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Re: BOE approves huge $268K settlement -- paves the way for Epps to leave in December
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Home away from home
 
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don't get distracted by the $270K payout. That is peanuts in the scheme of things.
Posted on: 2011/10/5 14:57
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Re: Cable and internet options
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Yes, I believe it's their lowest bandwith plan. All I know is that streaming Netflix video works fine with this plan. I'm not sure what I would do with the higher bandwith plans.
Posted on: 2011/9/17 0:31
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Re: Cable and internet options
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Home away from home
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I've got Verizon Fios internet only.
$54.99 per month. That includes taxes, fees, surcharges, etc.
Posted on: 2011/9/16 10:59
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Re: Roommate got his debit card duped
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Home away from home
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Just wanted to report that my credit card was duped and was used at New Jersey brick and mortar stores. Thankfully the credit card issuer called me to verify these suspicious charges (not so subtle: $800+ shopping spree at retail stores in one day).
I suspect the number was not stolen off the internet but was duped at a local retail/restaurant establishment. I WANT TO BE CLEAR: I AM NOT MAKING ACCUSATIONS. I AM JUST PROVIDING DATA. Within the past few weeks I used the credit card at the following local establishments: Bon Chon The Embankment Marco and Pepe Target FreshDirect Dunkin Donuts Buy Rite also made an unusual excursion to a suburban NJ restaurant recently now that I think about it.
Posted on: 2011/8/18 2:43
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Re: Downtown: Having taken out huge second loan at height, couple now owes more than it's worth.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Point taken. How about just mandatory screenings of this: video clip
Posted on: 2011/8/6 19:41
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Re: Downtown: Having taken out huge second loan at height, couple now owes more than it's worth.
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Home away from home
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*Tangent*
People talk about math education in this country. It could stand to be improved, but man, there's low-hanging-fruit out there: Mandate personal finance and economics 101 classes in all high schools. I've lived life long enough to know there are some people that just can't be helped... but there's a big chunk of people that just need some fundamental education about supply and demand, how mortgages work, and what the stock market is. And I know it can all be found on the internet, but it really needs to be force-fed down people's throats. There are many grown people out there with college degrees that do not know what an IRA is, how mortgages work, and have no idea about investment vehicles like 529 plans for college. It would help everyone if this information was more widespread.
Posted on: 2011/8/6 1:38
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Re: Jersey City Libraries struggling to stay open
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Home away from home
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Fact: There are approximately 80,000 households in Jersey City (population ~225K).
Fact: Requested budget for Jersey City Libraries was $7.7 million dollars. Fact: $7.7 million could buy 70,000 Amazon Kindles. Opinion: Of course, Jersey City should not buy everyone a Kindle, but it does put into perspective how much money the library is asking for. As ridiculous as the example above is, Jersey City could hypothetically afford to buy almost every household a Kindle and then use that budget to buy every household ~8 books year every year thereafter. Nobody likes budget cuts, but if we don't think outside the box, it indeed does become a zero-sum game where cuts= lost jobs and lost services. We have every right to complain about budget cuts. We also have every right to innovate and produce solutions. http://savemynjlibrary.org/content/je ... -save-library-budget-cuts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_City,_New_Jersey
Posted on: 2011/7/23 17:17
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JC schools early dismissal June 9 (Thursday)
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Home away from home
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Jersey City Public schools are closing early tommorow (12:45 dismissal).
Why? Because it's too darn hot! All parents that have to miss a day of work to watch their kids will be reimbursed by superintendent Epps. (I'm kidding about that last part.)
Posted on: 2011/6/9 0:45
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Pulitzer Prize Winning Reporting
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Home away from home
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For public service:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/bell/
Posted on: 2011/4/20 3:02
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Re: Jersey City Libraries struggling to stay open
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Home away from home
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I'm against cutting the library's budget, but there is a caveat:
The libraries should offer more utility for its citizens in exchange for $$$. I know this is a novel idea, but I got the idea from the business sector where people offer goods and services in exchange for money. There are many initiatives that could be considered, but for starters let's consider: Sunday hours. One day during the week where the library is open until 8 p.m. Book return drop boxes. I work 5 days a week and I literally can never make use of the library (except for the library's commendable downloadable audiobooks). I can't be alone, can I?
Posted on: 2011/4/8 16:32
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Re: HUGE GAS LINE COMING? Companies look to run natural gas pipeline through Jersey City
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Home away from home
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Posted on: 2011/4/5 0:30
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Re: Baby Galileo
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Home away from home
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If you haven't heard, the public schools have a pre-k 3 and pre-k 4 program.
http://www.jcboe.org/departments/early-childhood.aspx I think the pre-k 4 program has an advanced algebra program and an accelerated reading program there. They pick 2 black kids, 2 asian kids, 2 hispanic kids, and 2 white kids every year to take part so the competition is fierce. Furthermore, 'other' and Indian kids are all grouped in the "asian" category so it's a real dogfight. If your kid is 3.5 and he doesn't know his times tables up to the 12's, you better get crackin!
Posted on: 2011/4/1 17:52
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Re: From the "Total Waste of $$$ Dept.":
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Home away from home
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Quote:
+ 250,000 This is a waste of a thread.250K isn't even worth thinking about. I know that this is fed funding we're talking about, but for some perspective, Jersey city's budget is ~$500 million. and 8 items account for 75% of the budget. A similar situation at the federal level exists. When talking about saving money, look at Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and the Military Period. We the citizens should know this by heart. If we don't... well shame on us.
Posted on: 2011/3/21 0:05
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Jersey City 2011 Budget (proposed)
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Home away from home
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Please find the 2011 Jersey City proposed budget here:
http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/pub-i ... 0&terms=transition+budget $480 million annual budget. Some of the largest outlays are: Total Administration budget: $14 million Total Public works budget: $14 million Debt Service: $50 million city contribution for group health insurance: $68 million Fire Dept salaries: $62 million Police Dept salaries: $92 million Police / Fire retirement: #35 million Incenerator authority: $25 million There are something like 400+ line items on the appropriations list. These 8 items account for 75% of our city budget.
Posted on: 2011/3/18 0:55
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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Quote:
The $798,000 figure is how much the city claims it collects by garnishing 1.5% of wages. But upon casual inspection of the budget, it appears that $250+ million goes to wages. Therefore the employee contribution figure should really be $3.5+ million. Someone please explain this. This is a gross inconsistency or a major typo. If it is not a typo, then what this implies is that a large number of our city employees are getting health insurance without making a penny in contributions.
Posted on: 2011/3/17 20:51
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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$480 million annual budget.
Some of the largest outlays are: Total Administration budget: $14 million Total Public works budget: $14 million Debt Service: $50 million city contribution for group health insurance: $68 million Fire Dept salaries: $62 million Police Dept salaries: $92 million Police / Fire retirement: #35 million Incenerator authority: $25 million There are something like 400+ line items on the appropriations list. These 8 items account for 75% of our city budget. You're welcome.
Posted on: 2011/3/17 20:38
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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$1.9 million on Infomation Technology (IT) and we can't even get a searchable PDF budget.
Posted on: 2011/3/17 19:47
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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I love how the official downloadable PDF is a low-quality, hard-to-read, poorly formatted document.
One can infer that the government a) purposely makes the data hard to digest for their constituents or b) is not very technically savvy, or c) does not care about quality, or d) all of the above I wouldn't expect anything more from Jersey City government at this point.
Posted on: 2011/3/17 19:11
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Your situation is very typical, but it doesn't explain the figures in the budget. Your total insurance cost for the year - regardless of whether the employee and/or employer pays - is typically in the $5,000 to $12,000 range. Unless I'm missing something here, the city is footing $20,000+ per year per employee for health insurance. Does anyone know how many employees Jersey City has?
Posted on: 2011/3/17 16:02
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Re: Steven Fulop - Sharing Letter to Admin re: taxes
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Home away from home
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Can't help but notice $75 million out of $500 million goes to city workers' health insurance. City workers contribute 1.5% of their salaries towards their own insurance which adds up to $798,000
So the city pays $54 million in salary and $75 million in health benefits???!!! Please explain this.
Posted on: 2011/3/17 3:13
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Re: Facing another 12% tax increase.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Not really. From 2004 through 2010, my rent went up 10%. Not 10% per year, 10% total. The tax increases could not be passed on to the renters because if they were, people wouldn't be comparing JC to Brooklyn...they'd be living in Brooklyn.
Posted on: 2011/3/9 4:16
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Re: Facing another 12% tax increase.
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Home away from home
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I am protesting in my own way: I have lived in JC for 6+ years but am adamantly opposed to purchasing property here. If enough of us continue to abstain from buying unreasonably taxed property here, the property values (and property tax revenue) will continue to drop 'til the city gov't will realize that 'less' will ultimately mean 'more'.
Posted on: 2011/3/9 2:25
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Re: Governor Christie halts new train tunnel into Manhattan due to cost overun
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Home away from home
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Quote:
The dogma that we keep raising taxes doesn't work either brewster. In Illinois they raised state income taxes and that was probably OK, because the tax rate there was relatively low to begin with. Your point is taken that since we have one of the lowest gasoline tax rates, it would make sense to raise it. But we live in a state where the property taxes are THE highest in the nation and yet municipal gov'ts (such as Jersey City's) still don't have enough money to balance budgets. So, if we just raise gas taxes, will the gov't magically show fiscal responsibility? Put it this way: If municipal spending hadn't increased 70% in the past decade, I'd be more apt to support increased taxation in these troubled times to cover expenses. But empirically, we have seen that increased tax revenues don't decrease budget deficits. The money just gets spent and (because governments generally allocate capital less efficiently than the private sector), we the people don't even see any results from it. High taxes in JC yields broken sidewalks, pot-holed streets, and failing schools. Can you really, honestly, believe that raising taxes -gas taxes or otherwise - really will yield good results? It hasn't so far. Maybe we just need to tax more and we'll hit some sort of threshold that makes everything better and gives the gov'ts enough to make things better? I'm not convinced.
Posted on: 2011/3/6 2:57
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Re: Excellent Buffalo Wings- Where can I find them?
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I second this. I lived in Buffalo for 10 years and White Star Bar's Wings would've held their own in Buffalo. Very, very good. I always thought that Atomic Wings' sauce was slightly inferior, but the main problem was that Atomic Wing's wings were too big and meaty. They were chicken wings, not Buffalo Wings.
Posted on: 2011/2/28 19:21
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Re: PostNet
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Home away from home
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One of my favorite things about PostNet is simple:
If you have to mail something on a bank-holiday, the Post Office is closed, but PostNet is open.
Posted on: 2011/2/21 16:09
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Re: Stay classy A&P
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Ok, Ok... I'm not sure what's going on here, just inferring. The finances are beyond me, but I was just taking a common sense, perspective. If I owned two stores, one of which was dilapidated and the other one that I had just sunk $$$ in 5 years ago. All other things being equal (current costs, current revenues), I would sooner close the dilapidated one than the "nicer, fixed-up one". Maybe Target isn't effecting their sales negatively. Heck, it's possible that their sales are increasing due to a coattail effect. You are right also in that there is upside potential in this location, . They are nowhere near operating at capacity.
Posted on: 2011/2/19 11:57
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Re: Stay classy A&P
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Home away from home
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I'm not too hopeful that the JC A&P will stick around for too long. Maybe another year.
First of all, I think it automatically made the first round of avoiding closure simply because A&P invested pretty heavily in revamping this location a few years ago (2 or 3 years ago?). Secondly, their sales must be down since Target expanded their grocery selection last year. Finally, the eye-ball test. I've never regularly shopped at a grocery store that had so few customers milling around in the store. The place is just dead.
Posted on: 2011/2/19 0:39
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Re: HUGE GAS PIPELINE COMING - through Jersey City
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Home away from home
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http://abcnews.go.com/Business/pennsy ... es-dead/story?id=12883552
Early in the investigation, but the natural gas main was likely involved. In all fairness, the Spectra plan for Jersey City involves deeper pipes and probably thicker pipes. But still... there is no way to eliminate risk in a project like this and though accidents are rare, they can be catastrophic and lethal.
Posted on: 2011/2/10 19:59
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Re: Best pizza in JC????
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Home away from home
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Just wanted to bring up to the top some relevant threads for this glorious Super Bowl Sunday. =)
If your favorite pizza place is mobbed, keep in mind that pizza-making capacity has recently increased in downtown JC: Victoria's is new and 'Nick's' on Newark near Grove St are nw pizza joints. Go Steelers!
Posted on: 2011/2/6 16:16
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Re: Roommate got his debit card duped
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Home away from home
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scary stuff.
Just wanted to share a technique I use: I have a main checking account which I have linked to a secondary checking account. Every month $x00 is transferred from the main checking account to my secondary checking account. I ONLY use the debit card for the secondary account. The primary purpose for this structure is to force me to stay within budget ($x00), but the additional benefit is security: If anyone gets my debit card, they only have access to a few bucks.
Posted on: 2011/2/2 13:34
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