Seidler Street fire displaces about 33 people
A fire that started in a wood frame house at 8 Seidler St. spread to two other structures displacing 33 people at about 1 a.m. on April 10.
Firefighters from Squad 4 arrived on the scene first to find the exterior and top floor of the first building, a two story residential building, enveloped in flame.
Fire had already extended to 6 Seidler, an unattached residential of similar height and construction, and 10 Seidler, an attached three-story wood frame six family multiple dwelling.
Residents from all three buildings were safely evacuated, said Public Safety Spokesperson Carley Baldwin. Nobody was reported injured as a result of the blaze.
All buildings had heavy fire damage to top floors and exteriors. The fire went to a third alarm and was put under control at 1:53 a.m. More than 82 fire department personnel were called to the scene to bring the fire under control. Mutual aid companies were called into the city to cover some fire houses. Approximately 33 people from nine different families were displaced by the fire and were relocated by the Red Cross.
Baldwin said arson investigators were called and are conducting a cause and origin investigation.
Decomposed body still unidentified
The body of a man found floating in the water off Liberty State Park on April 16 has not yet been identified, said Gene Rubino, spokesperson for the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Jersey City Fire Department’s Marine Rescue Unit recovered the body after someone reported seeing it off the rocky shore near the southern portion of the park in the vicinity of the pedestrian bridge.
The prosecutor’s office is investigating the death. Assistant Prosecutor Rubino said the body has not yet been identified. The man had no identification and there appeared to be no visible signs of trauma
The state Regional Medical Examiner’s Office has taken the body to determine the cause of death.
French Academy will participate in Earth Day run
The French American Academy of Jersey City will participate in the Earth Day 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, April 25.
Students, staff and parents from Jersey City school will run or walk at this special event.
The Earth day 5K Run/Walk of Haworth has been initiated by Hudson County Improvement Authority (HCIA) and is sponsored by The Friends of Liberty State Park. The Earth Day Event provides opportunities to learn more about environment and the community. Following the 5K Run/Walk, there will be plenty of activities, giveaways and interactive entertainment.
Founded in 2007, the French American Academy offers a private bilingual education.
War on potholes
In an effort to keep up with the flood of potholes plaguing Jersey City streets, the city has teamed up with the Jersey City Improvement Authority and the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority and has managed to fill more than 7,500 since the start of spring.
Mayor Steven M. Fulop said that the Department of Public Works has filled more than 7,500 potholes – more than 4.5 times as many as last year – during a five-week period using an aggressive pothole repair plan that coordinated three agencies to improving response times to fill potholes more quickly and efficiently.
Pothole crews were deployed beginning March 10 and in the five weeks since have filled 7,568 potholes citywide. Last year, during the same time period, pothole crews filled 1,625 potholes.
“We understand that residents don’t want to wait for potholes to be repaired after the winter so we deployed an aggressive plan to eliminate potholes citywide and to do it quickly and efficiently,” said Mayor Fulop. “By adding personnel and resources from the MUA and the JCIA, we were able to cover more ground and quadruple the number filled in significantly less time without adding costs.”
Lincoln Association to unveil plaque at Exchange Place
Abraham Lincoln’s visits to Jersey City will be commemorated with the unveiling and dedication of a bronze plaque at Exchange Place on April 24, exactly 150 years to the day after his funeral procession entered the city. Thousands witnessed the casket as it was taken off his train and brought along Montgomery Street to be placed aboard a ferry boat and carried to New York City where the body lay in state at City Hall.
The plaque will be mounted at the entrance to Owen Grundy Pier at the foot of Montgomery Street at 5 p.m. The site was a rail and water terminus at that time of Lincoln’s death. The public is invited to attend the unveiling.
Abraham Lincoln was present in Jersey City at least four times: while on his way to Cooper Union in Manhattan where he made a major campaign speech, on his way to his inauguration, a third visit to confer with General Winfield Scott at West Point during the Civil War, and finally in his funeral cortege.
For more information about the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, the oldest continuously operating organization in the country honoring the 16th President, visit the website www.thelincolnassociationofjerseycity.com.
JC expands its Urban Agriculture and Adopt-a-lot programs
Mayor Steven M. Fulop, and the Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS) in conjunction with the Partnership for a Healthier JC, are expanding urban agriculture to Jersey City residents through a citywide initiative that includes increased resources for Adopt-A-Lot programs, a streamlined farmers’ market process, and earth box gardens in several sites around the city.
This initiative is part of Mayor Fulop’s commitment to providing access to healthy foods and increased urban gardening opportunities for residents. Jersey City is currently home to eight farmers’ markets and nine Adopt-A-Lot programs in all wards of the city.
Over the past year, the city has collaborated with farmers’ market managers to streamline the permitting process for markets throughout Jersey City. New legislation was formulated and passed by the City Council, which provides guidelines insuring that farmers markets’ are more accessible to all Jersey City residents. All Jersey City farmers’ markets are now required to accept SNAP, WIC and FMNP. In addition, the legislation calls for more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, aligning more closely with USDA standards.
In addition, the city has expanded its efforts with Jersey City’s Adopt-A-Lot organizations by providing sheds and tools to all Adopt-A-Lots, along with mulch and other supplies in an effort to sustain their efforts to beautify Jersey City.
The city has also launched Jersey City’s First Earth Box Farms, an initiative in which 125 Earth Boxes were donated by Garden State Urban Farms (GSUF) and distributed to the Maureen Collier Senior Center on Bergen Avenue, the Jersey City Health and Human Services Campus at 199 Summit Ave., and the Berry Gardens Public Housing complex on Danforth and Ocean Avenues. Earth Boxes make it possible to garden anywhere, including paved parking lots and patios. Devices like this are crucial to expanding urban gardening initiatives throughout Jersey City.
Tennis anyone?
Tennis Approach is running its tennis program every Saturday until June 20 (except for April 25 and May 30) at the Boys and Girls Club, 225 Morris Blvd. in Jersey City. The program offer three sessions each Saturday, for kids ages 4 1/2 to 6, 7 to 8, and 9 to adult. For more information call Jim Flffalla (201)-344-7824.
Tricky tray at St. Anna’s
The St. Anna’s Philoptochos of Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church of Jersey City will host their “Seventh Annual Tricky Tray” on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. in the Community Center, 661 Montgomery St. The cost is $10.00 per person which includes dinner. The event will have raffle prizes and 50/50 tickets will also be on sale. Proceeds will be used for various philanthropic drives within the church community.
For tickets or more information call Christina Polychronis at (201) 798-6954.
McGreevey to delivery keynote speech at HCCC fundraiser
The Georgia Brooks Stonewall Celebration Project at Hudson County Community College (HCCC) is sponsoring a fundraising breakfast for 8 a.m., Thursday, April 23. The event will be held in the HCCC Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk St. in Jersey City, just two blocks from the Journal Square PATH Station.
James E. McGreevey, director of the Jersey City Employment & Training Program and former governor of New Jersey, will deliver the keynote speech at the breakfast.
Tickets are available at a cost of $30.00 each for members of the community and for HCCC faculty and staff, and $15.00 each for HCCC students. Proceeds from the event will be utilized in providing scholarships to deserving students, and will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Hudson County Community College Foundation.
The Georgia Brooks Memorial Fund is named in honor of Georgia Brooks, who passed away in November 2013. Ms. Brooks worked in the College’s Information Technology Services Department as an Academic Lab Manager for 25 years, and was an active advisor for the College’s Gay-Straight Alliance.
Tickets for the April 23 breakfast fundraiser may be obtained by contacting the office of HCCC Vice President for Development Joseph Sansone at (201) 360-4006 or jsansone@hccc.edu.