Apparently, Jersey City has more in common with one of our sister city's Oviedo, Spain than we thought.

Jersey City will market the arts district without artists and Oviedo promotes bogus medieval Jewish landmarks.

See todays NY Times article - With Jewish Roots Now Prized, Spain Starts Digging

...But Mr. Casta?o and other scholars say the revival has in some ways gone too far. They contend that some local governments, eager to attract well-heeled tourists from the United States and Israel, are making claims about their Jewish heritage that are not supported by historical evidence.

?This whole revival is a very important and positive contribution,? Mr. Casta?o said. ?The problem is that in some cases people are falsifying the past by creating a Jewish patrimony that never existed.?

He and other critics say cities are promoting old Jewish quarters with no original structures, cemeteries whose real location is still a mystery and medieval synagogues that are hardly medieval if they ever functioned as synagogues at all.

?History is being exploited,? Mr. Casta?o said, citing Oviedo near the northern coast and Ja?n in the south as particularly egregious examples. ?People are trying to reproduce what has occurred in Toledo. Everyone wants their medieval synagogue.?...

OVIEDO is the capital of Asturias, on Spain's northern coast. It's a fairly large, hilly town, with cobbled sidewalks....it's clean, beautiful, and the food is great. The square where the cathedral is located is rich with history & architecture. I've visited twice because a childhood friend lives there, and they really know how to live life - feasts all summer, no 1am last calls, or kitchens closing @ 10pm. All this in a town where locals actually live & work. I hesitated to write a defense, because I know it's a waste of time when everyone goes off on tangents insulting each other's opinions....but also because I know no one is ever satisfied or appreciative of anything good or decent that comes JC's way, even after they've asked for it. But I felt I had to, since everyone mocking & criticizing it can't even locate it on a map or spell it properly.

I just noticed today that in front of city hall on the corner of barrow and grove a new 'statue' has been erected.

It's a gift from JC's sister city Ociviedo (I believe thats the spelling).
Its a sculpture/statue of a cathedral in that city.

So, what should JC send in return? Thoughts?

Here are a couple of my suggestions; life-size statue of the JC Pimp, a sculpture depicting the actual moment Mayor Healy received the beat down from the Bradley Beach PD, a mobile of extra large crapkins.

Let me here your suggestions. Maybe we can pass it along to the City.