Citi Bike to launch in Jersey City
The official launch of Citi Bike Jersey City will take place on Monday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m., when some elected officials will ride from the pedestrian plaza on Newark Avenue and Grove Street to City Hall.
The system will consist of 350 bikes at 35 stations, and is the only bike share system in a mid-size city to operate without public funding. The system will be fully interoperable with New York City’s Citi Bike, allowing those who commute or travel between the two cities to use their memberships in both. Those who sign up before Sept. 30 will receive $25 dollars off their annual membership.
Art exhibit celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
“Emergence,” an art exhibit presented by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, will be open to the public until Oct. 15 in The Brennan Gallery of the William J. Brennan Courthouse, 583 Newark Ave., Jersey City.
Curated by Christina Soto, artworks ranging from modern, abstract, contemporary to photo-realism, mixed media and photography, presented by young, emerging Hispanic artists who work and live in Hudson County, are exhibited as a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Artists represented include Cheese, Christina Soto, Fermin Mendoza, Leandro Comrie, Martin Ramone Delossantos, Miriam Untoria, Rascal, Santiago Cohen and Sueworks.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Brennan Gallery is funded by Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive, Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs /Tourism Development.
Little City Books hosts author of ‘Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day’
Leanne Brown, author of “Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day” will be in conversation with Ora Welch of HOPES at Hoboken’s Little City Books, Bloomfield and 1st streets, Hoboken, on Friday Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. To purchase a copy of the book please show up in advance of the event. The publisher will donate books 1:1 to the Hoboken Shelter, where they will be used in the cooking classes.
When Leanne Brown moved to New York from Canada to earn a master’s degree in food studies at New York University, she couldn’t help noticing the big problem of food insecurity: 46 million Americans have to survive on only $4 a day, the amount provided through SNAP (the US government’s food stamps program). In addition, millions more live under similar constraints, from students, to grads entering the job market, to young families, and even retirees.
Struck by these alarming numbers, she asked herself a critical question: How well can someone really eat on $4 a day? To determine the answer, she took to her kitchen, developing resourceful recipes made of whole, unprocessed foods that promote the joy of cooking and that show just how delicious and inspiring a cheap meal can be when cooked at home.
“Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day” is a cookbook demonstrating why kitchen skill, not budget, is the key to great food.
In addition to sharing tasty, nutritious recipes that maximize every ingredient and use economical cooking methods, Brown will give tips on shopping, setting up a basic pantry, mastering staples, and even repurposing last night’s dinner.
Leanne Brown wrote “Good and Cheap” as the capstone for her master’s in food studies from New York University. After it went viral online as a PDF that has been downloaded over 700,000 times, Leanne launched aKickstarter campaign to self-publish the book. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched her video and donated $145,000, funding a 40,000-copy print run. The edition she published as a result of the campaign won the 2015 IACP Judge’s Choice Award.
Open house for local cemeteries
On Nov. 14 and 15 the Archdiocese of Newark will host its fall open house at Holy Name Cemetery & Mausoleum in Hudson County to assist families in learning more about advance planning. Discussing funeral preparations for a family member or loved one is not an easy conversation and the archdiocese has created these open houses to help families discuss this uncomfortable and difficult topic.
The open house for Holy Name Cemetery & Mausoleum, 823 West Side Ave., Jersey City, will be held on Nov 14-15, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum, 340 Ridge Road, North Arlington, which is also used by residents from Hudson County, will hold theirs on Oct. 17 to18 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pre-planning a memorial and pre-selecting a burial option is a growing trend in the United States. Increasingly, baby boomers are addressing this somewhat uncomfortable topic. Most recognize the benefits of planning final arrangements ahead to spare loved ones of tough choices at an already-difficult time. But, many also find that advance planning allows families ample time to carefully consider all memorial options in a thoughtful and unhurried manner, he said.
NHCAC celebrates 50th anniversary with gala
A half century of health, education, and social services will be celebrated by North Hudson Community Action Corporation at an event at Nanina’s in the Park, Belleville, on Thursday, Sept. 24. The organization provides health services and education on a sliding scale for needy people throughout the county.
Jorge Verea, M.D., North Hudson’s recently retired chief medical officer, will be lauded, along with North Hudson Board Chairman Joseph M. Muniz and Rep. Albio Sires.
Shortly after then-President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the “War on Poverty” and Congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act in 1965 making funds available to local communities to help low-income people, a group of mayors in northern Hudson County formed a corporation to apply for and administer those funds. That effort became the North Hudson Community Action Corporation.
Within months NHCAC had developed the area’s first Head Start program for pre-school youngsters and shortly thereafter opened WIC offices to provide financial assistance and counseling for pregnant women and young mothers. Other social services soon followed, including Project Shape to aid the elderly, special services for veterans, job and housing counseling.
There currently are six centers in Hudson County, three in Bergen County, and two in Passaic County. One additional site is expected to open in Harrison later this year.
Muniz has chaired the 21-member Board of Directors for a little more than two years.
Dr. Verea risked the success of his private medical practice and his relationships with colleagues in 1996 when he agreed to help establish health centers for the poor and was proud to see all 11 of them earn the highest recognition from the Joint Commission.
Congressman Sires has supported North Hudson since his early years as mayor of West New York and his service as speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, and he has been helpful in obtaining federal grants in his role as a congressman.
The agency will also sponsor a carnival in Braddock Park next month.
For more information call (201) 866-9320
Boy dies after jumping off roof
A 13 year-old boy jumped from the roof of a building at the corner of Baldwin and Hopkins Avenues at approximately 7:45 a.m. on Sept.15 According to Jennifer Morrill, spokesperson for the Jersey City Department of Public Safety, the boy was pronounced dead at the Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health. Investigators do not suspect foul play at this time.
Artifacts returned to Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration
The National Park Service said a major milestone in Ellis Island’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy was reached on Sept. 10, when the museum’s exhibit collection was returned to the island from a National Park Service museum storage facility in Maryland. The date marks the 25th anniversary week of the opening of the immigration museum on Ellis Island to the public.
Approximately half the museum’s collection, comprised of over a million archival documents and thousands of artifacts, was removed after the storm to a museum storage facility in Landover, Md. Its return has been on hold so that a $39.4 million mechanical and electrical infrastructure project to move these critical systems above flood elevations could be completed. The new systems will be more efficient and provide more precise humidity controls in the museum. The project is part of a $53 million storm recovery package for the island.
“With our museum environment stabilized and rebuilt for greater resiliency to future storm events, it’s now time to return the artifacts to the cases and exhibit galleries illustrating the Ellis Island immigration story,” said John Piltzecker, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island.
Installation of the artifacts into the exhibits began on Sept. 16 after the collection was inspected and inventoried.
County hosts Hispanic-owned business forum
“The State of Hispanic-Owned Business Forum” will take place Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hudson County Community College Culinary Conference Center, 161 Newkirk St., two blocks from the Journal Square PATH Station in Jersey City.
Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said last week organizers of the event include the Hudson County Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprise (OMWBE), in partnership with the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council, the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, and Hudson County Community College (HCCC) Center for Business & Industry.
There is no charge to attending. Seats are limited, and reservations must be made in advance at www.hudsoncounty.org/about-omwbe.
Carpenters apprentice recruitment kicks off on Sept. 23
The New Jersey Carpenters Apprentice Training Program will start a pre-apprentice program to recruit women and minorities from Hudson County into the Carpenters Union Apprentice Training Program. They will accept applications at a meeting of the Hudson County Freeholders on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m., 567 Pavonia Ave., in Jersey City.
All interested applicants must be a minimum of 20 years old, possess a high school diploma (or equivalency) and have a valid driver’s license.
The NJ Carpenters Apprentice Training and Educational Fund (NJCATEF) established a formal pre-apprenticeship training program through a $250,000 grant provided by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Over the next 18 months, the NJCATEF will recruit up to 40 female and minority residents of Hudson County into a carpentry pre-apprentice training program.
In partnership with the Hudson County One-Stop Career Centers, the Hudson County Schools of Technology and the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters, the NJCATEF has been able to develop a pre-apprenticeship program that will allow for the successful recruitment, training and placement of qualified female and minority applicants into the NJ Carpenters union apprenticeship training program. Also included in the training will be workforce readiness skills and adult basic education, provided by the Hudson County One-Stop Career Centers and the Hudson County School of Technology.
Citizenship ceremony in Liberty State Park
On Sept. 17, Mayor Steven M. Fulop delivered the keynote address welcoming101 new Americans, including 76 Jersey City residents, during a ceremony at Liberty State Park hosted by the federal Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) as part of their annual celebration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
“My parents are immigrants, and one thing I’ve learned from them is: America is strong because we welcome in so many different people from so many different backgrounds” said Mayor Fulop. “So it’s fitting that we’re welcoming 101 new Americans today, who hail from 30 different countries, in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, Jersey City.”
In addition to the 76 Jersey City residents, the other new citizens are all residents of Hudson County, representing the municipalities of Union City, North Bergen, West New York, Guttenberg, Bayonne, Weehawken, Harrison, and Hoboken. This year, USCIS will welcome more than 36,000 new citizens during more than 200 naturalization ceremonies from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23.
USCIS Newark Field Office Director Randi Borgen administered the Oath of Allegiance to America’s newest citizens with the Jersey City and Manhattan skylines in the background. The 101 citizenship candidates originate from the following 30 countries: Algeria, Argentina Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
“More than 36,000 people will become new U.S. citizens this week at special ceremonies all around the country,” said USCIS Newark District Director John E. Thompson. “I’m confident that none will receive a warmer, more inspirational welcome than our 101 new citizens here at Liberty State Park in Jersey City on this beautiful Citizenship Day.”
First Lady Michelle Obama pays tribute to Jersey City and others
Jersey City was recognized last week by First Lady Michelle Obama, representatives from the National League of Cities (NLC) and several federal agencies at the White House during a celebratory event honoring the achievements made by local elected officials participating in the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) initiative. Department of Health and Human Services Director Stacey Flanagan attended the event, representing the city and the HHS staff whose work contributed to Jersey City being a leader in the initiative.
Jersey City was the first city in the tri-state area to achieve the five Lets Move! initiative goals and attain gold status.
“The work the Health Department is doing is changing lives across the city, as more and more residents young and old are becoming active, eating healthier and engaging with their community,” said Mayor Fulop. “We couldn’t be prouder of this recognition by the First Lady and the Obama Administration, which acknowledges the success of our HHS staff in the Let’s Move! campaign, which has been a launching pad for additional health programs and partnerships.”
LMCTC is a key part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative and helps local elected officials, their staff and communities ensure all children grow up healthy and have the ability to reach their full potential.
Feds award more than $5M to combat NJ veterans’ homelessness
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded $5,478,156 in federal grants to four local New Jersey organizations to assist veterans and their families who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless through the VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program.
Catholic Family and Community Service, serving Hudson, Essex, Bergen, Union, Passaic, Morris & Sussex counties, will receive $1,772,974. North Hudson Community Action Corporation, serving Hudson and Bergen counties, will receive $678,046. Soldier On, Inc., serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Mercer counties will receive $2 million. Community Hope, Inc., which serves counties elsewhere in the state, will receive the remainder.