Songs for Silverman

Ben Folds has a new CD coming out next month called Songs for Silverman (not to be confused with the terrible movie with a similar name).

After finding pretty much the Ben Folds (Five) lyrics site, I realized that I have almost every song there, a little scary.

Jersey City Resevoir Preservation Alliance

I just got word about a rally and info session for helping to preserve the Jersey City Reservoir. The event is Thursday, March 31st at 7 at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Building in the center of Pershing Field Park. I won't be able to make it, because I have a class on Thursday nights... but it looks to be a worthwhile cause. There is also a picnic and fundraiser planned for April 16th.

Apparently the State's school construction corporation is eyeing the site for demolition and use for a new school. New schools good. Adaptive reuse good. Destruction of historic sites, bad.

If you need more information than that, drop me a line and I can forward you the email.

So much I don't know about blogs

I'm just at a loss when it comes to blogs, blogrolling, track-backs and all of this narcissistic technobabble. I put up a link to "Who Links Here" - which lead me to a few people who have linked to me... (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you, BTW).

But what the heck is this?

Grove Street, Complete.

Some big changes are coming to Grove Street. A few of the changes are already clear (and by clear I mean developers have cleared the lots and demolished the existing buildings) and a few of the changes aren't quite so apparent.

The more observant of my fellow commuters, while practicing their daily PATHtubery, will have noticed the work progressing on the eastern end of the platform for a second passenger egress. That change isn't yet so apparent or even that well known outside of my friends at the NJ-ARP.

9 out of 10 dentists agree that an ADA accessible elevator at the Grove Street station would segway nicely - and also quite literally - to the Columbus Plaza project.

I can't really comment on the building until I get some more information. Originally planned to be finished 4 years ago, the Columbus project will have two towers built in two phases (the one on the sign looks to be the residential tower). The best info I can find says this will be 27 stories and 306 units. I'm a big fan of TOD (transit oriented development), and with having a direct connection to the new PATH entrance, "Columbus Plaza" will certainly qualify in my book. What it will look like, how street friendly the layout is and whether it's abated (I'm assuming it is), I can't yet comment on - but I'll keep looking.

As to the direct, interior PATH station connection - I'm cool with that. Convenient transit good, street-life killing skybridges, bad.

The other big project I know even less about. Apparently it's either a1.1 million square foot office tower or a 34-story, 523-apartment tower developed by Schenkman/Kushner Affiliates. The biggest selling point for me on this one is the proximity to Dunkin Donuts - but unlike Columbus Plaza... it looks like you'll have to step out into our chromium laden air to get on a PATH train.

If you've got more info... send it my way.

In like a lion... out like a... lion

North Jersey and the entire metro NYC area are getting a few inches of slushy, wet, heavy snow. Here's a view down Clinton Street in downtown Newark.

Set the TiVo

On Thursday the 31st, HBO is going to show a documentary movie about the Air America Radio folks (Al Franken, etc.). Aside from being generally interesting, my sources tell me it will prominently feature a good buddy of mine from Boston College. I guess I could take the 9 minutes PATH trip across the Hudson to visit him more often, but next week HBO is doing the leg work for me. Should be a good show.

Dinner

Yum, here's tonight's dinner. Salmon, roasted potatoes and a mango
salsa. Martha Stewart is out of the slammer and in my belly.

American Idol

Believe it or not, I watch American Idol. Mary is doing some live comments on her blog tonight - so check it out. You'll find my reaction right between Randy Jackson's and her's.

Oh a side note - American Idol is in HD (Fox's 720p to be exact). That means pretty much everything I watch is in HD now... (24, Medium, Arrested Development and Committed) except of course for my TV.

Melissa Holloway called me...

Well... Mayoral candidate Melissa Halloway didn't actually call me... somebody from central jersey (609 area code) called me from their cell phone and left a recorded message from her. Listen for yourself... (Quicktime might be required to play this - even if it does work, get QuickTime anyway)

Notice that there was no indication of who paid for, or authorized the message. If memory serves - the NJ legislature passed a law that summer (part of the big ethics "reform" - the one that included a ban on wheeling of county party money for a whopping 6 months of the the year).

Here's the statute P.L.2004, c.30 (the link is to the PDF version of the chapter law). I'm not exactly ready to be calling ELEC or Chris Christie yet, but the statute requires the inclusion of the contact information of the candidate or committee authorizing or financing the call, or "a clear and conspicuous statement that the expenditure was not made with the cooperation or prior consent of" of the candidate. I didn't hear either of those... did you?

I do, however, look forward to hearing her platform in time to make an educated decision for the May election.

Her name is Treo...

Good things come to those who wait. Today, during their Q3 earnings call PalmOne said there would be an EV-DO handheld (Treo) this quarter. That's big news for us Verizon users... big news... for nerds like me.

In other news, I just got back from the Motor Vehicles Commission (formerly known as DMV). I got my license renewed and the experience wasn't bad at all. There really is hope (so long as you have your birth certificate and a passport - otherwise you're screwed).

They added delete

Today ushered in an update of iWork that includes an importation addition for the Pages page layout program: delete. Now you can delete a page of document... all is well.

Street Fight

I just saw this link on PoliticsNJ to a documentary on the 2002 Newark mayoral elections: Street Fight (the link is to the QuickTime version).

Booker and James, you know who won. I was in Newark every day at the time, but I had no idea what was going on. This is New Jersey politics and it's scary. I got goose-bumps from the 2 minute trailer, and can't wait to see the whole thing. If this is what happens in a place run buy a leader not under investigation or in jail I can only imagine what's going on in Hudson county. (Remember Anthony Russo, Gerald McCann, Robert Janiszewski, etc. etc. etc.?) Gosh - Chris Christie must have the easiest job in the world.

The movie premiers at the Tribeca Film Festival, showing April 29, 30 and May 1. I'll be there - finals or not.

TiVo lives!

TiVo lives!
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

The rumors of TiVo's death have been greatly exaggerated (actually, the rumors might have been right on at the time). TiVo and Philly based cable bad-boy Comcast are teaming up. Hopefully that will mean my Motorola 6412 DVR box will soon run the TiVo interface...

Joy.

Transit Money

Today's Jersey Journal has an article about Hudson county's "big share" of North Jersey transportation dollars. Of special interest was money for another Bergen Arches study - something that has been studied to death already. If all the money from all the studies were put together they could build the damn project and still have money left over. I'd love to see what percentage of NJ transportation dollars go to consultants and studies (TEA-21 could be known as the no consultant left behind act) and if these guys really do get all of the NJ consulting jobs. Seriously, try to find a report or impact statement not authored by them.

The article also points to the Newark City Subway expansion as being an important Hudson county project. Maybe somebody should point out to the NJTPA that Newark is not in Hudson county.

Take me to the P.I.L.O.T.

If you feel that it's real I'm on trial

And I'm here in your prison

Like a coin in your mint

I am dented and I'm spent with high treason



Through a glass eye your throne

Is the one danger zone

Take me to the pilot for control

Take me to the pilot of your soul

Okay, maybe we're not in "high treason" territory, but I'm saddened to see a project that I personally was very excited about, skip out on its fair share of property taxes. I'm talking about the Liberty Harbor North development - which was just granted a tax abatement (and will be paying Jersey City, and apparently also Hudson County a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes).

Liberty Harbor North had a lot going for it in my book (and still does). "New Urbanism" + "Transit oriented development" with a site plan from the talented folks who did CityPlace in West Palm Beach Florida. High density mixed-use, where the car takes a back seat to light rail and pedestrian friendly landscapes. Walk to work, walk to shopping, to the park, to lunch or the train. Abandoned rail yards yields to space for families and workers. What's not to love?

Maybe this view from the Jersey Ave HBLR (pronounced: hib-ler) puts the real problem intro perspective. Here you can see Liberty Harbor North construction progressing. You can also see a building going up in the background (not the hospital on the left). I'm talking about the giant new middle school, paid for by the State of New Jersey (thanks to the Abbott v. Burke NJ supreme court decision).

You see, Liberty Harbor North won't be paying any property taxes to the Jersey City school system. Normally, that would be just one factor among many for a city to consider when trying to spur development. The community runs the schools and the town - and should balance their development and education goals according to what the community wants. But Jersey City (and Hoboken and a few other places in NJ) has a unique situation. Jersey City doesn't run the Jersey City schools and Jersey City doesn't have to pay if the local property taxes don't cover the school bills - the State does.

Jersey City is playing with a stacked deck, in my opinion. It doesn't have to balance enticing developers vs. educating children because the Courts have required the State to properly educate our children. And it's pretty clear that the "balancing" act Jersey City is doing is tilted towards construction.

What's the problem then? Developers come to Jersey City. Schools get built (paid for by the State). Children get educated (again, with help from the State).

The problem is - it's not always going to work this way. Maybe Jersey City will get dropped from the Abbott list (I doubt it). Maybe the legislature will take away our local control over abatements (maybe). Whatever happens, the rest of the state - the people who are paying for our schools - is going to wake up and figure out they're subsidizing (albeit indirectly) the gold coast high-rent district. A deadweight wealth transfer that's not quite going where everything thinks it's going.

Newark Mustard Challenge

Newark Mustard Challenge
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

I tried to escape Newark's surface parking prison last night to find a store that sold dijon mustard (dijon muster + honey + vinegar = salad dressing, if you must know). No such luck. I went to several dollar stores, a vegetable market and ended up at Rite Aid. No luck, we had to settle for yellow mustard.

(Some notes - above is a picture of my Seton Hall Law School in the background, a small federal office building in front, shot through one of our many many surface parking cages. The Rite Aid where I ended up is actually in the old Bamberger's department store building. Sad, but at least it's being used.)

Brick City update

Newark's City Subway extension is moving along - albeit slowly (and yes, I am aware that this picture shows something that's clearly above ground - only about a thousand feet of this new line is subterranean). You're looking at the NJPAC station, which is parallel to Rt. 21/McCarter Highway.

You can read about the project here. It'll link up Penn Station and Broad Street Station (map) using trolley-like light rail cars (the same cars that currently run on the existing Newark Subway and the Hudson Bergen Light Rail). Things are moving along, but I doubt they'll be done by this summer - like they originally planned. (The Design Build Operate Manage 'DBOM' method used on the HiBLeR and the RiverLINE seems to be more efficient than NJTransit doing things in-house like they are in this project. Also note that while 'DBOM' is a hip new finance tool, it might not yet have achieved the honor of being pronounced "da bomb.")

When it is finished, I hope it'll breath some life into this part of downtown currently dominated by surface parking lots and underused (but beautifully ornate) office buildings. Maybe some of the unending stream of area master plans will actually be implemented. (And if you're wondering, the proposed Devil's arena would not be served by this - or the currently existing - light rail line. Dumb.)

(If you're interested in seeing important improvements to NJ's passenger rail system progress forward, check out and join NJARP - the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers)

NJ.com and Flickr

Some good news and some bad.

First, to quote Doc Brown from Back to the Future... "Oh my God, they found me, I don't know how, but they found me. Run for it Marty."

NJ.com for some reason listed be on their blogs page. Not sure why, or how they got my page, but they did. Thanks! For those of you who found me through that link, welcome.

The bad news is that Flickr (the cool photo site) is down right now - so my latest post (and photo) won't be up for a little while longer. Soon though... soon.

Almost back in action

I'll be back to blogging tomorrow after a week in Florida with no internet access. Thanks to all those who wished me a happy birthday while I was gone.

I'm honored that I got a shout out on Tris McCall's site - but a little hurt by the baseball trackback-smack-tactic he slipped in about the Fight'n Phills. While I'm not expecting the world from my Phillies this year, taking the bar and starting my clerkship will thankfully insure that I will see only the most spectacular of their misfortunes. All kidding aside, his page is the place for Jersey City news - and I hope to do the mention justice.