About the clocks... I spoke to one of the City engineers and here is what I was told.

Grove Plaza. Several months ago there was a water main break on Marin Ave. PSE&G had to cut power on Newark Ave while the main was being repaired. At the end od 2 and 1/2 hours the power was restored and the clock started up again but 2 and 1/2 hours slow. Before the city dispatched someone to fix the time the electric motor that runs the clock burned out. Since then they have attemped to install a new motor but it did not fit and they are waiting for a new one. They don't have a good estimate when it will arrive.

Erie Street. The first part of the story is the same as for the clock at Grove Plaza but the motor did not burn out. The truck that was delovering the Planters and garbage cans for Newark Avenue hit it. The city has been in contact with the trucking company and its insurance carrier. The city had to disconnect the clock from power for safety reasons and is waiting for the insurance carrier to agree to the repairs to the cast iron case.

The Newark Avenue Redevelopment Plan was adopted on Sept 24th. The Paseo is not a requirement of the plan but remains permitted. I'm not sure what permitted means but it looks like the plan will go ahead without the Paseo at least for now.

Rob

My wife was confined to a wheelchair and while she was alive the installation of a set of elevators at Grove Street was important to us. According to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, any building or structure was to be constructed or modified to allow access by persons with disabilities. The loop hole was that for existing structures they could delay making these accommodations until modifications or upgrades were made to the structure. When the east entrance to the Grove Street PATH Station was opened we were quick to notice that there was no elevator system down to the platform level. I wrote PATH and inquired why this was not done and what plans did they have to correct this oversight. PATH wrote back to me and explained that since they had not performed a modification or upgrade to the structure but had merely reopened an existing entrance they were not required to install elevators. They stated that they had no plans to install elevators at the station at all. They also stated that perhaps Grove Pointe might have plans to do so but they were not involved in that.

When PATH closed the east entrance they plugged the existing tunnel and entrance with rock and concrete. The easy task of re-opening took more than a year and required them to dig trenches in the roadways of Marin, Newark, and Columbus to create the tunnel. I?m sorry but this seems to be a major modification to the structure.

There is currently a lawsuit filed against PATH for violating the ADA by not providing access for people with disabilities. The case in the form of a class action suit and its requirement for settlement is the installation of elevators at the east entrance. The case is moving very slowly because PATH is delaying the action as much as it can.

If my wife and I wanted to take the PATH anywhere I was forced to push her wheelchair to either Newport or Exchange Place where there were elevators. Now I hear that Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop is concerned with PATH. Is it accessibility at Grove Street that he has turned his head to? No, he is worried about the platforms being crowded at Newport during rush hour. And PATH is concerned with SmartCards and new rail cars. Where are the priorities?

Rob

I just want to clear the air a little bit.

Who am I and what is my agenda and affiliation?
I am a resident of Downtown Jersey City since 1995. I live on Manila Avenue (Grove Street) near 3rd Street. Over the years I have made friends of many of the merchants in the area. I like the area and the people. In my free time I do some volunteer work and some of it is for the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District (HDSID). I think that they are doing good work and helping to improve the atmosphere in the neighborhood. They pay for sidewalk cleaning so the area looks better, not perfect, but better. The sponsor events like Groove on Grove and the Farmer?s Market and during them advertise for local businesses. The arrange for group advertising rates for local businesses. I have talked to a lot of the merchants and what they want are more customers. I never hear a desire for Newark Avenue to be one-way traffic because cars don?t stop. They want people walking past their shops so they will stop in and buy. They want the improvements to the sidewalks and the benches and the lighting. Anything that will make Newark Avenue and Grove Street an enjoyable place for people to come and shop. In short, I live here, I shop here, and I like it here and would like to see it better. I want to see the merchants we have stay open and to see more as time goes by.

That being said. I do support the Newark Avenue Redevelopment Plan. It?s a start. We also need more. Yes we need to do the same thing farther up Newark Avenue, to Brunswick and beyond. We also need to extend it on Grove Street from 1st to Grand. It was the City and the HDSID working with the developers of Grove Pointe that got the Plaza at the Grove Street PATH Station build from the toilet of a park it was to what it is now. And it is a combination of the cleaning crews from the City, Grove Pointe, and HDSID that are keeping it clean.

Things may not be moving a fast as you want or extending a far as you want it to go in this step but don?t forget Jersey City is large and Downtown is not the only area that needs improvement. The Plaza was step 1, and Newark Avenue to Jersey Avenue is step 2. I know that the HDSID does not want to stop there.

I would like to see the plan passed at the next council meeting. Then while the work is being done we can begin raising the cash to plan out and do the next step.

Rob

Let see, make Newark Avenue one way and let the traffic that used to use it use Columbus. Where will Newark Ave become one way, The best two way road between it and Columbus is Jersey Avenue. Does that actually make sense? And while we are at it one way which way; East or West? Widen the sidewalks on Newark Avenue. To do this the parking on the avenue would have to be eliminated. And parking is onething that we no longer have enough of in downtown. (BTW I do not own a car)

Columbus cannot replace Newark Avenue, it stops at Brunswick. Newark goes all the way to the west side of the city. Newark is a major access road to the city from Route 280 while Columbus is a major access to the Turnpike Extension. Both are needed by the city but do not replace each other.

The study that created the Downtown Redevelopment Plan went on for a long time and actually considered the one way and no traffic options for Newark Avenue but could not find a workable solution. Obviously the Paseo is a new addition to the plan and may or may not be a good idea. Personally I like the idea of the Paseo and it does help with the push to develop retail trade on Columbus.

Should the redevelopment plan extend father west on Newark Avenue? Hell yes! Is there money committed right now that can support going ahead to Brunswick? No. Is there a good chance that when the redevelopment from Grove to Jersey Avenue is completed that the City will be able to get additional funds to go farther? I think so.

It may not be all that we want but its what we can pay for and will improve the look of Downtown Jersey City. I would like to see up take this first step.

If the Paseo does not go through I think that Del Forno should be put on a time limit to complete the building of his plan. I have been watching one of his projects on Grove Street not be completed for more than 10 years. I do not want to see a fenced off hole in the ground for years to come.

Rob

It is true you do not need a landline number but you do need the wires to be connected to your local CO. There may be an installation charge for this from the phone company but it is a one time charge. I have DSL through EZ2 and for 768K download speed I pay $29.95. I have had one outage in service in 2 years and that was due to Verizon trying to switch me over to their service without my permission.

Call the court and ask the clerk. That would give you the correct answer.

George will be missed. I loved his command of language and how it could be made into comedy. Several years ago I was a member of a trivial persuit game in a local bar and our team won because I knew the 7 words you cannot say on television. And our team was the only one that got it right.

He gave me laughter and food for thought. I will miss him.

First of all I am from Jersey city, I moved down here from Sussex County in 1995. I live downtown on Manila Ave and I love it here.

Second, we do have a $0.05 deposit in New Jersey. Hence the guys comming around on trash recycling night ripping open the recycling bags to get the cans and bottles to redeem and leaving a mess I have to clean up.

I believe in recycling, and I practice it in my home. I separate my trash and put it out every Thursday night. Now if this bill goes through, I will have the privilege of paying an extra 10 or 20 cents to do what I am all ready doing. This is a tax. The people who wrote this bill have already planned on using the deposit money we will not redeem.

It is called the ?Smart Container Act? and was sponsored by Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle of Bergen County. On Monday, May 12, 2008, the bill will be discussed in the Assembly Environment Committee.

The bill proposes that all beverage containers of 24 ounces or less sold in the state have a deposit of $0.10 added to the price and all beverage containers above 24 ounces to 3 liter have a deposit of $0.20. It also includes proposed projects that the unclaimed deposit money be applied to.

I know that this is not the first time that this proposed legislation has been sponsored in the Assembly but, in the light of the current budget problems, it may have a better chance to get through committee this year.

In reality this is a tax, not a deposit. When was the last time any of you redeemed the $0.05 deposit currently on soda bottles and cans? For me it has been years. The redemption centers are not located in convenient places, and the same can be said for beverage distributors, and try to redeem a soda can at a retail store.

I have already sent off email messages to the committee members stating that I am against this bill going any further. You can get to the messaging software through the New Jersey Website.

Well at least I am in the majority. It appears that more of us have been told to drown ourselves in the Hudson River than have been told thank you. Its nice to be in good company.

Although three of the charges have been struck down there still remain 3 charges. I await with interest to see where this case goes.

Well the Reverend Sharpton has done it again. Working up a bunch of people and making claims that he cannot support. Instead of shutting down New York City he slows down 6 transportation areas and delays some commuters.

The man could be a leader for the disadvantaged but everything he touches turns into a circus sideshow act. A million man march with maybe 200,000 people in it, and the shutdown of a city that truns into a 15 minute commuter delay. And what good is this doing? He is having a meeting with the governor of New York when his only legal recourse for a trial on racial discrimination is with the Federal courts.

I am not privy to all of the information on the case but it seemed that every effort was made to make it a fair as possible and the judge does have a good record at evaluating a case on its merits alone.

I talked to David just after the event and I also had a chance to talk to a couple of cops about it later on.

David can be scarey to talk to. Its like being at a meeting of the KKK. Even before that night, I was uncomfortable around him, and I didn't even know he had a carry permit.

It is my understanding that the police were unable to substantiate his claims about the attack and thus did not attest the two blacks involved. David didn't have any marks on him nor did he appear dirty from being pushed to the ground. It was standard procedure to take his gun from him and hold it until there was a hearing. The suspended his carry permit later and it was a second hearing that suspended his seller's license.

The facts seem to be that he shot his gun up into the air as a warning. He is allowed to defend himself if he believes that his life is in danger but shooting in the air is just dangerous. He could see Jordan's from across the street in his shop. Why didn't he call the police? For that matter why didn't he call 911 early on in the confrontation?

The event showed some bad judgement on his part and having his carry permit suspended while its all sorted out seems like the best solution. There is a big difference between owning a gun and being issued a carry permit.

The questionable part is suspending his license to sell. I don't understand this one. It does seem overly extreme to me.

Does anyone know if PATH will finally be making the Grove Street station Handicap Acsessible? That would be an improvement!

I was afraid that I would never be able to make this post but I had the best lunch I have had at Skinner's Loft yesterday. After a shaky start Maggie and her crew have done it. I am happy that after all the hard work, she was able to more than pull it together.

Keep up the good work.

I started going to Lisbon in 1991 and have been a regular there ever since. Their food is comparable to anything found in Newark.

My wife and I had our firast date at Komegashi but we had our second date at Lisbon. I would be hard pressed to decide between the two. I will miss the old place, but I will go to their new location.

Along with their excellent Sangria, their Portugese Coffee is to die for.