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Re: 'Star Wars' Fans Feel the Force at Liberty Science Center
#91
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Was there yesterday - super packed!!!

The only thing worth going for was the Tesla show - Although they have a "regular" tesla show every weekend anyway.

If you're going, brace yourself for crowds!!!

Posted on: 2016/2/13 15:21
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Re: Apt to rent near Journal Square Path Station
#92
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Quote:

iGreg wrote:
Quote:

drdkgupta wrote:


Can you please tell what did you mean by "Skillman Ave"? Any specific buildings? Thanks.



Here Gupta:

http://haibaninn.com/home

you will feel right at home.


I found your posting down right insulting. You're either socially-challenged, or a coward in real life.

Let me guess - you'll be voting for Trump come election time?

Posted on: 2016/2/1 1:55
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Re: Chinese Company in Talks to Buy Jersey City Site:
#93
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Quote:

Pebble wrote:

In terms of high school, they function similar to Jersey City, in a way. They have their ?top? high schools in which they test students to get into them. This then translates into better colleges.

Another factor when making the claim ?US is below international standards? is the simple fact that the USA doesn?t rig its quantitative research by not testing the poor and mentally challenged.


Yes, the structure is similar, however, the curriculum in China is a lot MORE vigorous than the US.

They teach a lot more at a much earlier age. I attended 8th grade in Macau and during that school year they were already teaching integrals as part of their regular math curriculum. I came to US and attended high school here in Queens, and I took Calculus as an optional AP course in my senior year in High school

I'm also not sure how true your statement is about education in the country side. As a whole, China values education a lot more than the US in general, esp now since the government is really trying to modernize the entire country.

I will give you credit about the treatment of disabled and mentally challenged though - sadly, they're usually just "brushed under carpet".


Quote:

Pebble wrote:

You can?t claim that we are brainwashed by mainstream mass media while claiming the Chinese are not. Their entire internet is throttled by the government. Their entire news media is owned by the government.


I never said that there is no propaganda in China. As a matter of fact, it is so well known and expected in china that even growing up as a child there, I knew never to trust what the government said.

The difference is (and my point was) - in China, it is KNOWN that one should not trust it's government. Whereas in US, everyone is brain washed to believe we have "freedom of everything" here, which is just an illusion. There are tons of propaganda here (look at Fox news), it's just that the US government does a much better job at disguising it.

However, back to point of world view - one would think that with all the resources that the US have access to, the US population would have a good world view. however, I found the opposite to be true. The US is very US-centric, and narrow minded.

For example, when I first came to the US, I just to watch the 6pm and/or the 10pm news (which is the major news hour for the day). what I found was the it was very lacking in world coverage, and full of "drama news" - you know, the one with the background story that'll make you cry.

Quote:

Pebble wrote:
Common sense isn?t all that common, regardless of nationality...


No, there is "common sense", and there is "common sense". Nowhere else in the world would a person sue MacDonald's because their hot coffee was too "hot". And if I remember correctly, Rudy Guiliani once did jury duty for a case where a tenant was sueing his landlord (or was it a hotel?) because the hot water shower was too hot???

Quote:

Pebble wrote:
They aren?t changing much at all. Those with money and power are still doing what they did before. The difference is, they have become a bit more open and people are learning a lot more about what is going on there.


Oh yes, the Chinese have changed. The onset of money always changes people, and usually not in the good way. It can be subtle, but the culture if definitely different now.

And just to provide some credentials of my background: while I never step foot in a Chinese church, nor did I ever stood in Tienanmen square, I was born in China and attended elementary until 4th grade in a neighborhood school (which is still there today!), and migrated to Macao and attended school there until 8th grade. I came to the US and attended High School in Queens and then College as well. My parents still live in China full time.

Posted on: 2016/1/29 0:02
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Re: JC Public School District will be closed Monday, January 25, 2016..
#94
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Thanks, and sorry - don't know why it was posted several times!!!

Posted on: 2016/1/26 2:15
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Re: JC Public School District will be closed Monday, January 25, 2016..
#95
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Will public schools be open on Tuesday???

Posted on: 2016/1/26 1:57
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Re: Jury duty questions
#96
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Very good point about food - I'm always hungry!!!

Another question: if for whatever reason I cannot attend on the day that day (eg sick kid at home, I'm sick, etc). Is that a big deal? Can I re-schedule? Or do I REALLY need to show up on the day no-matter-what?

With my luck - my son will probably be sick that day!!!

If I can re-schedule - how far down the road will be the new date?

Thanks!

Posted on: 2016/1/25 15:09
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Re: Jury duty questions
#97
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Thank you! Doesn't sound too bad - will be sure to bring a lot of reading material

Posted on: 2016/1/25 1:07
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
#98
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Quote:

Moreinfo wrote:

Thank you for making this excellent point. Because I do have 2 kids that often nap in their stroller, and a double stroller that doesn't fit through the turnstile, and a bad back. Even if a passing stranger is available to help, which is not always the case, it's still hard to carry them up and down the escalator (scary, due to the weight) then lift them up and over the turnstile gate, then up and down the platform stairs. At the very least, if the gates were unchained, it would make things easier. Where is the station agent? MIA, almost always, it seems.


Doesn't matter if the station agent is present or not - they won't help. I had a friend who got off at the Grove Str station about 3 weeks ago, not realizing it doesn't have an elevator. She has a stroller, a 4-yr old, and quite a bit of grocery. Luckily, she actually found a station agent, and asked if he could help her get the stroller up the stairs. He actually told her "No", he cannot help because that's not on the list in his job description. God forbid these people to ever step over the line to do some good out of the kindness of their heart.


Posted on: 2016/1/24 2:22
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Re: NYTimes - The Hunt: In Jersey City, a Room of Her Own (Well with 2 sisters)
#99
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Wow - $1000 for a room, and shared bathroom!!!

As a homeowner, I guess I should be happy that it's getting so expensive in JC???

Posted on: 2016/1/23 23:53
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Re: PATH (pathetic attempt at transporting humans)
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I understand the reasoning behind folding a stroller and all that, however, sometimes it's not practical. And even not safe.

For me - I'd feel safer if my kid is in the stroller on the station platform. that's because he's strapped in, and can't go anywhere. Where as if he's out of the stroller, I need to hold the folder stroller with one hand, and the kid in the other. What if I have two kids? What if I also have bags of stuff (diaper bags, groceries, etc)? It can get very dangerous very fast (regardless whether the station is full or not).

Posted on: 2016/1/23 21:19
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
And I'm a fan of Buffett - "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful".



That I agree. My best investments were the ones that I brought in March 2009 (pure beginner's dumb luck), which doubled by 2014.

Unfortunately, my portfolio has gone down quite a bit since

Posted on: 2016/1/23 20:25
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
@Shria

To me - a strong dollar is a sign of relative strength and confidence in the US. You can argue the impacts. Of all developed nations, the US is least dependent on exports - a strong dollar doesn't hurt the US as much as you might think, and there are clear benefits.

Show me any evidence of economic or housing collapse in the US - apart from perhaps a recent dent in 401ks. This is not 2008. Not even close.


Yes, the US is stronger - according to the government numbers, which are all "engineered" and manipulated.

If you are "on the ground" and looking at real people like you and me, are we really better? How many people really feel they're in a better financial situation than 5 years ago? Or 10 years ago?

From where I am, I see most people's lives not having improved much over the last 10 years (or since 2008). wage stagnation while everything is more expensive. How long can we substain living like this, before we really need to start cutting into spending and life style?

And don't be too fast brushing off the risk of economic and housing collapse - usually it's here before you realize it. I think they're both real possibilities, along with the thread of war somewhere - the world needs a distraction right now from all the potential economic gloom!!!

Posted on: 2016/1/23 17:32
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
Real estate bubble? Recession? Wrong and wrong.

The biggest factor people forget - is that the US operates off the US economy. Period. What we're seeing in the markets is a correction - mostly driven by fear on what's going on overseas. Given that there are no US structural problems, a strengthening dollar, strong corporate profits, and macro-economics like lower oil prices that favor the US - best place to invest atm is the US.

Join the chicken-little crowd if you like. But you'll be wrong.


When everyone else is poor, a strong dollar is not good for the US. It makes our goods more expensive.

I'm not sure if the corporate "profits" are strong - I think that's a lot of financial engineering with corporate buybacks and layoffs. Instead of putting the money into capital investment for the future, corporations decide to fluff their stock price by buybacks which does nothing for the future of the company.

Low oil prices are good - however, at this LOW oil price, the oil industry is starting to lay off people, and that's not good. The oil industry was the one bright shining star in employment, and now that's going away...

And coupled with higher health care prices, and inflation - yes, there is inflation despite what the government says - and wage stagnation, I'm not sure how many people are really doing better than they were 5 years ago, or 10 years ago.

Yes, the US is the best place to invest for now - because it's the "cleanest" dirty shirt at the laundromat.

And stop watching CNBC and FOX - they're all just propaganda!!!


Posted on: 2016/1/23 13:50
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Jury Duty - what to expect?
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I've been summoned to do my first Jury Duty in Feb.

Since I've never done this before, what can I expect?

Besides myself and the summon, what else do I need to bring?

I'll be taking public transportation to the court house - will it be a safe trip?

Will I enjoy this great american tradition & privilege???

TIA.

Posted on: 2016/1/22 23:41
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Who's betting on a war in the middle east soon? The longer the oil price stays low, I think the higher the odds are becoming...

Posted on: 2016/1/22 21:25
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Re: St. Peter's Prep holds groundbreaking for $5.25 million athletic center
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Does anyone know if it'll have a pool inside? We really need a nice pool around downtown / paulus hook area that's open to public (even for a fee).

I know there's a pool at PS16, but that's really small, and I've heard many kids who got pink eye / ear infection from going there

Posted on: 2016/1/22 17:26
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Re: Are we heading for another recession?
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Quote:

brewster wrote:


I wonder how much of that is just fracking hangover. It's hit the oil belt real hard.



In addition to fracking / global slowdown / etc, there's also a lot of politics and manipulation in the oil market (and commodities in general). It's more than just "supply and demand" these days.

Posted on: 2016/1/22 14:56
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Re: Chinese Company in Talks to Buy Jersey City Site:
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Quote:

JCMan8 wrote:

I agree with your post but could you elaborate on the things that China does really well that we are really bad at?


Just a few off the top of my head:
- family and social values: how the young respects the old and listens to the old. How students respects their teacher, etc. I think the US family is more "disintegrated";

- education: while the Chinese education system is too severe/strict/stressful, their system is still more robust & successful than the US one overall. I think the elementary and high school education in the US is below international standards. Higher education (college and above), the US is still at the top;

- world view and awareness: despite the access to technology, the US population is woefully unaware/unfamiliar of worldly affairs. They only see what the mainstream media decides to focus on. E.g. how many US high school students can fill out the world map correctly? or just the map of Europe?

- and do I dare to add "Common sense" to this list?

Unfortunately, with the sudden rush of money and wealth over the last decade, I think the chinese people and society are changing a lot, and sadly, sometimes for the worse. But I guess some would call that "progress"??? [end sarcasm]


Posted on: 2016/1/17 3:11
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Re: Chinese Company in Talks to Buy Jersey City Site:
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
So everyone is wrong except you! Boy do you have a problem.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-P ... n-of-biblical-proportions.
China also devalues its currency to increase its profits.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog ... ese-currency-manipulation


EVERYONE devalues their currencies to increase profits - if you haven't noticed, even the US did that over the last few years (they just gave it a really fancy name like "Quantitative Easing)!!! Everyone plays the same games - but apparently now, China is the easiest one to point the finger at. Remember in the 80's, that used to be USSR!!! Same sh*t, just different players/victims/escape goats.

And yes, China has many issues that everyone is aware of, but please note that US has a lot of issues too - different than those of China's, but tons of issues nonetheless. And on the flip side, there are a lot of things that China does really well (that the US is really bad at). If you're going to compare, at least do a fair comparison.


Posted on: 2016/1/17 1:52
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Re: Authenticating a notarized document
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Hi - Just bumping this up to see if anyone has done this before? I'll need to do this soon (can't push off anymore , so hoping I could get more info on this.

Thanks in advance...

Posted on: 2016/1/11 14:39
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Re: DIXON LEASING-- US MASTERS RESIDENTIAL
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Does anyone know how their properties are renting? I remember seeing some of the listings, and the asking rental prices are wayyyyy high. I know they've also dropped rental prices since then. So I'm wondering what's their occupancy rate on the properties???

Posted on: 2015/11/23 17:18
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Re: Resident calls Jersey City condo artwork inappropriate
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
Sorry, I don't agree, this is close to porn without being porn, Sommerman.


Wow, if you think this is porn, how about all the biniki girls in commercials / music videos / billboards that's everywhere!?!??! I think these "art work" (the "art" part being questionable) are the least of my concerns, and I have two young boys - it's sad that I can't even let my boys watch music videos anymore because they are so sexualized!!!

Posted on: 2015/10/29 19:52
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Quote:

bodhipooh wrote:
Quote:

SRhia wrote:
I understand prices can vary a lot depending on condition/size of the property. But I'm just trying to get a ball park so I know whether we can afford a brownstone on 1-income or 2-income. Sounds like it will most likely be a 2-income type of deal.


Not trying to be dismissive, or disrespectful, but I feel this is one of those situations where "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".

Personally, I *like* the idea of owning a brownstone. All of it, all to myself. I appreciate the workmanship that went into so many of them (all the little details and such) but realize that buying such a place will require a lot of time, money, effort, and dedication. One is left to wonder if it would be a smart decision, or just a vanity proposition. Perhaps both.

Besides the initial HUGE investment (the few TRUE brownstones I have seen come onto the market seem to start at 1 MM, and up) I think it is not at all unreasonable to expect huge cooling and heating bills during Summer and Winter months. Imagine trying to control the temperature on such a large space! Most brownstones are about 3K square feet, some even exceed 4K. I am sure it can be really expensive. Another HUGE problem, as you presume, is the matter of insurance. After Irene and Sandy, flood insurance is an almost certain requirement in DTJC. That's also very costly.


Sad, but I must agree true.

However, it's still nice to have some ball park figures though. Neither my parents, nor my husband's parents ever owned a home in USA (we're both 1st generation immigrants). And we currently own a condo. So the cost structure is very different between the two, and I honestly have very little idea/knowledge what it takes to own and maintain a brownstone.

I always like to know as much as I could before jumping into anything. And the way I approach if/when we can "upgrade" to a brownstone is to begin with how much we can afford every month (say $x) to spend on all housing related costs. From $x, I'd deduct all the fixed/known expenses such as: heating, Water/sewage/property tax/insurance/average repair per month. And whatever's left would be how much mortgage we can afford, and from that I can calculate how much "house" I can afford.

It's been good to hear everyone's input. I'm a bit surprised to hear that a couple making $400K/yr could not afford a brownstone with ease. That's very sad.

Posted on: 2015/10/27 1:32
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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I understand prices can vary a lot depending on condition/size of the property. But I'm just trying to get a ball park so I know whether we can afford a brownstone on 1-income or 2-income. Sounds like it will most likely be a 2-income type of deal.

Posted on: 2015/10/25 22:45
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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For all your brownstones owners: in addition to property taxes, water/sewage, how much is the average cost per year for the following items for owning a brownstone?

- heating - I've seen numbers in the 3.5K - 4K per year?
- insurance - around 3K? Does this include flood insurance?
- average repair costs? Given brownstones are old buildings, how much should one budget for repairs every year (on average)?
- any other major expenses?

Just want to get an idea...

Posted on: 2015/10/25 17:08
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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But wait wait wait everyone - wait!!! I have a real bridge to sell, and it's in Manhattan!!! Now give me all your cash!!!

Real bridge for sale!

Posted on: 2015/10/23 20:11
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Wow, who says there's no bubble here!!! Even the shell of a building - literally - is asking $900,000 in JC: 261 5th str.

Between this and the Gannon, I'm not sure who is more ridiculous.

Posted on: 2015/10/23 19:31
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Thank you @jcguy05 for the long reply!

I'm curious though (and this is for all real estate investors): what is the advantage/disadvantage of cashing out? Assuming someone brought a property for investment (renting out) 5 years ago, and is currently breaking even (or making money) on rent. Why (or why not) would you cash out now? I can think of:

Advantage:
- cashing out to get cash on hand.
- Cash can be available for next investment property when market crashes. Or cash available to make other investments (eg stocks, etc);
- less to worry about (no tenants calling about problems!!!)

Disadvantage (??? Or perhaps rather "reasons to keep it"???):
- Tenant is already paying rent, so you're building equity. Why not keep it??? In 30 years (or length of mortgage), you'll own the property. And given it's a long time horizon, the property will appreciate in value by then anyway.
- no need to go through the hassle of selling (probably not a legit reason

So - did I miss something? Why are some others reasons to sell vs. keep an investment property knowing the market is going down?

Trying to learn here (since looks like there're some pros here)

Posted on: 2015/10/23 12:22
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Quote:

heights wrote:
Maybe that's why most of these new property developments are not going condo but being rented out as apartment buildings. And I thought real estate was a sure fire bet.


Just like any other type of investment - timing, and your time horizon, is key. If someone brought in DTJC 20 years ago, I'm sure they'll tell you it was a great investment. And for those people under water today, 20 years from now, I'm pretty sure they'll say it was a good investment too (at that point).

Posted on: 2015/10/22 13:51
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Re: Is Jersey City Real Estate in a bubble?
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Is it only me, or do others also feel that the Gannon is priced very high? I understand the high rises with amenities (door man, pool, etc) can ask for a premium, but I don't think the Gannon has a pool? Or doorman???

Just curious, and want to understand.

Posted on: 2015/10/22 12:54
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