Right on time, that D+ JCPD showing itself in our B+ city -- UPDATE

Police in Jersey City (And elsewhere) really do think they are a special breed. There aren't many people who haven't seen a cop run his lights to get through a long red light and then magically, once through, the lights go off. Since nobody will ever say anything to cops they simply do what they want when they want. This morning apparently there was some big pow-wow between someone at Toll Brothers and several JCPD officers going inside, getting a tour, talking stand around jobs, who knows. Lots of JCPD brass at Toll on Bay St. That sets things up.

So into the neighborhood the police vehicles come, almost all of them parking where anyone with an ounce of self-awareness might, in a row where there is no parking on one side of the street thanks to Parking Authority fliers. Copacetic. There was one however, in one of those shiny new Ford SUV's (maybe one of the ones taken away by the mayor after the wild west shootout that ended with JCPD kicking an accident victim on fire) who acted like he was in charge and who parked in the most ridiculous spot one could imagine, blocking the ONLY route E-W on Bay St at Provost. Here's our hero's parking job:

See that empty space behind the vehicle? What you also cannot see is the copious parking on the right side of the street or behind Johnny. Nope, not this guy, pull up and jump out. What's the problem and where does the sheer ignorance kick in? Here you go:

That's just the FIRST woman Johnny saw having to have a friendly passerby to help LIFT The baby carriages around the police vehicle. They had to lift the strollers around the police vehicle on the only goat path available to residents at that point. Awesome!

So Johnny went asking around of the police standing around the Toll property who's vehicle it was and isn't that kind of an ignorant place to park it. It was at this moment Johnny knew who parked it, the word ignorant set off one of the cops (pictured below) and he immediately tried defending the parking job. Johnny kept after him after his continued lame defense the truck wasn't blocking anything, in that we as residents/taxpayers should have to put up with, well, ignorance and laziness. Johnny was simply having none of it. He explained to everyone on the veranda outside the Warehouse Cafe that indeed you Mr. Officer can park anywhere being an emergency vehicle and you CHOSE that spot. That's just ignorant. It was very nice of Officer Parkjob to turn back for his picture to be taken. So down the veranda Johnny and the cop in the street went. The more people who gathered the meeker the cop became as, he was in the wrong and it was quite apparent why. Get your head right or yes, Johnny is gonna earhole you and he's simply not afraid to say something.

The way you get a better world is, you don't put up with substandard anything.

 -- Joe Strummer

UPDATE 10:06AM -- The reason for the huge police presence and the detectives and what not are that the Toll Brothers job site, so poorly locked down each night, with gaping holes in chained fences and not much elsewhere, had a bundle of materials stolen. Big surprise. No cameras, no security, just bad fencing. All that money and no security on their site. Tell that to the insurance company.

Who will help bake the cake? Not I said the fox, Not I barked the lazy dog...

"Not I," purred the sleepy cat. "Not I," quacked the duck.

But as you know from The Little Red Hen children's story, they'll all be more than happy to eat the cake. Which brings us to the utter lack of interest or participation in the Powerhouse Arts District from it's newest residents at The One, The Trump buildings, and The Morgan. Johnny went to help friends clean up the PAD yesterday and he's worked on the Harsimus Cove clean up days. He believes in putting in the sweat equity for the neighborhoods he's near to make Jersey City a place everyone wants to live in. Know what Johnny's job he offered up was yesterday? A giant grid going around and cleaning up the dog crap that idiot owners and bad dog walkers just leave. He's used to doing it and it's disgusting for those without a dog. Went through two full rolls of poop bags. Yes, Johnny gets to call you lazy bastards out who didn't help.

When you have a dog you get to know a lot of people in a wide swath. You just do. Johnny saw people cleaning the PAD from 150 and 140 Bay St. He saw people he knew from The A building and the new Modera. Didn't see any of the others. Do they not all use the neighborhood (and this goes for every ward and neighborhood)? There were signs up. The only kind you don't feel like ripping down.

See, it's not just the two spring cleanups these three buildings have bailed on. They've bailed on the last two art crawls as well. Bet some residents from Trump, The One and The Morgan enjoyed the art crawl, it's just their heavily-abated buildings just decided to let someone else do it. Let them pay for it. All three broke the height levels in the PAD through the courts, they've not been good neighbors to begin with, and it's clear their investment in the neighborhood is mailing in the PILOT check to city hall. Didn't the city insist they have art spaces (Heck, Public Storage had to put one in per neighborhood agreements)? Why do these three buildings and their residents sit these events out at every turn?

If you see them, do ask. Then ask again if they don't have an answer. Still no answer? Give them a trash bag before they get to eat any cake.

The ugliest new building in Jersey City is....

Jersey City has some REALLY bad new architecture going on. Everything either needs a sibling building (boring) or the architects simply could give two fucks about our skyline and neighborhoods. Johnny has decided to let you, the Jersey City residents have your say on which new building is the ugliest.

First, the rules, any new building coming online, ie allowing tenants in in 2015 is eligible for this 2016 award.

Let's not be CBS and the NCAA Tournament show and get right to the nominees:

The new Mirbella, the Oakman (Jokeman), the new Ironstate in Journal Square and little Jared Kushner's tribute to his father-in-law, the Shithead Trump building will all be eligible next year as they will open this year. Now that that's cleared up we have three key nominees all relatively close to each other:

Lloyd Goldman's The One

Void of any feeling, void of any interesting architecture, void of anything top end this is a candidate that simply can't be overlooked. Well, actually it should be overlooked but no doubt it's made many a person's eyes bleed as they gaze upon it. The backside looks like a prison entrance and the best views include a park Goldman's goofs tore up and the light rail down below.

Toll Brothers The Morgan

A Toll Brothers VP told a meeting of PADNA he simply could neither defend the architect of The Morgan, nor it's look. He said it's why Toll had a new architect to build their new Phase Two shithole at the corner of Warren and Morgan. Basic, bland, ill colored brick for the neighborhood it's in, and on the back wall that overlooks a lawn it might be the ugliest "mural" in all the land.

Shuster's Art House

A beige block of ice, a non-descript building in an old neighborhood filled with architectural gems. It doesn't help the Art House that Shuster is building an almost exact copy called The Jokeman, er Oakman right next door. One is supposed to be high end (Johnny's seen brochures dropped in his lobby like trash for the Oakman, it ain't that high end people) while the other is affordable rentals. Look at the outsides of the buildings and tell which is which. Exactly. Ugly! Branding Problem!

Feel free to jump into comments and vote for the one that hurts your eyes the most. Vote on it and make America great again LOL...

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.

Johnny has serious concerns about the safety of our city

You all know Johnny loves Jersey City with all his heart. When he gets angry with certain officials it's because Johnny knows Jersey City can be better and truly wants break the old thinking about our fair city. Like a football coach once told Johnny's high school team; "Don't worry when I yell at you when you screw up. Worry when you know I see you screw up and don't yell at you."

To that end JC we have a real problem. Getting ready for "The Ugly, Phase Two" Toll Brothers has a contractor digging deep holes at Warren and Morgan. Deep deep holes. Johnny is rightly concerned that if this one gets any deeper we as a city are gonna have to deal with a Kraken or a Balrog or some other mutant horror. Man's hubris is putting our city at grave risk for a Kraken and what do our leaders do? Nothing.

Don't say Johnny didn't warn you.

It's just nice to hear people tell the truth

Johnny sat in on a PADNA neighborhood meeting last night at the invite of a friend and listened to Toll Brothers discuss the timing and look of the second portion of the three-pronged plan that runs through PADNA from Warren to Morgan to Marin to Bay St. It wasn't as awful as Johnny had imagined. Their new design comes with a public square, much like the one at Grove St. only a touch more high-end. Steps were taken to put in a parking garage so that 80% of their new residents will have off-street parking. Then came the much better design than the 38 story god-awful monstrosity at the corner of Marin and Morgan now. The landscaping looked great and it seemed to have a design that fit the area it's in, not like the current one. Only 28 floors on this one. The reason? Toll used a different architect on the image you'll see below which is the design of the new area (imagine you are on the veranda at 150 Bay St. looking southeast) than the one almost done. The image further down is how the current one is going to look on the backside until phase three starts, maybe in 4 years, maybe. Until then Toll presents, via their first architect, painted Tyvek. When asked about this disappointing design a Toll Brothers VP told the 50 or so PADNA members assembled, "Yeah, I'm not gonna try and defend that."

As Billy Joel so aptly pointed out, "Honesty, is hardly ever heard."

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.

Confirmed: Warehouse demo starts tomorrow

Now, it may just be the boxy portion AT Morgan and Warren (Avoid this area tomorrow drivers) and not the taller well-graffitied warehouse but Johnny confirmed in talking with three guys tasked with taking it down that tomorrow it is. Johnny also hipped them to the fact the small building has no structural integrity as portions of the roof have caved in (looking back in the pictures Johnny took from a friend's place when about 15 "interesting characters" got inside those warehouses and half the Jersey City PD turned out to arrest them, you can see the open roof areas).

This particular building would have most likely had to go but losing a city's history and old warehouses that could have been saved (Like Mill Creek is doing) if the city planning commission had even tried to get the paperwork designating the Powerhouse Arts District a historical district in on time. Inept? Paid off? You tell us, the fact is we lose a lot while the Jersey City planning commission is asleep at the switch.

A Jersey City Desk Editorial

Know who's not an Ebola expert and doesn't have anyone on full-time staff who really truly has a working understanding of Ebola and what happens in such a global outbreak? Chris Christie.

Know who are experts on the Ebola? The CDC and World Health Organization, both of whom Chris Christie is pretending he knows more than because he's trying to raise money for the flat earth society. Cuomo conceded he didn't know what they know and NY are no longer sending people to Ebola yurts.  If Christie keeps on this path then no doubt Steve Fulop will meet with certain handpicked council members and Toll Brothers to give a 30% tax abatement for 20 years to build Ebola Housing Downtown. Without fail some advertising douche would name it The Virale! Then when they get ready to break ground Toll will tell city planning they don't want stupid Ebola patients anywhere near let alone inside their glamour pad. City Planning will of course capitulate.

We don't want that Jersey City so contact Christie's office and tell him to shut his yapper and listen to real experts. If the World Health Organization or CDC ever wants analysis or lyrical meaning of ANY Bruce Springsteen song they should not hesitate to contact Governor Christie. Christie needs the old "less talk more listen" approach here.

This has been a Jersey City Desk Editorial.