Jersey City is now a top 5 in the nation rental city

Realtor.com had an article on cities that have the most renters per capita and and Jersey City (and Newark) were on that list, in fact very high on the list. Both top five cities. While it's great people want to live in these cities (and let's not kid ourselves here bout why JC and Newark have so many people willing to rent, proximity to NYC) there are drawbacks when that high of a percentage of a city is rental units. First off renters don't pay property tax and nor in any big way help schools and infrastructure they are often using. Voting becomes yet another issue. Renters vote, you bet they do as well anyone should but perhaps their votes aren't the vote of someone looking to invest or look at a city's long-term financial health. The incentive to look at the long game just isn't there for a myriad of reasons. The fact remains the infrastructure use is really only being paid for by homeowners.

Johnny has a pretty good idea why Jersey City will continue to stay on this list if not own it one day -- The Healy and on steroids abatements of the Fulop administrations have invested very little in the way of abatements for buildings one can buy into and left hundreds of millions of dollars off the tax rolls for buildings made exclusively for renters. In just the past five years the Columbus towers, The One, The Toll Brothers The Morgan, the new Jared Tower on Bay St., M2, the Urby and now old Pep Boys parking lot Vyv (Just an awful name for such an ass looking building), JSQ1, et all have gotten huge abatements, more are on the way for....you guessed it, rental units.

It really is a self-fulfilling prophecy of fail when you do look long-term. The first abatements given to downtown are about to run out. There was a huge reval that hit downtown like a bomb (as Fulop knew it would which is why he spent so much time and effort to protect his base) and there will be questions if ownership buildings will be able to withstand the impact. Will people move out because of higher taxes? Hey, there's a pattern of that. Once they do that's less money for road fixes, storm cleanup, getting electricity back online, cops, DPW, Parking, who all lose when there is less ownership.

Ask yourself this about Fulop (and Healy) bending over for every developer they could, when the money starts to get tight downtown do The Heights or Greenville or India Square think anything is going to get built or fixed in their neighborhoods? They have to pull teeth now to get development and city help and supposedly this is the Jersey City gilded age. Once the tax base shrinks (and there's nothing really being done to actively grow it) they can kiss the big promises goodbye...again.

While it's great people want to live in Jersey City this is where "city planning" under Bob Cotter should have been far more engaged than, "Hey, there's a good spot on the waterfront for a developer" during his reign of awfulness. Cotter, "city planning" and the city councils should have insisted on far more ownership buildings in the downtown land rush.

Like Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was waving her arms and telling everyone in no uncertain terms the 2008 crash was coming, Johnny is telling you now, get in but also know when to get out of the Jersey City real estate game, the timer on the bomb has been set and is ticking.

Dear LeFrak, Go piss up a rope

"This is a sad day for Jersey City," the statement says.

LeFrak's statement actually said that, insulting Jersey City residents as LeFrak was on the losing end against the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association over required parking spaces, a one spot for one unit plan that's been set in stone since 2007 as part of the neighborhood redevelopment plan. You know these shithead developers though, if a neighborhood association were to want to reopen one of these deals their spokespeople would be all over the contract nature of it. You just can't tear those things up when you want to...only WE developers can tear those up by running hat in hand ala Oliver Twist to Bob Cotter and his Cocoa Puffs planners and city hall to get whatever they want. You homeowners and neighborhood groups can't do this, only developers as they smirk their little smirks knowing the game had been rigged.

Only last night it wasn't. Last night the planning board overturned the Cocoa Puffs Factory of Sadness unanimously and didn't let LeFrak out of their obligation to give one parking spot for one unit, units they are being well abated for by the Jersey City taxpayers.

LeFrak sounds stunned don't they? Before the meeting they tried to allay the fears of those in and around and traveling through Hamilton Park about the lost parking they were trying to reneg on. They didn't mention the good Earth or trying to keep things green by doing this, no, they had an answer all ready for those upset by them trying to change the rules again; "Well shucks folks, if you go just down the street to Newport there are a lot of parking sports there. Well yes, they ARE owned by our business BFF's and yes you will have to pay now for what you're getting for free but it saves us LeFrak millions in not doing what we're supposed to be doing, but hey, at least it's parking." Just give us our abatements and shut up. We told you where to park, if you don't like that then too bad they seemed to say to the very residents they didn't seem all the concerned with through the process.

Then they lost...UNANIMOUSLY. That didn't sit well. It never does when dealing with toddlers:

"The requirement for 'one to one' parking imposes on future development in Jersey City an accommodation of car ownership and desire for parking in front of one's home that is based on a suburban lifestyle, and not on the lifestyle of transit-oriented sustainable urban development," the statement reads. "The frustration expressed by residents about the lack of free street parking reflects both unrealistic expectations as well as unhappiness with the city's residential parking permit program."

Somebody call LeFrak a waaaaambulance.

You stupidheads are truly not seeing our genius here. You should have just let us tear up your neighborhood redev plan any way we want to, look, NATURE!

Yeeeaaaaaah, suuuuure that's what you were all about. That's what you wanted all along right? Just to save the earth and if you pocketed a few more million from JC taxpayers over deals you don't want to hold to and get parking dollars in perpetuity that's just a happy accident right? Pull this one it plays Jingle Bells.

Know what's NOT sustainable LeFrak? Your attitude. Things are changing. A lot of pressure will be put on Mayor Fulop by ALL the neighborhood associations to look well outside Jersey City to find someone TRULY interested in a workable, walkable green city where the first thought isn't of Lloyd Goldman, Toll Brothers, KRE, Silverman, and LeFrak among others. The mayor will get on board with this new way of doing business Johnny thinks.

Or these same neighborhood groups will rally and ensure May elections for Mr. Fulop going forward.

The Cotter and the damage done

You know the routine, if you retire from a city job in Jersey City or anywhere in New Jersey, people say glowing things about you despite what your real record might be. They don't want to really tell you about the job you did for the last 20+ years for fear of hurting feelings.

That friends is why there's a Jersey City Desk.

City Planning (You know, the Cocoa Puffs people) boss Bob Cotter is stepping down after a long career that stretched over 11 mayors. Never once irritated a mayor enough to get fired in all his city "planning"? Sounds like a yes man to us. However, we're not here to make this personal (If that were the case we'd look into political donations).

First though let's take a look, a serious and tough look at the city Cotter has built in his image, with his ideas and planning. We're of the mind, as are courts in America, that if you sign off on something or push it through and the plan or action goes sideways, YOU are on the hook. Case in point, if you're the bartender that serves a person that one or two last drinks, they go get in an accident YOU and the bar will be sued as legally you're both responsible. Johnny thoroughly believes in holding people accountable is his own business dealings. If you tip the domino, you're the reason for the mess at the end. We'll be getting more into that later.

While Cotter reminisced in the Jersey Journal, listening to acolytes sing his praises, nothing got done in The Heights during his "reign." Greenville? What did you do for all those years in Greenville, Bob? The one new tall skyscraper in Journal Square, one after that area has been ignored and abused for decades. Seems to us NOBODY should be spiking a boss of City Planning football looking at the neglect of JS for the last 30 years. So while Cotter was more than happy of his chunder job downtown, he spoke nothing of three huge areas that make up Jersey City. His silence on over half the city that looks like he basically annexed them to Newark speaks VOLUMES. Bob Cotter failed just about every area in Jersey City on some huge level, these areas were done in by an apparent lack of interest. Great leadership technique, no?

Now, let's cut right to the chase and get to Cotter's biggest and most complete failure, the downtown and especially The PAD. Those who dealt with Bob Cotter in the PAD always mention his supreme arrogance and smug attitude dealing with taxpayers who lived in the neighborhoods Cotter insisted on ruining. Example:

Though the developers bowed to local demands by promising a theater and public plaza, Toll Brothers has the legal right to back out of those obligations if the three residential towers they build prove unsuccessful. And while payments are promised in place of affordable housing, the neighborhood association is worried that the city won’t use the money solely to make the area livable.

They can just back out on their own word. Thanks Bob and city council. Just let the developers run rampant (we're getting to that) and run over the people, that's your specialty. As we can see Cotter wasn't much of a guy to look out for the people of the city, just business interests. Read the quotes in Terrence T. McDonald's article, Developers Developers Developers. It was like Steve Ballmer moved to Jersey City all of a sudden.

Cotter and his "City Planning" group were the ones who failed to even send in the paperwork to designate PAD as a historical district. Why? Nobody's ever gotten a straight answer. Seems Cotter, wrongly now as we know, thought he knew better. He didn't think anything was going to come out of The PAD unless he allowed Toll Brothers, Lloyd Goldman, Shuster, KRE and Silverman to go nuts and get sweet unsustainable deals. This IS on you partly Bob, see above. You let the developers run rampant and city council gave out ridiculous 20 and 30 year abatements. By serving the developers drinks you ARE responsible for what comes next. At the time of the decision to basically hand over The PAD to monied interests the PADNA President at the time of the back-stabbing had this to say:

“When you already have a neighborhood with character, with things that distinguish one city from another,” says architect and former PADNA president Jill Edelman, “that is what gives them richness, that is what makes them valuable. If a portion of one city makes it look like another, there’s no reason to choose one over another.”

Of course, and in the end Cotter couldn't resist his own ideas on spot zoning:

“Our argument was that the redevelopment plan was working, new buildings were being developed, and hundreds of people are living here,” she adds. “You shouldn’t upend [the neighborhood] with spot zoning.”

To Cotter the only way to make anything work in The PAD was let developers own it. Not much thinking or planning going on when you simply defer to developers 24/7. He didn't look long term at the mess PADNA was become with horrid towers PADNA sued to keep out and Cotter went on record supporting. The PAD has thrived in spite of Cotter's decisions. The base of The PAD, 150 and 140 Bay St have anchored the neighborhoods and thrived despite Cotter's love of The One and The Morgan type deals that make developers rich. In fact, one of Cotter's last acts as director might have been one of his department's biggest fuck-alls. From the Jersey City Desk just last July:

There is an old abandoned warehouse at the corner of Second St. and Warren. Public Storage, a company we're all familiar with if you've ever taken a train or driven down a highway and seen their statement-colored units, bought the warehouse on Warren and are in the process of converting it. Bob Cotter's City "Planning" gave them the go ahead with the variances necessary, then city council gave the final OK. Trouble is City "Planning" didn't read the PADNA redev plan apparently and they've had a hand in writing it. See our City "planners", all hopped up on chocolaty cereal no doubt, missed the part where according to the PADNA website:

The J.C. Planning Department has been sued by two other Jersey City self storage space businesses (Keepers and Liberty) stating that is illegal for Public Storage to be a storage space operator in our neighborhood – it is to house an arts-related gallery and work/live lofts as written into PAD Redevelopment Plan.

It continues: Keepers and Liberty Self-Storage feel that the variances Planning and Zoning approved are illegal and then later approved by city council – And they won; city planning department lost.

So the folks at 150 Bay St. (ie Keepers and Liberty) won the case in court because City "Planning" wasn't paying attention. Know what this does? It opens up a lawsuit against the city by Public Storage who have sunk an awful lot of time and cash into the rehab already. City Council said go and they went.

Oh, there's more. Johnny knows this is long but this IS Cotter's permanent record and he will be getting a final grade at the end, we must be thorough.

So, Cotter said the PAD couldn't exist and succeed without all the developers getting all the money (even though they already were). Did Cotter then PLAN and do something smart like staging who would start developing something and then one year later someone else might start in, kind of like the Toyota Production System of just-in-time manufacturing. This way the streets can stay somewhat clear, sidewalks remain open and citizens don't face an extra hurdle to quality of living put there by City Planning. What PADNA residents got via Mr. Cotter and other city officials is the Oklahoma Land Rush. All the developers showed up at once. Residents lost parking and sidewalks and safe access to their own streets unnecessarily. That's on Cotter. His plans and how they play out do come back to him. See above at the generous bartender analogy.

Bob Cotter was one of the worst city officials JC had. Arrogance when mixed with a failed PAD plan along with what seemed like no plan for half the city is no way forward. Jersey City has a real chance here to remake City Planning in a sensible MODERN way, not an "any and all developers make money based-system." Cotter set The PAD back, possibly forever, pandering to developers and has now saddled them with ugly tall buildings (Remember the TOLL Brothers VP who said in no way could he defend the design of The Morgan), packed with renters who will do nothing but add to the infrastructure costs all while paying ZERO in property taxes. IS this smart city planning in today's day and age? Another "City Planning" failure. Bringing in thousands of hipsters when the infrastructure underground is still the same pipes and sewers Cotter used to rail against in the PAD as being a drawback is beyond shortsighted.

Where are all the parks we've created? New parks? Greenspaces? Oh, developers, right. The lack of park space is a huge failure and an embarrassment. No wonder Candice Osborne openly clapped at the PADNA meeting when the announcement of Cotter's retirement was made last week. Those who know downtown well know the truth.

Johnny doesn't really care if this article hurts feelings. He doesn't. Cotter didn't give a shit about a lot of Jersey City residents so we're merely replying in kind. We are going to surprise you now with our last word.

Our last word on Mr. Cotter's career as Jersey City Planning boss is going to go to JC Mayor Steve Fulop (Johnny, wait, do you know what you're doing here?). Yes, Johnny would like to share with you, Jersey City, the words of councilman Steven Fulop (remember him?). In 2011 an article in which both Fulop and Cotter were quoted is still floating around out there. The article dealt with all the usual back room chickanery and dirty deals in opening a business when it came to the zoning boards AND city planning. What did Mr. Fulop have to say about Mr. Cotter's ideas and actions then? WOW, and suck on this for eternity Bob:

 "“I think that there are people that have thought about investing dollars in Jersey City and because of our reputation of the difficulty in opening a small business, they’ve opted to go elsewhere,” said Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop, who represents the downtown area. “The good things that are going on here: it’s happening despite government not because of government.”

Bob Cotter receives a C- grade for his time as Director of City Planning in Jersey City and one last box of Cocoa Puffs for the road. The waterfront openness and setting an area for restaurants to grow was/is smart, past that...

Now, hopefully Jersey City can bring in someone with new ideas that actually work and aren't beholden to those with big pocketbooks. Still to be chosen by Steve Fulop mind you but the lobbying effort has already begun to do the smart thing and go outside the city.

City Planners in Jersey City, never asking the right questions

Johnny is pissed off after is walk through PADNA this morning.

City Planning, friends, if you've ever needed more proof these people get to work, eat Coco Puffs for about an hour and then do, well, nothing. When they allowed Mill Creek, Toll Brothers, Pavarini McGovern, Trump and Shuster to get plans passed (once City Planning failed to list PADNA as a historic District by the allotted time -- funny how THAT worked) so overwhelmingly friendly on terms to the builders downtown residents are now dealing with City Planning not asking the right questions. Did city planners ask since the roads are so small where you're working if they had any kind of pick up and drop off plan for deliveries? You'll see in the images below this question was never asked. How will the trucks impact those bombed out narrow roads? This question sure doesn't look like it was asked. Did City Planning gift the builders with some kind of "Just park in the streets residents be damned" rider?

So now friends your car, legally parked, is at the mercy of delivery trucks downtown (When the construction bros don't sneak into a legal spot without a city tag). Trucks line the streets, streets supposed to be able to handle street traffic have been closed, narrowed further, bombed out and their plastic they use to cover the delivery loads simply finds a home in a tree or a power line (Mill Creek are ESPECIALLY BAD about understanding they make a mess and it needs to be cleaned the hell up).

So City Planning, let's ask if you planned for these builders to give you some kind of plan to move supplies in and out that don't require trucks to sit for UP TO THREE HOURS on city streets? You allowed Toll to close off an entire city block. You allowed Mill Creek to close off an entire city block. Why can't these trucks wait in the VAST amount of property the builders are now taking up? C'mon City Planning, you allowed this swaths of land to be taken and now they STILL want to inconvenience residents.

Somewhere, somehow someone at City Planning in Jersey City will read this screed. And they'll head right back to the kitchen for more Coco Puffs.

All the trucks you'll see have been parked this morning for at least one hour, some much longer.