JPhurst wrote:
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This is a beautiful building but the last plan to save it that I heard involved spending $40M of taxpayer dollers. Frankly, that is too much and I find the eagerness of some people to spend tax money in the service of their aesthetics very objectionable.

If the idea of signage is indeed a threat I suspect you (and however many people agree with you) would be free to buy the signage and put nothing there. Myself, I really like the Colgate Clock...

I'm not sure where you heard that. Maybe on the Newport Waterfront Association board.

The redevelopment will not cost any taxpayer money. The building will be acquired by the Cordish Company and they will develop it and make a lot of money. Mazel Tov to them.

As for signage, it all depends on how it is done. As long as the building retains its historic protection, it is subject to review.

Joshua Parkhurst
President
Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy

injcsince81 wrote:
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janegeorge wrote:
well i guess if the building is saved for now, through this term with cordish, then fine. but judging from their web-site, they have the theme park-mcmansion-paver disease so prevelant in todays world of design.

the powerhouse mall _ oh fun.

Cordish did Baltimore Inner Harbor in the theme park/Vegas style, indeed.

Terrible kitsch.

Hopefully because JC Powerhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places, they won't be allowed to put their garish neon signs all over it.

I know, it's better than it being in ruins, but still...

thetruth wrote:
Example of what he's up against:

The thorniest issue of all might be consolidating services provided by the myriad of local government across the state.

New Jersey has 566 municipalities, 616 school districts and 186 fire districts. All of those, plus 21 counties, use property taxes to pay for operations.

As an example of the cost of such duplication, Corzine offered up Bergen County. With 800,000 residents, Bergen has twice as much firefighting equipment in its local fire departments combined than in all of New York city, with 8 million residents, Corzine said.

"You don't have to be a genius or a rocket scientist to understand that all the proliferation of services isn't the most efficient way to pay for delivery of fire, police, education -- all of the services government is about," Corzine said.


Couldn't get link to work:

Corzine lays out agenda on property tax reform
Governor targets revamping of local services and state school aid
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BY DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff

super_furry wrote:
I had the same reaction -- especially to this gem:

"It's not Manhattan," Mr. LeFrak said on a recent walking tour of Newport. "But it's not bad. And it just might," he paused, raising a finger, "might, be better than Brooklyn."

alb wrote:
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Jeebus wrote:
How about New Jersey does what 40 other states have done and allow law abiding citizens their right to effective self-defense. That is, the right to own and carry a firearm after passing a background check. A considerable amount of scholarship has shown that violent crime goes down when such laws are enacted.

a) Could you give some references to papers funded by something other than a gun manufacturer or the NRA?

b) How does New Jersey law interfere with your practical ability to own a gun? Why can't you just go to some other state and buy a gun? [snip]

GrovePath wrote:
Healy: 3 ordinances would help the city curb gun violence

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
By EARL MORGAN
JERSEY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City is taking aim at guns with a range of proposed ordinances announced Monday night by Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

The three ordinances would: restrict the sale or purchase or more than one handgun within a 180-day period; prohibit the sale of inexpensive short-barreled pistols known as "Saturday night specials" or "junk guns"; and require the owner of a gun that's stolen to report the theft within 48 hours.

Violations of the ordinances could result in fines of up to $500 or face a 90-day jail sentence, the maximum punishment the city can mete out under state law.

Healy unveiled his gun initiative during a press conference Monday night at City Hall attended by Bill Ryan, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, and Police Chief Robert Troy, Police Director Sam Jefferson, Hudson County Prosecutor Ed DeFazio and several City Council members.

The proposed ordinances are on the agenda for discussion at tonight's City Council meeting.

The mayor said the proposed anti-gun legislation is a component of his overall strategy of fighting crime in the city.

"We have added almost 200 cops to the Police Department, and we now have a business curfew. Our Police Department also has a gang task force to address the growing problem of street gangs," Healy said.

Healy cited a statistic that illegal handguns were involved in 987 crimes in Jersey City last year, and noted that many of the weapons were either stolen or purchased in other states.

"While we have strict gun laws in New Jersey, a person can go to Virginia or Georgia or Pennsylvania, buy enough handguns to load up the trunk of his car, then come back here and sell the guns on the streets of Paterson, Newark, Jersey City or New York," he said.

The mayor said he realizes that the measures he's proposing would have a limited effect on the city's gun problem.

"We know what is needed here is a federal solution," the mayor said, "but we know we have to do our part."

Chama wrote:
Greetings to all fellow forum members!

I've been reading a lot of the postings in jclist.com for the past few weeks and decided to join the forum. We will hopefully become official residents on downtown Jersey City in June (we are purchasing a condo 3 blocks away from Hamilton Park, can't wait to move!!). [snip]

As a 'soon-to-be-resident' to the area I wanted to get a feel for what things you like the most about downtown Jersey City, and what things you like the least. What excites you about this place? What worries you? Just to get you started, we presently live in midtown Manhattan, in an area that is not really residential. It is very convenient to get to work (we walk everywhere pretty much) and get to see all kinds all people, any time of the day or night. However, the noise on the streets (like garbage and demolition trucks during the day and late night) is simply unbearable! The taxes are killing us, and forget about thinking of buying a condo here (and I can't stand the co-op philosophy on residential buildings). The city is just too busy and too noisy for us. We are longing for a more residential, quieter, charming place to live, where we can find a sense of community and stability... and, of course, with a convenient commute to NYC.

Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts, and any advice on how to prepare for our new 'home' city will be greatly welcome. Thanks so much in advance!!

new2jc wrote:
This map is really something, what an eye opener! I didn't know this much is being built.

Do people think it will all happen even in the softening Real Estate market?

I noticed that a few projects that are happening aren't even on this map. I think I read on here that there is more going on on Brunswick then they show on this map. The map also doesn't show what is happening at St. Francis site in Hamilton Park, and it is funny that they didn't make Hamilton Park Green for open space but maybe they have other plans for that!
Just kidding.
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GrovePath wrote:
You can download the PDF file map at this link
http://www.nj.com/jjournal/

OneSkirt wrote:
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Skadave wrote:
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OneSkirt wrote:
Does anyone know what the PATH has planned to handle all of these people?? (like they have a plan, right??)

http://www.panynj.gov/AboutthePortAut ... sRelease/index.php?id=755

Ok, so I read that. Thanks for the link. But they really don't talk about how they are going to handle the huge increase in ridership volume that 15,000 or so new residences will cause?

New cars with extra doors & computer screens? Neato, but do these cars hold more bodies comfortably and safely? Bettter emergency plans? Great, but what about the daily emergencies and discomforts that would be caused by station overcrowding? Don't we all recall the human traffic jams on the Grove St. platform in the years after 9/11 when Exchange place was closed? There were PATH police on the platform just to make sure no one fell in the tracks, and the benches were removed. The station is too small, the platform way too narrow, and the stairs too few. If that is not addressed, we got BIG problems coming to downtown my friends.

Mouse wrote:
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"The Shore Club (580 Washington Blvd.), a luxury condominium crown atop the mostly-rental 600-acre Newport development, is a multi-staged project that has already drawn intense interest from potential buyers. Since opening its sales office in September, 211 of the 214 available units have already sold - many of them for more than half a million dollars. What's perhaps surprising is that LeFrak was able to move these high-priced condominiums without bothering to advertise them. "

I think saying they were "sold" is a little bit misleading. More like, "handed out to family, friends and assorted Jersey City politicians at below-market rates" is a bit more accurate.

BrightMoment wrote:
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Jeebus wrote:

Very negative article, almost made me want to move!

I wonder if cheap meth is creating a 1990s crack-like wave of crime. That, unlike gentrification, seems at least plausible.

That article was "negative", cause it stated the facts of what are happening downtown. The statements, interviews are not anecdotal passing in the wind, but serious concerns of those of us involved with the neighborhood Watch groups.

Steve Fulop has stated on his site, for public release and I've been at the mtgs. where we looked at comps for all 6 Zones that make up the East District Command,together with Captain McDonough and them's numbers are all up in the 3 Zones downtown where most of us live.

Jon Miller of the Times, worked on that piece several months, interviewing numerous persons downtown who had been either on the "incident reports" of the East District Command or brought to his attention by the Jersey City Neighborhood Watch, of which I am a member.

If you want to change the reality of that "Very negative article..." come to the Jersey City Guardian Angels public mtg. next wk on March 16th, or better yet come to the Monday, March 13th Mtg. of the Jersey City Neighborhood Watch at Grace Church Van Vorst , from 7 till 9PM. Enter by the red doors to the gym on Erie between 2nd and 3rd.

Look forward to makin' you part of the solution!

PS: If you saw the Frontline doc on Channel 13 several wks. ago (still avail in Digital "On Demand"), you would know that cheap meth hasn't hit in the Northeast yet to become the systemic problem it is in the Northwest, Midwest, Southwest and South. That don't mean it ain't comin here, though.

JSalt wrote:
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MrGrieves wrote:

Not that anyone gives a hoot, but here?s my theory on this whole brouhaha. I find it hard to believe that crime has increased substantially downtown over the past 10+ years? it?s simply getting more attention because of the demographic change. Educated and wealthy persons are more likely to complain and be influential enough to have their complaints heard by government officials and the media. Just a fact of life. The demographic shift downtown has been dramatic. You have an area populated by ?haves? and ?have-nots.? This in itself is part of the issue and there?s no way crime will be substantially reduced until most of the ?have-nots? are forced to move. Or we enact a police state. I don?t believe this is any different than the situation in Hoboken 20+ years ago.

Sorry, but statistics suggest that crime is in fact on the rise, at least in the last couple of years. Also, I'm not sure what you're trying to suggest by "forced to move" or whether you're in favor of such a thing, but it's not going to happen. Jersey City is not a square mile city like Hoboken. It's never going to be all upscale.

istabraq wrote:
They are just getting ready to start construction on a new bldg by the WTC site - but it won't be ready for occupancy for 2-3 years - and my understanding is long-term plans include retaining ownership and partial occupancy of both buildings and leasing the rest of the space to other commercial users. Their new Manhattan building is one of NYC's keys to redeveloping the WTC area - GS threatened to pull out of the project several months ago unless concessions were made in the WTC plan to accommodate their security needs (covering a portion of West St etc) - and the city revised the plan to suit their needs.

GeorgeWBush wrote:
Furry-

Did they mention who is picking up the freight for that handler? If it's out of Healy's pocket or from his party, fine. But if it's tax money, I find it a bit excessive.

That's some serious cake for someone to dress the guy. It's also money being spent to "spin" him, which seems like a party job rather than a government job.

Next time any of you homeowners cut a check for your property taxes, remember you did your part to make sure Healy's belt matched his shoes.

This is assuming it's being paid with city money. If it is, it's a perfect example of how utterly out of touch politicians are. He's not the President. He's not the Governor. He's a Mayor in a city that isn't exactly flush with cash. Think of what $76,000 would do to, oh, I don't know, fix the collapsing walkway at the waterfront that's been busted for 3 years now.

GWB

DanL wrote:
An outpouring of public opposition helped stop the city from taking the Flamingo Restaurant by Exchange Pl. to widen Greene St., though I am not sure if the Golden Cicada holds the same public affection as the Flamingo does.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the Golden Cicada shuttered for a couple of years before recently reopening maybe 6-12 months ago.