Okay, here are two constructive suggestions for easing crowding on the JSQ-33rd St. line. Not a complete solution to PATH's challenges by any means, but these relatively small changes would make the current situation more bearable for commuters:

1) During rush hour, run fewer trains on the 33rd-Hoboken schedule and make up the difference with more 33rd-JSQ trains. The Hoboken trains on the 33rd St. line are significantly less crowded than their JSQ equivalents.

2) Run the 33rd-JSQ train more frequently into the evening hours. Right now, the trains run every 5 minutes until 7:30 pm, when the frequency changes to every 10 minutes; as a result, crowding on that line continues and even increases until well after 9 pm.

Suggestion #1 wouldn't require any extra resources. Solution #2 would require keeping more trains in service for a few hours a day, so there would be some increase in labor and maintenance costs.

The Hudson County Sierra Club general meeting on Sunday, March 19 (2 pm, HCCC library), will focus on transportation issues, including discussion of our beloved jitneys:

Jersey City?s own Michael Flinck will reprise his 2016 TEDX talk, ?The Last Car I Will Ever Own": ?A typical American, I bought a car two years ago. Never again ? and here?s why.? (Think car sharing, fewer headaches, less pollution and less congestion.)

Kyle Markman and Steve Lax, NJ Sierra Club Transportation Co-chairs, will talk about autonomous cars, then look at funding public transportation. Their presentation will focus on the economics of transportation and will include a history of the jitneys and why they are both good and bad for Hudson County.

Steve is retired Director of Bus Service Planning for NJ Transit, and at times had responsibility for all NJT bus routes in Hudson County. He says he?s happy to field whatever NJT questions and comments you bring in, as time allows.

This event is open to the public.

The meeting will be at 2 pm on Sunday, March 19, in the Hudson County Community College Library, 71 Sip Avenue, Jersey City, across from the Journal Square Transportation Center.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1679692392323277/

My building, a 30-unit condo, recently underwent a 5-year state inspection, and my apartment was cited for a violation: "Repair and maintain A.C. operated fire detector system [N.J.A.C. 5:70-3,907.20.1]."

I currently have two working battery-operated smoke detectors in my unit, so I'm interpreting this to mean that I've been found in violation for not having a hard-wired fire detector in my unit.

Can this be right? I thought hard-wired fire detectors were required only for new construction. My building was constructed in the 1920s and converted to a condo in the 1980s.

Have tried to track down the actual language of the cited regulation, but it's surprisingly difficult to find specific New Jersey fire regulations online. If anyone has any insight, I'd be grateful.

I walk along JFK mornings and evenings during my commute, and yes, I see some pedestrians making dumb moves--but honestly, not that many. It's too dangerous. What I do see is plenty of bad driving: 1) drivers routinely exceeding the 25 mph speed limit; 2) drivers making turns without slowing down while pedestrians (who have the light) are in the crosswalk; and 3) drivers running red lights. I see this EVERY SINGLE DAY. I worry more about getting hit by a car while I'm crossing Montgomery with the light than I ever worry about getting mugged.

I tend to think that traffic calming measures such as bike lanes and stricter speed limit enforcement would be a great solution. But I'd be interested in hearing how the commentators who criticize pedestrian behavior would address the prevalance of risky driving on JFK.

I'm reviving this thread in case anyone has any experiences with Crowne Management to share. It's one of several property management companies that my building is considering. If anyone has worked with Crowne, I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on this company.

Buried in the NY Times article, near the end, is this gem:

Despite the cost overruns and delays, Mr. Foye, the Port Authority?s executive director, predicted the hub would be a ?world-class transit gateway? that would ?help transform Lower Manhattan into a thriving 24/7 neighborhood.? It is intended for as many as 160,000 PATH riders daily, nearly four times the number who ride to the World Trade Center site today.

Um, how are those 160,000 riders going to fit into trains that are currently quite full at rush hour with a mere 46,000 riders?

Admittedly, not a restaurant...but Uptown Crew and St. Paul's on Duncan Ave. are hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner starting at 2 pm on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27. All are welcome.

Also, volunteers are needed for food prep, set up, and clean up on Wednesday, Nov. 26 and Thursday, Nov. 27, in case anyone is looking for a Thanksgiving service opportunity.

38 Duncan Ave. (between Bergen and Kennedy)
Call for more info: 917-536-2682

https://www.facebook.com/TheUptownCrew ... 482626120/?type=1&theater

I'm in. PATH riders need a voice.

The speed hump on Duncan between Bergen and Kennedy is now gone. Have any other of the new speed humps around the city disappeared?

Moishe's has a box exchange program. I haven't used it on the receiving end, but I listed my moving boxes there after my last move, and someone called within a day or so and picked them up. You don't have to be a Moishe's customer to use the program.

http://www.moishesboxexchange.com/

For an agent, I'd recommend Brown & Brown.

A neighbor in my building (McGinley Square) had a break-in at her apartment yesterday. Like me, she's on the fifth floor, which is the top floor.

The police think the intruder got in through the top half of a window that has an air conditioner in the lower half. That means he must have lowered himself from the roof, despite the eight feet between the roof and the top of the window.

Now of course I'm concerned about the windows in my apartment that have air conditioners in them?naively, I'd never considered them as a potential point of entry before. What's the best way to secure a window with an AC unit in it against burglars? I've jammed lengths of wood into the frame for now. Are there better solutions?

Also, how common is this kind of break-in? I hope no one has had any experience with this, but if you have, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Well, three robberies in 30 minutes?obviously these guys aren't amateurs. Ugh.

And Mark1958 just joined this morning. Welcome to JCList, Mark1958!

My condo building has been using Cervelli Management for the past 18 months, and so far we're quite satisfied with them.

Two things we've learned the hard way. First, the experience you have with any management company will depend a lot on the individual property manager assigned to your building. The company overall can be great, but that means nothing if the guy who's looking after you is unresponsive.

Second, be careful. Check your management company's references carefully, and then ask around further. My building is still in a financial hole thanks to what I'll charitably call bad advice and poor accounting by a previous management company. (I won't name it because I don't want to slam them online.) We've since heard, from our accountant and lawyer, that other buildings had similar experiences with our ex-manager; what I take away from this is that professionals connected to the real estate world have a pretty good sense of who the bad actors are.

Good idea about the pothole warnings. I hope the folks who fell are okay.

There turned out to be lots of spots for day-of registration. I got there early, but it looked as though people were still able to register up until close to 11 a.m.

Great ride. Except for some bottlenecks on the route, everything seemed to be very smoothly organized. The police were very helpful, and the motorcycle cops let off fewer sirens than last year, which was much appreciated.

One suggestion: The ride tended to slow down a lot on narrower streets like Grand and Palisade, where only one lane was available for cyclists. If streets could be blocked off entirely so that the bicyclists could use two lanes, the ride would be safer (less crowded) and faster?which might actually mean less inconvenience for motorists, since the street could be reopened sooner.

Fantastic performances by the Defending Champions and the Ones and Nines!

Okay, I see from Bike JC's FaceBook page that registration closed on Thursday. https://www.facebook.com/bikeJC

Bummer! I wish there had been more advance notice. I follow Bike JC on FB but this notice never showed up in my feed.

"Due to the large number of advance signups (thank you!), we will be cutting off registration for our 5th Annual Jersey City Ward Tour tomorrow, Thurs. June 5, at 8 p.m.; we will also have only VERY limited day-of registration on Sunday morning at Exchange Place, on a first-come-first-served basis. (So don't count on it.)

We prepare for some growth every year, but with over 1,100 riders already registered this year (Woooo!), we need to set these cutoffs to ensure a safe and enjoyable ride."

I'm confused! The registration page for the bike tour says that registration is now closed. The Jersey Journal story posted below says that registration will be available at 9am on the day of the tour. Is that correct, or is it really too late to register for the tour?

P.S. I second what was said below about the Ones and Nines. They're awesome.

Ditto on Tania's! And now am missing Sava Polish Restaurant.

The Hamilton Park Ale House, when Maggie was running it.

Ox,

Many, many restaurants have come and gone since I moved to JC in 2000, but I have to say that I don't mourn most of the departed. So many of them didn't quite have it together.

I don't think Ox was BYOB. I seem to remember some awesome happy hour deals on wine. Probably a sign of impending doom, in retrospect.

Late Sunday night, I waited 30 minutes at 14th St. for the PATH (11:45pm-12:15am). There were at least 100 people also on the platform.

When the train finally arrived, it was packed, so not everyone could get on--and the same thing happened at 9th and Christopher. So many people had to wait another 30 minutes for a train.

Does it really have to be this way, PATH? If you're going to have only ONE train serving Jersey City and Hoboken on weekend nights--instead of the THREE different trains that run during the week--perhaps it would be a good idea to run trains more frequently? Would it absolutely destroy the budget to have trains run at 20-minute intervals instead of 30? Or perhaps have separate trains to Hoboken while the WTC line is closed? Just asking.

Yes, I think Kensington is a pretty decent block, especially as you get closer to Kennedy.

As a woman who has lived on Duncan between Bergen and Kennedy for several years, I feel okay about walking home from Journal Square in the evening up until about 9pm or even 9:30pm. After that, I would definitely take a cab or bus.

SOme of my female neighbors prefer to take Bergen at night, although it's seedier, because it has more foot traffic. I think Kennedy is okay, too, in part because of the campus security at St. Peter's. I haven't had any problems on either route. If I had to go as far as Kensington at night, I'd take Kennedy over Bergen because the Jewett and Bergen intersection seems a little sketchier to me.

Obviously, it's an urban area, so you do have to keep your wits about you. And yes, it's block by block--I tend to avoid most streets south of Kensington between Bergen and Kennedy, for instance. The local precinct might be able to give you more detailed guidance. Good luck!

Brewster, you're right on! Even a street of so-so houses is transformed with trees. But in Jersey City the impulse always seems to be to pave everything over.

Maybe that would change if people realized that street trees mean higher property values.

I was saddened to see Monaghan's on Sanford and Hutton close this winter. So far nothing seems to have been touched--chairs still up on the tables, etc. Does anyone know what's going to happen to the space? It's a great space for a bar or restaurant--those big windows make it look much more welcoming than most Heights bars.

Any recommendations for air conditioner installers? In previous years I have hired a handyman to drill the window frame and attach the unit with screws, but now my building is requiring brackets, so I think I'm going to need a professional.

I second the recommendation for Carmine Aumenta. Very responsive and does excellent work.

I called Basil about some remodeling work, and he came and took measurements, but never got back to me with an estimate. It was disappointing because I've heard such good things about his work, but obviously he's very much in demand.

Sorry for the sad situation that you are dealing with. I second the recommendation for Dr. McCullogh.

Too bad. I relied on the Newport ferry to get to midtown during the year or two after 9/11 when the 33rd St. PATH was nightmarishly crowded. Haven't used it since, but it's always good to have a backup.

I used Tim's Pet Taxi a couple of times to take my cat to a specialist in Manhattan. Pleasant and reliable but I got the very clear sense they didn't welcome the schlep to Jersey City. After that I used a local car service and prayed that my cat wouldn't throw up in the car.