Police in Woodbury NJ are in a program to aggressively enforce pedestrian Right of Way:
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/i ... ew_safety_initiative.html
I hope Jersey City will start to educate their police about yielding or stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks and that pedestrians have the right of way.

aaah thanks for the clarification.
Nevertheless, in the specific situation this morning he would have yielded to me since I was 2 feet off the crosswalk. I was able to get across the street. He was over a block away. I crossed the street and then he stopped and scolded me.
Regarding his badge number, I gave the lieutenant the name of the officer.
I always stop for pedestrians though when I'm driving. I guess he was right about me blocking traffic.

It was a marked crosswalk. The crosswalk was painted and therefore marked. The sign has nothing to do with whether the crosswalk is marked.

The law is that cars must stopped for pedestrians in a crosswalk ( NEW JERSEY STATUTE 39:4-36
Driver to stop for pedestrian:
exceptions, violations. penalties.
) . The signs are just an added measure. The law is about the crosswalk and not the signs. Cities like Hoboken have the signs as an added measure. There have been recommendations for Jersey City to invest in the signs. A police officer should know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way.
MOTORISTS in New Jersey MUST stop for pedestrians in a marked crosswalk. Failure to observe the law may subject you to one or more of the following:

2 POINTS

$200 FINE (plus court costs)

15 DAYS COMMUNITY SERVICE


INSURANCE SURCHARGES

NEW JERSEY STATUTE 39:4-36
Driver to stop for pedestrian:
exceptions, violations. penalties.

There was no sign there. Just a crosswalk. We need signs like those in Jersey City though.

The Lieutenant just called me. He was very helpful and supportive.

Thanks for all your responses.

Here's a list from my research for my wedding:

**Jersey City Women's Club 375 Fairmount Ave (capacity 110) Beautiful space. Lots of natural light.It's a converted Mansion. It's $750 to rent. You need to bring your own caterer (there is a kitchen) and bartender. 201-434-9570

**Art House Productions, Hamilton Park, Very nice space. They rent out 80 chairs (you'd have to rent more from somewhere else) . Reasonable and very pleasant people. info@arthouseproductions.org http://www.arthouseproductions.org/home.html

Bayonne Knights of Columbus 669 Avenue C 201-436-1492 and 201-407-7053 They do their own catering http://www.kofc371.org/hall_rentals.htm

Bayonne Masonic
888 Avenue C (Corner of 40th) 201-823-8515
Completely DIY. You'd need to bring your own caterer, bartender. They have chairs/tables. $600.

Ukranian Community Center 201-656-7755 90 Fleet Street, Jersey City

St. Paul's Church, Journal Square 201-963-5518

Elks Lodge 0211
81 Hutton Street, Jersey City elks0511@gmail.com

Casino In the Park 201-333-1045 Least expensive option is $85/head for vegetarian and open bar

Culinary Conference Center. Hudson County Community College. http://culinaryconferencecenter.com/

Liberty Science Center 201-200-1000 x5 Super Expensive

Michael Anthony's 201-798-1798

Parlay Studios http://www.parlaystudios.com/ 161 Second Street, Jersey City. Expensive. Nice space.

Mana Fine Arts Journal Square 917-575-0004. When they called me back, they said they rent out the space for $30,000 (yes, I said $30,000!)

Powerhouse Art + Music 125 1st Street spaceinquiryjc@gmail.com

I tried to contact the Jersey City Library but I never heard from anyone.

Kearny NJ has many halls. Here is a list of various halls: http://www.kearnynj.org/organizations

Kearny Irish Hall 201-991-9677 $500

Scots American Athletic Club $500 201-991-9816 40 Paterson St Kearny, NJ 07032


Interesting spaces?


Loew's Theater http://loewsjersey.org/alt/index.php? ... w=article&id=28&Itemid=30

American Labor Museum, Paterson (50 people)
http://www.labormuseum.net/?p=facility-rental

Women's Club in Englewood wcecarriage@aol.com 25-100 guests

I was just crossing the street on Manila and 2nd (8:50 something) and a police car was coming down the street (about a block away). So I assumed I have the right of way (I was two feet off the curb). Well, I walked across the street (going east), politely waved to the officer and after I crossed street the young officer stopped the car just gave me a lecture and said that automobiles have the right of way. He was angry. I politely said, "that was not my understanding but you're a police officer so I take your word for it." He continued to argue with me. I kept saying, "yes Officer." He told me that I was "obstructing traffic." He would not let the matter go. He threatened to give me a ticket. I apologized and said I must have misunderstood the law. I apologized and said I intentionally walked across the street since I saw it was a police car. When I told him this, he said I was "testing him." I said that was not my motive. He said something like I could get my legs cut off by cars and I need to give the cars the right of way.
When I told him that when I'm driving a vehicle, I always stop for pedestrians, he told me that I should have never got a license and that I'm blocking traffic. I said I thought the pedestrian had to be off the curb and then we would give them the right of way.
He stopped traffic for 5 minutes while giving me this lecture.
I googled NJ and pedestrian law. The pedestrians do have the right of way. And there is even a $200 penalty for violating the law. http://www.nj.gov/lps/hts/pedestrian.html
The officer was wrong.
This is why we need "stop to pedestrians" signs at crosswalks, raised crosswalks, and enforcement for pedestrian safety.
I immediately contacted my councilperson, Candice Osborne. She got back to me right away. She also said that on Sunday, they drove around the neighborhood re: street safety. They will be presenting their proposals soon.

I saw purple spraypaint initials in hamilton park this morning at the southwest corner on the "cobblestone" near the entrance. Also the "pet" on the "pet-free zone" was crossed out with purple spraypaint.

On Saturday around noon, I saw a 6 year old boy laying on the street after being hit by car outside Hamilton park (8th and jersey). The boy was conscious. Maybe broken bones .
We need safer streets for pedestrians. I suggest raised crosswalks or closing the streets around Hamilton park to vehicular traffic . I urge you to support safe streets by contacting our local government.

Great Local Printer. We use Laurie ALL the time.

Laurie Benjamin
Sky Printing LLC
PO Box 442
338 Montgomery Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(201) 433-3133
Fax: (201) 433-0005

(FYI Passaic River dumps into the Newark Bay which is behind Route 440).

Pascrell lashes out at Christie administration over Passaic River cleanup funds

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2013
BY SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
LYNDHURST ? Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. lashed out at the Christie administration Wednesday over its plans to divert $40 million from a recent settlement with Passaic River polluters to balance the state budget, saying all the money should be used to restore the blighted waterway.

Addressing local and federal officials at a news conference on cleanup efforts, Pascrell said that, under the Christie plan, almost a third of the $130 million settlement would go to the general fund ?never to be seen again.?

?It is imperative that the full amount of the settlement go towards the restoration of this river,? said Pascrell, D-Paterson, directing his comments at state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, who sat uneasily at the event at Riverside County Park. ?Chipping away at these funds is the wrong way to move us towards a comprehensive solution.?

Martin said the $40 million is a partial reimbursement for the $120 million the state spent over decades studying the extent of contamination in the Passaic.

The two men?s comments came as federal Environmental Protection Agency officials announced the start of a $20 million project to remove mud from the river?s banks in Lyndhurst that contains high levels of cancer-causing dioxin, mercury and PCBs. EPA officials said Wednesday that a long-awaited cleanup plan for the lower eight miles of the river would be released by the end of the year.

Pollution in the Passaic dates to the late 18th century, when textile mills were built in Paterson. New Jersey has banned fishing and crabbing in the Passaic for more than two decades. But cleanup efforts have begun only in recent years and are targeted at specific areas of the lower Passaic ? a federal Superfund site that stretches 17 miles from Newark Bay to the Dundee Dam in Garfield.

After a seven-year legal battle, the DEP reached a settlement in June with several companies who inherited the liability for the Diamond Shamrock Chemical Co. of Newark, which dumped cancer-causing dioxin into the river in the 1950s and 1960s as a byproduct of manufacturing Agent Orange, the infamous Vietnam War defoliant.

But in the 2014 state budget, the DEP recommends that settlement money from the Passaic case ?not to exceed $40 million shall be deposited in the general fund as state revenue.? Christie signed the $33 billion spending plan in June.

After the budget diversion was first reported in The Record on Monday, Pascrell wrote a letter to Christie on Tuesday asking him to reconsider. A Pascrell spokesman said he has yet to hear from the administration, but Martin was defiant.

Shortly after the news conference, Martin told reporters that Pascrell ?needs to get his facts right,? saying the state deserved to be reimbursed for money it spent to determine the extent of the contamination in the river.

Before the EPA got involved, ?the state spent a lot of money understanding the magnitude of this project,? Martin said.

EPA officials would not reveal any details of the agency?s proposed cleanup plan other than to say it would deal with the lower eight miles of the river from Newark Bay up to Belleville. A study looking into pollution along the entire 17 miles of the lower Passaic isn?t set to be released until 2015.

?The lower eight miles is the most contaminated so that?s where we plan to start,? said Walter Mugdan, an EPA official in charge of Superfund cleanups in New Jersey and New York.

After a series of public hearings on the cleanup plan, the EPA plans to select a remedy next year. That would be followed by two to three years to design it and then five to 10 years for the work to be completed.

?This river poses special problems,? Mugdan said. ?It?s very close to where people live. It?s got a lot of low bridges that need to be raised and lowered for barges to get through. It?s been a logistical nightmare. So there are a lot of challenges.?

Those who have advocated for a cleanup say it can?t come soon enough.

On Saturday, Newark opened a new 7-acre park along the river.

?Many turned and asked, ?Is it clean? Can we fish in it? Can we swim in it? Can we boat in it??? said Ana Baptista, co-chairwoman of a community group advising the EPA on the cleanup. ?It hurt me to say that we still have a lot of work to do on this river. Our work is not done.?

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Pascr ... =all#sthash.XWi2JvNj.dpuf

Jersey City Independent ran a story on August 1, 2013:

June Settlement Inches Forward Passaic River Cleanup; Counter Suit Naming Jersey City an Unrelated Matter, According to Officials

By Matt Hunger ? Aug 1st, 2013 ? Category: Blog, News
With remediation costs expected to exceed one billion dollars, progress towards a cleanup of the Passaic River took a very modest step forward this past June when New Jersey received just $130 million in a settlement with international companies that had purchased some of the parties responsible for leaving dangerous toxins, including dioxin, in the river?s sediment.

Although that decision is far short of the total cost, the victory was celebrated by local environmental groups.

?Holding the polluter accountable will help to remove contaminated sediment from the River and Bay.This is the third victory, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done with the rest of the pollution, and the River and Bay still needed to be cleaned,? Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a statement.

?Pollution from this plant has gone on for far too long. The Agent Orange from this plant not only hurt people and destroyed the environment in Vietnam, but people here in Newark. My Uncle Ed and Aunt Lorraine lived three blocks away from the Occidental plant and both died of liver cancer.I know firsthand the impacts this plant has had on the people of Newark and this cleanup is critical to improving the health of residents and the environment surrounding the Passaic River and Newark Bay,? Tittel added in the statement.

Jersey City was named as a part to a counter lawsuit, according to city officials, when the companies looked to spread the blame.

?We were sued by the defendants along with 300 other third party defendants,? said city officials, but these same officials say this counter suit has nothing to do with the production of dioxin. ?There is a federal effort to clean this up being lead by the EPA and we trust that will be the most effective way to accomplish this remediation.?

Jersey Journal published an article on March 25, 2013:

Six Hudson County towns agree to settle polluted Passaic River lawsuit
Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
March 25, 2013

Six Hudson County municipalities each have agreed to or expect to agree to pay $95,000 to extricate themselves from a lawsuit after being dragged into one of the costliest hazardous waste cases in U.S. history.

When Union City voted to pay its share to settle the lawsuit involving Passaic River pollution on Wednesday, city attorney Neal Moratta explained it was to avoid potential litigation costs that ?could be extremely high.?

At the commission meeting, Moratta explained to residents that a portion of Union City?s sewage is discharged into the Passaic. An official at the hearing said the matter pertains to a 17-mile stretch of the river.

Of the other Hudson County entities named in the suit, Harrison, Bayonne, East Newark and Jersey City have also agreed to pay to settle. Kearny and the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority have not yet settled but expect to, officials said.

The suit, which involves a potential cleanup costing up to $4 billion, has entangled 85 public entities and 210 private entities, officials said. It stems from the ?50s and ?60s and a now defunct Newark chemical company that dumped cancer-causing chemicals into the river, byproducts of Agent Orange made for the military during the Vietnam War.

Two companies that succeeded that chemical company were sued by the state and they then filed a suit in 2009 claiming towns and other entities were responsible for other pollutants in the river and should help pay any cleanup bill.

That led to a confidential, potential settlement agreement stipulating that claims against all but the original companies named in the suit could be dismissed if the municipalities each agreed to pay the state $95,000 and the private entities each pay $195,000.

The proposed settlement calls for at least 75 percent of the private companies named as third parties to agree to settle, and at least 50 percent of the public entities named as third parties. A judge set Friday as the deadline for the individual entities to notify the court as to whether they will settle.

If a settlement is reached, a judge will review it to determine if it is acceptable. The original chemical companies will be able to contest an agreement.

An attorney with knowledge of the suit said Friday he did not know how many entities had agreed to settle.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... n_county_towns_agree.html

For the record, I disagree with the Christie weight comments. I have a right to be offended by "toady." I also disagree with the correlation between Milly and Katz. Milly is nothing like Katz. Milly has done everything on her own. After graduating Columbia, she organized low-wage homecare workers with ACORN. Then she came to work for 1199. She has negotiated several contracts and ran successful campaigns as a union leader. She has built alliances with employers to fight nursing home cuts in the state budget.

Monroe, I am reposting the list of Christie items. I took your criticism out (line through). You have not addressed these issues below. Instead you blamed a "slanted" position on all these issues. That doesn't answer the fact that Christie has left NJ in a worse state then when he started. Yeah, he's popular but he's not getting things done for the majority of NJ residents. I'd be interested to hear if you have anything to say other than insults (i.e. facts):
Jobs Lost ? New Jersey Falling Behind:
7th ? New Jersey has the 7th highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent ? the worst rate in the region (April 2, 2013)
15.5% ? New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)
47th ? NJ?s economic growth ranking (The Times of Trenton 3/4/2013)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
35% ?the amount of jobs NJ has restored since the recession (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
45,000 ? Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
6,000 ? Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
7,000 ? Jobs that could be lost if Christie succeeds in privatizing New Jersey?s state lottery (Asian American Retailers Association, 12/12)
174,100 ? Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
10,000 ? Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie?s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)
16,600 or 2.8% ? Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)


New Jersey Families Falling Behind:
$7,885 ? New Jersey?s average property tax bill, up from $6,244 in 2009 (The Record, 5/14/13)
18.7% ? Increase in New Jersey homeowners? net property tax burden since Chris Christie took office, due to elimination of property tax relief (The Record, 5/14/13)
4 ? Number of times Christie vetoed women?s health funding
6 ? Number of family planning health centers closed, so far, due to Christie cuts to women?s health and family planning
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
7.7% ? New Jersey?s mortgage default rate, 4.5% higher than the national average (The Star-Ledger 12/4/2012)
8.4% ? Mortgage loans in foreclosure, the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation; one out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)
20.4% ? Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
11% ? Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes; the national average is just 3%
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
$200 ? Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)
83% ? New Jersey?s graduation rate, down from 95% in 2010 (New Jersey Newsroom 11/29/2012)
24% ? Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)
7 ? Percent that New Jersey?s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011 (NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)
48 out of 50 ? New Jersey?s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)




Crumbling Infrastructure & Rising Costs:
651 ? The number of New Jersey bridges found to be ?structurally deficient? by the Federal Highway Administration, up from 620 in 2010, the year Governor Christie took office. (The Star-Ledger, 6/19/2013)
$13 ? Record high cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing (USA Today, 12/3/2012)
25% ? Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
10% ? Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
36% ?Percentage of NJ bridges are ?structurally deficient? or ?functionally obsolete? (NJTV, 3/29/2013)
66% ?Percentage of NJ roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $3.5B a year in extra repairs ? $601 per motorist (NJTV, 3/29/2013)

Abusing Taxpayer Money:
$23.8 million ? The total cost for primary and special elections to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in October of 2013, rather than waiting until the November general election one month later. (Bloomberg, 6/6/13)
$150 Million ? The amount AshBritt secured in no-bid contracts from 53 municipalities throughout New Jersey after Christie Administration secured their contract (Star Ledger, 3/29/2013)
Over 100 ? Chris Christie uses taxpayer money to fund GOP rallies under the guise of town hall meetings
164 ? Christie and Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have flown 164 times on state police helicopters?and counting (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$390,200 ? Amount Christie and Guadagno have cost taxpayers using state police helicopters (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$1.2 Million ? Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region?s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)
$279 Million ? Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project for his own political gains (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)
$300,000 ? Taxpayer dollars wasted in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey; to-date, not a single business has relocated


Taxpayer-Funded Corporate Bailouts? And No Job Gains:
54% Fewer ? Decrease in enforcement actions against industrial polluters, from 29,579 in 2008 to 13,555 in 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 7/12/13)
$2.1 Billion ? In his first 3 years, Christie has doled out $2.1 billion in tax credits and subsidies to 171 various projects (NJPP, April 2013)
$2.3 Billion ? Tax breaks for corporations in Governor Christie?s fourth and final budget alone (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
$261 Million ? State tax credits was doled out to Revel casino which filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after opening (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/21/2013)
$200 Million ? Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)

Budget Mismanagement ? Costing NJ Taxpayers:
Over $800 million ? Money paid skimmed from the state?s Clean Energy Program ? paid by New Jersey residents ? to make up for lost revenue under Governor Christie?s administration (New Jersey Spotlight, 4/24/13)
46th out of 50 ? New Jersey?s ranking as one of the worst run states in America (Yahoo Finance 11/27/2012)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
$282 Billion ? New Jersey?s debt, the fourth-highest debt in the nation (NJBIZ, 8/29/2012)
$400 Million ? Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers? union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)
$3 Billion ? The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)
$145 Million ? Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)
$171 Million ? Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)
$2 Billion ? Amount Christie cut education by ? a sum so drastic the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional
3 ? New Jersey has dropped to number three nationally in terms of solar capacity and installations (NJ Spotlight, 3/15/2013)
4 out of 10 ? New Jersey?s emergency preparedness score. 43 states received a higher score than the Garden State (The Asbury Park Press, 12/19/2012)
2,832,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$2,100,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
- See more at: http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie- ... ers/#sthash.lW5eIDS5.dpuf

You may disagree with her politics and her positions but calling Milly a "union toady" and Barbara a "Botox Barbara" is really uncalled for.

and Monroe: if we really had a "slanted media" it would look like this:
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/0 ... %5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Christie is charismatic and is getting national press. IF anything, the media is slanted to his favor. Enjoy it.

Pebbles is rights. Princeton has been trying this merger forever. Shared Services have been going on for awhile. If Christie wants to add that to his score card, he's again taking credit for something that has been happening for quite some time. He can quote all he wants on mergers and he can agree to them. But, it doesn't take away from the fact that he didn't have anything to do with it.

By the way, in my criticism of Christie, I'm in no way defending Corzine. Corzine was an incompetent governor. So please stop using Corzine as a justification. Your claim that taxes went up during democratic governors is true but partially due to Republican Christie Whitman's gimmicks: "In 1997, Whitman?s also rolled out a budget with a $550 million surplus, but her plan relied squarely on a gimmicky scheme to borrow more than $2.7 billion. The borrowed money was pumped directly into the state?s pension fund, a move that eventually freed up some $600 million needed to balance the budget that year ? which was an enormous sum back then. Without the bond sale, Whitman and the Republicans would have been forced to make steep cuts in services, programs and public jobs.

Whitman sold the bond deal as a great, cost-saving bargain. It would pay off its unfunded liabilities up front, saving taxpayers billions in unneeded costs over the next three decades. The $14 billion in repaying those bonds would more than pay for itself in the coming generations.

She unveiled the proposal just as she was fulfilling her pledge to cut income taxes, in some cases by 30 percent. Those cuts may have put more money in the hands of taxpayers, as Whitman claimed, but it left the state less money to balance the budget. Without the tax cuts, the bond gimmick probably would never have happened. It wouldn?t have been necessary.

Fifteen years later, the pension fund is still stuck with an unfunded liability of $25 billion. That red ink is attributed to factors unrelated to the bond deal ? two crashes in the stock market, a generous, election-season boost in pension payouts in 2001, and a refusal by every governor ever since to either skip making the annual pension payment or make an irresponsibly skimpy one (the bond deal helped set this pattern in 1997). Yet, the original promise of bringing long-term solvency and savings to the pension fund turned into a pipe dream. In fact, the fund?s woes prompted Christie and the Legislature to raise the retirement age of public workers and require them to pay significantly higher amounts toward their pensions."

- See more at: http://blog.northjersey.com/thepoliti ... acy/#sthash.gfDUiSLH.dpuf

In terms of your earlier criticisms of the merits of ONE NJ's claims:
The special election:
There was an opinion piece in the South Jersey Times that articulates my sentiments. The special election could happen in November but shrewd Christie didn't want to have to have an election with Booker on the ticket for Senate:
http://www.nj.com/south-jersey-voices ... campaign=Wake%20Up%20Call

Regarding the "bipartenship," Sweeney has been going after public unions before Christie was on the map. See 2008: "?Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008.? http://www.njsendems.com/release.asp?rid=2326
In fact, Buono voted in favor of this in 2008 but broke ranks with Sweeney in 2011 with his sweeping changes to pension and benes. Note: Brian Stack jumped on the bandwagon in 2011 and voted for those changes and he's endorsing Christie.

In terms of the helicopter: Christie wouldn't apologize for the helicopter but he paid for it. http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/201 ... hristie_reimburses_s.html

In terms of halving the property taxes, Christie still cut state aid to municipalities are is essentially gutting services.

You still have not responded to their other claims other than saying they don't have merit because they are swayed. There are citations there. Are you claiming that those citations are inaccurate?

Okay. I'll look into your claims but what about the other figures you failed to mention?

You're right to be skeptical but their work is cited with sources. So you really can't deny the truth in many of their figures.

Yes, Christie is charismatic. And his bullying has led to "reaching across the aisle" in tenure and pension changes but his cutting state aid has not led to tax relief for municipalities.
One New Jersey has plenty of cited figures:
http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie-by-the-numbers/

Jobs Lost ? New Jersey Falling Behind:
7th ? New Jersey has the 7th highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.3 percent ? the worst rate in the region (April 2, 2013)
15.5% ? New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)
47th ? NJ?s economic growth ranking (The Times of Trenton 3/4/2013)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
35% ?the amount of jobs NJ has restored since the recession (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
45,000 ? Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
6,000 ? Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
7,000 ? Jobs that could be lost if Christie succeeds in privatizing New Jersey?s state lottery (Asian American Retailers Association, 12/12)
174,100 ? Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
10,000 ? Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie?s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)
16,600 or 2.8% ? Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)


New Jersey Families Falling Behind:
$7,885 ? New Jersey?s average property tax bill, up from $6,244 in 2009 (The Record, 5/14/13)
18.7% ? Increase in New Jersey homeowners? net property tax burden since Chris Christie took office, due to elimination of property tax relief (The Record, 5/14/13)
4 ? Number of times Christie vetoed women?s health funding
6 ? Number of family planning health centers closed, so far, due to Christie cuts to women?s health and family planning
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
7.7% ? New Jersey?s mortgage default rate, 4.5% higher than the national average (The Star-Ledger 12/4/2012)
8.4% ? Mortgage loans in foreclosure, the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation; one out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)
20.4% ? Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)
82% ? Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
11% ? Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes; the national average is just 3%
138 ? Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
$200 ? Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)
83% ? New Jersey?s graduation rate, down from 95% in 2010 (New Jersey Newsroom 11/29/2012)
24% ? Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)
7 ? Percent that New Jersey?s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011 (NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)
48 out of 50 ? New Jersey?s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)




Crumbling Infrastructure & Rising Costs:
651 ? The number of New Jersey bridges found to be ?structurally deficient? by the Federal Highway Administration, up from 620 in 2010, the year Governor Christie took office. (The Star-Ledger, 6/19/2013)
$13 ? Record high cash tolls on the George Washington Bridge, Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing (USA Today, 12/3/2012)
25% ? Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
10% ? Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
36% ?Percentage of NJ bridges are ?structurally deficient? or ?functionally obsolete? (NJTV, 3/29/2013)
66% ?Percentage of NJ roads are in poor or mediocre condition, costing motorists $3.5B a year in extra repairs ? $601 per motorist (NJTV, 3/29/2013)

Abusing Taxpayer Money:
$23.8 million ? The total cost for primary and special elections to fill the seat of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in October of 2013, rather than waiting until the November general election one month later. (Bloomberg, 6/6/13)
$150 Million ? The amount AshBritt secured in no-bid contracts from 53 municipalities throughout New Jersey after Christie Administration secured their contract (Star Ledger, 3/29/2013)
Over 100 ? Chris Christie uses taxpayer money to fund GOP rallies under the guise of town hall meetings
164 ? Christie and Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno have flown 164 times on state police helicopters?and counting (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$390,200 ? Amount Christie and Guadagno have cost taxpayers using state police helicopters (Bloomberg, 4/1/2013)
$1.2 Million ? Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region?s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)
$279 Million ? Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project for his own political gains (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)
$300,000 ? Taxpayer dollars wasted in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey; to-date, not a single business has relocated


Taxpayer-Funded Corporate Bailouts? And No Job Gains:
54% Fewer ? Decrease in enforcement actions against industrial polluters, from 29,579 in 2008 to 13,555 in 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 7/12/13)
$2.1 Billion ? In his first 3 years, Christie has doled out $2.1 billion in tax credits and subsidies to 171 various projects (NJPP, April 2013)
$2.3 Billion ? Tax breaks for corporations in Governor Christie?s fourth and final budget alone (The Times of Trenton, 3/4/2013)
$261 Million ? State tax credits was doled out to Revel casino which filed for bankruptcy just 10 months after opening (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/21/2013)
$200 Million ? Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)

Budget Mismanagement ? Costing NJ Taxpayers:
Over $800 million ? Money paid skimmed from the state?s Clean Energy Program ? paid by New Jersey residents ? to make up for lost revenue under Governor Christie?s administration (New Jersey Spotlight, 4/24/13)
46th out of 50 ? New Jersey?s ranking as one of the worst run states in America (Yahoo Finance 11/27/2012)
41st ? New Jersey?s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
$282 Billion ? New Jersey?s debt, the fourth-highest debt in the nation (NJBIZ, 8/29/2012)
$400 Million ? Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers? union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)
$3 Billion ? The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region?s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)
$145 Million ? Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)
$171 Million ? Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)
$2 Billion ? Amount Christie cut education by ? a sum so drastic the state supreme court ruled it unconstitutional
3 ? New Jersey has dropped to number three nationally in terms of solar capacity and installations (NJ Spotlight, 3/15/2013)
4 out of 10 ? New Jersey?s emergency preparedness score. 43 states received a higher score than the Garden State (The Asbury Park Press, 12/19/2012)
2,832,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$2,100,000 ? Shortfall in Christie?s payment to New Jersey?s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
- See more at: http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie- ... ers/#sthash.lW5eIDS5.dpuf

Even Asbury Park Press (a known Republican leaning paper) ran the article about the "Stronger than the Storm" story

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 3308020098&nclick_check=1

"Gov. Chris Christie?s habit of using his public office to promote his presidential ambitions has reached a new low.

We?ve seen him do it before. He closed down six Planned Parenthood clinics to appease right-wing primary voters. He?s dragged his feet relentlessly over medical marijuana and dismissed concerns over climate change for the same reason. This fall he is wasting taxpayer money by holding an election in October, in addition to the regularly scheduled November election, solely to protect the large victory margin he expects for his party.

But this time, he?s outdone himself. This time, he siphoned off money that was intended for victims of Sandy to promote himself in a series of TV ads. That is a new low, one that should play prominently in his campaign for re-election.

Here?s what?s new: It turns out the Christie administration turned away a qualified low-bidder seeking to produce the series of TV commercials promoting tourism at the Shore, titled ?Stronger Than the Storm.?

Instead, Christie?s appointed cronies chose to spend $2 million more for a campaign produced by MWW, a public relations firm based in East Rutherford that?s known for its abundant political connections in both parties...

It is true, as Christie?s blind defenders will say, that former Gov. Tom Kean was featured in tourism promotions. That was a mistake, too, but on a much smaller scale.

What makes this so offensive is that the money comes from federal aid intended for storm victims. So the next time the governor visits the Shore to take credit for Washington?s help, maybe the families and small business owners who are still on their knees can ask the governor why he ranked his own self-promotion as a higher priority than their relief."

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page ... elf.html#cmpid=nwsltrhead

Gubernatorial hopeful Barbara Buono?s choice of labor official Milly Silva to join her on the Democratic ticket as candidate for lieutenant governor has been greeted with some strong criticism.

I don?t mean the chorus of derision from Gov. Chris Christie, his staff and supporters such as Hudson County GOP Chairman Jose Arango, which was expected and automatic. More objective observers, however, have pronounced Silva unfit to assume the governorship, if fate and circumstance should require it, because she never has held public office at any level.

It ain?t necessarily so. Experience in government is a qualification that a candidate can place before the voters, along with achievement, eloquence, empathy, wisdom, good judgment and a host of others. Lacking it isn?t a deal-breaker, though, and having it is no guarantee of successful future service to the public.

Ronald Reagan hadn?t served in elective office before he became governor of California ? his principal previous experience in a non-acting job had been, like Silva?s, as a labor leader (president of the Screen Actors Guild) ? but he turned out to be a fairly successful government executive. Sarah Palin was a governor when Sen. John McCain impulsively chose her as his vice presidential running mate, but, outside of a hard core of admirers, few think she was ready for the Oval Office then or is ready now.

For years, New Jersey governors and legislators have run on r?sum?s full of experience in making and executing laws, and how?s that worked out for us? It?s given us a state with the highest property taxes in the country, an inadequate infrastructure, a mountain of debt and unfunded pension and health-benefit obligations, and economic recovery figures that lag behind the nation?s.

Silva may never have been a sheriff, a township councilwoman or a school board member, but she has other life achievements worthy of consideration. Before people reflexively dismiss her candidacy, they should get a clearer understanding of who she is, hear what she has to say, and see how she does when she debates Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Christie?s running mate. She may know more about how New Jersey works than her critics give her credit for.

She?s had plenty of opportunity to observe government from the viewpoint of a citizen and a working person. A Latina who was raised with her three siblings in a Bronx public housing project by a single mother, she went on to graduate from Columbia University. She?s a mother of three whose husband is a stay-at-home dad.

She?s a long-time labor organizer who now is executive vice president for the New Jersey region of 1199SEIU, a local of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 7,000 nursing home workers in 74 facilities and is billed as New Jersey?s largest long-term care union. The Star-Ledger has referred to her ?long history of organizing immigrant workers and battling with health care operators and political leaders,? including current and past state officials who sought to cut state funding for nursing homes.

It would be inspiring, in fact, to think that Milly Silva?s achievements were the main reason Barbara Buono put her on the ticket. The truth is that she, like most running mates, was picked for practical political reasons.

Buono clearly hopes to motivate Hispanics and labor, two key Democratic support groups, to show up at the polls Nov. 5 and give her a fighting chance against a heavily favored incumbent. Virtually abandoned by her own party, she?s in dire need of money and troops who can get out the vote; the SEIU has a reputation for supplying those essentials.

George Gresham, president of Local 1199, has been quoted as promising that the SEIU will go all-out collecting funds and mobilizing volunteers to support Buono and Silva, the first labor leader to run for statewide office in New Jersey in decades.

?We expect to raise considerable sums to make this campaign meaningful,? Gresham said. ?The sky is the limit.?

As for Silva?s qualifications: The U.S. and state constitutions forbid any religious test for holding public office. To require prior political experience ? the freeholder test? ? would relegate a lot of people, including women and minorities, to the back of the line. It doesn?t make a lot of sense.
http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index ... campaign=Wake%20Up%20Call

Because of this compelling thread, I searched "Jersey City" on Gothamist and got this result:
http://gothamist.com/tags/jerseycity
Jersey City is a side freak show for them.

Here are photos I took at 8:55 this morning. I have spoken to one of these dog owners several times. She ignores my pleas. There is a dog run. People should use the dog run and NOT the park.

The AP Stylebook Concedes in the use of "illegal immigrant"


By: Patricio Gomez (Mexican American Political Association)

The AP Stylebook finally declared that it will cease using the term "illegal immigrant." It's about time. According to their corporate spokespersons, "The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term "illegal immigrant" or the use of "illegal" to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that "illegal" should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally."

The specific instruction in the stylebook now reads, "illegal immigration: Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant. Acceptable variations include living in or entering a country illegally or without legal permission."

Associated Press has opted to better label behavior and not people, similar to labeling a person "diagnosed with schizophrenia" instead of schizophrenic," for example. As this relates to an undocumented entry into a country, it would be preferable to describe it as "someone in a country without permission." Ironically, AP had previously excluded the use of the term "undocumented" as being an imprecise description. Someone could have entered a country without permission, yet still have different types of documents in their possession, they observed.

This is significant considering that newspapers throughout the country, and even internationally, use the AP Stylebook as a reference for correct language usage in their reporting. In fact, it is also used as a refuge by editors and publishers when confronted about the continued use of the derisive term "Illegal," both print and electronic. They have argued that their point of reference in language usage is the AP Stylebook as the rock solid code of language not to be tampered with.

For years the Los Angeles Times and other major metropolitan newspapers have been challenged for their language usage. Lou Dobbs was drubbed out of CNN for his persistent anti-immigrant tirades and constant baiting use of "illegal." Fox News' right-wing television pundits, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, KFI-Clear Channel Communications' shock jocks, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of the John and Ken Show, and syndicated radio windbag, Rush Limbaugh, darling of the Tea Party and oxycontin addict, have all been roundly slammed for their denigrating use of the terms "illegal aliens" and "Illegal immigrants"

However, even supposed left-of-center newspapers published by the Village Voice, which has local editions in California, Arizona, and New York, all major immigrant population centers, continue to use racist terminology in reference to immigrants. The most infamous example is the "Ask a Mexican" column penned by Gustave "Gus" Arellano, editor of OCWEEKLY, which includes a racist stereotypic graphic of a toothy mustachioed Mexican wearing a big sombrero. The son of Mexican immigrants who legalized their status through the 1986 IRCA immigration reform, Arellano doesn't even speak Spanish fluently and is flippant about his continued use of "illegal" as irreverent shtick and hyperbole - all at the expense of immigrants. A better explanation for his language and behavior is self-loathing.

What these corporate media outlets have in common, whether from the political left or right, is that they are corporately owned by whites with a predominantly white audience. Probably never before in the history of the country has the corporate media been so monopolized in cross multiple mediums, and almost entirety in the hands of whites.

What's behind this use of language to label people in a denigrating manner as has historically occurred in the U.S.? The corporate media, part of the 1% as popularly known now-a-days, can control the narrative about a people when they can define them by such labels. Labels, then, are used to define the identity, role, and quality of groups of people. The objective is to stigmatize them as a social group in society's eyes and thusly control them in the economy. Ultimately, it's about how they are used in the economy in the interest of those who control the economy. If society's majority can bring itself to view another social group as inferior, less than human, less than the norm, thus, dehumanized, than that social group can be exploited, abused, and mistreated without a near whimper by the larger society.

It's no accident that people of color have predominantly been the object of derisive name-calling, racist labels and stereotypes - blacks, Native Americans, immigrants of working stock, Mexicans and Latinos generally, Asians, but even women and gays. It's all about keeping working people divided by promoting fear of differentness, prejudice, and homophobia. The beneficiaries are the owners of the principal means of expressing ideas.

In the 1970s the legendary labor and immigrant rights leader, Bert Corona, coined the saying, "No Human Being is Illegal." In 1986, Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, affirmed, "You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is 'illegal'. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, and they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?"

So the fight between ideas and over labels continues unabated. The AP Stylebook thinking heads finally conceded to the light. Chalk one up for the immigrants.

Patricio.gomez93@yahoo.com - authorized to republish. Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr (SinFronteras2013). 4/04/13

I got a ticket a year or two ago on C.Columbus and Montgomery. I was on my way to church. I gladly paid the bill. I should have been ticketed. I think there should be more enforcement of traffic violations and pedestrian safety needs to be a priority. Pedestrian Safety is a huge issue. There should cameras for people who don't yield to pedestrians.

We delivered in St. Luke's Roosevelt with Dr. Austin Chen. She's since left her practice and joined Doctors Without Borders.
Check out this article about Jersey City and Homebirths:
http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... est-trend-in-jersey-city/
And also check out Morristown Hospital or Palisades Hospital.

Even if you tell these people "face to face," it doesn't work. I often confront people about their sidewalks and/or dogs off of leashes or or dogs in "pet-free zones" in the park. They just ignore me or say some snide remark. A fellow JC List Subscriber recommended taking photos of the dog owners/dogs and/or sidewalks. I concur. Take photos and call the JC non emergency phone number to report them (201) 547-5477

And regarding this:
Quote: [/quote]

The ACLU:
"The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every "person" and are not limited to citizens. The framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as well as the authors and ratifiers of post-Civil War amendments, all understood the essential importance of protecting non-citizens against governmental abuse and discrimination."
http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights ... immigrants-rights-project

so if you want to get all semantic, perhaps "non-citizen" is better than "undocumented."

Quote:

Thanks Asif!