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Re: VERIZON FIOS
#31
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Quote:

CANKICKER wrote:
Anyone on this post currently signed onto and using Fios, if so, can you please provide the pros and cons to this new service ?

Thanks in Advance.

CK


Anyone have any luck downgrading their service from a triple play to a double play? Triple play = phone/internet/cable, double play = phone & Internet only.

If you are a new customer you can get the DP for $49.99 and i want to get that and get DirecTV for the TV service...

Sadly...No FIOS in my new apartment

Posted on: 2009/8/11 20:13
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Re: An Open Letter to You, My PATH Nemesis
#32
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Wow this thread has really gone off the rails. I thought this was an open letter to our path nemesis, not a forum to b*tch about equal rights & seating privileges of pregnant women.

If only someone would post about dog-sh*t and then we could really tie together all that unites us Jersey City Folk...

Posted on: 2009/8/7 3:56
 Top 


Re: An Open Letter to You, My PATH Nemesis
#33
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To my Path Nemesises (Nemesi?):

The A-hole who is more concerned with downloading an App on his Iphone than walking in a straight line.

The guy with the 7ft wide umbrella open when it isn't even raining.

That same guy with the 7ft wide umbrella swinging it and almost impaling the people behind him.

The person in front of me who stops short to answer a text message.

The person who realizes at the turnstile that they need a path card to enter and the proceed to rummage through their purse/murse to find it.

The a-hole who stands on the left side of the down escalator and wonders why everyone is staring at him...

The person who stands in front of the open door on the train, blocking entry for the rest of us, so as not to give up his great position to exit first at exchange place. (If you replace "door on train", with "Door on elevator" at exchange place, it reads the same...)

To the sweaty guy who has to lean on the hand-pole with a complete disregard to those of us who are holding on to it.

And to Bernie Minenblatt, Debbie Duhaime, the loud cell-phone-talker going into the tunnel ("Hello? Hello? I think i'm going to lose you in the tunnel"), and all the other obnoxious people....

Thank you for riding NJ Transit! It just wouldn't be the same without you...

Posted on: 2009/8/6 18:29
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Re: Not only the building is ugly. So is the company. Goldman Sachs.
#34
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Quote:

Xerxes wrote:
Remember though, the FED is PRIVATE


This isn't true... The Federal Reserve was created via the Federal Reserve Act (circa 1913 and amended a few times since) and its chairman is appointed by the president and confirmed by congress.

Whether they have too much power is another issue, but they are certainly not private - perhaps by private you meant they are unelected, which is certainly true.

Posted on: 2009/7/27 1:14
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Re: Not only the building is ugly. So is the company. Goldman Sachs.
#35
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Quote:

mfadam wrote:
There is also a developing story on GS collecting a vig on electronic trading.


You can follow these stories on www.zero-hedge.com (or: http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/). The High-Frequency Trading / Algorithmic Trading developing story is an interesting one. It can get very technical but the jist of the story is that certain firms with ultra-fast computers which are co-located at trading centers (i.e. physically placing your server mere feet from the NY Stock Exchange servers) can submit buy/sell orders at such a fast rate that they can front-run individual or institutional investors and basically take a few pennies from millions of transactions every day. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, there's plenty of other interesting issues / conflicts created by high-frequency / algorithmic trading.

They (zero-hedge) also train a very critical eye towards CNBC and their many conflicts of interest. There's actually a fairly funny clip that they posted a few weeks ago of 2 talking heads on CNBC (perhaps Joe Kernan & Carl Quintonia(sp?)) discussing Charles Schwab's latest earnings talking up the stock, saying every investor should have some in their portfolio, etc etc and then as they wrapped up they go to commercial and it's a 30-second ad for Schwab.

This course says nothing of their parent company being GE...No conflict there...

.
.
.

I have no real issue with the GS building itself... What I DO have an issue with is GS employees running red lights on Hudson & Morris and running red lights on Essex & Greene St. I also have an issue with them driving 50mph down Greene street trying to get out of Jersey city...

Posted on: 2009/7/27 1:08
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Re: APW CHANGE - BEASTIE BOYS REPLACED WITH JAY-Z!
#36
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Quote:

Greenvillechick wrote:
How do u figure BB are a type of Hip Hop as well as Jay


Perhaps the word "totally" was misplaced. They aren't *totally* different, but they are certainly different. Despite them being in the same genre, I feel as though Jay-Z has quite a distinct sound from that of the B-boys (3 MC's & 1 DJ...).

If the reaction to the announcement on the other thread that's been merged w/ this one is any indication: "I have two tickets i'm selling below face" - I'd say i'm not alone in that assessment.

Posted on: 2009/7/24 20:44
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Re: New PATH Flat Screens
#37
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Quote:

Xerxes wrote:
oh, an Bernie Weigenblast and the new twatttt yammering her recorded message!


This was actually going to be a part of a future Path Nemesis thread contribution... If you're ever in the path for an extended period of time, you probably hear this message like 50 times...

"...I'm traffic report Debbie Duhane, reminding you that..."
"...be alert, stay aware, if you see any suspicious activity..."
"...blah blah blah"
Pause. Repeat.

Anyway - you would think it wouldn't kill NBC/PATH/or whoever owns those TVs to load the path schedule into whatever computer is generating the ads and have the upcoming trains on a crawl at the bottom or on a sidebar on the TV...From a purely capitalistic perspective, wouldn't the presence of that information cause more people to actually *look* that the TV and then perhaps inadvertently view an advertisement?

Posted on: 2009/7/24 18:55
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Re: APW CHANGE - BEASTIE BOYS REPLACED WITH JAY-Z!
#38
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Home away from home


Quote:

Ouch... Nothing against Jay-Z, but those are two totally different performances...I guess it's understandable given how one of the B-boys was just diagnosed w/ Cancer...

Wonder if they'll have to change all those billboard signs...

Posted on: 2009/7/24 18:40
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Re: ox restaurant
#39
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Home away from home


Quote:

t_mizu_101 wrote:
That is a good deal. $550,000 for the business and a liquor license.

That is a good spot for an upscale lounge. Give LITM so competition. They have become soft


Not trying to be argumentative just for the sake of being argumentative, but I'm curious as to why you think that is a good deal. What numbers did you run to come to that conclusion?

Some variables to consider:

Fixed Costs:
-The $500k to "buy" the business, is that all cash, or are you financing a portion (or all of it) with debt. If the latter, what interest rate are you having to pay on that debt? Since business loans are inherently more risky for banks, so you probably end up paying quite a bit more than a regular mortgage loan, but I have no feel for what those rates would be...

-What is the "rent" that you'll be charged? What is the likelihood that this increases in future years of operation? How do you balance the risk of signing a long-term lease vs. the uncertainty surrounding having a profitable/successful restaurant? If it is not a success right away can you renegotiate lower?

Variable Costs:
-What's your outlook on food prices & the economy in general? Can you raise prices on meals if your cost of inputs goes up?

-How much will you pay for labor?

-Are you a good chef or will you have to hire (and pay) one?

Other Considerations:
-How many tables can you fill & turn over on a daily/monthly basis to cover your fixed & variable costs?

-Can you operate the business for an extended period of time at a loss while you get to critical mass/following that will make you profitable?

-And finally, after all of the above is taken into consideration, when all is said and done, are you profitable *enough*, i.e. is your venture making more than your alternative uses for your money? If you're just barely breaking even or are only mildly profitable you're not being compensated for all the risk you are assuming running the business...

I'm sure i missed a few other considerations as well. If Ox couldn't make it work (and their food IMHO was damn good) what makes you think the next person will have more success?

To me, $550k seems an awful lot if it doesn't include the actual real estate (i.e. you're still paying "rent" to another). But given the right price on all of the above, i'm sure it *could* work...And as another disclaimer, i've never run a business, so my analysis could be way off, but these would be the questions I'd be asking...

Posted on: 2009/7/24 16:37
 Top 


Re: Several local politicians arrested on corruption charges
#40
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Here's a story from Bloomberg about the informant:


Dwek Laundered $3 Million in FBI Sweep Ensnaring Hoboken Mayor

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Solomon Dwek bribed a politician, arranged to buy a kidney and tried to hide assets from creditors in a bankruptcy -- all with the blessing of prosecutors.

Dwek, a real-estate developer from Deal, New Jersey, who was charged with bank fraud in 2006, is the ?CW? -- cooperating witness -- in criminal complaints against 44 people arrested yesterday in a corruption and money-laundering case, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The 36-year-old?s undercover work in political and religious communities in New Jersey and New York makes Dwek the main link between the three mayors, two state assemblymen, five rabbis and one alleged human organ dealer taken into custody in the sweep, these people said.

?How could one guy bring down so many people?? said Charles Stanziale, a Newark-based trustee liquidating Dwek?s property in a personal bankruptcy. ?Well, if you stay with it and you?re working full time, one guy gets to meet another guy and it?s like a chain.?

Stanziale, a lawyer with McCarter & English, isn?t involved in the criminal probe, he said in an interview. Dwek?s lawyer, Michael Himmel, didn?t return a call seeking comment. Dwek couldn?t be reached.

The roundup of suspects was one of the largest ever in New Jersey, where more than 100 public officials have been convicted of corruption since 2001.

Under the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the cooperating witness laundered $3 million through the rabbis and their charitable organizations and paid bribes to public officials, prosecutors said. Investigators made hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings of illicit transactions, according to the government lawyers.

Bradley Beach

?This case uncovered a web of corruption that spanned the state,? said Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Newark. ?All of the individuals were connected through their illicit activities with the undercover witness.?

The Syrian Jewish community, of which Dwek is a member, figures prominently in Dwek?s undercover dealings, according to the people with knowledge of the case. After migrating to Manhattan in the early 1900s from the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, many Jews from Syria moved to Brooklyn in the 1920s, according to Walter P. Zenner, who wrote about them in ?A Community of Many Worlds.? By the 1950s, they had begun summering along the shore in the town of Bradley Beach, according to the town?s Web site. Many later moved three miles up the beach to the wealthier town of Deal, Zenner wrote.

?Polycystic Disease?

Dwek?s father, Isaac, is a rabbi at the Synagogue of Deal. The younger Dwek was vice president of the Deal Yeshiva in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Those community ties may have allowed him to build trust among people he would eventually help the government charge and arrest, according to Stanziale.

In February 2008, the cooperating witness in the case traveled from Tinton Falls, five miles (8 kilometers) east of the 139-year-old Monmouth Park racetrack, to Brooklyn with a person posing as his secretary to visit Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, according to the criminal complaint against Rosenbaum. The complaint said Rosenbaum, 58, was told the secretary?s uncle had polycystic disease, was on dialysis and wanted to secure a new kidney in a faster time frame than the legal transplant waiting list would allow.

?He needs to, uh, you know, organize to buy one and, uh, you know, we need to find, uh, how we can do this,? the CW said to Rosenbaum, according to the document.

$22.8 Million

It said Rosenbaum offered to find a donor from Israel, for $160,000, with 50 percent paid up front, and accepted a $10,000 deposit. No kidney actually changed hands, prosecutors said.

Rosenbaum?s attorney, Alan Vinegrad, didn?t return a call seeking comment. Lawyers for the other suspects either couldn?t be identified or couldn?t be reached.

Dwek?s path to government witness may have begun in 2006, when he deposited two $25 million checks against an account with a zero balance, prosecutors alleged at the time. Dwek then wired $22.8 million out of the bank, which was owned by PNC Financial Services Group Inc., falsely assuring officials that he would forward funds to cover the overdraft, according to authorities.

Never indicted, Dwek received 17 extensions from a judge to delay presentation of his case to a federal grand jury.

PNC, based in Pittsburgh, and two other lenders filed an involuntary liquidation petition on Feb. 9, 2007, that forced Dwek into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. He owes PNC about $22.9 million, Washington Mutual Inc. $22.7 million and Four Star Builders $58,388, according to court records.

?I Can Live?

The bankruptcy was converted to a Chapter 11 reorganization under a trustee?s supervision in Trenton, with Dwek?s consent.

In June 2007, the FBI?s cooperating witness set up a meeting with Edmond Nahum, the principal rabbi of Deal Synagogue in the oceanfront getaway for metropolitan New York?s Sephardic Jewish community, the criminal complaint said.

The CW told Nahum, 56, that he was seeking to hide assets from creditors in his bankruptcy so ?this way I can live,? according to complaints against Nahum and Saul Kassin, 87, chief rabbi of Sharee Zion, a synagogue on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn.

Nahum received checks in amounts up to $50,000 made out to Kassin?s charity, agreeing that Kassin would write checks to the cooperating witness, minus a 5 to 10 percent service charge, the complaints said. Those checks would be made out to a second Jewish foundation, run by Eliahu Ben Haim, the rabbi of a Deal synagogue called Congregation Ohel Yaacob, and Ben Haim would pay the money to the CW in cash, the government said.

?Cash is Green?

Ben Haim, 58, was an investor in Dwek?s real estate business, according to bankruptcy court documents. Haim is a defendant in an asset recovery lawsuit filed by Stanziale to recover funds the lawyer said are fictitious profits from a real estate investment scam that the suit alleges Dwek ran.

The cooperating witness met with Republican Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt, 44, of Ocean County, saying he wanted to ensure real estate developments he was planning in coastal areas got appropriate permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to charges against Van Pelt. The lawmaker accepted $10,000 in cash from the CW, who said he was a member of the ?green party,? not a Republican or Democrat, prosecutors allege.

?Green is cash,? the complaint quotes the CW as saying.

In May, when Peter Cammarano, a Democrat running for mayor of Hoboken, was short on cash, the CW gave the candidate $10,000 from the trunk of his car in exchange for a promise to expedite approvals of developments in Hoboken, the complaint said.

?Tragic Day?

?We?re going to be friends for a good long time,? Cammarano, 32, told the cooperating witness on June 23, according to the complaint. It said the CW promised to help cover a shortfall in the campaign with $10,000.

Also arrested yesterday was the mayor of Ridgefield, New Jersey, Anthony Suarez, 42; the mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey, Dennis Elwell, 64; Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega Jr., 59; and Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith, a Jersey City Democrat.

FBI agents searched the house of Joseph Doria, a former Democratic assemblyman who is now commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. He wasn?t charged.

?This is obviously just another really tragic day for the people of New Jersey,? said Christopher Christie, the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor and the former U.S. Attorney under whom the criminal probe began. The case was continued under acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra.

The arrests could have an effect on the gubernatorial race, according to Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law at New Jersey?s Montclair State University.

The Fallout

Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, trails Christie in polls by eight percentage points among likely voters, according to a Monmouth University-Gannett New Jersey poll conducted the week of July 16. Corzine, who described yesterday?s charges as ?simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated,? asked Doria to resign from the Department of Community Affairs.

?We?re seeing that fallout, with the governor asking the cabinet member he appointed to resign,? Harrison said. ?This problem of corruption has been one that Republicans have tried for years to make hay with. This is, in my mind, one more sweep they will use.?

At least six members of the 80-seat Assembly have been charged with or convicted of crimes in the past two years.

The arrests came the day before former state Sen. Wayne Bryant, a Democrat from Camden County, was scheduled to be sentenced for using state budget grants to win public jobs designed to inflate his state pension. He was convicted in November.

His hearing is set for this morning at 10 a.m.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oshrat Carmiel in New York at ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net. Pat Wechsler in New York at pwechsler@bloomberg.net Dunstan McNichol in New York at dmcnichol@bloomberg.net

Posted on: 2009/7/24 12:41
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Re: Opening at The Regent at Liberty Harbor
#41
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Quote:

HobokenRefugee wrote:
Ah yes, the good old bait and switch by Mike and Dara. Don't believe a word those two hucksters say because the prices are indeed negotiable. If they aren't, look elsewhere downtown since everyone else is working on the prices.


I don't know who Mike & Dara are, but my brother went to sign a lease at this place, got through reading most of the paperwork and realized that they had shown him one apartment and had the paperwork drawn up for a different unit. There was a big difference in size, ~100sq feet or more. Of course if they wanted the "bigger" unit (i.e. the one they were actually shown on their tour) they would have to pay more. A true bait & switch if i ever heard of one...

Anyway, they walked away and have signed a lease elsewhere, but fair warning to all, watch out for these clowns...

Posted on: 2009/7/22 12:22
 Top 


Re: The Beacon
#42
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Quote:

JCSHEP wrote:
Stop feeding them Mary...your reaction is what they are looking for.

I agree bsun, I also have wondered why someone would bash others unless they have skin in the game or some sort of motivation.

I also had no idea "jitney" had so many meanings, from a bus to an illegal stock trade to a nickle to...


A few observations:

1. "stop feeding them" goes both ways. As Groovlstk pointed out, any comment about the Beacon incurs the wrath of the beaconites as does any defense of the Beacon incurs the wrath of the "Beacon Haters".

2. "bsun" joined 3 wks ago and all 15 of his posts are about the Beacon... But I'm sure he has no hidden agenda

3. Jitney/Shuttle, six vs. a half-dozen, 2 nickles vs. 1 dime - it's all the friggin same. The mere existence of a Shuttle implies 1 of 2 things (neither of them very positive) - a) the building is in a bad section of town and residents don't feel comfortable walking to the PATH or b) the building is so far away from the PATH that they need the shuttle to get there in a timely manner. Or it could be a combo of both, but if both of the above statements were untrue, why would there be a need for the shuttle?

The whole us vs. them debate is getting very tiresome. It's true that many renters and/or wanna-be property owners are engaging in a little schadenfreude at the expense of Beacon owners and many Beacon owners are overly defensive about their purchase and feel the need to respond to every thing that is said about *their* property. At the end of the day it's the typical message board discussion of divergent viewpoints where one side will never convince the other of the rightness/wrongness of their opinions.

The Best you can hope for is to correct any outright lies about the subject. You'll never be able to put an end to snarky comments. I guess in short: Can't we all just get along!?

Posted on: 2009/7/21 18:07
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Re: The Beacon
#43
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Quote:

marybarr wrote:
Why do you always try to makes negatives out of the great things at The Beacon? We have a SHUTTLE--not a jitney. Only Beacon residents may use it because it is included in our monthly maintenance fees. Again, only paranoid folk would worry about anything being bulletproof. Buy yourself a flak jacket and a helmet.

And Petey8 you were right about what I thought icechute meant--it WAS funny


Does the term Jitney really have a negative connotation? I went ahead and looked it up on Oxford English Dictionary and here is what I found:

Jitney, Noun
1) A Five Cent Piece, A nickel
2) [a descriptor of a bus] In full jitney bus, [or] omnibus. An omnibus or other motor vehicle which carries passengers for a fare, originally five cents. So, on account of the low fare or the poor quality of these buses, used attrib. to denote anything cheap, improvised, or ramshackle.

[so the term Jitney is derived from the amount of money one would have to pay to ride this bus... I didn't know that]

Now, take that definition (which it would appear *does* have a negative connotation) and compare that to a "shuttle bus". While I would agree that shuttle has less of a negative connotation, I don't believe there is all that much of a difference between the two words. Except that perhaps a shuttle bus does not charge a fare? But I swear I've been in shuttles that did charge a fare...was I really in a Jitney and just didn't even know it?!

In any case, I doubt your quarrel is really with the word jitney, because if you replace the word "Jitney" with "Shuttle" in his original post, my guess is that you'd be just as offended...

And thus concludes our vocabulary lesson for the day. Everyone can get back to their pre-determined agendas with respect to "the Beacon". Cheers!

Posted on: 2009/7/20 21:31
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Re: Ode to Teddy
#44
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Home away from home


Quote:
LifeOfRiley wrote: That's nice, but perhaps the bigger news is PATH Train Teddy making a public appearance at the Jersey City Council Meeting. "...an appeal by PATH-train fixture Teddy Woodward to investigate complaints that people are being denied welfare because of drug charges on their record.."
It's really a shame about Teddy these days. When i first moved here he was in pretty good health. Last time I saw him he looked to be in really bad shape/strung out. Hope he gets some help.

Posted on: 2009/7/17 19:40
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Re: ox restaurant
#45
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Home away from home


Quote:

designknob wrote:

you're kidding right?


I gotta believe he was. It would be kinda like saying Madam Claude's was threatened by a Taco Bell opening up nearby... not exactly the same clientele/demographic!

Posted on: 2009/7/16 20:22
 Top 


Re: ox restaurant
#46
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

jcamica wrote:
Ox has indeed closed its doors. A sad day for Jersey City's dining scene and for the owners and employees. Wishing them the best of luck in future endeavors.

http://www.izzyeats.com/2009/07/rip-o ... 16-2007-july-12-2009.html


The picture of the letter is a bit blurry, does it give a "reason" for the closure? Does it basically corroborate the earlier posts? Perhaps if it was a difference of opinion between ownership/chef/partners, perhaps they'll reopen under a new name/ownership structure...

Posted on: 2009/7/16 18:43
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Re: Crime is Down, but 4 Cops Shot on Bergen
#47
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

Indomitus wrote:
I wasn't suggesting anyone go there. Especially those unfamiliar with the area.


You were suggesting they weren't close to either Beacon or SP College... when in reality they are about 4 blocks away. And I was suggesting that whether or not you can *see* the Beacon, or *see* St. Peter's College from the actual street, doesn't mean they aren't close by. So people who were flaming the earlier poster who was asking if the street was close to Beacon were a bit misguided in their attacks when the proof is right there on the map.

I believe greenville said "do you even live in this city" - to which i would reply, "can you even read a map?"

Posted on: 2009/7/16 17:55
 Top 


Re: Crime is Down, but 4 Cops Shot on Bergen
#48
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Home away from home


Quote:

Indomitus wrote:
Its not like Sarah Palin seeing Russia from her house. You cannot see Beacon or St. Peters from that part of Reed St. at the corner of Bergen. You can probably see Beacon (off in the distance) from the end of Reed St. that ends on Monticello. One little block between Monticello and Bergen. Thats it. But lots of trouble.


Good Lord... I might not be able to *see* Fatburger or John's Pizzeria from Essex Street, but I know i wouldn't get in my car to drive there if i was hungry...

Posted on: 2009/7/16 17:38
 Top 


Re: Crime is Down, but 4 Cops Shot on Bergen
#49
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:
ASA-Alum wrote: Reed Street is not near St. Peters.
uh... it's within 4blocks of both St. Peters College (i.e. see that brown area on the map) & the Beacon (the pink-ish area on the map)... See below:
View Larger Map

Posted on: 2009/7/16 17:17
 Top 


Re: ox restaurant
#50
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

fraulein wrote:
This is devastating - Ox was our hands-down favorite restaurant and they seemed to be doing so well. I wonder what happened.... has anyone walked by to see what it looks like? I feel I need a visual confirmation of this, though I trust bullhead36 :(


+1 - I love this place, sure it got a little noisy sometimes, but that's because it was always packed! This would be very bad news indeed if it turns out to be true. Here's hoping that it's not!

Posted on: 2009/7/16 17:11
 Top 


Re: Crime is Down, but 4 Cops Shot on Bergen
#51
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

Vigilante wrote:
Quote:

ianmac47 wrote:
Residency requirements disqualify from service qualified personnel. Public salaries either must go up to offset the higher cost of living, or add to the public payrolls less qualified persons.


It would help if city employees had more invested other than a paycheck and a pension. Some people hate this city because it is crime-ridden while others hate it because they don't feel that city services are responsive. Just saying. It's kinda like the renters vs. owners thing.


I'm unclear what exactly you mean by the last statement - what does a shooting have to do with renters vs. owners? As far as I'm concerned a shooting like this impacts everyone in JC, whether you rent or own. Some "owners" care little about what goes on in JC, while some renters are extremely involved in their communities.

Hopefully i just misinterpreted what you meant...

Posted on: 2009/7/16 16:13
 Top 


Re: VVP - Rent vs Buy Scenario
#52
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

jbear wrote:
trp3, all of the above is true, and to each their own. but there is one benefit of home ownership that has not been mentioned. once the mortgage is paid off, the taxes and maintenance on a property is significantly less than what it would cost to rent the same unit. housing costs drop off dramatically for the owner, while the renter would still have to dole out increasing sums of money each year (on average - due to inflation) to live in the same place.


However this argument assumes static taxes... Given that state & local government is growing like a weed, taxes are probably not a fixed item and maintenance costs would increase with inflation as well.

Also, don't forget about opportunity costs:

Lets say you've paid off your $500k home that has $8k/yr taxes & $200/mo maintenance. Your $660 "rent" payment ($8000/12 + $200) is not necessarily comparable to the guy down the street who has $500k in the bank, but pays $2000/mo in rent. He may pay $2000 to his landlord, but he gets interest on his $500k in the bank. That amount is unknown because he may get 0.16 on 3mo t-bills, or maybe he earns 5% investing in longer-term tax-free munis. If it's the former, you win, if it's the latter, his muni's are paying his rent with a few bucks left over for beer money...

My point is simple, paying off a home costs money, so you have to consider the opportunity cost of your money...

Posted on: 2009/7/16 15:29
 Top 


Re: VVP - Rent vs Buy Scenario
#53
Home away from home
Home away from home


I was going to chime in on this topic earlier, so many of my original points have already been made by others, but one other thing i'd point to is the inherent leverage in housing that doesn't exist in other investments.

When you buy a 500k house, you have to put down $100k as a down payment. If the house goes down 1% (-$5,000) you've lost 5% of your investment: 100k --->95k. If you put down only 10% of the purchase price, that same 1% move down in housing prices, loses 10% of your initial investment (i.e. 10-1 leverage). Other investments (except for maybe currencies & commodities) don't have this type of leverage. Granted, other investments have more volatility, so it's not apples to apples...but the fact remains buying a house is making a bet on the direction of property values.

Also consider that if you buy a $500k place and take on a $400k mortgage, after one year, you've amortized (paid back) a little less than $6k on the loan, so a small 1% drop in the value of you home has effectively eliminated what equity you've built up over that period.

Finally, consider the tax & maintenance "drag" on your investment. If you pay out 1.5-2% in taxes/yr and have maintenance of 0.5-1%ish, you need your investment to go up 2-3%/year just to break even... A renter pays no property taxes and most often landlords cover maintenance. Also consider that a homeowner never gets 100% of the value of their home when they go to sell, it's more like 94-95% given the high cost of real estate transactions (Broker fees, and all the rest).

Anyway, those are just some random thoughts... The NYT & Mortgage Doctor calculators are pretty good, there are tons of variables to consider when doing this type of analysis.

Posted on: 2009/7/16 15:13
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Re: Five cops wounded in Jersey City shootout
#54
Home away from home
Home away from home


Wow... crazy, my dad just called me (from out of state) telling me about this... unreal.

Posted on: 2009/7/16 14:35
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Re: Jersey City/local Dentist/Invisalign recommendations
#55
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

KNOWITALL wrote:
Dr Paul Lustiger...201-200-0500
101 Hudson...I think he's great


+1 on Lustinger. Excellent job and in my experience, has you in and out of the office fairly quickly. His staff is quite good as well.

His office is super convenient to exchange place path. He's literally 2 stories above the newly opened Cosi, right by the light rail.

Posted on: 2009/7/14 19:04
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Re: Asprey House
#56
Home away from home
Home away from home


Poor form, I know, bumping my own thread (from a year ago!)...The Sunblossom thread got me thinking about this. Anyway, just curious if anyone has heard anything on these units. Kind of interesting to compare google streetview (from a year or so ago) to a more recent picture...
View Larger Map vs... Resized Image I'm 99% no one has moved in and there's no word on what the business is going to be on the 1st floor. The sign still says they want $600k to $1.2mm for them... Sorry the picture kind of sucks, i took it from my phone... I'll try to get a better one. In any case -- Does anyone have any update or details? EDIT: Also, it's kind of funny to note that 1100 people have viewed this topic and i'm the only one that has responded...to my own thread... hahaha. Cheers!

Posted on: 2009/7/13 20:19
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Re: New PATH trains, then more zip
#57
Home away from home
Home away from home


Bloomberg: NJ PATH Train System Gets First New Cars Since '80s

By Chris Dolmetsch

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials will gather tomorrow to inaugurate the first new cars in two decades on the PATH train system that runs between northern New Jersey and New York City.

The authority has received 20 of the new cars, seven of which have started running over the past few months, said Ron Marsico, a spokesman in New York for the authority, which operates the PATH, or Port Authority Trans-Hudson, system. More than 240,000 riders take the PATH daily. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine will join the officials at the Journal Square station in Jersey City.

The authority in 2003 agreed to spend $809 million to replace the entire fleet of 340 cars, some of which are more than 40 years old, as part of a $3.3 billion plan to overhaul the 100-year-old network and increase capacity by 25 percent. The entire fleet is scheduled to be replaced by 2011. The authority acquired the PATH system from the private Hudson and Manhattan railroad in 1962.

The plan includes a $390 million replacement of the 38- year-old signal system, which will help reduce the time between trains, and $695 million in upgrades to all 13 PATH stations.

The new PA-5 cars are being built by Kobe, Japan-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. at its plant in Yonkers, New York. They feature more doors than older cars to allow for faster loading and unloading; onboard video displays that can broadcast news, weather and sports information from WNBC-TV; and onboard closed-circuit security cameras.

Posted on: 2009/7/9 18:15
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Re: The Beacon
#58
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

yahjcforya wrote:
Why are their HOA fees so high for whatever they provide. It almost feels like someone is pocketing the money somewhere.


Despite their location, their amenities are probably some of the best in jersey city:
-Doorman
-Fitness Center
-Yoga Room
-Indoor Pool
-Jacuzzi/Sauna
-Kids playroom
-Billiard Room/Poker Room
-Movie Room/Theater
-Dog Run
-Shuttle Service to the Path
And if I'm not mistaken (i'm sure someone on this thread will be quick to correct me!) i think their maintenance fees cover Cable or high speed internet, or something else...

The fees seem comparable to other "luxury" buildings in the area. Basically the amenities have to be there, or else why not move to a newer building that's closer to the path?

Posted on: 2009/6/22 17:49
 Top 


70 Greene
#59
Home away from home
Home away from home


Just called up 70 Greene on my way home from work (saw the sign on the side of their building) and the prices in the rental tower are pretty eye popping...

--1BR/1BA unit with about 600sqft *starts* at $2400/mo (without parking obviously).

--2BR/2Ba unit with about 1,000 sqft *starts* at $3515/mo

If you have a pet, tack on $500 up front and $75/mo "pet rent". They apparently are giving 1mo free with a 13mo lease (like everyone else) but that still puts them above $2200 and $3240 respectively. My guess is those cheap units are on low floors and probably (this is just me talking here) next to a garbage chute!

Took me about 5mins to get anything about price out of them - they wanted to pitch me on the neighborhood and all the amenities they have to offer. Thanks, but i'll find an owner to rent from and get the 1,000 sq feet for less than what they are charging for a 1br. But it's still good to know what's available.

Posted on: 2009/6/17 15:34
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Re: Atlantic City by Public????
#60
Home away from home
Home away from home


Quote:

missmags wrote:
Thanks everyone. I found that Academy bus is the best way to go. They actually have a stop on the corner of where I live so that is perfect.

Its $35 plus $20 back in casino $. When I win big I will let you all know :) :)


Please report back on how the trip is to & from JC. I've only taken Academy from Port Authority, so obviously they run a lot more frequently than the JC buses. I'm curious how your trip will turn out!

Also does anyone know if it's possible to take a bus from Port Authority down and use the return ticket to take a Jersey City Bus (Academy) back home?

Have fun & Good Luck!

Posted on: 2009/6/17 13:30
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