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Re: New Heights Dining Options
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Does anyone know what is going on with Noches de Columbia, which is supposed to open on Central and Manhattan Avenues? The renovation seems to be taking forever, and now the windows are just boarded over.
Posted on: 2016/1/13 18:52
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Re: A casino in Jersey City? Venture capitalist wants to make it happen
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Quote:
I found this to be one of the best articles about why Atlantic City failed as a casino resort - and Las Vegas - didn't http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/15/atl ... lessons-for-other-cities/ Presumably, JC will not suffer from the same top-down, heavy handed planning and our casino will thrive and not be a blight. JC is already a vibrant city, as opposed to the mono-economy of Atlantic City.
Posted on: 2016/1/13 18:48
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Re: "Luxury" rentals open in burgeoning arts district
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Quote:
This is the best news I have heard in a while - the Feds finally growing a pair, and standing up to the global kleptocracy and their enablers in the real estate industry.
Posted on: 2016/1/13 18:37
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Re: Dealing with noisy rental tenants in a condo
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Thanks, everyone for your advice & suggestions. I've been in touch not only with the guys upstairs, but with the managing agent (and am getting more involved with the Board on this an other issues). I also did some research of my own, and wanted to share a good resource I discovered - http://njcooperator.com/ - you can sign-up for e-mail as well as print subscriptions, and there are articles about practically everything related to living in a condo!
Posted on: 2016/1/12 18:58
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Re: I-Team: Hospital Charges $17,000 to Stitch a 2-Inch Cut in Emergency Room
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There are 63,660 inches in a mile, so a mile of surgical stitching would cost $540 million. Compared to this, redoing New Jersey's roads is a bargain at $2,000,000/mile!
Posted on: 2016/1/12 18:54
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Why is no-one in the Heights promoting development?
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This article inspired me to ask this - and I don't intend it to be a rhetorical question, even if there are no answers - http://streeteasy.com/blog/streeteasy ... -nyc-housing-predictions/
Admittedly, most of the neighborhoods mentioned in the article are on subway lines with 24/7 access to Manhattan, some of them are really far out - much further than the Heights, and without access to amenities like the riverfront, DTJC, that this neighborhood does. I've lived here 7 years, and it still boggles my mind to see abandoned buildings - some of them with views of the Manhattan skyline! - or right on major bus routes. Is it property owners who don't see any possibilities? A mayor with his eyes on other constituents? The zoning? From many perspectives, it seems the Heights could certainly give Midwood, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens a run for it's money as a smart place to develop.
Posted on: 2016/1/12 18:48
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Re: Dealing with noisy rental tenants in a condo
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Quote:
OMG You really need help.
Posted on: 2016/1/10 5:51
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Re: Christie Falling (and you don't want to be below when he does)
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Quote:
I think we need to see an actual breakdown of costs, by state, before we pin the blame solely on wages. I did some research - this report seems pretty thorough, but I don't fully understand how they reach their effectiveness metric http://reason.org/news/show/21st-annual-highway-report There are way too many variables, wages are just one of them. Do we know how many deep south Republican states still use inmate work gangs to do road repairs? Or how many states rely on 'adopt a highway' programs for basic clean up? Who can provide links to real data?
Posted on: 2016/1/9 16:53
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Re: 18 charged in Jersey City-based credit card fraud ring that stole $200 million
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Quote:
Stringer wrote:
Posted on: 2016/1/9 16:38
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Re: Soup Swap 2016!
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Quote:
This sounds fun (have never been) and fancy myself a good cook, but - how does one dress frozen soup? My potato, Savoy cabbage, and bacon soup is always a hit but when cold it looks like medical waste LOL
Posted on: 2016/1/9 16:20
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Dealing with noisy rental tenants in a condo
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I own in a condo which, like many, has no restrictions on purchasing for investments or owners renting their units out. The unit upstairs from me has been rented out since I moved in, and I'm at my wits in with the latest group - loud music, bouncing balls, and - by the sounds of it - jumping off furniture! - as late after "quiet hours", sometimes as late as 3:30am.
I go up each time, they respond and stop it politely enough, but the situation doesn't change. The first couple had a child with developmental disabilities, currently there are young guys. I hate to call the police (North District, in the Heights) but I need to start getting this situation under control and would appreciate advice how to go about that effectively. Also appreciated would be any practical changes our condo association and management could enforce - requiring use of a standard lease, copy the management on leases, increasing penalties including mandating certain fixes (new flooring with soundproof underlayment?) for repeat offending owners? Thanks, all!
Posted on: 2016/1/9 16:13
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Re: Baby Taken to Hospital After Shooting - Bergen & Harrison - 2:30pm
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Quote:
You're joking, right? You get nowhere with a minimum wage job, where can someone go with below minimum wage?! There is no "ladder" anymore.
Posted on: 2016/1/1 6:16
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Re: higher education - Is it all in the socioeconomic environment of the student?
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Quote:
I'm more cynical than 86% of my fellow respondents... I underestimated middle income families chances by a large margin. Although every else who took the poll may be privileged and therefore clueless about reality.
Posted on: 2015/12/27 18:54
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Re: Would bars revitalize Ocean Avenue in Jersey City?
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It seems to me it depends on the character of the bar, and the clientele they are hoping to attract.
An upscale/stylish lounge, with good food and perhaps outdoor caf? seating in nice weather would probably be an asset to the neighborhood. A quality establishment would bring life to the streetscape, and give both newcomers as well as more established residents who genuinely care about the neighborhood a place to meet, as well as a visible sign of an urban neighborhood being on the rise - a social amenity. If it had really good music, say, or a distinctive menu, it could bring people from outside of the neighborhood, helping improve the areas image. It seems the community is opposed to this as they are expecting the worst. I don't live there, so I don't know. I do know in the Heights there were a lot more low-class establishments when I moved in 7 years ago; 2 have closed and been replaced with places that draw in a bigger section of new arrivals in the neighborhood, and enhance the quality of Palisade Avenue. Others are under new management, and get good reviews for their food, music, etc. So if there is change in the air in the neighborhood to capitalize on, bars can work.
Posted on: 2015/12/16 18:55
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Re: The Washington Post: Dept. of Transportation offers $40M prize to most innovative mid-sized city
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Quote:
...A lot of push for the replacement came also from store owners. The trolleys created traffic nightmares...They ran down streets that you wouldn't have enough space for both trolleys and cars. And as a result today we have... traffic nightmares! Plus lousy mass transit, and - in the Heights, at least - a sad assortment of run down businesses interspersed with vacant storefronts. Which, Mayor Fulop, brings me back to one of the criteria for the prize - leadership and a political/social culture that can see innovations through. The short-sighted interests of a few (in the past, business, the utilties) caused us to be in the mess we are today. How would you push for real change in making larger JC a more connected, less car-dependent, equitably developed, place?
Posted on: 2015/12/9 18:53
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Re: The Washington Post: Dept. of Transportation offers $40M prize to most innovative mid-sized city
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Quote:
I find sending a text (most stops have not only the NJT phone #, but a # you can text the stop code to) is the most accurate. Like the APP you can download from NJ Transit (mybusnow) this information seems to be linked to the bus' GIS position, and in my experience the text/app is 90% accurate. As HeightsBrat noted, bad traffic and weather affect this, so you may need to refresh your APP results every few minutes.\ Back to the OP and the bigger question - all these comments reinforce the need for a unified mass transit system that responds to JC as a 24/7, interconnected city, NOT just another commuter stop.
Posted on: 2015/12/9 18:43
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Re: The Washington Post: Dept. of Transportation offers $40M prize to most innovative mid-sized city
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Mayor Fulop,
Seasons Greetings to you! I think a working group is in order to put together a good proposal, and it would be great if ours is well received. I see 2 big problems in terms of even meeting the eligibility criteria though: An environment that is conducive to demonstrating proposed strategies I'm assuming here they mean an actual physical/built environment, as opposed to a cultural environment. If it's the former, years of development to enable car dependency (big box stores, no traffic planning, allowing developments such as Society Hill) have resulted in a built/infrastructure situation that will make anything hard to achieve. Leadership and capacity to carry out the demonstration throughout the period of performance. Since JCs public transportation network is controlled by the state and the Port Authority, this may be an impossible hurdle. The corruption, incompetence, and resistance of both the Republican NJ government and the bi-partisan PA is staggering. IMO, the approach should be how a mid-sized city can development and implement its own enhancements against such odds - perhaps its technology based, and widely distributed, to link data about mass transit options in one app? Informational kiosks the city could design and build (e.g. with bus maps, routes, and schedules), no turn on red zones tied to approaching buses, etc.
Posted on: 2015/12/8 18:47
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Re: Jersey City Heights rattled after brass-knuckles attack
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From what I've learned from the North Precinct's Community Affairs Office - there is very little gang activity in the Heights. I would be surprised if someone seriously expected retribution from an actual "gang" if they reported something like this. Not to lay blame - or even criticism for that matter - at the victim's doorstep, but I just don't get not calling this in - there has to be more to this, but what?
A related question, since the topic of victims not cooperating with police keeps coming up - what % of victims genuinely fear retribution, and what % are somehow involved with the illegal scene?
Posted on: 2015/12/8 2:24
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Re: Trump: 'Thousands' in Jersey City cheered on 9/11
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Trump is not going to be elected. His supporters, taken as a % of the national body politic - are like Yvonne, JCMan8, and Monroe here in Jersey City. Aberrations.
Think about it - if there were truly so many white trash, low information voters as his poll standings suggest the USA would not be a leading economic, education, or political player on the world stage. It's time to put this sorry thread to rest...
Posted on: 2015/12/8 2:06
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Re: Central Avenue redevelopment plan
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Thanks, JCGuys! I skimmed it, and while I need to go over the proposal in detail I found a lot to like:
- designate groups of historic buildings, with intent to encourage adaptive re-use - make walking and biking easier, and discourage automobile dependency - prohibiting commercial parking lots and drive-throughs - design guidelines for contextual floor-to-floor heights, use of material, building massing, etc. I'm not sure I understand how the 'Neighborhood Notice Requirements' are supposed to function, or what their purpose is. Why potentially diminish public awareness by involving a group that's against anything new?
Posted on: 2015/12/1 1:53
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Re: Central Avenue redevelopment plan
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I'm looking forward to seeing the plan, too. Central Avenue is a backwater because of the status quo.
I appreciate the RNA's efforts to make the '100 Steps' and the Farmers' Market happen - which also benefit Heights residents who don't live on Ogden Avenue, however I feel their comments about mass transit options being at capacity don't reflect the reality. Bus service in particular suffers inordinate scheduling problems due to the lack of traffic planning. RNA worked hard to get the zoning changed along Palisades Avenue to allow more restaurants, but the improvement has been negligible. I've been a few times to other group's meetings - Heights Hope, P.S. 8 Block Association, etc. IMO these groups are highly non-representative of the Heights - I mostly sat and listened to older, white residents complain. Heights Hope's Mills is all over the place - agreeing that the drive through Burger King site would benefit from development, and acknowledging the blight from all the illegal and substandard housing, yet resisting larger scale residential development that would bring much needed more affluent residents with their tax base, spending power, and potential market for better stores on Central Avenue and Palisade Avenues.
Posted on: 2015/11/30 18:52
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Re: Jersey City mayor-elect orders end to citywide reval
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Interesting trying to tie together the recent threads of this discussion - why the reval is bad (for some); why the bulk sale of tax liens was bad (again, for some, allegedly); and why abatements are bad (ostensibly for all of us).
One recurring theme is the political hegemony of those for whom the system, while broken, seems to work well - long term residents who don't want to pay their fair share [sic] of taxes for now really valuable properties, and a city revitalized by the new blood the development has brought in; poor renters have low rents that result in property owners being unable to maintain or improve their properties or pay taxes on them. I can understand their resistance to having their situations disrupted, but the status quo is bad policy. I struggle with how the abatements play into this scenario - yes, the tax levy is based on an artificially reduced rat-able base, but if the real tax rate is too low, why is it worse to recoup the money for the city's basic needs from another source?
Posted on: 2015/11/25 19:22
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Re: Trump: 'Thousands' in Jersey City cheered on 9/11
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Quote:
+1 The problem moving ahead for the President and the Democratic candidates is it didn't take much to blow the divide wide open, and I fear they are not going to be able to spin this back. Even the Democratic candidate most credible on national security issues, Hilary Clinton, refuses to say 'Islamic Radicals' and refers to 'Jihadists'. As Pete Hamill noted in Time, "there are no Eskimo Radicals". We need a conversation about this, but it remains to be seen if that will happen. The Democrat and progressive (and I am one) is too driven by political correctness to address the nation's unease about Muslims amongst us, while the Republican and conservative stance is too fear-driven to risk taking the high road.
Posted on: 2015/11/25 18:55
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Re: Explanation of abatements
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Quote:
So if I use your other metric, market value/annual tax, my actual take rate is 1.1 - 1.2%, which makes my 650 s.f. mini-loft in the Heights taxed too little, and/or under assessed. So I would be one of those who might not benefit from the re-val. We can all complain about taxes (incidentally, I had drinks with an old friend Friday who lives near Union Square. The taxes on his $750K apartment are $12K/year, which could also be seen as low by some - not by my pal, he ranted and raved about his tax situation, and advocated that long-time residents tax rates be frozen!) we all need to pay our fair share. If my taxes double on my small condo, am I out of line asking to be reassured the money will be well used? I have one last question - which may be impossible to answer - what is the optimal effective tax rate for Jersey City?
Posted on: 2015/11/23 17:46
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Re: Chick-fil-A, on the way!
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Quote:
Interesting, thanks for the link! Since Whole Foods is run by a Buddhist, and Timberland has a Jewish CEO who cut ties with a Chinese factory for exploiting their workers, I'll continue to patronize them. I'm surprised about Forever21 - I shop there and I've never noticed the Bible verse before... Most of the others I've never heard of (including Chick-Fil-A, since I don't eat fast food) they seem to be in middle-America.
Posted on: 2015/11/19 19:48
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Re: Explanation of abatements
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I've been following this topic on JCList for 7 years now, and still don't fully understand it.
With all due respect to CivicParent and Yvonne, I don't see why PILOTs are bad - yes, all of the money is put into the city coffers vs. a % for the schools, but doesn't that mean they are an excellent revenue source for all the other improvements that contribute to an emerging, livable small city? I need some clarification from Ralph_Abutts and Bodhipoo apropos of your current argument - when you say 1% vs. 3% taxpayer what do you mean? How does this relate to the city's general tax rate of 7.434% I am concerned about "fixing" the funding of the schools (I don't have children, but their well-being is our collective responsibilty) but I have to concur, as a homeowner myself, that the $50M "missing" from the school budget due to properties being abated seems to be a drop in the bucket of the hundreds of millions of $$$ the schools seem to need. Can I ask if the school budget is increasing in-line with inflation and city tax revenues, or is it out of control? I ask because I have crunched the numbers for my humble condo, which I bought in 2008 - if it was assessed based on on-line estimates, and the current equalization rate, my tax rate could go up 25% to 45%. A pain, but it won't put me on the street - so maybe it needs to happen to fully fund the schools if that is indeed warranted. I assume those opposing the re-val are looking at 200 - 300% increases.
Posted on: 2015/11/19 19:33
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Re: On his best day as Senator, Booker gets some bad news
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The Executive Director lost $800,000...
Yawn. We taxpayers paid out what, $700 billion? $12 trillion? to protect Wall Street's bonuses and bottom line?
Posted on: 2015/11/13 2:55
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Re: $93 million tax break for Journal Square
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I don't understand what the problem is here. Tax breaks are seen as a "loss leader", anticipating more revenue from other sources to make up.
Posted on: 2015/11/13 2:45
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Re: NJ voters overwhelmingly oppose rise in gas tax
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So Monroe, how do all you affluent suburbanites (and I'll extend the question to all the DTJC residents with cars) propose to fix your roads?
I'm a liberal Democrat, but I don't b@tch and moan anywhere near as much about my share of the tax bill that goes to support a military protecting your capital, your oil, your defense contracts.
Posted on: 2015/11/13 1:59
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Re: Jersey City man robbed during first date with man he met online
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Quote:
I highly doubt monroe is a MOTT, and wonder what the point of his posting the DailyGrind post was. I for one agree the pervasive Racism/Classism/Agism etc. on Grindr is beneath my community. I think this quote from Matt Lewis/Huffpost Gay Voices says a it all about Grindr "Is Grindr becoming our millennial cocaine?" Read the rest here - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew ... ruining-my_b_3647629.html
Posted on: 2015/11/10 18:55
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