Enjoy: Palisade Hoboken & Beyond
When you open your Hudson Reporter this week, you’ll find the summer issue of Palisade Hoboken& Beyond, the Hudson Reporter’s glossy lifestyle magazine that connects the communities of Edgewater, Guttenberg, Hoboken, Jersey City, North Bergen, Secaucus, Union City, Weehawken, and West New York. Palisade Hoboken & Beyond comes out quarterly. In September look for the fall issue as an insert in your Hudson Reporter. You can also find copies in public libraries—in Jersey City the main branch—and at the Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington Street, Hoboken.
Ex-Deputy JC Mayor Beldini gets 3-year sentence
Former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, 75, received a three-year federal prison sentence Monday for accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions on behalf of a political candidate. She had accepted them last spring from an FBI informant posing as a real estate developer, part of a large sting of political corruption.
More than 45 people have been arrested in the sting, 19 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted. Beldini was one of the few who tried to fight the case, but was convicted by a jury.
She has been ordered to pay a fine and report to jail by Aug. 2.
Her attorney, Brian Neary, is planning to appeal her prison sentence.
Menendez wants action to prevent oil from reaching East Coast
U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), at a press conference Monday in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, discussed efforts to ensure Atlantic Coast states are prepared in case the oil from the B.P. spill hits East Coast waters.
Menendez was joined by Mayor Jerramiah Healy, as well as by business owners from New Jersey shore towns and environmental activists. He spoke about requesting that the federal government coordinate preparedness with Atlantic Coast states and produce an official long-term prediction model for the spill.
“I don’t want to wait until it’s moving up the coast to then start scrambling,” said Menendez, the former Union City mayor and current Hoboken resident.
The spill, also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, started on April 20 and is considered by experts to be the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. An estimated 20,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil are gushing into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Alan Blumberg, a professor of ocean engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, said conditions such as hurricanes around Florida could create a situation where the oil, if not capped, could possibly reach the East Coast by September.
Menendez is also the co-author of the proposed Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act, which would raise the liability cap from the current $75 million to $10 billion for oil companies responsible for spill damages.
News station reports bed bugs at office building
Is there a bed bug problem inside the Goldman Sachs Tower on Jersey City’s waterfront? A report on ABC News.com last week said so, but the building’s representatives denied it.
The report cited two unnamed separate sources saying that workers in the 42-story tower on Hudson Street were allegedly moved from certain floors and ordered out of the building to allow for exterminators to check and spray for bed bugs.
A call to Goldman Sachs’ New York office for comment on Friday was returned by a spokeswoman who issued the following official statement: “We’re always focused on our facilities and there are no issues.”
Grand re-opening of Biblioteca Criolla library
The Jersey City’s Free Public Library’s Spanish library, Biblioteca Criolla, will have its grand re-opening at a new location this coming Monday, June 21, at 12:30 p.m.
The library, previously located on First Street, is moving to the 4th Floor of the Main Library Branch.
The guest speaker is Luis Alvarado, founding Member and current President, Ecuadorian Civic Committee of NJ.
Energy demonstration at site of JC development project
State and local officials – including Congressman Albio Sires and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy – will be on hand on Monday, June 21 at 10 a.m. for an event highlighting the soon-to-built Van Leer Place development in Jersey City on Hoboken Avenue.
Hoboken Brownstone Company is transforming the 7-acre brownfield site at 110 Hoboken Ave. into a new sustainable development expected to become a model of energy efficiency for new urban mixed-use residential projects in the northeast United States and beyond. Van Leer Place will be the first in the state to be developed within the Urban Energy Technology Demonstration Project program under the New Jersey energy master plan.
Once completed, Van Leer Place will include more than 400 homes in two buildings, 8,700 square-feet of retail space and on-site parking.
School reform advocates at City Hall forum
City Councilman Steven Fulop is co-hosting a forum at City Hall, 280 Grove St. in Jersey City, this coming Tuesday, June 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.
Among those invited to speak is Whitney Tilson, one of the founders of Teach for America, to give a presentation on educational reform. It will focus on the achievement gap in the United States and what steps can be taken to correct it in urban areas like Jersey City.
This presentation is presented by Fulop and Shelley Skinner, Founder of Jersey City Families for Better Schools.
Artist-creates mini-golf course to benefit JC Museum
Jersey City developers Paul Silverman and Eric Silverman, along with former Rep. Frank J. Guarini and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), in collaboration with Jersey City Museum and Liberty National Golf Club, will celebrate the grand opening of “The Golden Door Mini-Golf Course” at Hamilton Square on Wednesday, June 23, from 6 to 10 p.m.
Inspired by the city’s prosperous history, 10 artists and collaborative artist teams were invited to create golf holes for the art exhibit, designed by Risa Puno. They were asked to portray their interpretations of “The Golden Door” by referencing immigration, economic mobility, and obstacles to immigration, as well as solutions and various ways to achieve success. The mini-golf course will help raise $100,000 for the Jersey City Museum.
In addition to sculptural golf holes, the exhibit will include a golf shack, fountain, and other elements to further emphasize the theme.
Admission for the grand opening party is $75 per person and includes food and drink courtesy of the sponsors.
Following the June 23 grand opening, the golf course will be open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to dusk until Labor Day. A round of mini-golf is $5 per person, $4 for Jersey City Museum members. Everyone is welcome to play on a first-come, first-serve basis.
For more information please check www.jerseycitymuseum.org, www.thegoldendoor.tumblr.com, or follow on www.twitter.com/goldendoorjcm.