Late night open thread

If today is your birthday you share it with singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

You want to be part of the new hot foodie scene? Brothers and sisters you're standing in it

Mayor Fulop tweeted out this story from the New York Daily News this morning where they say about Cool City and we quote:

'Jersey City is emerging as the hot new foodie destination in the NYC area'

Damn straight. We don't have much use for the Daily News but they are spot on (if not a few months late) with this story. They concentrate on a new restaurant in a very familiar place. The restaurant will be called Talde, the vision of Dale Talde, best known from Bravo’s “Top Chef” and his well-reviewed eponymous Park Slope eatery, with Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri, the stars of HGTV’s “Kitchen Cousins. The site? It's the old JCPD headquarters at 8 Erie (and a sidenote, 8 Erie is being transformed by Jersey City construction magicians Brunelleschi). Gina Pace's fine article also talks up Satis, Marco and Pepe, Barcade, Razza, Taqueria, and Thirty Acres. One thing Gina, you said "Apparently all those years of “sixth borough” jokes have finally rubbed off on Jersey City," in the story. See, we never took/take that Sixth Borough thing as a joke, so the joke's on you. Jersey City, let's also not forget the gems not spoken of in the article, especially India Square where quite a few New Yorkers go to eat on a Saturday night.

So Johnny gets here and almost immediately this city sets about creating the gilded age in Jersey City food. You can't beat that with a stick. So Johnny's culinarilly (it is now) inclined readers, what say you? Have you been to any of the aforementioned restaurants? Care to share a review or two in comments? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Mayor Fulop is out to change the way the city does business...again

What is this guy, trying to clean up the city along with it's image? Well that is what people voted for we suppose, an end to the Healy machine ways.

Mayor Fulop said the city is going to tighten the control of off-duty work for police in Jersey City. No longer will a company, required to hire police "protection" services at construction sites and at businesses for a myriad of reasons, be forced to pay at least four hours worth of work whether the officer was needed that long or not. In fact, so many local businesses had complained about feeling "gouged" Fulop said he had to act:

“We’ve listened to the small business owners and organizations who hire the off-duty officers and what they told us was that not only was this process arbitrary, but that the officers lacked oversight and often the business owners felt like victims of price-gouging.”

As it stands now the police themselves send officers out on these (let's face facts) 'fill the wallet' job sites (and make sure to read the article and just how lucrative these standing around jobs can be -- one cop doubled his salary!). Fulop's plan, to be voted on at next week's city council meeting would take the scheduling away from the police and give it to two civilians who will now make out the schedule. Fulop said his plan cuts down on what businesses pay and also so police protection no longer feels like an unofficial shakedown. Fulop also noted, most importantly that this will get eight policer officers back on the beat during the times they'd normally be standing outside a construction site drinking coffee with the workers.

Of course the JCPD is upset by this and there was much harumphing from their designated talker:

"We are concerned about any proposal which suggests that a civilian employee has the proper expertise to determine what is and is not a public safety issue," Carmine Disbrow, president of the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association.

Yes Carmine, two and three officers standing at Steuben and Marin watching trucks deliver rebar is clearly a public safety issue that only you could have foreseen. We're pretty sure when it comes to scheduling people to stand somewhere or sit in a car when it rains we don't need policing experts, just logistical folk. The mayor isn't asking for people off the streets to run the 911 system or handle emergency situations Carmine, we're just trying to become a better, more accountable city and for that Mayor Fulop has our full support.

Late night open thread

Johnny would like to send out a long distance dedication tonight before we all turn in. This one goes out to a guy who sometimes like to smoke the crack rock in a "drunken stupor." Yes, of course this one is going out to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Rob reminded us this week us that while he likes to get blotto on booze and puff, he's no crack addict. That means only some city business is getting done on crack, not all of it. The Assassination of Toronto by the Coward Robert Ford.

Well this one's for you Rob Ford, you conservative icon. We would like to share some irony concerning something said about you when you took office. Famed colorful former NHL coach and current CBC icon on Coaches Corner on Hockey Night in Canada Don Cherry said at your swearing in, insulting liberals who opposed you:

"...that’s why I say he’s going to be the greatest mayor this city has ever seen. As far as I’m concerned you can put that in your pipe you left-wing kooks.”

ORLY Don? How right you were.

Here's the Sex Pistols with 'Pretty Vacant', sent your way Mr. Ford.


Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Good on you New Jersey for raising the minimum wage

Well done. We'd like to underscore something with this ballot initiative. As Johnny said yesterday one of the best ways to get an economy running is to get money in the pockets of those who have the least of it. This does exactly that. But here is the point that really needed underscoring. As we also mentioned yesterday business groups will lie about the impact of these minimum wage raises across America. They'll say no jobs will be created, that -- well here, listen to one of their acolytes talk about raising the minimum wage:

Laurie Ehlbeck, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business said "We honestly believe there will be a loss of jobs and opportunities," Ehlbeck said. "They are not going to hire someone, they will give an employee fewer hours, they may reduce the benefits. They don’t want to do anything to hurt their employees, but they are working on a very small profit margin."

Now, would you like to hear from someone who actually OWNS a business with 120 employees (You know those small businesses the Chamber of Commerce likes to hide behind on such matters saying they'll all dry up and go away) and will be impacted by this vote:

“A higher minimum wage will actually help business owners by reducing absenteeism and worker turnover, which costs businesses way more than nickel and dime-ing on wages," Mitch Cahn, president of Unionwear, a clothing manufacturer in Newark with 120 employees, said. "Secure workers earning a living wage are productive workers and better consumers. A higher minimum wage just makes fiscal sense."

Game. Set. Match. to Mr. Cahn.

And good on you New Jersey.

The PATH will close the WTC and Exchange Place stations for the next three weekends

One year after Superstorm Sandy the folks who keep the PATH trains running are still trying to remove saltwater damage from the rails and other electronics. So, Nov. 9-10, Nov. 16-17 and Nov. 23-24 the PATH will not stop at Exchange Place or the WTC stations. This allows workers uninterrupted chances to clean things up AND PATH says it will keep the trains running on those lines over the holiday season.

Late night open thread

So Chris Christie was re-elected Governor. He will preside over us until such time as he leaves us all behind to move onto bigger things; in the care of the Scarecrow because of his brain, the Tin Man because of his heart and the Lion because of his courage.

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Election day is at our throats again!

Spitballing election day here at the Jersey City Desk.

Are you really voting for Chris Christie today for governor or perhaps his number two? Everyone in the world knows he'll run for President within the next 16 months. The one point nobody has brought up (Even the supposed great writers of politick in this state like Paul Mulshine and others haven't yet mentioned it) is today's race is really between Barbara Buono and lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno if you're taking a long view of things. Christie can't continue to be governor because of the Garden State's tough pay-to-play laws once he's in the presidential race. Kim Guadagno refuses to answer questions pertaining to her job. Maybe she'd have to if anyone took this particular angle on election day. So, Kim Guadagno vs. Barbara Buono should be what some people are talking about, but they're not (except here).

Governor Christie will try to run up the score today to send a message to the remaining centrists and those who don't think compromise is a four letter word in the GOP. The governor wants to show the GOP leprechauns who dole out the money a guy who works across the aisle can win big in a blue state. He wants to show the Tea Party who have a stranglehold on the primaries his is the best way forward. Even if Christie wins by 40 or even 50 points tonight does anyone think the Tea Party is going to listen to reason and pick an electable candidate? No, they want purity and do not care how it is achieved. In fact Johnny is of the mind the Teabaggers would rather just have their candidates look into the camera and tell their public "I am not a witch." We wish the governor all the luck in the world breaking the Tea Party hold on the GOP, they've been nothing but clowns.

Onto the minimum wage increase on the ballot. Of course businesses are against it and so the Chamber of Commerce is against it and all conservative leaning groups will lie and tell you there will be no jobs left to pay minimum wage for. They've been saying this sort of thing forever and they are always wrong. No increase in the minimum wage has ever dropped the nation or a state or a township or a city into a depression or recession. Quite a few economists would tell you in fact the fastest way to pull out of an economic downturn is to get more money into the hands of those who have the least. They will need to spend that money as saving it is probably not an option. That extra money gets put right back into the economy faster than someone who is rich who might invest it or save it. What kind of a heart do you have inside you where you can't vote for those who have the least to have a little bit more?

Oh, and Hoboken, you're doing just fine with Dawn Zimmer. Any other choice would be the wrong one.

Get out there and vote New Jersey. It's your right and your responsibility.

Late night open thread

Some people are like Slinkys … not really good for anything, but you can’t help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.
 -- Unknown

Time for Jersey City, After Dark

Good news for our friends across the river

New York City is on pace to have the lowest number of murders in 60 years! That's good news.

Now comes the consternation over just WHY the murders are down. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credits the NYPD’s focus on youth gangs and domestic violence, along with "hot-spot policing" and an expanding use of electronic data to identify crime trends.

OK, yes that probably helps. Now comes the consternation part and the egg on the face of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly:

As of August this year, the NYPD conducted 53 percent fewer street stop-and-frisks—58,088, to be exact— than it did in the same period last year.

Let the debates begin, luckily there will be more live people to have this discussion.