Snow team rolls out plan for winter storm
Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the Office of Emergency Management, in coordination with the Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) and the Department of Public Works (DPW), are rolling out a new “snow team” and winter storm prep plan in advance of the first winter storm of the season, which forecast early on Friday estimated could deliver three to eight inches of snow Saturday into Sunday.
The city has established a new salt shed to service the Heights and parts of downtown. A snow command center will be located at the DPW complex on Linden Avenue, where snow progress will be monitored. The city has also established new snow removal routes with each route expected to take about an hour to complete. The city has also added new equipment combining the resource of the DPW, JCIA, the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority, and the Jersey City Police Parking Division. The number of employees with CDL licenses to operate necessary equipment has also been increased.
As the storm approaches, the Police Department will have additional personnel on duty as needed to handle with storm- related emergencies. Any resident with an emergency is reminded to call 911. Any non-emergency calls should be directed to (201) 547-5477.
In the event of severe storm, the Resident Response Center will be activated and residents can call (201) 547-4900 with storm related concerns.
Following the storm, residents are reminded to NOT shovel snow into the street and should clear sidewalks in front of their property of snow and ice in accordance with municipal ordinance.
Residents are reminded not to park within 25 feet of an intersection and to not double park. Doing so only hampers the efforts of crews plowing and salting streets. All vehicles parked within 25 feet of an intersection will be ticketed or towed. If possible, residents are asked to not park on main thoroughfares, so plows can remove snow from curb-to-curb.
For additional updates, please visit the city website at www.jerseycitynj.gov or the Official City of Jersey City Facebook page or on Twitter @JerseyCity411.
Friends of Liberty State Park and NY/NJ Baykeeper form coalition to save park
Friends of Liberty State Park, NY/NJ Baykeeper and Jersey City Parks Coalition announced the formation of The Coalition to Save LSP at the Liberty House Restaurant on Jan. 21. The Coalition to Save LSP receives support from several elected officials, including Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-31st Dist.), Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-3rd Dist.), Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37th Dist. ) and Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City).
The coalition strongly denounces the Christie Administration’s plans to commercialize and privatize Liberty State Park, and advocates for the 40-year broad public consensus to keep the park behind Lady Liberty free and fully accessible for public use, as intended.
“Governor Christie wants to turn LSP into a commercial venue with his dead-wrong desire to make the park pay for itself,” said Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park. ”The Park serves the public good and is priceless and sacred public land. The governor’s arrogance of ignoring 40 years of the public’s voice and craving for corporations to get park leases is sickening and unacceptable.”
A report released by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) unveiled development plans, including the replacement of historic train terminal sheds with a hotel, as well as the building of a private amusement park, commercial amphitheatre, concert shell, commercial indoor rental sportsplex, and another marina at the south end of the park. The plans also called for a company to control waterfront lawns for frequent large-scale events.
Vision Media Announces hiring Amit Jani as account executive
SECAUCUS, NJ — Vision Media Marketing Inc., a firm that has been involved in public relations for many local political entities, has announced the hiring of Amit Jani as the firm’s newest account executive. A former member of U.S. Representative Frank Pallone’s district staff and current Hudson County director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee’s South Asian American Caucus, Jani will be responsible for day-to-day account management for several of the firm’s local government, corporate and political clients. Jani is a Jersey City resident and graduate of Rutgers University.
“At Vision Media we pride ourselves on identifying talented young professionals who can help us continue to offer our clients the creative and effective communications solutions they need,” said Vision Media President Paul Swibinski. “We are excited to welcome Amit Jani to our team and look forward to seeing him thrive in this new role at our firm.”
Jani has long been involved in Democratic politics in New Jersey and beyond, with previous experience working for the SEIU, serving as a Democratic county committee member in Middlesex County and working in the office of U.S. Representative Judy Chu (D-California). He is a 2016 Fellow of the New Leaders Council, a non-profit organization that seeks to train and build the next generation of progressive leaders. Jani is also the founder of the non-profit New Jersey Leadership Program, which is designed to assist South Asian-American high school students in becoming active in local politics and government.
Jani joins Vision Media’s account management team, which is led by the firm’s Vice President Philip Swibinski. The team is responsible for handling day-to-day client relationships, providing public relations and media relations services, producing paid media and online content and more.
Now in its 30th year of business, Vision Media Marketing Inc. is involved in political and other media business throughout Hudson County and New Jersey.
Nimbus Dance Works nominated for People’s Choice Awards
Nimbus Dance Works has been nominated for the Favorite Dance Company category in the 2016 JerseyArts.com People’s Choice Awards. Now in its eighth year, the yearly awards, the program run by Discover Jersey Arts, pays tribute to the work of New Jersey’s vital, vibrant and diverse arts organizations. With the ballots now prepped, it’s time for arts lovers across the state to vote for their favorite New Jersey arts organizations.
“Nimbus is incredibly grateful for this nomination as New Jersey’s Favorite Dance Company,” said Samuel Pott, artistic director at Nimbus Dance Works. “This recognition is important to Nimbus not only as we establish ourselves as one of the state’s most recognized arts organizations; but also as Jersey City works to build sustainability for arts citywide.”
Nimbus Dance Works and the other contenders in the 2016 People’s Choice Awards were nominated by their peers through the Jersey Arts Marketers network, which is made up of hundreds of nonprofit arts groups across the state.
“We have seen the number of nominees grow again this year, which truly illustrates the breadth of art we have in our state and the desire these groups have to see one another thrive,” said Adam Perle, president & CEO of Art Pride New Jersey, which cosponsors the Discover Jersey Arts program with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. “The quality of art we have in New Jersey is ever burgeoning thanks to our amazing cultural community working together to build each other up.”
Public voting began on Jan. 6 and runs through Feb. 11. Winners will be announced and honored in early March at the New Jersey Conference on Tourism in Atlantic City.
For a full list of nominees and categories, please visit www.JerseyArts.com/Vote.
Jersey City gets $1.17 million in grants for pedestrian safety improvements
Jersey City has been awarded $1.17 million in grant funding from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) for roadway improvements to enhance pedestrian safety at two locations in The Heights and Downtown.
The grants supplement the work being done by the Fulop Administration to improve pedestrian safety, which include traffic calming measures such as speed humps citywide, new traffic signals and stop signs at busy intersections, as well as increased enforcement. The Fulop Administration also created the city’s first pedestrian plaza on Newark Avenue and has made making Jersey City a bike-friendly city a priority, installing 22 miles of bike lanes and launching CitiBikeJC – a bikeshare system that connects riders with the NYC system with a single membership.
In addition to the grants awarded to Jersey City, Hudson County has received funding for two projects in Jersey City – $1.41 million for intersection improvements on Kennedy Boulevard and $775,000 for safety improvements on Kennedy Boulevard and the Paterson Plank Road.
The grants were announced by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority Board of Trustees during its Jan. 11 meeting, where they approved 17 projects that will make travel safer for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists throughout the region.
The projects were approved for grants through the NJTPA’s fiscal year 2016 and 2017 Local Safety and High Risk Rural Roads programs, which provide federal funds to counties and cities for high-impact safety improvements, which are relatively “quick-fix” in nature and ready for construction.
HCCC offers an introduction to holistic wellness
Hudson County Community College will offer a workshop about the ever-expanding field of holistic wellness include things such chakra balancing, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese medicine, energy medicine, alternative and complementary medicine, qi gong and others.
The workshop will be held on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Tuition is free and will take place at the Journal Square campus. For more information contact the department of Community Education at (201) 360 – 4246,or CommunityEd@hccc.edu. If you would like to view more about the class, or other classes offered, visit http://www.hccc.edu/communityeducation/ to check out the catalog!