So why did she run on the Team (Corruption) Healy ticket, she had to know it was something that was not good. Who does she think she is bull shitting, she just like all of Team Healy benefited from the campaign war chest that had the bribe money it. She was part of their campaign slogan. Change You can see...Which is now Corruption You Can See!

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Imagine jumping to the conclusion that just because a developer's NAME is on a check that he WROTE it. I'm SHOCKED I tell you, SHOCKED that anyone could think bribery can be used in a fine city like ours.

I guess it would have been a bit tacky for McCann to have walked into the Council chambers with 8 stuffed black satchels. (Fulop doesn't get one.)

The first and last NECESSARY abatement to jump start Waterfront was to Newport, albeit an overly OVERLY, generous gift (Free land, preposterously low pilots and a $40 million cash kicker...at least Newport was forced to provide some small number of affordable units to JC residents, a Mall and some movies.)
Once Newport was started, developers would have come to this prime real estate...everybody hates long commutes. Later abatements were given out to win NOTHING: no affordable housing, no parks, no municipal pools, no library renovations...NOTHING. Instead of popular amenities, the City got political bribes.

That's the trouble with living in Sopranoland.

NYC has a plan where they give tax breaks to all new towers BUT to get them, each developer does an 80-20 deal meaning 80% of apartments are market, 20% must remain AFFORDABLE. However you feel about this, it seems a city should be SOMETHING for abating taxes. Is that reasonable?
Jersey City gets NOTHING.

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The funny thing is, Fisher is doing everything they could to shut off the bad news or discussion of CP.

On Kannekt website, anything with negative effect on CP will be deleted in 2 minutes! When one post was trying to ask where is the nearest daycare and school around CP, it's deleted in 1 minute! They are so afraid that when people knows the so called "close to transportation" also means "long walk to daycare then long walk back to transportation", their milion dollar 3 bedrooms will catch no buyers at all.

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But if she thinks something is good, you can make out the check to "Cash."

Good thing the city gave Crystal Point that sweetened abatement since CP isn't selling....

AN AMAZING NINETEEN HOMES SOLD IN TWO WEEKS AT CRYSTAL POINT ON JERSEY CITY?S WATERFRONT

October 7, 2009

JERSEY CITY, N.J. ? The traditionally slow summer sales period certainly didn?t deter prospective purchasers at Crystal Point where the iconic 42-story condominium building directly on the Hudson River in downtown Jersey City is reporting accelerated and strong buyer interest since May.

The high sales volume during the summer months has been quickly equaled by a flurry of activity in early fall with nineteen condominium homes sold at Crystal Point within the last two weeks alone, according to Fisher Development Associates, which is developing the building a mere 25 feet from the banks of the Hudson River.

Much of the success is being directly attributed to the debut of the professionally-decorated model residences and continued construction progress at the magnificent building which enable visitors to get a true sense of the high quality, upscale interior designs and unrivaled waterfront location with majestic views of the riverscape and New York City skyline. Also contributing are limited-time summer Grand Opening prices starting from the low-$500,000s which provide tremendous value and have created an unsurpassed buying opportunity.

?We typically see a slow down in sales activity during the summer months as prospects spend more time with family and friends, vacationing and enjoying the warm weather outside,? says Brian Fisher, a principal of Fisher Development Associates. ?That hasn?t been the case here where we?ve experienced a significant uptick in buyer interest since May.

?Our sales numbers have seen a dramatic rise as buyers have been allowed to tour our models, experience the building as it nears completion and see for themselves exactly what the buzz surrounding Crystal Point is all about. Of course, the opportunity to purchase at grand opening prices before it?s too late is also spurring buyers to act now.?

Created by the renowned New York City architectural firm Gruzen Samton LLP, the distinctive design of the landmark Crystal Point building maximizes its unrivaled waterfront location and creates homes with modern, open and furnishable living areas.

?Unlike many high-rise developments which often seem cavernous with long hallways, we split the Crystal Point plan in half with elevators positioned in the middle of the residential floors to create short corridors and provide the building a very intimate feel,? says Jordan Gruzen (FAIA) of Gruzen Samton. ?We utilized multiple fa?ade planes to break the building?s mass up and ensure that every home had magnificent views. Each condominium was designed so from the moment the front door of each home is opened one is aware of the views and the light emanating from the water.

?The layouts of the homes themselves often create large square rooms and sprawling living spaces that are open, airy and extremely functional.?

Crystal Point features a crystalline-style glass exterior and has been designed to maximize the building?s waterfront setting and views of the ever changing Manhattan skyline. Inside, one-, two-and three bedroom homes will range from 800 to 1,817 square-feet and offer an array of premium finishes. Residents will also benefit from free on-site parking.

?Features will include kitchens with Italian Pedini wood and glass cabinetry, sparkling quartzite counters, under-cabinet task lighting, full height pantries, islands with breakfast bars and a full Jenn-Air appliance suite,? points out Adrienne Albert, CEO of The Marketing Directors, Inc., Crystal Point?s marketing and exclusive sales agent.

?Floor-to-ceiling windows will drench the homes in natural light and many of the residences will offer river front balconies. Each residence will also have SMART home technology capabilities and a washer and dryer.?

Homes at Crystal Point are made even more attractive thanks to a 30-year tax abatement that has been granted to the building.

Crystal Point?s superb amenities include the Crystal Spa with a thermal bath, sauna, steam and treatment rooms. Residents will also enjoy a yoga/aerobics room, state-of-the-art fitness center, lounge with flat screen televisions, game room with billiard and poker tables, children?s play room and a screening room within the Crystal Club.

?An outdoor deck overlooking the Hudson River will feature a lap pool, hot tub, private cabanas and lounge chair seating, as well as a BBQ and dining area, fire pits and a children?s play area,? Ms. Albert says. ?The building will also offer a professional concierge, valet parking and lobby level restaurant.?

Crystal Point is conveniently located between the Paulus Hook and Newport sections of Jersey City and steps from PATH trains at both Exchange Place and Newport with direct access into New York City and a Light Rail station.

Quote:i do not know what planet healy is on, but certainly he is orbiting in a far place with a very weak connection to reality.

while it could be possible that there were in fact no direct promises made for the campaign contributions made by these developers, there is a significant change in both the political climate and the public perception. continuing to claim that there is no quid pro quo, although the circumstances point otherwise, only demonstrates that our mayor's perspective is not based on reality and he is not sensitive to public opinion.

what is increasingly disappointing to many in the city are the half-hearted attempts by city hall to deal with the political and reputational fall-out of the july 23 arrests. it seems that the mayor continues with the traditional modus operandi of shifting the financial burden to taxpayers, who continue to pay the price of development. lowering the PILOT levels will further weaken the critical state of the city's collapsing infrastructure ....

we need a p2p reform and we need it now, so that the influence of developers on the rest of the city can be curtailed.

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Councilwoman Viola Richardson stating her position on donations and a true role model for the Council: "Anytime I don't think something is good I'm not going to support it. I don't care how much money you give me." Waytogo!

I can't imagine why anyone would think there would be a connection between two campaign donations from key people at a developer and the consideration of its request for a more favorable tax abatement the same day. People are just so cynical.

Healy: No connection between campaign donations and new tax deal

[from "The Jersey Journal," September 7, 2009, 5:26 p.m.]

Officials connected to Crystal Point, a Jersey City waterfront condo tower, donated $7,500 to the campaign of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy's council slate the same day the condo developer appealed to the council for a better tax abatement deal.

James McCann, the attorney for Crystal Point, located at 2 Second St., made the case for the 42-unit tower receiving a sweeter tax-abatement agreement that originally negotiated with the city at a City Council caucus on June 1 -- the same day "Team Healy" received a $4,000 check from McCann and a $3,500 check from Brian K. Fisher, a managing member of Crystal Point's development company, according to a campaign filing with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

McCann said he and Fisher wrote the checks for a May 28 fund-raiser and the donations had nothing to do with the abatement request.

"I guess the timing was a little tough," McCann said. "But we are supporters of Mayor Healy and it doesn't make sense not to support somebody when there is a runoff election. But it (the donation) was not made with the intent of influencing the vote."

He said that although one of the checks had his name on it, it was actually from a political action committee controlled by his law firm, Connell Foley.

"To infer that these contributions had an impact on how the City Council voted is not only completely erroneous, it is irresponsible journalism," Healy said in a statement.

Most of Healy's slate was re-elected on May 12. But Council members Michael Sottolano and Viola Richardson faced runoff elections on June 9.

Richardson voted against the altering the original abatement deal, along with Councilmen Steve Fulop and Phil Kenny.

Richardson said her vote shows that she can't be bribed with campaign donations. "Anytime I don't think something is good I'm not going to support it. I don't care how much money you give me," she said.

On June 1, McCann asked the council to extend the length of Crystal Point's abatement from 20 to 30 years, and reduce the percentage of annual gross revenue paid to the city from 16 to 10 percent for the first five years, with 12 percent payments for the next five years, and 16 percent payments for the final 20 years.

On June 29, the council approved the ordinance with the development paying 11 percent for the first five years, 13 percent for the next five and 16 percent for the last 20.

Sottolano pushed to make the final ordinance slightly more advantageous to the city than what McCann initially proposed. He said he has often voted against abatements or pushed to get the city better abatement deals.

Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop -- who did not run on Healy's slate and has sponsored a redeveloper anti-pay-to-play ordinance up for adoption at this Wednesday's council meeting -- remarked: "I don't want to point fingers. I think that the most important thing is to fix the system and we have that opportunity."

-- Amy Sara Clark

If things are going so well, then why did the developer of Crystal Point come begging to the Jersey City Council for a better deal????????

Today's NY Times has an article on Crystal Point

TWO new high-end waterfront buildings in Hudson County ? one a rental, the other a 42-story condominium tower ? are set to open with very poor timing, especially in the case of the condos.
Nevertheless, their developers say, the developments are getting a healthy early response, without any price slashing or major discounting coming into play as of yet.
At RiversEdge, a 236-unit rental at Port Imperial in Weehawken, a 575-square-foot studio is offered at $1,900 per month, and asking rates for two-bedroom apartments range up to $3,500 ? which pushes the edge of the rent-check envelope in New Jersey right now.
The midrise building will not open its first units until mid-July and will not be complete until fall, but by last week more than 20 apartments had been spoken for, according to Roseland Properties, the developer.
At the 269-unit Crystal Point, 25 feet from the riverbank in Jersey City, almost a quarter of the one-, two-, and three-bedrooms sold even before hard-hat tours for prospective buyers officially started last week. Prices range from $475,000 to $1.7 million.
The Hudson County condo market has been slowly improving since January, according to the latest data. Sales prices have held fairly steady this year, down by less than a percentage point. And Jeffrey Otteau, whose company, the Otteau Valuation Group, analyzes residential sales statistics for brokers, said that in downtown Jersey City, the site of Crystal Point, the pace of condo sales had more than doubled since January.
But he and others did find it startling that the units selling the fastest at Crystal Point were the choicest and most expensive three-bedroom corner units, with water views on two sides.
?That part surprised me,? said Adrienne Albert, the chief executive of the Marketing Directors, based in Manhattan, whose company has marketed many previous Jersey waterfront buildings and is now marketing Crystal Point and two others in Hudson County. ?To have the three-bedrooms flying off the shelves is a little weird, in this economy,? she said.
Brian Fisher, a principal with Fisher Development Associates, the builder of Crystal Point, offered this explanation: ?People have the chance to get a magnificent apartment ? with the best views, the most spacious rooms, top-quality finishes, and every possible amenity ? and it is certain to retain its value for many years, no matter what. ?Value? is everything right now, even for the top-end buyer.?
Still, market specialists say it must be considered an entirely open question whether sales at the new condo tower can retain their momentum.
The sales volume may be up sharply for Jersey City, and also up 56 percent for the county over all so far this year ? but the city has 11 months of unsold inventory and the county has 13 months, according to Mr. Otteau?s calculations. Those numbers measure how long it would take to sell all of the condos currently listed if no other units were added to the market.
At 77 Hudson, another new glass condominium tower a block from the water in Jersey City, sales are slow despite significant discounting, according to several brokers.
Hovnanian Enterprises, 77 Hudson?s developer, said closings were set to start within the next few weeks, with a total of 120 of 440 sold so far. That works out to around 28 percent.
Asking prices at 77 Hudson have sunk since 2007, when urban-waterfront condos were hot. That was when work started there, and on a twin rental tower ? and shortly before work started on the Crystal Point condos and the RiversEdge rentals.
Studios, originally priced from the high $400,000s, are now available in the $300,000s; three-bedrooms on upper floors, first priced at $3 million, are now being advertised at ?$1 million-plus.?
Andrew Marshall is an operating partner at Roseland, which built RiversEdge and is the master developer for the whole of Port Imperial, a mixed condo and rental community that includes its own ferry station and retail stores. He describes Port Imperial as ?doing better than the rest of the market.?
Offering a 10-minute commute to Manhattan, and an array of amenities for both occupants and their pets, Port Imperial has rents pitched high for New Jersey, but ?bargain rate? for New York, Mr. Marshall said.
In the rental world, owners are able to adjust rates more quickly, and can earn profits over the long haul, said Jonathan Moore, a vice president at the Value Companies in Clifton, which owns and manages more than 3,500 apartments in the region. In the current off-kilter economy, he said, a free month?s rent or two is routinely offered at new buildings, but the most attractive buildings sometimes limit those incentives.
A discount on rent has not yet been announced at RiversEdge, but if it is offered, the apartment building would still be high-end for the area, brokers said.
A waterfront locale will always assure enduring value for any type of housing, said Ms. Albert of Marketing Directors.
Many RiversEdge apartments have direct views of Midtown Manhattan, and some take in the George Washington Bridge to the north or the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the south; a landscaped community terrace on the fourth floor offers the panorama.
At Crystal Point, from units facing east, the view seems more on the river than beside it ? like being aboard one of the vessels that dock across the river at the Manhattan cruise ship terminal.

heh that's good to know. i dont think they will sell at the price they are asking. To be honest i wont even consider there if it's 400k, the interior finish is really terrible and it's $300-400 a month extra for parking. There are far better values out there.

It's not a "lie" per se - the line they use is it's "85% sold and about 50% have closed." That made sense last year when they could only close a certain number per week. But the number of closed has been practically unchanged since the financial meltdown in September. Methinks 85% includes all of the folks who must have walked away at this point - but true, they did "sell" those units at one point.

are you sure it was only 2 weeks, i think the bank was selling the units a while ago, i remember they had a new sales team and everything.

well if it's 50% you can always get mortgage from local lenders.

Anyway no i am not sure, was just stating what the sales person told me. I would imagine if he was lieing, it would be very obvious when you try to get a mortgage and cant close on the unit, so he has no reason to lie about it.

Think about what you just said: "The building was about 50%". How did those people get mortgages when the building wasn't 70% sold? I stand by what I said - I have several great sources. And while MetroHomes defaulted a few months ago, they didn't formally lose the project until two weeks ago. (A default simply means you missed the due date on your payment.)

trump was around 50% sold when metro defaulted a couple months ago, the bank has been selling since. I dont think the agent would lie to me on something like, as it affects the mortgage you can get, he was sure the building can get a regular fannie 30yr fixed which requires a ~70% sold.

Building is another story, nice lobby that's about it. rundown units, washer in the kitchen LOL, and they asking 500k for 1br. I had a good laugh.

They should have been forced to accept section 8 residents.

Trump is not 85% sold. They've been saying that for a year and only 50% have closed (slightly less, actually, the last time I looked.) On top of that, MetroHomes apparently was foreclosed on two weeks ago - meaning that is a situation ripe for the next owner to come groveling to council for his/her handout. Also, the notion Sottolano put forward that only buildings currently under construction would be likely to need amended abatements assumes that council (and Sottolano) would say no to a developer who came to them before even beginning their project looking for a handout. I have no confidence that Sottolano, et al would say no. I'm sorry, but "Team Healy" long ago lost the ability to play the "trust me" card.

The waterfront - and most of downtown for that matter - doesn't need abatements any more. There is no unusual risk in building downtown for which an incentive needs to be provided. Fifteen, twenty years ago? Sure - very little would have been built without them. Are you telling me Crystal Point wouldn't have happened without the original abatement, let alone the sweetener? Please.

And how on earth did the council just roll over so easily without telling Fisher to lower their prices across the board (and not just negotiate selectively on an ad hoc basis) before they considered amending the abatement? According to several prominent realtors I've spoken with over the past several days, Crystal Point has not officially lowered their prices - contrary to what they told the Jersey Journal.

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all these developers have come back to ask to changes in their sweetheart deals... for the most part they have built subpar properties as cheaply as possible and asked top dollar basically for the prime location... now that the market has crashed, outside of speculators, people do not see the value in the properties... whatever happened to "the master plan" for the waterfront area? Has anybody looked at Hoboken, especially the Northwest area... built huge unattractive buildings that at least from front have zero quality of life appeal... Blocks and blocks of these buildings; looks like the old Soviet Union bulding style. This is a good point for the city planners to step back and reassess what is good for the people; not the developers or speculators who have no long term investment in the community... there should be a focus on other sections of the city

if you think about it, most high rises in jc waterfront are soldout. The only 2 building with massive inventory left are crystal point and 77hudson. Even trump is 85% sold (at least that's what the agent tells me).

So really only 77hudson could come knocking..


I definitely support a nice abatement for a developer if they want to come NOW and build a NEW high rise condo in jc. As the market right now is very tough, and the new construction will create a lot of jobs for few years, it's the very definition of what abatement is designed to do.

Crystal point, after thinking it through i agree it's probably not in the best interest of the city. Fulop's argument makes sense, the building is done, it wont create new jobs or do anything for the city. The tax reduction might let the developer sell a few more units faster and generate revenue for the city sooner, but at the end of day i think the city lost more than it gained.

Couldn't agree with you more, TBG.

The "people's representatives" @ city hall have never been honest... do not remember the specific Fulop proposal ( may have been pay-to-pay or the conflict of intrest prop with city managers holding city/county/statejobs during the same business hours and collecting FT paychecks for all jobs) but his people were in the streets and City Clerk Byrne (City Legal) came back and changed the rules to collection of votes... it made you sick to see that ploy... after the touchdown was scored, they moved the line back and then lied about the interpertation of the law... need to hit every ward and local organizers, especially the African American wards whose citizens are being victimized by so much street crime... it is a quality of life issue for those people, especially where these abatements come into play... rasing property taxes will not effect people in thier "Crystal Towers" but it does effect the rest of us, every year...making our properties unaffordable because of high Tax Assessments.

There are several reasons why I believe you are wrong. Hopefully next year - 50 days before the first year expires on the terms of council and the mayor - we can discuss.

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Of course there will be!

That's not Healy's personal fortune. That's the money he was able to raise as the head of the Hudson County political machine.
And they aren't going anywhere.

Until you can get rid of them all, and not out of just City government, but County government as well, they'll just keep coming back. Like a (add your simile here.)

bigguy, why might it be a waste of time to try and do something such as a recall..I agree with you on building a grassroots to upset the political machine..in the mean time why not attempt a recall. I'm open to all opinions.

all the effort spent on a recall is time wasted on dealing with the real issues of this city... better to spend time building the grassroots to upset the political machine and developers running the city into the ground for thier own pleasure and financial benefits... abatements served thier purpose years ago to address financial risk for people willing to put the thier time and money into a bad situtation.... all these latecoming developers are (were) risking nothing and thier profits are being accumalated on the backs of tax paying single family / multi family home owners and the renters who absorbed 18% tax hikes... think that hike from a couple years ago was bad... what till next year.

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Binky - don't forget: none of the mayor's assemblage of rubber stamps would have been elected without the millions Healy put into the campaign. That $3.5 million wasn't just for Healy, but all of "Team Healy." Even Vega didn't raise that much money on his own - he had raised about $125,000 a week prior to the election.

If Fulop runs in four years and he is the obvious choice, there will be no one sitting out there with millions of dollars to buy up the council seats. Figure Fulop finds other engaged, intelligent people to fill out his ticket and suddenly the landscape is completely different.

With regards to Fulop running for mayor, he is a bright, educated, articulate guy, he knows he would also need a to change the make-up of the other council seats. Than being said, he will build a strong ticket and win some seats.
Also could you see Gaughan running 4 years from now. Look at him at the meetings, he looks like he is falling a sleep, at times you probably need to put a mirror under his nose to see if he is still breathing. He usually looks like he does not even want to be there. He is an old out of touch goat.
Then we have Brennan & Flood, they can't even articulate the points they are trying to get across when speaking on issues, and topics. Plus Brennan seems like a goon.
Lipski could care less, and he is being replaced by another Healy rubber stamp, whatever her name is, I saw her at a debate, she was speaking word for word from a script, plus another one that is can't articulate what she is trying to say.
Mentioned in another post is trying to do a recall, though a long shoot, if a recall was able to be done, try to recall Healy and At Large Council members, perhaps we can get some change. Four years is a long time to wait.

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Unfortunately, if he were elected Mayor, it would do nothing to change the make-up of the other council seats.

I also think that were he elected mayor, the County Democratic machine would flatter him, promote him and send him down to Trenton just to get rid of him.

Call me cynical.

just saw the video, steve fulop is pretty sharp, all his arguments are made clearly and logical, compared to some of those other clueless dinosaurs. Although the abatement will help me since i am looking to buy at that building, I would still vote for fulop as the next mayor.

is he planning to run?