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.

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.

Fun with photos; Gardening edition

Trump Tower in Jersey City proving the old adage that if you put enough manure and compost on the ground you'll grow big things:

A couple shots from around town this morning

Johnny went for a long walk this morning through the Powerhouse Arts District on his way to the river. A lonely powerwasher at 150 Bay St. and the Trump Tower looking like a 1970's instamatic picture...

Trump Tower is getting a couple new tenants this January

The Trump Tower here in Jersey City (King of all buildings that have purple lighting) is adding some new business this upcoming January. Buon Italia, a specialty food store located at Chelsea Market in Manhattan will be expanding and opening it's doors on the first floor after the first of the year. Also opening in the Trump Tower is a dentist's office and an organic nail salon. It was impressed upon Johnny by intern Kiki that an organic nail salon was indeed a good thing and her Thursday afternoons were now going to be booked.

Good help, it's at the nail salon on Thursdays.

Framed

An all too clever art type managed to hang a picture frame off of some fishing line to the lines overhead in the Powerhouse Arts District and in this wind today it'll frame many things as it swings, in this case the Trump Tower.