The morning that the city council unanimously voted to designated the warehouse district historic, Lloyd Goldman began demolishing 110 First Street. After the city council meeting, or despite the council meeting, demolition did not stop.

Someone spray painted “HISTORIC LANDMARK AINT I PRETTY” on the one remaining wall (which happened to face the artists and tenants of 111 First Street).

This video was shot by Elizabeth Onorato.

http://underdevelopment.tv/?p=47

What do you make of the fact that the "Feds Subpoenaed Senate Records on Sharpe James' & Glenn Cunningham's 'Land Sale' Bill"

Click here to read article

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Cunningham really did shake up the cozy relationship between the politicians and the developers. That's why the Democratic machine couldn't stand him. Sad things is that the Republicans are just as bad as the Democrats. The Democarts are corrupt, IMO, but it seems tat Republicans have a corner office in the headquarters of "Developers Inc."

I hate to say it, but in hindsight, it sure feels like they were dancing on Mayor Cunningham's grave.....

October 6, 2004 : The City Council voted unanimously to designate the Warehouse District as historic.
Video shot by Elizabeth Onorato.



Council President Mariano Vega 

Councilman Steve Lipski 

Soon-To-Be Mayor Healy


For more video on arts and development in JC visit UNDERDEVELOPMENT.TV

Happy New Year! :)- s6k:I sat down with William Rodwell, ex-tenant assoc. pres. of the 111 Arts building in Jersey City, NJ. He was one of the original artists in that building and provides a very vivid account of the issues surrounding the death of the "The Powerhouse Art District." This ongoing investigation has been taking some interesting turns. We are pouring through the piles of documentation that has been provided to us. It has been on hold while we have been covering an eminent domain case in Long Branch, NJ. You can take a look at our eminent domain work at s6k:Investigates
Our intent is to follow this wherever it leads. Take care and we hope you all are well, s6k Media

from padnajc.org
PADNA vs. Toll issue was held over from the last Planning Board meeting on 11/27 until Wednesday, January 16th. This special session of the planning board will be held

Wednesday, January 16th
Middle School #4
111 Bright Street, Auditorium
5:30 p.m. sharp

A DECISION WILL BE MADE AT THIS MEETING! It is again imperative that you all come, bring your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. We filled the Council Chambers at the Courthouse, let's fill the auditorium at Middle School #4 and show the Planning Board and the City Council our support of the PAD Plan.
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Public meetings and other civic events are listed at the CIVICJC Community Calendar: http://civicjc.org/modules/piCal/

"City Puts Spin On A Dull Plan"

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Letters to the Editor

The Jersey Journal

RE: Bill Matsikoudis's correspondence, "Newspaper Too Myopic To See Future Arts District," Dec. 4.

Matsikoudis claims the "first-class theater" proposed by Toll Brothers for the art district is a "significant benefit" that presumably helps justify demolishing historic warehouses and building three times higher than allowed under the existing zoning. Well, a better, more flexible theater was already required under the existing zoning - and the developer even broke ground. This theater would have been completed by now, but all construction came to a halt in the area because the owners believed they could get a better deal under Mayor Healy. It seems they were right!

The Healy administration is mistaken if they think a boring high-rise district could ever be a viable arts and entertainment destination. Even the cultural and entertainment districts of a city as tall as Manhattan are located in the lower areas that have character, like SOHO, Tribeca and the Village. Let's create a vibrant, exciting, and culturally rich environment for our city and not spread, as Jane Jacobs would say, "the blight of dullness."

CHARLES KESSLER, CHAIR
PRO ARTS PAD DEFENSE COMMITTEE JERSEY CITY

Wow. Couple points here...

Drop the word Arts in the proposals. I apllied for those apts at 150 Bay. I had to have an income of between $20k-$55k/yr (or about) to have a shot at the lottery to buy a condo for $350k (app). I'm married, so a combined income knocked us out of the running. If I was single, I couldn't afford to buy it. Hence the catch 22. And we're not talking about 20 condos, I believe it was under 10 (but I'm sure someone here can correct me on the #).

My point - Why even have the subsidized housing? This is just being used as a catchword during election time.

As far as the Powerhouse, I'm from Baltimore. It's a tourist joint that noone from Baltimore ever visits. They say culture - I say Newport. If you call Mexican food Ole, Italian food Bertuccis, & Indian food Cafe Spice - then I gotta feeling the PowerHouse will be up your alley. Whatever.

Until storefront rents drop, liquor licenses expand, & noise restrictions ease - this will not be a cultural mecca of any kind.

bryan beninghove

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Actually, not to sound like a douche but I've got both. Wouldn't mind having some more but who wouldn't?

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And you live *where*, now? Why not put your culture and money where your mouth is and move to Brooklyn; that way the rest of us culture-less rent refugees won't have to listen to you patronize us.

People, People, People - Quit trying to think this whole Toll Brothers crap through. The JC government, like most city governments going through a major growth or re-growth phase, are only after the bottom line. More residential spaces and more commercial spaces = more tax payers = more money in City Hall. Period.

Go to a city hall meeting and take a good, hard look at what we have representing us. You will start to understand why we have tacky, pink brick buildings dotting our Jersey City landscape, and ugly quickly built towers like Grove Point starring down at us.

These are not the cultural elite of our day, preservationists nor are they artists. They are only there to make money for the city as easily and as quickly possible.

Steve Fulop might be the only one there who really gives a damn about the historical preservation of that area and adhering to the original PAD outlay that the JC Government agreed to.

Reading all this DRIBBLE...and I mean DRIBBLE from most of you lame assed people who live around here...you're as bad, and as hostile to anything cool as the City Gov. is.

A bunch of broke-assed, artless crybabys.

Watching the thread on Ox restaurant showed me how desperately cheap and un-cool so many people are on this list. You're not only rent refugees, you're cultural refugees...you don't have any culture, or money, and you don't want any.

Is there anybody on this list who wasn't stupid enough to buy here and then be damned to a future of perpetual complaining???

Or anybody who wants a better environment in which to thrive with like minded progressives? People who like live music, art, diversity...a dynamic, inspiring environment?

Get smart and move to Brooklyn...ANYWHERE in Bklyn, but I'd suggest Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Carrol Gardens, Boehram Hill, or even Bushwick. There are even still some good finds on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint border.

Downtown JC is done. Stick a fork in its ass.

And The Heights??? Forget The Heights for another 10 years.

Word,
JC

The day the ART CENTER at 111 1st street died is the day
P.A.D. died, and it will never be what it could have been.
Thank you Healy, ya drunk jerk. R.I.P. P.A.D.

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That was at a time when people were living as long, as healthy, as lean and thin, as tall, as poor, as clean, as rich, as interested in culture, as learned, and as happy (that is, as not depressed) as in some parts of today's Africa and South Asia. They have skyscrappers in Lagos, you know?

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Did it hurt? It's only a year or so since I have been asking, and avoiding this answer for so long can only raise more questions.
Of course we are told to focus on preservation, and we shall do that. But what if, at some strategic moment, Pro Arts will "admit" they "can't" hold on to the land, in exchange for some cheap apartments?
As for the City, I don't know what to make of it, but there is a consensus on this board that it is a corrupt administration. Moreover, it is not the sort of corruption where you will pay for favours - that will not be a great problem, as it will increase the subsidized housing price to the market level and will cut the incentive for corruption. Apparently, the biggest trouble with this administration would be that they will certify as artists all their cronies, nephews and dogs.

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No one else has a problem with a government entity deciding what is and what is not art?

If they are going to subsidize artists it should be in areas such as Journal Square not a couple blocks from the new TRUMP towers. It should be "REAL" redevelopment zones, not the WALDO lofts where we know the real estate value is going to sky rocket over the next 5 years.

Anyway, these so called starving artists are far from starving and some are no more of an artist than myself. I say get a day job all of you artists and pay full price like the rest of us schlups!!!!!!

shhhh......


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Amazing, that all those small galleries and stores in the PAD which were highlighted in the City-Sponsored Arts Tour pamphlets, obviously are just figments of my imagination

And 111 First which was also a major site of the City-sponsored arts tours, through which JC citizens and NYC visitors were encouraged to walk through, is now labelled an unsafe, unsound structure that had to be replaced.

This is 2007 not "1984", but Matsikoudis sounds decidedly Orwellian in his attempt to rewrite reality and history.


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Oy vey where to even begin, aside from the fact that it couldn't be more inappropriate for the City's Corporation counsel to be responding to an Editorial in the JJ, particularly when that response is outright lobbying in favor of a development proposal currently under review. Might have something to do with the Mayor's complete indifference, or with Matsikoudis wanting to stick up for the Planning Board since he appointed his multiply sanctioned brother to it. Either way, it's a sure sign of how the Planning Board is going to vote on the Toll proposal.

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Wow, so it's deplorable for the JJ to be critical of the City's failed PAD policy in print, but it's perfectly okay for the City's attorney to backhand bitchslap the amazing efforts that have been put into making the bars and restaurants in downtown Jersey City a thriving scene, and a totally viable alternative to Hoboken and Manhattan for a lot of people, JC residents and otherwise?

What a G-D hypocrite.

Speaking of hypocrisy, Mr. Matsikoudis, i'm just taking a stab in the dark here, but you criticize the editorial staff of the JJ for being "non-resident" but I'm not familiar with which JC ward you live in. I wonder if he would care to enlighten us.

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Wow. And in 1930, there were no housing projects and no mega high-rise residential towers. And the waterfront was railyards and factories. And the city managed to accommodate 60,000 more people. Thanks for making a great case against the upzoning, genius.

http://www.nj.com/hudsoncountynow/ind ... ggle_is_powerhouse_a.html

'Power' struggle: Is Powerhouse Arts District on track for failure?

by The Jersey Journal
Tuesday December 04, 2007, 4:09 PM

An arts district in Downtown Jersey City takes its name from the the old commuter train Powerhouse.

Is the city serious about the Powerhouse Arts District? Does the Healy Administration appreciate the meaning of "Arts''?

Those are the questions being debated in Jersey City as a developer has asked for changes to the district plan.

Yesterday, The Jersey Journal strongly editorialized that the city has, in essence, abandoned the vision of the district's creators. In response, the city's corporation counsel writes in an op-ed today that the artists just aren't there and the revised vision is they way to bring culture and entertainment to the area.

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EDITORIAL RESPONSE

Newspaper too myopic to see future arts district

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
BY BILL MATSIKOUDIS
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL

The Jersey Journal's editorial on developments in the Powerhouse Arts District is wrong and disturbing and requires a response. It is heart-breaking that the non-resident editors of Jersey City's hometown paper take no time to get the facts right, disregard advancements that will make Jersey City a world-class city and disgracefully conclude that our city has no soul.

Let's begin with the fact that our city does lack cultural amenities and the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD) is currently a blighted area with no cultural institutions. The original PAD redevelopment plan had the dual aims of being a cultural destination for the visual and performing arts and a creative incubator where artists could work and live. While there has been some positive residential development, there are few cultural amenities to speak of. While artists have taken advantage of subsidized housing opportunities, securing interested and qualified artists has been a Herculean task and hardly any artists have occupied non-subsidized housing. While the Journal erroneously states that the City Council removed the PAD from the oversight of the Historic Preservation Commission, it was Hudson County Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli who ruled the historic ordinance ineffective and also commented on legal frailties of the PAD redevelopment plan.

During the Healy Administration, strides have been made that will ultimately make the PAD unique and one of the most vibrant locales on the East Coast. For the first time, steps have been taken toward preserving and renovating the most significant architectural building in the district and the namesake of the area - the Powerhouse. The developers who successfully renovated the similar Power Plant in Baltimore have been designated as developers, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has dedicated funds to move the electric transformer that is an obstacle to development and the city and Port Authority are poised to enter into an agreement that will bring about the conversion of this edifice into a place where visitors can dine, shop and enjoy the arts within an architectural masterpiece.

The 111 First St. settlement will replace a structurally unsound and unsafe warehouse with a unique building designed by one of the world's greatest architects that the Jersey Journal heralded in its Feb. 27, editorial as "a breath of fresh ideas." The settlement also provides for over 20,000 square feet for galleries and live entertainment, some 120 units of affordable housing, over 100 reduced-price artist lofts that will have an exclusive marketing period for artists and $1 million to be divided between the Jersey City Museum and the Loew's Jersey Theatre (which makes the editorial's comment that the Toll theater proposal will justify the demise of the Loew's Theatre incomprehensible). When I addressed the "domino effect" before the City Council it was clear that other property owners, including Toll Brothers, might seek greater densities and heights and I said those issues would "come down to policy issues" and that "with regard to those other properties, those developers or those land owners are going to have the opportunity to make their case to the administration, to the council, to the Planning Board, and you are going to get to decide on that." (See Transcript of June 28, 2006 City Council meeting.)

Toll Brothers has been making their case and the city will soon decide. While unanimity on all aspects of the plan can't be expected and certain well-intended criticisms are well taken, the benefits of this proposal are significant. A first-class theater and plaza surrounded by restaurants, cafes and bars will help make the PAD a true destination. The preservation of the fa?ade of the Manischewitz building will maintain the industrial feel created by the A&P building and 140 Bay St. The criticized high rises are consistent with the high rises all around the area and, more importantly, the development is consistent with smart growth principles. Not to take advantage of the mass transit opportunities provided by the nearby PATH and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail would be environmentally foolhardy. Moreover, the critical mass of people these buildings will provide will help the cultural institutions in the PAD thrive. Currently, most of Downtown is a ghost town at night. Jersey City has more than 60,000 less people today than it did in 1930. We are helped by people moving to our city.

The PAD will ultimately develop into a unique, thriving cultural destination. It's a shame that Jersey City's hometown paper is too myopic and negative to recognize this.

BILL MATSIKOUDIS is corporation counsel for the City of Jersey City.

I know one artist who got lthe ive/work place through the program.

I assure you he is everything you imagine artist to be. He works hard and put shows up constantly in NY/NJ.

While some other lucky artists who got the space could be "posers", he is one geniune artist.

Applicants have to be "certified" by the city and Pro Arts. You should ask them to disclose more info and authenticity of the artists in question.

Let's try to keep this new thread focused on the issues of historic preservation, please. Our main concern here is keeping the district's industrial heritage continuous and intact--and trying to educate narrow-minded elected officials. Any pro-artist or anti-artist housing sentiments are best served in previous threads. Thanks!

I am really torn on the issue of subsidized apartments or work/live spaces for artists.

On the one hand I acknowledge that artists should be supported (at least initially), because of the very nature of their work.

On the other hand, I worry that the selection process for the "artists' apartments" or live/work spaces is nebulous and ripe for fraud. We're talking about VERY desireable and expensive real estate, close to Manhattan, usually with tall ceilings, large windows, and relatively large square footage.

Who qualifies for these spaces?

What makes one an artist? As opposed to a craftsperson or a mere hobbyist (or a fraudster/wise guy)?

Is an art degree required to qualify?

How about several individual shows on the resume?

JSQ has been asking these same questions on jclist few days ago, but I think he was ignored by the pro-PAD crowd.

I recall reading the qualifying criteria a few months ago and I thought they were a joke.

"This is What You Get When Money Trumps Vision"

Editorial, The Jersey Journal

Monday, December 3, 2007

With every Planning Board hearing, the Jersey City Powerhouse district is becoming more artless. There was a time when this city wanted to build something unique other than the glass and steel office and housing towers that were being planted on the riverbank.

Under the administration of former Mayor Bret Schundler, a vision then called Waldo - an acronym for artists' Work and Live District Overlay - called for transforming the rough waterfront neighborhood of warehouses and former industrial plants into a neighborhood similar to that of Manhattan's SoHo.

One would be hard-pressed to find a district for artists that receives public subsidies, but the city committed itself to creating a new neighborhood and has since reneged. Had the promises been acted upon and the artists failed to thrive, there would have been at least the look of an interesting and engaging sector in contrast to the same old, same old new buildings.

As waterfront real estate prices skyrocketed, the vision for the warehouse area west of Exchange Place and south of Newport turned green - as in money. The interest was more for condos than sculpture. The situation reached a tipping point when artists lost their fight to remain in 111 First St., a huge old warehouse where they had their studios, and it was eventually demolished, for safety reasons.

In 2006, the City Council stripped the historic designation from the Powerhouse Arts District and removed it from the oversight of the city's Historic Preservation Commission. The changes were a result of the controversial 111 First St. settlement allowing an owner/developer to bypass the district's historic protections and build high-rise residential buildings.

City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said the 111 First St. situation would not spur the "domino effect" conservationists feared - turning the unique warehouse district into the same Vertical City that surrounds its borders.

Last week at a Planning Board meeting, luxury housing developer Toll Brothers pitched changes to the district that include three new condo towers, each at 300 feet in height, or two-thirds the size of the Goldman Sachs office building - as vertical as one can get.

As for the requirement for artists and affordable housing, it was projected that at least half of the designated 10 percent of the units would be built "elsewhere" in the city. Apartments for artists would be available only during a 180-day period before they went up for public sale.

To sweeten the new proposal, a 550-seat theater, under nonprofit management, is being championed in an area that will be called Provost Square, replacing the old cobblestoned Provost Street. Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Robert Antonicello called this area Jersey City's Lincoln Center. It would be a great excuse for the administration to kill off the 3,000-seat Loew's Jersey Theatre in Journal Square.

This is the same Antonicello who once said historical preservation should never be at the expense of creating revenue.

"I don't like entitled groups," he added. "The only way the city can address quality-of-life issues is if they get an edge on ratables. The city should view the entire zone east of Henderson as their entitlement zone to max out ratables."

Consider that the ancient Greeks treated architecture, math, art and music as equal sciences. They called an architect's completed building "frozen music." There is no jazz to the Powerhouse district proposals, but rather bad karaoke.

This soon-to-be biggest city in New Jersey has nothing approaching a world-class theater or music hall. It does a poor job of promoting the arts and preserving landmarks - unless there's decades of prodding. Should anyone be surprised when a promised arts district is whittled down to no consequence.

This newspaper has pointed out frequently that this city is not a destination stop. Neighboring Newark has reasons to visit it, and Newark got them by taking chances and coming up with, to name a few, the New Jersey Performing Arts and the Prudential Center, and a restored Symphony Hall.

It should be easier to develop open space, but the Hudson County seat can not even do that well. Mostly made up of aging buildings with a modern, unimaginative waterfront skyline, Jersey City is interested in only the bottom line. Other than its people, it does not have the collective drive or capability of developing a renaissance spirit.

It is becoming more and more evident that this city has no soul.

? 2007 The Jersey Journal / ? 2007 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.