The other shoe has fallen in the 'Invasion of the Park Snatchers' caper

As you well know if you've been within a half mile of Johnny this week what took place in what we'll simply call PADNA Park. Developer BLDG thought they had approval to dig up a city park because they got some input from some people in the neighborhood and sent plans to the Jersey City zoning department. BLDG (Previously referred to as Lloyd Goldman's building - which it is) TOLD zoning they'd just go ahead on this in early March.

Isn't that something? TOLD a city department. That''s cute. This obviously came as surprise to Johnny who has been following this issue since long ago and who knew Ward E Councilwoman Candice Osborne expected a full city planning and city council review. City planning sure thought they'd be taking a look at the plans as well.  So yes, Johnny is the whistleblower here and he contacted the office of Councilwoman Osborne who got to the bottom of this pretty quickly and acted absolutely in the best interests of the city. While we wished Mayor Fulop had commented on this personally he sent out city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill to address the issue from the city's point of view. Terrence T. McDonald, stand back with that notepad because here it comes:

"We are disgusted with their actions," Morrill said. "This developer will see hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs and losses at his building, as it will now remain vacant until we feel his actions have been corrected."

Ouch. No certificate of occupancy until the residents needs are met on the park? How about that Jersey City? The plans that were out there can be improved upon with public commentary (Johnny thinks the dog park part was pretty skimpy size-wise but then again he loves pups) and city planning assistance we'd hope. Maybe new plans arise, perhaps it's a hybrid. The important thing is that the city acted and acted fast and yes, stood up and told a big developer we don't do business the old way in Jersey City anymore. It's not just a shrug and a nominal fine.

We're giving the famous Jersey City Desk last word to Councilwoman Osborne on this because of all her GREAT work:

"The law means everything in Jersey City," Osborne told The Jersey Journal. "Developers and their professionals who brazenly ignore the law here will suffer the consequences."