Crisis In Jersey City

[JCMAN320]

I have started this thread to shed light on some problems that we are having in South Eastern portion of our fair city. With all the great development and money coming into Jersey City, there have been problems that have crept up on the city. Here is just some of them and they seem to be unfairly affecting the South East portion of the city, the portion that has the population with the lowest income.

We have lost about city bus routes from a branch of Coach USA due to bogus claims of rising fuel costs and increased light rail service as reasons for shutting service down, Greenville Hospital which is up the street from me might close, and Lafayette, whos development has been steady in recent years, for "security" flaws that can be fixed by a trip to Lowes.

Lafayette P.O. shut over 'risk'

Thursday, December 27, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Playing Scrooge to hundreds of customers, the U.S. Postal Service confirmed yesterday it abruptly shut its Lafayette branch in Jersey City on Friday - hours before the busiest mailing days of the year.

The station at 322 Pacific Ave. was closed after the bulletproof glass door on the employee side of the opening through which parcels are passed, fell off its hinges, posing an untenable security risk in light of a robbery attempt earlier this month, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman George Flood.

The branch has been the scene of two attempted robberies this year, the most recent on Dec. 10, Flood said.

After the Dec. 10 robbery attempt, in which no money was taken and no weapon displayed, officials realized surveillance cameras inside the station didn't work, Flood said.

Given these gaps in security, a decision was made to "suspend service" as the Postal Service "reviews all its options," Flood said.

"What's being weighed is what is in the best interest of customers and employees in terms of their safety and security," Flood said.

For now, Post Office boxes and employees from the Lafayette branch have been shifted to the Bergen South station on Martin Luther King Drive, which is nine-tenths of a mile away, Flood said.

Over the last three months, the Lafayette station has averaged 150 customers a day, officials said.

Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson blasted the Postal Service for coming up with "bogus" reasons "to cut critical services in the community."

"I think that if it's a matter of a door, the door should be fixed in a day. If its a matter of a camera, you fix the camera," Richardson said. "You should fix these things and resume service."

Flood said he "appreciated" the councilwoman's position and the Postal Service looks forward to "working with community officials to try and resolve these matters."

[JCMAN320]

99 bus rescued, for now
But it's the end of line tomorrow for the 16

Saturday, January 12, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The No. 99 bus in Jersey City, which had been scheduled to stop running tomorrow, has been given a 30-day reprieve, until Feb. 17, due to an 11th-hour infusion of cash from NJ Transit, Red & Tan in Hudson County bus company officials said yesterday.

But no such luck for the No. 16, which will stop running after tomorrow due to rising fuel and insurance costs and passenger desertions to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, said John Emberson, a representative of Red & Tan's parent company, Coach USA.

"We have just agreed with NJ Transit to continue operating the No. 99 line until Sunday, Feb. 17," Emberson said.

"I think they want to take a closer look at it and figure out what they're going to do with it after that . they want to study it during that time period."

The No. 4, which runs from Merritt Street to Downtown, is also on life support.

NJ Transit has given Red & Tan $25,000 to keep the No. 4 running for at least 90 days, and $21,000 to keep the No. 99 chugging at least another 30 days.

"On the 99 route, we are giving them the 30 days so we can look at it and make a determination as to how they can run the service more efficiently," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett-Hackett. "The goal is to work with them on modifying their service to the point they can run without a subsidy."

Service on the No. 3 bus, which took riders from Merritt Street in Jersey City to the Union City border, ended last month.

The vanishing bus service has ignited a wave of angry reaction in the Bergen-Lafayette and Greenville neighborhoods of the city.

The Communipaw Block Association is holding a meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at Monumental Baptist Church, at Van Horne and Lafayette streets, on the situation.

Calling this an "environmental justice issue," Mayor Jerramiah Healy sent the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority a letter yesterday requesting $240,000 for a "comprehensive study of bus service in Jersey City."

Journal staff writer N. Clark Judd contributed to this report.

[JCMAN320]

State vote set on Greenville Hosp closure

by Ken Thorbourne Tuesday January 15, 2008, 9:35 AM

Closing Greenville Hospital in Jersey City is back on the state's agenda.

The State Health Planning Board will reconsider the certificate of need application to shut the 100-bed facility at its Feb. 7 meeting, Linda Nasta, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services, said yesterday.

The hospital was spared closure at the board's meeting in November when Mayor Jerramiah Healy came up with an 11th-hour offer to give the financially-teetering facility $1.5 million of city cash to tide it over six months.

But LibertyHealth Health Systems Inc., the hospital's parent company, rejected the offer on the grounds the hospital continues to lose money at the clip of $3 million a year.

Besides, LibertyHealth officials added, 85 percent of residents in the hospital's zip code already use other hospitals, including the Jersey City Medical Center, LibertyHealth's flagship facility located less than three miles away.

Along with Healy, a coalition of elected officials, community activists, and Greenville patients and workers have fought to keep the hospital open.

The state Health Planning Board is comprised of nine voting and two non-voting volunteer members. It will recommend whether to keep Greenville Hospital open to Health Commissioner Heather Howard, who makes the final decision.

The Feb. 7 hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, 25 Scotch Road, Suburban Square Shopping Center, Ewing Township.

----------------------------------------------------

As a commitee man and the hospital being in my district, Ward A District 24, I will attend this meeting and write a speech to try and convince the board to keep it open.

[JCMAN320]

UPDATE: Rally at City Hall over cuts to bus routes, post office closure is next week

by The Jersey Journal Monday January 21, 2008, 12:28 PM

Jersey City residents upset over recent discontinued bus routes that serve the Greenville area, as well as the closing of the Lafayette Post Office on Pacific Avenue, plan to rally in front of City Hall next Monday before meeting with Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Postmaster Jeff Gannon.

The rally is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. next Monday at City Hall, 280 Grove St.

[jersey_guy]

We have lost about city bus routes from a branch of Coach USA due to bogus claims of rising fuel costs

What planet do you live on?

[JCMAN320]

Jersey guy you mean to tell me that a bus route run by Coach USA doesn't have enough money to run 4 bus routes? They have enough money.

[jersey_guy]

Jersey guy you mean to tell me that a bus route run by Coach USA doesn't have enough money to run 4 bus routes? They have enough money.

Have you seen their financial statements or are you just making this up? If the route were profitable enough, they would not be getting rid of it.

[JCMAN320]

I havent seen their financial statements, but at the same time there are people who rely on this bus service everyday. Someone should step in. There have also been many times that I have seen that the bus service wasnt' run properly to begin with and would result people waiting inordinate amounts of time for a bus.

Jersey City has the second highest use of mass transit in the nation only behind NYC and ahead of DC. It is clear that people use the bus service, therefore it should be maitained and restored and run by someone with better fiscal means and responsibility.

[JCMAN320]

Rally, meetings, planned Monday for bus and post office shutdowns

by Amy Sara Clark Friday January 25, 2008, 2:40 PM

Not willing to lose their bus lines and post office without a fight, residents of the Greenville-area in Jersey City area are planning a marathon of events Monday, including a rally, meeting with city officials, letter-writing drive and community meeting.

The Lafayette branch post office has been closed since Dec. 21 due to a broken door inside the office used to accept packages. Three bus lines - the Nos. 3, 5 and 16 - have been canceled since September.

The Nos. 99 and 4 buses are slated to be canceled soon. Coach USA, which owns the Red & Tan Hudson County lines, has cited rising fuel and insurance costs and low ridership for the canceled lines, but passengers say if ridership has dropped off it's because of chronically unreliable service.

The rally is planned for 1:30 p.m. on the steps of City Hall.

"We're asking people to bring their neighbors and their signs," said Rosalyn Browne, president of the Communipaw Avenue Block Association.

Association leaders will meet with Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Postmaster Jeff Gannon after the rally and report on what happened at a block association meeting that evening at 7 p.m. at Monumental Baptist Church, 121 Lafayette St.

At that meeting, CABA will also collect and notarize complaint letters to deliver to Coach.

Browne said she hopes to collect at least 1,000 letters -- all notarized.

"Anybody can just write a letter and sign someone else's name. We want to make sure the letters are valid," she said.

She said residents can bring letters to the meeting to be notarized or write them there. They can also bring letters from friends, but they must be notarized in advance, Browne said.

At the Jan. 14 block association meeting, David Donnelly, special assistant to the mayor, asked residents to record their experiences with unreliable Red & Tan busses to combat Coach's claim that they receive very few complaints.

He is also collecting complaints at jerseycitynj.gov (click on Online Help Center), (201) 547-4900 or by mail at City of Jersey City, 280 Grove St., Jersey City, NJ 07302.

[JCMAN320]

Lafayette gets mail unit 4 mornings a week

Friday, February 01, 2008

Bergen-Lafayette residents will have a mobile mail unit to service their postal needs while the Lafayette Branch on Pacific Avenue remains closed, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy announced yesterday.

The mobile mail unit, which will accept mail, packages and sell stamps, will be stationed in front of the Provident Savings Bank, at 350 Communipaw Ave., on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 9 and 11:30 a.m.

The mobile mail unit will also be stationed in front of the Lafayette Living Center, a senior residence, at 463 Pacific Ave., on Fridays between 3 and 4 p.m.

"We are happy the postmaster and his staff met with us, listened to our concerns and recommendations, and came up with this temporary accommodation for the people of the Lafayette community," Healy said.

Healy said federal officials who represent Jersey City have pledged to be strong advocates for opening a permanent facility in the area.

"It's a very good temporary solution," said Rosalyn Browne, president of the Communipaw Avenue Block Association. "But I think the senior hours could have been increased."

By March 1, postal officials said, they will tell the mayor if it's feasible to either reopen the Lafayette branch or open a new facility.

Postal Service brass abruptly shut the Lafayette Branch, at 322 Pacific Ave., on Dec. 21 when a bulletproof glass door that parcels are passed through fell off its hinges, creating a security risk.

Post Office boxes and employees from the Lafayette Branch have been shifted to the Bergen South station on Martin Luther King Drive, which is nine-tenths of a mile away, said USPS spokesman George Flood.

KEN THORBOURNE

[Ninjahedge]

JCM, in all fairness, I can see where some of these things have been decided to be closed.

It is definitely not good for the residents, but you have to look at more than just keeping a bus line that may be a money pit open because people need to use it. It is not NJT, it is Coach and Red and Tan. If they can find a way to get more $$, they would stay open, but I think they are trying to cut losses.

As for the PO, that is weird. A bulletproof galss door just does not "fall" off its hinges unless the place was a crap-hole to begin with. This is something that you would need to look deeper into, and not just yell for it to be repaired and re-opened.

And who robs a PO anyway? Who thinks that there would be enough $$ around to make it worth it?

Back to topic. Are there any "cleaner" neighborhoods in the area that might be better places for the offices to be set up? Finding people to work in a palce that was robbed twice in the past year is difficult, and not caring for it does not help things!!!

I think the bigger question would be similar to what is going on in Hoboken.

With all these new developments coming in, all this additional revenue (supposedly), where is it all going? In Hoboken, the schools still stink, the roads department spent lots of $$ for weirdly placed speed bumps that are wearing out, the sewer still (literally) stinks and has not been updated to handle the increased load, the docks have not been investigated and shored up (6th avenue?), etc etc etc.

The same type of guys that run Hoboken are the ones running JC. Maybe questions should be asked about where all the new $$ is going. IS there any new $$ or did it all dissapear when they leveraged PILOT programs and other things that pretty much made it easier for people they knew to build what they needed and skeedaddle.....

Who knows.




Just keep in mind JC, that some of these things may have merrit. You don't duct-tape your toenail back onto your foot after it gets smacked with a hammer. You find out why it was smacked and try to prevent it from happening.

Otherwise you might just run out of duct tape! ;)

[JCMAN320]

Well Ninjahedge I can where your points are fair and accurate. NJT said that they will take over 4 and 99 lines. But in other news its a sad day for the hospital in my neighborhood.

Board's unanimous vote: Allow hosp to close

by Paul Koepp Thursday February 07, 2008, 1:37 PM

The State Health Planning Board voted 6-0 this afternoon to recommend allowing LibertyHealth Systems to close Greenville Hospital after a three-hour hearing at the Holiday Inn in East Windsor.

The commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services, Heather Howard, has 120 days to act on the board's recommendation.

Jersey City Councilwoman Viola Richardson said the city is disappointed, but not surprised, by the decision after the three-hour session.

"It seems to me that for the most part the chairwoman had already decided what was going to
happen," said Richardson.

About 50 residents from the Greenville neighborhood attended the meeting.

LibertyHealth, the company that also owns the Jersey City Medical Center, says Greenville Hospital loses about $3 million a year. The hospital has 170 full- and part-time employees, plus an unspecified number of per diem employees.

[OmegaNYC]

^^^ JCMan, hospitals are closing all over the state. I know here in Paterson, Barnett Hospital is closing (hey I was born there). So, Paterson will be a city of over 150,000 people with 1 hospital.... Nice...

[Eugenious]

dont get sick

[JCMAN320]

I know Omega it just sucks...

NEW BUS FOLLOWS CUTS
No. 6 will start Greenville-Square service Monday

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Good-bye No. 99, hello No. 6.

New Jersey Transit yesterday announced the new No. 6 will replace the soon-to-be-canceled No. 99 connecting the Greenville neighborhood and Journal Square.

"I'm very happy that NJ Transit recognized that this was a necessary line and a necessary aspect of mass transit and that they're stepping up to the plate," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. "The 99 was important to a large segment of our population."

The bus will follow a similar route as the No. 99, but will detour off Baldwin Avenue between Academy and Montgomery Streets, allowing the route to serve the soon-to-be-completed county administrative buildings on Cornelison Avenue as well as the residents at Montgomery Gardens and the Beacon.

The replacement comes as a spate of bus cancellations have plagued Jersey City. Three bus lines operated by Red and Tan/Coach USA - the Nos. 3, 5 and 16 - have been canceled since September. The No. 99 will be discontinued after Sunday and the No. 4 is on life support.

The No. 6 goes into service Monday.

Earlier this month, NJ Transit announced that it would continue to subsidize the No. 4 line, but would not say for how long. The line had been slated for cancellation Jan. 14.

Lillian Jordan, a Greenville resident who has collected more than 500 signatures for a petition protesting the bus cancellations, said the new bus will be helpful, but not enough.

"To me, if they're going to step in, why don't they take over both lines?" she said, referring to the limping-along No. 4. But, she added, "Anybody who picks up this bus line will do this neighborhood a better service than Coach USA."

Healy said the replacement bus was just a first step. "It'll help fill the void, we're grateful for that," he said. "And we hope, obviously, to do more."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heights residents get Palisade Avenue bus back, sort of

by Amy Sara Clark Tuesday February 12, 2008, 10:39 PM

NJ Transit's 123 bus, which connects Union City with Port Authority, will soon continue an extra 1.1 miles down Palisade Avenue to Christ Hospital to serve residents of the Heights, officials announced.

The extended route will begin April 5 and continue until at least Jan. 1.

NJ Transit said if there are "enough" riders taking advantage of the extended route, it would continue indefinitely, said Assemblyman Vincent Prieto, who made the announcement at the Riverview Neighborhood Association's monthly meeting tonight.

Prieto could not say exactly how many riders constitute "enough" but urged residents to give up their jitney habit.

"You have to make sure that if we get if for you, you use it," agreed County Executive Tom DeGise.

(Resident reactions after the jump.)

The RNA has been advocating for a return of Palisade Avenue bus service since the 99s as rerouted to Central Avenue at the end of August.

Susan Higgins, who used to take the 99s to her job as a fashion designer in Manhattan, said she'd be willing to forgo the jitney for the new 123.

"It sounds feasible," she said, "as long as it comes on time."

The meeting was attended by more than 100 residents, as well as Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, State Sen. Nicholas Sacco and Council members Bill Gaughan and Steven Fulop.

RNA president Becky Hoffman said it would be better to have a direct bus to Manhattan that bypassed Union City, but called the extended 123 "a major step in the right direction."