For the past ten years I have lived a few hundred feet from that condo conversion at 333. I can see a portion of the building from one of my own windows. I walk the block btwn Kennedy and Bergen at least once every day, sometimes more frequently.

I've never felt threatened.

That's not to say I like the street life I see in front of the larger building just east of 333 and the two even further east that are set back behind the paved over "cement garden." It's is rare day that there are not people hanging around, talking trash, drinking and letting their ugly dogs leave slippery messes in the middle of the sidewalk.

When the weather permits it, a lowlife in one of those two set-backs performs a local service for the deaf by putting loudspeakers up against open windows and blasting noise to the neighborhood.

To be kind - and to be fair - it is a block in transition. The condo conversion at 333 and the one that is taking up the entire block of Boland have the potential of making that anti-social behavior difficult to sustain. Yes, there is drug dealing. But I think that's true of many places around town.

I know of two murders within a few hundred feet of Bergen and Fairmount. One was last summer; the other about three or four years ago. Both were in broad daylight. One to stop a dealer from testifying to get immunity after being caught during a traffic stop with a few hundred thou in his car. The other was a juvenile dealer "collecting" an overdue debt from another dealer.

It's otherwise a great neighborhood. Although the number of storefront vacancies along Bergen Ave seems to be slightly up, the shops are almost entirely locally owned, non-franchise. The exceptions are a Dunkin Donuts and a Burger King.

It would be nice if we had a better supermarket than over-crowded Shelly's - but their secret weapon is they are a successful wholesale meat supplier to restaurants and other markets. So, their own retail meats are excellent and reasonably priced.

The green grocer on the corner of Fairmount and Bergen is one of the best I've ever patronized. My only complaint is they don't carry McIntosh apples. I have to go elsewhere for them.

Without exception, the store owners are friendly and sincere. Even the guys who run the pawn shop are gentlemen. Lee Sims Chocolates has been operated by the same family for more than 50 years and now has customers all across the country, thanks to the Internet. The Puerto Rican bakery on Bewrgen just north of Montgomery has the best Cubano in town, and cheap. The excellent food in the Dominican Restaurant (Sanchez) revives memories of 3.5 years living in the DR.

The thing I like most about the neighborhood is the rich choices of bus transportation either from the corner of Kennedy and Montgomery or from the corner of Bergen and Montgomery. With the exception of the terminal areas at Journal Square and Exchange Place, no other intersections have so many options for getting to Manhattan.

BTW - I have never had a problem walking from Journal Square even at 1 or 2 in morning. I'm not as fast as I used to be but even so, it's now almost exactly 15 mins on the nose.

Hope that helps.

someone said

" . . . doubling taxes on financial gains will only discourage people from investing in the market and drive things to be worse than they are now."

So what will these people do instead of speculate in stocks, phony mortgages, commodities and international currencies? Put cash in their mattresses? Move to some other country?

What did they do in the past?

BTW - what ever happened to the concept that war is paid for by taxes and "war bonds?" The present lack of sacrifice and ongoing payment for the war was a major scam by the Bushies. As long as people did not have to pay openly for the war, they thought the bill would never come due.

To put a human face on the financial shortfall at the JCMC, I stayed there for four nights almost exactly a year ago. Had I not been in such severe pain from kidney stones, and then heavily medicated with morphine for that, I would have made a clearheaded decision to go to the VA hospital in Manhattan where I have gotten excellent care for more the past 20 years.

The JCMC was a nightmare. I've been in better 3rd-World hospitals.

The patient rooms and bathrooms were filthy, my blood and drainage stained bed clothing was never once changed during the entire time. There were no towels in the bathroom and I was given a fresh gown only upon leaving surgery, but never again. The staff was clearly overworked and shorthanded. The unrestrained noise in the halls, with staff shouting back and forth to each other up and down the length of corridors, was outrageous.

And now the funding will be cut even further????

It would be better all around if this facility was either shut down or someone has the courage to defy whatever laws are forcing them to admit anyone who shows up. The small apparent benefit of open admissions is worthless if those admitted cannot be properly served.

Someone said:

QUOTE

One of the people in Obama's tree is Dirckje Meyer, "bapt. Amsterdam 24 Oct. 1649, d. Bergen, N. J., 5 Oct. 1688."

Wouldn't that "Bergen, N.J." be the "town of Bergen," aka "Journal Square, Jersey City"?

END QUOTE

Wow!

To be accurate, Bergen is not Journal Square. Bergen is "Bergen Square," centered at the intersection of Bergen Ave and Academy Street.

If you stand there, with School #11 at your back, you can see that the buildings on the other corners are set back uniformly. Those are the lines of the wooden walls of the nighttime shelter of the farmers who owned the lands around you.

The street names in the area reveal their Dutch origin, starting with Bergen itself (hilltop in Dutch) and the name of a town that still exists in Holland. Modern streets such as Sip, Tonnele, Van Reypen, Van Reipen, Tuers, etc., are those of the farmers.

His ancestor would have attended The Bergen Reformed Church, personally known Peter Stuyvesant and there's a possibility that must be looked into, that he has kin buried in either the cemetery on Bergen, opposite the church or the abandoned remnant on Vroom Street.

So, now when the mean-spirited bigots refer to Obama's alleged Muslim origins, it can be shown he's more American than almost anyone around. With roots right here in this town.

Wow!

You said:

"Another element is the praise Obama has received from Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, whose disparaging comments about Judaism are toxic to many voters. Obama's own pastor has a history of supporting Palestinian causes."

The above is what is called character assassination by association. It is an excellent example of thinking backwards.

If Farrakhan praises Obama, that's Mudslinging101. I would not give a ratspatootie if Tinkerbell, Baby Jesus or Jason from Halloween 1 through 13 praised Obama. None of that tells you anything about what Obama thinks and even less about what he does.

If Obama were to praise Farrakhan, that might tell you something about Obama, and even then, the praise should be for something substantive, not for neat penmanship or a clean plate.

Let us know when Obama says something substantive about your favorite boogeyman or hate-monger.

BTW - What all that crap says about the party and candidate intended to benefit from dirty assaults on Obamam says a lot about the intellect, intelligence, integrity and morals of those who are doing it - and their candidate - all of it negative. Keep it up. Expose yourselves for the bigots and coawrds you are.

And the relationship between him being Obama's pastor and Obama's own public positions and policies and history and voting record is . . . what???

Have you never heard of a fellow name Joe McCarthy, Master of the character assassination by occasional and otherwise irrelevant association? What was said to him - and finally stopped him - applies to all who promote these filthy tactics.

"Have you, at last, no shame?"

Is Obama less qualified to be President because the pastor of the church he attends is a nutjob, consumed with old hate? Has Obama ever expressed any of those same sad ideas?

Your point in all this is . . . what? Exactly.

You Said

QUOTE

But this week Iowa congressman Steve King, a Republican, said if Obama wins the White House, "the radical Islamists, the al-Qaida and the radical Islamist and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th, because they will declare victory in this war on terror".

END QUOTE

Are he suggesting that we should care more about what makes uneducated radicals and criminals dance in the streets and not so much about what makes US dance in OUR streets?

Which American would not dance when we show the world that we are not so stupid as to obsess on someone's middle name, which he did not give himself, or the religion of his father?

What victory for Al Qudea is it if we openly elect a bright, honest and prudent president, regardless of his color?

Let 'em dance . . . while they can.

Meanwhile we will have taken a major step towards restoring our own self-respect, and towards earning the trust of our alienated former allies.

Yesterday, the owner of Giggles "N Barks (kid's clothing store on Warren) and I had lunch at Sava. We ate up the place, meatball stew, beet salad (OMG!), pierogies (is 6 enough? - no? - well have 6 more), cabbage, plus blintzes for dessert. Total bill, $17 bucks.

All of the claims above about who in Chicago does and says what may well be true. But there is one thing missing from those hundreds of words of innuendo, allegation, implication and outright mud-slinging.

Not one of those statements dares, because it cannot, claim that Barack Obama is in any way corrupt.

Knowing criminals is not the same as being criminal, especially when the criminality is not obvious. Even when it is obvious, doing ordinary business with a criminal does not make one a criminal accomplice. If Al Caopne paid his fare and got on a bus, if the driver a murderer.

I once knew the son of the man who took over The Outfit in Chicago after Capone. He was both a customer of my little store and a pleasant guy to have a cup of coffee with. That happened before I knew who and what his father had been - and it continued after I knew. Does any of that make him or me a criminal too?

Harry Truman, one of the greatest paragons of political virtue his entire personal and public life was the creature of Kansas City's Prendergast Machine, one of the most openly corrupt and venal in this nation's history. Back in the day, day it controlled more hookers than any NY State Governor ever wet-dreamed about, more gambling than a Vegas casino and more illegal booze than Jack Kennedy's rum-smuggling father. There were more bribes and dirty deals in KC/MO than any NJ contractor ever thought possible.

In the middle of it all, stood Truman, "The Senator from Prendegast." Yet he was squeaky clean and Boy Scout honest. The only time he came even close to abusing his position was a letter vilifying the "son of a bitch" music critic whom Harry thought gone after his daughter's musical performance in a political vendetta.

Likewise, both Mayor Daleys, father and son, have never been accused of personal gain from public office. Yes, the father was once quoted as dismissing complaints about his awarding a lucrative insurance contract to one of his sons, saying something like (as I recall) "Helping a son is a father's duty." But he lived his entire adult life is a modest typical Chicago brick bungalow in the neighborhood where he was born. Most weekday mornings between 6 and 6:30 am, to find him, you would have to have looked where he sat almost anonymously near the back of his neighborhood church, partaking of the first Catholic Mass and Communion of the day.

I didn't like Dick Daley's politics. I thought him sometimes a bigot and a buffoon, surrounded by corrupt people. But not one of Chicago famous newboys, try as they might, would claim that Daley himslef was corrupt.

The point is, lovely roses can grow well out of a pile of manure.

So, until someone can come up with evidence of genuinely knowing and deliberately venal actions by Obama, tell it to the Swift Boaters.

To help recent readers to know more . . . here's the link to her her web site.

Sava Polish Deli

If, as a former Congresman once said, money is the mother's milk of politics, it can be interesting to see who's your mommy.

Here are just a few sites I indexed. I especially like the one that allows me to search by zip code and then shows me a copy of that person's federal election form.

Open Secrets
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/index.asp
The drop down menu opens a universe of detailed data organized by industries, PACS, 527s, individuals, etc - and cross references to who is getting what from whom (references to an unprintable limerick are admitted, the unPC text of which will be sent via PM only to those who agree that unPC humor is still funny and will not whign about any perceived offense)

Campaign Money
http://www.campaignmoney.com
The lookup by zip code links include a link (click on the donor name) to a copy of the individual's FEC filing form.

Instead of going through all of them, here's the Google search that got me a list of sites with this info.

Google search on "political contributions"
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22pol ... official&client=firefox-a

If all you want is a summary for the 2008 Presidential Election, look at the web site my son Peter programmed and manages for the Washington post. (click on "finance" beneath a candidate's summary)
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/20 ... ates/?nid=roll_08campaign

From the weekly Quad Cinema email newsletter.

http://www.quadcinema.com/

Quad Cinema


QUOTE

On November 13, 2001 President Bush signed an Executive Order authorizing the U.S. to hold suspected terrorists in INDEFINITE detention. A "reason to believe they were terrorists" was sufficient justification. A year later Bush decided that these detainees should now be OFFICIALLY classified as terrorists and disqualified from prisoner-of-war protection under the Geneva Convention. To add more spice to this edict, Alberto Gonzalez referred to the Geneva Convention as "quaint." Finally, a memo (called the torture memo) was issued on August 2002 which stated that "Certain acts may be cruel, inhuman, or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within Section 2340 of the Geneva Convention."

When filmmaker Alex Gibney (his previous film was ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM) read a New York Times piece by Tim Golden which told about an innocent Afghan taxi driver who died while in custody at Bagram prison in Afghanistan, he knew that this was the story he wanted to tell in his next documentary. What he produced (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE) won the Academy Award last month and it's opening at the QUAD today. Here is a brief synopsis of the film together with schedules. Also included is a synopsis of another vital documentary opening today, FIGHTING FOR LIFE.

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE: This is the Academy Award winning documentary written, produced, and directed by Alex Gibney. It's a stunning inquiry into the suspicious death of an Afghani taxi driver. It's a well-researched examination of how an innocent civilian was apprehended, imprisoned, tortured and ultimately murdered at the U.S. Bagram air base in 2002. Combining the cool detachment of a forensic expert with the heated indignation of a proud American who holds his country to a high standard, Gibney's film reveals how the Bush administration systematically betrayed the very ideals it professes to uphold.
Rated R/Run Time: 1:46
Showtimes: 1:00 3:15 5:30 7:40 10:00

FIGHTING FOR LIFE: This is a powerful, sobering, and emotional documentary about doctors and nurses fighting on the frontlines of battle. The film interweaves 3 stories: (1) doctors and nurses working with skill and compassion during the Iraq War, (2) wounded soldiers and marines reacting with courage, dignity, and determination to survive and heal, and (3) students at USU, the "West Point" of military medicine, on their way to becoming career military physicians. The film follows 21-year old Army Specialist Crystal Davis as she moves from Iraq to Germany and to Walter Reed Hospital as she bounces back from the loss of a leg from an IED blast. What makes the film so vivid is the access the filmmakers had to combat support hospitals, medevac flights with wounded soldiers, and military hospitals in Germany and the United States.
Not Rated/Run Time 1:29
Showtimes: 1:00 2:50 4:40 6:30 8:30 10:20

END QUOTEherehere

Speaking of Gettysburg, there is an abandoned cemetery on Vroom Street, about 200 feet west of Bergen, that contains remains of local dead who were brought home and buried here after that battle.

Quote:Hope you don't mind a helpful correction. Peter's is on the west side of Bergen, a few steps north of Glenwood, directly across from St. Aedans RC Church. The Hudson Catholic High School you refer to takes up most of the next block south of St. Aedens.

If you taking public trans, coming from downtown there are two buses from Grove Street (Mont. / West Side and the Newport Mall) that stop a block away at Montgomery and Bergen. Also, the #80 from Grove or #87 from Hoboken, stop a few feet south of their door.

Closed Mondays. They charge $35 to make my $120 shoes look and feel new for 3 or 4 cycles.

If you are lucky, you'll get there on a day when the wife is handing out freshly baked cookies or Greek bread. They've been in biz about 50 years and their 6-days a week labors supported educating their son. He is now an Orthopedic Surgeon at Johns Hopkins. They are the American Dream in vivo.

Quote:How nice for him. And then there's the school Epps named for himself.

Whatever happened to the concept that schools are named posthumously for proven heroes?

The arrogance of naming public properties after the people who control the planning and budget with which the property is built is astounding. The only thing more amazing about this practice is that the public doesn't care enough to protest.

But then again . . . not. You get what you pay (and vote) for.

Thank you.

As I have written elsewhere, freelance writing is like tightrope walking; you either do it well, or not for long.

Yes, I've been a newspaper editor, wrote the first nationally syndicated newspaper weekly column about the Internet, and occasionally still do a little freelance work.

See:

Travel The Net - bio

and

Jersey City Magazine

The three story frame building at 2916 JF Kennedy Blvd took an obvious tilt to the south early today and appeared in imminent danger of collapse onto its shorter neighbors on each side, as well as out onto the boulevard itself. A one story law office is to the south side at 2914 and a one story liquor store is to the north.

As a result of the tilt, the building was immediately condemned. JC Police shut down the northbound lanes of traffic while the combined crews of the JC Incinerator Authority and a heavy equipment contractor, Nacerama Demolition, proceeded to take the building down one piece at a time.

But, before they could work, an emergency crew from Public Service removed electric lines to the affected property and shut off electricity to the immediately adjoining buildings.

The process of dismantling the building used a huge, insect-like "chomping" crane with a set of jaws that were extremely powerful, but delicately controlled by its operator. Complete sections of the building, starting at the top front, and working down and back into the deep property, were "bitten" off.

The power of the jaws was demonstrated when the entire cupola at the top of the building was removed virtually intact, lowered precisely into the bed of a waiting dump truck and then tenderly crushed flat by the closed jaws, with scarcely a few pieces of siding and wood falling onto the adjoining roofs. A similarly impressive series of controlled swipes removed a brick chimney a few courses at a time.

The building has been vacant for about two years or more. The Chinese restaurant and a Middle eastern convenience store that had flanked the central front door to the two upper floor apartments have been close for at least two years. Both had been shut down, and building vacated, by the Board of Health for a massive infestation of vermin and rodents.

In recent months someone has been attempting renovation on the building. When a front door was open, passersby could see men working with beams and concrete blocks. But if there had been permits for the work, they were never evident on the front of the building.

As the building came down a man and his wife, pointed out by neighbors as the owner of the building, calmly watched the building come apart. As the walls on the third floor were removed, exposing the rooms, hallways and closets, it was obvious the rooms and stairs had been freshly painted and new unpainted wood trim stood around a few doorways.

It's likely that a more detailed report will appear in the Jersey Journal after they inquire into the ownership and permits from official sources. I don't do that anymore.

That's great and well deserved, too.

Question - what happened to the amazing "bottle garden" that suddenly appeared one day in the small plot of ground next to the entrance - and then disappeared?

It was a wonderful, witty and clever set of four or five sculptures made by assembling used bottles with wire so each looked like a flowering bush.

I wish I had a photo of it to share. The first day, I saw someone taking pix. If he's on this board I wish he would post one.

Who created them? Why did they disappear?

" . . . a fictional city he calls Dempsy, loosely based on Jersey City." is, of course, an homage to the famous boxing match held here.

They will "enforce" this law the same way they enforce rules at intersections where public safety requires "no turn on red."

NOT

There's a big "no turn" sign at the corner near my home. It is violated every few minutes.

There is a curve on Kennedy that almost totally obscures traffic coming from the left. Drivers cross the white line a full car length back, blocking the crosswalk and crane their necks to the left, seeking an opening in the strong traffic flow. When they see one, they keep looking that way and jump the accelerator to make the right turn, completely ignoring whatever has changed in the foot traffic in the cross walk to their right.

Pedestrians who have the bad luck to be crossing on the "walk" sign are struck. The last time I was aware of an incident, a mother with a month old baby in her arms was knocked down.

I just missed being hit last week but only because I was aware of what might happen. As it was, the side of the turning car wiped its dirt on my coat.

Those pedestrians include seniors from the building on one corner, parents with toddlers from the day-care on the other and students from the high school on the next corner.

As I have pointed out to police regularly, they could write a traffic ticket every ten minutes or so at that spot. In ten years I've not seen a single one being handed out for that violation. I've even seen cars do that illegal turn right in front of a police car.

BTW, it's not at all uncommon that those same drivers are yapping on a cell phone.

Sava's may need decor, but there is no denying it is clean and bright.

As for the quality of food, my youngest son and I ate there Sunday. His mother's mother (iow, his Bushka) was Polish. Since he was the oldest of her gradchildren and named after her father, she doted on Peter, drawing him to her kirtchen at least once a week to stuff him with the same specialties we ate together the other day.

After lunch Sunday he said it was the best and most authentic Polish meal he's had since she passed away.

tsk tsk tsk

QUOTE

The explosion shook the ground setting off car alarms.

END QUOTE

Those were the quietest car alaarms in history. My son and I had just come from eating lunch at Sava's Polish Deli and were waiting for the lights at newark and Grove. We hear the bang. Saw to smoke, noted which cars (including the beemer) were so close to the origin of the smoke that we thought at first that it was the cause of the explosion . . .

But there were no - I repeat - no car alarms that went off.

Sava now has a web site. Click on the name.

Sava Polish Deli Web Site

Super Furry:

I was at Sava's an hour ago. She was very excited to tell me that a nice young man was there yesterday. He asked permission to take photos and said he would put them on the Internet.

I guess those are them.

I know she will be very pleased when I stop there tomorrow with my laptop and show her this page.

Thanks for supporting her. Now everyone can see what all the talk is about. Clean, wholesome and fresh food, made and served with passion; cheap too!

that's not a functioning URL. try this:

Shakespeare at New Jersey City University

or this:

Actors Shakespeare Company of New Jersey

The advice you've gotten is sound, especially the part about getting the city housing enforcement people involved so you have official documentation of your complaints, not just your own word.

When you contact them, you will find they are rough spoken people who have been diddled and played with by both landlords and tenants alike. So be prepared for some skepticism and blunt questions.

But underneath that gruffness, you will find they are competent, honest and genuinely interested in doing the right thing. If you have a case, they will do the right thing for you.

Also, the web site you were referred to is essential reading for anyone who is in - or expects to be in - a dispute with a landlord.

One thing you will see in the explanation of your rights is the issue of habitability. It has been used as grounds to break a lease but you had better be careful that you are on sound grounds before you make such a claim and move out, thus breaking the lease.

Landlords have rights, too.

If you have issues that make the place uninhabitable you have a responsibility to advise the landlord, in writing, and give him a reasonable opportunity to correct them. How long is reasonable? I don't know. That's why I say, be careful here.

I'm guessing it's at least 30 days because that's what the same body of law requires the landlord to give you when he sends you a formal complaint that you are violating the lease and to correct whatever prompts his complaint. Note I said, it's my guess. I am not a lawyer.

If you should move out before the lease is up you could be sued for the rent - up to the remaining time of the lease - until the time that the landlord can mitigate his losses by getting a new tenant at the same rent.

But once you withhold rent to force him into court, or if you move out before the time of the lease is up, and he comes after you for breaking the lease, you had better have a solid case, supported by evidence (photo's of the issues, repair bills, housing inspector reports, etc.).

Good luck. You are fortunate to be in NJ where landlord / tenant law is fair to both parties.

Reality check re the future of Sava - and your chance to make a difference.

I stopped into Sava yesterday around 3pm and came away very sad. The food is terrific. All prepared fresh, home made style. The portions are generous. The prices are low. The place is spotlessly clean in the Polish tradition.

The problem is, she's not getting the business she needs. She not going to survive unless things change.

The owner is a sweet, charming and sincere woman named Jadwiga (yahd-vee'-gah). She was almost in tears. If I understood her correctly (her English has limits) I was her first customer of the afternoon. The buffet looked it. The trays were full and appeared untouched.

She did say that the past weekend was "OK" but she will not survive for long given the situation she has. Since she was open about it, and offered the information without my asking - beyond a "how's business?" - I will repeat what she told me.

At this point, she can't pay next month's rent. She says her landlord has already told her he will evict if she doesn't.

My point is, if you care about this quality of food, she needs customers.

Go eat now while you can.

Sava Polish Deli
346 Grove St.
Jersey City
201-451-1901

Quote:facile sophistry sometimes is.

You asked:

"what happened to www.destinationjerseycity.com anyhow??? went to look for something tonight that i had seen on there and it was gone!"

Apparently the "no bid" and "out of town" fat cats who got hundreds of thousands of money for the program ignored notice from the domain name registrar that it was due to expire. They would have had to spend about $7 bucks for that to be avoided - and they might have had to reach into their own pocket for that. God Forbid.

If I read the signals correctly, GoDaddy has put the domain name into "recovery" which means that GoDaddy now has the right to sell advertising on a web page they created while they wait for the original registrants of the name to pay a late fee.

Typically most registrars want $100 within 30 or 45 days, plus the unpaid registration. If the late fee is not paid GoDaddy will continue to monetize the residual traffic generated from the search engines - who don't yet know what's going on. That could last a few months.

Then GoDaddy may put the domain name up for auction to anyone - including porn sites - and squeeze out more money from the now abandoned name.

But what do they care?