I thank you posters, too, for the useful info. I couldn't find an explanation of my shattered Wednesday peace anywhere else on the web.

And Geezer, that was soooo meta, you kvetching about how people on this list kvetch. Welcome to the neighborhood!

After reading all the observations and quetsches on this thread, I have a couple of observations of my own:

1. No matter what started the Speakeasy owner's public tirade, it was inexcusable. Period. A business owner trying to serve a community should not shout at and intimidate the locals. Even if a plaza vendor did something to set him off, there was no good reason for this guy to rant. Especially in front of his own customers. It's never a good look to be a ranting bully, even if one feels this behavior is somehow justified. To onlookers, he's at best a bad sport and at worst a d-bag -- either way it generates bad feeling about the business. I've been wanting to try this new place, but after reading this thread, I think I'll skip the drama and go to one of the other half-dozen bars within spitting distance of Grove Plaza.

2. Clearly Groove on Grove and other events are a huge traffic-driver for this restaurant, but apparently the owner is antsy because he perceives that the events physically impede foot traffic to his business. The simple answer to this conundrum is to a) hire a kid to hand out Happy Hour flyers in the plaza, and b) become one of the several local businesses that support G on G so that his business name will become associated with the event. Cultivate a relationship with G on G so people can enjoy the show from the outside tables with a $7 beer in their hands, as one poster suggested. It's a great business opportunity. It might make me want to patronize this establishment.

Yes to business cards! It's incredibly naive and unwise to give out your personal account information to some stranger with no formal ID. Especially when this person gives a confusing and suspect pitch. No two ways about it.

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Yeah, the way this guy was talking it sounded at first like he was some kind of quality-assurance person from PSE&G. As I said, it was confusing.

The "break-in" thread entry about a fake PSE&G representative sounds like something that happened at my Hamilton Park home today. I answered my door this afternoon to see a nice young African American man, wearing some kind of uniform-looking dark clothing, who tried to come across as some kind of quasi-official consumer advocate who was there to save us from unjustly high PSE&G bills. I was actually expecting the UPS man and it was all just odd and confusing enough to engage me in conversation, but I'm glad I got to hear his spiel so I can warn my neighbors. The guy assured me that PSE&G was overcharging us by some particular percent and he'd save us money if only I'd give him some information about our account. He was, in fact, a salesman from a company called Energy Plus (which is being sued for consumer fraud -- see http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/05/04/46237.htm). I quickly realized it was just an in-person version of the high-pressure phone calls we recently demanded to have stopped, so I got rid of him by asking for a card and said we'd call him. He didn't even have a card and gave me a scrap of paper with his name and number. Sheesh.

I live near the corner of Monmouth and Pavonia and was awoken around 6am today by the sound of skidding and impact of one or two cars at that intersection. It was raining lightly. I heard help arrive before my groggy brain could comprehend things, so I toddled back to bed. Around 7:30-8am there was a crew out there replacing the fire hydrant. Yikes! Flattening a hydrant??

I'm sure speeding was perpetrated and maybe two cars were in play, but I heard no arguing so maybe it was just one jerk speeding up Monmouth while texting. Anyone know what happened?

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It seems an obvious question, unless you are a polite person who doesn't want to shatter a tai chi group's concentration.

I suppose I could've waited 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or perhaps half an hour until they finished, but alas, I am a working person who must budget her time.

On a few recent weekday mornings, I've seen a small group of people doing tai chi in Hamilton Park. It looks like a class. Does anyone know anything about it? I'd love to join.

The two cats I rescued from the Grace Church garden have been fully vetted and neutered, thanks to Hudson County Animal League, and are available for adoption. You can meet Charlie Chaplin and Zorro at Fussy Friends tomorrow afternoon (Apr 1, noon-4:30). No fooling!

Come out and support your friendly neighborhood cats who were dumped through no fault of their own, but who now have a second chance.

Charlie Chaplin:


Zorro:

Yes, they've probably been dumped, but I figured I'd ask anyway. There are still some old-school people around here who let their unneutered pets roam outside. I'd advise them on low-cost neutering and the joys of indoor life for cats. There are plenty of misguided, ignorant, yet well-meaning pet owners out there (not only in the Garden State), and if I can educate a few and keep their cats out of the rescue system, it'd be nice.

But it looks like these guys on the adoption track. Watch for them in the coming weeks at the Companion Animal Trust/Hudson County Animal League's "A Cat in Every Home" adoption series, every Sunday 12-4pm at Fussy Friends (148 Newark Ave.)

I had been calling the noisy cat "Kitler," but always felt a little uncomfortable with that moniker. So I'm ironically calling him "Charlie Chaplin" (looks like Chaplin but is not at all silent). The other one looks like he's wearing a Batman mask so I may call him Bruce Wayne.

A couple of black and white cats have been hanging around the area of Grace Church Van Vorst for the past couple of weeks. Does anyone know if they're someone's indoor/outdoor pets, or are they possibly lost pets from another neighborhood? They look like they're brothers, and one meows very loudly (see video). At first they seemed feral, but the noisy one let me pet him last night.

Great to see all the cat lovers coming forward!

I'd like to add that cats are more interactive than a lot of people give them credit for -- sometimes you just have to meet them halfway. Ever since I taught my husband to talk gently to our slightly shy female cat who used to run away from him, she's now in the habit of snoozing on his lap while we watch TV.

I hope the pedestrian is OK, too. It's just horrible how drivers in this town routinely blow through stop signs and ignore the stop-for-pedestrians law.

I rarely see any driver actually stop at a stop sign. I wish I had a dollar for every time I crossed a street while a 3-ton SUV crept toward me. I guess those jerks don't know the meaning of "stop" (ie, absence of motion) and consider it "stopping" if they only menace pedestrians rather than running them over.

Enforcement of the laws would help the situation, and so would a revival of common courtesy for our fellow citizens. I won't hold my breath on either count, but I will continue to come to a "full stop" (apparently not a redundant term in Jersey City) when I drive. I just hope I don't trip or slip the next time I walk across the street in front of a creep who doesn't know how to use his/her brakes.

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No, the answer isn't that "we" aren't willing to band together. It's up to the leadership of any shelter to reach out and engage the community. the commitment has to come from the top.

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Wow, so all of our local press is so biased that they wouldn't tell the entire story about this dog? I find that hard to believe. If this is the case, though, I'd think that LHS would do its best to clear its name by telling its side of the story. In this age of Web 2.0, it's incredibly easy and affordable for anyone to do so, even an under-funded shelter. But LHS hasn't spoken out and given any details about Sniper. Interesting.

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My friend, if you were directing that sarcasm at me, simply do a google of Hudson Reporter letters to the editor and you'll see my constructive criticism of LHS in the wake of the recent article about the shelter. The (since fired) shelter manager was quoted as saying something about how the shelter "can't" be no-kill. But it is SO close to having all the elements in place to be no-kill, and the no-kill equation has been out there in public for more than two decades. Yet the shelter leadership continues to insist they "have to " kill animals that could be saved with antibiotics, or simply SAVED as in the tragic case of Sniper the dog whom they killed for no good reason, and since they have no accountability there, nobody at LHS has given any kind of reason for Sniper's death.

LHS aside, there really is no valid, moral excuse for a shelter to continue killing savable animals. The no-kill equation is common, tested knowledge that has proven successful in urban, rural, red state, and blue state settings. All it takes is a commitment from shelter leadership to save lives; the people in the community, whoever they are, will band together to support it. Shelter management that refuse to acknowledge it are doing so out of pure ego, not out of concern for animals.

Mamawhoosis, you can't call it "maligning" if people are telling the facts about Liberty "Humane." And while we're spouting facts, how about that poor dog, Sniper, who was killed within a few hours of being surrendered to LHS? At the last City Council meeting, Sniper's former owner spoke out about how LHS tried to cover up and give her the runaround when she visited the shelter to see how Sniper was doing. He was a friendly, healthy dog.

But to get back on-topic, folks, who's going to take Coles to Toms River, or halfway? I've got my hands full with a huge TNR project or I'd go.

Guys,

This webpage has a directory of no-kill shelters in NJ. A friend of mine has had luck placing kittens at Noah's Ark in Ledgewood, which is on this list:

http://www.nokillnetwork.org/d/New-Jersey

Coles seems to have a breathing condition rather than an infection. I'm not a vet, but I know his eyes and nose would be runny if he were infected. And his previous vet said something about a chronic snort.

Mrasg, I hope you got Coles off the street and into a foster home! The cold weather can't be good for him and he doesn't have a warm shelter. His best bet is to be indoors -- anywhere, temporarily -- while you inquire around for a longer-term foster/adoption solution.

Please don't take him to Liberty. If he's got an infection, they may take it as an excuse to put him down. Even if it's a very treatable infection requiring $20 worth of medicine. They aren't as committed to saving animal lives as they could and should be.

I was sitting here on the computer just now when I heard noises outside my second-storey window. I thought it was just a clumsy pigeon banging around on the roof behind my house, but then this huge turkey flew up to the fire escape on one of the houses behind me on Pavonia.

It could be a male; it's probably as big as my two cats put together and it did a nice fan-tail display when it almost lost its balance on the fire escape railing.

I've seen opossums, raccoons, rats and all sorts of migratory birds in JC, but in 15 years I've never seen a turkey here!

The turkey is still in the neighborhood; after hanging out on the fire escape it flew up onto my roof. It's probably sitting on my chimney; I can hear it through the fireplace.

So all you birdwatchers, come by Monmouth and Pavonia to get a look at the Jersey City Turkey!

Aha, how sweet potato salad eluded me in my culinary adventures down South I'll never know. One learns something new every day! I wasn't aware of a cookbook thread here, either; thanx for the tips, Bright Moment!

I'll add my kudos to the long-awaited OX! I went last night with a friend for some drinks and a grazing meal. Fabulous broccoli au gratin appetizer, amazing sweet potato salad (who knew of such a thing? But it works!), sublime shredded rabbit over noodles, and delightful "cranberry pot pie" for dessert. They make a nice classic martini, too, and a tray of delicious olives came immediately after we were seated. Friendly, efficient service made everything flow beautifully.

What a pleasure to have this sort of experience on a restaurant's opening night! A swell addition to Newark Avenue.

It's both a hair salon and a vintage shop...head-to-toe style can be had here.

We put live mannequins in the window on Friday nights, so it's a bit of a party, with people getting ice cream next door from the wonderful family-owned Tocino's, and we hand out wine if we've got it, and amid all of this haircutting, haircoloring and clothes-selling still goes on.

I love Balance! Full disclosure: I love Balance so much I recently moved my vintage clothing boutique, World of Style, in with them (btw, I don't sell "used" clothing...honestly, if you can't tell the difference between a thrift shop and a vintage boutique you'd better stick with the Mall).

But you don't have to take my word about Balance. Just have a look at the nonstop rave reviews in the Comments section for Balance in the JC List business directory...http://jclist.com/modules/xdirectory/singlelink.php?cid=22&lid=169