Yeah, I've walked by there both pre-and-post opening, and it looks totally uninteresting. Maybe they'll pull themselves together.

I believe ventless fireplaces are illegal. All good wishes to CDeCoincy, but they've had some problems. I'd highly recommend having several carbon monoxide detectors (which is a good idea for everyone, anyway).

Yup, back to business as usual this weekend - trains every 35 minutes on 33rd-JSQ, ridiculously crammed at 7 pm on a Sunday. Can anyone else hear the Port Authority leadership team chortling at the poor suckers who ride their trains?

That's the one! I had no idea someone was bravely fighting that fight. While I don't find the noise that awful, it's infuriating that the PA dismisses legitimate concerns so arrogantly.

85% of Americans are "happy with their health care" because they have no idea what it really costs - they're shielded from it because they're covered by employers or by artificially-suppressed/state regulated plans. If nothing else, the ACA debacle has exposed the truth: Americans are spectacularly unhealthy, our health care costs are out of control and rising at 3x the rate of inflation. All the hoopla over websites and broken promises is just another sideshow; the simple reality is we have an unsustainable system.

I'm not thrilled to be in the same camp as Vindication (no offense, dude, but you come across as a little nasty), but he's right. All of the Minimum Essentials requirements were in the law from the beginning, for anyone who troubled to read them. I'm in the insurance industry, and we all laughed at the "you can keep it" rhetoric from the beginning. If your opinion of highly complex legislation is based on 2-minute sound bites, you kind of deserve what you got.

I've noticed it too, but I'm on a high floor and maybe it's not as obtrusive for me. It seems to be coming from the PATH equipment at Columbus and Warren (a mysterious red structure). I'd call and complain, but:
- I have no idea who to call.
- I'm sure I'd be ignored.

This woman's efforts are really admirable, and I feel like a tool for saying this, but she's misguided. What if everyone stopped by Journal Square (or Grove Plaza, for that matter) with supplies and food for the homeless? They'd look like campgrounds (and yeah, Journal Square already does).

Again, I'm not criticizing this lady, and we should all be so kind. But I'd rather see her devote her energies to a charity that supports the homeless and to advocating for housing to help them get off the streets.

Quote:

Since I started this with my comment on this person's innocent request for information...I don't care if you have a tattoo. I defend your right to have one. And yeah, I've done plenty of things I regret, but most of them left no visible scars (on me or others). I just know that there aren't many of my tastes from 30 years ago that I'd like to display on my arm now.

Better idea: Don't get a tattoo in the first place. You really believe you're going to like that drawing of a flying unicorn 30 years from now?

An artisanal breadcrumb shop.

I know there;s an unwritten rule about never saying anything positive on JCList, but the new passageway is absolutely stunning. Even my most jaded co-workers were blown away by it. The transportation hub is ridiculously overdue and criminally overpriced, but it's clearly going to be beautiful.

I saw it last night. Very enjoyable, and you'll especially like it if you're a Jeff Daniels/Newsroom fan - you can practically hear his voice in a lot of the lines.

The bedbug thing is very overblown, but it makes sense to take basic precautions. I'd avoid buying upholstered furniture, take clothes to the cleaners before taking them home. Books...I'm not sure.

People conform to the places they design. Our car culture came about because of the growth of the suburbs, where there's little marginal cost to having two or more cars per family. If our goal is to create a vibrant, walkable city where people don't NEED a car, requiring every new unit to provide parking works against that. But a previous poster is right - sometimes it's nice to have a car to zoom off to the shore. Some new urban plans include a central core of residences and businesses, with parking outside the core. In a place like that, I'd have the walkability I love AND be able to attract hot chicks.

When you're talking about the big carriers (Aetna, CIGNA, United, BCBS) there is no "good" or "bad" when it comes to provider networks - it's which one suits you best. Go to each of their websites and you can look up providers you're interested in.

One of the authors in that Times piece makes a great point - successful pedestrian malls have been created in places that had a pre-existing vibrant street life (Times Square, Boulder, etc.). We haven't reached that kind of critical mass on Newark Avenue yet. The Grove Triangle works because there are big numbers of people coming and going to PATH.

I'm not sure how closing Newark Ave. to vehicles will draw all those sorts of businesses. The Angelika is on Houston Street, one of the least pedestrian-friendly streets in Manhattan, and they seem to do just fine. Most streets-turned-pedestrian that I've seen became magnets for layabouts, miscreants and skateboarders.

To the OP: Sorry if my comment came off as defensive or angry, because yeah, that's as annoying as the JC self-hate. And I do get your point about the 5-borough snobbery; I was in Fort Greene yesterday and thought "wait, what? Housing projects, factories, the BQE....this is so much fancier than Jersey City? ".

That business model isn't restricted to China; when the Miami real estate market crashed, lots of unfinished condos were marketed as "designer-ready", meaning they were sold without finshed walls, ceilings, floors or fixtures.

Are your friends the Duke and Duchess of Windsor?? This kind of Jersey City self-hating makes me crazy. 30 years ago much of Manhattan was a crime-infested pit; only newcomers and tourists think it was always the glittery Disneyland it's now become. Tell them to get off the damn PATH and walk over. Bring beer.

If WF really opens in Newark - in other words, if this isn't pre-election hype - I'm sure they're getting a sweetheart lease that will keep their operating costs at rock-bottom. They'll be buying great PR and a buddy in the US Senate. Not a bad deal for them. And totally agree with previous posters - Newark has a loooooooong way to go before it can be called "gentrifying".

True, hospital billing structures are ridiculously byzantine. But the fact is, employers and insurers ARE paying hugely inflated prices, even after the substantial discounts they get. Very few individuals are paying the real cost of a long-term hospitalization without insurance - it's usually written off and absorbed by the paying customers. Universal coverage is an attempt to spread those costs over a bigger pool of people.

It's somewhat disingenuous to compare the US model to countries with national helathcare systems - part of the reason their costs are lower is that they can buy technology that is developed for the highly-profitable US market. If the cash cow of US medical costs went away, costs would go up all over the world.

All due respect, jerseymom, but there's a flaw in your logic. you've "self-paid" your medical expenses, but can your family absorb the cost of a $1 million cancer? A $3 million premature baby? Those costs incurred by uninsured people - not the routine medical expenses that a generally-healthy family pays - are what's crushing the system. If you're willing to let hospitals turn away people who can't pay, we could have the "freedom" you want. Since we don't do that, those of us with insurance, (or mostly our employers) are absorbing those costs. It's just plain not fair.

I've had T-Mobile for a few years. The service is fine locally, but hit-or-miss elsewhere. On the west coast, I'd have been better off with two cans and a string.

There will be a direct connection to Fulton, plus access to the World Financial Center, etc. When (if) this ridiculously-expensive project gets done, it will be great.

I had a similar problem - persistent bugs and a landlord who made half-hearted efforts to address them. I bombarded the landlord with pictures, emails, registered letters. I threatened to call the department of health and every other city agency I could think of. Basically, I made it my full-time job for two months, and finally the landlord agreed to let me out of the lease and return my deposit just to be rid of me. It sucked - I'm not confrontational by nature - but my quality of life increased 100%.

I've been to the original location in Phoenix! Judging from that experince, this will be a nice place with great service (albeit a little pricey for my tastes. Then again, I usually get my hair cut on Canal Street).

Exactly, ventilation tunnel. If you look at it closely, about 3/4 the way up it there are carved figures of PATH cars. They're actually knind of nice.