On the 5 year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, a nor'easter will hit Sunday

Heavy downpours and very windy conditions, aka a nor'easter is making plans to wallop us on Sunday, the 5 year anniversary of Sandy. Stay with the Jersey City Desk Action Weather Team for more on this developing serious situation.

Five years on from Irene...

...but for the giant storm that would hit 14 months later Irene packed a really big wallop, one often forgotten after Superstorm Sandy. NJ.com takes a look back to just how waterlogged New Jersey was after Irene.

Time to start planning for an NJ Rail strike after next week

No burying the lead on this one:

NJ Transit officials warned commuters on Thursday that bus service would only be able to handle 40 percent of the 105,000 people who get to work using its rail service if unions walk off the job in 10 days over a contract dispute.

Johnny's gonna stay out of the politics of this but it is worth \noting NJ Transit workers have worked several years with no contract.

The scariest part about getting around are there two points:

* 10,000 cars an hour during the morning and evening commuting peak on to roads in a 25-mile radius of New York

* The plan would mirror what was done in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy flooded and shut down the Hudson River rail tunnels and damaged the North Jersey Coast Line — using hired charter buses running from park and ride lots to bring commuter to Hudson River ferries.

So, the question becomes how do you get around and what are your plans to get around the area in the case a strike happens. So tell us Jersey City and the surround, did you learn any new ways to go after Sandy or do you have a secret route?

Ward C Councilman Richard Boggiano had a bad day at Liberty State Park, cried about it

That's what it has to be called. A tantrum. Bogginao went to Liberty State Park and was shocked (SHOCKED) to find that the restaurant there is costly, that the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal Building hadn't yet reopened after Superstorm Sandy and that the bathrooms were "pathetic". Boggiano posted these comments to his Facebook page and he was so certain of his viewpoint he's taken the Facebook post slamming all things Liberty State Park down. Way to look like a crank there Richard.

The fact that there were dirt roads in a state park seemed to confuse and shock Boggiano which clearly means he needs to get out of the shoebox with holes he lives in and visit some New Jersey state parks. So his solution? Screw it, get the state out of the business of running a STATE park and PRIVATIZE how it's run. Yeah Rich, we're sure you know just the guys to jump in and bid on that contract don't you? Normally people who scream for privatization have some idea how to help themselves or friends make money. Remember Michael Chertoff former second head of Homeland Security who said everyone must now go through "certain" metal and explosive detectors that turned you nekkid at all airports? Guess who owed the company that sold those? No, go on, guess. Nope, you were right the first time, Chertoff. So when Boggiano, after one disappointing trip, screams privatize it, we wanna know whom he might have in mind to run it.

We appreciated Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park, who pushed back and called Boggiano "dead wrong" and "uninformed."Nothing some funding won't fix as far as bathrooms and upkeep and reopening the Central Railroad Terminal Building, which Pesin said was coming along nicely. Interesting Steve Fulop would jump in and attack Boggiano's comments and stood for protecting LSP, you'll recall Fulop himself has backed a plan for a 95 story casino and an F1 racetrack that would claim some of LSP's land. We think we'll just listen to Mr. Pesin on this and all things LSP going forward.

It's a sizzling hot July News Roundup!

*First off, it could well feel like º100 today with humidity in some spots in the Garden State. A Heat Advisory has been posted. July has arrived. Please check on those without air conditioning and make sure to check on vulnerable pets!

*New York Giants legend and all-around teevee good guy Michael Strahan was attacked by a homeless man who wanted to kill him.

*The Jersey Journal's Terrence T. McDonald points out just how many Steve Fulop cronies walk the halls of 280 Grove St. Wasn't this exactly what Fulop used to rail on Healy about?

*If you are still feeling the impacts of Superstorm Sandy the Jersey Journal wants to hear from you.

*New Bayonne Mayor James Davis did a pretty douchey thing by inviting all former living Bayonne mayors to his swearing in except for the guy who he just beat, Mark Smith. Talk about thin-skinned.

*Jersey City may itself be divided up in half when it comes to the new ambulance contracts.

*More on Jersey City's NYC topping fireworks display at Liberty State park in front of Jersey City's own Statue of Liberty for Friday.

*Duane Reade's parent company Walgreen's is looking like they are bailing on their US citizenship and want to dump $4 billion of THEIR tax burden on taxpayers by moving their HQ to Switzerland (on paper only). Probably time to rethink shopping there.

It's a rainy Wednesday, perfect for a News Roundup!

*Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop told Congress Superstorm Sandy aid distribution to our fair city has been a disaster.

*The FBI conducted a raid at the Barge Inn on Third and Monmouth yesterday.

*The body pulled from the shore in Hoboken was indeed that of missing jogger Andrew Jarzyk.

*The couple that jumped to their deaths from the GW Bridge the other day were wanted in a murder investigation

*The Rangers will play a game 7 tonight vs. The Sillydelphia Flyers at MSG.

*A Dallas firm is rehabbing the giant Morgan Warehouse in the Powerhouse Arts District rather than build another 38 story rental property eyesore. Good on them.

Yet ANOTHER bombshell hits in the Christie as bully narrative, this one's almost worse than the first

According to Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer (and we here at the Jersey City Desk trust Ms. Zimmer when she says something, something we do NOT extend to the people in power in Trenton) Governor Christie's hit woman, Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno (she of the "I'm never taking questions why do you ask?" school of governance) told Zimmer that the Governor's office would really love to help the people of Hoboken after Superstorm Sandy and all but you see Dawn, you're against the Rockefeller Group project and that's really really important to the governor and until you come around and support that, yeeeah, we're not going to be able to help you help your citizens.

Now, place that image with Christie's telling of the tale he was all about the poor citizens of New Jersey who took the brunt of the storm and what a fighter he'd be for them with Washington and anybody not pulling their share. We now know a federal investigation has been launched into how CC has handled Sandy money. Now we hear it's quid pro quo with FEDERAL money, not even money out of New Jersey coffers, you help the Governor's friends and in turn we help your badly damaged city. Hoboken citizens should be outraged. No, torches and pitchforks at Christie and Guadagno's houses outraged.

But CC and Kimmy say they didn't say this. Just like nobody in the Governor's office had a hand in Bridgegate, just like Obama bureaucrats cost NJ schoolkids over $400 million. Christie's office has zero credibility, the Lt. Gov. has no credibility.

Dawn Zimmer does.

Zimmer went on to tell MSNBC that Kim Guadago told her she felt really bad about the deal, said in fact it shouldn't be happening but it was.

So, Hudson County, New Jersey, America, whom do you believe? A Governor with a known hit list of mayors or  a mayor trying to rebuild her city after a disaster?

Chris Christie didn't give a crap about anyone after that storm it turns out unless they could help him in turn. That's just disgusting.

Every so often here at the Jersey City Desk you have to pay attention

We like to have our fun but sometimes....

Four new plans have been sent to both state and federal engineers who are trying to "Storm proof Jersey" and we all have a vested interest in the best ways forward. More storms are going to come our way. Big ones. Now that we don't have The Professor anymore to count on to save us, we're going to need mortal minds to come together with ways to deflect, divert, and delay the waters. The article in the Star-Ledger offers some ideas right off the hop:

A sprawling mixed-use park in the Meadowlands to sop up storm surge. A robust stormwater management system in Hoboken. New design for iconic structures along the coast. Man-made barrier islands just off the Jersey Shore.

It's going to take a lot of bright ideas and maybe some lucky ones that all have to cobble together. A great read on a Friday as you daydream about the weekend.

Chris Christie's Sandy Relief fund is fast becoming New Jersey's answer to Obamacare

Sandycare, how about we call Chris Christie flailing Sandy relief fund Sandycare. The Governor likes to trash the rollout of Obamacare as people try to get signed up. BUT as the Star-Ledger points out, Christie's rollout of Sandycare, getting the necessary help and processing the necessary forms for New Jersey storm victims has been just as abysmal as the initial rollout of Obamacare.

Of course Christie, who likes to bathe in the post-Sandy adulation of his initial efforts is so clearly dropping thew ball here and leaving helpless Garden Staters to fend for themselves. He doesn't want to hear about his failures either:

When a reporter tried to ask Gov. Chris Christie about this at a news conference Monday, the governor called Fair Share Housing a “hack group,” and said he wouldn’t respond to any questions about it — cutting off a follow-up inquiry.

“Just so it’s general notice to all of you, don’t ask me any questions about Fair Share Housing,” said Christie, declaring its team of lawyers not worth “my time or my breath.”

Never mind that this so-called “hack” group has been advocating for fair housing in New Jersey for almost 40 years, and just won three major court victories over the administration, this year alone.

Yep, the typical Christie, "talk bigger than you are and try and silence those who challenge you" attitude was on display. That attitude was great when you were fighting for New Jersey residents after the storm Guv, but now it comes off as crass stonewalling of your own people. Try standing up and being a man and dealing with the fact YOUR OFFICES have failed these storm victims WORSE than Obamacare's online startup hurt those looking for health care.

The Sandy follow-up from Chris Christie has become his "Sandycare moment.

The water in the streets is chest high! There's no power! Everything is flooding!!

Oh wait, that was last year. Nevermind.

We'd like to give Jersey City (just Jersey City this morning people, Johnny needs to talk to just his peeps on this) a HUGE pat on the back for everyone's actions over this past difficult year. A pat on the back to all the residents who had to deal with so much water, so much destruction and so much uncertainty. Police actions because of citizen malfeasance during the storm itself were nominal. There wasn't looting. Very very few took advantage of others (sans a few gas stations). After the storm we helped each other pick one another up. We helped each other rebuild. We helped out our neighbors who needed a hot meal, or to dry off, or maybe needed a place to come over and charge up a phone or watch news coverage as some got power back. Judging from city responses elsewhere in New Jersey, the Jersey City government led by former Mayor Healy did a very good job before, during and after the storm. We'd like to give pats on the back to many city council members who at the time did everything they could to get their residents the help and information they needed. A huge pat on the back as well to all the volunteers and people who helped out and didn't get their names in the paper nor ever expected to. You're all heroes and as we're fond of saying around these parts, Peter Stuyvesant approves!

"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." -- John F. Kennedy

As the anniversary of Superstorm Sandy arrives there will be many stories looking back

So many of those stories will deal with the human element. How homes and towns are still fighting to recover, how people have have their lives turned upside down and are nowhere near back to normal.

But did you know for one major area Sandy turned out to be a great thing? It's true, something most of us never think about, the watershed for the Meadowlands. According to Bill Sheehan, of the environmental group Hackensack Riverkeeper, the storm helped the Meadowlands which in turn helps protect us for a possible next big storm:

It also swept away accumulations of dead marsh grasses and the kind of human debris that has made the Meadowlands notorious: tires, old oil drums and soda cans tossed from passing cars on the New Jersey Turnpike. In the months after the storm, Sheehan, who captains boat trips out on the Hackensack and its environs, noticed new growth of native cordgrass in places like Saw Mill Creek, where it had never been before.

"Thousands of square feet of former barren mudflats are showing signs of life," he said. Sheehan says even major storms are nothing new for a tidal marsh, and can have a "purging effect" on the landscape.

There is more, so much more to this article on how exactly the water table in the Meadowlands helps keep so many things in nature copacetic round these here parts. We'd encourage you to read the full article and give some thought to the whole region and how things work, not just cities and towns.

Now here's a great idea for a Kickstarter campaign...

The Village Halloween parade! First off, what is Kickstarter? It's a crowdfunding idea on the web. Like minded individuals come together to put their money where their loves are and if enough money is raised, success! The people who put on that wonderful halloween parade in the West Village were devastated by Superstorm Sandy last year and they need help. If you are a fan of the parade and you'd like to help out here is the link for you to follow and maybe make a donation.

Happy Tuesday, perfect for a News roundup!

And have we got actual news for youze:

*A large fire at a recycling plant in Jersey City was just brought under control in the last hour or so. Yes, that would be the billowing smoke on the skyline.

* Remember how a LOT of the red light cameras were 'somehow' misconfigured to give out extra tickets? Well Jersey City has more red-light camera issues, the yellow lights are abnormally short it turns out, and that means illegal ticketing. C'mon Mayor Fulop, talk to us about these abominations. Are you for them or not?

* A Linden bodega owner went all Brad Hamilton on a would-be robber who pulled a gun and demanded cash. The bodega owner tossed scalding hot oil on the perp who then stumbled out of the store no doubt to a plastic surgeon.

* Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has now sunk to tossing out threats and hiding behind an imaginary God to fight back against truth to power being spoken over his lack of oversight in dealing with pedophile priests. Sad.

* The Superstorm Sandy task force is out with their findings after last year's storm. Some of the top bullet points are to coordinate regionally on response and prepare for larger, more intense storms going forward.

You know 'em, you love 'em, you just can't live without 'em -- It's a News Roundup Wednesday

*So Steve Fulop, what have you or anybody else on your ticket done to create wealth and opportunity in Jersey City? Don't give us that lame "But we haven't even been sworn in yet," mope. Look at go-getter city councilman elect Michael Yun, he's already made somebody a millionaire.

*Speaking of Fulop, he's planning on putting more cops into the next recruitment class.

*Some businesses down on the shore have taken to putting lines up on their business to show how high the water from Superstorm Sandy got.

*Fully 10% of the bridges we drive on in New Jersey are structurally deficient. Wanna know which ones? Oh and a note to Mr. Christie. Know when things went south for a formerly popular governor in Michigan named John Engler? When he stopped paying for road repairs (after dumping the mentally ill in hospitals out on the streets but that's a story for another day) and to this day carries the nickname "Pothole John" around the Mitten. Things went south in a hurry too. Just saying.

*We'll end with a story commanding a very high 'cool quotient' today. NPR visited a Jersey City recycling plant and you can learn a lot from watching the animated gifs of the process. Johnny learned that his bottles for his beloved Diet Snapple (Raspberry or Peach let's not fight) may come from this very recycling center. Of course none of this will have mattered when the Sun has exhausted the hydrogen in its core in around 5 billion years and becomes a red dwarf, but we can all feel good for now.

Jersey City has a footbridge again into Liberty State Park

And what a bridge it is. The new Ethel Pesin Liberty Footbridge, in honor of the wife of Liberty State Park founder Morris Pesin, was dedicated Friday by Mayor Healy and others. Healy said as far as the old bridge went Superstorm Sandy actually helped:

"It might have been a favor in disguise," Healy said. "This new bridge will make it so much easier for the citizens of Jersey City to access the great Liberty State Park."

To use the bridge to Liberty State Park find Jersey Avenue, go south, Yahtzee!

If it's Earth Day you KNOW it's the Hoboken Earth Day Tire Fire and Bar-B-Q!

One of Hoboken's signature events, the event that tops even their constantly changing working paper on what St. Patrick's Day is for family fun, the Hoboken Earth Day Tire Fire and Bar-B-Q is being held along Sinatra Drive. With Boy Scout troops from Jersey City, Newark, Bayonne, Union City, Secaucus all out collecting tires from their towns to add from Superstorm Sandy this year's tire fire promises to be the Mile Square City's best evah!

The city is filling up a barge with gas cans and Hoboken residents will get to try and recreate Bronn's most excellent flaming arrow shot from the Blackwater scene in Game of Thrones. One shot per resident. The winner of course gets to name the barge, or what's left of it, which becomes FuHo's new storm surge blocker.

Sooty the Clown will be on hand (He clears his calendar for this event) to make balloon animals from balloons with lead paint. Sooty will also lead the children's chorus in the singing of "Smoke on the Water" which they're hoping to bring in under twelve minutes this year.

So come on out to scenic Hoboken and have more fun than you should be allowed to have for free.

File photo of Hoboken Earth Day Tire Fire and Bar-B-Q ©2009

This blogger as reporter shield ruling might mean big changes at the Jersey City Desk

First off some background. Tina Renna has a citizen watchdog blog in Union County. She wrote some things that upset the local leaders so much they sued her. Ms. Renna wrote that Union County workers took generators intended for Superstorm Sandy victims and used them personally. That's a serious and very embarrassing charge. So in an effort to intimidate and silence Renna/get to the bottom of the case, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office wanted the names of 16 county employees Renna claimed had improperly used county-owned portable generators after Superstorm Sandy. Renna told them no, reporter shield laws protected her. Darned if she wasn't right. Judge Karen Cassidy concluded Renna was covered and did not have to release her sources. 

Seeing this an emboldened Johnny is now looking for a new intern to rake muck and get all badgery with the interviews. If Johnny is covered under shield laws wooooo lookout. Email Johnny with your application and papers of servitude. We already set journalism back decades here so hello shield law and hello The Front Page circa 1974!

Governor Christie signs into law "monitors" for Sandy relief money

Governor Christie working once again with Democrats on the topic of Superstorm Sandy has signed a bill into law requiring monitors to oversee rebuilding money lest it be wasted and or um, stolen. Tomas Dinges with the Star-Ledger fills in some of the blanks:

Under the new law, the state will establish a network of monitors to review the procurement process for state contracts using federal reconstruction money, submit regular reports on these contracts and post the information about public expenditures of recovery funds on a public website.

Also:

"...monitors will be automatically assigned to any rebuilding project totaling more than $5 million, while anything under that amount will be subject to the discretion of the treasurer, the statement from the governor's office said."

So this is a good thing, and it further harms Christie's standing in his own party by working together with Democrats to help the residents of his state in an effective manner, which is awfully sad. Let's just take notice if there is a sudden burst of $4,999,999 contracts being put through and let's make sure to hire the right monitors, nobody aligned with any political party or party donors please.

A very cool map of a very uncool storm

Superstorm Sandy left New Jersey reeling. We've all heard the news accounts and seen the stories of each town rebuilding with a vigor to keep going financially and in part defiance. Moving forward is the course of action the Garden State is all about. There is, however, a very cool map done by NJ Spotlight which is an 'Interactive Map: Assessing Damage from Superstorm Sandy'. It is really quite interesting to see how the damage patterns emerge from town to town and from the water inland. As you might expect Jersey City was one of the hardest hit areas especially business wise. It also gives a final total of damaged homes, businesses and apartments as well as if damage was considered minor, major or severe. Some excellent info in a very complete and helpful map while the clock ticks towards 5 o'clock and the weekend.

This will be a story down the road and we wanted to chime in now

Governor Chris Christie, hero of Superstorm Sandy, has a problem. His chosen no-bid contract (and oh how he hates calling it a no-bid contract, he prefers piggyback bid but really, it's the same thing) with Ashbritt, the company "hired" to haul away debris, might just cost quite a few New Jersey municipalities a few million dollars.

First off, Christie is chief executive of this state. For him to not have known or understood that Congress passed tougher FEMA bidding contract laws after Hurricane Katrina is no excuse. For him to have led mayors far and wide in some kind of "just submit the invoices" Pollyanna thinking was and is reckless.

Here's the crux of where we're headed:

The Christie administration says it’s followed all the rules and is confident towns will get their full reimbursement.

Ernest Abbott, a Washington-based attorney with FEMA Law Associates, a private firm, who has been practicing disaster relief law since 1997, said FEMA pays special attention to the rates, and the agency will compare the reimbursement applications submitted by individual towns and cities to help draw some conclusions.

Christie said he's confident but not assured the money he told towns to spend will be reimbursed. They might not. Talk about leading millions down a primrose path.

This will be debated and talked over and hashed out and in the end we think some of these towns will be left holding at least a partial bag where federal money would have been IF Christie had really done things right, again, reading and implementing the new tougher FEMA laws.

Here's how this plays out. A lot of New Jersey towns will get stiffed based on bad advice and then Christie will bloviate and try and blame the bureaucrats in Washington for "stiffing" the voters and taxpayers of his state. Forget the fact this is of HIS making, he'll never miss a chance to blame someone else (Brett Schundler et al) when he screws up. Christie will again become the mouth that roared blaming everyone but himself, it's what presidential candidates do.

We just want to get waaaay out ahead as we see how this plays out and would suggest to the governor that yesterday might have been a good time to bone up on the laws you'd be using to reconstruct your state. If towns don't get their money Governor YOU will be the reason, you took the no-bid "piggyback" contract and sold it.

By the way, towns NOT using Ashbritt and using their own contracted trash haulers are saving MILLIONS in costs and will never be left waiting for money that the governor promised that may not be coming. Imagine that.