The Jersey City administration is suppressing the advancement of many police officers who have committed themselves to protecting our communities and residents even when they have a legal right to be promoted in a fair and equable way . Statutes dictate that police officers have the right to take a test from the New Jersey […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Letter: Council Should Act After Washington Death, Apportion Bayfront Pilot Fairly
Dear Jersey City Municipal Council, Our city is facing immense challenges today. A resident, Andrew Jerome Washington was killed by our police earlier this month during a mental health crisis. Based on the information released to date, it is unfathomable to believe that the situation could not have had a better outcome with Mr. Washington not being killed. […]
Posted inOpinion
Editorial: Public Safety Director Shea Must Go
Last week the city witnessed the heartbreaking and completely avoidable death of Andrew Jerome Washington at the hands of poorly supervised police officers from the elite Emergency Services Unit. Washington’s killing has rightly enraged many and brought calls for change. That change should begin with the departure of Public Safety Director James Shea, who has […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-Ed: Justice for Tenants is Long Overdue
A national organization funded by the Koch brothers is once again trying to meddle into Jersey City politics and undermine gains won by housing justice organizers. When the campaign to pass a tenants’ Right to Counsel was underway, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) circulated a letter to city council threatening a potential lawsuit. Now, the city and local advocates are preparing to […]
Posted inVisual Arts
Letter: Jersey City Doesn’t Need Pompidou x
Note: The writer submitted this longer version of his letter subsequent to the letter’s original publication. To the Editor: Pompidou x is a waste of money. Jersey City does not need some ‘out-of-town’ entity (The Pompidou Center) to makeit’s case as a center of the arts in the New York metro area (time and again, […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter: Eugene McKnight Was a Good Mentor
Mr Leir: Thank you for the remembrance of Eugene “Hamp” McKnight. I just wanted you know that he was a founding member of the Youngmen Social Civic Club in Jersey City. Young men from every public and private high school were members and mentored by “Hamp” about education, non drug use, family, self worth and […]
Posted inOpinion
Opinion: Hudson County Deserves More State Arts Funding
Through its State Council on the Arts, New Jersey has granted $677,818 to Hudson County arts organizations for operations in the fiscal year of 2024. To a working artist in Jersey City, that probably sounds like a hefty purse. But it’s only a little more than two percent of the public money that’ll be granted […]
Posted inDowntown
Letter: Keep Barrow Street Closed
I’m a resident of Erie Street and I support the Barrow Street closure. The letter from business owners – whom I respect and whose stores I patronize regularly – seems to center on the issue of loading and unloading trucks. That is a legitimate concern that is in the public interest to solve for. I […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter: Residents and Businesses Want Barrow Street Reopened
We are writing to you as the residents and small business owners of Jersey City opposed to the Administration’s closure of Barrow Street between Christopher Columbus Boulevard and Bay Street in Downtown Jersey City. This dramatic change came to our attention via a social media announcement on June 22nd, 2023, one day before the closure. […]
Posted inOpinion
Letter: The City Should Consider the Plight of Small Homeowners
Dear Editor: I read the article on Jersey City’s government passing the “right to counsel law” and the fact the city officials complain about rents being high. Jersey City is only doing this because tenants make up 70% of the city. Many tenants are largely shielded from rent increases. Some are under rent control where […]