY

Partial term adds confusion to 13th district election
By DONNA DE LA CRUZ
Associated Press Writer
May 29, 2006, 11:16 AM EDT


WASHINGTON -- It's easy to see why a voter might be befuddled by the upcoming elections for New Jersey 13th congressional district seat.

It's confusing because there are two separate elections for the U.S. House seat formerly held by Robert Menendez, who in January was appointed to fill the remainder of Gov. Jon Corzine's term in the U.S. Senate.

Here's the tough part: There is a primary election June 6 and an ensuing election in November to fill the final two months of Menendez' term. On the same days voters go to the polls in that contest, there's a primary and a general election for the full two-year term, which begins in January.

Got that?

"I knew there was a primary, but I didn't know I'd be voting twice," said Kate Chisholm, 38, of West New York.

Now for the candidates: Democrats Albio Sires and Joseph Vas _ both mayors and state assemblymen _ are seeking their party's nomination for the full two-year term. Republican John Guarini is running unopposed in the primary for the full term.

Sires also is running for the two-month unexpired term, but Vas is not. Sires will face off against Democrat James Geron for the unexpired term. There is no Republican candidate for the two-month term.

The activity is unfamiliar in the heavily Democratic 13th district, which encompasses parts of Hudson, Essex, Union, Middlesex and Union counties. Menendez was elected to Congress in 1992 and he ran virtually unopposed for 14 years.

It is possible, though political experts say unlikely, that the district will be represented by two different congressmen in the span of two months. Sires is the front-runner for both the partial term and the full term.

So how did this all get started? It began with Menendez's appointment, which created the House vacancy. While New Jersey law gives the governor the authority to fill a Senate vacancy, an unexpired House term must be filled by a special election if the governor calls one.

Corzine said a special election for the partial term would cost too much, so he opted to hold the special election balloting on the same day as the general election voting. He could have chosen to not have a special election, which would have left the office open until the new full-term congressman starts in January.

"This is pretty unique, I haven't seen anything like this before," said Seton Hall University political scientist Joseph Marbach. He said residents would most likely vote for the same person, probably a Democrat, in both elections.

Sires, the former Assembly speaker, has won the endorsement of most of the state's Democrats, including Corzine. Menendez has not endorsed a candidate.

Marbach said the main advantage of running in the special election would be to gain some seniority over the new class of congressmen and congresswomen, which will not be sworn in until January.

Longtime residents may get a sense of deja vu. Sires ran for the seat 20 years ago _ as a Republican. His Democratic opponent, and the eventual winner, was Rep. Frank Guarini, the second cousin of John Guarini, this year's Republican candidate, who used to be a Democrat.
----------------------------------------

Not a moment's peace between Sires, Vas
Saturday, May 20, 2006

Y es, the gloves are off and brass knuckles are in place. No more Mr. Nice Guys. West New York Mayor Albio Sires and Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, both assemblymen, are saying nasty things about each other.

They are rivals in the Democratic Party primary for the 13th District Congressional seat left vacant when Robert Menendez, of Hoboken, was appointed to the U.S. Senate after Jon Corzine's successful run for governor.

A frustrated Vas has been trying to force a series of debates with Sires, but to date the Hudson County official and former Assembly Speaker has met Vas only for a sit-down discussion on NJN public television.

Some, mostly in the Sires camp, say the dirty politics began when Vas accused Corzine and Sires of hiding the fact there would be a special election to fill out the about two months of Menendez's remaining term in Congress.

The Perth Amboy mayor may have started to get more than annoyed after a series of negative mailers, the latest with a picture of Vas in front of a jail cell with a large hypodermic needle on the other side claiming the Perth Amboy mayor helped bail out a heroin dealer who was later arrested by the feds. An angry Vas called the charges an outright lie and typical of Hudson County big boss politics.

Then it got typical.

On Wednesday, Vas and an entourage of supporters ran down to West New York and stood in front of Sires' political headquarters on Palisade Avenue and demanded that Sires debate and explain away "his lies." A list was handed out of what the Vas camp called "The lies of Albio Sires" with a dozen items.

While setting up, a few people described as Department of Public Works workers challenged Vas and company, demanding they leave because they did not have a permit. No one budged.

Vas began to speak to the assembled media, listing the "lies" and suggesting that Sires, a former Republican who ran unsuccessfully in the past for the same congressional office, is a leopard who has not changed his spots and pretends to be a liberal but has stood for conservative values in the past.

Then he said the mayor of West New York lied about having no knowledge of police wrongdoing, an obvious reference to the gambling protection scandal that decimated the Police Department.

The Middlesex County politician also said Sires lied about not receiving money from political fund-raiser Rene Abreu, who began a seven-year federal sentence in prison in January for masterminding frauds at his real estate companies.

Sires has long denied these charges.

Things got dicey when Vas claimed that one of Sires' campaign gurus was once fired by another Hudson County mayor for allegedly saying a very naughty thing about a mayor in a neighboring community. The guru promises to take Vas to court over the comments. Hopefully, Vas' camp will have a better source for the claim than the Urban Times News. We choose not to get too specific because of the unreliable source cited.

The Perth Amboy mayor also touted a poll done by Global Marketing, a firm he hired and that has done work for Newark Mayor-elect Cory Booker and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. According to the poll, the primary is a "toss up," with Vas taking 26 percent of the vote and Sires 24. They said the initial survey in October had Sires ahead 30 percent to 22.

Sires representatives dismissed the results, calling it a push poll, claiming that most of the questions were designed to give responders a negative impression of Sires. The first question does ask about a voter's preference, but the others are open to debate.

Did Vas' excellent West New York adventure end there? Nope.

During his speech, a blonde middle-aged woman walked up to Vas and asked the politician whether he was running for office.

Proudly, he said he was.

"Well, can I have some money for lunch, I was forced to leave my apartment at the towers," she said.

A surprised Vas opened his wallet and handed her a few dollars, and as she walked away, several members of the media tried to get her name only to be rebuffed with some colorful language.

During this time, across the street, a group of Sires supporters stood, just quietly staring.

A nearby beauty salon owner asked Vas' people to give her a poster of their candidate because she wanted to display it in her window. What followed gets confusing. The Vas followers claim that after the press left, West New York officials went into the woman's shop, hit her with fines and forced the crying woman to close. They also supposedly removed the Vas poster.

Sires' backers said no one bothered her despite her alleged constant yelling out of her window, "Sires sucks." They claim she was doing it because her relatives in Weehawken were denied a handicapped parking zone and the township's mayor, Richard Turner, is a West New York administrator and friend of Sires.

That evening, this columnist received a phone call from a Vas representative asking that the newspaper send someone down to observe the tactics by Sires followers.

"They gather in a group staring at us trying to intimidate us," he said. "As soon as we put up a poster, they tear it down and put up one of their own."

Imagine that.

Those within Sires' inner circle said that the Vas people were no angels and that four-letter words flew in both directions. They also said that West New York supporters were told to leave the Vas people alone and just put up their own posters.

It is now the battle of endorsements in the campaign for the June 13 Bayonne mayoral runoff.

Mayor Joseph Doria got the backing of attorney Vincent Militello, who came in third in the municipal election. The only question is whether Militello can deliver some of those anti-Doria votes.

Challenger Patrick D. Conaghan, a former municipal judge, expects to get the support of At Large Councilman Anthony Chiappone, a bigtime Doria rival.

Yesterday, Conaghan was endorsed by Local 1588 of the International Longshoremen's Association. The union cites Conaghan's desire to turn the former Military Ocean Terminal into a container port facility.

It is not known whether the endorsement by a union accused of having been controlled by the mob is a good thing. The federal overseers say it is OK for Local 1588 to make endorsements.

-------------------

Vas fires back at 'sleaze' ad
Thursday, May 18, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

WEST NEW YORK - The mud is beginning to fly in the local Democratic congressional primary race.

West New York Mayor Albio Sires and Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas are vying for the 13th District Congressional seat left vacant when Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken, was appointed to the U.S. Senate.

Sires and Vas, who are both assemblymen, face each other in the June 6 primary.
Sires sent out a campaign flier saying Vas helped bail out a heroin dealer later arrested by the feds, and yesterday Vas took the fight to the doorstep of Sires' West New York campaign office.

"The charge that I aided a drug dealer is an outright lie and has been proven one. This unprincipled sleaze attack is the classic reaction of a panicked political boss," said Vas yesterday outside the Palisade Avenue office.

"Albio Sires has spent his whole campaign hiding from me, from the press and from the voters whose vote he cynically takes for granted," Vas said.

Sires spokeswoman Julie Roginsky noted that the pair recently debated on a local cable channel, and added Sires would consider more debates if they were conducted by nonpartisan groups or media organizations.

Vas claims Sires has begun attacking him because he's slipping in the polls - though the poll he cited is an Internet poll paid for by the Vas team. In that poll of 400 likely voters, Vas is 2 percentage points ahead of Sires.

The Sires campaign said the Vas poll included questions like, "Would you vote for Sires if he was convicted of a crime?" The Vas team refused to provide a copy of the poll.

Meanwhile, the Sires campaign said they're comfortably ahead in their own polls, but declined to discuss specifics.

"We are very confident in the results, and we are well in the lead, but it's just my policy that we don't release the results," she said.

Retired cop indicted in car 'assault'
Thursday, June 01, 2006
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A retired Jersey City police sergeant, now a civilian employee of the Police Department, has been indicted on charges of assault by auto for allegedly running down a road worker in April 2005, officials said.

According to the indictment, handed down Tuesday, Peter Mathus was driving north on Route 1&9 near Communipaw Avenue, where state prisoners were doing a clean-up detail with workers from the state Department of Transportation.

A DOT flagman stopped Mathus to allow some heavy machinery to be moved. But Mathus allegedly refused to wait and, ignoring the worker's instructions, drove around him and continued through the work area, hitting another DOT employee, according to the indictment.

The worker was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center for treatment and later had to undergo surgery on his injured right knee, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Stoma.

Mathus retired about 10 years ago after 25 years with the department, and is now employed as a civilian firearms instructor at the department's shooting range, officials said.

Mathus's attorney, Sam DeLuca of Jersey City, said he has not yet seen the indictment and did not want to comment until he has a chance to review it.

Police Chief Robert Troy said he will review the indictment and speak to the prosecutor before deciding what action, if any, he will take regarding Mathus's continued employment at the department.

If convicted, Mathus could face up to 18 months in jail.

He will be arraigned on the charges in about three weeks, Stoma said.

Mum's the word on London refund
Thursday, June 01, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A week after Jersey City School Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. pledged to refund taxpayers for his lavish trip to England - but refused to apologize or admit any wrongdoing - his traveling partner has yet to announce what she plans to do.

Associate Superintendent Adele Macula and her husband, Joe Macula, a vice president with United Water in Jersey City, joined Epps in spending more than $10,000 on extravagant meals and posh hotels during their 2004 trip to England.

That includes thousands of dollars the two spent during a side trip to London, where they arrived four days before they made the 50-mile trek to Oxford University to attend an education conference.

Once in Oxford, Epps and the Maculas turned down the lodging that was included in the $2,785 tuition fee, staying instead in the nearly-$500-a-night Old Parsonage Hotel.

Overall, the trip to England, including airfare and expenses, cost taxpayers more than $20,000.

Epps pledged last week to return the $5,179 he submitted as expenses following the trip, but Adele Macula said she was "reviewing" her records before she made any decision regarding the $5,456.03 in reimbursements she received.

The Jersey Journal has placed several phone calls seeking comment from Macula, but she has yet to respond.

"If she submitted receipts for things she shouldn't have, or if she arrived early and the taxpayers paid for it, then she should pay it back, and I believe she will," School Board Chairman Bill DeRosa said.

School board members and Epps have described the conference as "legitimate" and "prestigious," and they have suggested it was connected to Oxford University.

However, a disclaimer on the Oxford Round Table's Web site says its an "independent organization that conducts educational forums and seminars under agreements with certain of the Oxford Colleges. The Round Table is not a degree granting institution and does not have a formal academic connection with the University of Oxford."

70-year-old hit by bus off critical list
Thursday, June 01, 2006

A 70-year-old woman was improving last night, a day after she was hit by a school bus while crossing Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City, hospital officials said.

Julia Fagan, a Duncan Avenue resident, is in fair condition at the Jersey City Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. On the day of the accident, she was in critical condition with head and leg injuries.

Fagan was hit Tuesday by a yellow school bus as she crossed the Boulevard at Jewett Avenue. Witnesses said she was trapped under the bus for several agonizing minutes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/nyregion/01lefrak.html

LeFraks Envision Even Bigger Skyline Across Hudson
James Estrin/The New York Times

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: June 1, 2006

Standing atop a condominium tower under construction at the Newport complex in Jersey City, Richard LeFrak looked south at a forest of green-glass commercial towers and brick residential buildings that seem to leap from the waterfront. His family and their partner built them, 20 in all.

Although the LeFraks cannot lay claim to the tallest tower (the 800-foot Goldman Sachs building at Paulus Hook), they have built more than a third of the high-rise skyline that has grown up along Jersey City's once dilapidated waterfront. And today, exactly 20 years after his father, Sam, embarked on a seemingly quixotic bid to transform these rusty old railroad yards into Newport, Mr. LeFrak is announcing plans for another hotel and four more apartment towers.

The announcement comes on the 20th anniversary of the start of Newport and calls attention to the part that the LeFraks have played in the current Jersey City housing boom. The new plans represent a $750 million investment, on top of the nearly $2.5 billion that the LeFraks say they have already plowed into Newport.

Mr. LeFrak, 60, said the family is making good on a promise by his father and Melvin Simon, the shopping center developer, to build a community where dilapidated piers, warehouses and railroad tracks stood.

"We're celebrating that we got this far," said Mr. LeFrak, who was involved with Newport from the beginning and has now been joined by his sons, Jamie and Harry. "We're celebrating that the vision of my father and Mel Simon is pretty well complete."

The scale of the undertaking is hard to imagine. At 600 acres, Newport is twice as big as Co-op City in the Bronx. There are 11 residential buildings containing 4,135 apartments, eight office buildings with 5.5 million square feet of office space, a 187-room hotel, a marina, a 1.2-million-square-foot mall and many other buildings and stores. Across the river from Chelsea, the complex stretches the equivalent of about 14 Manhattan blocks. Samuel J. LeFrak, who died in 2003 at 85 and built more housing in New York City during his life than any other private developer, saw the possibilities in Jersey City when most builders turned up their noses.

"Sam was bigger than life," said Bob Cotter, director of planning in Jersey City. "His dream was to build this city on the left bank of the Hudson River. He came over and did it. The waterfront has given Jersey City a panache that it never had."

But some urban planners, neighborhood advocates and residents have complained that Newport has a suburban sensibility. Many of the buildings stand alone, with little connection to one another, or to the older, grittier sections of Jersey City to the west, they say. There is a public esplanade along the Hudson River, with sweeping views of Manhattan, but it is bordered by Newport buildings, giving it the impression of a private enclave.

"I love living in a place that takes your breath away," said Monica Coe, an architect who has lived at Newport for 10 years. "At night you see the sparkling lights of Manhattan, rather than the brick walls you'd get in Manhattan. But it's a little like living in a feudal holding."

Dan Falcon, a 15-year resident, said: "Newport has been malled off from the city. We wanted the city to have access to the waterfront."

Mr. LeFrak does not dismiss the criticisms. "It's a valid point," he said. "We're trying to address that now that we have some density."

The company is filling in some of the empty space between buildings and adding street-front stores, to create street life, and small parks, if not the larger park-on-a-pier that some residents wanted. On a recent morning, office workers and women pushing baby strollers could be seen on the streets.

The LeFraks are known for a kind of efficient, if unimaginative, boxy building that provides the maximum space for the rent. But the buildings in the next round are more interesting, with one, the Ellipse, a sleek, elliptical residential tower designed by the well-known Arquitectonica of Miami.

In the late 1970's, the Jersey City waterfront was a web of train terminals owned by bankrupt railroads. Newport began not with Samuel LeFrak but with Mr. Simon and another mall developer who wanted to build a shopping center anchored with a Stern's department store.

Mr. Simon's bankers urged him to find a partner to build housing. He put in a cold call to Sam LeFrak, persuading him to travel from his office in Queens. The developer then called his son.

"He said, 'Richard, you'd better take a look at this,' " Mr. LeFrak recalled. "I've been dreaming about something like this my whole life."

Sam LeFrak, in characteristic fashion, vowed to undertake "probably the largest job that has ever been built since the pyramids" and create the "experimental prototype city of tomorrow."

Mr. Simon built the mall and the first office building, while the LeFraks built several apartment towers. "He built all the other buildings with cash," Mr. Simon said. "We couldn't afford to borrow the money."

Progress was slow and a devastating recession in the early 1990's sent the nascent "Jersey gold coast" into a tailspin, and the LeFraks say they had huge losses in the first 15 years.

But since 2000, they have built seven office buildings, attracting financial tenants from Manhattan like J. P. Morgan Chase, Knight Securities and Insurance Services Office with cheaper rents and tax breaks, surprising brokers who doubted that the New Jersey waterfront would ever attract office tenants.

The LeFraks have the option of building more commercial space, but the vacancy rate is 14.1 percent, according to the brokers Cushman & Wakefield. And new housing is what's hot. K. Hovnanian and Equity Residential recently bought a commercial site on the waterfront, where they plan to build a 900-unit apartment complex.

Even Donald J. Trump has found Jersey City, lending his name to a $415 million project to build two residential towers, one 50 stories and the other 55 stories.

Mr. Cotter said there are 7,000 apartments planned or under construction within a mile of City Hall, two or three times the number five years ago, fueled by the soaring sales prices and rents across the Hudson River.

"It's not Manhattan," Mr. LeFrak said on a recent walking tour of Newport. "But it's not bad. And it just might," he paused, raising a finger, "might, be better than Brooklyn."

Does this mean more police and more video cameras? New York City was slashed 40% - see New York Times below
---------------------------
From Newsday - Jersey City, Newark to get huge boost in Homeland Security money

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ
Associated Press Writer
May 31, 2006, 11:39 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- The New Jersey cities of Jersey City and Newark will receive a total of $34.3 million in anti-terrorism grants for fiscal year 2006, a 76.8 percent increase from the previous year, officials said Wednesday.

Jersey City and Newark are among the 46 cities nationwide declared by the government to be at high risk of attack, and will share in the $740 million pool of security money.

Last year, the state's congressional lawmakers were outraged when the Department of Homeland Security gave the two cities a combined $19.4 million, a decrease from the previous year when the cities got roughly $56 million.

It was not immediately known how the two cities will divide the Urban Area Security Initiative grants. DHS officials were to announce the figures Wednesday.

Other cities saw their grant money reduced, including New York City. It was not immediately known why Newark and Jersey City got such a huge increase.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said the agency is shifting its overall grant-making program to direct a greater share of the money to those places deemed to be at greater risk.

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic
----------------------------

Homeland Security Grants to N.Y. and Washington Slashed

By ERIC LIPTON
Published: May 31, 2006

WASHINGTON, May 31 — After vowing to steer a greater share of anti-terrorism money to the nation's highest-risk cities, Homeland Security officials today announced grants to New York City and Washington that would be slashed by 40 percent, while dollars headed to spots including Omaha and Louisville, Ky., would surge.

The release of the 2006 urban area grant allocations, which total $757 million, drew an immediate condemnation from leaders of Washington and New York, the two targets of the 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as expressions of befuddlement by anti-terrorism experts.

"When you stop a terrorist, they have a map of New York City in their pocket," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. "They don't have a map of any of the other 46 or 45 places."

Homeland Security officials said a more sophisticated grant evaluation process—combined with a smaller overall allocation of funds from Congress—were responsible for the unexpected results.

For the first time, they also said, teams of law enforcement officials from around the nation evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed spending plans submitted by the 46 eligible urban areas, cutting grants for cities that had shoddy or poorly articulated plans.

"We want to make sure we are not simply pushing dollars out of Washington," said Tracy Henke, assistant secretary for grants and training. "The reality is you have to understand that there is risk throughout the nation."

The net effect was that the grant to New York City, which was $207.6 million last year, will drop to $124.5 million this year, while Washington will see its grant dollars drop a similar 40 percent, to $46.5 million this year.

Meanwhile, grants for cities like Louisville, Omaha and Charlotte, N.C., each jumped by about 40 percent, to about $8.5 million each. Newark and Jersey City, which received a combined grant, also saw a large increase, rising 44 percent to $34 million.

Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said the allocation formula is obviously flawed.

"This is indefensible," he said. "It's a knife in the back to New York and I'm going to do everything I can to make them very sorry they made this decision."

Senior department officials, in explaining the cut in funding for New York during a private briefing for Mr. King, made clear that they were unimpressed with the city's spending plan, he said.

Major pieces of the grant to New York, for example, are spent to cover overtime costs for police officers who are guarding high-risk targets, particular during times of elevated alerts.

"The overtime is not spent on guys sitting around doing crossword puzzles," he said. "They are out defending human life in what is the most aggressive counter terrorism force in the country."

The $757 million in so-called Urban Area Security Initiative grants was just one piece of a larger $1.7 billion pool of grant funds awarded to states today, $500 million less than was available last year and $342 million less than what President Bush had requested that Congress approve.

Overall, New York State will get $183.7 million, which is a 20 percent drop from last year. That means New York State's per capita share of grant funds, which totals $2.78 per person, will drop to an even lower level compared to some rural states, like Wyoming, which will get $14.83 per person this year.

Ms. Henke, who recent took over the office that distributed anti-terrorism grants, said the relative changes in the grant dollars are based on just the kind of detailed analysis of threat and vulnerability that officials in Washington have been calling for in criticizing past awards.

But despite repeated questions from reporters at a news conference today, she would not provide any detailed explanation of why cities like New York and Washington saw such large drops, when other seemingly less high-risk targets saw such an increase in funds.

"It does not mean in any way that the risk in New York is any different or changed or any lower," she said, in responding to one of the many questions on this point. "It means that we have additional information, additional clarity. Our risk analysis has been a maturing process. It is the best we currently have."

The competition for the grants this year kicked off in January when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that in the fourth year of these awards, which were started after the 2001 attacks, the department would put much more emphasis on directing the money to the most likely possible terrorist targets.

"The department is investing federal funding into our communities facing the greatest risk and demonstrating the greatest need in order to receive the highest return in our nation's security," he said.

Each of these things will be twice the size of Tilted Arc and getting them removed in the future will be impossible!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/ ... sualarts/tiltedarc_a.html

check this stuff out!

http://www.schwartzarch.com/

http://www.schwartzarch.com/nj911memorial.htm

http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/frederic_schwartz/

He seems to have been stuck on this whole line art stuff for a long time -- Liberty was from around 1985 or something -- it all looks some bad 1980's Laser show!

http://www.schwartzarch.com/liberty.htm

http://www.schwartzarch.com/timeslights.htm

http://www.schwartzarch.com/columbus.htm

He designed this awful space
http://www.schwartzarch.com/moondance.htm

Wow and check this out! NICE haha
http://www.schwartzarch.com/govisl.htm

Dozens rally at spot where biker was killed
Dozens of bikers rallied tonight at the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Jewett Avenue in Jersey City to observe the spot where fellow motorcyclist Nelson Lopez was killed in an accident Friday morning.

Lopez, 22, of Jersey City, was killed when his Suzuki bike collided with a Jeep wagon at the intersection. A Puerto Rican native, he had recently moved to Jersey City from the Bronx.

The group, which began arriving at 7 o'clock, then drove to Michalski Funeral Home on Monmouth Street in Jersey City for the viewing. A Mass will be held tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at St. Anthony’s Church, Jersey City.

A 70-year-old woman was hit by a school bus at the same location today. She is in critical condition at the Jersey City Medical Center for head and leg injuries, police said.

----------
Woman run over by school bus
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
By CARLY BALDWIN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A 70-year-old woman was run over by a school bus yesterday afternoon as she attempted to cross Kennedy Boulevard just north of Lincoln Park in Jersey City, police said.

Julia Fagan, a Duncan Avenue resident, was trapped under the short yellow bus at the intersection with Jewett Avenue for several agonizing minutes until rescuers were able to lift it off her using an air inflation device, police said.

She was in critical condition last night at the Jersey City Medical Center, Police Sgt. Edgar Martinez said.

The Hudson County Transport bus driver, Dorka E. Herrera, 34, of Highland Avenue, told police she was heading west on Jewett Avenue in the empty school bus to go to A. Harry Moore School at 1:40 p.m. when she looked in her side mirror and saw Fagan trapped under the rear wheels, Martinez said.

Fagan endured massive head trauma and significant leg injuries, police said. Witnesses told police the woman appeared to be walking home after buying groceries from a corner deli.

Herrera has not been charged with anything related to the accident, but police are recreating the incident as part of their investigation, Martinez said.

Just four days earlier, another gruesome accident at the same intersection claimed the life of a motorcyclist. Nelson Lopez, 22, of Jersey City, was killed almost instantly Friday morning after his Suzuki motorcycle collided with a Jeep wagon, police said.

Some geniuses want to ruin the views of NYC so we will always be forced to remember the dead from Sept.11

This monstrosity is two 30 foot high by 200 foot long steel walls! Picture it! Please help stop this from happening!

----------------------------
Group Concerned about NJ Sept. 11 Memorial

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- An advocacy group says New Jersey's planned 9/11 memorial at Liberty State Park could block priceless views of the Manhattan skyline.

The memorial -- called "Empty Sky'' - features two 30-foot high and 200-foot long steel walls atop a 10-foot high hill.

Family members of New Jerseyans who died on Sept. 11, 2001 chose the winning design from a field of 320 entries.

But the group Friends of Liberty State Park says the whole thing should be scrapped and done over. Sam Pessin says the public, which uses the park, should have a say in what goes there.

Acting royal? Just the kind of guy he is
Saturday, May 27, 2006 - Jersey Journal

I t seems appropriate that Assemblyman Charles T. Epps, who is also the Jersey City superintendent of schools, is experiencing agita over his trip to England in 2004 to attend a five-day Oxford roundtable discussion about school leadership. There is always an air of sovereignty about him.

What we have learned about Epps' and his companions' excellent adventure is that they arrived in London four days early and lived high on the hog at taxpayers' expense. Taxpayers reimbursed Epps $5,179 for London expenses, which does not include air fare and the "all-inclusive" $8,195 Oxford tuition already paid by the district.

All this may seem like piling on the state-appointed "educator," but not after it was revealed Thursday that the whole trip cost taxpayers close to $21,000.

More than likely, London was important for the superintendent who felt right at home with the royals. This opinion is based on his penchant for high-priced steaks and hotels. To his credit, he never submitted the booze tab, but why the pricier double espresso instead of just coffee? Perhaps we quibble.

What has been revealed about those expenses is that the initial "all-inclusive" monies paid "did" include air fare and this is where "Prince Charles" differs from the rest of us, or at least most of us. The airline tickets were purchased through the school district's travel agent. School representatives are trying to convince the public that Epps traveled "economy" in 2004, and paid about $2,400 round-trip.

Someone better tell Epps and the school district that they were ripped off. Go on any Internet travel site and you can get a fare for coach travel to London from Newark for about $863 round-trip on Continental and other airlines.

"Epps does not go anywhere unless it is first class," says a high-ranking member of the Hudson County Democratic Organization. This appraisal is echoed by others in the school district and in county organizations who have had personal dealings with the superintendent/assemblyman.

Virgin Atlantic, the airline Epps and company selected, does have an economy class seat that would cost about $1,250. School officials are correct when they say he took an economy flight, but more than likely it was "Premium Economy" and the fare for that is about $2,300. The difference is that "Premium Economy seats are bigger and wider than in Economy, with a headrest, a legrest and a seat pitch of 38 inches," according to the airlines.

Epps could not get away with First Class because it cost more than $9,000 on Virgin Atlantic. Yes, that figure is correct. Yet, Premium Economy allows you sit on the Boeing 747's upper deck with the First Class folks.

Several anecdotes about Epps give a glimpse into his penchant to not mingle with "the folk not noblessely obliged."

At a district Visual and Performing arts concert at the Loew's Jersey Theater in Journal Square, preparation for the event included a mandate that the Epps name go up on the theater marquee. On the day of the event, school security informed theater workers that providing parking for Epps in an alley next to the theater was not enough. Curbside directly in front of the Loew's had to be reserved.

Shortly after the January 2003 infamous district-sponsored Patti LaBelle concert, Epps was scheduled to speak at a Visual and Performing Arts students' art show. His car arrived early, but instead of entering the theater and reviewing the art, talking to the students and mingling with his staff, he waited in the vehicle for about 45 minutes. When alerted, he walked up on stage, gave his speech and left.

What has dumbstruck his supporters and members of the HCDO is that Epps allowed the question of his reimbursements to linger for about three weeks before taking action - and only when HCDO leaders pressured him. The decision to pay for his London trip made it sound like he was doing everyone a favor.

Democrats were tired of being beaten over the head by state Republicans over Londongate. Despite Epps' announcement, Hudson's state legislators know that the attacks by state Republicans have only just started. Epps has become the poster child of everything critics see wrong with funding the Abbott District schools.
The only question in the minds of the HCDO leadership is who will replace Epps as their Assembly candidate next year? They do not want any primary opposition and some are suggesting the widow of Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, Sandra Bolden Cunningham, could replace Epps and prevent a fight. Then there are many more who say they would rather stick with Epps than deal with the widow.

Another name being bandied about is former Jersey City acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith, who has had legislative experience. But there might be an objection from the "county boys" who may still feel that Smith has been ungrateful because he ran for mayor against their wishes.

Jersey City Mobster Convicted Of Racketeering, Loansharking
WNBC - May 24,2006

NEWARK, N.J. -- A Jersey City man who prosecutors say was a soldier in the Genovese crime family has been convicted of racketeering and loansharking.

Michael Crincoli, 46, an Italian national who once ran loansharking activities from a deli he owned in Jersey City, was one of 16 reputed mobsters rounded up last summer in a gambling ring bust, but he was the only one to decline a plea bargain.

"It shows a thorough analysis of the evidence and is another blow by the government against organized crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Faye Schwartz told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Wednesday's newspapers, about Crincoli's conviction.

During the Tuesday court proceeding, Crincoli was also acquitted on one count of extortion and one count of transporting in aid of extortion.

The arrests of the Genovese family members were the result of a four-year federal investigation.

Crincoli is to be sentenced August 24, and is expected to spend about seven years in prison after which he will be forced to leave the country.

Jurors, who deliberated for two days, heard testimony from four men who said Crincoli lent them thousands of dollars but charged a weekly interest of 3 percent. Crincoli was also photographed with reputed Genovese members Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico and Joseph "Big Joe" Scarbrough, and heard on taps provided by federal informant Peter "Petey Cap" Caporino.

I think if the landlord has done nothing to improve your apartment a 30% increase is really out of line. I can see 10-15% with the costs or taxes and sewer rising -- I would talk to them and say that you can't afford that large of an increase maybe they would be ok with less for one more year -- say 15% -- it seems clear that you will be moving after that so maybe check you options in other parts of JC or Newark but I would stay another year if I were you. Things will be more fleshed out and you might find someone who owns a building downtown that will give you a good deal for being a nice person. You never know.

Getting forced out sucks -- I know it has happened to me a few times.

Pleads guilty in Heights man's killing
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City resident Michael Comacho, AKA "The Sandman," has pleaded guilty to killing an 18-year-old man in November 2002 using his trademark sleeper hold, then dumping the body in the defunct Reservoir No. 3, authorities said yesterday.

Officials said the sleeper hold was Comacho's "preferred method of intimidation," earning him the nickname "The Sandman."

He entered the plea of guilty of manslaughter Friday before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan, said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Mike D'Andrea, and will be sentenced in early July.

Comacho, who's been in jail since his arrest in January 2003, admitted killing Jesse Martinez, another Jersey City resident, during a dispute.

The plea carries an up to 25-year sentence, and because of the nature of the crime Comacho must serve 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole, D'Andrea said.

The nature of the dispute between Comacho and Martinez has never been fully determined.

What is clear, according to D'Andrea, is that on Nov. 9, 2002, the two argued inside a basement apartment Comacho rented at 86 Prospect Ave. Comacho grabbed Martinez around the neck with his forearm and biceps and literally "squeezed the life out of him," D'Andrea said.



Comacho, who carried out the murder by himself, kept the body in the apartment for a day. Then he bound it, covered it with bedspreads and paper bags, put it in a shopping cart, and wheeled it in

Aide and her husband joined Epps on his trip

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

By JARRETT RENSHAW

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An associate superintendent and her husband joined Jersey City Schools Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. on his expensive trip to England that has become a lightning rod for critics of spending in the state's Abbott districts.

Adele Macula, who heads up the district's curriculum and instruction, and her husband Joe Macula, a vice president with United Water in Jersey City, wined and dined with Epps at two of London's finest restaurants during the 2004 trip.

They went across the pond, at the district's expense, to attend a five-day education conference at prestigious Oxford University.

But Epps and his companions arrived in London four days before the conference began, according to receipts and other documents obtained by The Jersey Journal through state Republicans and interviews with conference organizers, and they spent hundreds of dollars eating $80 entrees and $25 soups and staying at a $481-a-night hotel before trekking the 50 miles to Oxford.

Once at the conference, Epps and the Maculas apparently turned down the campus lodging - included in the cost of attendance - and instead stayed at the nearly $300-a-night Old Parsonage Hotel.

A school board member who has seen receipts submitted by Adele Macula says that she did not charge taxpayers for her husband's meals, though he did stay with his wife in the hotels.

Epps, on the other hand, was apparently reimbursed by taxpayers for Joe Macula's expensive meals when he picked up the tab, despite the fact that the United Water veep was not a district employee.

"The taxpayers did not pay for me," said Joe Macula when reached at his work yesterday. "I did not hand in those receipts."

He would not comment any further on the trip yesterday.

Epps also refused to comment about the trip, but officials said a statement from him is expected today.

Taxpayers eventually reimbursed Epps $5,179 for the wining and dining expenses, which does not include air fare and the "all-inclusive" $8,195 tuition paid by the district. Though it's unclear how much Macula submitted as expenses, it was in the thousands of dollars, according to a school board member.

The revelation about who joined Epps on the trip has caused at least one local political leader to demand that Epps speak publicly about the trip.

"It raises even more questions and now he has to respond so that public trust in government can begin to be restored," said Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Jersey City.

Manzo, who ran on the same ticket with Epps, was the first of the county's political leaders to criticize Epps. He was later joined by Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack and Assemblyman and West New York Mayor Albio Sires, who also said Epps should give the taxpayers their money back.

Yesterday, state Sen. and Bayonne Mayor Joseph V. Doria Jr. joined the others in calling for Epps to return the money.

The State Department of Education "recommended" Monday that the district seek reimbursement for the money.

State Sen. Bernard Kenny, who heads the county's Democratic organization and is reportedly working behind the scenes to defuse the politically charged issue, offered "no comment" on the issue, as did state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.