I highly recommend Tommy Two Scoops... they do not have a bar but you can BYOB (much better!) and they can customize the menu. They don't have sliders on their menu but I asked them to grill beef and turkey sliders for my party and they were delicious! There's lots of room in the backyard for a large party and they also have a tent in case it rains.

I just had a party at Tommy Two Scoops last night and had to write a post because they did such an amazing job! All of my friends loved the backyard and the food was great. They were very accommodating and the price was very reasonable. Highly recommended!!!

Does anyone know what's going on? They have the whole area blocked off, lots of fire trucks, EMT mobiles and police cars.

mfadam - agreed. The residents in my building did sign a petition asking to turn off the music earlier or turn down the volume but it got nowhere.

I don't understand why they can't shut the music down or lower the volume past 8 p.m. Some people who live in the area have children who are trying to sleep, or have jobs where they have to be up early. The volume is ridiculous and the city won't do anything about it because they have a "permit" until 10 p.m. Is it necessary for the guy to scream in the microphone every 5 seconds? I am on a high floor in my building and have soundproof windows and can't believe how loud it is!

Just a few points... renters do indirectly chip in for property taxes through their rent. If taxes increase, the landlord is usually forced to increase rent due to their increasing expenses.

Also, many renters in JC do not register to vote in JC, especially if they do not plan on staying for more than a year or so. I'd be interested to see what the percentages are!

I very highly recommend Castro's Refrigeration here in Jersey City. It was easy to get an appointment, the repairman was knowledgeable and the rate was fair.

A bagel place would also be awesome - think the space may be a bit big though. We used to have coworkers coming in from the city bring bagels because there's nowhere near the office to get fresh bagels - I like Wonder Bagels but it isn't exactly walking distance.

Even with the high rent, this place still should have been doing great due to the location. The problem was the quality of the food. I worked in an office right near Green Cow and my coworkers and I never went there... we'd order from Rustique, Kitchen Cafe or Markers. The line for salads at Markers Express is always out the door at lunchtime!

I'd like to see one of the following in this location:

1. Zigolinis - their location near Broad/Water street in downtown NYC is very, very popular... amazing salads and sandwiches!
2. Mongolian BBQ. I've heard the one in Newport is packed during lunch hour.
3. Chipotle. Say what you want about chains, but you can't really deny that a Chipotle in that location would do extremely well.

The area could also use a good bakery. People in the offices are always ordering cakes for birthdays, going away parties, showers - and cookies/pastries for meetings.

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There isn't, at the moment. The Obama administration is working on regulations but there is a fine line when it comes to how much regulation is too much.

stani - both. The lawmakers rushed to get the bailout package passed and did not even think to put in restrictions.

Most of the banks have already repaid the bailout funds - with interest. I do think the banks should be on the hook for AIG but again - the government passed the package without specifying any of this.

Without clients, these banks wouldn't be in business. Which is why you cannot solely blame banks, or call these bankers thieves. People still have an appetite for risk or most of the funds available today would no longer exist.

Question to those in this forum... Do you support more government regulation over the financial services industry, or less?

Tbird - very valid points. I was disgusted when the banks accepted money and then refused to lend. But the government basically loaned them this money and didn't put many restrictions on it - the government didn't require the banks to loan it. And the government should not have trusted these banks to "do the right thing". Of course the banks only have profits in mind.

I was very disturbed when the banks doled out huge bonuses instead of hiring back some of the thousands of people they laid off. But saying the banks are stealing money? Yes, they cried to the government but lawmakers did not have to give in. If the bailout package was put on the ballot for the public to vote for, it never would have passed. Lawmakers are supposed to represent the public's interests but we all know they never do.

jcmee, I guess my point is that no one is complaining when they are making the large returns, but there is an outcry when people lose money. Even "experts" aren't 100% sure about the returns - nothing is ever guaranteed.

A solution of course would be government regulation but then we get into the whole socialism versus capitalism argument.

The banks are NOT stealing money from us! The banks are making money off (a) people who can't live within their means and live off credit and (b) people who want to see their nest egg grow exponentially. If everyone spent only the money they currently have, and kept their money in government backed vehicles, these banks wouldn't be making anywhere near the profits they are currently yielding. The reason income disparity is growing is because people constantly want things they can't afford, and also want easy money. People saw how much money was made in returns during the dot com era and are always looking for the next big thing!

I am in no way defending Goldman's actions, but anyone making an investment has to know what they are getting themselves into and has to know that the banks think of their profit margin first. It just not realistic to expect a bank to put their clients ahead of their profits. Sad, but very true.

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I think it has lots to do with the fact that the US has such high income disparity. It also has to do with culture... music, movies and TV shows that are produced in the US are much more violent than other nations. People in this country are fascinated with pop culture, nowadays more than ever. If there is not a strong parent or other adult present in a child's life, that child is more susceptible to be influenced by his/her peers and pop culture. This is especially a problem in urban neighborhoods where parents are either (a) not present or (b) drug addicts or (c) convicts themselves.

When buying pre-construction, keep in mind that a capital contribution may be required at closing. I had to come up with 3 months of condo dues upfront, which I was surprised about. And this was not money that goes towards your upcoming dues, or that you get back upon selling. Every building is different, but this is something you may want to check.

What you may want to do is research the developer and see how their reputation is regarding other projects they have completed. If its a developer who has other buildings in the area, you may want to talk to people who are/were owners in the building(s) and see how good the developer was about resolving problems. With new construction, its pretty much a certainty that some issues will come up.

Good luck!

I saw this guy when I was in the car with my parents a few weeks ago... he was crossing Montgomery near Jersey Ave. He didn't have the light and didn't use the crosswalk but why bother when you can see him for miles away, haha! He was dressed in head to toe neon green.

I am attempting to sell my condo in the Exchange Place area (see Classifieds ) I've listed for about 10% less than what I paid, have been advertising and still haven't as had many hits as I thought I would. I'm trying to stay patient because I listed 3-4 weeks ago and its been snowing constantly in the past few weeks but really hope I don't have to wait until spring to get some more interest in the place!

The market is pretty bad for sellers because the luxury buildings in the area (like 77 Hudson) keep lowering their prices. If the loss stabilizes at about 10%, that isn't bad at all and I might kick myself for selling now but I'm relocating for work so I don't have much of a choice.

radryan, the way it works is unemployment caps off at $584 per week. People who once made $100K get the same unemployment benefits as someone who made $40K. From what I have seen, my friends who were making close to six figures couldn't live off the $584 per week and aggressively searched for jobs. Meanwhile, a friend of mine who made almost the same amount that unemployment pays her per week when she was working has not searched for a job now for a year. She completely stops her search every time they announce an unemployment extension. And she is not the only person I know of who has been doing that.

I think they should do a tiered system. If someone is getting the same amount of money they earned when they had a job, what is going to motivate them to go back to work?

The job market is not going to improve until companies start rehiring. Neither will the housing market. Instead of paying out record bonuses, Goldman and other banks should have used some of that money to replace the thousands of jobs that were lost when the economy tanked.

seinberg, I sent you a PM. Paulus Hook is my favorite neighborhood in Jersey City... close to the PATH, lots of apartments have great views and the light rail provides easy access to Hoboken!

Sawadee is my favorite!

Nori, I've had Damian fix my computer, he is right in the area and charges fair rates. See my post above for his email address...

Which area are you moving to?

Right near Bay Street - the area mentioned by another poster above - there are a few parking lots that charge by the day. The one right in front of the warehouse on Morgan Street is pretty large and may have room for the truck since there will be less commuters around Thanksgiving week.

If I were you, I'd definitely call the parking authority or JCPD office to see if they have any other suggestions. Good luck!

I second the recommendation above for Damian. He fixed my Dell XPS, backed up all of my data and charged a very fair price.

His email address is above, damian@a-t-s.biz.

I have no problem with the law and won't be parking anywhere near a crosswalk again but they should paint the curbs because not everyone knows about the law or what the distance is. If the curb was yellow, I wouldn't have parked there!

Parking has been getting much worse, and I'm sure they are going to start turning more resident spots into metered parking like they did in Hoboken. What they should do is do away with the "restricted" street areas that are $125 a month and turn those areas into regular resident parking areas.

I know this is an old thread but wanted to let everyone know I got one of these tickets - and it was $54! I wasn't aware of the law, and tried to fight the ticket because the curb wasn't yellow and there was no "no parking here to corner" sign. Anyway, don't bother trying to fight these tickets because all they will do is knock it down to "prohibited parking", which is $42. Unless you think saving $12 is worth leaving work early for... oh well, keeping a measuring tape in my car from now on and writing off the $42 as a learning experience.

Does anyone else notice that the fire alarm at 77 Hudson seems to go off quite a bit? I was annoyed that it was happening during the day, but I know its a new building so I figured they must be testing it. However, now its 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I've heard it going off several times already. I live in a building nearby and the alarm is so loud that it sounds like its in my building. Who should I call to complain about this?

+1 for the Regal Battery Park City theater. I also like Edgewater but - as expected - on a weekend night you need to get there extremely early if you don't want to sit all the way in the front of the theater! There were tons of teenagers there as well. On the other hand, we went to see Slumdog Millionaire at Battery Park on a Friday night, got there right when the movie started and had no problem getting seats.

Great to know that this place is good, it is opening in Montgomery Greene. I was just happy to see that its not another dentist office! I just hope they are open on weekends

I was on the train at 3:30, got on at 23rd street, then we sat in the 14th st station for about 30 minutes (I couldnt figure out why they wouldnt just open the doors!) and then the train was stuck between the 14th st and 9th st stations for who knows how long. The worst part was that there were no announcements about what was going on, and the train was so crowded that you could barely breathe. We got off at 9th, because we were scared we would get stuck again. Then we were sitting in traffic trying to get into the Lincoln for over an hour. I couldnt take it anymore (I had been drinking and, well, nature calls) so I got in a different cab that took me to the 1 train down to WTC (the cab driver said he couldnt take me past Canal St because of traffic trying to get into the Holland) - and those trains were running fine but while the train was waiting at the station a girl in my car kept sticking her head out the door to vomit. Gross... so I moved cars and told a port authority employee that someone was sick in the car behind us and he did not seem to care at all. I finally got home at 5:30 a.m. and will never go into the city on Halloween again!

Thanks for the email address, I am definitely writing in a complaint. Either run more trains or at least let us know what is going on if there is an issue.