In addition to the famous setting of the Miserere by Allegri, the Responsories composed by Tom?s Luis de Victoria will also be sung. These are as well as the set of responsories for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday that Tenebrae sing here. It's music of extraordinary restraint yet powerful dramatic charge, a mixture of narrative and reflection that in its original liturgical setting was accompanied with great theatricality as the candles were gradually extinguished until the service ended in almost total darkness. Tenebrae's performance conveys much of that sense of drama in the smallest inflections, the ways in which certain words or phrases in each of the nocturnes, two of them for each day, are emphasised, so that the mood is intensifed and sustained with apparently instinctive and never overstated eloquence. It's a beautifully judged and scaled performance

A note on Allegri's Miserere which ends Tenebrae (from Classical Net)


Allegri's masterpiece was written sometime before 1638 for the annual celebration of the matins during Holy Week (the Easter celebration). Twice during that week, on Wednesday and Friday, the service would start at 3AM when 27 candles were extinguished one at a time until but one remained burning. According to reports, the pope would participate in these services. Allegri composed his setting of the Miserere for the very end of the first lesson of these Tenebrae services. At the final candle, the pope would kneel before the altar and pray while the Miserere was sung, culminating the service.

The idea of using a solemn setting of the "Miserere mei Deus" psalm likely started during the reign of Pope Leo X (1513-1521). Contemporaneous accounts relate the use of the Miserere in this way in the year 1514. The earliest surviving setting is dated 1518 and was composed by Costanzo Festa (c. 1490- 1545). Festa's Miserere was sung in the "falsobordone" style, which is an ancient and rather simple means of harmonizing on traditional Gregorian chant. His setting consisted of nine vocal parts split into two choirs, the first a five-part and the second a four-part, each alternating with the traditional Gregorian plainsong melodies, and then coming back together again for the last verse. Festa's setting was the first of twelve such settings collected in a two-volume manuscript preserved in the Pontifical Chapel archives. Ten more contributors, including Guerrero and Palestrina, are represented in these volumes before the final manuscript of Allegri's celebrated work, following exactly the same ensemble layout as Festa's original work and is likewise in the falsobordone style, closes the collection of twelve.

It was not long before Allegri's Miserere was the only such work sung at these services. With its soaring soprano parts (sung for centuries by castrati) and compelling melodic style, the work enjoyed almost immediate popularity. So impressed was some subsequent pope that the work thereafter was protected and a prohibition was placed on its use outside the Sistine Chapel at the appointed time. Chapel regulations forbid its transcription; indeed, the prohibition called for excommunication for anyone who sought to copy the work. In spite of this, by 1770 three copies were known to exist. One was owned by the King of Portugal; another was in the possession of the distinguished composer, pedagogue, and theoretician Padre Giovanni Battista Martini (1706-1784); and a third was kept in the Imperial Library in Vienna.

It is here that the first tale contributes to the mystique that has come to surround this work. The copy in the Imperial Library was brought to Vienna by Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705), who, having heard of the piece from dignitaries visiting Rome, instructed his ambassador to the Vatican to ask the Pope for a copy of the work for performance in the royal chapel. The Pope eventually obliged, but when the work was performed in Vienna, it was so disappointing that the Emperor believed he had been deceived, and a lesser work sent to him instead. He complained to the Pope, who fired his Maestro di Cappella. The unfortunate man pleaded for a papal audience, explaining that the beauty of the work owed to the special performance technique used by the papal choir, which could not be set down on paper. The Pope, understand nothing of music, granted the man permission to go to Vienna and make his case, which he did successfully, and was rehired. In fact, it is this elaborate performance technique, including improvised counterpoint, first employed soon after the work was written, that has been approximated in a recent recording by A Sei Voci on Astree.

The next famous story concerning the Miserere involves the 12-year-old Mozart. On December 13, 1769, Leopold and Wolfgang left Salzburg and set out for a 15-month tour of Italy where, among other things, Leopold hoped that Wolfgang would have the chance to study with Padre Martini in Bologna, who had also taught Johann Christian Bach several years before. On their circuitous route to Bologna, they passed through Innsbruck, Verona, Milan, and arrived in Rome on April 11, 1770, just in time for Easter. As with any tourist, they visited St. Peter's to celebrate the Wednesday Tenebrae and to hear the famous Miserere sung at the Sistine Chapel. Upon arriving at their lodging that evening, Mozart sat down and wrote out from memory the entire piece. On Good Friday, he returned, with his manuscript rolled up in his hat, to hear the piece again and make a few minor corrections. Leopold told of Wolfgang's accomplishment in a letter to his wife dated April 14, 1770 (Rome):

"?You have often heard of the famous Miserere in Rome, which is so greatly prized that the performers are forbidden on pain of excommunication to take away a single part of it, copy it or to give it to anyone. But we have it already. Wolfgang has written it down and we would have sent it to Salzburg in this letter, if it were not necessary for us to be there to perform it. But the manner of performance contributes more to its effect than the composition itself. Moreover, as it is one of the secrets of Rome, we do not wish to let it fall into other hands?."

Wolfgang and his father then traveled on to Naples for a short stay, returning to Rome a few weeks later to attend a papal audience where Wolfgang was made a Knight of the Golden Spur. They left Rome a couple of weeks later to spend the rest of the summer in Bologna, where Wolfgang studied with Padre Martini.

The story does not end here, however. As the Mozarts were sightseeing and traveling back to Rome, the noted biographer and music historian, Dr. Charles Burney, set out from London on a tour of France and Italy to gather material for a book on the state of music in those countries. By August, he arrived in Bologna to meet with Padre Martini. There he also met Mozart. Though little is known about what transpired between Mozart and Burney at this meeting, some facts surrounding the incident lead to interesting conjecture. For one, Mozart's transcription of Allegri's Miserere, important in that it would presumably also reflect the improvised passages performed in 1770 and thus document the style of improvisation employed by the papal choir, has never been found. The second fact is that Burney, upon returning to England near the end of 1771, published an account of his tour as well as a collection of music for the celebration of Holy Week in the Sistine Chapel. This volume included music by Palestrina, Bai, and, for the first time, Allegri's famous Miserere. Subsequently, the Miserere was reprinted many times in England, Leipzig, Paris and Rome, effectively ending the pope's monopoly on the work.

It is not known where Burney obtained his copy of the Miserere. It has been suggested that Maestro di Cappella Santarelli at the Vatican gave him a copy, which he checked against Padre Martini's manuscript when he visited Bologna. This is certainly possible, as is the alternative that he simply obtained a copy from Martini. However, both explanations seem unlikely given the papal strictures placed on copying the manuscript. Is it possible that Burney took Mozart's transcription, perhaps compared it to Martini's copy, and then published a cleaned-up version, minus the improvisations, and destroyed Mozart's manuscript to protect him as Catholic subject of the Holy Roman Empire? We may never know the whole story.

Burney's "plain" version of the Miserere has enjoyed many fine performances, indeed it is one of the most recorded works of the sacred a cappella repertoire. Among these recordings, I have found the performance of The Sixteen, led by Harry Christophers (Collins Classics 50092, now Coro 16014), to be the most satisfying. The Sixteen have wonderful blend, but at times, in other recordings, their enunciation and diction have been less than ideal. This performance has no such problems. Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars have recorded this work twice, once nearly a decade ago (Gimell CDGIM339) and more recently a glorious live recording made at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Palestrina's death (Gimell CDGIM999). Their outstanding sopranos make the Tallis Scholars perfectly suited to this music.

As mentioned previously, a recording by A Sei Voci includes a performance which attempts to recreate the improvisational style used by the papal choir in its heyday. This involves counterpoint super librum, interpolated and improvised upon by the singers, as was common in church choirs of the time. These ornaments lend a special beauty to this performance. The Miserere is sung twice on this disc (Astree E8524), the first being the ornamented version, followed by the Missa Vidi turbam magnum for six voices, three motets, and then the standard version of the Miserere closes out the disc. By combining this fascinating version of the Miserere with other works by Allegri, Astree has created a disc of extraordinary interest.


.

HOLY WEEK at St. Anthony?s
Palm Sunday: Sung High Mass, 9:00 AM Preceeded by Blessing and Distribution and Procession of Palms. Gregorian Chant and Renaissance Motets. Dubois' Adoramus Te Chrisi.
Spy Wednesday: Tenebrae, 7:30 PM. Matins and Lauds of Maundy Thursday. Colloquially known as the funeral of Christ, the lamentations of Jeremiah are sung. The famous Allegri setting of the Miserere will be sung. The office proceeds in increasing darkness until utter darkness descends and the streptus arises until the light of a single candle returns to the sanctuary.
Maundy Thursday: Sung High Mass of the Lord?s Supper with Solemn Procession to Altar of Repose at 6:00 PM.
Good Friday: Mass of the PreSanctified, 5:00 PM. Chanting of the Passion with polyphonic responses by Victoria. Adoration of the Cross with Reproaches; Holy Communion.
Holy Saturday. Pascal Vigil at 10:00 PM. Blessing of the New Fire, Exultet, Prophesies, Blessing of the Baptismal Font. Schubert Mass in No. 2. Music of Franck and Handel.

If this would stop the carport/detached stuff, then I hope it comes to Lafayette!

Dear Oneskirt:

Well the JCRA and the Planning Department have as one of their missions, communicating about development. Thus, JCLIST would be a primary place to post. I think but I can't be sure, that communications have been placed here before. Are there other on line sites were this discussion might take place? There's the one that cheerleads in a nice way for development- I forget its name. Anyway, there has been no communication in the Jersey Journal, our paper of record, and at the Lafayette Community meetings, the City Planner, Matt Ward, says there is no information.

Yours,

Mao

In my neighborhood (Lafayette), it seems that maybe at least half of the units are not market based. Thus, there are swaths of cheap rentals, or the subsidized owner occupied two families. The medium sized buildings are rent controlled. Even many of the smaller deregulated buildings take Section 8 Vouchers. Yet Fulop and city council members go on and on like Tribunes of the People, promising free rent unabashed about the naked demagoguery of it all. See, for example, this press release.
http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/uploa ... Trust%20Fund%20Awards.pdf.
And, we can?t talk about it. I was at a meeting hosted by the City Planning Office and the City Planner, Matt Ward, basically refused to allow a discussion about the deleterious effects of subsidized housing.
Yet the science is pretty much settled that none of these programs work but instead have perverse effects. Even the New York Times grudgingly admits it.
times.com/2013/07/28/magazine/the-perverse-effects-of-rent-regulation.html?_r=0
See also,
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa127.html
Of course, a campaign to stem and increase in subsidized/controlled housing would be dead on arrival no matter what the evidence.

Does anyone know if there is a breakdown of the Jersey City housing stock as to what is "affordable" and what is market. Affordable would include all rent controlled and stabilized buildings, all housing projects, all set asides that developers do in projects and any other special housing , e.g. senior housing, etc.

Why doesn't someone from Planning or the JCRA weigh in?

Dear Weba:

Matt Ward, Jersey City Planning Bd Secretary, told me that the middle building is not part of the project. That makes sense since it had stood untouched by the on again off again project low these last 15 years.

Thanks for the link. Too bad it is not going to be a "square," but just sort of an awkward sliver of public space. If the City had been a little forward thinking, it could have bought up a parcel for such a park when the prices were still low.

Cantantes in Cordibus which sings at the Latin Mass at St. Anthony's downtown still needs more altos and sopranos to balance out the choir. We're singing a Schubert Mass for Easter and Mozart's Missa Solemnis for Pentecost. We're also singing Haydn's Missa Brevis for a wedding anniversary on April 16th. Call Dan at 201 406 9960 to get more in

I asked Matt from the city's Planning Department at a neighborhood meeting a couple of months ago and he had nothing at all to say! This should be an absolute focus of the Planning Department. Bad planning, bad oversight, awarding the project to incompetents and crooks. Anyway, what else to explain it? The building in the center of it, btw, is not part of the plan and another developer is moving ahead. The windows are going in now and look beautiful. I suspect the new residents of this building will not be content to live in the middle of a ghost restoration.

I was walking through WALDO or the Powerhouse district or whatever it is called now yesterday and I noticed one of the new apartment buidlings was described as "...on Provost Square." Is the newly leveled block east of Provost to become a park? If so, that would be excellent and kudos to the city for pulling it off. If not, too bad. Does anyone know?

Perfect example of bad condenising of threads: Christie dropping out is separate from his joining Trump. Yes, they are related but different. Webmaster, please be less heavy handed. In fact, I think more threads would benefit the site which has been in decline now for several years.

Ash Wednesday Trivia

?Ash Wednesday is NOT a holy day of obligation.

?Lent was prepended back to Ash Wednesday so that the season would have 40 days.

?In the Ordinary Form of the liturgy this is the first day that violet vestments are worn for the Lenten season.

?In the Extraordinary Form of the liturgy violet vestments have been worn since Septuagesima Sunday, seven weeks before Easter.

?Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence.

?Receiving ashes is NOT the eighth sacrament.

?Ash Wednesday is not celebrated in the Eastern Churches. They have already been fasting for at least a week (this is true) just to prove what a bunch of spiritual lightweights we are in the West (this isn't).




Meaning of Ashes in the Bible

A long time ago, before Larry King was born, God decided that animals weren't that great for company so he The Fall of Jerusalem by Dorecreated man out of the dust of the earth. Since the Garden of Eden was a lush location it is debatable whether He used dust or loam.
It seems that even though the Bible says that man was made from dust, Abraham was quite willing to take ?interpretational liberties? with the Bible by declaring that he was actually ?nothing but dust AND ashes.? (Gen 18:27)
Throughout the Pentateuch (the five-sided temple in Jerusalem) there is a sacred significance given to the ashes left from burnt offerings. The books of Leviticus and Numbers both prescribe that the ashes from offerings are to be dumped outside of the camp in a place that is ceremonially clean. (Lev 4:12, 6:11, Num 19:9)
The Book of Numbers (yes, it is about as interesting as the Calculus book you bought for $90 but never opened during college), actually mentions that ?[ashes] shall be kept for preparing lustral water for the Israelite community.? (Num 19:9) The lustral waters were water mixed with ash that someone who was ?unclean? was required to bathe in as part of the ceremonial cleansing before being allowed back near the tabernacle.
The use of ashes for penitential purposes continues through the Old Testament with various prophets bathing in (good for the skin) and eating (it builds character) them.



Catholic Origins of Ash Wednesday

Applying Ashes on Ash Wednesday.

The practice of using ashes in the Catholic Church dates back to sixth century Spanish Mozarabic rite which called for a cross of ashes to be traced on the heads of the gravely ill who were entering the Order of Penitents.
It wasn't until the 10th century that an official Church text ? the Romano-Germanic pontifical - called for the sprinkling of ashes on the faithful on the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent.
Originally, this practice was reserved for the Order of Penitents. These people were sinners who had been prescribed a public penance for their sins. They were required to stand outside the Church before Mass. The priest would hear their confessions, clothe them in sack cloth and sprinkle ashes on their heads.
After this ceremony, everyone would fall prostrate and recite the seven Penitential Psalms (6,31,37,50,101,129,142). Then all would walk in procession through the streets with the penitents walking barefoot at the back.
When the procession returned to the church the bishop would address the penitents with these words: ?Behold, we drive you from the doors of the church by reason of your sins and crimes, as Adam, the first man, was driven out of paradise because of his transgression.? The choir then sang responsories from the Book of Genesis that told of the punishments on mankind for disobeying God. At the conclusion the doors were shut and the penitents were required to stay out of the church until Maundy Thursday.
This sure makes ?Say one Hail Mary and one Our Father? seem like a piece of cake, doesn't it? Go to confession!
By the 11th century the custom of sprinkling ashes was widespread enough that Abbot Aelfric, an English monk, mentioned it in his writings. The practice of public penance also began to decline during this century but the practice of receiving ashes while barefoot spread throughout the Church.
Pope Urban II, apart from calling for the first Crusade, spent most of his time trying to decide what to do with the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent. After years of deliberation he decided to make this day a universal day for the faithful to be marked with ashes. The phrase ?Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return.?, was used from the earliest times and proved that the Church believed God really knew what ingredient He used to make Adam and that Abraham had no business passing himself off as a biologist.
It wasn't until later that some liturgist decided to actually name this day ?Ash Wednesday.?
In the 12th century the Pope and the cardinals would walk barefoot from the church of St. Anastasia to the church of St. Sabina (about 1km) where the stat ional Mass for for Ash Wednesday was celebrated.
It was also during the 12th century that it became a common practice to burn the palms from the previous Palm Sunday to create the ashes, making this the first recycling project in recorded history.


Ash Wednesday in the Extraordinary Form of the Liturgy

In the Extraordinary form of the liturgy the Ash Wednesday Mass is preceded by the blessing of the ashes. This ceremony includes the reading of four ancient prayers and the sprinkling and incensing of the ashes. The ashes are then distributed before the start of the Mass.
The various antiphons and the epistle are from the downtrodden but hopeful book of the Prophet Joel. It's hard to be upbeat describing locust plagues, and Mr. Roger's sweater is not the first thing that comes to mind when I hear ?Let us change our garments for ashes and sackcloth.? (Joel 2:13)


Ash Wednesday in the Ordinary Form of the Liturgy

The Ordinary Form of the liturgy has many similarities to the Extraordinary Form but does have some notable differences:

?The blessing of the ashes takes place following the homily instead of before Mass.

?Incense is no longer used to bless the ashes.

?Two of the four prayers of blessing have been dropped and the remaining two have been abbreviated.

?A new optional admonition ?Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.? has been added to the application of ashes.




Thoughts on the Ash Wednesday Gospel



Matthew 6:1-6,16-18:



?Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.? (NAB)
This appears to be a warning from Christ to not do exactly what is done on Ash Wednesday proving that, yes, the Catholic Church is the anti-Christ. Or is it? Christ admonished the hypocrites for putting ashes on themselves while they went out in public for the purpose of looking ?most righteous? for their fasting.
On Ash Wednesday ashes are put on us by the priest to remind US that we are mere mortals, not so we can show off.
Further, when the practice started back in the 6th century it was a mark on those who were banned from the church ? not exactly a holier-than-thou mark. By the time it became a universal custom Europe was basically 100% Catholic so it was pretty hard to do one-upmanship by wearing ashes since EVERYONE was wearing them.
So are we a bunch of righteous hypocrites? If you go to work after Ash Wednesday services and start muttering about the ?unclean? around you, you probably need to work on that whole humility thing some more.



Where do Ash Wednesday ashes come from?


In the past, individual parishes burned the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Today, with few people having 55 gallon oil drums readily available, many parishes have outsourced their ash production to a few church supply companies. In order to provide enough ash for a parish (it takes about a pound of ash to bless 4,000 righteous hypocrites, 2 pounds if you get an enthusiastic priests who likes to run the cross across someone's entire bald head) these companies burn entire palm trees. It takes an entire tree to produce three pounds of ash. You can read more about the current sources of Ash Wednesday ashes at the LA Times.

Solemn High Mass, St. Anthony of Padua, Monmouth & Sixth Street
5:30 PM.

Blessing and Distribution of Ashes before Mass with Schola singing appointed chants

Chant Mass XVIII
Offertory: Per Signum Crucis CB 56
Communion Motet: Jesu Salvator Mundi SG 301 &
O Bone Jesu SG 256
Marian chant: Ave Regina Caelorum
Recessional Attende Domine

Well, I don't know. I was sort of aware that Two Boots was being accused of horrible things.
I appreciate the owner's attempt to communicate. I guess the vitriol on this board is
just part and parcel of the current culture.

Btw, is Two Boots a franchise or one single business?

Web Master-

This is another case of needlessly merging threads. My original thread was about the location of the project (its use as a casino was only ancillary). I think that can merit a separate thread- particularly as my assertion was vigorously disputed. What is the point of knee jerk condensing of threads?

Amici:
OK, chicken-little, hysterical, and (maybe) malicious, Mao here. In response:
The proposed super tower is to go just north of the existing club house for Liberty National. If you click the prior links you?ll see it in the rendering from June 2015. Here?s a nice view of the whole thing from satellite. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6908719,-74.065454,2236m/data=!3m1!1e3
This existing club house is on the cove south of Morris Pesin drive directly abutting the park which does not end at Morris Pesin drive but continues on for about 2/3 of a mile. This is, however, probably the loveliest part of LSP- the walkway along the cove at first is made up of pavers and provides a view of the estuary and water lands. After about a half mile, it becomes a wooden walkway that is raised above the ground- presumably to avoid flooding and environmental impact. To the east of this walkway are paths that go to a series of boardwalks that bring one through fresh water ponds filled with birds and other wild life such as woodchucks. There is then a beach of white sand that borders this area for about a mile south to Port Liberte. The beach is dissected by a fresh water stream. At low tide, the mud flats are accessible for an additional quarter to half mile.
Also, recall that the golf course was put together for the Barry family and the Fireman family from a combination of public lands- that largest parcel being the old Caven Point Army base. I believe other portions had been owned by the NJ Turnpike authority. The golf course was sold as a private venture that would benefit all as a green space. There may be some validity to that.
But the later 2010 amendments to the Liberty North Plan allow both Barry and Fireman to build a massive high rise development right in the middle of this green space- and yes, essentially in the park. How does this make sense from an urban planning vantage point. There are no high rises anywhere near here. There is no mass transit there (the Light Rail being west of there: https://www.njtransit.com/pdf/LightRail/sf_lr_hblr_map.pdf (It?s a little strange that the Light Rail map and many maps do not even show the southern part of the park.
Remember, LSP was patched together through the use of eminent domain from derelict industrial uses. There remain private parcels. The largest is the light industrial park south of Thomas McGovern Drive, West of Freedom Way and North of Morris Pesin. My guess is that this is about 1/3 of a square mile or about 100 acres. The private parcels that Fireman and Barry want to develop next to the Clubhouse are far smaller- less than 20 acres. I believe that Liberty North addresses this area. These would seem to me to be among the most valuable private properties in the world. Their value derives from being surrounded by green space which the public has financed and by being on the water across from the capital of the world. These parcels could easily be added to LSP through eminent domain as rationally they would make sense as completing the park. However, if the City desires to leave it to private development, it should be creative and not a prostitute. How about zoning it to create a neighborhood like Central Park West. A series of buildings like the Dakota would be nice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dakota
But a 95 tower- no matter what its use? And Fireman and Fulop do seem intent on a casino. There is no way this comports with the current thinking in urban planning. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Urbanism This is not a pubic transportation hub like Newport, Exchange Place or Journal Square. Let them build the metro area?s tallest building in one of this high rise districts. Note too, that Journal Square and Exchange Place were historically the high rise area of Jersey City.
Jersey City?s development is fantastic. The huge tower in Journal Square and the six others soon to follow are exciting. However, this intense development makes it only more urgent to safeguard LSP from being destroyed- particularly to benefit the Barry?s and the Firemans on the dime of the public.

Finally, the Friends of the Park who have done such a great job, sometimes get in the way. For example, they consistently insist on passive use and oppose active use. Thus there are no ball fields, no tennis courts, no horse stable. There are only two play grounds in the entire park- and the second one required, if I recall correctly, a fight against the Friends. This makes no sense. The park should be used intensively like Central Park. Nature in it should be clearly subordinated to provding a resource for people. Thus one of the reasons that people don?t even know that the park continues south of Morris Pesin is that the Friends and LSP seem to be happier that no one goes there. Indeed, the beach is actually closed for most of the year to allow birds to nest. This is a absurd for an urban park. Fence off part of the beach, perhaps, but don?t close the entire thing. This lack of use is one of the reasons that things happen to the park that should not- like the huge dry dock on the north part of the park; like the failure to develop the interior; like this proposed 95 story tower.

Mao

Liberty North's plan as revised (I think in 2010) was bad enough. How putting a bunch of ugly towers echoing Newport in the middle of 600 acres of parkland is good urban planning would be nice to know. To refresh yourself on the plan see:

http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/uploa ... rbor%20Amd15%20031115.pdf

This must have been yet another pay off to Fireman for something. The sweetheart deal that Barry and Fireman got for the golf course wasn't enough. (Does anyone know what the golf course pays in real estate taxes. It would be a project to compute because it is broken up into a hundred or so different parcels.

Yes, the amendments allow for a 53 story building which is a terrible, terrible idea. But has the plan been further amended to allow 90 stories? This suggests yes.
http://newyorkyimby.com/2015/06/90-st ... int-road-jersey-city.html

When did this happen? How was there no outcry. Now there appears to be a deal in the works for a land use atrocity to be compounded by allowing casino gambling in it.

This seems like stuff that should only happen in Communist China. There should be a concerted effort to:
1. Revise the Liberty North plan to allow only low rise buildings. Ideally, a residential neighborhood like Paulus Hook without the towers would go there.
2. Stop gambling from coming into Jersey City. It is a cancer in a society. Look at Atlantic City.
3. Prevent any change in the status of Liberty State Park.
4. Make sure that Fireman is paying the real estate tax that such a prominent piece of property should generate.

The HCDO and Fulop appear to be in on this. Kopco, legislative candidate last November, tried to make an issue of it but it got no where. This is something that should galvanize not only those of us who live here, but the entire state and nation since Liberty State park is the most visited state park in NJ and is a national treasure.

How can this be done?

Yea, it's a different issue. I should concede, however, that it is true, nonetheless, that the connections and prestige of these places seems to open more doors than ever. The "meritocracy" appears to be more of a closed system than at the height of the old days of the Wasp ascendancy. Think of the Clintons and the Obamas. Interestingly, in the GOP field, I think Cruz is the only one who is a product of the elite system! Even Jeb bush went to UTex!

Anyway, the elite colleges are a terrible threat to being educated and literate in our culture. The sciences are still excellent- but forget about any social science or humanity. I barely survived my experience at these places in the 1980s. Allen Bloom's Closing of the American Mind is really the definitive description of the collapse of American education and was written in 1987. There were some signs that things were correcting themselves- and then it got so much worse. The original campus revolts in the 1960s by Mark Rudd and SDS and their professorial coconspirators was tragedy, if one gives it the benefit of the doubt. Today, the SJW (Social Justice Warriors, etc) and their professorial and administration conspirators are farce (to paraphrase Marx) Still, I thought, all things being equal, they do provide kids with options so I encouraged my oldest son to go. The admissions process was even more of a smoke and mirrors game than I remembered. He got in and then proceeded to drink the campus cool aid and has not had an independent thought since. Maybe I should encourage my youngest son to just go to Rutgers- or better yet to get a job on the JCFD.

OK, I confess, this is a shameless post to put the notice back toward the top! So if you want to hear glorious music in a beautiful sacred space, come on out.

Thanks for the nice comment Tambone and good luck on your Christmas Eve gig. And DC, I rely mostly on Wikipedia!

I put the link for the choir director. Here's some info about the schola director:

Joseph T. Orchard, Ph.D. - Schola Director


Dr. Orchard earned his doctorate at Rutgers University, writing his dissertation on rhetoric in the string quartets of W.A. Mozart. He has presented papers on Mozart's work at various conferences. In addition to being a scholar and academician, Dr. Orchard is a cellist and is actively involved in the New York and New Jersey classical music scene. Under his delicate baton, the Schola soars.

Everyone is enthusiastically invited to a concert at 8:30 PM on Christmas Eve at St. Anthony's Church at the corner of Sixth Street and Brunswick in downtown Jersey City. Cantantes In Cordibus, the choir in residence at St. Anthony's and under the direction of Simone Ferraresi ( http://home.simoneferraresi.com/ ) , will sing Tollite Hostias from the Christmas Oratorio of Camille St. Saens and carols in Latin, English and German.

The First Mass of Christmas will begin at 9:00 PM and will feature Mozart's Sparrow Mass(German: Spatzenmesse). This is a mass in C major K. 220/196b, Mass No. 9,[1] Missa brevis No. 5,[2] composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1775 or 1776 in Salzburg. The mass is sometimes termed a Missa brevis et solemnis, because it is short in a simple structure as a Missa brevis, but festively scored like a Missa solemnis with brass and timpani in addition to four solists, strings and organ. It was possibly first performed on 7 April 1776 in a mass for Easter at the Salzburg Cathedral. The nickname is derived from violin figures in the Hosanna which resemble bird chirping.

The Mass will be sung by Cantantes and will feature guest soloist Aline Mayne. http://www.alinemayne.net/ The Propers will be chanted by the Men's Schola under the direction of Dr. Joseph Orchard. Music by Victoria, Palestrina, Monteverdi will also be performed.

Yes they take cards.

Just got a almond milk latte- it was fantastic.

I really like that add ons are reasonable: e.g. only 50 cents for an extra shot.

The place was full of people. Great wifi too.

Go and help them pay off the mortage on that gleaming expresso maker.

Really- how did they kill the oyster re-introduction? Not actively, I hope. Oysters are great for water clarity and also important in the food chain. And eventually, things would get clean enough so that people could eat them.

My wife and I found a carcess of a Canadian goose that looked like it had been ripped to shreds by something behind the interpretive center. And, on the same walk, if you can believe it, we found the carcass of a dear on the beach due east of the center. It was badly decomposed. I suppose it could have floated down the river from along the Palisades? Still I always laugh that we seem to see more wildlife here then when we are up in the Adirondacks and similar places.

Hmmm, the building, which appears to be about the age of most of the historic district, was clearly built with a commercial use for the first floor in mind. The owners have done a beautiful job fixing it up. Moreover, this is not some big corporation or some rich guys who put together an investment restaurant- this is a family business with children to feed. What could possibly be the problem? Perhaps there could be a limit on the use of the patio, e.g. no music and it closes down by 10:00 PM.

If a nuisance developed, e.g. loud throbbing music, drunks blocking the sidewalk and urinating while they smoked their pot and cigarettes, well that could be addressed.

Also, one of the definite charms of a neighborhood like this is that gems like Prato are, if one is lucky, hidden in different places around it. The people next door are the luckiest because they get to smell the baking and roll out of bed to buy them piping hot.

I'm a right wing Tea Party nut (according to this board). But one of the things I could not stand about the suburb where I was born was how agitated and hysterical homeowners became about the littlest thing. Lo and behold, it worse here in hip JC.

Anyone have any interest in being involved in a Latin program for children? The idea would be to schedule it at a time that works both for kids in school and for homeschoolers. Say 3:30 to 4:30 pm once a week. The idea is also to start the kids very young- right after phonics as envisioned by the Prima Latina series. http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/latin/prima-latina
And then to continue through middle school. We would probably use Ecce Romani. The idea is also to motivate the children by having the programs culminate in exams for the little kids and the big kids sponsored by the American Classical League. I think this can be accomplished by only a nominal fee (am in communication with volunteer classicists and St. Anthony's for a room) so that the contribution could be like $5 a week per family. You may say, why study Latin?
Here are ten good reasons:#1 Latin is the next step after phonics for little ones. #2 Half of our English vocabulary is made up of Latin words and roots.#3Latin provides the root words for all of the modern sciences. #4 Latin is the language of law, government, logic, and theology#5 Latin is the most efficient way to learn English grammar. #6 Latin is the best preparation for learning any language.#7 Latin effectively develops and trains the mind. #8 Latin aids the mind in other ways ...#9 Latin is transformative. #10 Latin is the language of Western Civilization.
The consensus is that for Latin to take, it has to be started in grammar school. The only place around here that realizes this is the excellent Hudson School (the Catholic parochial system having fallen off the cliff in adopting "progressive" idea of the irrelevancy of everything previously valued about 40 years ago.
To work, I would say we need a minimum of three kids age 5 to 9 and three kids 10 to 13. PM me if you are interested. Please pass this on if you can think of any one else interested. And if you think this is ridiculous, well that's ok because de gustibus non est disputandum.