We have a historic house with original wide plank hardwood from 1850's. We had the hardwood sanded and refinished by Conquer Hardwood Floors. We researched different companies and Conquer, a local family business from DTJC had great reviews, not just on Yelp but when we inquired by local contractors.

The crew was very professional and had a lot of knowledge and pride and Junior, the owner's son really did amazing job of not just refinishing our hardwood but repairing some damages. Our house never looked so amazing.

We cannot recommend this company highly enough. Good luck.

We just finished painting interior of our whole house. We are extremely happy with the result. They finished the painting the interior of 3 story house in 2 1/2 days. The crew was very professional. They were recommended to us by a friend who works at Benjamin Moore corporate company. You want to talk to Nick @ Hoboken Painters: 201-777-0067. We checked them out before we hired them and he has excellent review as well. Good Luck!

I don't generally patronize Starbucks and have been to the Grove St. location may be 2 times 10+ years I have lived here. But thanks to this tread, I will be stopping by and buying some hot beverages and baked goods to any homeless person I encounter there or outside.

It is reassuring the majority of the voices spoken on this thread are to voice the outrage brought forth by the Newbie... at the risk of sounding like the old timer here... welcome Jersey City, try, try to be a decent human being MFJC07302... and have a great Thanks Giving.

Not only the wallet was found and returned by the wonderful guy that found it this morning, all the contents including the cash were all accounted for. John, our hero of the day, also refused to take any money for his good deed.

So thank you John for being just an awesome fella and we will try to pay it forward. Now the happy family can hop on the plane thanks to you!

A friend of mine lost her wallet this morning at Hamilton Park. She urgently needs to fly and needs it back desperately. A neighbor saw a man wearing a hat pick it up and walk towards the 9th St. If you are that guy, please drop off the wallet at Hamilton Park Montessori by the park. No question asked, even without money. She just really needs her IDS back... thank you.

Thank you for taking a huge leap of faith, taking a risk and opening a restaurant in JC. This restaurant wasn't a love at a first trial for us but over the years, it got better and better.

We enjoyed many weekend brunches and dinners with our friends and family. The staffs were always helpful and brought the kid's Ramen as soon as our daughter sat down.

We loved all the staffs, especially Chris who is now a dearest friend.

We will be there to bid farewell Sat. night and eat one last delicious meal.
You will be missed!

Glad to see this get more press it rightfully deserves: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/s ... e4b03fc3ee51058b?section=

Thanks Fulop for bringing 'biggest dark money' into JC politics.

@iGreg
bean paste (Doenjang) is never used in Bibimbap, it's Ghochoojang that's used. Doenjang is only used for bean paste soup or paste for vegetable wraps in Korean food.

As a Korean I was reluctant to try this place given I grew up eating home made Korean food by very talented women, tend to be a harsher critique of my own cultural food. But I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious their Bibimbap was.

With their simple clean modern decor, friendly owner and delicious food at great prices, I will be coming back many times over in future.

I wish this place loads of success!

Dtjcview: that?s so commendable as a single mom, your mom was able to raise 7 of you with the limitations you listed. My father had similar background as well and came out quite remarkable thanks to his diligence and education after losing his father when he was 4. Had your family been offered Prek3 programs through Abott at the time, it?s something that might have been welcomed by your family. I don?t think there is any need to undermine current parents? hardship nor concerns about their children. It?s getting harder and harder to raise family in one income and pension are thing of the past for majority of us.

La-Verdad: Many who live in JC don?t have a car. We rely on public transportations, one of the many reasons why we choose to live in JC because it?s walk able. So to send a kid to nearby private schools in DTJC, there is very limited spaces and full time schools range do start $15K and up to over 20K. And it?s only getting higher every year. I am not sure where you are getting your number from but it just doesn't reflect current private school costs in DTJC, and even at that crazy expensive amount which I do agree is very high, there is long waiting list. And when you have multiple children, it?s just not option for many working or middle class families even at 10K you are quoting.

What I find ironic we are bickering about something that in 2005, ?New Jersey?s Supreme Court mandated a universal preschool system be created by court order to serve all 3- and 4-year olds who wished to participate?. And when the Seattle Mayor came to study Jersey City in early March, our very own Mayor who is so critical of JCBOE and who will be responsible for closing of public school if Cordero Annex loses it?s space this fall, was right there to take photo op credit at our public school.

Some can argue we shouldn?t be subsidizing Cordero Annex. Then should be we subsidizing private developers to build spaces for PreK spaces with handsomely abated properties and lock in the lease paid for by the tax payers with above market rent for long term with no demographic study done at that area instead? It seems like pay to play and it will also cost taxpayers another $1100 to bus the 3 and 4 year olds across town. I think what makes sense is to use the property that was built as learning center to keep continue to house our 3 and 4 year olds until there is better option that can transition the school seamlessly without needing a closure.

You can call it entitlement and tiring argument. I will argue differently as us parents fighting for our kids to stay local and attend school on our zone and not close already existing school at Cordero Annex. And as Matt Schapiro had already illustrated, "Of the 723 students enrolled at PS37/Cordero in Hamilton Park, 314 students are eligible for free lunch which means their annual household income must be under $30,615 for a family of four."
Unfortunately, not majority of folks have above $100K income as you would like to assume comfortably.

I see it as our right to education for our children where we reside. I see a town that fosters education and enables family to stay and grow as socially responsible. This separatist argument about DTJC vs. other wards as non-issue other than the talking points planted by our mayor. This isn't about pitting one ward against the other, simply filling in needs where it's needed. I also see 10% allocation for the lease of a facility as not financial foolishness but rather being financially responsible so that money allocated per child is being used to cover teachers, materials, and overheads.

You are correct, I am mixing up the issues only because everything is intertwined and it's complicated issues.

You are also correct to point out JCBOE's budget is bigger than the city's budget. But as per Abbot Program/ Early Childhood, JCBOE must get state's approval on their facilities lease/ purchase and there is no way the state will approve what the mayor's proposing, over 30% vs. 10% of the per student's yearly allocation.

This lease fee mayor is negotiated on behalf of Pennrose which is on Westside not just DTJC's JCRA is just very disappointing to say the least.

Based on the JCBOE's district's study and the growing population of PreK students and especially in DTJC and as a tax payer, yes, I feel entitled to have a PreK facility that is readily available in my school district which is PS37, Cordero. Especially when abatements are given out by the administrations to developers that takes money away from the school funding into their budget.
It's an eminent problem with 2014-2015 school year with Annex's possible closure. This isn't an argument for me for a separate school district. I already have one, PS37, we just want a school that's currently open from closing with no option available in the area.

PS37, Cordero being largest school zone in DTJC, covers many low income housing areas. You only need to speak with Principal Stryner to realize the urgent need for more spaces.

PS5, over 70% of students qualify for free lunch same at PS3. So unlike the administration's assumption somehow all those that reside in DTJC are somehow wealthy, it is still very much mixed with different income brackets.

The private schools averages about $16-$20K for full time students at the Bridge level. So sending kids to a private institute is not an option to many families especially there is multiple children in the family.

I for one will always side with not bussing the 3 year olds. Anyone that thinks it will only take a few minute ride to be bussed from zone to zone will change their mind when they have to deal with the morning traffic this April. Bussing children will cost tax payers $1100 per student and opens up for liable such as this that just happened in JC...
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... pre-k_maryann_dickar.html

If one feels it's an entitlement for 3 year olds to go to Prek3 in downtown, the way the law is written, they are legally entitled to go to school no matter what their family income, no matter where in the city they live. Children should use the the building that was built as an education center and currently serving the growing need in the zone. Bussing children will cost tax payers $1100 per student and opens up for liable such as this that just happened in JC.

It's a universal feeling with all parents to want a safe school environment for our children at all times. For many 3 year olds, prek3 is their first experience of extended time away from home. Not many parents are comfortable with bussing their child to an unknown facility in the areas of the city they are not familiar with.

dtjcview, the budget for 2014-2015 school year per allocation per child for PreK is $12, 842 not over $20K. The information can be found here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzPMO9 ... W5TUUpYNzdSSGs/edit?pli=1

?We are talking about early childhood meaning 3 and 4 year olds. With all the developments going on through generous abatements by the administration while the tax dollars are being routed away from the school funds, do we then bus all the 3 and 4 year olds across other wards?

?With the closure of Bayonne Bridge for next two years which will clog up the streets of JC, how long will it take for the 3 and 4 year olds to get to school in school bus in rush hour?

?The Mayor's office gave generous 30% raise to their office for 2014 budget while JCRA facility which is built for community center and school and learning and currently being used for much needed school might evict our students?

Much about this action or I should say inaction is truly shameful by the Mayor.

Here is more light to shed on our mayor: http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ey_city.html#incart_river

Honorable Mayor Fulop...

Below is my open letter to all the council members for the Council Vote tomorrow. The agenda can be found here: http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/uploa ... nda%20Document%285%29.pdf

Tomorrow, you will be voting on approving a 20-year tax exemption for a market rate mixed-use rental project to be constructed by 360 Ninth Street Urban Renewal, LLC. The reason for allowing 20 year abatement was cited as building an Early Childhood Center which will be rented out to JCBOE for PreK 3 Space.

As you might know already, last week on March 5th, JCBOE presented a proposal for two spaces to Mayor Fulop's office for lease proposals for both Pennrose and former Golden Door School space owned by the city. In the proposal, JCBOE walked away from 9th and Brunswick, 360 Ninth Street Urban Renewal, LLC, space sighting financial limitations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzPMO ... YNzdSSGs/edit?usp=sharing

I am asking you to vote NO on 20-year tax abatement based on following facts:

? Freight trains frequently pass adjacent to the 9th and Brunswick lot and Enos Jones Park, making noise levels up to over 115 decibels. Even if the property is built to be soundproofed lowering the indoor noise level, we all know school will have outdoor activities and there is no way to project their young ears when outside.

? It's right over elevated NJ Turnpike roadway making it dusty and filled with exhaust fumes.

? This proposed location is adjacent to the Spectra, just a stone throw away.

? The city does not have planned lease from JCBOE to justify or even qualify and grant the 20-year abatement. JOBOE rightfully walked away citing too high of the rent and opted to ask to lease already built and used school facility on former Golden Door School now being used by Cordero Annex right around the Hamilton Park area.

So why should you vote to approve 20 year tax exemption, not normal 10 year exemption? There is absolutely no reason why you should approve this.

Please vote no.

Thank you.


Best,

Yoo Lee

JCBOE made the offer for two facilities to Mayor Fulop on March 5th to house PreK 3: Pennrose (Westside) and JCRA (Currently housed by Cordero Annex on 9th st. and Marin). https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzPMO ... YNzdSSGs/edit?usp=sharing

Amount of the lease comes to about $75,000 per year for each spaces costing about 10% of the per pupil allocation of $12,842 per student for 2014-15 school year. This seems very reasonable for the usage of 4 classrooms. After all, JCRA space was built as a community center and paid for tax payers money which otherwise would sit empty on 9th St if it wasn?t leased out to JCBOE.

Mayor Fulop cannot have any objection to JCBOE?s proposal if he is considering following facts:

?The proposals submitted by JCBOE not only is for rental in DTJC where there is a great need of space by growing population but it also consists of lease proposal for Pennrose space which is on Westside. JCBOE did turn down 9th and Brunswick space. Not only was the cost of the Brunswick space high, renting both spaces in DTJC directly refutes Mayor Fulop?s own argument that focus cannot be just in DTJC.

?At the end of the day, we are talking about 3 year olds. If Mayor Fulop keeps strong-arming the JCBOE and would rather have JCRA sit empty by closing school that is already open there by insisting on market rate, only option we will have is to bus the 3 year olds. Bussing 3 year olds should be an absolute last resort. There are very few parents that would be comfortable with bussing their 3 year olds versus walking to school. It?s also worth noting that bussing kids cost about $1100 per year from the school budget.

I hope that Mayor Fulop will at the end practice some empathy and common sense and not close the school on 9th and Marin, former Golden Door School and understand us parents? dilemma. Going from rent of $1 to $75,000 a year seems very reasonable indeed. Also. Cordero school district is the largest in DTJC and it also covers 3 low-income housings in downtown and about 70% students still quality for free lunch in DTJC public schools. A quick resolution is absolutely necessary here.

Thanks Brigid for writing the series on the Abatement. As a resident of JC, I should know more yet it's something I have little knowledge of. I applaud you for allowing me to get my first engagement by means of reading your post. I look forward to reading more series in the future.

Yesterday, I along with a few other residents went to see Councilman Rivera at his request and had conversation in regards to EMS contract. It was heated debate at times and I give credit to Councilman Rivera for having a dialogue with us.

I want to share what it means to have viable, profitable non-profit hospital in Jersey City. Please read page 24 and compare how JCMC has been serving the poorest of the poor in Jersey City in comparison to CarePoint: Bayonne / Hoboken / Christ Hospitals. The Charity Care JCMC provides on yearly basis for Jersey City residents who cannot afford medical care, nor have insurance way surpasses 3 hospitals combined by CarePoint.

http://www.nj.gov/health/charitycare/ ... ents/cc_reportdoc2012.pdf

Transferring EMS service away from JCMC will have detrimental financial impact, which will then have grave consequences for us residents.

Thank you Yvonne for posting some of the things you do. Your posting of video from Van Vorst/ Varrick development meeting got me interested which lead me to finding about EMS issue and getting involved and playing part in my civic duty. Not everything you post will be relevant to me but there are and will be some topics that will, just like everyone else's posts including my own.

I was at the council meeting last Wed., and signed up to speak and did at towards the end of the meeting and listened to what everyone else had to say. And even those who got up to speak numerous times, including Jason Berg, yourself and others, had points of view that were valid and put on records.

So I am glad at least there are people in the community that invest in their time and ask questions while people like myself sit at home and don't know most of time what is on Agenda at the council meetings nor have time to go down to ask.

nyrgravey9, thank you and no, the date I posted doesn't make sense. Sorry, multi-tasking.

Here is the meeting post again with CORRECT date :).

Heights Hope Neighborhood Association's monthly meeting.

Thursday, January 16th
7:00pm
PS28 Christa McAuliffe School
167 Hancock Avenue

I received a notification that there will be another Q&A meeting with JCMC representative Robert Luckritz this Thursday Nov. 16th:

Heights Hope Neighborhood Association's monthly meeting.
Thursday, November 16th
7:00pm
PS28 Christa McAuliffe School
167 Hancock Avenue

Since Heights residents have the most at stake with CarePoint owned Christ Hospital at their door step, this will be an informative meeting if anyone has any question in regards to the matter. If anyone is interested in finding out more, please attend the meeting.

If this was up for Council Vote and was voted on Dec. of last year, the information should be found here:

http://jerseycitynj.gov/pub-info.aspx?id=13939
There were two meetings in Dec., and both Agenda and Resolution links can be found.

Jan. 15th 2014, agenda just got put up as well: http://www.jerseycitynj.gov/agenda.aspx?id=1268

I reached out to our council members as a concerned resident and two of them were kind enough to get back to me with some face time: Councilman Yun and Councilwoman Osborne. The confirmation is that the EMS agenda will not be on Council Meeting on Jan. 15th meeting at City Hall, they don?t know exactly when.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ct_may_be_weeks_away.html

The legal issue city spokeswoman Morrill is talking about is Office of Inspector General is now investigating the legality of the bidding process. If OIG rules in favor of Jersey City, then it will be put back into Council Meeting Agenda. Until then, the vote is postponed. One can only hope that OIG will rule against it.

Councilwoman Osborne is committed to communicating with us residents when the ruling is made by OIG. If it?s in favor of CarePoint, then there will be a public hearing by Council Members prior to the Council Members voting the agenda.

I am not sure why Morrill nor anyone from Mayor?s office doesn?t feel it isn?t important or worth their time to reach out to residents and let us know these details when we have been working overdrive to get some information and raise concerns. In any case, I am glad a few Council Members still have their voters? interest in mind, as all of them should. What a mess this whole EMS issue has become between JCMC & CarePoint/ McCabe. If we had a competent 5 member grading committee to begin with during RFP process that were unbiased, with right mix of backgrounds put in place from the beginning by the Mayor?s office, we could have avoided all this headache.

It has been a great lesson for me personally how important local government issues are and how if we don?t care or pay attention such an important issue as our emergency healthcare in Jersey City can be put in peril. So regardless when the EMS will be put back on agenda for vote in future Council Meetings, I think it?s important that those of us who care about our quality of healthcare in Jersey City still sign up and speak at each council meeting and let our Council Members know how we voters feel and continue to reach out to our Council Members.

Below is a NJ state denial to CarePoint for managed care application for 'concerned about CarePoint's continuing pattern of misrepresentation to State agencies about its readiness, its competencies, it's corporate ownership and its failure to accept responsibility for prior representations' and reasons go on and on. This along CarePoint's failure in Secaucus give me grave concerns as to why Jersey City is inviting a company with such predatory billing practices to replace our EMS service that us residents are more than happy with.

I am attaching a link for a official state document that describes what kind of company CarePoint really is: the kind of company Jersey City should not engage with.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-wndxx3kEacaVpCWi1DVEVrQVU/edit

Us residents are the ones that will suffer the effect of changing our EMS service in Jersey City if the quality of care is not adequate. Lives will be put at risk and some may end up in financial ruin due to predatory medical billings by CarePoint. The prospect is truly frightening and unforgivable given the quality of care we currently have with JCMC EMS. All this for chum financial fictional figure to equate replacing our proven quality of life saving healthcare isn?t why we elected our officials.

When you have a mayor and his administration that decided on Dec. 13th, 2013 to change the EMS service in Jersey City, and at last minute pulls the agenda from the council meeting on Dec. 18th due to public outcry and stays mute on the subject, I am left more than disappointed.

I can understand going skiing with your family is important for mayor during the holidays, yet he felt the need to share the picture of it on public forum. I understand writing a self promoting opinion piece on Hufftington Post might take precedent over our local Basic Medical Service. But when the mayor whom we elected to serve Jersey City virtually stays mute and refuse to address any of our concern that took up our holiday time due to city?s timing of the decision with zero public outreach, I think we have right to be disappointed, some even angry.

Our family wants to reside in Jersey City years to come. We don?t have any plan to move to other cities and we really like our neighbors. We don?t have any political career or ties to special interest. We are just regular folks that got interested in this subject because it?s that important to us.

I don?t enjoy putting my name out in the open in public forum nor spending my time outside my working hours petitioning nor trying to reach out to all the council members. But what choice am I left with when such an important decision is being made for my family with no emphasis on quality of care? Something had to be done.

This wake up for me started with JCMC EMS saving our neighbor?s newborn baby who wasn?t breathing because he was choking. Their quick response time resulted in that baby boy being saved and thriving today. It was real wakeup call for us and I want continuation of that top notch quality of service for my family and neighbors.

I hope us residents voices will be heard and many of us will again sign up to speak at upcoming City Council Meeting on Jan. 15th, 2014. The number to call to sign up is 201-547-5150. Some of the politicians might be on fast track to go to State/ Federal office but us residents will remain here in JC and we will remember which council members voted quality of care over 2.7 million dollars that are virtually fictional number: maximum reimbursements amount over estimated service that has to be billed, collected through CarePoint insurance system, one that is notorious to say the least. With zero cost factored into transition cost (loss of jobs in JCMC) and administrative cost that city will have to folk over to collect the money.