Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

Well put.  Nobody is going to disagree with that. 

FYI, the incredibly successful Charter School in Newark is called the Robert Treat Academy. http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/51147 

This school was founded by Essex County political king-pin Steve Adubato, Sr., who still lives on the same block of Clifton Ave in Newark.  The school is 77% Latino and the overall minority enrollment is over 95%.  1/4 of the kids qualify for free lunches.  It is currently the 4th highest ranking school in NJ on standardized test scores (this is comparing all schools, not just Charter Schools). Many students come from the upscale "Forest Hill" section of Newark which looks just like Ridgewood, and the school generally attracts the best and brightest from all of Newark.  Many students also come from poor neighborhoods as well, as indicated by the 1/4 who qualify for free lunches.  Hundreds of families apply every year, and they literally select the positions by lottery. The only criteria is that the students must live in Newark.  Well, I guess that families who "don't care" if their kids learn also don't take the initiative to apply for the School selection lottery. Therefore, to some extent there is a selective force at play in which families that don't really care about their kids' education don't place kids there. This should not diminish the success of their programs. This is a miracle school.

Families with children who "win" enrollment automatically qualify to enroll all younger children.  There are families who are deliberately staying in Newark or buying bigger houses in Newark instead of moving to the suburbs, just to keep their kids in this school. Imagine that. People wanting to live in an urban center for the school system, how ironic is that

Supposedly, the entire focus of the school, right from the first day of Kindergarten is to prepare children for PUBLIC SPEAKING and LEADERSHIP ROLES.  This school is nationally aclaimed as a "miracle school". It's one of very few schools ANYWHERE that buck the demographic trends. 

Hackensack would be smart to look into what this school does, and try to duplicate their magic in a public school environment.

Glad to see something is finally happening with the Business Improvement District. 

I ate in Bohemia, the upscale Latino bistro they talked about in the article.  For a Latino-focussed lunch spot, it was so upscale I didn't even know it was Latino until I got inside.  The food was excellent, and I definately recommend the corn soup as an appetizer.

The Bohemia seems to bring together two mega-trends going on in Hackensack.  The city is slowly becoming more Latino as the Latino population has expanded out of it's base neighborhood into the rest of the city. And at the same time, the Latino population is becoming more mainstream, more English-speaking and more middle-class.  Hackensack went through the same phase from the 1950's through the 1970's, except then it was with Italians. It really wasn't until a few years after World War II that Italians began spreading heavily out of their base neighborhood.  In the 1980's, Latino's then came to dominate the very same base neighborhood, as well as a few other buildings.  But the overall trend is identical.  And I'm told that Germans followed the same pattern, before the Italians came.

History does tend to repeat itself.  Anyone care to take a guess at the next incoming group that will follow this pattern.

I reviewed that maps and I think that the tax reassessment fairly and accurately reflected market conditions at the time of the reassessment.  Most properties on Summit and Prospect Ave appreciated faster than the rest of the Fairmount Section, and they got tax increases.  The quality of life in the city's working class neighborhoods have improved significantly, which is the result of home improvements, demolition of old structures, and new construction. Nobody should be surprised that houses on Berry Street, or Park Street, or most of the First Ward, have appreciated MORE than the rest of the city, on average.  Those neighborhoods have improved.  That's why assessments there have skyrocketed.  Nor is it a surprise that the tax burden has shifted away from commercial and industrial properties.  We all know that the boom was in residential real estate more than non-residential...DUH !!!!

What's unfair is that property values have gone down since the reassessment was completed, and do not reflect the current values now in February 2008. That is true all across the city.  All homeowners, working class to middle-upper class, are suffering equally.  Property values have gone down, but the city's budget has not.  This creates a budget crisis.

We're going to have a repeat of the early 1990's, in which thousands of property owners petition for tax appeals, AND WIN.  This will AGAIN create a budget crisis of great consequence, because the city budget is not going to go down along with property values after tax appeals.

And here's the irony, there was a full re-evaluation in 1987. That re-evaluation was also was done the very year that the real estate market peaked.  Wow, history has really chosen to repeat.

That's an easy one. It's the same answer as all homeless: 

"ROUND 'EM UP, SORT 'EM OUT."  Those with outstanding arrest warrants go to jail, those with mental illness or alcoholism go to (should go to) Bergen Regional, those that want to be helped to find jobs and housing go to the County Shelter on Kansas Street, and those that are defiantly homeless and/or refuse the rules at the County shelter go to Peters Place. 

None should be left sleeping on the banks of Coles Brook, or anywhere else outside on a cold winter night.  Homelessness is not a civil right.

Probably more homeless should be at Bergen Regional, but our Democratic County politicians who say they want to help the homeless simply don't want to pay for their treatment at Bergen Regional. It's cheaper for them to wander the streets around the Courthouse, and report at night and meal-time to the homeless shelter. And soon they'll have a bigger shelter to report to next to the jail. 

And does everyone see how that building is being built with steel I-beams instead of wood-frame construction. Some contractor is really sucking the County taxpayer dry on that design.

HERE'S THE INSIDE SCOOP:

There was talk a few years ago about the expansion of the Long Island Railroad rails bound for Grand Central Station on Manhattan's East Side, and that an "addition" would be made to the underground portion of Grand Central Station.  Just an "addition", nothing special about it.  The longer-term plan was that the new rail lines from Long Island would continue south and west from Grand Central Station to the West Side of Manhattan (the possible location of a new Jets Stadium), and then under the Hudson River via a new tunnel to New Jersey.  After this point, the destination would be uncertain.  Well, we haven't heard the TRUE STORY of what is going on. And don't expect The Record to pick up on this, that would require real journalism. The true story is extremely interesting.

A week or so ago I saw a History Channel (Channel 47) special called "New York Underground" and they talked at length regarding this "addition" to Grand Central Station.  It's a lot more than an addition, it's the largest train station ever to be built in the United States, and will more than double the size of Grand Central Station underground. That's right, hmmmmmm. It will be built north and under the existing rail connections. This is being built, it's not something that's just being talked about, or hasn't gotten funded yet.

How is this relevant to the Pascack Valley Line ?? You may have already guessed, but I'm getting to that.

The shear dollars being spent on this project is humongous, and ultimately this heavy rail line will be extended to the west side of Manhattan and then under the Hudson River to New Jersey.  You know what, there's plenty of talk about rail transit, light rail, different routes, etc., here in New Jersey.  All that talk is meaningless in the face of this enormous project of almost unbelievable scale, and it's potential impact to New Jersey.

The new tunnel to New Jersey will be built, and it is imperative that Hackensack, Bergen County officials, etc., begin lobbying immediately for this mega rail line to run DIRECTLY onto the Pascack Valley line, the Main Line, and possibly even the Susquehanna (via the Pascack Valley Line). It should serve Hackensack and Paterson. That's a big and expensive project, and will involve changing the rail technology in New Jersey.  Only heavy-rail electric trains can run through the tunnels under the Hudson.  The Pascack isn't electric. However, every County adjacent to New York City has direct heavy rail to Manhattan, except Bergen County.  There's heavy rail from Long Island, from Westchester, and from Philadelphia via Newark via Secaucus. Even the North Jersey Coast line running to Monmouth County.

Now it's our turn.  This new tunnel coming from Manhattan could serve Hackensack.  Who cares that the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line is going to Englewood instead of Hackensack. We don't want it in Hackensack. It's little more than a bus on rails that stops every two blocks. No big deal, really. That light rail would be wasting rail space that could be used for a HEAVY RAIL train. That heavy rail could run from Hackensack direct to Grand Central Station, and then connecting to Long Island.

Imagine if Hackensack suddenly found itself 20 minutes from Grand Central Station, and without having to transfer to another train ?  Hackensack would be the greatest real estate investment in memory. This would transform Hackensack, we'd be a boom town.

Since I couldn't pull up the article, I went online and found it. 

Listen loudly everyone:  Hackensack doesn't need a PART-TIME police chief.  We need a full-time chief. 

One has admit that he does a fairly good job as police chief.  Let's keep him there FULL-TIME.  It's totally unacceptable to have a Police Chief that is frequently down in Trenton. When Chief Zisa retires, he'll have plenty of time to get back into politics.

Personally, I'm not in favor of him getting elected to anything.  And now that I know that the Ferriero/Zisa machine supports Hillary Clinton, I'll be voting for Obama. And if Hillary wins, I'll have to make the difficult decision:  vote Republican for President, or vote for a Democratic whose victory will give more strength to Ferreiro and Zisa.  I hope I won't be put into that dilemna.  Go Obama.  Here's the article
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HACKENSACK -- City Police Chief Ken Zisa said Wednesday he will run for a state Assembly seat in 2009.

Again.

The police chief served as a Democratic assemblyman for eight years but left office to run for sheriff in 2001. He lost, and has since made several aborted attempts to get back into the state Legislature.

"I've had a desire to go back to the Legislature," Zisa said Wednesday. "It's widely known in political circles."

Zisa's run would set the stage for a Democratic primary in the 37th District with Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, assuming that both incumbents decide to run again.

It wouldn't be the first time Zisa was involved in an intraparty fight in the 37th District. In 2005, Zisa challenged Loretta Weinberg in a special election to fill a vacated state Senate seat.

Initially polls indicated he had won, but a judge later overturned the results by counting five ballots that had been disqualified. Zisa also put his hat in the ring for the Assembly in 2007 against Huttle and Johnson but dropped out of the race after Bergen County Democratic bosses withdrew their support.

"He is, of course, free to do as he chooses," said Weinberg, senator from the 37th District. "We have two incumbent Assembly people, and that's who I'll be supporting."

Neither Huttle nor Johnson returned messages asking for comment.

Zisa said he expected to have the support of the Bergen County Democratic Organization.

Bill Maer, spokesman for the Bergen County Democratic Organization, said it is far too soon to think about endorsements in a 2009 race.

"Chairman [Joseph] Ferriero does not give endorsements until the year that the election is going to occur," Maer said in a statement.

Zisa said that, if elected, he would not quit his job as police chief.

"If I go back there, I would have no desire to give up this job unless I got into a leadership position or something like that, where I saw the time commitment was significantly greater," he said.

Not all "progress" is progress.  Especially when Quality of Life is reduced to the point that people flee a neighborhood.  State Street was abandoned by the residential community. Around 1970, Temple Beth-El and the Methodist Church, both left State Street and both moved to the same stretch of Summit Ave. That's more evidence that State Street was abandoned.  Historic houses of architectural quality were bulldozed into oblivion, and replaced with industry and tacky little retail stores like C-Town. And let's not forget the loss of the Opera House, located in a large Armory building previously at State and Mercer.

Over the course of decades, State Street slowly became dominated by SOCIAL SERVICES.  This is even further to the detriment of the Quality of Life and the residential community.

Look what's up and down State Street.  You have Faith's Foundation just south of Warren Street, the Salvation Army, the 2 homeless facilities next to Christ Church, Christ Church also hosts Peter's Place (which is the most objectionable of all the shelters), and lets not forget the liquor store at State and Clay where all the bums and homeless can buy liquor. Further north, at the corner of State and Passaic is an apartment building converted into a 5-story homeless shelter for families, and there is some other kind of social service facility in the vicinity of State, Ward, and Main Street.  The social service people wanted to create a "safety net".  That safety net exists to the detriment of economic development and quality of life. 

And right off of State Street, I think there is still a plan to convert the Social Security Building into another giant homeless shelter.

State Street is only now attempting to come back, in the form of redevelopment, including multi-unit buildings and offices.  Buildings that actually pay taxes, and don't burden taxpayers by stretching the resources of our police and social services.  Now that is what I call "progress and modernization". Thankfully, our city administration wants to redevelop State Street. They have zoned it appropriately, and applications to build are always approved.

Three cheers for Lynn Jantos, for her little development across from Christ Church !!!  She converted a tacky little one-story retail building into something that would fit right into downtown Tenafly or Ridgewood, without a second thought.