Ron Leir has been a journalist since 1972. That includes a 37-year stint as a reporter, copy reader and assistant editor with The Jersey Journal, followed by a decade as a reporter with The Observer in Kearny. He has also pursued his avocation of acting, appearing mostly on small stages in NYC and New Jersey and several independent films.
Union City has required bars and restaurants to install security cameras inside and out. Jersey City has not. Some say CCTV does little to curb crime. Is Jersey City’s approach the right one?
There are many unsung heroes on the front lines battling the Covid-19 pandemic in Jersey City and the rest of Hudson County. Much has been written about the healthcare workers who have been risking their lives on a daily basis to battle the coronavirus. But there’s another line of defense laboring mostly in civilian garb out of the limelight, providing equally valuable public service as paid staff and volunteers.
Local activists staged an impromptu rally Sunday to mobilize Jersey City residents in response to alleged police brutality in quelling a fight in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood on May 5. The incident, which occurred on Bostwick Avenue, resulted in three arrests and injuries to both civilians and police officers.
How vast does the shutdown appear? Councilman James Solomon, whose Downtown ward hosts a lot of building activity, said recently, “[. . .] my reading of it is that most large-scale construction sites must shut down or be in the process of shutting down.” This is likely because the Order does categorize as “non-essential” residential projects with work crews greater than five and residential buildings with no units under sales contracts.
Public outcry against the closures of Liberty State Park and Lincoln Park in Jersey City as mandated by Governor Phil Murphy has surfaced and is growing.
Jersey City Medical Center has created a new protocol and an expanded locale for its emergency department in response to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the city and the country. Earlier this month, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop joined Christ Hospital administrators in announcing a new screening system designed to safeguard health care staff and patients during the crisis as well.
In this initiative, according to Frank Mazza, deputy director of the county’s Department of Family Services, motels along Tonnelle Avenue will temporarily house chronically homeless persons age 60 as they have been deemed at high risk of infection given their age and living situations. The motels include Travel Lodge, Roadway Inn and Howard Johnson.
Rumors and speculation notwithstanding, the specter of the coronavirus (Covid-19) has – so far – touched Jersey City only minimally, based on reports made earlier today by municipal officials.
At a brief press conference held Friday, Feb. 21, directly across the street from the still-shuttered shop, Fulop, accompanied by Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea, said the newly released tapes “only reinforce a lot of what we said in the days after the Dec. 10 incident … that we are exceptionally proud of how police officers ran toward danger and how they communicated with each other.”
Today, 155 years after its formation, the Lincoln Association of Jersey City (LAJC) is still active. (Indeed, it is one of the longest-serving associations nationwide.)
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