MTA Subway Riders Get New Rules

The MTA approved a new set of rules for subway riders, although the changes lack the provision on open containers such as water bottles. MTA officials insisted such bottles had been and are still prohibited. The New York Times on summing up the enforcement of oopen containers: "The police will use common sense. Riders are asked to do the same." That is of course, assuming the police have any common sense. In other news, police searching the bags of riders have still found zero bombs.

Freedom Center Banned From WTC Site

Apparently for months there has been talks of building a Freedom Center at the site of the World Trade Center. The center would have been part museum, part memorial, and in either case, many people who lost friends and relatives saw it as offensive. The project has been effectively killed by a grass roots effort.

We have to say we're a bit dissappointed, not because we really wanted to see a Freedom Center, but becasue such a site would likely have brought people to lower Manhattan even on the weekends when the area is essentially empty. Since the WTC is an important transit hub Hudson County residents use to enter the city, we think encouraging activity of any kind at the site is important. And everyone knows that the only way to get the MTA to provide better weekend subway service to the WTC stop where the PATH terminates is to offer something to attract tourists, who the MTA seems to think are the only people who ride the subway.

Its Tea Time

For those of you who embrace independent coffee shops and are quite happy not to have a local Starbucks, chceck out the review of the Janam Indian Tea Shop in the Hudson Current.

"It is definitely a neighborhood shop. People kept popping in to say hello to the friendly counter girl"

City To Spend $20,000 On Embankment Hopes

The elevated sixth street embankment that has recieved quite a bit of attention as developer Steve Hyman attempts to replace the structure with condos. The land was sold to them by by Conrail and now the city is spending $20,000 to study whether the sale of the land was legal. The city seems to be at least placating those arguing for building a park on the property. Proponents of preserving the lot want either as a ground level park or one modeled on a similar elevated rail line proposed for Manhattan. People against the proposed condos have been rallied by Embankment.org, a website who's mission is saving the old rail line.

"Restaurant Row" Could Be Coming

For a while now, there has been talk of creating a restaurant row in Jersey City, including late night dinning. Jersey City Vibe discusses the current issues facing the city council.

Can You Hear Me Now? NJ Transit Promised Better PA System

Hoboken Terminal is on the List of stations set to recieve improvements to the public address systems by NJ Transit. Anyone who has ridden NJ Transit knows that often they must announce delayed trains, and almost inevitably, these announcements are garbled beyond recognition. The new system will not be any clearer.

Hoboken To Renters: Drop Dead, Next Week

Hobken's on going debate over rent control has been delayed. Renters in two family homes should be particularly concerned by changes in the rules as those tenants can be denied renewal of their leases under state law.

Hoboken's Budget Broken, Again

It seems that Hoboken's financial situation has not much improved from last year. Is anyone still surprised?

Burning Terminal Delays Trains

Train service in and out of Hoboken was suspended when the roof caught fire. The roof, the roof, the roof is afire.

Watch What You Say...

Mr. Snitch has pointed us to a new blog: Overheard In Hoboken. We think this could be a great addition to Hudson County blogosphere, though we'll keep in mind it existence the next time we decide to get sloshed and start shouting things in downtown Hoboken.

The Trump Top Ten

Dojo-Mojo has created "The Top 10 Reasons Donald Trump's Coming To Town" in response to his appearence and announcement that the Trump name will soon adorn "the tallest residential tower in New Jersey."

Hoboken Home To 92 "Firsts"; Museum Dedicated To Such Things Makes it 93

Hoboken has a lot of history. Even most of the drunken yuppies spilling out of one of Hoboken's bars could tell you that Hoboken was first in Baseball. The Hoboken Historical Museum is celebrating all of Hoboken's firsts, like zippers, steamboats, t-rails, patents, and much much more. Fun times.

Hoboken Renters: Drop Dead, Again

In the continuing saga of Hoboken's proposed rent control law changes, it seems the city is looking to strip tenants of two family homes of the protection. The Jersey Journal sums up nicely just exactly how well thought out the proposal is:

"It is unclear how many people would be affected by the proposal, because city officials wouldn't say how many such homes are in the Mile Square City. In fact, city officials wouldn't say if they'd done any research to gauge the potential impact."

Indeed, it seems Hoboken's government is moving along to push out the last of the under priviledged-- i.e. poor people. We would be more surprised by this if many elected officials in Hudson county weren't also landlords.

More On Trump Plaza, Still No Slot Machines

Yesterday we mentioned that Trump was coming to Jersey City. The project had previously been labled Harborspire, under development by Applied Development. Now that metro homes has taken over, the site seems to have gotten a slight redesign, although architects' renderings are often misleading so to our untrained eye, the buildings may not be any different.

In classic Trump-esque style, "The lobby will be an extravagant two-story structure", which we take to mean will be over the top and gaudy. But, we suppose, some people like this sort of thing.

Grove Pointe Moving Forward

Anyone who has been around the Grove Street PATH station in the past few weeks have probably heard the pilings being hammered into the ground for Grove Pointe, a new mixed use residential tower being built across from the station. Jersey City Vibe has details to whats going on inside, including some architectural plans and composite photos of what the site will look like after completion.

Trump to New York: Your Fired!

The end is near for Jersey City residents hoping to preserve some sense of class and sophistication as king of gaudy Donald Trump prepares his vision of Jersey City with a new Trump Plaza in the heart of the downtown. The best thing we can say about the project is that Trump is on board with Dean Geibel who last year won several Smart Growth awards from the state of New Jersey. Of course, Geibel's company, Metro Homes, is not too popular at the moment as they look to turn the Sixth Street embankment into row houses. In either case, the Trump plaza will be yet another of the "tallest residential towers in New Jersey," a title that has been popular with Hudson County buildings in recent years.

Via Dojo-Mojo

Old and Busted Buildings Revealed

Its hard to imagine that with real estate prices what they are and the ever rising forest of steel and glass skyscrapers sprouting from every empty lot that there are still old brick buildings left along the Hudson coast. But there are. And now, their secrets have been revealed by the JC Reporter. Buidlings include Lackawanna Warehouse and Viaduct, 'Record Building', Yardley Building, and Weehawken Water Tower.

Hoboken Says Landlords Allowed To Rape and Pillage Renters

The city of Hoboken is going to change rent control ordinances limiting the liability of landlords who overcharge tenants. As things are now, renters can seek retribution for landlords who illegally raise rents, indefinately. Under the proposed rule changes, renters would have only two years to seek reimbursements before forfeiting thousands of dollars in back rent. In other news, your rent is going up, again.

Tenants Beat Wrecking Ball, Barely

Residents of another first street building raced to carry their belongings out of a building slated for demolition, literally as the wrecking ball took its first swing. Police were needed to stop the demolition long enough for residents to retrieve their belongings. Not missing a beat, the Jersey Journal uses the opportunity to once again remind readers that artists were forcibly removed from 111 First Street.

NY Times Gives Menedez Reach Around

The ever-on-top-of-the-news New York Times has a fluff piece on Hudson County Congressman Bob "hope to take Jon Corzine's Senate Seat" Menendez. The article is quite generous when talking about Menendez saying things like "after decades of public service" and "New Jersey will be represented by a rising Democratic Party star."

Of course, while the article notes two other congressman are looking seriously at Corzine's senate seat if he were to win Drumthwacket in November, the truth of the matter is all of New Jersey's Democratic Congressional delegation, with the exception of Rush Holt, have made airs of running. All of this of course, is making the assumption that Corzine, a Hoboken resident, wins in November.

Finally, in the infinite wisdom of the New York Times, the writers have glossed over the influence Glenn Cunningham's death has had on Menendez's most recent influx of power, which, without, would have left the Congressman a much weaker political force to go after a statewide office.

Closed Streets Not Needed, Says Judge

111 First Street has had on going legal troubles between the city and its owners and a bunch of artists the owners kicked out. Recently, the owners closed the streets to prevent injuries if the building were to collapse, and now a judge has ruled that the road closures are not necessary and the owners should fix the foundation if they fear the building will fall. We say, Enough is Enough.

Sure, its a terrible shame that a number of artists were removed from their workspaces and homes. Certainly, it would be great if the building had been refurbished just as the city wanted and turned into the crown jewel of the arts district. But let's be honest here: an decrepit empty building is not doing city residents any good. The developer has demonstrated that he can prolong the redevelopment process even longer. City officials need to conceed that despite their best efforts, and best intentions, the city would be better off with a new housing and retail project than having an empty building blighting the heart of the arts district. As it is now, we forsee 111 First street making headlines for next decade.

Artists Finally Face Lottery For Arts District

The first eight rental units offered at a discounted rate for artists will finally find renters through a lottery, nearly a year after the city took the time to designate an artists' district. Confused officials have started calling the area "SoHo West," thinking that there are still artists in the real SoHo. Other areas of the city will soon be designated "Hipster District," "Yuppie District," and "Guys Who Think They're Still Part of A Fraternity District."

Hoboken: Land Of Beautiful People

Perhaps you've been lulled into believing California is the playground of America's beautiful -- hey, we watch The O.C. too -- but as we've suspected all along, pretty people can be found without going further west than our side of the Hudson River:

Eurotrash writes-- at 10am on a Sunday, the streets are already crowded with jogging smooth-skinned stepford bachelorettes

And that's not all. Don't forget the in unit washer / dryer combos.

Via Curbed

Today's Invasive Bag Search Brought To You By "Your Name Here"

The Port Authority announced new programs for "revenue enhancement" that involve advertising agencies and sponsorship programs, or in simple enlgish, more ads are going to popping up in around Port Authority properties including PATH trains. Port Authority officials have cited the need for increased secruity measures since 9/11 for higher expenses, creating the need to explore new revenue options. In other news, police are still searching bags daily on PATH trains finding a total of zero bombs.

Hoboken Council Split On Engineer Appointment

The Hoboken city council appointed Schoor DePalma Engineer for the city in a spolit vote. Several Schoor DePalma employees made contributions in the last election cycle, and the splite vote may be a signal that they just weren't generous enough. On the other hand, Mayor Robert's may just have been upset that the engineer wasn't named Robert.

Fulop: Fit or Flop?

Jersey City Vibe ponders freshman councilman Steven Filop's recent activities.

Twin Towers of Light

Over the weekend, the towering pair of spotlights returned to the former World Trade Center site, producing a powerful reminder of events four years ago.

Dojo-Mojo
Genius Lessons

Pier C Park Could Be Ready As Early As 2273

Hoboken's Pier C was razed in 2002. Since then, ongoing proposals have included turning the site into a park with money from the Port Authority. The project is still on track, though at this rate, residents should expect the park to completed sometime next century, maybe.

Friday Night To Be Fun, Artists Promise

The Jersey City Arts community seems to be doing well despite the encroachment of yuppy filled condos on the downtown arts district. JCFridays has setup a number of events on Friday, September 9th, featuring exhibitions from a whole range of mediums.

Giant Plastic Comb Gets Foundation At WTC; PATH Riders Apathetic

The ground was broken yesterday for the new World Trade Center PATH station. The station has gone under several revisions since it was first announced, least important of all is the design has gone from a dramatic steal and glass sculpture to a much less aesthetic pile of steal.

Also further demonstrating animosity between the Port Authority and the MTA, the R and W line that connects with the World Trade Center at Courtland street is out of commission for months, at all times. Further, the promised connections between the downtown subway stops on the 4, 5, 1, E and the rest of the mess around the WTC has not been finalized, meaning the MTA could still decide to ignore the obvious need of connecting these stations. Bye, bye transit hub.

Change Coming To Hoboken Board of Ed, Spare Change Still Needed to Fill Budget Gaps

The Hoboken Board of Education is making changes as promised by Mayor Roberts. The word of the day is "Change". We have to wonder if the folks in Trenton are considering the word "Change" too-- like changing Hoboken's status from Abbott District now that a million dollars doesn't get you a one bedroom apartment anymore.

Fulop to Drunks: Not In My Backyard

Councilman Steve Fulop wants to ban the sale of single beers in downtown Jersey City, hoping to reduce panhandlers. Business owners of course are outraged that city would limit a lucrative business. We tend to think that its great the city is trying to address the issue of panhandlers, but think they are going about it all the wrong way.

First of all, preventing the sale of single beers will not prevent the sale of beer to panhandlers. Instead, pandhandlers will simply buy larger amounts of alcohol, and so instead of merely having a buzz, the streets will be filled with drunk pandhandlers. Second, the police should instead enforce open container laws, which would do more and impact businesses less.

Lastly, a greater police presence in the downtown business districts would do more to reduce pandhandling then ceasing the sale of single beers. Instead of wasting valuable police manpower searching a few yuppies' duffle bags as they go into the PATH, why not put the police on the street where they actually will do some good?