Jersey City Rising

**JCMAN320** · February 23rd, 2007, 12:31 PM

Ianmac no I don't thi nk you were dissin I just have such a passion and love for Jersey City that sometimes I get a bit overzealous. Also klig time to for me to enlighten my NY friends across the river.

Sinata was born in Hoboken and raised, but got inspired to start a musical carrer by watchin Bing Crosby perform at the Loew's Jersey Theatre on JSQ. Also he married a JC girl and lived with her in JC on Audubon Ave for over a decade, 6 blocks from where I live, and got married in Jersey City and had his daughter Nancy Sinatra at the old JC Medical Center, now the Beacon.

Sinatra has deep roots in Hoboken as well as Jersey City!!

That was JCMan's neat o' JC stat of the day.

**JCMAN320** · February 23rd, 2007, 01:20 PM

SUITE DEAL: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Hudson hotels luring NYC visitors with better prices, view

Thursday, February 22, 2007
By DORINE BETHEA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Whether it's for business or pleasure, travelers to New York City have discovered Hudson County.

The choice of hotels in Hudson County ranges from luxury hotels overlooking the Hudson River - such as the Hyatt Regency Jersey City and the Sheraton Suites in Weehawken - to the convenience and affordability of the many hotels in the Meadowlands.

"It's all about location, accessibility and the fact that prices in New York City are very, very high," said Debra Wanko, director of sales and sales manager for Courtyard by Marriott on Washington Boulevard in Jersey City. "It's all about the demand from New York."

Visitors can save as much as $200 a night by staying in Hudson County instead of Manhattan, according to online price comparisons.

"There are things that go on in the city that filter people this way. Instead of staying in the city they will come here," Wanko said.

For example, the Courtyard typically draws a large number of guests for the New York City Marathon.

The hotel industry's growth also means new retail, hospitatlity and other service jobs, said Ron Simoncini, a spokesman for Hartz Mountain Industries, which owns the Sheraton Suites in Weehawken and the Doubletree Club Suites in Downtown Jersey City.

"For every hotel room you create, you create a half job or more. That's a lot of jobs," he said. "On some level everybody benefits when a new dollar comes to the region."

The new money is evident in the billions of tourism dollars the state receives. Of $32 billion spent on travel and tourism last year, Simoncini - who is also a spokesman for the Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau - said, more than $8 billion was generated in the Secaucus Meadowlands area.

"We have more office space and more hotel rooms than all but a dozen or so cities," he said, noting that seven hotels call Secaucus home on Hartz property.

Simoncini said industry leaders reported about $100 million in new investments were made in Hudson's hotel business between 2005 and 2006.

The Doubletree, which Hartz Mountain built in 1996, was the first new hotel that opened in Jersey City in 40 years; then came the Courtyard by Marriott, Candlewood Business Suite and the Hyatt Regency at Harborside. In fact, at least five new luxury hotels have been built in Jersey City over the past seven years.

A Hampton Inn and Suites opened in Harrison in 2004, heralding that town's redevelopment boom.

Work is under way on a Westin Hotel in Downtown Jersey City and the W Hotel Hoboken.

For Hartz Mountain, investing in hotels in Weehawken and Jersey City was a smart move, Simoncini said.

"These are places Hartz Mountain thought would be vibrant destinations and they were right," Simoncini said. "As time goes on these destinations will support more and more hotel rooms."

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Just as a side note New Jersey is in the top 10 for the most visited states in the nation by tourists.

**kliq6** · February 23rd, 2007, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by JCMAN320

Ianmac no I don't thi nk you were dissin I just have such a passion and love for Jersey City that sometimes I get a bit overzealous. Also klig time to for me to enlighten my NY friends across the river.

Sinata was born in Hoboken and raised, but got inspired to start a musical carrer by watchin Bing Crosby perform at the Loew's Jersey Theatre on JSQ. Also he married a JC girl and lived with her in JC on Audubon Ave for over a decade, 6 blocks from where I live, and got married in Jersey City and had his daughter Nancy Sinatra at the old JC Medical Center, now the Beacon.

Sinatra has deep roots in Hoboken as well as Jersey City!!

That was JCMan's neat o' JC stat of the day.

Thanks for that but if youask most people, and with my work i travel often, they think Frank is from NYC!

Best part about staying in a JC hotel, Bet views of Manhattan money can buy

**ianmac47** · February 23rd, 2007, 04:29 PM

I also didn't mean to imply that sinatra was from JC, only that he was from Jersey / Hudson county / the gold coast. Too bad Edison never saw his vision for a New Jersey Hollywood come to life; if the studios were all in Bayonne rather than L.A., JC would have all the celebs

**JerzResident** · February 23rd, 2007, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by ianmac47

I also didn't mean to imply that sinatra was from JC, only that he was from Jersey / Hudson county / the gold coast. Too bad Edison never saw his vision for a New Jersey Hollywood come to life; if the studios were all in Bayonne rather than L.A., JC would have all the celebs

Too bad Bayonne wants nothing to do with the movie studio they have now.

**TimmyG** · February 24th, 2007, 01:20 AM

Can someone recommend a good fish market in JC or nearby?

**cromdur** · February 24th, 2007, 01:28 PM

There is a good fish market on the corner of Duncan and Bergen Avenue. There is one on West Side avenue near the intersection with Duncan ave. My father likes going to one one Kennedy at the border of Bayonne. It's near a family dollar and other stores.

**TimmyG** · February 24th, 2007, 01:49 PM

Thanks cromdur. I will try to check them out.

**tbal** · February 25th, 2007, 01:42 PM

Three smaller-scale projects around Journal Square -

This one at 165 Academy Street was posted by somebody a few weeks ago...It will be 9 stories and have 33 units as well as a 34-car parking garage. Seems that they plan to break ground in the Spring. The billboard on the right was put up within the last month or so:

Less than a block away, a 20-unit building (I'm guessing 5-6 stories) broke ground within the past few weeks at 197 Academy Street:

A larger site that is supposed to be home to a 12-story building at 32 Oakland Ave. with 150 units and a 162-car garage - they just finished doing soil remediation this past week (site prep work)....perhaps they are getting ready to break ground:

The area around this 12-story building is supposed to see massive redevelopment, with a 23-story building going in where those 2 low-rise buildings are (right) as well as the large parking lot surrounding them, and another midrise building of 11 stories is supposed to be built in place of the empty, grass-filled lot to the left of the red brick building in the center of the photo:

And finally, here are a few shots of the new Home Depot going up by the Holland Tunnel entrance:

Entrance to the parking deck:

A few massive poured concrete walls have been constructed:

**nafco** · February 26th, 2007, 10:05 AM

Wheres the location of that big lot by JSQ? IS that close to the 9 story building on Academy or is it closer to the Beacon?

**macmini** · February 26th, 2007, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by nafco

Wheres the location of that big lot by JSQ? IS that close to the 9 story building on Academy or is it closer to the Beacon?

32 Oakland Ave is between Newark ave & Hoboken ave it's closer to Academy then the Beacon.

Mayor speaks of new PATH stops, cutting taxes, in first govt. address

New transit stops in Newport, Marion

Healy said in his address he has had meetings with Port Authority officials about a new PATH station in the Marion section of the city west of Journal Square, and with representatives from the New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit about the light rail connecting the Newport area of the city with Secaucus.

"Our quality of life will truly be improved if we rely less on cars and improve our mass transportation," Healy said.

The tracks for the Newport-Secaucus connection would run across the Sixth Street Embankment through the Bergen Arches and end at the Secaucus transfer train station near Exit 15X of the New Jersey Turnpike - an idea Healy has been pursuing for about two years.

However, the city still has contend with the fact the rail Embankment is owned by local property owner Steve Hyman, who wants to build two-family homes there. There was controversy over the embankment for a number of years because activists wanted it to be part of a park. The city is going through legal channels contesting Hyman's ownership rights.

The PATH station in the Marion section would accommodate new residents who will move into that area in future years, as the result of condo projects such as the American Can Company site on Dey Street within close proximity to the proposed station.

New revenue to lower a tax increase

Jersey City property owners were hit with an 18 percent increase on their tax bill in the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Their wrath is something Healy wants to avoid.

"My administration has also searched for new ways to help create savings and generate revenues that will not increase the burden on property taxpayers," Healy said.

Healy said he is working with state legislators to pass legislation to bring about two future city taxes: a realty transfer fee and a billboard tax.

The realty transfer fee imposed would be 50 cents per $500 of sales when property within the city is transferred from buyer to seller. Healy and other city officials estimate the fee would bring in $1 million annually into the city's coffers.

Healy mentioned a billboard tax would be placed on billboards across the city. Healy offered no further details on the billboard tax in his address.

Affordable housing

Healy announced he is going to put together a committee of city officials, developers and affordable housing advocates to determine how they want to go forward with their affordable housing policy.

The city had suffered setbacks in that area because a state Appellate Court ruling in January struck down the state's affordable housing requirements for cities, meaning a new plan will have to be put into place within six months.

Also, the city was stymied in its attempt to increase the $1,500 fee per unit of luxury housing built that developers pay into the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

How to run a city

The theme of the address, the first by a Jersey City mayor since 2003, was "Our city is strong."

To make the city stronger, Healy said, "We plan on applying the principles of CompStat to all city departments as Baltimore has done with CitiStat to bring greater accountability to city government."

CitiStat is a computerized accountability program created in Baltimore based on the ComStat crime-fighting system pioneered in the New York City Police Department by Jack Maple in the 1990s. Like CompStat, CitiStat utilizes computer pin-mapping and weekly accountability sessions for every city agency, helping a mayor run his or her own city.

Jersey City has been contemplating the implementation of CitiStat since late mayor Glenn Cunningham was in office.

But the Healy administration has given strong consideration to CitiStat, with Mayor Healy and other city officials making trips to Baltimore in the past two years to see how CitiStat works.

When asked after the address if CitiStat will be in place before his term ends in 2009, Healy expressed uncertainty.

On crime

Healy reiterated that he would like to hire more police officers, and repeated some of his past accomplishments including putting more police on the street, the lower crime statistics over the past year, and implementing CompStat.

Business-friendly

Much of the speech was Healy's review of his accomplishments in office up until last week including: hiring more police officers, filling potholes, encouraging more development through the granting of tax abatements, getting companies to clean up property polluted with chromium, and reappointing the city's Ethics Board.

One of the larger issues he addressed was making Jersey City more "business-friendly" by continuing their tax abatement policy and doing "more to market Jersey City" such as holding forums for commercial real estate brokers.

"As always, when faced with tough decisions, we will not consider what the most politically expedient course of action is, but will look at one criterion: what is best for our City?" said Healy.

**gentrify** · February 26th, 2007, 03:14 PM

hey everyone
I am working on a page dedicated to Jersey City on my new site www.gentrify.us. Page and site are already up, but everything is still under construction. Any feedback is welcome!
This thread has furnished me with a lot of information about Jersey City.
I'm looking to find out where the 'frontier' of gentrification lies. I know that it is constantly changing, moving west, so I want to keep track of this move and update constantly in order to give people enough information to ride on or ahead of the gentrification wave, finding cheap property in the now-or next cool neighborhood.
Any input is appreciated!

**JCMAN320** · February 26th, 2007, 04:22 PM

Famed architect unveils design for 111 First St.

One of the world's leading architects laid out his ambitious designs for the controversial 111 First St. site, prompting officials to label the proposal a turning point in the city's transformation into a internationally recognizable metropolis.

"The time has come to do a building that is less typical," said famed architect Rem Koolhaas, whose award-winning portfolio includes the Seattle Public Library, the Prada stores in New York and Los Angeles and the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing.

Koolhaas unveiled the design this morning at the Jersey City Museum.

The radical design calls for three blocks stacked on top of each other, with each block rotating 90 degrees to give the building what one official described as a "Rubik's Cube" look.

"This is the most cutting edge piece of architecture I have seen in my career," said Bob Cotter, the city's planning czar.

In a number of ways, the unusual design can be viewed as a visual indictment of the "cookie-cutter" high-rises that are dominating the city's skyline these days, according to some city officials at the press conference.

Photos courtesy of NJ.com and the Star Ledger

**TimmyG** · February 26th, 2007, 04:29 PM

Wow, that is very impressive. I hope this gets built. JC needs something like this to stand out from the normal cookie-cutter apartment buildings.

**STT757** · February 27th, 2007, 09:25 AM

and with representatives from the New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit about the light rail connecting the Newport area of the city with Secaucus

Connecting the Jersey City Waterfront with Secaucus transfer would improve the lives of many commuters, as well as encourage more busineses to locate to the waterfront.