Although Irene is still days away, Governor Christie has declared a State of Emergency as a precaution so that preparations are made to brace for the storm.
Archive for the ‘Cities, Towns and VIllages’ Category
Aug
25
2011
Christie Declares State of Emergency as Hurricane Irene Approaches New Jersey
Aug
02
2011
Teens To Skateboard Length Of New Jersey In Fundraising Quest
“Skate Cape May” Duo Encouraging Local Skateboarders to Join Legs of the Journey to Benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand
(Long Valley, NJ, August 2, 2011) – On August 10, two teens, Danny Brooks and Edwin Zhang, will begin their grueling seven-day journey skateboarding from High Point State Park, N.J., all the way down to Cape May, N.J., to complete their goal of raising $20,000 for childhood cancer.
Titling the trip “Skate Cape May,” the two co-founders will raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a national fundraising movement to support childhood cancer, by selling lemonade, t-shirts, wrist bands, and raffle tickets, while spreading awareness of their trip and the fundraising cause at their stops each day. Brooks and Zhang will end each day of the trip at the Rita’s Italian Ice store in each of the towns where they are stopping for the day. The skateboarders will be stopping at the following towns:
Share on FacebookJul
22
2011
Newark is Red Hot While the Rest of NJ is Just Broiling
I worked in Newark for about eight years. Inevitably, every time summer rolled around complaints were heard throughout the office about the oppressive heat.
“Why is it cooler at home?”
“Is it me, or is it REALLY hot outside?”
“Is Newark actually the gate to hell?”
Share on FacebookJun
19
2011
Beautiful but Heart-Wrenching Front Page Story from Woodstown, NJ in the Washington Post This Weekend
A beautiful essay on bringing a fallen soldier home to Woodstown graces the front page of this weekend’s edition of the Washington Post. Do yourself a favor and go read it. And then, go thank a soldier for putting his or her life on the line for our country.
Share on FacebookApr
06
2011
Death Comes to the Penny Meter in Somerville
The Star Ledger recently reported that Somerville will be replacing its fleet of hand-cranked penny parking meters. Did you ever think that those still existed?
As you can imagine, they are part of a very small dying breed and possibly the last town in New Jersey to still operate this type of meter.
Mar
13
2011
Paterson’s Great Falls…on Steroids
Great Falls of the Passaic River
We had an early morning outing to Paterson today to visit the Great Falls of the Passaic River. We’ve visited many times in the past but we had to make a special trip knowing it would be quite a sight since we had so much rain last week.
Obviously, we were not the only people who decided to come check out the Falls today. Lots of visitors were walking around taking pictures and video. There were even people on helicopter tours above us. There was also a huge police presence directing traffic around the area.
Catch the Mist
The Falls are a powerful sight. The roar of the water is very loud. And walking the steps to the viewing point puts you right in front of the falls. If you visit now, prepare to get wet—especially if you go on the footbridge. But the view is worth it.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Check out the rest of our visit in the gallery below and consider heading over to the Falls this week to see Mother Nature roaring her way through Paterson.
Mar
07
2011
Twelve Towns Looking to Break Christie’s Tax Increase Cap
Governor Chris Christie implemented a 2% cap on towns being able to increase property taxes in order to balance their budgets. Twelve towns are now setting themselves up for a referendum on their next ballots to break that cap. Are you on the list?
Brick
Edgewater Park
Florence
Hardwick
Hope Township
Lambertville
Plumsted
Mansfield
Maurice River
Mount Holly
Mount Laurel
Northvale
Read more here: Twelve New Jersey Towns Seek Voter Permission to Break Christie’s Tax Cap – Bloomberg.
Share on FacebookJan
19
2011
Flemington’s Landmark Union Hotel May Live Again
We had lunch at the Union Hotel a few times and were dismayed to hear that it had closed awhile back. Happily, we read today on NJ.com, that there are two finalists in negotitations with the borough to return the hotel/restaurant back into business.
We went on a multi-generational outing one spring day two or three years ago and my niece and I were most pleased with the working phone booths in the middle of the downstairs. In fact, a picture of me in one of those booths remains one of my go-to Facebook profile picture, I liked them so much. The interior was old and kind of soggy but you could tell that it used to be quite grand.
Can’t wait to see what the winners of the redevelopment plan will do with that great old building and Flemington landmark.
Developers want to revive Flemington’s landmark Union Hotel | NJ.com.
Share on FacebookDec
13
2010
Brick City Returning to Sundance Channel For Second Season
I worked in Newark for a little over seven years and came to respect Newark for all its history and for all its problems. Maybe this made me more interested in Forest Whitaker’s documentary series, Brick City, on the Sundance Channel. I think you should be interested, too, though.
Creep and His Daughter, photo via sundancechannel.com
If you’re reading this site because you love New Jersey and don’t like the way its stereotype is portrayed in the media and on all those MTV shows, you should watch these shows.
This is real New Jersey. All its good parts and all its bad parts.
Share on FacebookDec
05
2010
Passaic River Revisited
Passaic River
The Passaic River has seen better days. When my father was a boy he actually swam in the river when he was growing up in Passaic. He had many fond memories of cooling off in the river with his friends on those hot, humid summer days. Of course, this was way before the 1960s and 1970s when manufacturers along the lower half were pretty much given a green light to dump whatever they wanted into the river. I remember in the early 80s my father driving us to where he grew up to show us where he used to live. The river, now brown and filled with trash, was a sad sight.
There are still many nice places along the river, mostly in the upper half, in places like the Great Swamp and the Morristown National Historical Park. Visiting The Great Falls in Paterson always leaves me in awe.
There are on going clean up efforts in place, but is it too late?
NPR’s Art Silverman recently returned to the river that he grew up nearby while a boy in Livingston. You can check out his excellent piece here.
Visit The Passaic River Coalition to see how you can do your part.
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