Investigation ongoing into Jersey City man’s murder
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Squad is still investigating the murder of a Jersey City man Monday night after he was shot several times.
First Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory said Darren Edwards, 22, of the Holland Gardens public housing complex on 16th Street, was pronounced dead at the Jersey City Medical Center at 10:15 p.m., minutes after he and a second man were shot at Duncan and Olean avenues on the city’s west side.
Gregory did not release the name of the second victim, a 21-year-old Jersey City man, who suffered a non-life threatening wound.
Gregory said a gunman approached the two men while they were sitting on milk crates. He also said witnesses to the shooting are being interviewed by investigators, and footage from security cameras may have captured the incident.
Edwards’ murder is the 12th homicide in Jersey City so far this year.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.
City Council adopts $200M tax levy; city facing $56M deficit
NJ.com reported that the Jersey City City Council, at a special meeting on Thursday, adopted a $200 tax levy in order for tax bills for the third and fourth quarter of this year be mailed out. The tax levy, which is a $15 million increase from the $185 million of the past fiscal year (which ended on Wednesday), translates to a $720 tax increase over a year for owners of properties assessed at $100,000, according to the city’s Business Adminstrator Jack Kelly.
Kelly told the council the increase in the tax levy is due in part of the city’s budget gap of $56 million. Kelly said the gap is the result of an anticipated $30 million loss in state aid in the coming year.
The council voted 5-3 for the levy.
JC not best place to see fireworks
Officials in Jersey City have advised visitors that it will be hard to see the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks display from the Jersey City waterfront. Hoboken and Weehawken are being touted as better alternatives, although those two cities are closing some streets and beefing up security in anticipation of crowds (see the cover story in last week’s edition for more details).
NJ Transit said that Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service will operate on a regular weekend schedule (trains every 15 minutes) using two-car trains to provide additional seating capacity. NJ TRANSIT bus service along the Hudson Waterfront may be subject to detours and delays before, during, and after the fireworks due to the closing of streets Visit njtransit.com/fireworks for details.
Catholic non-profit receives grant to start JC teen program
YouthBuild Newark, an academic and vocational program, has awarded $910,000 in federal money to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Newark to establish a program in Jersey City that will help teens and young adults who have been involved with the juvenile justice system.
The educational and job-training program would be patterned after YouthBuild Newark’s successful model.
YouthBuild Newark is a non-profit academic and job-training program for out-of-school youth. Its youthful offender model helps juvenile ex-offenders between the ages of 16 and 21 through youth development and leadership training, education, job training and community revitalization efforts. In particular, students are taught construction skills that are applied on-site at affordable housing developments. In addition to being an effective gang- and crime-prevention program, YouthBuild Newark graduates have an 85 percent placement rate in higher education or employment among graduates.
Journal Square Farmers Market now open twice a week
Journal Square Farmers Market will now be open two days a week – Wednesdays and Fridays – starting this month. For the past 16 years, the successful market has been open just on Wednesdays.
The market will be open on Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through Nov. 19, with a slightly shorter day than on Wednesdays, when the market is open from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Farmers at the market sell items that they grow or a select number that they purchase from other New Jersey farmers. All of the farmers accept WIC and Senior WIC checks.
The Farmers Market at Journal Square is sponsored by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc., in cooperation with the City of Jersey City and the Journal Square Restoration Corporation.
Shakespeare comedy comes to Hudson County
The Hudson Shakespeare Company returns with the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The production will take place at Van Vorst Park on Friday, July 9 in Jersey City and at Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken on Monday, July 12 and Monday, July 19, all at 7 p.m.
Hudson Shakespeare is its 19th season of traveling Shakespeare. They will be returning with “The Tempest,” their third and final 2010 installment on Saturday, Aug. 14.
Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket and all performances are free. For more information, call (973) 449-7443 or visit: hudsonshakespeare.homestead.com