Calls about a possible bomb threat brought several police emergency cruisers andfire rigs to Jersey City’s India Square Friday night as pre-Independence Day holidaycrowds of diners and shoppers filled Newark Avenue. Bluecoats blocked off sections of the avenue as officers investigated the situationas civilian onlookers waited … and waited. Some two hours later, the drama […]
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 inLatest News
Emotions Flare As Council Condemns Historic Journal Square Building
In an emotional meeting Wednesday night, the city council voted to acquire “by purchase or condemnation” 50 Journal Square, an eight-story office building that when it opened in 1926 was hailed as the square’s first “skyscraper.” Only Ward F member Frank Gilmore was present to oppose the city’s proposal that had been put forth to […]
Posted inLatest News
Here’s What’s On Tap for the City Council This Week
Two stalled Jersey City public infrastructure projects should be getting renewed attention this week as city lawmakers turn their attention to plans for a new Bergen-Lafayette firehouse and restoration of the old Reservoir No. 3 site in the Heights. On Wednesday, the City Council will be asked to extend a contract with Netta Architects of […]
Posted inLatest News
City Council Passes Right-to-Counsel Plan, Implementation is Years Off
After nearly a year of deliberations and internal negotiations, Jersey City has become the latest the city to adopt a tenants’ “Right-to-Counsel” law as the City Council – in a rare move – unanimously adopted the measure Wednesday night. Mayor Steven Fulop joined several council members the following day on the steps of City Hall […]
Posted inLatest News
Council Ponders Rent Relief, Cannabis and a $7 Million Payout to Victim of Police Brutality
At its caucus yesterday, the city council once again wrestled with aid to stressed renters and the control of cannabis businesses while considering the cutting of a big check to a victim of alleged police brutality. On the rental front, it appears that beleaguered Jersey City tenants will be getting relief sooner than expected. The […]
Posted inNews
Software ‘Language Gap’ Spoils Hudson’s Full Rollout of New Voting Machines
“Transient network issues” caused a delayed count in the June 6 primary voting results in Hudson County, according to county officials, who say the lapse figures will be corrected in the future with the exclusive use of a single election vendor. A joint statement released June 8 by the county clerk, board of elections and […]
Posted inArts and Culture
NJ Symphony Orchestra to Play Liberty State Park on July 4th Weekend
What figures to be the one of the biggest summer arts events in Jersey City will be happening in just a few weeks, yet the city seems in no rush to get the word out. The event host has also been officially silent. So here’s the skinny. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will be coming […]
Posted inNews
Jersey City Facing Big Payout to Fix a Morris County Dam
Struggling to maintain its aging municipal infrastructure for use by residents and workers, Jersey City now finds itself with a big-ticket fix – this time for a site 40 miles outside the city limits. It’s the Longwood Lake Dam in Jefferson Township in the rustic, northwest corner of Morris County where 45 species of birds, […]
Posted inEducation
Ten Thousand Students Gain Safe Drinking Water, But Work Continues
The Jersey City Board of Education – with a push from the advocacy group Jersey City Together and financial help from the city’s Municipal Utilities Authority – is soon to start the final phase of a multi-year campaign to ensure that students are drinking clean, safe water in their schools’ water fountains. At a press […]
Posted inNews
Right-To-Counsel Moves Forward, Smoke Shops to be Licensed
The Jersey City City Council Wednesday night took the first step to establishing a “Right to Counsel” for the city’s tenants who comprise about 70 percent of the population and who, advocates say, face increasing prospects of evictions by landlords’ hiking rents to unprecedented numbers. Tenants at Portside Towers on the city’s waterfront, in particular, […]