At Wednesday’s meeting, the City Council gave a thumbs-down to a proposal to make St. Pauls Avenue one-way, while approving a controversial contract to study the city’s 911 call center and moving ahead on a “right-to-counsel” law. After hearing arguments pro and con from a clearly divided neighborhood, the council voted to reject city transportation […]
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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Bank Gifts Building to After-School Program for ‘Under-Resourced’ Youth
A Jersey City faith-based nonprofit recently learned it can bank on the good will of a local lending institution. Provident Bank has gifted its former branch at Bergen and Harrison Avenues, to New City Kids, which offers after-school musical and academic classes to urban “under-resourced” kids and teens. (The bank will continue operating five locations […]
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Jersey City Tenant Relief Measures Stalled, For Now At Least
Updated 4.12.23 at 9:53 am Two ordinances drafted by Jersey City Ward E Councilmember James Solomon to create a new local funding source to spur more affordable housing and to give eligible tenants the right to counsel drew a skeptical response from colleagues at Monday night’s council caucus. The ordinances are scheduled for introduction at […]
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Mayor Fulop Says He’s Proud of his Record in ‘State of City Address’
Mayor Steven Fulop delivered his 10th annual State of the City Address Tuesday night at the newly opened Public Safety building in the Hub, instead of the typical City Hall setting used for major announcements. Since his election to the city’s highest office in May 2013, Fulop has been anything but traditional, recalling that soon after […]
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City Council Backs off Study of Jersey City 911 System, St. Paul’s Ave. Plan Moves Ahead
Heeding the calls of angry Jersey City 911 emergency dispatchers, the City Council has backed off—at least for now—from a city administration proposal to rehire Princeton-based IXP Corp. to complete “initial workshops, technology assessment and gap analysis” at a cost of $213,085. At Thursday night’s meeting, the council voted to withdraw a resolution that would […]
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Jersey City’s Liberal Cannabis Policy Meets Resistance in the Heights
Jersey City’s the sky’s the limit policy on marijuana dispensaries is suddenly meeting with resistance in the Heights, where residents are concerned about issues ranging from teen smoking to aesthetics. As of March 13, the city’s Cannabis Control Board has approved 44 marijuana dispensaries including a disproportionate number — 14 — in Ward D. In […]
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St. Paul’s Ave. Traffic and Tonnele Ave. Parking on for Tonight’s Council Meeting
Will Jersey City’s lawmakers detour a proposed traffic change along a heavily-traveled Journal Square artery that many call a menace to the safety of area residents? This puzzler will be parsed at tonight’s City Council session, which begins at 6 p.m. in the Council chambers at City Hall, 280 Grove St. On the first matter, […]
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Faculty Union Rallies to Press State for Additional Aid for NJCU
They all came: students, teachers, union leaders, politicians from across the board, and, of course, the interim president of New Jersey City University. All of them came Monday to a union-sponsored “Fund NJCU” campus rally to plead the case for the survival of NJCU, to demand that Gov. Phil Murphy and state legislators come to […]
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Council Revisits Cannabis Rules, Portside Tenants Plead for Help
With Jersey City’s Cannabis Control Board having already endorsed 41 applicants looking to set up shop as retailers, city lawmakers are now considering revising the procedures it set two years ago and then modified last year. That prospect emerged as the City Council voted Wednesday to support two applications for the operation of cannabis businesses […]
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Clerk Gets Tenure, Rec Head Gets a Grand Sendoff and Ferry Bids Are Nixed by Council
One Jersey City civil servant received plaudits and earned tenure while another veteran worker bade farewell at the City Council session last Thursday, Feb. 23. The council voted 8-0, with Ward C Councilmember Richard Boggiano absent, to reappoint Sean J. Gallagher, municipal clerk and local registrar of vital records, to a second three-year term through […]