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Re: Cherry Picked is now Jane's Ice Cream
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Ugh! I was hoping this would be an actual change of ownership/management. I really want to like this place and patronize it, but every time I have tried to do so (with one exception) it is always closed. They have some sort of schedule, but they are erratic at best. I simply stopped trying after a while.
Posted on: 2019/4/15 19:08
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Re: A little history for those who weren't here back when:
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Thanks for sharing this! Really neat to see the pictures of the businesses and the people that ran and patronized them.
Posted on: 2019/4/10 21:23
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Re: First female head of PATH system says she will improve rider experience
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Say what you want, but in a way the PATH management honchos are brilliant: they have beaten the constituencies they are supposed to serve into accepting extremely subpar service and solutions by lowering the bar SO MUCH that people will accept anything as "well, it is better than nothing." For 2 or 3 years we had the limited weekend service due to cleaning of the tubes to 33rd St because of the Sandy flooding. Now we have at least one year of the same nonsense for the WTC tunnels. We have weekend service that runs every week 30 minutes and usually NOT on time. Trying to catch an early morning train at Grove Street on a weekend is like spinning a carnival wheel: will it show up on time? Or, will it show up late? Heck, will it even show up?? Will the station be mobbed? Just not worth it. Weekday trains are often filled to the brim. I often watch people get left behind at Newport because they can't get into trains that leave Grove already full. If I was living in Newport, I would either walk to Hoboken and ride from there, or ride the PATH from Newport towards JSQ and then ride back to NYC, which guarantees you a seat. Of course, that solution will cost you at least 21 minutes, but perhaps it is worth it. And, don't be so optimistic! It will not take 30 years for the PATH to get to the point of complete saturation: there are MANY new buildings going up in the JSQ area (so trains will likely arrive at Grove already full in the near future) and there is a ton of development happening in Harrison and Newark, so even those trains will likely start to get filled early on in the next few years. I am pretty certain things will get really bad in the next 10 years, or less.
Posted on: 2019/4/8 16:01
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Re: New Payroll taxes
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Actually, that is just one of several reasons why the payroll tax idea is terrible: they already know, before it was approved and before its implementation, that it will not cover the budget shortfall. So, it is a solution that does not really address the problem it is purported to solve. The real problem is profligate spending by the BOE, including sweetheart pensions and salaries, long abetted by a populace that was paying a fraction of this while the rest of the state paid for it. The only REAL solution will involve budget cuts AND a school tax increase. It is a death knell for the re-election hopes of any mayor, which is why so many city administrations have turned a blind eye to the problem. Someone else (was it Brewster?) made a good point when he mused why would the state allow this to continue while they had control of the local BOE? And, why did the state ever return control given the fiscal mismanagement?
Posted on: 2019/4/8 15:51
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Re: First female head of PATH system says she will improve rider experience
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I long ago gave up on using the PATH on weekends, and I used to love doing so. But, the aggravation is too much (frequent delays, overcrowding, limited scheduled service) and the cost differential is minimal when you factor in PATH + Subway vs. Holland Tunnel (with EZ Pass) and using on street parking once in NYC. And, if there are two or more people in the car, you definitely end up saving money by driving into NYC versus the cost of r/t PATH and Subway fares.
Posted on: 2019/4/8 13:32
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Re: New Payroll taxes
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I think the answer is CLEARLY NO.
The combined increase will be about $260, so about $10 per bi-weekly paycheck. It doesn't sound like a lot, but NJ Taxes are like death by a thousand cuts. The part I found interesting is that the total revenue from taxes exceeds, by quite a bit, the amounts being disbursed: in terms of FMLA, they collect 200 MM and disburse half that, while the disability insurance fund collects 566 MM, but pays out 405 MM. So, combined, the state is collecting ~260 MM above what it pays out. Where is that money going? Is it being "banked" (I know, laughable idea) or is it being spent on other things? I also find it somewhat unfair that a higher income person will be taxed much more, but is then capped in how much they can collect. The payments are capped at 85% of a weekly salary equivalent to ~52K / year. The state sees it fit to cap the payments to that level for everyone, but is more than happy to collect taxes on all income without limits.
Posted on: 2019/4/8 13:30
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Re: Jersey City to become First in the State to Require Illuminated, Identifiable Signage for all Ridesh
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Not just that: they provide plate number, the car's brand, model, and color, and a stock picture of the vehicle! And, they also provide a picture of the driver, and their name. No amount of legislating will effectively counterbalance people's willingness to suspend common sense and total dereliction of self-preservation.
Posted on: 2019/4/6 2:38
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Re: Fulop wants to charge NY’ers their own congestation pricing
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Your proposed solution would definitely address the issue I raised. It would of course require NJTA to relocate or remove the existing 14C toll plaza. Personally, I don't like the idea all that much, as it could impact local residents who may come home from somewhere, stop at their home for something or another, and then continue to the Holland and get dinged. But, I do agree that something could/should be done about the traffic flooding local streets. Marin Blvd is nowadays a shitshow of traffic in the mornings AND afternoons, Grand continues to be a death rally track, and the BeLa streets do get a ton of congestion in the mornings. I also think (but, dont know for sure) that there might be some regulatory and legal complications related to any profit sharing between the PA, and the local JC government, as well as the matter of getting them both to the table to discuss and agree on a plan, particularly after the truck inspections, lawsuits, and all the other trash talking that has taken place in the past few years.
Posted on: 2019/4/5 21:42
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Re: Female Jogger Slain - Body Found in Lincoln Park Lake
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LOL WUT!? Kindly point out where have I ever said such a thing? I am stridently against illegal immigration. That doesn't negate expecting intellectual honesty in a conversation in which facts and numbers are being thrown around. The problem with Yvonne's post (and previous statements on this subject, and others) is that she likes to confuse things by throwing out numbers without context, to try and bolster her argument or opinion. Her post was clearly meant to convey two ideas: that most criminals are illegal immigrants (not true) and that the illegal immigrant population in JC (and this area) is much larger than most people think or assume.
Posted on: 2019/4/5 21:34
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Re: Female Jogger Slain - Body Found in Lincoln Park Lake
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This is a perfect example of what happens when people quote numbers and facts without understanding them or their context. Something of which you are quite an expert! The Kearny jail has an unusually large percentage of non-citizens, but that is because the county has a contract with the federal government to house ICA detainees in that jail. A more informed opinion would be to understand how many of the Kearny jail prisoners are there because of crimes committed locally and are not there as part of the ICE contract. Of course, that would take time, effort, and intellectual honesty. Much easier to spout numbers without logic or reasoning.
Posted on: 2019/4/5 14:15
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Re: Fulop wants to charge NY’ers their own congestation pricing
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Of course there is a way to get this implemented, assuming in terms of technology. But, it will never happen: first of all, you would have to get the PA on board, and given the mayor's previous antics, that is not going to happen. Also, this idea would be easy to defeat: anyone wanting to cut through JC could simply shield their EZ-Pass sensor prior to getting off in a ramp that leads into JC, then unshield it when approaching the Holland Tunnel. Also, what about cars that don't use EZ-Pass?? The idea sounds good until you realize that it really would be a mess to implement and enforce.
Posted on: 2019/4/5 14:08
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Re: Jersey City’s Hot Waterfront Lands a 13-Vendor Food Hall
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Why? They are already providing free entertainment in the form of a movie.
Posted on: 2019/4/5 13:39
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Re: ‘Massive’ $120M budget shortfall is subject of special Jersey City BOE meeting
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One of the biggest challenges is the resistance by entrenched teacher unions resisting (and, outright rejecting) any oversight or outside probing of the system. We are continually told "trust us, we are the experts" or "we don't need you sticking your nose into our business". But, it IS our business. It is certainly our money. It would be interesting to see some more stats about amount of admin, non-teaching staff numbers as a ratio to students, and as a ration to teachers, and average salaries. Surely this data could be cobbled together from some source. It would be interesting to compare across districts in NJ, and against districts in other states. I am pretty sure the results will be predictable, but having cold, hard numbers would be nice.
Posted on: 2019/4/1 14:31
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Re: ‘Massive’ $120M budget shortfall is subject of special Jersey City BOE meeting
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I used to have the numbers, but I can't seem to find them. The number of support and admin staff today compared to 30+ years ago is MUCH HIGHER, even though the student population was the same or smaller. The same goes for teaching staff. Certainly, it seems like there is enough fat to trim in staff numbers. Of course, that is never a move that is liked or easy to accept.
Also, we rank in the top 10 or 20 percent of salaries, for teachers and other admin staff. Something has to give, and now that residents are being told they will be shouldering the spending ways of the BOE, people are paying attention and demanding accountability. The problem with our setup of others shouldering our budget is that it encouraged the populace at large to be apathetic about the BOE spending.
Posted on: 2019/4/1 12:01
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Re: ‘Massive’ $120M budget shortfall is subject of special Jersey City BOE meeting
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Read the article: the current budget proposal is only for a 10% increase to make up the shortfall for this year. That ~10% increase represents only a little over a 2% increase for residents in their total tax bill. The dire predictions of 100% or 200% are about what will happen in the future. This year's increase is largely mitigated by the payroll tax approved by the legislature. As pressure increases in Trenton to cut back even more in the JC BOE subsidies, and as other cuts already announced get phased in, more money will be needed to make up the shortfall.
Posted on: 2019/3/30 17:48
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Re: ‘Massive’ $120M budget shortfall is subject of special Jersey City BOE meeting
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The numbers and details are public information. The BOE claim is actually quite true: over time (and, perhaps in the near future) JC residents SHOULD expect an increase of 100% to 200% percent of their current school taxes, which currently account for about 26% of the total property tax bill, and only covers about ~17% of the BOE budget.
A 100% increase would have JC residents shouldering 33% of their local school budget, while a 200% increase would have us shouldering half of our budget. When you look at it that way, two things become clear: 1) this future tax increase is inevitable, and 2) this is not at all an outrageous expectation on the part of the state and other NJ municipalities. For far too long, JC residents have been complacent about the BOE budgets and wasteful ways because we have only had to pay 1/6 of our school taxes. When the reval came out with an outrageously low number, it became clear to other municipalities that JC was getting away with far too much, and so now everyone is asking / expecting JC to shoulder a bigger percentage of their local BOE budget. Why should JC get away with levying a 1.5% property tax, and get over 80% of their school budget subsidized, while other municipalities have to impose 2 - 3 percent property tax rates to pay for their school budgets AND ours?
Posted on: 2019/3/30 15:52
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Re: Jersey City’s Hot Waterfront Lands a 13-Vendor Food Hall
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Or, perhaps it is dead because there is nothing to attract people to the area. Cities all over the world have used food halls to attract people and developers to forgotten areas of town, and led entire revitalizations of some areas based on that. Our waterfront has what is arguably the most impressive and coveted view in the entire world, and we somehow don't capitalize on that. Heck, the most recent venture to take the "risk" of opening by the waterfront (Lutze) opened with a crappy (and overpriced!) beer selection, and still manages to get packed on sunny days. A well executed food hall concept should be able to do just as well.
Posted on: 2019/3/20 15:11
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Re: Jersey City’s Hot Waterfront Lands a 13-Vendor Food Hall
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Agreed: it is very much a "chicken/egg" situation. But, there is NO DOUBT that the right concept will bring people to Harborside outside of work hours, as Lutze is usually quite packed on Summer weekends, this despite the mediocre beer selection. A food hall is both a trendy concept and a practical solution, as it allows a group of 2 or more people to be able to patronize it and (hopefully) everyone can find something to his/her liking. In addition to Lutze, the new Hudson & Co has opened across from Taphaus, so more options should help increase foot traffic on weekends.
Posted on: 2019/3/20 15:06
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Re: Jersey City’s Hot Waterfront Lands a 13-Vendor Food Hall
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I was really excited about this until I realized it is targeted at the daytime work crowd and will only open during weekdays and closing at 7 PM.
Food halls have been a hot trend all over major European cities for years now, and most have hours that run into the late evening (at least 9 PM) and court everyone, not just a work, daytime crowd. I am really surprised Mack-Cali does not see the potential of such a concept to thrive at night (and, weekends!) by courting a large demographic.
Posted on: 2019/3/19 13:19
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Re: Sweeney proposes slapping payroll tax on Jersey City businesses to fund schools
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This ruling will (obviously) be appealed. The judge rationale is faulty. He had already made up his mind by the time the case was argued (he indicated so himself) and the ruling is based on the idea that not upholding the law as written would lead to teacher layoffs and other fiscal-crisis responses, but that has no bearing on whether something is constitutional, or not. This case will make it all the way to the State Supreme Court.
Posted on: 2019/3/17 17:21
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Re: Jersey City Drops Lawsuit Against the Friends of the Loews Jersey City Landmark Theatre
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Sometimes you really, really outdo yourself. Your comment is outrageous, and heartless. I am sure if you (or, someone close to you) had ever been raped, you wouldn't make such an outlandish comment.
Posted on: 2019/3/13 13:05
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Re: its official: entire heights must buy resident parking permit
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WUT!? There is no such thing in Paulus Hook, except for one or two blocks, along the light rail track area. The vast majority of Paulus Hook is just like the rest of JC: 2-hr limit during the day, and no limit whatsoever at night. This COULD be changing in the future, as the city is now examining/debating proposals that could extend limits to late into the evenings. Quote:
I can only speak for my neighborhood, and they *definitely* check permits in the PAD. It used to be a free-for-all in our area, until residents started to complain and demanded stepped up enforcement. The PEOs come around at least three times during the day to check on permits, and they regularly ticket vehicles that are in violation of the permit rules. One drawback to this has been that some PEOs are very, very bad at their job and will ticket vehicles with valid permits because they don't get out of their carts when checking for them, and will miss permits that can not be spotted more easily if they had stepped out. The city should follow the lead of other cities around the world, requiring PEOs to take pictures of vehicles before issuing a violation. This would server two purposes: force the PEO to get out and really examine a vehicle to properly determine if a violation has taken place, and provide proof to enforce the fine when someone goes to court to try and get out from the ticket.
Posted on: 2019/3/12 15:08
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Re: Jersey City Drops Lawsuit Against the Friends of the Loews Jersey City Landmark Theatre
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It's sad that we have to wait another year before we can see real progress in the Loews saga. The FoL is a JOKE. Another 5 years wasted with little or no progress. We could have had something by now, but instead are stuck with a theater that continues to be in disrepair and that will likely cost much more to renovate in 2020 than it would have cost if work had started in 2014. They [FoL] mean well, but they have shown (over and over!) that they are amateurs and not up to the task of getting the restoration or renovation completed.
Posted on: 2019/3/12 14:58
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Re: Jersey City school board votes to allow members with conflicts of interest to vote on teachers union
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You are SO right in drawing that analogy with healthcare: for those of us who are covered by an employer plan, healthcare costs have always been an abstract subject. About five years ago, my company switched from paying 95% of the monthly cost of employee's health insurance to 80%, which of course spurred a lot of people to examine what was being paid for and what was offered or included. And, since that first change, a small (but, very vocal) group insists on negotiating of new rates, even if it entails switching plans. If the company ever switches to paying just 50%, I am SURE that most people would be VERY invested in how the plans are negotiated and what is covered or offered. The irony is that if you ask most people on the street, they would tell you that our taxes are too high. When the reval was completed, a sizable portion of DTJC was up in arms about the new taxes, and there was no reasoning with those people. They insist they are being unfairly singled out. When it is pointed out to them that school taxes are too low and will inevitably go up in the next few years, people absolutely, positively lose their $hit and go on tirades about the unfairness of it all, this despite being told that we are only paying 16% of our budget, while other NJ residents are paying the rest. Tripling the local school tax is about the fairest thing that could happen, but people would be up in arms. The thing is... sooner or later, it will have to happen.
Posted on: 2019/3/11 18:30
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Re: Jersey City school board votes to allow members with conflicts of interest to vote on teachers union
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brewster wrote: Quote:
Posted on: 2019/3/11 14:51
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Re: Bayonne Costco opening March 7th...
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There is ABSOLUTELY ZERO reason to go to the Clifton location: their Teterboro location is, at most, an additional five minute detour for those coming from JC, and it is HUGE, and never as chaotic as the Clifton location. I stopped going to Clifton years ago, when the Teterboro location opened. If I am ever in need of pocking up wine and liquor with my other purchases, I then head down to their Edison location, which carries wine, beer, and liquor. Both the Edison and Teterboro locations have gas stations.
Posted on: 2019/3/7 22:50
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Re: Two busiest Jersey City polling places may see relief
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Definitely needed! And, not just that, they really need to get better organized. The provisional polling station set up inside BASE is actually for two different districts. The problem is that one is very busy, while the other is not, but they have everyone form in a single line, which has the unintended consequence of forcing those who could be in and out in a matter of seconds (voting in the smaller district) to have to wait for a LONG time. Each district should have its own line, so people can get in and out more quickly.
I have seen a lot of people simply give up and leave in frustration after being forced to stand in line for a long time. Our Board of Elections should do everything possible to encourage civic engagement and participation. One can't help but wonder if this is all a ploy, but I will leave that conversation for another day.
Posted on: 2019/3/5 18:41
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Re: NJ Transit Bus 126 Line - Hamilton Park Stop
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Serious question: why take the bus (with all the known issues related to delays and "no shows") when the PATH is a short walk away, and far cheaper? And, yeas, I am well aware that PATH crowding can be bad and aggravating, but I have been in NJ Transit buses out of PABT that were magnitudes worse than PATH overcrowding.
Posted on: 2019/3/2 23:52
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Re: The new $480M Wittpenn Bridge construction is a year behind. Why? It’s complicated.
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It is absolutely and undeniably INSANE that such a small bridge will take over 10 years before it is fully complete. And, of course, not just late in delivery, but also way above budget. And, then, they turn around and tell us it is a "complex" project and that winter has delayed things. As to the former, that's just like pissing all over people and telling them it is raining. It's not like this is the first bridge of its kind. As to the latter, how can anyone in NJ be caught by surprise by winter?! It happens EVERY year.
NJ is so corrupt!
Posted on: 2019/3/2 16:51
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Re: Judge OKs site plan for controversial 'micro-unit' project in Jersey City
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I feel this is nothing more than a legalized, formalized version of something people have been doing for a long time. Years ago, the NYT ran articles about this, chronicling the setups of multi-tenant apartments (usually 4 people) renting one 2-bedroom apartments and they would keep work schedules that ensured they could take turns in sharing beds, so some would work nights, and others would work regular daytime shifts. Heck, nowadays, there is a cottage industry around non-permanent walls installers that can partition a one bedroom place into sleeping quarters for 3 or 4 people. There is a lot of that happening in Newport. Not even when I was a lowly IT employee manning a help desk would I have done this, but different people have different tolerance levels for privacy (or, lack thereof) and I guess some people rather live the "big city experience" than saving money living elsewhere. I still have friends in their late 30s and early 40s that live with roommates so they can stay in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I am with caj11 - definitely not my thing.
Posted on: 2019/3/1 17:28
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