One of the parking bans on Newark Ave. will stretch from Chestnut Ave. to Brunswick St. in an effort to extend the bike lanes there. Screenshot via Google Maps.
Jersey City is banning parking on certain sections of Marin Boulevard and Newark Avenue to help protected bike lanes.
Two new ordinances will ban parking on the west side of Marin Boulevard from 18th Street to the Hoboken border, as well as banning it on both sides of Newark Avenue from Chestnut Avenue to Brunswick Street, which is the section of the road that connects Journal Square to Downtown.
The City Council unanimously adopted the ordinances at their Oct. 26 meeting to do so.
During an Oct. 11 caucus meeting, Transportation Planning Director Michael Manzella explained that the parking ban on Marin Boulevard was the result of an effort between the city, Hoboken and Hudson County on a safety improvement project there.
He also explained that the Newark Avenue bans would extend the protected bike lanes there to Brunswick Street and would complete a connection to Columbus Drive.
Councilman James Solomon, who represents the Downtown-based Ward E, told the Hudson Reporter that the changes to Marin Boulevard in particular were to accommodate a protected bike lane there.
“Jersey City and Hoboken did not have a safe biking connection between the two cities,” he said. “So the creation of the bike lane, specifically on Marin, is to try to connect our bike networks together.”
He also explained that the bans on Newark Avenue were to remove street parking between 5th and Brunswick Street so that the protected bike lane was extended by one block.
During the council meeting where the ordinances were adopted, resident Ryan Williams thanked the council for the parking bans, saying that he rode on both of those sections and that they were “critical missing links.”
Another resident, Emmanuelle Morgen, also said that she commutes between Jersey City and Hoboken with her bike, and that a section between 18th Street and Observer Highway under the rail underpass “was and still is terrifying until today.”
“Prior to today, the segments intersections with vehicles frequently turning right on red evokes the kind of fear that makes people on foot, bike and scooter pause in confusion and try to look every which way, never knowing from where the speeding vehicle might be coming,” she said.
“My partner and I will be sure to ride this segment tomorrow in celebration of progress for safe streets and our community,” she continued.
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at [email protected] or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
Running on the slate, from left to right is: Trustee Hector Gonzalez, former Trustee Mary Jane Desmond, Miriam Bechay, and William Young.
Under the slogan “Together We Can,” four candidates are seeking seats up for grabs on the Bayonne Board of Education. The slate consists of incumbent Trustee Hector Gonzalez, Mary Jane Desmond, William Young, and Miriam Bechay, at 1I, 2I, 3I, and 8I on the ballot, respectively.
Three seats are available for a term of three years each. The terms of Trustees Lisa Burke, Jan Patrick Egan, and Denis Wilbeck are expiring and none are running for re-election.
Along with those three seats, there is another board seat available for a term of one year. Trustee Hector Gonzalez, Jr.’s term is expiring after he was appointed in January of this year.
In an interview with the Bayonne Community News, the “Together We Can” ticket described who they are, what platform they are running on, and other pertinent questions related to the election. This included Gonzalez, Desmond and Young, but not Bechay, who did not respond to requests for an interview.
Hector Gonzalez
Gonzalez is a special education high school teacher for the Jersey City Board of Education and serves as a Crisis Intervention specialist, SSLD-Specific Language Learners Disabled students, and volleyball coach. He said he has a passion for education and brings valuable educational input and insight to the board there.
Gonzalez lives in Bayonne with his wife Susan and has one daughter in high school. He is running for school board to: ensure every student maintains a path to graduate and is educationally and socially equipped for life; provide highly competitive pay for classroom teachers; ensure the board and community provides the resources to protect and enrich students when they are not on campus; ensure the board maintains and implements a strong response to bullying; pursue financial policies which provide an outstanding return on the communities investment in their schools; and maintain high district morale.
Gonzalez considers himself an independent thinker on the board. He said that he shares values with his fellow slate members but also has his own opinions.
“I don’t consider myself a bobble head that everything is a yes,” Gonzalez said.
Mary Jane Desmond
Desmond was born and raised in Bayonne, and has been a single mom since her children were two, three and four years old. She is grateful for the education her three daughters received in Bayonne’s public school system.
Desmond has a professional background in management and finance in the corporate, government, non-profit and healthcare sectors. A long time community activist, she has served as City Councilwoman At-Large, Deputy County Clerk, and a former Trustee for the board. Desmond was appointed in the ’90s, selected to fill a term in the ’00s, re-elected to the seat, but ultimately lost re-election and is now seeking a seat on the board again.
Desmond is running to do her part to ensure current and future students are afforded every opportunity to succeed emotionally and academically. She believes that teachers should be supported with every resource to provide a first rate education for them.
According to Desmond, funding, school safety, aging buildings, over-crowded classrooms and a growing student population all impact how the district is able to provide a quality education for our children.
Prudent handling of financial resources is important in addressing these issues, she said. Desmond touts a reputation of getting the job done and is eager to work with the other members of the “Together We Can” team to do so.
“The reason I do this is because the children are so important to my life and I’m motivated to do what I can to prepare them for life,” Desmond said.
William Young
“I’ve lived in Bayonne for 30 years,” Young said. “The day after I graduated junior high school in 1992, I moved to Bayonne and started in Bayonne High School that following fall. Honestly, the city embraced me as a young man from out of town.”
After falling in love with Bayonne while in high school while playing football and basketball, he remained in the city, and 30 years later, he is married to his wife Julie and a homeowner with four kids in the district.
Young is a Financial Services and Registered Representative with the New York Life Insurance Company. He is involved with Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball, now known as Bayonne Youth Baseball and Softball, New Jersey Together, and is a trustee with his church.
Young is running for school board because he wants to increase after-school and summer educational and enrichment opportunities for all students. Young believes that education does not stop at 3 p.m. and is an all year round process.
“All four of my children are in the public school system,” Young said. “I see what they go through in high school.”
Young has also seen the influence of City Hall on the school board in Jersey City through advocacy work there. He wants Bayonne to avoid the same fate, so he’s running for the board here.
Miriam Bechay
Bechay was born and raised in Bayonne. She went to Nicholas Oresko school for the Gifted and Talented Program and Bayonne High School.
Bechay was a part of the Bayonne Basketball Girls Varsity Team for two years, and also the Bayonne Swimming Team and Softball Team for one year. She is currently enrolled at New Jersey Institute of Technology studying Biomedical Engineering.
Throughout high school and through her college years, Bechay has helped campaign and canvass for several city officials and was then given the opportunity to become a fieldwork manager. She hopes to contribute in making important decisions for the Bayonne Board of Education.
“It’s my time to give back to the community that has already given me so many opportunities,” Bechay said. “I hope to do the same for the younger generations.”
Running on platform to address needs and challenges of the district
According to Desmond, the school district needs to address a number of issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the emotional well-being of students after the isolation they just went through.
Desmond said, “I feel the way to reach children who feel isolated is to allow them that creative expression, which just boils over into academics automatically. Critical reading, writing, it expands upon those skills tremendously.”
The slate wants to make safety a top priority for all students and staff, ensure every student has equal access to a high quality education, consistently work to improve communication and transparency with parents, staff and, taxpayers so every stakeholder has a seat at the table. They believe that every child matters and that they are independent voices with shared values.
New policies to propose?
Desmond says she wants the board to advocate for students, staff, and administrators. As a board member, she would promote more interaction with teachers to know their needs and advocate for them.
In Bayonne, post-COVID-19, priorities include renovating heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and determining which students need extra attention after virtual learning. Gonzalez, with an eye to improving shared services, took issue with the shared services agreement with the city for garbage and recycling collection by A + L Disposal LLC.
“I think it was the mayor who was the one who negotiated that contract,” Gonzalez said. “It was $125,000. Now it’s $325,00 for garbage collection days in the schools. It’s a lot of money.”
Gonzalez also wants to increase transparency on the board and communication with parents. He proposes holding the board meetings at a different school every time to give more people opportunities to attend. Gonzales added the school district needs to be upfront about the tax rate.
Gonzalez also wants to hold weekly meetings with parent teacher organizations at each school to gauge how the board can help meet needs as they arise. Young said one policy he would change would involve increased parental participation, echoing Gonzalez’s proposal for frequent meetings with parent teacher organizations.
“There are some things, being a parent, that are concerning to me,” Young said. “I think the parents need definitely need to be more involved in in what’s going on.”
The slate attends a football game with current Bayonne Board of Education Vice President Christopher Munoz (far left).
‘Integrity, honesty, commitment, and dedication’
Desmond said the slate is running on integrity, honesty, commitment, and dedication. She said they all share the same energy in advocating for the children of the district.
Gonzalez said this iteration of the “Together We Can” slate aims to continue building on the progress the others have accomplished. Most board members on the board now have ran on the “Together We Can” ticket, but Gonzalez said they are all independent voices with shared values with their own way of thinking.
For Gonzalez, keeping teachers in the district is another major issue. He said they are a hot commodity right now, and the district needs to look for ways to maintain them, pay them more, and keep them in Bayonne.
According to Gonzalez, other priorities for the ticket include upgrading the bullying policy, and working on infrastructure such as the funding needed for new boilers by December 6. Under a new state mandate, all boilers in schools must be electric by the deadline, which will cost $250,000 per school in Bayonne he said, noting everything comes down to funding.
Young emphasized that while they are running on the same slate they are independent voices with shared values, echoing a common theme for the ticket. He also wants to create more after-school programs other than sports. Young said such career-oriented programs he experienced growing up in the New York school system impacted him greatly, and he wants the same for Bayonne.
New facility is necessity in Bayonne school district
As the city grows, so does its population of school-age children. Desmond believes that a new facility is necessary to ease overburdened classrooms.
“It’s not even a choice, it’s a must-do,” Desmond said. “Nobody wants to burden the taxpayers more, but not doing something periodically creates this ‘uh-oh’ scenario that we’re in. These are school buildings that are over 100 years old, with the average age I believe is 80 or 90 years now. You can play around with the brick and mortar, but your heating and air conditioning, those are health and safety issues.”
Gonzalez agreed with Desmond that even with the acquisition of the former St. Andrew’s School, a new school needs to be built. He said that state and federal funding can help foot the bill.
“People come in and they have children, so then the district is even more crowded,” Gonzalez said. “We need to have a new school.”
Young also concurred. He said that building new schools is just as important as upgrading existing aged facilities.
Desmond targeted tax abatements for new residential development don’t contribute funds to the school district. She said that the district needs to coordinate more funding with the state and federal government to renovate aging existing facilities and to build new ones.
“The state does not fund the district well enough for us to be able to do that on our own,” Desmond said. “Taxpayers are overburdened already. The recent rash of abatements hasn’t helped. So we have to be defining ways to respond to the need for very safe and sound school buildings.”
Young and Gonzalez agreed that tax abatements being granted to redevelopers that don’t contribute funds to the school system are a major issue.
“In advocacy work that I’ve done in Jersey City, I’ve seen what abatements have done to to the school system there,” Young said. “I want to make sure that same thing doesn’t happen in Bayonne.”
New sex education standards in health curriculum
Recently, the state has implemented new sex education standards in health curriculum at the local level. While there exists the choice to opt out of the lesson in Bayonne, some parents had advocated against the material being taught in schools at all.
Desmond call it somewhat of a government overreach, and wants the state legislators to revisit the issue with child psychologists and therapists and the like. However, she approves of the choice to opt out.
“I do appreciate that there should be in health education, a component, age appropriate, for some of those topics,” Desmond said.
Gonzalez said that the district has to implement the state’s health education curriculum per the mandate. He praised the choice for parents to opt out, noting that they can choose what they think is best for their kids.
“It’s a state law,” Gonzalez said. “The state education department that wrote that. We cant say no to the state or risk losing funding. But you have the option to opt out from anything that you think as a parent if you believe daughter should or shouldn’t be learning that.” Young believes that this is also a parents choice.
“This is something that is a personal choice in terms of what parents want,” Young said. “I love the fact that Bayonne has that opt out provision.”
While some parents want the option to learn the curriculum completely removed, Young suggests they opt their child out and take the protest to the state level. He said the district can’t risk losing funding from the state by not enacting it.
The “Together We Can” ticket had a booth at the Bergen Point Fall Festival.
Davis endorses competing slate
Mayor James Davis endorsed the slate on September 21, the first time he had backed candidates in a school board race since 2020 and a departure from backing the “Together We Can” slate as he had in consecutive years past. Davis said he considers electing the “Voices for Progress” ticket among his top priorities for his third term. Desmond criticized the mayor’s endorsement as politicizing the race, but was ultimately uninterested in it and more on having the voters’ backing.
“Make up your mind, is it an elected or appointed board?” Desmond said. “We are starting to look like every other city in Hudson County with the politicking. I really ultimately don’t care.”
Gonzalez said there are good people on other slate, well respected. He didn’t take issue with them, but with the mayor’s involvement in the race, calling for a separation from the board and the city.
Young expressed a similar sentiment. From experience in the advocacy work that he does in Jersey City, he said he has seen how influence from City Hall can affect the board.
“I think City Hall needs to stay away from the Board of Education, there needs to be a separation,” Young said.
The “Together We Can” slate has gotten support from other incumbent Trustees including Jodi Casais, Vice President Christopher Munoz, and President Maria Valado. Also backed by former City Council President and mayoral candidate Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski, it appears the election is somewhat of a proxy war between factions remaining from the May municipal election.
On the campaign trail
The campaign has been relatively quiet until September. The “Together We Can” slate began making appearances at local events that month, such as the Bayonne Arts Festival. That continued with their first meet and greet at Bake N Brew on September 22, the Bayonne Bike Club’s annual Night Ride, and knocking on doors.
The meet and greets continued, with a livestream featuring a question and answer with parent and teacher organizations, and on October 19 at Kuhl’s Tavern. The “Together We Can” slate had a booth at the Bergen Point Fall Festival to meet voters, followed by the most recent meet and greet on October 26 at The Rock Pub.
As Election Day approached, the slate was looking forward to more events, such as the candidate forum at Bayonne High School’s Alexander X. O’Connor Auditorium on November 2 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. moderated by TAPinto Bayonne’s Al Sullivan. However, she noted it would be akin to a question and answer event as opposed to a debate.
Desmond added that while the slate was interviewed by the BEA, they endorsed “Voices for Progress” last week. She questioned how the event could be unbiased considering the timing of the endorsement, but said the slate will still attend since the commitment was from months prior.
More recently after the interviews, the “Together We Can” slate has also criticized recent flyers by the “Voices for Progress” slate. The complaints stem that the flyers feature the slate members next to Democratic candidates running for office also on November 8, despite the non-partisan nature of the election.
“So, Voices for Progress is handing out literature with their ballot positions and on the other side there are Democratic candidates for office,” they wrote on social media. “We at ‘Together We Can’ believe that the school board election is a non-partisan race and no influence from Democrats or Republicans should be Introduced.”
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at [email protected].
Nearly all the candidates running for the Jersey City school board this year attended the debate. Photo illustration by Terri Bish via screenshots from Hudson Media Group on YouTube.
Budgets and spending, teacher shortages and test scores were the topics at hand during the Jersey City school board debate, where nearly all of the candidates seeking one of the three seats on the board this year took part.
Two slates of three people and one independent participated in the debate. The first slate, “Education Matters”, includes Trustee Noemi Velazquez, Afaf Muhammad, a Hudson County Democratic committeewoman and former independent candidate, and Christopher Tisdale, an educator. All three are backed by the Jersey City Education Association union.
The second slate, “Change for Children”, includes Trustee Alexander Hamilton, Doris “Toni” Ervin, a Hudson County Community College professor and former candidate, and Kenny Reyes, a former City Council candidate who works in the recruiting industry. The slate has received financial backing from real estate developers in recent years.
Isnel Sanon, who runs a tax service firm and was formerly with the NAACP, was the only independent that participated in the debate, with Ahsan Nawaz, a real estate agent at Weichert, not appearing that night.
The debate was hosted by Hudson Media Group and moderated by John Heinis of Hudson County View.
Budgets and spending
The first topic that Heinis raised was the new school budget adopted earlier this year, totaling $973 million and coming with a $1,611 average tax increase per household. He asked the candidates what they would do to “hold the line on taxes” if they get elected.
Tisdale said “no one wants to see their taxes increase” and that he would ensure that “wasteful spending” is eliminated and that money is appropriated “for the things that they need to be appropriated for.” Muhammad also said that the board should put a hold on the budget to evaluate how it’s spent and where the money can be reallocated.
Velazquez, who voted for the new budget, said that while she was “very disheartened” to vote for the budget, she said that she voted “on the side of the students, not on the side of the developers, not on the side of anybody else,” and argued that the board needs to consider the new curriculum and the resources needed to teach it.
Afaf Muhammad, Christopher Tisdale and Trustee Noemi Velazquez make up the “Education Matters” slate. Screenshot via Hudson Media Group on YouTube.
“We also take into consideration the reduction that the state put upon us this year,” she said. “We did not have anyone, anyone from the city, any [of] the county or any other office help us regain any of that back.”
Sanon said that he would spend time working with the superintendent’s office to review policies and work with the purchasing department to make sure the money “is spent exactly as it should,” as well as monitoring what the district pays for equipment.
Ervin called the new budget “exuberant” and said that they board should start by looking at what their spending plan would be ”on different initiatives that are being offered from the schools, seeing what is working and what is not working.”
Hamilton said that he voted against the budget because he doesn’t believe in the tax increases imposed. He proposed hiring a budget officer for the school district, and that they stop the “tax shell game” between them and the state, county and city.
“If that means paying somebody $150,000, $175,000 a year to be qualified for the position, that’s fine if they find $20-30-40 million in waste,” said Hamilton about the budget officer. “That’s what we need to do first, clean up our house.”
Reyes said that the budget problem was the increases over the years, and that they should ensure that “every single dollar is accounted for correctly, not figuratively.”
“It’s not something where ‘Hey, give me the money’ and then there’s no plan,” he said. “We’re going to enact a specific plan in place to then ensure that those dollars are being allocated accordingly. Most importantly, the public should know where those dollars are being spent.”
A bit of sparring took place over their stances on the budget spending, with Reyes alleging that literature from the “Education Matters” slate had accused his slate of being against school funding, which he disputed. He said they’re “fully for funding 100 percent of the schools”, and that they’re against “irresponsible fiscal responsibility.”
Isnel Sanon (left) is an independent candidate, while Doris “Toni” Ervin is running under the “Change for Children” slate. Screenshot via Hudson Media Group on YouTube.
Tisdale argued the literature was not about the “Change for Children” slate being against school funding, but their backing by for-profit companies that are against funding schools (he then mentioned the LeFrak Organization later in the debate, who have financially backed the “Change for Children” slate before).
Hamilton alleged the school board knew about getting additional funding assistance before the new budget was adopted, such as a recent $89 million in state funding, but still raised taxes.
Velazquez claimed she’s never seen Ervin or Reyes in the budget meetings, to which Reyes replied that one doesn’t have to be in-person to watch the process, mentioning that they can be watched online, such as on Facebook.
Teacher shortages and testing scores
Heinis also referred to the nationwide teacher shortage affecting many schools across the country, and asked the candidates how they would attract more teachers to Jersey City.
Sanon said the school board should start by renovating schools, such as classrooms and teacher lounges, as well as supporting teachers by letting them know “that we [are] here for them.”
“We’re gonna answer their calls, whether it’s [a] problem with parents, student and so on, I’m going to be here for them,” he said. “Whatever that needs, it’s gonna happen.”
Ervin said that after the budget is under control, he and his running mates would “take care of the things we need to take care of”, which she said would help attract teachers, get help from colleges that have alternate route programs for teacher assistants interested in teaching, and make salaries competitive.
Hamilton also mentioned salaries, arguing that they’re “low-balling” their teachers and that they should increase the base pay, and create infrastructure environments that are also conducive to teaching. Reyes also agreed and said that they should have “great” livable wages for entry level teachers and improve infrastructure.
“I wouldn’t want to, if I was a teacher, walk into a classroom and I don’t have any heating, I don’t have any ventilation specifically, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, the leaky pipe specifically,” said Reyes. “So that’s something that we have to address as well.”
Muhammad said that the board should look into substitute teachers and aides that are qualified to be in a classroom by themselves. Tisdale said that attracting teachers requires having “a valued field that people see as something that they want to do.” Velazquez said she agreed with having state-of-the art rooms.
Trustee Alexander Hamilton and Kenny Reyes are also running under the “Change for Children” slate. Screenshot via Hudson Media Group on YouTube.
“Definitely reaching in now to the teachers that we have and placing them into their own classrooms and giving them responsibility for their own selves and with the children, I think they have a lot of experience being a substitute for many years with a master’s degree in teaching,” said Muhammad.
Heinis pointed to the decrease in test scores, which has occurred nationwide as well, and asked the candidates on how they would bring them back up to pre-COVID pandemic levels.
Reyes said the focus should be on working closely with the faculty and Superintendent Dr. Norma Fernandez and her team to help teachers get students back up. Ervin said teachers should be surveyed as to what their needs are, and to have parents involved in their children’s education.
Hamilton said they should figure out how to schedule their time better, saying they have a number of morning and after school programs and that “a little bit more” learning and development should be worked in them.
“How do we better instill in those children at that age…learning skills during that time?” he said. “We have to now make up for nearly a year of not being in class, that’s very, very important.”
Muhammad said exams should be given as classwork to reduce anxiety. Tisdale said that the district needs to find alternative methods of measuring student ability and accomplishments. Velazquez said they need a budget like the one voted on to fund individualized instructions that will “make every child successful.”
Sanon said that Reyes and Tisdale “got it right”, and that he himself wants to go to teachers and find out “exactly what they need, how can we get them overboard,” as well as advocating against having CBG stores near schools.
Other questions
Heinis asked if the candidates support having an appointed school board rather than the elected board, an idea that was supported by Mayor Steven Fulop and would’ve been up for a referendum vote in 2020, but was dropped in the midst of the pandemic.
Nearly all of the candidates present were strongly against the idea, with Reyes saying that challenging a democratic process is a bad idea, and Tisdale saying that an appointed school board “is nothing more than a group of people who are carrying out the mayor’s bidding.”
The only candidate who didn’t offer a definite answer was Muhammad, seemingly joking at first that she would support an appointed board if they appointed her, but then said that she would have to “really look at the process of how that is being done.”
“I would definitely have to look at the process and the agenda behind the appointments of the school board members, if that was to come down to it,” she said. “However, I think that the voice of the people is very powerful, and I think that not enough people are voting on the school board elections.”
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at [email protected] or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
Ahsan Nawaz (left) and Isnel Sanon (right) are two separate independents running for the Jersey City school board this year. Photos by Mark Koosau/Illustration by Terri Bish.
While the main contest in the Jersey City school board election this year is the battle between the “Education Matters” and “Change for Children” slates, there are two separate independents seeking one of the three seats on the board.
Each of them come from different professions but are both first time candidates. Isnel Sanon runs a tax service firm, and Ahsan Nawaz is a real estate agent. Both spoke to the Hudson Reporter on what they plan to bring to the board if they get elected in November.
Isnel Sanon
Isnel Sanon runs a tax service firm called Sanon Global, and was also with the NAACP. He was also a committeeman in the Jersey City Democratic Organization, and is running for public office for the first time.
Sanon said that he’s an advocate for parents of Haitian and Caribbean descent, and that he’s running because of international students not getting information needed to get to school on time, as well as property taxes “going off the roof.”
“It’s a matter of working together and negotiating for the people in Jersey City, and it’s not being done right now at the current board,” he said.
His top priority if he gets elected would be to review “everything we spend our money on to see what is the waste, what is it that we don’t really need.” “Within that time, I’ll be auditing, reviewing on my own time making sure that the following year, the budget goes accordingly to assure no taxes increase,” he said.
Another focus would be to bring back activities for students to get involved in “designing what they want to see, pick who they want to see, versus throwing a bunch of politicians to come in and speak things that they don’t know.”
Isnel Sanon runs a tax service firm and was formerly with the NAACP, and is making his first run for public office. Photo by Mark Koosau.
“I really want to give them that voice, make sure that they work with the teachers [and] administrators,” he said.
The school budget in recent years has increased after losing millions in state aid funding since 2018. Sanon said if the board talked with the mayor and city council, they could understand where they stand, and also argued that the city isn’t working with the state to reevaluate and fund them “the way [the] state should be.”
He said that he would have not supported the new $973 million budget for the 2022-2023 school year that came with an average $1,611 tax increase per household, and that his solution to the funding crisis would be to have the city get reevaluated.
“If we negotiate fairly for the people, I think the state could come to terms that the Jersey City Board of Education needs more money,” he said. “It’s not so much needing more money, it’s what do we do with the money we get, and I think that’s part of our problem. Once we have a lump sum, we spend, we spend, we spend, until we realized that we need more.”
When asked why he was running as an independent, he said that he wants all the ideas he mentioned to not be influenced by other people “telling me what I should do, what I couldn’t do.”
“I think that’s been the problem,” he said. “A lot of those slates, even though they have good intentions, they can’t really do so because whoever supports them, whoever backs them up, gives them a script of which direction they need to go.”
Ahsan Nawaz
Ahsan Nawaz is a real estate agent at Weichert who’s also running for public office for the first time.
“I loved making a difference,” said Nawaz. “[New] Jersey has given a lot to me; a student who can barely speak English at one point in his life now ended up getting honors and graduating at NJIT in three years rather than four for the top of the line.”
He noted a number of teachers that he learned from throughout the years, and that he wanted to give back and “make a difference.”
His top priorities would be based on what he called “CCRISP”; the first is that students are college and career readiness, the second part is innovation, the third is stability, and the last part is procurement.
When it came to the budget process, Nawaz says that he supports a fully funded budget for the school district, though noted that they should look at procurement because “this is tagged taxpayers’ hard-earned money that is being spent.”
Ahsan Nawaz is a real estate agent at Weichert, and is also making his first run for public office. Photo by Mark Koosau.
“We need to look at many programs, many functions that we have that are not helping students; we need to get rid of them,” he said.
When asked if he would’ve voted for the $973 million budget, he reiterated his previous comments on having a “fully funded budget” but that there were ways they could fix it. He said that the city should enforce the payroll tax, and that they should also work with them on tax abatements.
“I feel like the city and the Board of Education need to work together and come up with a solution, because I personally believe problems can be handled with a cup of tea on the table,” he said.
When asked why he was running as an independent, he said that he “just wanted to make a change.”
“As an independent, I filled in the application, I said, ‘I want to do it’,” he said. “There’s no money. There’s no other reason. I’m on my own.”
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at [email protected] or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
Do you have a great idea to help reduce the amount of single-use plastics in New Jersey? If so, the New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) wants to hear from you.
The NJCCC, a statewide non-profit litter abatement organization serving 21 counties and 558 municipalities, is rolling out a small grant program for New Jersey-based non-profit organizations to support education and outreach focused on reducing the public’s consumption of single-use plastics. Program scope can include (but is not limited to) behavioral change, “Skip the Straw” campaign support – urging residents to forgo plastic straws – litter analytics and other litter reduction initiatives.
“We are looking for creative ways to use these grant dollars to fight litter across the state,” said NJCCC Executive Director JoAnn Gemenden. “We are eager to review the proposals and invest in the type of innovative programs that can be replicated across New Jersey and beyond.”
The NJCCC, which also runs the state’s Adopt a Beach and Adopt a Highway programs, is offering grants at the $5,000, $7,500, or $10,000 level to non-profit groups in New Jersey. A total of $50,000 is available for the program.
Examples of desired programs:
Conducting litter surveys / collection of litter data with analytics
Creating youth education programs
Promoting education and implementation of the state’s single-use plastics law in overburdened communities
Enhancing municipal litter prevention ordinances
Engaging business to enhance compliance of the single-use plastics law
Promoting eco-conscious items and practices, efforts to Skip the Straw, or other programs to decrease overall litter and plastic use
Note that grants will not be provided for programs related to recycling, beautification or projects that have already been completed. Applicants will be prioritized based on greatest need, measurable impact and the ability to replicate the project in other areas of the state.
The application deadline is November 22, with grant awards to be announced in December. All projects must be completed by the end of June 2023, with required documentation provided to the NJCCC by July 31, 2023.
To learn more about the grant program and download an application, visit NJclean.org.
Missing records, slow or no response, no follow up... This is quality of life?!
by Jordan Coll
Health code violations. Building code issues. Illegal landlord rent increases. These are some of the issues Jersey City residents have brought to a city system meant to address municipal code infractions. Instead of getting help, locals have felt their complaints have been left unaccounted for.
The Division of Quality of Life was created over two years ago with the promise of standing up against absentee landlords, local polluters and other public disturbances that take advantage of residents, according to the city’s site.
The task force, which is led by Jake Hudnut, the city’s Municipal Prosecutor, became a division of the city’s Department of Public Safety and fleshed out the Office of Code Compliance. They are in charge of enforcing the city’s local laws and quality of life ordinances.
Last year, the Department of Public Safety requested a budget of nearly $3.3 million. This year they requested roughly $6 million, an 80 percent increase, according to the city’s fiscal budget obtained through an OPRA request.
But many residents who have spoken with The Hudson Reporter contested that a lack of response from the OCC and city officials have allowed slumlords to continue pricing out residents without legal repercussions.
“The city just looked the other way,” said Rodolfo Santos, referring to the countless violations issued by the city towards his landlord in the past four years. Santos, who grew up in Jersey City and has lived in his current apartment since 2010 with his mother, said the city’s lack of enforcement when it comes to helping tenants is a continuing legacy of city hall.
The Hudson Reporter reached out to the OCC and the Office of the Municipal Prosecutor, including the Mayor’s office, and none have provided any statements in regards to the uptick in city’s budget request or how the OCC handles their operations.
In 2019, their landlord increased the apartment’s rent from $903 to $1200, which was determined to be more than the Consumer Price Index allowed under Jersey City housing ordinance, according to email responses and documents from the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations.
Current housing laws limit annual rent increases to no more than 4 percent, in the case of Santos’ family they would have paid over 30 percent more of their original rent. “Living in a rent control building we really didn’t know how she got away with raising the price, but at the time we couldn’t afford to do so,” said Santos.
The Hudson Reporter reached out to the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations regarding illegal rent increases but the department declined to comment.
According to research by Rent.Com, Jersey City’s monthly average rent reached $2,195 compared to last year, which held an average of $1,684. Santos began to file complaints using SeeClickFix, a data registry which compiles resident municipal complaints to the city’s Resident Response Center.
Using the Jersey City Connect app, he filed complaints related to Housing Repair/Maintenance Concern, Tenant & Landlord Rights Issues, Health Conditions in Residential and construction violations.
“I waited two weeks to speak to an actual inspector…and I just felt hopeless waiting for any follow up.” He said the inspector would come check the claim and close the case, but the repairs still were not addressed by his landlord.
The Santos’ family filed a tenant complaint to the city’s Bureau of Rent Leveling, looking to reduce their rent.
The Rent Leveling Board concluded that the rent increase was in fact illegal and a credit of $6,608.48 would be issued for six months worth of rent, according to documents and records provided to The Hudson Reporter.
Santos started a union called the Jersey City Tenants United in 2019 with a few of his neighbors in the building, as a result of his landlord’s “inaction” and “neglect.” They have also gathered Right to Counsel, a legal provision allowing previous tenants who have been sued for eviction in housing court to have a right to a public defender.
City Councilman James Solomon who represents Jersey City said cases such as Mr. Santos’ “are all too familiar.” He voted against approving the OCC in 2020 and has advocated for the rights of tenants in the past.
He’s heard from constituents that they are facing rent increases of over $1,000 per month. “Landlords have the time, the money, the resources, and we have not put enough time and resources as a city to give tenants a fair, even playing field, ” he said. “When it comes to landlord tenant issues, as a city we are not nearly as strong as we could be and should be.”
Joe Johnson, who serves as the Policy Counsel at Jersey City’s ACLU and has worked in legal cases involving housing issues in the city, said a lack of response from municipal systems such as the OCC, is an added layer of frustration for tenants.
“It can get pretty complicated…especially when the last option for a tenant is to go to court,” said Johnson. “Landlord’s will then file an eviction notice which can hurt the tenant in applying for future housing.”
He said with the pricing market of Jersey City increasing, the last thing that municipal services such as OCC would want is for tenants to leave the city.
But the practice of landlords phasing out their tenants by failing to make necessary repairs is nothing more than deliberate and a common tactic argues Amy Albert, a managing attorney at The Waterfront Project, a non-profit legal firm based in Jersey City.
“The process of withholding rent and requesting a Habitability hearing has become less common and less effective to withhold rent since Covid-19” said Albert, referring to the legal statute Marini v. Ireland, which set legal precedence for tenants to withhold rent if they found issues related to habitability.
A resident who decided not to disclose their name due to the nature of the case against their landlord, only knew they were living in a rent control building after filing over 20 complaints. These complaints were related to health code, refusal to make repairs, illegal construction and building code violations to OCC. In going through records and court documents The Hudson Reporter found that all cases with the exception of two were dismissed by the prosecutor’s office.
The resident moved to Jersey City in 2004 and has lived in their current apartment for 10 years in Downtown Jersey City. The resident’s landlord raised their rent far more than the city housing ordinances permitted.
After filing a series of OPRA requests to the city looking for the landlord registration statement in hopes of finding which rent prices were filed on record by the landlord. “The city only provided us a section of them but nothing predating the rent raise,” according to the resident. “They told us those records didn’t exist.”
The issues with their landlord persisted. The resident reached out to Union City Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack, who introduced a bill this year that would seal all landlord-tenant records, in order to protect tenants who are given eviction notices. He wrote a letter last year to Mayor Steven Fulop requesting that the resident’s cases be reviewed by a member of his staff.
A few days later the resident received a call from Landlord/Tenants relations acknowledging that records related to the landlord’s registration statement did in fact exist. “We lost a year of the lookback and we had to pay an additional rent for a year because of their issues,” according to the resident. “Their error cost us thousands of dollars we were owed as per the rent control statute.”
The resident said one of the failures of the OCC is the lack of notification when it comes to the status of cases issued by residents once they get picked up by the prosecutor’s office. “I have literally had to go knocking on doors filing complaints on my neighbors’ behalf…sometimes waiting weeks to respond to a single issue.”
Taras Hicks, a resident who lives in Communipaw located west of Liberty State Park, said the city “blatantly ignores and lies about inspections,” who has lived in a six family rent controlled unit for the past 10 years.
He filed an anonymous claim through SeeClickFix on issues related to plumbing and mold growing in the building, the next day his landlord called him up.
“How is it that an app meant to literally keep us anonymous is not really that anonymous,” said Hicks, who is an environmental compliance coordinator at PSE&G, a utilities company based in Jersey City.
He said the first time he filed a complaint it took OCC about two months to send out an inspector to review the building’s drainage issue, for nearly 10 years this has been an issue since he’s moved there, according to Hicks. “Something just isn’t right when a lot of people are having issues getting their complaints solved by the city,” he said.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Jordan Coll can be reached at [email protected].
The newly approved skyscraper will add to the already growing skyline in Downtown Jersey City. Image by Beyer Blinder Belle via Jersey City Planning Board application.
The growth of Downtown Jersey City’s skyline has shown no signs of slowing down, and now it’s poised to get bigger after the city’s Planning Board approved a new 60-story skyscraper at Hudson Exchange.
The new skyscraper will be built by G&S Investors on 400-420 Marin Boulevard, the site of the now-shuttered Bed Bath & Beyond, and will come with 802 residential units, 538 vehicle parking spaces, 430 bike parking spaces and a new ShopRite supermarket that will succeed the current one nearby.
“This application is also the culmination of over a year of planning and discussion, both with planning staff and with members of the community,” said the applicant’s attorney Robert Verdibello.
“Specifically, ownership in the development team have worked closely with the planning staff and have had over 20 meetings with various community groups regarding this development,” he continued.
He said that the project will also extend Provost Street from north and south, as well as 4th Street from east to west, with the streets dedicated to the city as public streets.
The podium of the site will include retail and parking space, while the rest of the tower will have the residential units. Image by Beyer Blinder Belle via Jersey City Planning Board application.
Project architect Maxwell Pau explained that the podium of the project will include a ground floor with retail and residential functions, a second floor with the ShopRite, three levels of parking from floors three to five, and amenities spaces on the sixth floor. The residential tower will then rise from floors 7 to 60.
For the ground floor plans, the southeast corner has the entrance to the ShopRite, and the building lobby will be up north of it, along with a 59-foot wide open space setback in front of the lobby.
There are also three retail spaces, one north of the lobby at 2,600 square feet, one at the southwest corner at 14,000 square feet and one at the northwest corner at about 1,700 square feet. The ground floor will also have an indoor loading zone for ShopRite, and garage access will be along Provost St. that has an express ramp.
Moving to the second floor, the ShopRite will take up the entirety of it at 85,000 square feet, with the first floor entrance having escalators, stairs and elevators up to an entry vestibule. Access to the market will also be available from the third floor parking vestibule.
The sixth floor is dedicated to residential amenities; the tower section will have a gym and lounges, a one-story pavilion and outdoor space. The applicants also explained that the current ShopRite will remain open until the new one opens.
Andrew Cridlin, who’s part of the landscape design team, explained that along the east side of the project site where the open space is, the southeast corner will have an open plaza, and will be followed moving northward by a native planting area and an open space area with movable seating, furniture and lawn space.
The north side of the site will have a botanical walk that will connect Provost Street to Marin Boulevard along the north side of the building. On the Marin Boulevard side itself, there will be a wide streetscape with a wide planting buffer.
Only one resident, who identified herself as SD Birn, spoke during public comment, criticizing the project for putting the ShopRite on the second floor, and that the site was still in a flood zone.
“The board keeps allowing a lot of big buildings coming into the city,” she said. “We have to have more electric[ity] coming into the city; you’re not allowing for that, and the roads are not that good in that area either.”
The new ShopRite will be on the second floor of the site and will replace the current one. Image by Beyer Blinder Belle via Jersey City Planning Board application.
Pau replied to Birn that the entire site is raised above the flood elevation, and that all of the entrances for the supermarket, lobby and retail on the east side are above the elevation. He did note an exception to the retail space on the southwest corner going down to grade, but that they’re planning to have flood walls to provide dry flood proofing.
“One other thing we just want to emphasize is we’ve been working very closely with ShopRite to design this facility,” added Verdibello. “Its location on the second floor does fit within ShopRite’s business model from what we’ve been working with.”
Commissioner Steve Lipski also inquired how many parking spaces are in the current MetroPlaza, to which Pau replied that believes they started at 1,100 surface parking spaces for the whole site. Verdibello also said that there will be parking available for BJ’s customers during the transition period, and that the parking in front of it will remain.
In the end, the commissioners unanimously voted 7-0 to approve the plans. “I think it’s fantastic that this team has put together a great presentation, and it works so well with not only commerce, but community,” said Lipski. “I think it’s a great example of how projects can get done.”
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at [email protected] or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
Two new Bayonne Fire Department battalion chiefs pose with colleagues. Pictured left to right: Battalion Chief Thomas Obiedzinski, Fire Chief Keith Weaver, Battalion Chief John Andreychak, and Battalion Chief Robert Seeburger.
Recently, the Bayonne Fire Department held a promotional ceremony for two new battalion chiefs and nine fire captains. The promotions were necessitated by recent retirements of senior superior officers in the Fire Department.
The new battalion chiefs are John Andreychak and Thomas Obiedzinski. The new fire captains are Robert Baran, Jr., Sean Boyle, David Korzun, Ryan Lucas, Michael Pelliccio, William Rabbitt, Edward Skowronski III, Leo Smith III, and James Stendardo.
Speaking at the start of the ceremony, Mayor James Davis said to the new fire captains that their promotion is “the first step moving up the ladder.” He said it would be the fire captains’ responsibility to teach the younger firefighters.
Addressing the new battalion chiefs, Davis said that they are “stepping up” to a rank with greater responsibilities. He referred to Bayonne’s emergency services as “a great Fire Department,” “a great Police Department,” and an ambulance service that is “one of the best in the state.” Davis added that his job is to make sure that the emergency services “have everything they need,” and to make sure that “they get home to their families.”
Public Safety Director Robert Kubert said that the promoted fire superior officers “have excelled out on the street” and on their competitive tests. He observed that they “have demonstrated themselves as leaders in the Fire Department.” He explained that they would be training new firefighters to replace recent retirees.
Director Kubert said that all of Bayonne’s emergency services “have had a tough couple of years” during the pandemic, often dealing with infected people. He referred to the Bayonne Fire Department as “a very service-oriented organization” that performs many duties in addition to firefighting. The director thanked Mayor Davis and the City Council for their support of personnel and equipment for the Fire Department.
Two new battalion chiefs and nine new fire captains
Council Member At-Large Loyad Booker, a former police officer, said that he worked with several off the promoted fire superior officers. He commended their abilities and thanked their families for their sacrifices. Council Member At-Large Juan Perez, a former state trooper, congratulated the firefighters for their “well-deserved” promotions and sacrifices of their time.
Fire Chief Keith Weaver thanked Mayor Davis, the Council Members, and Director Kubert for supporting the promotions. Weaver said, “This Administration is an ardent supporter of the Fire Department.” Referring to the new battalion chiefs, Weaver added that they competed with “the most qualified in the department during the testing process.” He cited their careers of more than twenty-five years in the department.
Weaver said that the new fire captains were also “very competitive” with their exam preparation classes, books, and sacrifices. Speaking from experience, Chief Weaver said that the promoted firefighters would have to make “split-second decisions during emergencies.” He predicted that they would have the “knowledge, fairness, and ability to make sound decisions” and “to effect change for the better.”
Nine Bayonne firefighters were promoted to the rank of fire captain. Pictured left to right: Fire Captains Ryan Lucas, Leo Smith III, Michael Pelliccio, Robert Baran Jr., David Korzun, William Rabbitt, Sean Boyle, Edward Skowronski III, and James Stendardo. Shown to the right of the promoted officers is City Clerk Madelene Medina, who administered oaths of office.
At the ceremony, the Police Pipes and Drums provided the music. The Fire Department Honor Guard commenced the ceremony and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Deputy Chief William Bartos, Battalion Chief Robert Seeburger, and Battalion Chief Frank Pawlowski, Jr. read out the biographies of the promoted firefighters.
Former Fire Chief Patrick Boyle read the biography of his son, Fire Captain Sean Boyle. City Clerk Madelene Medina administered most of the oaths of office for the new battalion chiefs and fire captains. Battalion Chief Andreychak’s oath was administered by his sister, Ann Marie McCarthy. The invocation was offered by Rev. John Fencik of St. Mary’s Orthodox Church. The final prayer was offered by Rev. Dorothy Patterson of the Wallace Temple AME Zion Church.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at [email protected].
Construction work in North Bergen is now limited to certain hours during the week, and explicitly banned on Sunday. Photo of unrelated construction in Bayonne by Daniel Israel.
North Bergen has revised its work hours regulations for construction and other types of work that may be noisy or intrusive.
Mayor Nicholas Sacco and the Board of Commissioners adopted an amended ordinance regulating hours during which certain work may be done. The commissioners present voted unanimously to do so at the October 26 meeting, after it was introduced on October 12.
Previously, the commissioners adopted an ordinance in April of 2006 regulating construction work hours. The township has since determined that it was necessary to repeal and replace that ordinance.
The new ordinance prohibits “any person, firm, or corporation to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others within the limits of the township.”
Regulating hours for construction and motor vehicle repairs
Operating any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, repair, alteration, or demolition work is considered a violation other than between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday. The ordinance applies to demolition as well as construction, including any site preparation, assembly, erection, repair, alteration or similar action.
There is no construction allowed on Sundays or legal holidays. The only exceptions are for emergency work for public service utilities or by permit.
The ordinance also regulates when motor vehicle work can be done. Repairing, rebuilding, modifying, or testing any motor vehicle is considered a violation except between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The only exception is for work on private residential property on a motor vehicle or motorboat for the personal use of the resident. The ordinance applies to motor vehicles including: passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, trailers, semi-trailers, campers, go-carts, snowmobiles, motorboats, and amphibious craft.
The penalty for violating this ordinance is a fine up to $1,000 for each violation. Each day a violation occurs is considered a separate offense.
Town attorney explains changes in ordinance
Town Attorney Tom Kobin explained the ordinance at the October 26 meeting, at the request of Sacco. He said that the new ordinance specifically bans construction work on Sundays.
“It makes it a little more explicit when construction work may occur, explicitly barring it on Sundays,” Kobin said. “If you’re doing construction outside the permitted times, then it would be defined as a violation.”
Kobin also noted that the language of the ordinance was changed to mean that working during those hours was banned, as opposed to previously only being loud construction work.
“Whereas, the other one I think it had to be construction in a loud way in order to trigger the ordinance,” Kobin said. “It’s hard to describe what’s loud, unless you have something to measure the noise like a decibel meter.”
Kobin added that the ordinance also prohibits the time during which vehicle repairs can be done. This has some exemptions, such as local homeowners making repairs to their vehicles.
“Then this also adds vehicle repairs,” Kobin said. “It prohibits those on Sundays. It does say explicitly in there when you can do it. And it exempts out the local resident just working on their personal car. That can still happen on a Sunday. But as far as the other vehicle repairs, they’re not allowed on Sundays.”
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at [email protected].
Mayor Michael Gonnelli and the Secaucus Town Council met in the council chambers at Town Hall on Tuesday, October 25. Photo by Daniel Israel.
Secaucus has updated fees for after hours building inspections, as well as part-time inspectors.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli and the Secaucus Town Council have adopted an ordinance that does so at its October 25 meeting after it was introduced in September. The council voted unanimously in favor of the measure, except for Second Ward Councilman Mark Denhert who was absent for family reasons.
According to the ordinance, the mayor and council recognizes that the safety of all residents and the protection of human life, buildings and structures is of great concern. Secaucus addresses inspections and Certificates of Continued Occupancy through the town’s Construction Department in the Town Code, Chapter 64.
Secaucus’ Construction Department conducts Building Code and Certificate of Occupancy inspections in multi-family dwellings in conformance with the state standards in the public interest. Sometimes, the department performs said inspections after regular business hours as needed, and the fees for said inspections are recommended to be updated to cover said costs, according to the ordinance.
Fees for after regular business hour inspections and per diem Construction Code Inspectors are updated under the adopted ordinance. Building Code Inspections and Habitability Inspections conducted after regular business hours, and the rate of per diem Construction Code Inspectors are increased to $50 per hour.
The rate was previously $37 an hour, and it used to only apply to dwellings consisting of four or more units. Otherwise, there are no other changes to that chapter of the Town Code.
There was no discussion of the ordinance when it was introduced nor when it was adopted. After the October 25 meeting, Town Administrator Gary Jeffas told the Hudson Reporter that the ordinance aimed to primarily benefit part-time inspectors.
“We have, associated with our Health and Construction Departments, part-time inspectors,” Jeffas said. “The plumbing, the electric, and the building inspectors, there’s some part-timers that work there. Our prior ordinance said that their maximum rate was a maximum of $37 an hour for that kind of work. We upped it to $50 an hour.”
Jeffas said the rate change was bringing Secaucus up to speed with rates offered by surrounding municipalities.
“All the going rates in all the towns around us are higher,” Jeffas said. “So it just made it problem for us when part-timers retire or leave us. So the ordinance updates that the fee structure would be different and allow us to offer a higher hourly rate.”
The next Town Council meeting will be held on November 9 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall at 1203 Paterson Plank Road. For more information, go to secaucusnj.gov.
For updates on this and other stories, check www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at [email protected].
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