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Re: What happened to Green Cow?
#1
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Newbie


The issue was their food. There are plenty people around both residential and business lunch traffic to make it work. I tried many times to get lunch there and give them a chance but all their hot food was simply re-heated in a microwave and as a result always turned out very bland.

Posted on: 2010/4/22 2:34
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Re: Condo reserves
#2
Newbie
Newbie


For a 10 unit building an $18,000 budget sounds right to manage it (albeit may be a little tight). A very simple estimated breakdown would be as follows

$6,000 Building insurance
$2,000 Flood Insurance
$3,600 Condo Mamagement fees (for someone that is good, cut corners on this and you will get shoddy service)
$2,400 Super (trash 2 times a week, shovel snow, cleaning halls, minor repair)
$2,000 Water bill
$2,000 Repair maintenance

Another factor to keep in mind (and this frequently happens with a 10 unit building) is that when one unit may not pay their monthly fee's the associations income level is down $2280 which may have a direct impact on hitting into your bottom line or reserves.

Reserves of $8,000 are generally a good figure for a 10 unit building around here. Banks are also starting to look at reserve figures (amoung other things as a factor when issueing a mortgage to ensure that the building's association is financially sound).

When it comes to knowing "where do all the costs go?", "are they being spent in the right manner?". Generally there is only one way to ensure this is treated correctly which is that unit owners themselves have to take some ownership / oversight for tracking all costs with the management company by asking for monthly cash flow statements, overseeing the hiring of reputable contractors and taking a hands on approach in dealing with any building issues. If buying a unit I usually try to reach out to one of the buildings unit owners to see if the association likes to take a proactive approach in tracking costs / mamaging repairs or the buildings appearance. If the answer is yes the outlook would look good.

Hope this helps.

Posted on: 2010/4/4 15:19
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Re: Cafe Nia
#3
Newbie
Newbie


Cafe Nia was great, always great food. They made everything fresh on the spot. I have never been disappointed there. However their opening hours killed them. By closing at 3pm on weekends you are missing that late afternoon crowd. By closing by 5pm on weekdays you loose the after work eaters. By closing ah hoc for a week at a time a few times a year would not help sustain a consistency need to run a business.

I would eat there twice a week but frankly during the last 2 months of them being open you would show up and half the time it would be closed.

There is enough foot traffic in that area to keep a business going. Look at Madam Claudes, Abbeys, slightly off the beaten path (more so than Cafe Nia) but they make it work.

I hope Cafe Nia comes back or someone with a similar business model because it will work, maybe after a few tweaks but it will work.

Posted on: 2010/2/26 13:12
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Re: Home Remodeling-Noise
#4
Newbie
Newbie


If your neighbor has a permit, as far as I know they can start at 8am and I think they have to be finished by a certain time which is either 6 or 7pm. I am not sure about Saturday work.

I had situations like this before. It is best to talk it out and come to an agreement on work practices asking to be done by 7pm or not start work early Saturdays. Sometimes being flexible will result in the work being performed in a shorter time frame.

If that doesn't work and work is being done at all hours of the night or early on weekends you can call City Hall to report work being done after hours to the housing inspector. They will check if the proper permits were obtained and could issue a stop order if the proper protocol is not followed.

I needed to use both approached over the past few years. Both work but I would suggest using the first approach first.

Hope this helps.

Posted on: 2010/2/21 1:09
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Re: Accident in front of Second Street Bakery - Info Needed
#5
Newbie
Newbie


I went to the bakery at 12:15 and saw the bumper off it. There were about 5 customers inside speaking about if anyone knew what happened. No one at that time knew or heard anything. I don't like to speculate but someone mentioned that there were a lot of oversized vehicles passing by that block

Sorry I couldnt provide any helpful information apart from the fact the incident happened prior to 12:15

Hope this helps.

Damian

Posted on: 2009/12/13 2:06
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Re: Jersey City to JFK
#6
Newbie
Newbie


Best way with one piece of luggage is Path - Train - Airtrain. Taxi's going there will be around $80 there, $90 plus on your way back. Remember also at midnight you may be limited to drivers willing to drive to JC.

If $90 for a cab on your way back seems expensive I know people that took a cab to WTC for say $50 then took the Path to JC. If you time it right (getting there around midnight) and get to downtown manhattan around 11:50, 12:20 you should be able to get the 12:00 and 12:30 Path trains respectively (PATH runs every 30 minutes by then). If the timing is right, a 20 minute train ride will be about the same time it takes the taxi to get through the Holland tunnell (also remember there may be construction at night with only one lane open).

Hope this helps.

Posted on: 2009/9/6 17:50
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Re: JC Real Estate Market Recent Activity
#7
Newbie
Newbie


Jersey City can't be put in the same category as the rest of the country and RE prices will probably not drop but rather remain flat for a few reasons.

Take the 20 - 30 something generation right now. 10 years ago they would never consider living in Jersey City if it were a choice between JC, Manhattan, Hoboken or elsewhere. There are enough people that are being priced out of those areas and now are having a "second think" about living in Jersey City. That will sustain enough demand to buy places.

Jersey City has been behind the curve when it comes to prices for a number of years and over the past 10 years has been catching up so to speak. In 2000 a 750 square foot, 2 bedroom apartment in Hoboken would so for about $280,000 whereas you could get a simular one downtown for about $150,000. Now the prices are a lot closer (maybe $400k v's $300k). Jersey City still has an element of added value on prices per sf which is still enough to attract folks here not that wouldn't consider JC a few years back.

While existing market conditions (ie countrywide flat RE market, rising interest rates etc) may be contributing factors to prices being flat of downwards slightly my first 2 points above should be factors why Jersey City RE prices will be stronger than most other places.

Posted on: 2007/9/27 10:38
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Re: looking for good dentist aroud van vorst park, grove Path
#8
Newbie
Newbie


I know this is not downtown, Dr Rickerby in Journal Square is great. Just one Path ride away and open Saturday's. It is at 1 Journal Square Plaza and just a 15 minute walk from downtown.

Posted on: 2007/8/19 23:52
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Re: best time to sell?
#9
Newbie
Newbie


One suggestion if I may have is that if your principle is pretty low or own for a few years you could rent it out and the income would or may cover the mortgage and maint. You may make a marginal profit by holding off for 6 months to a year and then sell it, but you never can tell in the near term with the market right now. If you can swing renting it out and decide to sell in 5 - 10 years you will realize a greater profit.

If selling prices holds steady or go down slightly the rental potential increases so you may be able to be in a stong position to rent.

Posted on: 2007/7/13 11:50
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Re: NYC crackdown on noise -- Jersey City's new ordinance goes into effect July 17
#10
Newbie
Newbie


As quoted in the previous post

"A word about the character of the Sandbar: Mr. Fulop, the local press, and certain members of the Historic Paulus Hook Association surely believe that the club is without redeeming cultural value. That?s because they don?t know thing #1 about Latin culture, they don?t respect Latin music or musicians, and they sure as hell don?t care about the audiences who pack the place to dance to merengue and bachata and the rest of it."

Culture is not the issue here, it is not that we care it is because the after effects of these events pose a great strain on the surrounding neighborhoods.

My underlying theme in my response is as follows (which is the reason why I think JC is so great), JC is an etremely diverse city which is growing and changing rapidily over time. We all need to be willing to accept the rapid growth and changes that are going on all around us. Openess to varying cultures and backgrounds is both important to us, living together and a vital point to the city growing in the right direction.

While I live in the Italian Village area of Downtown JC I am not subject to the Sand Bar noise issues. I have one friend that loves it and goes there regularly and has a great time, but I also have at least 4 other friends that are constantly woken up at 3am on a Saturday or Sunday morning from police sirens from Post Night Club activities, not alone the loud music.

The Sandbar along with at least 5 other establishments have a direct impact on quality of life issues in Jersey City. I am all for supporting bars and restaurants in Jersey City so long as they are co-operative with the community in which they live. I will go to Abbeys or the Star Bar any night of the week because they have a diverse clientele, respectful to their neighbors etc but will not go to lets say the Latin Lounge because they blast music at very loud levels, and cause mass disruptions at lease 4 nights out of the week.

Most of the noise issues that occur are from people leaving these other establishments that blast loud music (some Latin, some rock, some new age etc) at late hours or the early hours of the morning, this in turn makes the clientele more loud in their conversations as a result a more hyped up energy level. They leave all revved up, ready for more, pour out on to our streets and are either singing, get into scuffle but whatever will wake up many. This not only wakes up the local residents on a weekend (which one could argue is tolerable) but on a week night at all hours of the morning (which is less so).

Before I hear responses saying that these clubs have been here for a long time I have one point to make first. Show me the folks that make these disturbances late at night in our neighborhood, give me their address. Let me park in front of their residence at 7am the next morning and let me make a disturbance to wake them up. After that I am open to have a clear open discussion about cultural values and being respectful of each others values.

While I completely accept that 9 out of 10 people that visit these places come and go without a disturbance to the surrounding neighborhood it is the minority that are guilty of these inconsiderate actions. However is it fair for lets say 5 people that are disorderly to wake up a whole block for an early morning arguement that will keep them up for 3 hours on a work night (and trust me I have heard such stories and witnessed many). That is the point that the residents have been pushing with Steve Fulop, Jeramiah Healy and others.

Posted on: 2007/7/12 22:57
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Re: Anyone Else Seeing Lots Of Mice/Rats Since New Construction?
#11
Newbie
Newbie


New Construction will always bring mice up looking for new homes.

Also mouse proffing is a good idea but a mouse can get through the smallest place (even a hold a quarter their size) so mouse proffing an apartment may seem like a good solution but you need to make sure you get all the "known" holes.

I have found (through my own experiences and with friends) that as long as their is open food/crumbs out on countertops they will come and get it. If there is no food left out there is nothing to come for. I had 4 or 5 mice come and everytime there was food out. Once I started sealing up everything and keeping it in the fridge or cabinets I never had a problem.

Hope these help.

Posted on: 2006/9/15 23:44
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Re: Does anyone know how to start/manage a small condo association?
#12
Newbie
Newbie


self managing will work if the following three conditions are satisified

- Everyone pays their dues on time
- There are no issues between the unit owners and building
- All duties are carried out and shared evenly (ie putting out trash, cleaning, collecting dues, paying bills).

If there is a very good working relationship and level of understanding between all owners that self managing is great (not to mention saves on a monthly fee).

However if all the responsibilities falls to one person and there are small disagreements and inpaid dues it is better to bave a management company deal with that. The fee for a small unti is roughly 300 a month. Another point is that if there are litagation issues, violations against the building management companies have experience with dealing with these issues and can quickly set you in the right direction to address them properly.

Posted on: 2006/7/23 15:56
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Re: Amid the Glitter, JC's Growing Pains
#13
Newbie
Newbie


The crime and safety issue is a concern and has got worse in the past 18 months. In 2001 I could leave my door open on second street, run errands, come back and everything would be there. Not over the past 12 months. I heard about 3 muggings (or attempted at least) in the past 12 months but none from 2001 thru 2004. Something needs to be done. The JCPD have limited resources and City Hall will protray facts and figures any way they want to see it.

WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION TOO!!!!!. If there is a mugging, noise complaints, trash that is unacceptable just keep on calling, call city hall, call the police, call your councelman/woman, call the ABC. The more we make ourselves a pain in the a!! for the city the more they have to listen. It may sound redundant but all our voices will translate into votes come election time. That will get people to listen.

Don't forget, this is "OUR CITY" and we should take that attitude. Unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated.

Works in places like Hoboken and should work here.

Posted on: 2006/3/7 1:38
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