Cannabis regulation, police overtime, off-street parking and delayed public projects proved hot-button topics at Monday’s caucus of Jersey City lawmakers. At-large City Council member Daniel Rivera presided, with Council President Joyce Watterman, Ward E representative James Solomon and at-large member Amy Degise no-shows. Council members debated the pros and cons of changes being pitched to […]
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.
Posted inWestside
Officials Scramble to Address Shutdown of Vital Bus Company
Jersey City commuters who depend on public transit to get to work, shop and more will be facing hardships soon when another independent bus line leaves the driving to someone else. A & C Bus Corp., which operates four routes through different parts of the city, had advised NJ Transit – from whom it leases […]
Posted inLatest News
City Council to Vote on New Cannabis Rules on Wednesday
Reacting to an outcry from residents and prospective dealers over how the rules are being applied, Jersey City is looking to tweak its laws governing the establishment and operation of local cannabis enterprises and its land development code as it relates to those businesses. The City Council on Wednesday will be asked to adopt the […]
Posted inLatest News
Civil Service Orders Jersey City to Green Light Police Lieutenant Exam
The state Civil Service Commission has rebuffed efforts by Jersey City to cancel a promotional exam for the rank of police lieutenant even though the city says it has no plans to appoint any additional police personnel to that rank. The city, whose arguments were outlined in a legal brief prepared by labor attorney Arthur […]
Posted inDowntown
Closure of Downtown Street Has Businesses Seeing Red
The closure of a small piece of Downtown roadway has become the latest flashpoint on the Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza, with business owners and some residents squaring off against Mayor Fulop, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, and the Harsimus Cove Association. In June, with Solomon’s support, Mayor Fulop ordered Barrow Street between Christopher Columbus Drive […]
Posted inObituaries
Eugene McKnight, Troubled Jersey City Political Operative Dead at 74
A former longtime mid-level Jersey City administrator with a troubled past passed away July 26 at the Guilford Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Greensboro, N.C. Funeral arrangements for Eugene McKnight, 74, were being handled by the Callands Funeral Home in Greensboro. The family is planning a memorial service to be held in Jersey City […]
Posted inNews
City Council Fails to Adopt 2023 Jersey City Municipal Budget Â
Updated 4:43 p.m. 7.24.23 With two of its members absent, Jersey City’s lawmakers on Monday failed to pass the proposed municipal budget so the city’s spending blueprint will either come back to the governing body for reconsideration or the state may step in. Those were the options presented to the City Council by Steven Wielkotz, […]
Posted inLatest News
Jersey City Mayor Who Banned Music and Film Remembered in Library Project
Memories of Bernard Berry, the 33rd mayor of Jersey City, may have dimmed a bit, even for old-timers, but they’re being revived thanks to the efforts of the Jersey City Museum of History and Jersey City Public Library. This week, the museum and library launched the city’s first oral history project designed to capture narratives of […]
Posted inLatest News
City Council Honors Heroic Five-Year-Old and Toughens Tree Protections
Taking time out from its regular work to honor a five-year-old who saved her sister from drowning, Jersey City’s municipal council voted last night to expand protection of street trees and allocate funds for a citywide park fix and for repairs to buildings that house critical social services. The lawmakers also paused an overhaul of […]
Posted inLatest News, News
City Council Preview: Big Zoning Changes Coming
What the administration describes as a remaking of land use rules governing R1 (1- and 2-family) zoning districts will be reviewed by the City Council tonight with the introduction of an ordinance slated for a public hearing two weeks hence. The proposed land use revisions, which the city describes as Phase 2 of the city’s […]