They held a remembrance at the Katyn Memorial yesterday

Johnny and Mrs. Johnny had gone out to dinner on April 10th 2010 at Light hOrse Tavern and then walked down to the waterfront. How does Johnny remember that date so specifically? That was the night a Polish government and military contingent, on it's way back from Moscow after commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre had their plane crash eerily near the Katyn forest that claimed so many Polish lives decades before. There was a very large and somber group of Jersey City's Polish residents who had come to stand together to deal with now not one but now two great national tragedies in Katyn. Johnny had no real idea what the Jersey City waterfront statue was about until that night. He's done quite a bit of research on the massacre since then.

People who know much more than Johnny met once again at the Memorial yesterday and the Jersey Journal has a nice photostory. At the JJ page Johnny posted the picture he'll share here, one of his favorites he's ever taken. No filters, just a foggy late afternoon March day last year.

On the Waterfront

With the fog being amazing tonight as far as photography went Johnny meandered down to the waterfront at J. Owen Grundy Park. There he took this shot he's pretty proud of with the Katyn Memorial in the foreground and some city you've probably never heard of behind it.

Feel free to use this image, redistribute it when talking about Jersey City or heck, put it in your Jersey City screensaver images. Johnny just wants to share. Click the image for the big version.

If you are heading into lower Manhattan on PATH today, go early and stay late

PATH service to and from the WTC stop will be halted at 3pm today until at least 6pm as President Obama visits the National September 11 Memorial. He'll later head over to Carrie Bradshaw's house in the Village where she lives with Ferris Bueller for a fundraiser.

PATH is going to run as many trains as possible from Journal Square and Hoboken to 33rd Street during the closure, officials said.


The Exchange Place stop will also be closed lest creepers get down ob the platform, head through the tunnels, under the river, beat the Secret Service and the NYPD security detail, and get at the President. What, it could happen.

Say Mayor Healy, Johnny spoke with you eons ago when you were running for your last term. You rightly pointed out you were the first mayor of a big city to endorse this President as a candidate. How about calling in a favor and have him speak and or raise money here? We'd love to have the President (and don't get all angry readers, Johnny means only to respect the office of President. The last guy was an assclown but would command respect should he choose to speak as President in JC) say give a speech at the Katyn Memorial or somewhere along the river. Certainly he'll need support during the campaign, seriously, call in a favor and have him speak here.

A very somber moment of remembrance last night in Jersey City for the tragic plane crash that killed Poland's heads of government

Of course Johnny being the newsbug he is had spent a lot of time watching the horrible news about the death of so many Polish heads of state and government near Katyn in western Russia. Imagine the horror here if half the administration and much of the military brass were killed in a plane crash. Johnny and the missus wandered down by the riverside last night after dinner as it was a spectacular evening to be out. As they got closer to Exchange Place and the Katyn monument they could see a very large crowd and hundreds if not thousands of candles on and around the monument. Crowds there, many speaking Polish or with heavy Polish accents were so very upset as they prayed and conversed and drew strength from each other. For those who may not know of the Katyn massacre where some 20,000 Polish army officer were slaughtered by Russian secret police in 1940 for now assimilating to Russian occupation, the full story can be found here.

The great irony here is that the Polish contingent was in Russia for the 7th anniversary of the Russian government even admitting it's part in the massacre. A somber remembrance turned horribly tragic.