Bayonne Muslims, the group that applied for and was denied a zoning application to convert an abandoned warehouse on 109 East 24th Street into a mosque, has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Bayonne alleging discrimination. The suit cites the First and Fourteenth Amendments as well as Municipal Land Use Law, aiming to challenge the denial of their application. The suit comes after the Bayonne Zoning Board of Adjustment denied the application by Bayonne Muslims on March 6. The board approved conditional use variances in curb width and buffer zone, but denied the group for a bulk parking variance, for which it requested 37 on-site parking spaces when the zoning board was asking for 54. Three zoning officials voted against the group, citing traffic congestion and insufficient parking as reasons for their vote. They denied in public comments that religious discrimination influenced their reasoning. The mosque’s application is predicated on its status as a place of worship, which, as applied under Municipal Land Use law, gives it special consideration. The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the Bayonne Zoning Board’s decision, the DOJ confirmed on Wednesday. Click here for more.
The Jersey City Education Association (JCEA) has rescinded its endorsement of Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti, who is seeking a second term in the state Assembly representing the 31st District encompassing Bayonne and parts of Jersey City. The Democratic primary election will be held on June 6 and the general election is on Nov. 8. Organizations rarely rescind endorsements. But the JCEA, a teachers’ union that has also endorsed Kristen Zadroga-Hart for Assembly, made the decision after they linked a pro-school voucher program to Chiaravalloti. Recently, Better Education 4 NJ Kids, a political action committee that supports public school privatization and voucher programs, distributed literature throughout Bayonne and Jersey City that included pictures of Chiaravalloti and his Hudson County Democratic Organization-backed running mate, Assemblywoman Angela McKnight. Click here for more.
Hudson County residents who want vegetables fresh from the farm, as well as a variety of baked goods, sauces, and other delicacies, can find a local weekly farmer’s market for almost any day of the week. Most local farmers’ markets participate in the Jersey Fresh produce program under the state’s Department of Agriculture, which encourages people to buy state-grown food. Some markets accept benefit programs like WIC, SNAP, EBT, or senior FMNP. However, two markets that ran in North Bergen and Union City last year will not be back this year. The weekly markets at James Braddock Park and Ellsworth Park have been canceled after the Washington Park Association, which implements the programs, determined there were not enough vendors or customers to make them financially feasible, said a spokeswoman on Wednesday. Hoboken and Jersey City do run several markets in each town. According to its website, the state of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country, has 9,100 farms covering 715,000 acres. They generated over $1 billion in sales in 2014. Click here for our roundup of Hudson County’s current and upcoming farmers’ markets.
