Every week, we learn of stories that may not merit a headline but are, nonetheless, worth telling you about. Here are a few from the last seven days.
Food and Drink
Cheers and Frasier star, actor Kelsey Grammer served beers from his brewing company Faith American Brewing Company at Liberty Science Center’s “After Dark at LSC.”
Korai Kitchen, a Bangladeshi restaurant in Journal Square, was one of three New Jersey restaurants to become a semifinalist for the Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region award from the James Beard Foundation.
Public Policy
Mayor Steven Fulop and Ward E Councilman James Solomon panned NJ Transit’s decision to hike its rates.
“There is a major problem with Transit policy in NJ overall and it is unacceptable for NJTransit to push a large fare increase on regular residents within months of a massive tax break on the largest corporations.” – Mayor Steven Fulop
“A 15% fare hike would make our already weak public transportation system even less accessible, forcing more people on the roads and contributing to polluted air and dirty water. We should be making critical investments in improving our trains, subways, and buses and making them cheaper to ride, not more expensive. With major corporations set to receive a $1B annual tax cut and with a wasteful $10B Turnpike widening plan moving forward — our state has the money to fund NJ Transit without asking working people to shoulder the burden.” – Ward E Councilman James Solomon
The Fulop administration touted the Via ride share program for “providing a highly efficient and equitable transit connection to the community.” The program had, said the administration, a number of achievements:
- 60% of all rides serving low-income residents.
- Nearly 6 million miles of driving avoided with the rideshare since 2020.
- 1/3 of riders say they travel more often with Via.
- 2/3 of riders do not have access to a personal car.
- 85% of riders use the service for essential needs.
- Avoided 5.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions since launch.
- 63,000 rides in September alone, the highest to date, with historically low wait times. 
Hudson County Executive Craig Guy announced that his administration is conducting a joint disparity study of how Hudson County government and its subsidiary agencies do business in order to assess whether there is a level playing field for small and diverse businesses seeking contracts with these agencies and in the local marketplace.
Politics
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla hired Al Freedman to manage his effort to unseat Congressman Rob Menendez.
Most recently, Freedman managed the successful reelection of New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. In addition, Balla has hired pollster Anna Greenberg of GQR Insights and Action, Peter Jones and Leticia Martinez, of Mission Control for Direct Mail, Eric Goldman and Dana Sherry, Break Something for Digital and Media, Justin Shoham, Enigma PC for Fundraising and Strategist and Spokesperson Rob Horowitz of Rob Horowitz Associates, Inc.
Housing and Economics
The website Zumper said Jersey City ranked as the 2nd most expensive rental market in the nation in December with the prices of one and two bedrooms settling at medians of $3,220 and $3,940, respectively. The price of two-bedrooms in Jersey City was up 25.1% since the time last year.