Newark: Real Estate, Development, News, & Politics

**66nexus** · February 28th, 2012, 01:07 PM

News12 has the better explanation: "Newark 'neighborhood' opens first supermarket in decades" (which makes MUCH more sense)

Saw pics of interior/exterior shots, looks like a Whole Foods as far as aesthetics. Hopefully they can keep it that way (the way Fine Fare did)

**alex@newark** · February 28th, 2012, 06:49 PM

Newark's Central Ward Gets First New Supermarket in 22 Years

Posted February 27, 2012
10

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A new, 31,000 square foot Food Depot supermarket is opening Tuesday, February 28 at 75 First St in Newark, NJ, the first full supermarket to open in Newark's Central Ward in 22 years.

The Food Depot, one of several new grocers to open in the City this year, is located in a rehabilitated warehouse which was vacant for over 10 years. The owners, Orfilio Chaviano Jr. and Nectalier Gonzalez III, have over 40 years of combined experience in the grocery industry.

Newark, like many urban markets, is under-grocered. Recent analyses show that approximately 38% of grocery dollars leave the City. New and redeveloped food stores can anchor neighborhood revitalization efforts, boost the tax base, create jobs and drive traffic to existing retail.

"One of BCDC's top priorities is working strategically to open three new grocery stores over the next 18 months in the City of Newark," said Lyneir Richardson, CEO, Brick City Development Corporation. BCDC's Fresh Foods Program focuses on both small grocers and supermarkets.

The total project costs for the Food Depot is $8 million. BCDC provided a $2 million loan though the BCDC/UEZ Loan Fund and Crown Bank provided the balance of the debt financing. Food Depot Supermarket will create over 100 jobs.

"We have a 3-person team charged with site selection, analysis and control; developer identification and attraction of national and local grocery store operators; and assisting with entitlements, permitting, and project financing to ensure that new stores come on line," saidRichardson.

NewarkWORKS provided funding to The Urban League of Essex County to recruit and train Newark residents for employment at Food Depot Supermarket.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/new_supermarket_opens_in_newar.html

**Nexis4Jersey** · February 29th, 2012, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by 66nexus

News12 has the better explanation: "Newark 'neighborhood' opens first supermarket in decades" (which makes MUCH more sense)

Saw pics of interior/exterior shots, looks like a Whole Foods as far as aesthetics. Hopefully they can keep it that way (the way Fine Fare did)

It looks better then what we have in my town , are there any more Grocery stores planned? East ward?

**Nexis4Jersey** · February 29th, 2012, 09:52 AM

Some of my Newark skyline photos....I will be doing a large Newark update during the Cherry Blossom festival of the North ward , Central Ward and East Ward.

DSCN2115 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

DSCN2116 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

DSCN2118 by Nexis4Jersey09, on Flickr

**66nexus** · February 29th, 2012, 04:17 PM

^Those shots are nice. I love how that end of Harrison's waterfront faces the Newark skyline. I wish the southern end of Harrison would build up (I know it will eventually). Was happy to see they're still working on Newark's riverfront park (the one close to Penn Plaza)

**66nexus** · February 29th, 2012, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

It looks better then what we have in my town , are there any more Grocery stores planned? East ward?

Not sure. From the article alexnewark posted it says that two more grocers are on the way. I'm not sure if they're talking about the one planned for Teacher's Village and the one planned by the new Market St. development.

**Newarkguy** · February 29th, 2012, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by liamnwk

I would love to see a Target like that in Newark but look at the area in the picture and then look at Newark. Newark looks all bombed out while the picture looks like all the buildings are fresh/clean and new development in a safe area

The only thing in "Newark" that looks like those condos is over at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/90...91772849_zpid/

The store fronts to this day are all still empty and its still not safe to walk around that area at night. Car are locked and gated down due to high incidences of theft and break ins especially with people coming off the light rail.

Flip side is Harrison is almost there as the new condos (rentals) by the Path are really nice and the store fronts are already being snapped up. Heck even 1180's store fronts are all 100% vacant.

Problem is, the only way to revitalize lower Roseville and Downtown, is WIDE SCALE MULTI BLOCK redevelopment. Just like Mulberry street plan called for.
Anything isolated, no matter how big, will be devoured by the sorrounding decay. I fear the same will happen to the 3rd and Broad st development, thanks to Broadway village projects. Look at the Richardson dormant project. NEXT TO THE ARENA!!! I tell you its racism on both sides.
Developers are skittish on building in a heavy hispanic and Black city. Look at the 1992-early2008 real estate boom .
Developers built EVERYWHERE in Hoboken,JC, New Brunswick, Red Bank, hell! Even tiny Rahway, Union got something! They would not touch Newark. By the time they "supposedly" got interested, REAL ESTATE CRASH. Go figure. City Hall with its permit blocking, gov housing prefference , anti white "outsiders" Gentrification talk gave developers excuses to walk away from Newark.

**alex@newark** · March 1st, 2012, 05:30 PM

Cory Booker claims jobless rate fell two percentage points in Newark last year

Share this story:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker appears on WBGO's "Newark Today" on Feb. 23. Go to 14:41 to hear his comments on the city's unemployment rate.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said his city is doing "unprecedented things to move forward" despite wrenching economic circumstances.
Asked in a radio interview last week about the State of the City address he’ll deliver today, Booker said Newark’s population is rising, development projects are going up downtown and businesses are moving to town. Amid that growth, the mayor also highlighted a trend moving in the opposite direction: the city’s jobless rate is shrinking, he claimed.

"We've seen in this last year tremendous things happening, including our unemployment rate come down 2 percentage points," Booker said on WBGO’s "Newark Today" on Feb. 23.

A spokeswoman for the mayor provided data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from January 2011 to December 2011 to support Booker’s claim. During that time frame the unemployment rate in Newark fell from 15.9 percent to 13.9 percent.

But that comparison has flaws. The data on unemployment rates in New Jersey’s cities are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations such as holiday and summer hiring.
Garrett Schmitt, an economist with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said for that reason, the agency recommends comparing annual averages or year-over-year data, meaning one month from one year to the same month the next year, when using nonseasonally adjusted data..

The average annual rate for 2011 is not yet available. From December 2010 to December 2011, the most recent month of federal data available, Newark’s unemployment rate fell from 14.6 percent to 13.9 percent, or 0.7 percentage points.

"The Mayor’s statement was 100% true and factually accurate. The unemployment rate in Newark in 2011 fell by 2 percentage points," Adam Zipkin, the city’s deputy mayor for economic and housing development, said in a statement. "This is significant because it is the first time in seven years that Newark has seen the unemployment rate fall within a calendar year by two full percentage points. While experts, economists and others may want to color, shape or contextualize that fact with other statistics over different time periods, it is still a fact. Just as when monthly job and unemployment numbers are reported broadly on national networks, many people will have comments on those facts but the numbers themselves are indisputable."

It’s worth noting that using the time frame Booker’s office cited, a similar claim about the jobless rate could have been made in 2010. That year, the unemployment rate fell from 16.1 percent in January to 14.6 percent in December.

But the next month, in January 2011, the rate jumped to 15.9 percent. That’s not an isolated incident. Since 2006, the unemployment rate has increased in January from the previous December.

Our ruling

Booker claimed that in the past year, Newark’s unemployment rate fell two percentage points.

A spokeswoman for the Newark mayor cited nonseasonally adjusted federal data from January 2011 to December 2011 to support his claim. Within that time frame, the unemployment rate fell two percentage points. But an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said his agency recommends comparing year-over-year data or annual averages when using statistics that are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.

From December 2010 to December of last year, the city’s unemployment rate dropped 0.7 percentage points, not two percentage points.

**newark will rise** · March 1st, 2012, 09:12 PM

The new supermarket is good for newark, however it must be kept clean and safe so newark residents and visitors will have a good experance when they food shop.

Originally Posted by alex@newark

Cory Booker claims jobless rate fell two percentage points in Newark last year

Share this story:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker appears on WBGO's "Newark Today" on Feb. 23. Go to 14:41 to hear his comments on the city's unemployment rate.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said his city is doing "unprecedented things to move forward" despite wrenching economic circumstances.
Asked in a radio interview last week about the State of the City address he’ll deliver today, Booker said Newark’s population is rising, development projects are going up downtown and businesses are moving to town. Amid that growth, the mayor also highlighted a trend moving in the opposite direction: the city’s jobless rate is shrinking, he claimed.

"We've seen in this last year tremendous things happening, including our unemployment rate come down 2 percentage points," Booker said on WBGO’s "Newark Today" on Feb. 23.

A spokeswoman for the mayor provided data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from January 2011 to December 2011 to support Booker’s claim. During that time frame the unemployment rate in Newark fell from 15.9 percent to 13.9 percent.

But that comparison has flaws. The data on unemployment rates in New Jersey’s cities are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations such as holiday and summer hiring.
Garrett Schmitt, an economist with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said for that reason, the agency recommends comparing annual averages or year-over-year data, meaning one month from one year to the same month the next year, when using nonseasonally adjusted data..

The average annual rate for 2011 is not yet available. From December 2010 to December 2011, the most recent month of federal data available, Newark’s unemployment rate fell from 14.6 percent to 13.9 percent, or 0.7 percentage points.

"The Mayor’s statement was 100% true and factually accurate. The unemployment rate in Newark in 2011 fell by 2 percentage points," Adam Zipkin, the city’s deputy mayor for economic and housing development, said in a statement. "This is significant because it is the first time in seven years that Newark has seen the unemployment rate fall within a calendar year by two full percentage points. While experts, economists and others may want to color, shape or contextualize that fact with other statistics over different time periods, it is still a fact. Just as when monthly job and unemployment numbers are reported broadly on national networks, many people will have comments on those facts but the numbers themselves are indisputable."

It’s worth noting that using the time frame Booker’s office cited, a similar claim about the jobless rate could have been made in 2010. That year, the unemployment rate fell from 16.1 percent in January to 14.6 percent in December.

But the next month, in January 2011, the rate jumped to 15.9 percent. That’s not an isolated incident. Since 2006, the unemployment rate has increased in January from the previous December.

Our ruling

Booker claimed that in the past year, Newark’s unemployment rate fell two percentage points.

A spokeswoman for the Newark mayor cited nonseasonally adjusted federal data from January 2011 to December 2011 to support his claim. Within that time frame, the unemployment rate fell two percentage points. But an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said his agency recommends comparing year-over-year data or annual averages when using statistics that are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.

From December 2010 to December of last year, the city’s unemployment rate dropped 0.7 percentage points, not two percentage points.

**alex@newark** · March 1st, 2012, 10:18 PM

Mayor Booker Says Newark Is on the Rebound

By Heather Haddon

Claudio Papapietro for The Wall Street JournalNewark Mayor Cory Booker in his City Hall office.

In his sixth State of the City speech Thursday night, Newark Mayor Cory Booker said that the city is starting to rebound after a crippling recession and has $1 billion in development on tap for the next two years.
“Newark is flexing its muscles,” Booker said during the 40-minute speech at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Booker highlighted two hotels being constructed in the city, along with college housing, entertainment and loft projects coming to downtown.
“We find ourselves now a stronger city,” he said. “We can take pride that Newark, N.J., in a time of urban despair, has become a city of emergent hope.”
He acknowledged that crime increased between 2010 and 2011, but said that the trend was starting to reverse. Gun recovery is up 108% this year, Booker said, and the city will expand a nationally recognized violence deterrence program to other neighborhoods this year.
He also gave his support to a tenure reform bill that is now being considered by the state Legislature. The bill is set to have a hearing in Trenton on Monday.
And he rallied Municipal Council members to get behind his city budget, including cutting their own salaries. To sweeten the pot, he pledged that there would no “significant layoffs” or furloughs in 2012 for the first time in three years.
“Here in Newark we have seen tough times before, so the last six years we as a city have rolled up our sleeves,” he said.
Booker is midway in his second term as mayor of New Jersey’s biggest city, and though a rising Democratic star nationally, he said last week that he could see himself run for a third term.
Newark does not have term limits for mayor, and most past heads of the city have run for several terms. Former mayor Sharpe James served five four-year terms until he stepped down in 2006.
Newark is starting to bounce back from the recession, though the recovery is slow. The city had an unemployment rate of 13.9% in December 2011. After rising steadily in the early 2000s, building permits plummeted from 2,059 in 2006 to 224 in 2010, according to U.S. Census figures.
The city has had to be more creative about securing financing for big projects, including tapping lucrative state subsidies. And beginning last year, long stalled projects began to move forward, Booker said.
Ted Zengari, a Newark-based lawyer working on several projects in the pipeline for the city, also agreed that the city’s stalled development is turning a corner.
“Within a matter of months I think there will be more cranes up in the air,” he said.
Booker sat down with The Wall Street Journal in advance of his State of the City speech on Thursday. Here are some excerpts from the discussion:
Where is Newark today compared to when you first took office?
Booker: We are seeing development that we haven’t seen in generations. It’s the first time in 40 years we are building downtown hotels. It the first time in 20 years you are seeing office towers begin to move back into our city … for years the headlines was always that companies were leaving Newark. Now you have national and international companies and corporation moving to Newark.
What kind of housing development is happening in Newark?
There is this creation of new neighborhoods within downtown … We have well over 100 units of new housing being snatched up quicker than I imagined. You have two major loft projects that have been swept up quickly.
Who is moving to Newark?
There’s something attractive to being part of a city that is starting to charge back and has that kind of excitement. You are seeing the artist community has started to increase. You are seeing gay and lesbian families start to increase … you are seeing students starting to stay after graduating …. We’ve had a boom in college expansions.
I can beat my friends to Manhattan through public transportation to downtown than those from the Upper East Side. It’s that close and convenient.
How did Newark deal with the recession?
It’s had to operate under tough fiscal times. What we have done isn’t just cry and complain and blame. We’ve had to make the toughest decisions since the Gibson administration in the ‘70s. Find me another government that cut about 25% of its employees …. and still during that time, we’ve increased tax collections. We’ve increased efficiencies in our departments …. and we’ve begin to massively expand the way that government is serving families that risk.
Do you feel like you are winning this effort against crime?
We’re making a lot of progress … there was only one other city that had a bigger drop in shootings and murders [in 2009] than we did … [In May 2010] we had one year where everything was going against us …. I blame the moral shock of laying off about 150 police officers …. there was a significant problem with guns … We’ve turned the table dramatically on gun recoveries …. People had these automatic weapons that were just spraying street corners …. It was 12 months of hell …. I really feel like we regrouped.
How long do you plan on being in Newark?
For the rest of my life. I wasn’t born here but I plan on dying here. Maybe not as quickly as some people want me to, those are political folks [laughs].
This is my city. This is where I came of age …. I’m a Newarker. In the same way people love being part of New York City, I will be part of the Newark story for the rest of my life.

**Newarkguy** · March 2nd, 2012, 08:43 PM

Originally Posted by JCMAN320

Wow this is great news but sad that the opening of a new supermarket would garner this much attention. The fact that its the first in DECADES speaks volumes of how far Newark fell.

Scroll I think you are loooking at atleast a decade before a place like that comes in.

The media ignores the Seabra supermarkets. Newark has a major Fine Fare in Ivy hill area of Newark facing maplewood. There"s Pueblo supermarket on Mt prospect avenue, where the ERIE LACKAWANNA RR crossed the avenue, 3 blocks south of Belleville.
On Broadway , next to the second river(belleville border) there is an XTRA supermarket. These are full blown supermarkets,clean and ALWAYS blocked neatly.
BUT since these are stereotyped as "Hispanic" supermarkets, non hispanics stupidly assume its "not up to par"! BTW the XTRA and Food Depot sites were owned by the late N&S discount flea chain.

IT HAS N* O *T *-BEEN 20 YEARS!!!(since Bergen street PM ( now A&PPathmark) opened) Many smaller specialty , mainly seabras, have opened.
BTW I think , In Newark"s case... C-TOWN "supermarkets (think a bodega with wider aisles)must be the absolute worst. But A&PPathmark on Ferry street is the best. I dont see Shop rite coming into Newark. Newark"s North and east wards fuel sales at the Kearny shopRite. vailsburg and east orange have Brick church shoprite. the south ward is served by the Hillsisde ShopRite on rt 22.
Besides, shopRite seems to have jumped onto the suburban highway locaton craze.

**liamnwk** · March 2nd, 2012, 09:04 PM

Respect. Considering he could of walked away by now. He gets my vote.

Originally Posted by alex@newark

Mayor Booker Says Newark Is on the Rebound

By Heather Haddon

Claudio Papapietro for The Wall Street JournalNewark Mayor Cory Booker in his City Hall office.

In his sixth State of the City speech Thursday night, Newark Mayor Cory Booker said that the city is starting to rebound after a crippling recession and has $1 billion in development on tap for the next two years.
“Newark is flexing its muscles,” Booker said during the 40-minute speech at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
Booker highlighted two hotels being constructed in the city, along with college housing, entertainment and loft projects coming to downtown.
“We find ourselves now a stronger city,” he said. “We can take pride that Newark, N.J., in a time of urban despair, has become a city of emergent hope.”
He acknowledged that crime increased between 2010 and 2011, but said that the trend was starting to reverse. Gun recovery is up 108% this year, Booker said, and the city will expand a nationally recognized violence deterrence program to other neighborhoods this year.
He also gave his support to a tenure reform bill that is now being considered by the state Legislature. The bill is set to have a hearing in Trenton on Monday.
And he rallied Municipal Council members to get behind his city budget, including cutting their own salaries. To sweeten the pot, he pledged that there would no “significant layoffs” or furloughs in 2012 for the first time in three years.
“Here in Newark we have seen tough times before, so the last six years we as a city have rolled up our sleeves,” he said.
Booker is midway in his second term as mayor of New Jersey’s biggest city, and though a rising Democratic star nationally, he said last week that he could see himself run for a third term.
Newark does not have term limits for mayor, and most past heads of the city have run for several terms. Former mayor Sharpe James served five four-year terms until he stepped down in 2006.
Newark is starting to bounce back from the recession, though the recovery is slow. The city had an unemployment rate of 13.9% in December 2011. After rising steadily in the early 2000s, building permits plummeted from 2,059 in 2006 to 224 in 2010, according to U.S. Census figures.
The city has had to be more creative about securing financing for big projects, including tapping lucrative state subsidies. And beginning last year, long stalled projects began to move forward, Booker said.
Ted Zengari, a Newark-based lawyer working on several projects in the pipeline for the city, also agreed that the city’s stalled development is turning a corner.
“Within a matter of months I think there will be more cranes up in the air,” he said.
Booker sat down with The Wall Street Journal in advance of his State of the City speech on Thursday. Here are some excerpts from the discussion:
Where is Newark today compared to when you first took office?
Booker: We are seeing development that we haven’t seen in generations. It’s the first time in 40 years we are building downtown hotels. It the first time in 20 years you are seeing office towers begin to move back into our city … for years the headlines was always that companies were leaving Newark. Now you have national and international companies and corporation moving to Newark.
What kind of housing development is happening in Newark?
There is this creation of new neighborhoods within downtown … We have well over 100 units of new housing being snatched up quicker than I imagined. You have two major loft projects that have been swept up quickly.
Who is moving to Newark?
There’s something attractive to being part of a city that is starting to charge back and has that kind of excitement. You are seeing the artist community has started to increase. You are seeing gay and lesbian families start to increase … you are seeing students starting to stay after graduating …. We’ve had a boom in college expansions.
I can beat my friends to Manhattan through public transportation to downtown than those from the Upper East Side. It’s that close and convenient.
How did Newark deal with the recession?
It’s had to operate under tough fiscal times. What we have done isn’t just cry and complain and blame. We’ve had to make the toughest decisions since the Gibson administration in the ‘70s. Find me another government that cut about 25% of its employees …. and still during that time, we’ve increased tax collections. We’ve increased efficiencies in our departments …. and we’ve begin to massively expand the way that government is serving families that risk.
Do you feel like you are winning this effort against crime?
We’re making a lot of progress … there was only one other city that had a bigger drop in shootings and murders [in 2009] than we did … [In May 2010] we had one year where everything was going against us …. I blame the moral shock of laying off about 150 police officers …. there was a significant problem with guns … We’ve turned the table dramatically on gun recoveries …. People had these automatic weapons that were just spraying street corners …. It was 12 months of hell …. I really feel like we regrouped.
How long do you plan on being in Newark?
For the rest of my life. I wasn’t born here but I plan on dying here. Maybe not as quickly as some people want me to, those are political folks [laughs].
This is my city. This is where I came of age …. I’m a Newarker. In the same way people love being part of New York City, I will be part of the Newark story for the rest of my life.

**Newarkguy** · March 2nd, 2012, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by alex@newark

Cory Booker claims jobless rate fell two percentage points in Newark last year

Share this story:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker appears on WBGO's "Newark Today" on Feb. 23. Go to 14:41 to hear his comments on the city's unemployment rate.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said his city is doing "unprecedented things to move forward" despite wrenching economic circumstances.
Asked in a radio interview last week about the State of the City address he’ll deliver today, Booker said Newark’s population is rising, development projects are going up downtown and businesses are moving to town. Amid that growth, the mayor also highlighted a trend moving in the opposite direction: the city’s jobless rate is shrinking, he claimed.

"We've seen in this last year tremendous things happening, including our unemployment rate come down 2 percentage points," Booker said on WBGO’s "Newark Today" on Feb. 23.

A spokeswoman for the mayor provided data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from January 2011 to December 2011 to support Booker’s claim. During that time frame the unemployment rate in Newark fell from 15.9 percent to 13.9 percent.

But that comparison has flaws. The data on unemployment rates in New Jersey’s cities are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations such as holiday and summer hiring.
Garrett Schmitt, an economist with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said for that reason, the agency recommends comparing annual averages or year-over-year data, meaning one month from one year to the same month the next year, when using nonseasonally adjusted data..

The average annual rate for 2011 is not yet available. From December 2010 to December 2011, the most recent month of federal data available, Newark’s unemployment rate fell from 14.6 percent to 13.9 percent, or 0.7 percentage points.

"The Mayor’s statement was 100% true and factually accurate. The unemployment rate in Newark in 2011 fell by 2 percentage points," Adam Zipkin, the city’s deputy mayor for economic and housing development, said in a statement. "This is significant because it is the first time in seven years that Newark has seen the unemployment rate fall within a calendar year by two full percentage points. While experts, economists and others may want to color, shape or contextualize that fact with other statistics over different time periods, it is still a fact. Just as when monthly job and unemployment numbers are reported broadly on national networks, many people will have comments on those facts but the numbers themselves are indisputable."

It’s worth noting that using the time frame Booker’s office cited, a similar claim about the jobless rate could have been made in 2010. That year, the unemployment rate fell from 16.1 percent in January to 14.6 percent in December.

But the next month, in January 2011, the rate jumped to 15.9 percent. That’s not an isolated incident. Since 2006, the unemployment rate has increased in January from the previous December.

Our ruling

Booker claimed that in the past year, Newark’s unemployment rate fell two percentage points.

A spokeswoman for the Newark mayor cited nonseasonally adjusted federal data from January 2011 to December 2011 to support his claim. Within that time frame, the unemployment rate fell two percentage points. But an economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said his agency recommends comparing year-over-year data or annual averages when using statistics that are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.

From December 2010 to December of last year, the city’s unemployment rate dropped 0.7 percentage points, not two percentage points.

whats the matter, star ledger? aka "the NJ Democrat" ( as a host on NJ 101.5 fm says).....does the poor ledger have a chip on its shoulder with Booker? awwwwww sob sobing