I knew that running for mayor of Jersey City would be no walk in the park, but with attack after personal attack on my credibility, integrity, and reputation, I believe it’s time to ask Mayor Fulop a question. Can we keep our campaigns about the issues and not deal in spreading lies, half-truths, or innuendo?
As I walk the streets of Jersey City, I am quite frankly appalled by what I am hearing from residents. As ridiculous as it feels to explain some of this, I’m running my campaign on transparency and accountability, so I feel that I must address the litany of rumors that are circulating around my name.
In 2006, I had just graduated from Rutgers University. My “registration as a Republican” was a clear party assignment error on my part, and if you look at my voting record it’s evident. Conveniently, while my party affiliation was published, my voting record was not. To insinuate that I would ever vote for Donald Trump is quite frankly laughable.
I am not “in kahoots with” the Fireman Foundation, and I definitely do not support the privatization of Liberty State Park. Earlier this year, there was a grant given to my nonprofit Kismet of Kings, which works to ensure that young men in the Jersey City community receive the necessary skills to graduate from high school. When the foundation learned that I was running for mayor, this grant was rescinded as they could not be seen as engaging in political activity, either directly or indirectly.
To suggest or insinuate that the Fireman Foundation is purchasing my support for a golf course expansion in Liberty State Park is an outright lie.
And yes, I did purchase a house on Grand Street in Jersey City, that I never lived in. To say that I abandoned the property is a stretch. The facts are that the opportunity to purchase the house, which I hoped to use as an investment property, and to attend Harvard for graduate school came at exactly the same time. With my limited resources as a young man, I could not stretch to accommodate both. The house was in terrible condition, and I just did not have the money to fix it, or live in it.
I decided to go to graduate school with the money I had as an investment in my future. I never lived in the house. I sold it, and I asked the City to defer taxes while I lived out of state. The choice I made to not go through with investing in this house has followed me for over a decade. I often use this story to show the youth I mentor why facing up to your responsibilities is so critical, and how the choices you make can follow you forever.
All of my experiences as a young Black man in this city fuels my passion for the youth in our community. I want our young people to be more politically engaged in a society that makes it easy to not care, or understand how politics affect our daily lives. I don’t want our youth to have to leave in search of opportunity, I want them to have access to resources they need to thrive, including the ability to buy homes, right here in Jersey City. This is why I am running for office.
I have nothing to hide. Any constituent of this great city can approach me with any concerns they have about me, my track record and my ability to lead, and I’ll address any issues that arise with the truth, to the best of my ability.
From the moment my run for mayor was leaked in the press, Mayor Fulop’s spokesman assaulted my character with his comment about “double-dipping checks from the city and the state.” So far, I have resisted personal attacks. Those closest to me can attest to the fact that I don’t operate in that manner. But, please believe that if I chose to go another route, it would not be difficult to do given the facts on the ground in Jersey City.
From affordable housing, to education, to the safety of our city, there is more than enough policy for us to debate in the public eye.
Mayor Fulop, for me, this election is not even about competing visions for Jersey City. I’d like to believe that we both want the best for all of our residents. And that is why I’d really like to keep our campaigns about the very real issues Jersey City residents face on a daily basis.
As I always tell the youth I mentor, how you do anything, is how you do everything. And how I lead my campaign is how I intend to lead this city. I hope I can count on you to put the people of this City and their needs first, so we can debate the ideas and not deal in petty politics.
Roughly half-a-million jobless New Jerseyans will see their unemployment benefits lapse next week, and the state doesn’t plan to extend them, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.
The so-called unemployment cliff comes with the Sept. 6 expiration of federal unemployment benefits that have provided residents with hundreds of dollars each week during the pandemic.
“We recognize the impact that this will have on some families facing unemployment issues,” Murphy said. “To support New Jerseyans through suffering through the economic impacts of the pandemic we have invested in rent-assistance, food-assistance, child-care assistance, health-care affordability assistance, and other assistance programs we have set up programs which are funded through billions of dollars of federal coronavirus relief programs.”
The announcement means three federal programs — Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, and $300 weekly supplemental payments — serving roughly 500,000 New Jerseyans will sunset next week, though about a fifth of those residents may be eligible for a separate extended-benefits program.
The benefits expiring next week extended unemployment benefits to individuals who were otherwise unqualified and allowed residents who had burned through their regular unemployment benefits to receive federal assistance.
The governor cited cost as the driving motive behind the decision, saying an extension would cost the state no less than $300 million each week, with the potential for costs to climb higher.
“We’re talking about well more than $1 billion per month to maintain this benefit at its current level,” the governor said at Monday’s virus briefing.
President Joe Biden last week urged states facing high unemployment rates to use funds provided by the American Rescue Plan to defray the impact of the lapsed programs, but Murphy said Biden and other federal lawmakers should be the ones to act.
“The proper way to extend federal unemployment benefits is through federal action, not a patchwork of state ones,” he said, adding that no state is extending these benefits beyond Sept. 4.
The state’s tranche of American Rescue Plan money was worth more than $6 billion.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on Murphy to use $250 million to forestall an automatic increase to an unemployment tax levied on employers. Those collections go toward New Jersey’s unemployment trust fund, which was depleted by record joblessness seen during the last 18 months.
At 7.3%, New Jersey’s unemployment rate numbers among the highest in the nation.
Mayoral candidate Lewis Spears has responded to charges from the Fulop campaign that he was a registered Republican who may have supported Republican candidates for state and national office. Fulop’s campaign cited a report in the New Jersey Globe claiming that Spears was a registered Republican from 2006-2017 and didn’t become a Democrat until 2019.
In a written response Spears said,”I have no idea where the information in the Globe came from, but I can say that just like Mayor Fulop, I voted for President Obama, Governor Murphy, and I even voted for Mayor Fulop. I remain committed to running a campaign that is about the issues Jersey City residents face today—lack of affordable housing, inequitable training and education, and safety in our city. I am not sure if this is how Mayor Fulop’s camp is trying to win votes in our city, but I would rather he share his plan to address the issues we are all struggling with, in what would be his third term. In fact, all of the noise around me being a “fake progressive” is just that, noise designed to distract from an election that should be centered around the needs, and the voices of our residents.”
Spears did not directly address the claim that he had been a registered Republican.
Mayoral candidate Lewis Spears has announced that on Saturday he became just the fourth—and the youngest—African American man in 200 years, to garner enough petitions to certify as a mayoral candidate in November’s general election.
Simultaneously the Fulop campaign attacked, citing “an explosive new report in the New Jersey Globe” claiming that Spears was a registered Republican from 2006-2017 and didn’t become a Democrat until 2019.
“Lewis Spears has been exposed as a fake progressive who aligned himself with the Republican Party for most of his adult life, including throughout both of President Obama’s terms and even into the 2016 presidential election when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and plunged our country into four years of chaos, cruelty, mismanagement and corruption,” said Fulop campaign spokesman Phil Swibinski. “The more residents learn about Republican Lewis Spears the clearer it will become that he’s nothing but a front for special interests that are more concerned with lining their own pockets than with delivering for Jersey City — he’s clearly not who he says he is.”
The Globe surmised that “Spears would have missed the Democratic presidential primaries in 2008 and 2016, and Gov. Phil Murphy’s primary four years ago.”
Meanwhile, Spears was clearly in a celebratory mood. “Our journey to City Hall is officially underway,” said Spears. “I want to thank every volunteer on the Spears campaign for working so hard to accomplish this milestone. I want to thank every person in Jersey City who filled out a petition to support this run. Together, we have created history!
“I decided to run because I wanted to give all of the people of Jersey City another option—different ideas for a shared vision for our great city. I want every child in this city to see that someone who was born and grew up here can indeed lead it. The response has been overwhelming so far, and I remain grateful for every opportunity Jersey City has afforded me, including this opportunity to run for leadership.”
The Spears campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment on the Globe story.
After spending months without a stable roof over her head and crashing on a friend’s couch, Jackson rented an apartment in Pemberton perfect for her and her three kids. She had saved up some money from her jobs at Burger King and as a teacher in a preschool.
Once the pandemic shuttered schools, she had to leave her jobs to take care of her kids, 9, 5, and 2 years old. Her weekly $231 of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the supplemental $600 courtesy of the federal government wasn’t enough to cover all her bills, but it was a lifeline.
That lifeline ends next week, when Jackson will be one of 500,000 New Jerseyans — and one of 7.5 million people nationwide — to fall off the unemployment cliff, as federal benefits halt Sept. 6. After extending jobless benefits three times since the pandemic began, Congress declined to extend them again.
“Everything is ending now, and it’s another fast turn I’m taking,” said Jackson, 33. “I’m just thinking, how am I going to survive again?”
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation Fund extend benefits to people who typically aren’t eligible or claimants who have exhausted state benefits. The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation provided the additional $600, which was lowered to $300 when benefits were extended in January.
NyKia Jackson says without unemployment benefits, she will struggle to provide for her family.
The programs were enacted at the height of the pandemic, in the wake of skyrocketing unemployment, mass layoffs, and widespread business closures. In New Jersey, more than 2.2 million people filed for unemployment benefits, peaking at 200,000 workers filing weekly claims in April 2020.
Sixteen months later, New Jersey is tied for the fifth highest unemployment rate in the nation at 7.3%. The state has recovered roughly 60% of jobs lost since March 2020.
President Joe Biden urged states with high unemployment rates to use federal funds, like American Rescue Plan dollars, to continue paying out additional unemployment benefits. At a coronavirus press briefing last week, Gov. Phil Murphy declined to say if New Jersey would do so. The state received more than $6 billion from that pot of money in May.
A state Department of Labor spokeswoman said the agency is “waiting for forthcoming guidance” from Washington, D.C. The department did not respond to multiple requests for further comment.
Since the start of the pandemic, the state Labor Department has doled out more than $33 billion in state and federal benefits. The unemployment trust fund is already depleted.
“It’s a train wreck we can see coming,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with progressive think tank The Century Foundation. “What will happen to these folks? Some will find jobs, but I think millions won’t and will suffer the kind of consequences we’ve seen historically during an economic downturn.”
Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Sussex), who was state labor commissioner during the Great Recession, recalled extending unemployment benefits when unemployment hit 10% in 2009.
Wirths said he sympathizes with people who can’t rejoin the workforce due to health or child care reasons, but he doesn’t support extending benefits.
“For the critics, it’s tough to explain that we have the most amount of jobs open in history, and at the same time we keep paying out extended benefits,” he said. “There’s no question it was needed when Covid was severe, but it’s a bad idea to continue it.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 10.1 million job openings on the last business day in June.
The impact of losing benefits on New Jerseyans
A former senior lead at Santander Bank, Giselle Manzano was used to bringing in a six-figure salary for years. When pandemic restrictions set in, Manzano’s schedule was cut to three days a week, and the company took away all bonuses, overtime, and commissions.
On March 21, 2021, she was laid off and filed for unemployment benefits. When federal programs lift, she’ll still have state benefits through the winter, but will lose the supplemental $300.
“I went from six figures to $731 a week. Now I’m paying $1,003 a month for health benefits, I stopped paying my life insurance, I’ve emptied out my savings, both my retirement accounts, it’s all gone,” Manzano said. “I’m cutting coupons. It’s just something I’ve never had to do before in my life.”
She’s applied to hundreds of corporate jobs, she said, but since she lives with her two elderly parents, she said she can’t take a risky job in retail or at a supermarket. But if Mazano finds that just state benefits won’t hold her over, she might have to reassess that risk.
“As a second-generation immigrant, we’ve always been taught no matter what, we work, and I want to work. But it’s not ending. Now with the Delta variant, we’re not close to this being over,” she said.
She added: “What am I going to do if I bring the virus back to my parents?”
Stephanie Freed, the executive director of ExtendPUA, a national grassroots organization focused on lobbying federal officials to extend unemployment benefits, said millions of people like Manzano are left to weigh those options: go broke, or bring a potentially deadly virus home.
“There’s a lot of panic happening, a lot of desperation, and a lot of frustration and rage. People feel like they’re being betrayed,” Freed said.
ExtendPUA helped push for an extension for benefits in July 2020, and met with senators in the fall when those benefits were set to expire in December. This time, she said, there appears to be no urgency to extend pandemic-era programs.
The organization created an online resource to offer food pantry location and rental assistance, but Freed stressed mutual aid is not enough to save everyone. She’s optimistic Murphy might look at approving additional benefits in light of the November election, when he is on the ballot seeking a second term.
“I genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s terrifying, cruel and disappointing to see,” she said. “We need to see more leadership from legislators on every level.”
“It’s not like these benefits will go away and people will magically go back to work. When you survey people and ask why they’re not looking for work, there’s so many reasons besides unemployment.”
– Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation
Jackson said losing weekly benefits will be very hard on her. She said she lies awake at night trying to figure out how to balance losing her income with having no one to help her watch her kids.
“Three kids alone is a lot. Then there’s rent, the phone bill, school shopping. I do have money saved up in case of an emergency, because I’m a mom, but once that’s gone, I have nothing,” she said. “I’m still trying to make ends meet.”
The jobs she’s applied to either want her to work overnight, or require a schedule that doesn’t work because she has no child care, she said. Other jobs require a car, since public transportation is unreliable. Most places she applies to never call her back.
And even if she did find a job, a potential outbreak at school could force her and her children into a two-week quarantine, something she can’t afford to do.
Jackson took advantage of some free time during the pandemic to study for her driving permit, in hopes of buying a car. Maybe she’ll drive for Uber or Lyft, she said, which would save her the $18 roundtrip to take her kids to school since there’s no bus to drop them off.
“If I could do that, and I can save up money for my car, then the situation wouldn’t be where it’s at right now,” she said.
Debating how to spend federal funds
State Senator Loretta Weinberg said there hasn’t been much chatter among state lawmakers on using ARP money to extend unemployment. Weinberg (D-Bergen) said she’d be open to it, but would need a briefing from the Labor Department on pros and cons.
“How many people will lose benefits? Do we have job openings for all these people? Do we have child care in place for working parents? There’s a number of questions that haven’t been answered adequately,” she said.
Stettner, the Century Foundation economist, noted while there are millions of jobs open, many people aren’t returning to work for various reasons. People are rethinking their career paths, weighing the danger of in-person jobs, or worried it’s still too unsafe to return to work, he said.
“It’s not like these benefits will go away and people will magically go back to work,” he said. “When you survey people and ask why they’re not looking for work, there’s so many reasons besides unemployment. It’s also time for employers to think long and hard.”
State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon said he’s heard from plenty of business owners who all report dealing with a labor shortage over the summer. O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) pointed to a Cape May restaurant that had to close on a busy night because the manager had no servers.
“This isn’t me trying to be cold and hard, this is me caring about our overall economy,” he said. “We need to keep businesses in business, make sure people are getting to the jobs they need, and the time to do that is now.”
Lifting benefits won’t solve the so-called labor shortage overnight, he said, but he expects it to quickly “make a big dent.”
He also noted he’d rather use the ARP money to replenish the depleted Unemployment Trust Fund, instead of the route that Murphy decided to go. The Democratic governor signed a law in January raising the money through a three-year tax hike on businesses, starting with an estimated $250 million increase in October.
Wirths is sponsoring a bill, A5828, in the Assembly that would allocate $2 billion to the trust fund.
“It’s a no-brainer to me,” Wirths said. “We have $6 billion, there’s no need for a $250 million tax increase and many more to come. And I’m not going to advocate for extending federal benefits — I’ve never seen so many help wanted signs in my life.”
Weeks away from losing her benefits and with few choices at her fingertips, Manzano has been pleading to lawmakers to rethink letting the extra benefits expire.
“Please look at me. You don’t want to generalize and put them all in the same pool and say they’re all unemployed by choice. I’m breaking down like this, so we need this important change,” she said.
Elvin Dominici is a candidate for an at-large seat on the Jersey City Municipal Council.
A recent news report states that Jersey City has not paid out a single penny of the $7.8 million dollars provided by the federal government to give much needed rental relief to residents and families suffering to make ends meet during the pandemic. Our local residents are doing their part to make ends meet and keep a roof over their head while the mayor and his handpicked city council have no sense of urgency in giving them support that they are entitled to as a way to prevent housing displacement or instability.
Jersey City might be quick to run to social media and the papers to claim they are the largest and most diverse city in Hudson County but they have done nothing to help our diverse communities throughout the city in getting rental assistance. Along with this, the current administration and the mayor’s handpicked “leadership” at the Jersey City Housing Authority have the audacity to create barriers to this rental assistance.
If the mayor Fulop and his handpicked city council members had empathy to care for Jersey City residents, they would’ve ensured that the rental assistance program started months ago, when the city first received the funding in March 2021, rather than waiting five months later to create a two-week application period. Along with that, they would’ve offered various ways for residents to apply for the program rather than requiring everyone to only apply online.
I’ve heard from numerous low-income and senior citizen residents who tried to apply to the program by calling the city or JCHA only to be told that they have to apply online. When the resident replied that they do not have a computer or internet, they were told that they could visit the Jersey City Public Library and use their computers. Why are we making it so difficult for residents to receive support to keep their housing?
The answer is very simple: the mayor and his handpicked city councilmembers do not care about our residents and families suffering to make ends meet during the pandemic. If I did not know any better, I would think Jersey City was run by people similar to Republicans in states like West Virginia or Tennessee because they too created barriers to help struggling residents apply for rental assistance.
This city government must stop playing with the lives of struggling Jersey City residents and families. If they truly care about our fellow residents, they must do the following now:
Extend the application window for the rental assistance application process through at least September 15, 2021.
Allow residents to submit their application either electronically or on paper, in person.
Create a specific phone number that residents can call to schedule an appointment to complete an application or for assistance with the application with Jersey City employees working from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm during the application window.
Work with local community organizations (i.e., faith-based communities, neighborhood associations, nonprofits) who can help residents complete their application and prepare to be sent to the city.
We cannot tolerate this level of irresponsibility and disinterest from the administration and several of the councilmembers to assist families and residents in need who call Jersey City their home. I ask fellow residents to speak up and demand proper representation, empathy, and support from their local representatives! Let’s get our residents and families the help that they desperately need right now.
By Jersey City standards, the event looked to be a big deal. It would feature a famous rapper, a good portion of the Hudson County Democratic Black Caucus, and a cause: mentoring Jersey City teens. But by 3 p.m. yesterday, Mayor Fulop had cancelled the gathering, in apparent response to questions raised about the event’s “celebrity guest,” rapper Tip “T.I.” Harris, who was set to arrive in the city with a lengthy rap sheet and beset by fresh charges of abusing women.
According to an invitation posted on Instagram, Monday’s event was to take place at the city Department of Recreation and Youth Development and was to include a coterie of city officials, including co-host and Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson, Health and Human Services Director Stacey Flanagan, and City Council President Joyce Watterman. State Senator Sandra Cunningham and Assemblywoman Angela McKnight were also listed as “special guests.”
In January, the Hudson County Democratic Black Caucus endorsed Mayor Fulop for reelection.
Had the mayor not pulled the plug at the last minute, Harris would have appeared at the event under a cloud of controversy. In March, a Brooklyn attorney asked authorities in California and Georgia to open investigations on behalf of 11 people allegedly victimized by Harris and his wife, Tameka, between 2005 and 2018. According to the attorney, the alleged victims were subjected to sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, false imprisonment, intimidation, assault, and harassment.
The attorney, Tyrone A. Blackburn, said that they were inspired to come forward by Sabrina Peterson, who alleged in a January that Harris had “put a gun to [her] head in front of children.” Said Peterson, “[The] sad part about … being a black woman is this! The public praises our predators.”
In a statement to the media, Harris’s attorney wrote, “Clifford (T.I.) and Tameka Harris deny in the strongest possible terms these unsubstantiated and baseless allegations. We are confident that, if these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming.” He called the charges “a sordid shakedown campaign.”
Flyer publicizing event honoring Rapper Tip “T.I.” Harris
Harris has spent time in state and federal prison on charges ranging from drug dealing to weapons possession. In 2008, Harris pled guilty to federal weapons charges arising out the possession of three machine guns and two silencers.
His treatment of women has been an ongoing issue. He was criticized for annually taking his daughter, Deyjah Harris, to have her hymen checked to confirm her virginity. Speaking of Hilary Clinton in 2016, he said, “I can’t vote for the leader of the free world to be a woman” and suggested that she might “set off a nuke” because “women make rash decisions emotionally.” In 2003, he was punished for the battery of a female sheriff deputy.
In 2015, the IRS filed liens on Harris’s property for $4.5 million in unpaid taxes. In 2020, Harris was charged by the SEC in connection with his involvement in two fraudulent initial coin offerings, charges that were later settled.
Six hours before the mayor’s cancellation, Jersey City Times had contacted each of the event’s participants and a group of local candidates for office asking for their views on the gathering. None of the participants, including the mayor, responded to our inquiries.
However, several local candidates and activists did, and they were highly critical. City Council-at-Large Candidate June Jones called the honoring of Harris “appalling.” Another City Council at-Large candidate, Elvin Dominici, slammed the mayor for bringing in people with “sketchy backgrounds … to boost his national profile.”
Frank “Educational” Gilmore, a candidate for the Ward F City Council seat, allowed that Harris was entitled to the presumption of innocence but added, “I wouldn’t have done it. I don’t think this is the kind of message we need to be giving kids at this time.”
Also “saluting and welcoming” the rapper would have been “2021 Teen Magazine” and Pastor John H. McReynolds, formerly of Mount Olive Baptist Church. According to Partnership for a Healthier JC, McReynolds founded The Teen Magazine Literacy Program to give teens “a safe haven to produce a magazine, illustrating how their voices are relevant and can serve as a vehicle for positive change in Jersey City.”
Robinson’s co-host for the event was slated to be McReynolds’s wife, Tamika, author of the book From Federal Prison to First Lady, which tells the story of her affair and involvement with former Newark mayor Sharpe James, which led to her conviction and a nine-month federal prison sentence.
If you’ve taken a stroll Downtown through the Village lately, you may have come upon a strange sight: a flamboyantly spray-painted 1971 Volkswagen bug. The car is now on its way to becoming even more modern: by going electric. The team behind the conversion is a father and son duo, Dave and Lucas Slurzberg.
“[The project] started with my interest in race cars and race engineering … and just like … really complex pieces of machinery,” says the 14-year-old who hopes to become a race engineer. But the elder Slurzberg encouraged him to start small, so they first built an electric go-cart.
Dave and Lucas Slurzberg working on their VW to EV conversion. Photo by Ben Krejci
In December 2019, Slurzberg senior found the perfect car for Lucas to work on: a ’71 VW bug. He bought the car from the owner of the now-closed Golden Cicada. The bug was in rough shape. It had sat through Hurricane Sandy, so the brakes were locked, and the wheels couldn’t spin. The Slurzbergs ended up towing the car home.
The prior owner had attempted an electric conversion with its own custom-made electric motor. But the team said it wasn’t quite right. So, Lucas tried building several small-scale mockups of a car battery using cardboard, hot glue, and countless double AA batteries. In the end, he decided to ditch the idea of building a car battery from scratch. He had enough to do.
Instead, father and son will be using five “Tesla Packs” — a grid containing thousands of rechargeable lithium-ion battery cells. The packs are from older Tesla models and are not easy to find. Some will be stored in the rear of the car and others will go where the fuel tank was. The pair estimate that the car will be able to drive 90 miles on one charge, so no long road trips for Lucas, but it’ll be perfect for going to school when he’s a licensed driver in two years.
For as much work as they’re putting into the car, the Slurzbergs plan to keep as much of the original look as they can with hidden modifications. For example, they’re putting the recharging plug where the gas cap was hidden under the fuel door. As for the dashboard, the plan is to replicate the old one but on a digitalized screen. “You want to see your battery temperature and your cooling temperature and your motor voltage and all of your stuff because, well, just to make sure it’s okay,” says Lucas.
Dave and Lucas Slurzberg’s VW. Photo by Ben Krejci
Invention and creativity run in the family. Since Lucas was in diapers, according to Slurzberg, they have been inventing and building gadgets together from a Nerf gun Barbie launcher to elaborate matching Halloween costumes. Slurzberg fostered Lucas’s drive but was stern when it came to working in the garage: “He was taught very young … respect the tools. I don’t childproof, it’s not my style.”
For work, Slurzberg builds interactive technology for pop-up shops and trade shows for the likes of Glade, Chanel, among other clients. As a child, Lucas was able to attend these shows and go behind the scenes to see his father’s work. As he got older, Lucas was able to help out with his dad.
Converting the VW bug into an electric vehicle is perhaps the duo’s most ambitious project yet. The car needs serious restoration. The bodywork needed is not what they signed up for, but they’re up for the challenge. Lucas says, “There’s some nights I go upstairs, and I’m like, this is just painful sometimes … and then I think, well, the end result hopefully will be really cool.”
Through all the ups and downs, Slurzberg says it’s been about the experience for him and his son. “I wanted to empower him to make these decisions,” he says. “I do trust that he’s done enough stuff at this point in his life … which is pretty scary for a 14-year-old that he’s done that much stuff that I listen to him.”
Electric Go Kart
The Slurzbergs goal is to have all the bodywork done by the end of the summer. They will send the bug out to have the interior done and the shell repainted. Earlier this year, Slurzberg asked local artists from the Jersey City Mural Festival to paint the car, which definitely caught the attention of onlookers. But Lucas was hoping for something a little more subtle, so he’s decided to have it painted dark grey.
Of course, nothing goes to waste in this garage. The original custom-made electric motor that was in the ’71 bug will likely become the Slurzberg’s next project. “I really want to convert one of the parking scooters,” says Slurzberg. “I want to stick it on a jet ski,” suggests Lucas. Slurzberg agrees that’s a better idea.
So, be on the lookout for a quiet electric bug cruising around Jersey City and an electric jet ski on the Hudson.
To track Lucas and Dave Slurzberg’s progress on the bug, you can follow @ 3lectric_bug on Instagram.
A Jersey City man has been charged in connection with a fatal early morning February collision with a guardrail on Christopher Columbus Drive.
According the the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office, Jose Colon, age 31, of Jersey City, was arrested yesterday on charges of Aggravated Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide/DWI On or Near School Property.
On Sunday, February 28, 2021, just before 3:30 a.m., Jersey City Police and the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit were called to the scene of a car crash at Christopher Columbus Drive near the Merseles Street split in Jersey City.
An investigation found that the driver was traveling westbound on Columbus Drive approaching the roadway split when his vehicle, a 1996 Honda Civic, struck the attenuator-protected guard rail. The passenger, later identified as Jesus Gonzalez, age 30, of Jersey City, later died from his injuries at the Jersey City Medical Center.
With the explosion of downtown night life, Christopher Columbus Drive has joined JFK Boulevard as a location for speeding and car accidents. In a discussion on Nextdoor.com about an April accident on the
April 13, 2021 car accident on Christopher Columbus Drive. Photo by Michael D’Aurizio
street, Harsimus Cove resident Alex Castro Clavarino, “Columbus drive west bound is a race track in the nights… if I were a traffic police as New York City, I would fill my tickets quote in an instant.”
Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the Jersey City Police Department for the investigation and arrest.
There’s plenty to do in Jersey City this weekend, especially if you want to be outdoors. There are several ways to see live music, whether it’s Latin Jazz at PierFest, or classical music at Lincoln Park Live – Saturday in the Park. Plus, there’s a street art bike tour, a walk in celebration of the East Coast Greenway, and more.
If you love our “This Weekend” feature and our other in-depth Jersey City news coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution of $2.99 here. Thanks!
Jersey City Street Art Bike Tour 2021
Presented by CANVS, the Jersey City Mural Arts Program, Mana Public Arts and TimesUp New York, along with Bike JC, this guided bike tour will explore the street art across multiple Jersey City neighborhoods. Be sure to bring your own bike or have a CitiBike reserved in advance.
For Eileen: A Life Celebration for Eileen Markenstein
Before her passing last year, Eileen Markenstein was a Volunteer – President for the Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery. In celebration of her life, there will be tributes from community leaders, as well as live music starting at 1 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Eileen Markenstein Memorial Fund.
Location: The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery, 435 Newark Ave.
Cost: Free, with a suggested donation of $10
Community Event, Music
Celebrate the Greenway Walk
In celebration of the East Coast Greenway and the multi-city biking event this weekend, FreeWalkers is hosting this ten to twenty-mile walk from Liberty State Park to Bayonne/Elizabeth. There will be Greenway festivities at 8:30 a.m., after which the walk will begin.
Cost: Free, with a suggested donation of $14.99; VIP tickets start at $37.99
Music, Drinks
Lincoln Park Live – Saturday in the Park: The Harlem Chamber Players
West Side Arts & Music presents this live music event in Lincoln Park. The Harlem Chamber Players Quartet will play classical music, and there will be activities for children at 6 p.m. in partnership with the Turrell Fund.
Book Bag Drive and Basketball Skills & Drills Clinic (rescheduled from last weekend)
This event for the kids is from the A Fight Against The Odds Foundation. It’s free but does require pre-registration. Please note that this event was originally scheduled for last weekend, but was postponed due to the weather.
Location: Lincoln Park Basketball Courts, 949 Communipaw Ave.
Cost: Free
Community Event, Family friendly
Drag Bingo with Harmonica Sunbeam
Harmonica Sunbeam will be hosting six games with prizes at this socially-distanced, outdoor event. There will be drink specials, but this event is BYOF (bring your own food). Pets are welcome.
