I spent the summer in physical therapy for carpal tunnel in both hands. While there and feeling somewhat sorry for myself I met a woman who had been struck by a tow truck on 2nd and Newark. Returned home that same summer night to learn that my neighbor and her young son had been struck by a car on 4th Street. Incredibly humbling reality check, right? Carpal tunnel is now gone ~ these other folks have ongoing issues.

Have seen a car/month drive the wrong way down 6th Street, where I live. With a young baby in a stroller, I walk our streets with trepidation ~ few drivers ever pause while we're in the crosswalks and many will speed up and swerve around. My heart is in my throat whenever I need to cross Marin Blvd to go to BB&B or Shop Rite.

My mother lives in Brick, NJ where cameras were installed on two traffic lights in 2010. The city raised $500,000 in automatically generated tickets at those intersections. I often find myself wishing that we might lobby to have cameras installed here also. JC could use both the revenue and safety net that cameras would provide. Who should I reach out to in order to make this happen?

http://brick.patch.com/articles/red-l ... ed-more-than-500k-in-2010

Any chance that you can carry the car on your back to the Shop Rite parking lot ~ then casually walk across the street to Newport Mall? It'll be towed by the time your toe touches the crosswalk on Sixth Street.

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Good luck getting the car removed.

Thanks Susiechapstick. Went to Shampoo once for a trim & blowout ~ they did a great job. But what's the "sorry, cash only" policy all about? Always seems a little odd to me in this day and age ~ like by running an all cash business, they're skirting declared income with the IRS or something? Haha.

Thanks, Shelly.
Any other honorable mentions out there or are we all still patronizing NY salons? I'm so tired of sitting in a shampoo chair until 9pm on a weeknight, then schlepping home on the PATH.
But whom to trust with the tresses? There's gotta be someone here in Chilltown.

Tired of the whole hair color salon thing in the city and am looking for a local salon and colorist downtown. This is a big undertaking ~ as breaking up with the hairdresser and finding another always is. Help!

Who's the best? What's the going rate for Single Process Color? Do you use the same person for an occasional cut? Is it possible to get a good, straight blowout in this town?

C'mon, do tell all & thanks so much, in advance.

Love their thin, buttery crust pizza and the entire clan there is super friendly and accomodating. Delivery is quick too.

The Brocolli Raab appetizer is *killer* ~ sauteed brocolli raab, seasoned (homemade) bread cubes, canelini beans, sun dried tomatos and garlic, perfectly dressed with fine olive oil.

We've been using cloth diapers for our 5 month old, right from the get-go, with the exception of one disposable/night and have been pleasantly surprised by how well it's gone. We have a diaper pail in the bathroom (treated ourselves to a high end-ish, stainless steel garbage pail from Bed, Bath & Beyond Simple Human , I think?) and use a cloth, waterproof, drawstring topped laundry bag inside of the pail.

Baby gets changed every two hours or so - by the end of the day she's gone through maybe 8-10 diapers. Before falling into bed each night I remove the entire bag from the pail and empty it into the washing machine, kinda slinging it inside out to expel the diapers, without actually touching them.

We have a front loading, high efficiency washer which I set to EXTRA RINSE. A normal amount of detergent is used and I'll add a bit if Oxy Clean to pump it up a notch or two. Upon waking the next morning, I toss the diapers into the dryer. This is so no big deal.

Diapering Junior is the same, except for a waterproof cover ~ again, no biggie.

With the eyes and scrutiny of family and friends upon us, they've all had to admit that the diapers are super clean, super cute and super diaper rash prone. The doc at TriBeCa Pediatrics has even asked us about them.

Quick aside: I\'m a vegetarian and have been for a long, long time. It\'s not because I\'m superior or right or whatever other annoying replies you might have heard ~ but rather, because it works for me. It\'s a more complicated way to eat, can be time consuming, etc. I respect everyone\'s choice to eat as they like, without having to defend their point of view.

Diapering Junior\'s not unlike the vegetarian thing ~ I feel a kinship with the other folks here in town who are doing it. And just as I occasionally miss bacon (any vegetarian who doesn\'t admit this is probably pulling your leg) I also miss the convenience of disposable diapers.

We have power at 6th and Coles. I'm so sorry for those that do not.

We also did a gut rehab of a brownstone here in the downtown and while I hired a GC and paid a GC, somewhere along the lines I BECAME the GC, so I'm sorry that I cannot refer you to our's.

Will be curious to read recommendations here though and wishing that you come in on time and under budget.

Must have missed the 'ol Nine Lives space ~ where was it on Newark Ave?

My mother lives at the NJ beach (near Bayhead) and I don't visit her on summer weekends at all due to the crazy, shore bound traffic on the NJ Parkway. If you have the option to head to the beach at 7am or so, on a Saturday,
do it. Any weekday should also be good driving. Just sayin'.

Walked into Madame Claude's for the first time last weekend. The shop is beautiful ~ not sure who executed all of the scrolled iron work but it's impressive.

We were approached several times by the owner who wanted to assist us with our selections. I explained that we were just sniffing around and would ask if we needed his assistance.

There are no Wine Spectator reviews or point system accompanying any of the bottles ~ you're on you're own, unless you'd like to discuss wines, which is what the owner urged us to do. He discounted shelf tags, arguing that they were just an opinion. I wondered why I might be any more convinced to purchase a bottle based on his opinion, then?

It felt odd in maybe the same way it would if book stores carried titles only, without brief descriptions and review excerpts on the book jackets. I could be the exception here in that I don't want to have a conversation when buying books or wine ~ I prefer to browse, read a bit and then make a purchase.

The shop's a welcome addition the the neighborhood and I wish them every success. Meantime I'll be buying wine elsewhere.

Trees have been growing atop the embankment and extending roots between many of the bluestone (?) blocks. I guess that there was concern over the stability of some of the blocks along the top row on 6th and Coles ~ they've just toppled one onto the ground and are now attempting to extricate some of the trees.

Not to worry as our ever faithful Historian is overseeing the operation.

Does anyone have some constructive feedback regarding how to connect these homeless folks with social services?

I would think that a downtown business association ~ do we even have one? ~ or an organized neighborhood group might urge an assistance program to pick them up.

Not sure that the JC Police Dept spends much time ticketing for loitering, public urination, etc. Even if they did it strikes me as addressing a symptom, rather than the underlying cause for this homeless population's problems.

I agree with the previous post in that it seems more of a daytime issue. But what to do?

So popped inane spoke with the owner today. The menu posted there now is temporary ~ with the real menu on the way by w/end.

No selections whatsoever for a veg head like me but he promised that tofu & veggies will be on the menu.

He ran a Thai restaurant in the upper west side on Manhattan, called "Sawdee," years ago ~ there's a photo oh he and his family proudly standing outside of it on the wall.

He's the brother of the owners of our JC Sawdee restaurant and also related to the owners of More (love, love, love this food!) and Box (who are renovating the interior and redoing the menu ~ maybe it was just me but I found their menu to be stupidly confusing, so this is all good).

I wished him success and told him that we're all so psyched that he's here and are ready to sample his menu at the weekend ~ yay!

Re: Park & Sixth Comfort Food on Grove Street

by Crazy_Chester on 2011/6/5 12:39:44

See you in 2013, Park & Sixth.

------

If this weren't so true, it would be funny.
Having lived through a residential rehab, I find the 2013 date optimistic. So sad that the JC Building Dept has such a bad reputation.

Re Facebok - good point! You can also vote here directly:

http://embankment.org/

Hope we win! Jenny and the other Embankment Preservation folks have worked tirelessly on the community's behalf for years on this.

Is La Rustique closed? Just passed by and it was shuttered - but no sign in the window re whether the owner (and Pillomena, his wife - as per previous posts) is on vacation.

I broke up with La Rustique awhile back because the quality of the pies was so spotty but I hate to see another vacant shop in the neighborhood.

Such a shame as they have a *killer* good oven in this space. Wanted to love 'em but it just didn't work out.

Grace Van Vorst here n JC, as per previous posts or Symposia Book Shop in Hoboken will accept and provide you with a tax donation receipt.

Here's the link to Symposia:
http://www.symposiaproject.com/

I've been yo Tommy Two Scoops twice and both times the gelato has been top notch. Back garden area is a great asset / fun draw - especially for those of us with kids.

One caveat - with a mishmash of furniture, fountains, construction debris, etc., it looks as though it was decorated by Sanford & Son. Hopefully, they'll get it cleaned up soon.

Ate here last week and thought that the food was really fresh and served with a smile. Had a falafel and assorted vegetarian appetizers - yum! Last time I ordered from Ibby's the lettuce was getting old and the appetizers looked equally as tired.

They did an awesome job on the restaurant and I'm so thankful to have such a great new addition to our downtown. I'll definitely be putting them into my rotation.

The competition between these two places can only benefit all of us who enjoy eating at them - as we've had comments regarding the service and overall quality of the restaurants serving middle eastern food.

I wish them all success as I'd rather see busy storefronts in our downtown.

@ Marybar

I develop apparel lines on a freelance basis for several large specialty retailers and can assure you that the merchandise mix varies from store to store, depending on socio-economic data (as another post here notes).

Aeropostale's Back-to-School merchant mix for Florida consists of only shorts while stores in the northeast will offer only pants.

Certain stores are designated for "test" merchandise - so a rack or two at some locations may have some faster styles (cut, color, fabric, printing) and merchandisers back at the home office are watching sales turn rates to determine which styles to reorder and ship to all stores.

Lastly I wanted to add that merchandisers decide what is acceptable when errors are made - so if an entire order of pants is measuring too small or large or has been mislabeled altogether - a discount can be negotiated and the merchandise will ship. When going into the dressing room for jeans in particular, it pays to take a few pairs of the same style and try them on. If it's a blow out style jean an order will be split between factories and again, the fit can be different as the factory will sometimes tilt patterns off grain to lock in better yardage.

TMI, I know - but there it is.

Yes! *DO* tell more - where is it on Washington? Would love to buy Mother's Day gifts there, though sounds as though they are not yet open.

Anyone have a reliable contractor or local shop to recommend? Thanks.

Tried Delenio's last night.

Plain pie was delicious - thin, buttery crust, perfect balance of cheese sauce and bread.
Broccoli Raab appetizer (sun dried tomatoes and cannelini beans tossed with olive oil) was delicious.
Ceasar salas was fresh and perfectly dressed - not too soggy and croutons were HOMEMADE (awesome!)

Service was really pleasant and though I was quoted a 45 minute wait for delivery - the order was delivered within 30 minutes.

They clearly care about their food and service. We'll be ordering from them again!

We're in total agreement with Plaiche - thanks for posting. IF JC restaurants added an interesting item or two for vegetarians (NOT Pasta Primavera, NOT a Veggie Burger, NOT Vegetable Lasagna) we'd eat out more often - especially during restaurant week.

We do order Chinese and Indian food frequently enough but would like to patronize more of the local scene here.

Not a wine club - but rather from the 10+ year Wine Column that ran in the WSJ - written by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. As mentioned, it should probably be adjusted to $120 or so, as this is from 2006:

http://guides.wsj.com/wine/learning-a ... w-to-wine-how-do-i-start/

Quick, funny story - my brother attended college in France in the late '70's. Mom had never boarded a plane before but was determined to visit him. An office colleague of hers was the sister of Frank J. Prial, the wine columnist for The New York Times and and she/mom would be visiting with Frank and his wife for dinner during their stay.

Was mom nervous about boarding a transatlantic flight, recovering from jet lag, dealing with a foreign language, etc? No! All that she could focus on was her lack of knowledge regarding wine and how she would possibly get through dinner with this highly esteemed critic.

She arrives safely in Paris, visits with my brother and on about the third night travels to Frank's tiny Parisian apartment where he offers her a glass of red or white wine. Mom makes her preference of white known and Frank reaches to the floor and hoists up a JUG of his family's favorite house white wine. Yes, the guy who reviews mega expensive bottles for a living drinks jug wine at home.

No pomp or circumstance - just new friends enjoying a glass of inexepenive vino and sharing a good conversation. I've never forgotten that that's what it's all supposed to be about.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Jersey Wine & Spirits for their service this past weekend. We were throwing a party and called them on Friday with the $100/wine case challenge from the Wall Street Journal.

I specified grape varieties that I liked / disliked and requested that they split the case with half red / half white - 2 bottles of each brand.

Lauren discounted some of her favorite wines, just to back into the price point and tallied the case at $116 - which I gladly agreed to as the WSJ challenge is 10+ years old and should probably be bumped up to $120 for inflation. I also wanted a nice selection of Vermont brews and specified a delivery time (free).

A guest at our party was a wine distributer and complimented us on the awesome selection served that day. Wow - and we hadn't done anything more than give a bit of guidance and pay an affordable liquor bill.

So happy to have a shop like this in our area - they're smart and enthusiastic and I always feel better educated after conversations with them. They make wine purchasing affordable and approachable for everyone.

Bottoms up!

Our experience with Rich has been terrific! We've been mailing out and picking up packages with him since his doors opened and find him to be professional and curteous at all times.

I'm 9 mos pregnant now and he's been dodging out to my double parked car (sometimes a block away) to load and unload my car.

He gets it - I always share a laugh with him - wish there were more local business owners like him along Grove Street.

Anyone hired a contractor in to do it and if so, were you pleased with the results? How much did it run?

I recently had PSE&G in for a free Home Energy Audit of my 1860 b/stone - they set up a fan system and all sorts of gizmos to measure how *tight* the house was and had to stop testing because they thought a window must be open someplace.

No such luck - the house lacks insulation on the entire front / back of the building and we'd like to do the right thing, drill through the interior sheetrock and blow it in. PSE&G is all for it but doesn't partner with you to pick up the expense.

Any advice / recomendations would be most appreciated.