JPhurst wrote:
[snip]

Let's not give short shrift to well trained, motivated and supervised civil service work forces.

GrovePath wrote:
[snip]

WADHAMS: The greenest building is the one that's already built.

Listen here

brewster wrote:
[snip]
The "value they generate" of these "educators" is by it's nature unquantifiable, and can't be compared to a bankers. Unfortunately I don't think most of those financial professionals deserve what they get either since the "value THEY generate" is often more ephemeral than the history crammed into a 8th graders head for an exam. Most of them stand in a shower of money, and inevitably get wet even as the rest flows down the drain. But that's a different thread I suppose.

chiefdahill wrote:
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radryan03 wrote:
Is there any reason to register your dog.... other than to pay another tax?

To prove that your dog has had it's rabies vaccination. You can not register your dog unless you produce proof of the rabies vaccination.

They walk through my building knocking on doors to hear if dogs bark and then come back in the evening to try and catch you home to see if the dog is registered.

I personally had fun telling the guy to stuff it when I produced my valid dog license.

My issue is that JC has the resources for checking dog licences but can't stop people from running red lights and blowing stops signs.

Xerxes wrote:
I think housing prices in downtown Jersey City will continue downwards perhaps even accelerate because they have held up longer than other locales.

I would wait if I were interested in that particular market but I am not.

Unabated taxes in Jersey City are particularly unappealing.

But rent/buy decisions are personal and variable.My rent/buy decision is particularly easy and has been for some time..

itsaurora wrote:
Very sad to see such jaded comments.

brewster wrote:
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robotjustin wrote:
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jerseymom wrote:
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Cops are no longer the civil servants of the 1950s. They are a state-sanctioned gang of mostly low-intelligence thugs.

...until someone is sticking a gun to your head and a cop risks his/her life to save you, that is.

What a crock. The odds of being HARASSED by a cop are 1000 -1 against being helped by one.

Probably not quite 1000-1, but there's truth there. The whole police thing (and the gun lobby's) of trading on civilian fear of violent crime is a sham. The odds of someone not involved in crime themselves being involved in criminal violence by a stranger is minute, and most minute in the suburbs and red states where the fear is greatest.

It happens, witness the poor woman slugged by some scumbag on 7th this week, but inside the small odds of a noncriminal experiencing violence, it's overwhelmingly likely to come from someone you know. So in that remote possibility of "someone is sticking a gun to your head", it's likely to be your relative. But "protecting you from your family" doesn't make a very good police slogan, nor do the cops have a very good track record at it, in fact they're notorious for their own domestic violence.

We read occasionally about timely police action, but for the most part they show up well after the robbery or mugging, take a report, and that's the last you hear about it. I'd love to know the JCPD clearance rates on those kinds of common crimes. Not that I think they could be solved by any city's PD, but it would give a more realistic metric of what most of us experience in dealing with the PD, and not the hyperbolic "someone is sticking a gun to your head" scenario. When was the last time JC had a real hostage taking anyway? A search of NJ.com shows only 3 news articles for JC+hostage in the last 4 years, and in one of those the perp with a gun was a JC cop. You just can't make this stuff up!

robotjustin wrote:
In some (police) states the cops are invoking wiretapping laws to arrest citizen photographers.

Watch your ass!

Amy wrote:
I can't see why they'd include a place like White Star in an article aimed at getting New Yorkers to see what's special about JC. Who would make the trek to get bar food? I would have replaced it with Made With Love's communal dinners, the Loews Theater, or something else that's a little more distinctive.

Bogart wrote:
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Trump SoHo is unusual in that owners are limited to staying in their units no more than 120 days a year and no more than 29 consecutive days in any 36-day period. Units are rented to hotel guests when owners are away.

Ew.

gibbons70 wrote:
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MDM wrote:
It would be nice for NJ to join 40 other states in becoming a "shall issue" (or no permit required) for concealed carry. The perps would be a little more hesitant if their intended targets could fight back.

Never. Ever. Gonna. Happen.

Besides, according to Duh Maher, it's the Governments responsibility to keep the populace safe.

kitten wrote:
It has been explained on this site before that the JJ does not mention race because often people are wrong when determining race. It makes sense to me. You may think someone is Latino who is in fact African American. I've totally been dead wrong when determining ethnicity (i.e. just met someone whom I referred to as Indian and found out later she is Egyptian). And forget about Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. Simply saying Asian is very broad. And then what about mixed people? I know someone who's mom is black and dad is white but people think he is either Jewish, Italian, or Puerto Rican.

So, at the end of the day, hairstyle, height, weight, eye color and clothes have to do. (and, I bet more often than not, those descriptions are wrong. human perception is a strange thing)

brewster wrote:
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Leighlee wrote:
Yes there are cop that have crappy attitudes, yes there are cop that are just plain tools. There are also cops that do ti because they actually care, there are cops who are just really great people. They deal with crackheads, filthy losers, complete jerks, abused children, crazed animals, dangerous situations.... and on and on! These men and women risk their lives everyday doing things that none else would or could do. If i could be killed on the job at any time i don't think its unreasonable to get great benefits.

Seriously... how is it possible as Americans we are totally enthralled with idiots that drink and screw all day long and they get paid well for doing it on tv. A guy can bounce a ball and throw it into a basket and he get 20+ million a season. A woman can force herself to cry on cue and does it in a movie studio she get 8+ million for a few months of playing dress up. Yet when it comes to our police, fire, medics and teachers we get all uppity if they make enough to pay most of their bills. The people that keep us safe and healthy and educate our future leaders make little more than i did managing a Starbucks. I poured coffee and i made more that some if my teacher friends... they are educating your out of control brats and i make more pouring freaking coffee!!!!!

Maybe if police departments could afford to pay enough to make quality people take the job, and if we compensate them enough to risk their lives, then there would probably be way less posts on here about crime in this city. Possibly if the police felt like they had something to work for you guys would have less to bitch about. I know i wouldn't want to help the people that bad mouth me all he time. I wouldn't be inspired to put my life on the line for the douchebags that say i should get paid less and cut my benefits while your at it. So... I'll die protecting you so my kids can grow up broke and one less parent... sounds fair. I just don't get it.

More misleading nonsense. I doubt you made $90k+ overtime + huge bennies and early retirement working at Starbuck. And those teachers, (if they work public schools) they get the summer off, they only work 180 days a year, and they still make as much as cops, they just can't retire as early.

Oh, and those Ballplayers and actors, I agree they're ridiculously overpaid, but they're in a free market.

Bill463 wrote:
" Also, being a good cop is indeed a tough job at times and being good at it requires a level of diplomacy, restraint, and quick thinking most people don't have" - Jeebus. Really? Only good police officers have these job skills? Most other careers do not require these traits?? Really? Other than shooting a gun at people I do all of this each and every day at my job!

Boiled_Mussels wrote:
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tommyc_37 wrote:
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bozzovyou wrote:
Cigarette machine=gone...as is the greenish hue TV...now a flat screen

UGH, that greenish hue TV was so classic. Late at night/early morning, they would play classic old movies.

I hate when classic things change

The problem is that classic things are only "classic" to the outsiders. From an owner/employee standpoint, I'm sure they love the flatscreen over a green hued tube tv. Their "improvements" are generally our "sellouts."

ianmac47 wrote:
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njlist wrote:
@ teacher-

if teachers and other public employees should, as you insist, take a 10 percent paycut, then so should gov. christie, all his commissioners and staff, and certainly, millionaires can afford to shoulder part of the burden as well. . .don't see that being done.

That would make sense if non-public employees took a 10% pay cut-- by paying 10% to the state in income tax. Its easy to point to public employees as targets for cost cutting, but if you aren't willing to do the current job you have for less money, why should they? Because they are educating your kids? Because they extinguish your house when its on fire? Or scrape you off the pavement after a traffic accident?

GrovePath wrote:
Community members turn out to support Jersey City superintendent
Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 10:30 PM Updated: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 10:38 PM
Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal

The Jersey City Board of Education may not have discussed the future of Superintendent Charles Epps' contract, but community members spoke on behalf of the district's long-time leader.

Resident Virginia Miller, who described herself as a community activist, told board member Angel Valentin she was appalled by his request for a nationwide search for a superintendent.

While a nationwide search would allow Epps to reapply for his job with the possibility of getting his contract extended, community members argued that Epps should be renewed without a search.

Epps was hired 10 years ago as the result of a nationwide search.

Miller described Epps as a lifelong Jersey City resident who is involved in the community and cares about the district.

Miller, a black woman, said she thought the effort to replace Epps was racially motivated.

She threatened to hold a march and circulate petitions if the board moves to not renew Epps.

The Rev. Rudolph Daniels also spoke of Epps' commitment to the community.

"Our superintendent is a life long resident of Jersey City. He came from a long line of educators, not only that, he lives in Jersey City," Daniels said. "Why do we have to search. The search should be over. Let's look at what we have."

Valentin released a statement last month calling for a nationwide search for superintendent. Epps contract expires next year, but the board must give him advance notice as to whether it plans to renew his contract.

Valentin started to respond to Miller during board member comment at the end of tonight's meeting and cited the district's high drop-out rate before Board President Bill DeRosa told Valentin the board's attorney warned they cannot discuss a personnel matter in public.

PaulusHook8464 wrote:
NJ workers are taxed something like $6 or $7 each month out of their paycheck to help fund it. It allows 6 weeks of paid family leave insurance to care for a family member or newborn. There is a cap of $600 per week, so a maximum benefit of $3600. You have up to one year after the birth of a child to use this benefit. NJ employers cannot deny you the time off according to the law.

mvm wrote:
They got Jay-Z 2 weeks before the last show when Beastie Boys cancelled...

johnr wrote:
The idea that an objection to the graphic, negative, dominating presence of this monument equates to a lack of sympathy for the tragedy of the event is absurd.

Depending on who you ask, between 15 and 25 MILLION Russians were killed during WWII. Should they have a statue there, too? Or should their's be a little smaller because there are more Polish people that live in the neighborhood? Let's add a third for the victims of the atomic bombs on Japan. Maybe it could be of two figurines, Uncle Sam with a gas can and lighter, and a screaming Japanese woman carrying her baby with giant flames coming out of both of them; that is what happened after all - would that be tasteful and appropriate as well? Of course if you think it wouldn't, you're a heartless holocaust denier.

The Polish have a chip on their shoulder against Russia because Russia historically invades their country and tries to take them off the map. It's a long-running feud. The event was tragic, but the statue isn't just about how sad the Polish in the neighborhood are about Katyn. It's a political statement against Russia, at least in part, and it's na?ve to believe otherwise.

If it's the negative imagery you love, instead of enshrining statements about Eastern European political conflicts, why don't we pick a more relevant tragedy; like the events surrounding the Native Americans we massacred, defrauded, and robbed to build that NYC skyline in the first place?

groveck wrote:
It was definitely TB, not TP. I know because I spent 2 hours of my Sunday cleaning spray paint off my car.

FGJCNJ1970 wrote:
What sort of bothers me is that while Renters who live in Jersey City can vote in Jersey City, they can also directly vote for all sorts of spending measures like the 100+million tax levy for schools this past Tuesday. Yet, renters don't have to pay for that tax levy and that bothers me as a homeowner.

So renter's will just vote YES all the time screwing over property owners.

One idea I have is that if you aren't a tax-paying property owner, but are sending kids to a JC public school, there should be some sort of additional fee/tax imposed in order to lessen the tax burden on property owners.

I would be interested to see of all of those who voted YES in Tuesdays School tax levy, how many are renters versus property owners. I have a hunch based on all the property tax increases lately, property owners probably said NO.

FG

GrovePath wrote:

Foster, who is described in the police report at 6 feet tall and 170 pounds, was charged with one count of aggravated assault, police said.

March 26, 2010
By Mariel S. Clark and Jason Tucker
DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN
[snip]
"It doesn't scare me because coyotes aren't predatory toward humans," said one man about the coyote captured in TriBeCa Thursday.

"I don't have any sheep to protect."

thomasjcarlson wrote:
My girlfriend and I are dying to get out of the city a little while.. and just take our tent and go camping. Does anyone know if there are close sites near Jersey City/NYC area to take a train or a bus to?

thank you

Thomas
tjcarlson.com

susiederkins wrote:
That's it. I'm applying for a concealed carry permit.