Jersey City Rising

[tbal]

Interesting article about Aquablu. But does the author of that article even realize that they have already constructed the first two floors of this thing!?!?! Why the frig do they even need an abatement?

[InsideScoop]

tbal, re-read the article CAREFULLY. The one who wants the "Abatement" is the City because it enables them to keep all the tax money instead of sharing with the County. The developers don't care who they pay it to.

But unlike conventional taxes, which the city has to share with local schools and the county, the city would get to keep all of these payments, McCann and city officials said.

This is a perfect example of the fallacy of 'abatements' in Jersey City. Jersey City does not offer real abatements like NY's Section 421 Abatement Program. Jersey City offers "Long Term PILOTS" in which the developer is required to pay more than conventional taxes and the City doesn't have to share the winnings with the rest of the County.

[tbal]

(Taken on this rainy Thursday afternoon):

More equipment was dropped off at 380 Newark Ave today (as the Nacirema demo container was removed from 361 Newark Ave after about a year of sitting at that site).

From the corner of Sixth and Division streets:



The parking lot surface should be gone within a week or so:



Foundations for the former auto repair shop are being excavated:



As you can see from the photos below taken along Second and Merseles streets, the Matzel & Mumford site is finally seeing some action. Several penetrations through the pavement on First Street were performed in the past week in preparation for major work to begin:





Viewing the site from Second Street:



On Baldwin Ave, a decent-sized lot has been formed by the removal of two buildings (I have no idea regarding what's going to go at this site though):



Finally, I'll leave you guys with a view of the new entrance to The Beacon, and a view of Downtown from this entrance. The Freedom Tower will stand tall just beyond where Columbus Tower I is in the center of the second photo below:

[macmini]

JC to Newark: Move over?


While some Jersey City officials say their development-heavy city is in line to overtake Newark as the state's largest, population estimates released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau would seem to indicate otherwise. The numbers, however, do not fully take into account the building boom occurring along Jersey City's waterfront.

Newark's population checks in at 281,402, an 8,000-person gain from the population recorded in the 2000 Census. Jersey City's population estimate is 241,789, a modest 1,000-person gain from the last official Census. Both numbers are estimated populations as of July 1, 2006.

According to a spokesman from the Census Bureau, the population estimates were based on building permits issued by Dec. 31, 2005 and took into account buildings that were set to be completed by July 1, 2006; the figures project that one resident is added per new unit of construction.

Despite the modest gain Jersey City recorded in comparison to Newark, the former is indisputably in the midst of a larger-scale building boom than its neighbor to the west.


Several large high-rise buildings are currently under construction in Jersey City, including Donald Trump's two-tower Trump Plaza Jersey City, which is slated to have around 850 condos; an 800-unit tower from K. Hovanian; and a mammoth complex called The Beacon. A new neighborhood, Liberty Harbor North, is also rising in downtown Jersey City, and dozens of smaller-scale projects have been completed or are under way. A Census spokesman said none of these buildings would have been included in the numbers released last week.

The construction boom has led Jersey City officials like Councilman Steven Fulop to suggest that the Garden State's perennial Avis would overtake Newark's Hertz by the 2010 Census. Newark developers dispute this notion, saying that the city is beginning to experience a building boom as well. Developer Arthur Stern recently completed a 35-story luxury apartment tower a block from Newark's Penn Station, the first luxury development in the city's downtown in years. The building has been renting steadily to young professionals and grad students.

Stern, head of Cogswell Realty Group, has announced plans for other big projects in downtown Newark that he says will introduce 3,000 new residential units along with 200,000 square feet of retail and 2,500 parking spots. Stern says the proposed developments will take seven years to complete and should spark other developments so that the city maintains its status as the state's largest.

The Census will release population estimates based on data through July 1 of this year in 2008. By John Celock

[JerzResident]

LOL @ JC trying to take our spot. That's a no no.

[JCMAN320]

We still are the better city :P

[66nexus]

We still are the better city :P

The better city as far as new developments perhaps. I love Jersey City but Newark has always been larger and seems to have more of its own identity. Newark has been a much larger city before. JC may surpass Newark eventually but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen by the 2010 census. It may be close with no Cuban cig

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-like-phoenix/

Granted, JC didn't hit 250k+...yet (matter of time), but to climb above Newark while 2010 is less than 3 years away is in no way a small feat. It's not like they're neck and neck at only 5-10k people apart

[JCMAN320]

Jersey City has an identity, in order to appreciate you must know our cities history which is rich in it.

http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/entries.htm

Look at those entries you will get a deeper apprecitation for Jersey City:

-The oldest permaent European settlement in New Jersey; Bergen Village (now Bergen Square.)
-The oldest continious site of education in the country PS 11.
-The oldest church and congreation in the state in Old Bergen Church
-The first bank in New Jersey with the Provident Bank on Washington St.
-A major battle in the Revolutinary Way at the Battle of Paulus Hook on Aug 29, 1777 led by Major Lighthorse Harry Lee
-The Apple Tree House from the Village of Bergen where Geo. Washington and Genreal Lafayette met to discuss battle plans and Lafayette was later awarded a staff from that tree with the engraving regarding the meeting of him and Washington that is now in a museum in France.
-The Hilton-Holden house which had all four routes of the underground railroad converege there. It is in great conditon today and is under consideration to become a muesum.
-The Dempsy-Carpenter fight occured at Boyle's Thirty 30 acres the present site of Hudson County Tech School down the street from the Beacon. It was the first million dollar card fight ever and helped elevate boxing into a major sport.
-The Cunard Lines started on the Jersey City Waterfront and there is a major memorial in Bayview cemmetary dedicated to workers from there who perished.
-Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier at Roosevelt Stadium
-Dr. Martin Luther King getting a docterate from my college, Saint Peter's College
-The Loews Jersey Theatre where Frank Sinatra saw Bing Crosby perfrom and got inspired to start a singing carrer.

etc.... Check that site you will see how illustrious Jersey City's past REALLY is.

[66nexus]

JC's illustrous past is indisputable, but by identity I meant the 'face' of the city. Which a lot of times gets grouped in with NYC (which I wouldn't necessarily consider a bad thing), but sometimes can mar its own image. That whole 4th of July Hudson River thing was ridiculous but I'll save that for your other thread though lol

[JCMAN320]

I see your point when coming from the West NYC's and JC's skyline mesh. The 4th of July thing again your right was silly lol and that thread is doing well enough without me adding fuel to the fire lol.

The best way to see the "face" of Jersey City is once you cross the Newark Bay Bridge and you continue on the extension north towards the Holland Tunnel you get to see JC on both sides of you Downtown and LSP to your right and JSQ and McGinley Square area and the Beacon rising to you left.

It is simply beautiful.

I think as JC grows and improves, it's identity and face and will become more distinquishable.

[66nexus]

Agreed. But I think that the best way to view the face of JC is from Lower Manhattan, the same way the arguably best view of NYC is from Exchange Place. The GS building has an undeniable presence and I was reading you guy's earlier post about GS building a second 30-story tower. I've also seen the lights on the upper floors of the GS building (as I believe you mentioned earlier) from the Newark(west) side. Just hope its a sign of things to come

[JerzResident]

We still are the better city :P

for now

[ianmac47]

No more Newport Coverage:

So I was getting some photos for the ol' photoblog this morning and when I was down in Newport snapping a few pictures of Aqua, the rent-a-cops sent me on my, saying I couldn't take photos of from Newport property. So for now this is the last update for the Newport properties that aren't visible from public access points.

http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssix...bels/Aqua.html

[TimmyG]

That stinks. Where was the picture taken from exactly? Did you go through a gate or something?

[ianmac47]

Nope. I don't trespass for any of the photos. It was from the sidewalk of Newport Parkway. I also asked about going to the waterfront walkway, but the rent-a-cops didn't like that either.