I know Neptune Bakery has been around for ages, but I've been in JC for nearly 4 years and just the other day had their custard cake... Wonderful! So others are not deprived of custard cakes for years like I was, I decided to post here. Go, try it - I heard the bakery is 24 hours, even. On JFK and Danforth, in Greenville. Worth the drive.

Hi all,

So it finally happened - my first NJ speeding ticket... The first one, in fact, in 10 years, so I'm understandably upset and willing to go to court to ask for some leniency. So how does that work? Anyone "guilty" got any breaks from the judge?

The fact:
I was going 45 on a 25 - ticket is 200 bucks and god knows how many points on my insurance

Mitigating factors:
I was going down the hill on Montgomery and really, honestly didn't realize I was going that fast;
My kids were screaming on the back seat.
Like I said, this is a first in about 10 years - no parking tickets, non-moving violations, nada before.

Do I stand a chance? What should I do/say?

Thoughts appreciated...

We went to El Aguila... Saturday, and went back for tamales on Sunday (they had run out of tamales Sat. evening) The food is great, the server super-nice, portions are huge, and the tamales alone are worth the drive. Big and plump for a mere buck fifty, and very tasty. They only have tamales Fri through Sunday, and you have to get there early.

Acapulco, which I mentioned earlier and the Taqueria guy mentioned too, it's a grocery store on Broadway that serves food in the back (mostly takeout, very few seats). But for the same price at El Aguila you get food just as tasty and you get to sit down in a nicer setting.

Rates - anywhere between 11 and 15 dollars an hour for one child, for a full time nanny (40+). Part-time commands higher rates, generally.

You MAY find someone for 10 bucks, but that is rare and, frankly, not enough. The nanny will take care of your most prized possession and you want some continuity. Hence, you don't want you nanny chatting with other nannies and finding out she's underpaid. Granted, that will still not guarantee that she'll stay with your family until Junior graduates from high school, but underpaying is bad - for her and for you (think about bad karma.)

Rights - 2 weeks paid vacation is the norm. If you cancel on the nanny, you pay (say, you decide to take a Friday off from work and you tell the nanny to go home - you pay her day, because her bills are not going to go away because you took time off from work).

Now, if she cancels on you... Opinions vary. I gave paid sick days to my former nanny who I felt abused the "policy" a little bit. With the next one, I told I was giving three paid sick days. It doesn't mean if she gets sick a fourth time I'll not pay her, but I just felt it would be a way to stave off any "abuse." I also told her if she needed time to go to the doctor or something like that she'd just have to tell me with advance so I could make other arrangements; I'd pay her the full day.

You cannot cut her days, etc, unless you find her a family to share (again, so her salary doesn't decrease; think about the obligations she has to meet regardless of your convenience/situation.)

I just feel you cannot penny-pinch a person you'll greet every morning... A nanny is somewhat of a luxury (I know we made sacrifices to have one because I didn't like the daycare options in the area) so be prepared to be generous, flexible, and still have your heart broken when the nanny leaves for whatever reason because (hopefully) you will become good friends with the person.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will chime in on finer points I've forgotten.

The Mexican place is called Acapulco... Really, really nice food and worth a drive/lightrail ride to Bayonne. Thanks to injc... for the tips about Italian and Polish places and seafood.

Incidentally, I think the folks from Buon Appetito (sp?) opened a sister restaurant on Grove Street - we had their pizza the other night and it was good, better than Carmine's in my opinion.

And Sava's is excellent for Polish food and they do sell some kielbasa. So just go to Bayonne to get some tacos sans attitude!!

This is hardly any of my business, so apologies in advance and I don't mean to butt in (well, not entirely) - but I don't understand the need to put 1-yo twins in daycare part-time, unless for financial reasons you need to keep your nanny's hours down. At this age, they are still "parallel playing" and behaving pretty much like "ships in the night" with other kids.

In my humble opinion, they'd benefit from playgroups or classes in town with your nanny, or the Grace Van Vorst drop-off program... Which, BTW, is full and has a waiting list as far as I know, but if a caregiver (either you or the nanny) stays with the children, they can attend beyond the program's capacity (eight kids a day, I believe, but call them for details).

Again sorry if I sound off the mark. But just my two cents as a mother of a toddler and another on the way.

The ramp is to your left... I seem to remember if you are already by the sign pointing to the wall, it is too late to get on the ramp, you might have to go back... Very poor planning.

It's pretty diverse - although tilted towards young single people. But we have families with young children like ourselves, older adults, disabled people, people who like big dogs, people into loulou dogs, etc., and it's surely ethnically diverse. But like you said, this is purely based on my own observations - based mostly on people who take the shuttle at the same time I do and/or occasionally use the amenities.

I do think sometimes there's a weird "renter vs owner" vibe - but from management, not from the residents. I just think they can be short-sighted and forget that a renter today might be tomorrow's buyer, particularly with the third building coming in line.

We used to live on Erie Street and speeding is a huge problem... People don't respect pedestrian crosswalks - in fact, I swear some jerks would speed up when they saw me crossing - and zoom through at high speeds like it's a big freeway or something. Yes, please, stop signs - it's a start and I feel for my former neighbors, it's just dangerous there...

Incidentally, we used to see at least one accident every couple of weeks or so at the intersection of Second and Erie, usually on Sundays when people left St. Mary's church. The car on Second would inch forward and then the car on Erie wouldn't have enough time because it was going 45 miles an hour or what have you.

Maybe someone more versed on City Hall issues could also post council members' email addresses for those of us who can't be at the meeting due to work and other commitments? I'd like to express my support.

We rent at the Beacon and I must say we are VERY happy with our decision... Yes, the fire alarm got us a couple of times already, but I know it's not an unusual thing to happen to new buildings - in fact, a friend who lives at Grove Pointe says that they've had their fair share of fire alarms going off for no reason, and the townhouse complex where I previously owned in another state also had the same problem right after we moved in.

Nothing is perfect, but all in all I think we got a good deal and the amenities and the details inside the apartments are great. We're looking at this renting period as a trial run and when the time is right I can see ourselves buying a unit here.

Does anybody know if there will be something similar going on this February? I'd like to join this year.

[Why not try cooking for your kids at home? Problem solved for everyone. Some of my favorite memories were at the dinner table and it's something I hope to pass on to my children. Just a thought.]

I shouldn't bite, but I will - to put a nutritious meal seven days a week for a family is a tour de force, whether you are a stay-at-home parent, work at home or not, part-time or full-time, doesn't matter. Most weeks, I'm very happy when I resort to takeout/go out to eat only once. It's our well-deserved break.

Hi,
We are thinking of renting a 2bed/2bath at the Beacon and had a few questions to those of you already there...

- Commute: does it get old? How long, say, to Grove and/or Exchange Pl PATH on rush hour?
- Shuttle: are you satisfied with how often they run? Is the car service during "dead" hours really free and does it take forever?
- Have you heard anything about the day care? Is it really coming this year?
- Amenities/retail - slow in getting up and running? Is there a dry cleaner at this point or at least word as of when it will open?
- Do you have to pay any type of amenities fee?

Thanks in advance, guys!

It's on the corner between 28th and 29th, about 15 mins from downtown JC if you take the turnpike. We were there recently and the tacos are great... $6 per order of three - make sure you browse the menu near the cash register, and check the specials on the board near the kitchen.

Man, about Gloria de Mexico in the Heights... We're there on another taco craving and thought the food was mediocre at best... I'd much rather drive to Bayonne.

Moloney's meats are great but so is the store-made ravioli... Tasty! We always get regular cheese and spinach cheese, and love both.

Hi, have you checked Learning Tree II on Fifth? I know nothing about the place but a couple of people in a listserv I subscribe to like it...

I used to take my son to Baby Galileo but opted for a nanny - so I don't have any current information of how things are going at BG.

If you want natural, I'd go with a midwife. That's how I did it. I had my son at Mount Sinai but the midwife practice there has closed. For my second, I'm thinking of going to St. Luke's Rooselvelt. They have a nice birthing room there, very conducive to natural childbirth.
Also, my husband and I had plenty of time to drive to the city, and I had a pretty fast labor, so if you do want to deliver the baby in the city, it is doable.

They deliver to the Exchange Place offices - and their lunch menu is extensive and cheap. My office mates and I were impressed - no-wrinkle ordering process, food came very quickly, and it was tasty!

They are also offering espresso, lattes, etc, and tons of different flavors of their soft-serve ice cream.

Quote:


Maybe here people hurt you (after a rolling stop, say) but don't actually kill you, so the city scored high on safety.

I grew up in a very big city in a developing country, and I swear I never felt as scared of being a pedestrian there as I am here...

The fried fish, whole. Once we were seated with a Vietnamese family (the place was crowded) and that's what they were eating. The next time, we tried it, and it's really good. Easily feeds two, maybe three. I think it's around 17, 20 dollars.

We tried to have brunch there last Sunday and it was closed - no explanation posted.

To you (usually men) who kept your seat when I was nine months pregnant standing up in front of you in a crowded train... Yes, you who buried your head in your newspaper/sudoku/trashy novel pretending not to see me...

And, before I forget, my thanks to all the people (invariably women) who got up and gave me their seat when I needed the most...

Always went by it and never stopped, till I did and got hooked! Tasty, tasty sandwiches and very good rice pudding. The owners are very nice too, and it seems very clean. The only drawback is that they close early (7 p.m.) The owner told me he used to be open till 8 but there wasn't enough business to justify the extra hour...
Anyway, it's really good and if you haven't tried, you should. And no, I didn't get a year's worth of rice pudding to write that.

We chose Baby Galileo. We liked what we saw when we were visiting places. Like the other poster said the painted windows on other daycares in town gave me the creeps. That and the fact that you couldn't drop unannounced at Smile, for instance, even if you were a parent.

Since then, we've stopped by BG several times and the babies there all seemed well taken care of. It may be silly, but the fact that they have that huge window facing Grove Street makes me feel better. When I had my baby with me and stopped by, the caregivers always showed interest in him and played with him.

We are still waitlisted at River School. I signed up as soon as I had a heartbeat - early December. Crazy. They had a vacancy for a part-time this month but it didn't work for us. Part time there was nearly 1k. BG is about 900 for full time.

I've heard good things about St. Elizabeth's, but we figured the morning routine will be hard as it is without having to drive the baby anywhere.

injc - yes, five adults and two babies!

We tried to order according to the menu ("I will have the flounder, he'll have the red snapper") and the owner cut us off - he had "fresh white fish" and we should order it fried or grilled, fillet or sliced, and it would all be good. It was quite an experience...

There were two other guys (presumably not Egyptians) there too, and they even took pictures of the joint. The owner proudly showed them the NYT review.

I really wish I hadn't seen the insect, though... Whatever that was, it didn't look good.

I went there for lunch today as well... Everything was great and very, very tasty. But I agree with previous poster - not the cleanest. Didn't witness the mouse, but some crawling insect I was not sure about.

By the way, I went with friends who know a little bit of Arabic, and Donald Duck is saying nothing more than the name of the restaurant...

456 Central Ave...

I forgot to add we were one of two tables there (although it was late Easter Sunday). Didn't see that much takeout business either... I hope business picks up for them otherwise they will close.

Next time my husband and I go, we decided we'll order the parrillada ($30 for two) -- the mixed grill. The other table had it and it looked great.

We went there this past weekend and it was awesome!! Food was delicious and cheap -- we shared an appetizer and a salad (both huge), each had a main dish ($8-$10) and shared a to-die-for coconut flan, and the bill came under $40 (w/o tip). The ambiance is quite nice too! Definitely worth a drive to the Heights... I think it's BYOB, which makes it even more of a bargain.

We took the A train to JFK on the way in (about 90 min, and it was a pain), but we came back too early -- and too exhausted -- to do it again. So we took a cab to WTC (paid the regular $45 to Manhattan from JFK; to JC, I think it was $90 or something) and then hopped on the Newark train. It worked well, we got home in about 40 minutes total.

Whenever possible, book flights out of EWR... I think that even for someone in Manhattan it would be better than JFK. In our case the difference was too great to justify paying more for Newark.