The road to a birth record for someone born in Jersey City has taken yet another turn. It’s been a tough slog ever since the state shut down the Hudson County Office of Vital Statistics in 2002 after investigators fingered four employees for taking part in a plot to create and sell fraudulent birth records. […]
Ron Leir
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.
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Paused For One Month, Ellis Island Hospital “Hard Hat” Tours Offer Window on History
Save Ellis Island, the nonprofit tasked with stabilizing and rehabilitating the historic hospital complex on the island’s south side, has advised that its “Hard Hat” tours will be temporarily suspended between New Year’s Day and January 29, 2023, for winter cleanup and minor infrastructure work. The 90-minute tours will resume January 30, 2023, with six […]
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Claiming Violent Crime is Down Fulop puts Kibosh on Compstat
Yesterday in his “year end public safety recap,” Mayor Steven Fulop trumpeted a big drop in homicides and a “downward trend” in some other categories of crime. Ward F Councilman Frank Gilmore, whose ward experienced a disproportionate amount of crime, was not nearly as sanguine. Fulop said homicides had decreased 50 percent between 2014 and […]
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Faculty Layoffs Loom at NJCU as it Looks to ‘Rightsize’ to Survive
Financially challenged New Jersey City University has taken another step toward “rightsizing” by sending notices of potential layoffs to 30 tenured faculty whose jobs may be eliminated as of June 28, 2023. About 200 tenured professors are currently on campus. In a post on its website this week, NJCU said it will also end contracts with “up […]
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Council Narrowly Approves Construction Agreement for SciTech Scity High School
With only four City Council members in favor, the council on Wednesday approved a resolution authorizing a project development agreement for construction of SciTech Scity, the STEM-focused high school to be built adjacent to Liberty Science Center and run by the Hudson County School of Technology. Parties to the agreement include the city, Hudson County, the […]
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City Hall Park and Expanded Homeless Services in Ward C Dominate Council Caucus
A new park behind City Hall that could dislodge employee parking and a plan to expand services for the homeless near Dickinson High School in Ward C dominated Monday night’s City Council caucus meeting. Also discussed were tree planting, increased police overtime costs, and more fiscal responsibilities associated with redevelopment of the Loew’s Theater. In […]
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City Council to Consider New Journal Square Skyscraper
At its meeting on Nov. 28, the Jersey City Municipal Council introduced an ordinance that would allow for the construction of a new skyscraper in Journal Square: a 35-story building at 701 Newark Ave. where there is currently a parking lot. Requested by city business administrator John Metro, the ordinance would amend the Journal Square 2060 […]
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Jersey City Now Has State’s Highest-Ranking Female Firefighter
Jersey City made history Tuesday when it elevated a veteran female firefighter to the post of deputy fire chief becoming what Mayor Steve Fulop called the highest-ranking woman in the fire services in New Jersey. And “possibly (highest) in the tri-state area,” added city Fire Chief Steven J. McGill. She’s Constance Zappella, who was promoted […]
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Turnpike Authority Adds $6 Billion to Estimate to Expand Exits 14–14C
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has revised its cost estimate from $4.7 billion to $10.7 billion for widening I-78 from exits 14 to 14C. The estimate, which includes the cost of replacing the Newark Bay Bridge at exit 14, further infuriated mass transit advocates who opposed the project when it was first announced by the […]
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Jersey City Welcomes Beit Shemesh, in Israel, as ‘Sister City’
Jersey City has signed a “sister city” agreement with Beit Shemesh, in Israel. Such an arrangement, which the city says “has been in development for many months,”often leads to some type of trade agreement or arrangement that benefits both cities. “A lasting bridge is being built by this new partnership that will enhance key relationships […]