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Newark has 280,000 residents, and Harrison has 14,000.

In 2006, Newark had 105 murders. Harrison had 1.

Because we're looking at rates per 100,000 -- Newark 37, Harrison 7 (the US average) -- we can compare the two properly. Newark has 5x more murders than Harrison, not 100x more murders.

And as noted, the industrial part is going away. Hartz got torn down, and a big luxury condo project is going up. That alone is likely to bump home values a little bit.

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Harrison's crime rate is significantly lower than Newark's.

The murder rate is 1/4 that of Newark or less. Burglary, assault, robbery about half. Theft is about 3/4 that of Newark. Vehicle theft is 1/3 of Newark.

Harrison's schools aren't stellar, but they are better than Newark's.

Harrison is also getting a bit of a makeover. They tore down the Hartz factory, and will be putting in a bunch of "luxury" condos right next to the PATH station. Home values will probably go through the roof soon.

EDIT: Zillow's numbers are based off its own algorithms. If you look at the site, you can select the raw sales figures, which appear to be negative.

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OK then, here are government statistics on gas transmission pipeline safety:

http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/repo ... tml?nocache=3331#_ngtrans

The 20-year average is 2 fatalities a year. For the entire US.

You can do your own research on how Sandy basically did nothing to the Linden tank field.


The larger point is that the pipelines AND a massive storage facility is just down the road. And yet, Linden does not catch on fire every two weeks.

Neither do Rahway, Metuchen, Woodbridge, and other dense towns that already have the existing gas transmission pipeline.

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Flooding shouldn't cause any issues for gas pipelines. Linden, for example, is not only the terminus of the existing pipeline, but has a tank field the size of a small town. No problems whatsoever because of Sandy.


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All those areas already have a bunch of ordinary residential gas pipelines. The additional risks of the pipeline are minimal.

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You're about two years too late.

The only remaining legal case is beyond desperate. They're trying to claim that FERC itself is unconstitutional. It has no chance of success.

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As far as I know, everything will be underground. Even some of the drilling will be below ground.

I've seen monitoring stations for pipelines in other parts of NJ, but I haven't seen any indications of them putting in any monitoring stations in Bayonne or JC.

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Definitely.

Those type of nuisance laws are common. Some people don't care, or will side with their dog over the neighbors in a heartbeat.

Or, you could be a considerate person and conscientious dog owner, and simply not realize the dog is annoying the neighbors when you're not around.

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? Union City is also already serviced by 3 Light Rail stops -- Tonnelle, Bergenline, Port Imperial. And buses.

? It'd be insanely expensive to install, and would undoubtedly disrupt NJT service.

? NJ Transit is not designed as a local commuter line. It's regional.

A better option is to improve bus service to and from JSQ during rush hour.

You won't get additional rail, either PATH or light-rail, in the Heights. It's too expensive, it won't serve enough people, the community would almost certainly oppose it.

I wouldn't count on Sandy having a long-term effect on property values in the Heights. I suspect what would/will have to happen first is that Journal Square has to gentrify. If that happens, the Heights might follow suit.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that Harrison will take off first. The "Harrison Station" project, on the former Hartz Mountain site, will have over 700 luxury rental units, 30,000 square feet of retail, and sheltered access to the PATH station.

The tunnels are ventilated.

There are large ventilation buildings on both sides of the river. E.g. the NJ one for the Lincoln Tunnel is in two large buildings, across from what is now the Weehawken Rec Center.

You could easily walk through the tunnel, even with the cars stuck in traffic and idling. It might not be pleasant, but it's perfectly safe.

The gas lines that are causing issues in Southern NJ are normal residential lines -- the kind that are already in place, all over JC.

So, thanks for the fear-mongering. It's just what we need while recovering from a hurricane. ;)

I'd assume all the stations have some flooding. Reports are that the PATH tunnels are completely flooded.

Keep in mind that the "13 station system" operates 24/7, is expected to transport 78.4 million people per year (an increase of 5.1 million passengers over last year), and has its own police force.

Most of the employees are either in Operations or Maintenance. See p33 of the budget linked earlier.

As a point of comparison:
LIRR = 6700 employees
Metro North = 5800 employees
New York City Transit Authority = 49,000 employees

I.e. Port Authority doesn't have a bunch of (unpaid) Oompa Loompas running the trains.

FYI, the Port Authority's 2012 Preliminary Budget is here: http://www.panynj.gov/corporate-infor ... 12-preliminary-budget.pdf

A few key highlights:

? PATH trains lost $362 million in 2011, and is projected to lose $389 million in 2012.

? Port Authority does NOT actually use any tax revenues. It makes its money on airports, bridges and tolls, and loses on everything else -- PATH, WTC, bus stations, ports etc. If there's a shortfall, they borrow money independently of NY/NJ state governments, e.g. issuing their own bonds.

? Port Authority as a whole lost $46 million in 2010, and expect to make $121 in 2012.

? Salaries aren't killing PATH. ALL operating expenses for PATH is a projected $102 million, and capital expenditures is $351 million. They're also union, which means Port Authority can't just slash salaries and/or positions at will.

? PATH ridership is expected to grow, mostly at Grove & Harrison due to development.

You definitely do NOT need a permit just to replace a hot water heater.

You can get one at Home Depot, and have them install it for you.

Maybe if you're moving the hot water heater to a new location in the apartment you'd need a permit and inspection. In-place replacement, no.

Crime can happen anywhere, period. But some areas are significantly safer than others. E.g. Paulus Hook and Hamilton Park are safer than parts of the Heights or Bergen-Lafayette. (See http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/nj/jersey-city/crime/ for some details).

Property crime and violent crime in JC also fell steadily between 2005 and 2011 ( http://www.cityrating.com/crime-stati ... w-jersey/jersey-city.html ).

"A bunch of stuff happened last week!" doesn't tell you anything. Crime doesn't happen in regular intervals; some weeks you may have a lot of incidents, other weeks will be quiet. You can't detect a trend in crime based on one weeks events, it takes months or years to get a solid idea of how things are changing. And newspapers always push crime to the forefront, in part because that's what people want to read.

And of course, some neighborhoods can experience an increase in crime, while others fall. Crime could go up in the Heights without it having a direct effect on crime rates in Paulus Hook.

As to "anything goes in JC," I do want to live in a safer city, obviously. But I don't want to live in a police state, and it's definitely a good thing when the cops do not routinely abuse citizens. Since violent crime is falling without either of those things, it seems likely they are not required to further reduce the crime rates.

I agree with mscottc, at this point you need to speak to an attorney.

The only "evidence" I can find for the claim that Spectra has filed for eminent domain is that one sentence. And it makes no sense.

"Eminent domain" is a process by which the state seizes property it does not own, and repurposes it for some other function. For example, if a city wants to build a park on private property, and the owner refuses to sell it to the city, then the city can condemn the property, file for eminent domain, and a court will decide whether to allow the seizure.

The LHS leases the property from the city. And the city cannot seize property from... itself.

Eminent domain would not -- and could not -- apply to the LHS situation. It would be like suing yourself to seize your own property. The concept just doesn't apply.


In terms of possible broader uses of eminent domain for the pipeline: As far as I know there haven't been any city council votes, property hasn't been condemned, and there haven't been any court proceedings. It takes far longer than a few weeks to go from "filing for eminent domain" to "we can kick the current residents out and tear up the property."

Spectra can't "file for eminent domain," because they are not the municipality that actually would need to perform the process. The only thing they can do is ask the city to seize property via eminent domain that they were unable to acquire.

So, it seems that Ms Morrill is somehow mistaken or was misquoted.


That said: It is entirely possible that some of the work would temporarily inconvenience the shelter, and we should support and offer aid to the shelter if they happen to be affected.

FYI, Spectra says they will NOT be disrupting the operation of the Liberty Humane Society.

They're doing underground boring. They aren't laying pipe on top of the ground, or digging up the property.

There are also no eminent domain proceedings at this time.

More info:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ergy_official_says_p.html