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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Another Dickinson Street Brawl - on Monday

Home away from home

My old neighborhood! I just moved to Lambertville, and wake up now to the sounds of the D&R Canal spillway and ducks...

#nomoreghetto4me!

Posted on: 2017/4/7 13:34

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Jersey City sees 3 shootings in less than 24 hours (Heights and Greenville)

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I've take to reading between the lines whenever I see an article, or comment from the JC Spokesperson, like this. "'uncooperative' with police", "feud between acquaintances". Sad, but you read enough of these and it's hard not to believe the subtext or hidden meaning you read in is actually there.

I'm thinking about this because I live in the Heights, and the shooting occurred literally 2 blocks from my apartment! Would someone else be concerned? Possibly new arrivals to the neighborhood would - but with my internal "Rosetta Stone", I have a picture of the people involved and somehow know they are the type I avoid, whose stores I stay out of, whose blocks I skirt.

Posted on: 2017/3/21 15:30

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Stop Sale of Public Land to Developers, Promote a Green City

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Why would this be a bad idea? 5 stories - and 30 units - is relatively small scale, not overly-large relative to the scale of the apartment buildings on Summit Avenue, and the industrial buildings down the hill. Historically, the corner lot had a building on it http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/HUDSON_CO ... Bayonne_9_plt17/index.htm

While personally, as a middle-aged, relatively sedate person, I appreciate "vest-pocket" parks for passive enjoyment, I'm not sure they bring the level of amenity to every neighborhood. Could there be a playground incorporated, to accommodate some, if not all of the neighbors? Better to control all the private parking which destroys planted front yards and street trees in front of rowhouses.

Posted on: 2017/3/20 20:46

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Fulop: Trump’s proposed budget would cost Jersey City $9.6M in HUD funding

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Here's an article about one of the HUD funded initiatives in Jersey City, HOPE VI. Separate, I believe, from the HUD Block Grant funding JC receives annually ($5 million + in 2014 and 2015).

http://urbanomnibus.net/2014/06/hard- ... city-with-brian-loughlin/

Posted on: 2017/3/17 17:28

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Wow - LSC's Updated Plans for SciTech Scity

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Quote:

GrovePath wrote:
16 Acres is a whole lot of land. It is the size of the entire World Trade Center site. What experience and background do those in charge of Liberty Science Center have in developing such a huge and high value project.

While the size of the site may be comparable to the WTC, it's really important to consider the context of this property. While it borders LSP on one side, to the west is I78, train tracks, semi-abandoned industrial properties in the triangle between the HBLR, Craven Point Avenue, and Garfield Avenue. West of Garfield Avenue is the worst neighborhood in JC. Take a look at GoogleEarthMaps!

I'm not sure the site, or the surrounding location, proximity to LSP notwithstanding, will ever support a huge and high value project - there is simply nothing there to attract anyone beyond the park. A casino? Maybe, as it's self-contained and you can ignore the surrounds outside of the park. I can't imagine there being interest in a hotel, when there are plenty of hotels located in areas that have some quality to recommend them as a place to stay.

Posted on: 2017/3/16 17:07

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Woman filmed as he undress in JC Penny at Newport

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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
This does not suprise me, allowing transgenders in women's spaces opens the door to men in general. So your mother, wife, girlfriend and daughter could find her image on youtube as she undress.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ssed_in_jc_penney_ch.html

And like the situation in Jersey City, this is the result of store managements failure to have someone monitoring the changing rooms! This has zero to do with the transgender access issue, and everything to do with corporate culture - so long as you reduce loss prevention (no doubt whatever the poor woman was trying on had those tags, you can be less confident the store even has security cameras) the store has done it's duty.

If you are so concerned about women's comfort and safety in changing rooms, write to the CEO's and ask them to settle for a 95 foot yacht, as opposed to a 115 foot yacht, and spend the balance of decent staffing and/or security in their stores!

Posted on: 2017/3/14 20:35

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Jersey City abatement vote met with mock party

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Kudos to the protestors for doing this respectfully, in a good-spirited way that draws attention to their cause.

Posted on: 2017/3/10 15:30

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Woman Beaten After Confronting Teens at Hamilton Park

Home away from home

Quote:

On_The_3rd wrote:
If you want a prosperous society, you can't turn a blind eye to injustice.

My experience, in the 8 years I've lived here, is that a lot of people - old timers, the entrenched poor - don't want a prosperous city, as they have no desire to improve their lots or change their low-class behavior. A prosperous city will mean changing the status quo, and they may not be able to remain in an improving neighborhood

Posted on: 2017/3/3 17:22

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Wishful_Thinking

New Journal Square rental apartment tower

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Also renting soon, $200 less /month than Urby. Here is the article, no link to floor plans so we can't compare what you get for the money http://ny.curbed.com/2017/1/25/143907 ... y-pricing-leasing-kushner

Posted on: 2017/3/1 18:14

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Wishful_Thinking

Urby rental apartment - 200 Greene Street

#10

Home away from home

Soon to be launched - here is the article, with photos and helpful floor plans if you are interested in renting one of the apartments http://ny.curbed.com/2017/2/28/147630 ... -city-urby-leasing-launch

Posted on: 2017/3/1 18:12

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Wishful_Thinking

Did the Trolley Car Bar on Palisades close?

#11

Home away from home

It never seems to be open, although the bar and furniture were there last time I looked... What happened?

Posted on: 2017/2/27 21:51

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Activists drape 'Refugees Welcome' banner on Statue of Liberty

#12

Home away from home

This is truly the best type of protest - nonviolent, non-destructive, makes a point simply, in a way that makes you think.

Now you may not agree with their position - I'm not sure we can be the same refuge for the world as we (the USA) were 100 years ago - but you can applaud the protesters for expressing themselves eloquently.

Posted on: 2017/2/26 16:56

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Historic Apple Tree House

#13

Home away from home

Quote:

nafco wrote:
what will this be? a museum?

Hopefully, something like this - http://lambertvillehistoricalsociety. ... es-wilson-marshall-house/

For a city of it's size, with the history it has, Jersey City has precious few historic sites. And to think the Apple Tree House came close to being demolished to make way for a parking lot for a C-Town...

Posted on: 2017/2/21 18:28

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: How do you feel about Traffic Safety in JC? We want to know!

#14

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While by-and-large these are much larger cities, it's instructive to see the level of planning and creative thinking that go into making safer streets, that are better integrated with different transportation modes. While Jersey City is smaller, older, denser, with real infrastructure limitations, IMO we are more hobbled by City Hall's lack of imagination and planning.

http://www.curbed.com/2017/1/24/14361 ... sportation-light-rail-bus

Posted on: 2017/1/25 18:52

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: NJT Bus with 2 Dozen Passengers Struck by Bullets - MLK Near Bidwell

#15

Home away from home

NJ Transit rolls out new 87 bus for the Greenville to JSQ run...
Resized Image

Posted on: 2017/1/19 2:58

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: How do you feel about Traffic Safety in JC? We want to know!

#16

Home away from home

I work for a NYC agency, and recently attended a meeting at the NYC Department of Transportation - the level of thought and planning being put into planning and infrastructure improvements in New York to calm traffic, make the city more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians of all levels of mobility, and to make the streets greener is astounding.

I truly believes this goes beyond resources - it's a matter of culture and leadership. Here, in Jersey City, Mayor Fulop needed to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table while SafeStreets raised the issue after people were being mowed down on JFK Boulevard. He and his administration have showed an abysmal lack of leadership on anything to do with public safety and quality of life in Jersey City - IMO, the improvements in NYC and other cities start with leadership.

The urban culture is a harder thing to change, admittedly, although NYC planners talk convincingly about a "diet" on vehicular use. I've lived here for 8 years, and continue to be appalled by the pathologically anti-social so many JC residents exhibit - especially behind the wheel.

Posted on: 2017/1/15 17:19

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Secaucus Boy Kicked Out of Scouts Because He's Transgender (Petition)

#17

Home away from home

I signed the petition, and wish the kid well. I hope the Boy Scouts have a change of heart and welcome him.

I (cis-gendered former boy/now middle-aged man) reluctantly joined the scouts at my parents' urging, and loved it. If you are going to be a boy, it's good to have an opportunity to become the right kind of boy - a good team player, yet striving to be self-sufficient; always working to learn new skills; and learning good morals - respecting your peers, the elderly, and the environment, valuing helping others...

Posted on: 2017/1/4 18:52

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Lawyer needed for dealing with neighbors, managing Agent

#18

Home away from home

Quote:

TheJSQuare wrote:
similar situation in my building. Do you live in JSQ by any chance?

No, I'm in the Heights. Situation not resolved yet - managing agent suggested calling the JC Fire Department to have them shut off the water to the unit, as the leak is affecting a light fixture in the kitchen and electrical outlet in the bathroom.

Hoping you had an enjoyable Christmas holiday!

Posted on: 2016/12/27 12:37

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Trump Our New President

#19

Home away from home

Quote:

Azul_the_Cat wrote:
I know the guy hasn't even been sworn in yet, but I wonder how all the Trump supporters would feel if he can't deliver on his many promises. Yes, I know he claims to have already done some of the things he promised, but he has also walked back many of his promises as well.

History tends to remember key promises presidential aspirants made - here is a link to a few http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/politic ... ry/presidential-promises/

It probably depends on what promise, and how important it is to most people. Take his promise to defund Planned Parenthood - only important to a handful of rightwing extremists, I doubt most of the country will care. The economy, however - that's a big one - I think his legacy will rise or fall on how well he does with that.

Posted on: 2016/12/23 18:13

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Wishful_Thinking

Lawyer needed for dealing with neighbors, managing Agent

#20

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I own my unit, but our building is increasingly occupied by renters who lease their units from absentee/investor owners. This situation has long caused problems with enforcing the house rules, increased wear and tear, etc.

Now I have an ongoing leak causing damage in my bathroom and kitchen. The managing agent called a contractor, however the residents in the units above me in my line did not make themselves available to be home when the contractor came. I think I may need to push the managing agent harder and/or confront the absentee owners to get them to live up to their responsibilities - any suggestions for a lawyer who deals with this, who you might recommend?

Posted on: 2016/12/21 15:05

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Curbed Cup: Greenpoint vs. Jersey City

#21

Home away from home

Of course "Jersey City" means downtown Jersey City. I've visited both, but never lived in either place so can't really vote for one or the other. It's interesting to see how JC continues to pop up as an alt-Borough in these various real-estate publications, and I'm very curious to see how JC places against Greenpoint.

Posted on: 2016/12/13 15:26

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Wishful_Thinking

Buy this beauty - and pray the reval never happens!

#22

Home away from home

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/nj ... 03-grand-st/pid_15388565/

In 2015, taxes were $11,790 (the property was assessed at $158,600).

Posted on: 2016/12/8 18:28

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Wishful_Thinking

New development in the Heights - moving forward?!

#23

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I've been watching the existing building come down - here is the proposed new development. Personally, I'm excited about seeing some change, even if I'm not crazy about the design. Seeing the historic cobblestone street restored will be great!

https://jerseydigs.com/jersey-city-rea ... ghts-500-palisade-avenue/

Posted on: 2016/12/7 15:13

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Battle against the "Bayonne Box" in The Heights

#24

Home away from home

Quote:

brewster wrote:
Quote:

Wishful_Thinking wrote:
While a full design review process may not fly in JC, pushing for a zoning overlay could result in a more cohesive streetscape.

I recall you saying you're a professional in this field, can you explain exactly what IS a zoning overlay and how does it work? It would sure help to understand the tools at our disposal.

In NYC, the three basic zoning districts are divided into a range of lower-, medium- and higher-density areas, and may be overlaid by one of the City?s 64 special purpose districts. The City Planning Commission has been designating these special purpose districts since 1969 to achieve specific planning and urban design objectives in defined areas with unique characteristics, e.g. scenic and natural area, mixed commercial uses, housing preservation. There are also Limited Height areas, superimposed over residential districts (usually historic districts) which further restrict the height of new construction and additions.

To prevent the Bayonne Box, we would need to quantify those special characteristics of the Heights that could be reflected in an overlay, such as requiring commercial spaces at the ground floor, restrictions on curb cuts, waiving side yard requirements to allow for predictable building envelopes.

This presumes there is some mechanism in the JC Zoning Resolution to apply an overlay, vs. change the zoning.

Posted on: 2016/11/29 16:54

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Complete Streets - Bike JC's Grand Street Vision

#25

Home away from home

Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
I think everyone here thinks they can control vehicle traffic. But where does the traffic comes from? It comes from the turnpike, motorists leave the turnpike and uses JC streets to connect to the Holland Tunnel, I have seen this many times. It comes from 1 & 9. Unless the state spend billions for elevated roads, JC is stuck with the traffic. It also comes from poor planning by City Hall pretending the new buildings will not have cars so those cars circle the blocks looking for parking spots.

Your first point would seem to be easy to address - if studies show some portion of the traffic in JC is through-traffic, things can be done - lane closures, speed bumps, changing streetlight patterns, changing the direction of streets - to make it more trouble than it's worth to use JC as a shortcut.

Your second point needs also to be addressed by those supporting making JC more bike friendly - too many neighborhoods (IMO everywhere but DTJC) does not have the mass transit to make not owning a car a viable option. The other issue I take with BikeJC is that their model seems to ignore things that set JC apart from other cities, including topography. The Heights is isolated from Hoboken and DTJC due to the steep uphill streets, which are impractical for anyone except the young and fit.

Posted on: 2016/11/28 19:53

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Battle against the "Bayonne Box" in The Heights

#26

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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
Quote:

brewster wrote:
Quote:

JCGuys wrote:
At the minimum we can ask for flexibility. The current zoning allows these two unit boxes. It can be tweaked to allow 4 units with a more interesting design, like the R5 zoning did downtown. 4 units with a more interesting design is more profitable than a two unit Bayonne Box.

This is a the right direction, how to lever people without taking away their rights. If you allow more units if it conforms to some sort of aesthetic review, it's win win. We don't necessarily want to create what the conservators call "fake historic", but to create some guidelines to work within, like conform to the facade setback of the neighbors and have similar roofline. There's plenty of DT & Hoboken infill that has modern elements yet fits in to the streetscape.

Here's a question: Is the 4th st house below better or worse than a brickfaced BB for our streetscape? It wasn't cheap.

That's just a "Bayonne Box" with a wooden facade. No accounting for taste. And look at the aluminum siding next door. Lipstick on a pig is still a pig...

This building has several things going for it - leaving aesthetics and material choices out for the moment - that raise it above the BB, and point towards language/restrictions for zoning that could result in better development:

- built full to side property lines
- no setback from adjacent buildings
- no outdoor parking
- garage is limited to less than 1/2 of footprint

While a full design review process may not fly in JC, pushing for a zoning overlay could result in a more cohesive streetscape.

Posted on: 2016/11/28 19:27

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Battle against the "Bayonne Box" in The Heights

#27

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Quote:

MDM wrote:
Turns out I still have some draft plans for my long since cancelled project in the Heights (corner lot).

This is the 2 family version. It just didn't work out financially. It would have worked as a three family (one more floor) and even better as a 4 family (2 more floors). There used to be a 6 family on the site, which had burned down.

The framing was going to be steel. The facade' (was going for a stone like surface) wasn't settled on before the project was abandoned.

This works well for a corner site, as you end up with a building that has a primary street facade, and a secondary facade with garages. In the Heights, there are a lot of 1-story garage buildings with 3 to 6 garage bays, so this design could be seen as relating to a typical streetscape, depending on the neighborhood.

Posted on: 2016/11/28 19:21

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Parking garage or lot in Heights?

#28

Home away from home

FYI - The garage at Christ Hospital only has 20 spots to lease to residents needing monthly parking, and they are full (check back end of each month) but the price is good $120.00/month.

I'm looking at one or two that are around $245/month. More than my building, but competitive with downtown or Newport?

Posted on: 2016/11/18 20:13

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Battle against the "Bayonne Box" in The Heights

#29

Home away from home

Here is an example of an infill building with a garage that's based more on a small-scale industrial building, which there are lot of in the Heights. Some things it suggests to me are - no parking outside of the garage, keeping the streetwall, attached or semi-attached, setbacks to keep the flat roofs, etc.

Resized Image

Posted on: 2016/11/18 20:08

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Wishful_Thinking

Re: Battle against the "Bayonne Box" in The Heights

#30

Home away from home

Count me in! A few questions/suggestions:

Is the best approach to start by reaching out to Councilman Yun, or form a group to prepare a campaign, visuals, etc., to take directly to the MasterPlan committee? In NYC, where I work in historic preservation, well organized and articulate advocacy groups get the elected officials behind them.

Market demographics - I live in the Heights, and have watched these go up over the last 8 years. They overwhelmingly sell to immigrant families, for whom they provide an investment asset as well as a home (I'm currently looking to rent a parking spot, one I've see is one of the two outside spots at one of these Bayonne Boxes) - a successful campaign to replace them would entail an understanding of local market forces.

Parking - the examples shown are good, but the overwhelming contextual design hurdle is the 2-car garage along with 2 outdoor spots. This dictates the siting, lack of landscaping, disruption of the residential streetwall etc. There may need to be a parallel plan to deal with added parking needs.

Visuals - any designers, graphic artists, or even reasonably experienced users of SketchUp out there? Some streetscape renderings of what things would look like under a revised zoning ordinance may get more people on board.

Posted on: 2016/11/18 19:58

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