Last weekend I went to a beach in Staten Island for the first time (South Beach). It was about a 30 minute drive so shorter than any Jersey shore beaches. I had no expectations but it was not bad with a cool view of the Verazanno.

I had planned to canoe from the beach to fish around Hoffman Island but it looked too rough so we hung out on the beach.

There were a fair amount of people on the boardwalk running, walking and biking but the beach itself was not that crowded with plenty of sand for everyone. We were able to walk to the beach under the boardwalk to avoid the crowds.

FYI - there were no lifeguards .

I have been thinking for the past few years if history could repeat itself of the late 60s-early 90s,. While the corona virus and racial tension could be a double whammy they came when urban renewal is at a peak. The riots of the late 60s came after urban populations had been decreasing for a few decades.

Hopefully, this is just temporary blip like 2008 crisis (though that felt like a long time) but time will tell. As I remember 9/11 actually increased property values in JC.

One long term thing I think about is rising sea levels and flooding of downtown JC. After superstorm Sandy I thought maybe I was lucky for living in the heights and never making it downtown.

I was about to try streeteasy and have my wife help me with facebook marketplace. However, someone called Sunday who had seen ad on Trulia (from the posting I did on hotpad) and we signed lease last night with great couple. I learned the lesson that I can't just rely on Craigslist (though I got a few leads this time) most of the calls/visits came from Trulia/hotpads/zillow. Not sure if it was coincidence but once the pictures of the bedrooms were up most of the activity came. I initially held off as the stove was in the bedroom while they were finishing up work in the apartment.

So after a slow start the renting process was wrapped up in a week which I think was a record for me on Romaine. It was also clear that since I last listed this apartment in 2014 that more people priced out of city/downtown are willing to give JSQ area a try. While talking to prospective tenants I also had more area restaurants to mention on the west side of town that did not exist in 2014. On the way home I stopped in the revamped Journal Square Pub/Lounge and had a great pork belly sandwich!

I had the stone delivered Friday. On Saturday/Sunday I busted my hump with someone great from taskrabbit digging out a 4 foot wide X 20" deep X 15 feet long pit. We then dug 3 15' sloping trenches from my patio to the pit. Next we put in 4" perforated pipes in the trenches to bring water to the pit which we then filled with the stones that we carried through the house.

I may have about a ton (maybe more) of extra 1 1/2" - 2 1/2" stone in my driveway. If anybody needs any let me know and you can have it.

Thanks for the feedback. I will have to get some pictures of the bedrooms. I re-looked at the drawing and the smaller one was 7'3" X 10' 9" - wouldn't that be more than 70 sq feet or is there a loss factor that is supposed to be calculated?

While I always had a roommate when I lived there and most tenants have also used it as a BR I always wished that it was a little bigger. On the other hand the living room/dining room/kitchen were always great for entertaining. I had some great parties there back in my 20s!

I am advertising now an apartment on Romaine Ave for 1st time in 5 years. I had always used Craig's List and got a fair amount of interest and would always get a lease signed with good candidate within a few weeks.

After a kitchen renovation and general upgrade I put it up Sunday at $1,875 and only got a few responses. Not sure if Craig's List is not as effective as it used to be or if price was on high side I just relisted at $1775. I also for 1st time just put on hotpads which seems to connect to Zillow/Trulia. Any constructive criticism let me know. I think I need to get better pictures.

As I remember Thursdays were a good day to put up as people make weekend plans of what they want to check out.

https://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/apa ... 2br-condo/6981911742.html

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Thanks for the lead. When I started hitting dead ends with getting delivery from the sources I started to think about getting a Home Depot pickup and making a few trips. Just then I got a call back from Al D's in Fairview. They are going to deliver 3 tons of 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 clean stone for $395. I had gotten a slightly lower price when I first called Braen Stones but when I called to lock in the order they said they would not deliver so little to Jersey City.

Now the fun part will be carrying 3 tons bucket by bucket through my house to the backyard as my house is attached on both sides!

There is a long story but I need to get about 3 tons of approximate 2" clean stone for some drainage work I need to do in my backyard. I have called a few stone places and they don't want to deliver less than a full truck load (like 25 tons). They suggested I call some smaller Mason supply place and I have left some messages.

Does anybody have any suggestions of where to get this type of stone to deliver to Jersey City?

I also like the shady grove of trees in the upper section of Pershing Field. A chicken and rice truck is usually nearby on Summit Ave.

My wife works in Paramus so living in that direction appealed to her. I am stubbornly loyal (same barber for 14 years) so while I thought the area around Watchung Plaza was beautiful I was grumbling about potentially giving up on Jersey City.

Speaking of barbers I used to go to Ernie's on Montgomery St next to Citizen Kane's (now McGinley Sq Pub) during college. Where he moved to on Bergen Ave just became a "cute" French place.

In any case we just signed up both kids for Taekwando on Central Ave which I am sure they will love.

This is a relevant topic for our family with kids going into Pre-K4 and kindergarten at PS 26 in the Heights in September. Last year they both seemed to enjoy their time and learned a lot there in Pre-K3 & 4. I really liked their teachers, principal & the general positive vibe I get from the school. From what I have heard the kindergarten teachers are good as well. As they get older I guess we will need to monitor if they are challenged enough - not sure if this will be an easy thing to judge?

From a general neighborhood perspective the parks are a big plus. We live closer to mosquito park and go sometimes but more often go to Pershing Field. We really get our moneys worth there with them both playing baseball/tball, the playground redone in 2015 and the water play area. We also get to pool from time to time and there is ice skating/hockey/now roller skating. I have done a lot of running on the 1/3 mile track though I prefer it before it was paved last year. It is a little more than a mile walk but for a change of pace we sometimes go to Riverview Park. I also hope that the reservoir is open more regularly in the future as I have had some great times there.

In fall of 2014 I seriously contemplated moving to Montclair. Something seemed to happen in my brain at that point as I had just passed half my life in Jersey City (from 18 - 36) so I had a nostalgic change of heart and we decided to stay. I had already gotten used to the drawbacks like some unkempt houses, litter, and traffic congestion so any positive changes like new restaurants/etc have felt like a win. One way to get less stressed by the traffic is just walking whenever possible - the kids have gotten used to it.

This cash-out refinance turned into a saga with a good ending.

I talked with a good mortgage guy from Investors Bank (he was originally from Jersey City). My friend and I who are 50-50 owners of the LLC pulled together a bunch of documentation. They went through mine first and it looked like a slam dunk until they went through my friend's info (he is a contractor) and he had too much inconsistent income and too many high interest loans. I was hoping to work with Investors Bank for the long haul as I got a good feel but the gentleman thought he would have a tough time getting my friend's info through underwriting and suggested we wait until his 2018 tax returns were done.

At the same time I on a lark went into my bank (Chase) just to see if they did such loans. I talked the private client mortgage guy and assumed they could not do cash-outs to an LLC as most other big banks would not but he said he thought they could (answer did not inspire much confidence).

Fast forward 3.5 months of BS (where I forwarded everything requested within hours of being asked) but new requests always came and sometimes days of not hearing anything I was ready to give up. I jokingly told the guy I am either going to come in for a closing or to close all my Chase accounts. But lo and behold last week I had the closing at my house and the wire hit our bank shortly thereafter. It ended up being 4.875% with a 30 year fixed rate (interesting as all other banks offered only ARMs with decent rates). The other interesting thing was they did not look into my friend's personal finances at all as I signed on the loan in personal capacity and as member of the LLC. It was for 60% of appraised value but the appraisal came back much better than expected.

I am not sure where I stand on the issue but in the past year I have seen many European tourists families in places that you would previously not have expected like throughout the heights and around JSQ.

Not sure if this was random but having spent many thousands of hours at all times of day/night running, fishing, birding, playing softball, playing with kids, etc in the park this is unsettling. Hopefully whoever did this is caught quickly.

I had always thought there was a requirement to live in Jersey City to be a fireman. According to this city website there is:
https://www.jerseycitynj.gov/cityhall/publicsafety/Fire/recruitment

I don't know if you have to be a resident prior to applying and if so for how long? I recall a bunch of firemen sharing the address of a room above a bar so that they could claim a JC address.

Thanks for the tip. I spoke with someone yesterday and they do the cash-out refinance for an LLC with very competitive rates compared to the other banks I have talked to. It may be a good option for me!

I am looking into doing a cash-out refinance for a residential investment property that is owned by an LLC. I have talked to a few banks that do this but wonder if anyone recommends a particular bank for this? There is definitely no consistency among the banks for these loans when the property is owned by an LLC.

Thanks for any insight.

Is this property cursed? Will anything ever happen there? I remember when the previous structures were finally demolished in like 2005 thinking that something would finally be built.

1st two days of PS 26 are in the books. My son is in Pre-K 4 and daughter is in Pre-K 3 and the Pre-K classrooms are on one side of the building (with its own playground & entrance) and the kindergarten - 5th grade is on other side of school.

Not too much to go on but so far I get a positive vibe. Next week starts before/after care so we will get back to the routine of me dropping off on way to JSQ around 7:30 and my wife will pick up around 5:30 on way home from her office.

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I heard that the downtown PJ Ryan's is closing but the JSQ one is staying and potentially a new one opening somewhere else on the west side of city.

I noticed a large carnival in Lincoln Park last night. Has anyone seen any info on the hours and when it goes until?

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I believe it was before 3/1 because students at pre-K 3 get a letter allowing to enroll this week/next.

I will follow up on my post as I know a little more than last year. My son (now 4 in Jan.) and daughter (2 1/2) started going to Little Smiles in August 2017. My son is in the Pre-K 3 and daughter is in the daycare. My son's cost for school hours (8:30 to 2:30 I think) is covered by the city (there are 2 pre-K3 classrooms) but I drop them both off at 7:30 and my wife picks them up at 5:30.

There was a little bit of a transition for a few months for my son as he asked about his Paramus school and friends. As of now they both seem to be doing fine and are happy when they go/return from school.

As it only goes until Pre-K 3 we have had to look at options for Sept. 2018. Not knowing much about charter schools we went to a fair in the fall. I kind of liked the sound of Jersey City Global Charter further up in the heights but I think they start at kindergarten for now. We also signed up for LCCS lottery and did not make it.

We are zoned for PS 26 (the new school by the reservoir off Summit Ave). I have talked with a few parents at the playground whose children attend PS 26 and they seemed happy with the school/principal/teachers. I registered both my son and daughter yesterday in PK3/PK4 yesterday and got a positive feeling of the place. We will attend an open house they have in beginning of March. I know school is new but has anyone else have an experience with the school? FYI, we also visited St.Nick’s and seemed like a good place and could serve as a second option.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I didn't know the name but google says it is:
Jola Polish Deli
Address: 110 Hutton St, Jersey City, NJ 07307, USA
Hours: Closed ? Opens 9 a.m. Wed.
Phone: +1 201-388-1635

It is like 2 doors down from Ozu Foods (one of my other favorite places).

As of now all of the soups/pierogis/stews etc are sold to be heated up at home. For very reasonable prices you can have just about a full meal within a few minutes of turning on the stove (my kind of "cooking"). They also do have some breads/pastries - I had a poppy seed roll similar to what my Slovak grandmother used to make.

This place is great! I have had several variations of their pierogis/soups/stews and all were good meals to take home/heat up. They have tons of Polish snacks and kielbasas as well.

so what neighborhood old time bars still exist?

Park Tavern, Astor Bar...anything else?

Does anyone know what % of the first Journal Square tower is rented out?

I wonder when some interesting retail & restaurants will come to the blocks right around JSQ. The cynical side of me says "never" and the block from the PATH station to Tonnelle will always be exactly as it is now. The glass half full version of me says "be patient, it will happen."

I have only been twice but it is excellent. I feel like going for a poboy and fries right now!

I took a walk around this evening and noticed this and several other new places in the Heights. Froth on Franklin looks like a coffee shop coming just down the block from The Heights Cafe, The Cliff over on Congress St and something is coming to the old Goerhing bakery on Central.

I start cherry/plum tomatoes and basil from seed in paper cups in my window at my office at work in mid March. In the end of March I start kale directly seeded in the ground (maybe earlier this year). In early May I will bring tomato seedlings home (people always look on the PATH train as if I have marijuana plants. After a few or so of bringing them outside by day/inside at night I will put in ground in middle of May.

Around the same time I thin out the kale and soon after they get big. From about Memorial Day through early December I make kale smoothies a few days/week. From end of July through late Sept/early Oct I have tomato salads, tomato basil soup/etc.

I have tried other things but in small space I get the most bang for the buck with kale/tomatoes/basil.