Arrest made in mid-day JC homicide
The first homicide victim this year for Jersey City and Hudson County was killed during a store robbery on Thursday. An arrest was made in connection with the murder.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said on Friday that Elisha “Elijah” Benjamin, 59, of Fulton and Ocean avenues, was shot once in the chest and once in the arm during a robbery of a bodega at Ocean Avenue and Forrest Street.
DeFazio said Benjamin, who worked at the store, was struggling with a robber when he was shot. DeFazio said Benjamin was pronounced dead at the Jersey City Medical Center at about 2:40 p.m. DeFazio also said there were three robbers and they took an undisclosed amount of money.
DeFazio said later that day, based on witnesses in the store, David Ashley, 25, of Armstrong Avenue in Jersey City was arrested and charged with felony murder. DeFazio said it has not been determined if Ashley was the shooter. Ashley was scheduled to appear in Hudson County Superior Court in front of Judge Kevin Callahan.
DeFazio said Benjamin may have recognized one of the participants, which led to the confrontation.
DeFazio also said the bodega in question is believed to be a place where they conduct “illegal lotteries,” also commonly known as “numbers,” which may have played a role in the murder. But that information is not conclusive and is pending an investigation.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.
Library re-opening postponed
The Jersey City Free Public Library regrets to inform the public that the grand re-opening of Greenville Branch Library will be postponed, due to unforeseen construction delays. The ribbon cutting had been scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26 at 11 a.m. Another date for the re-opening will be scheduled. The Greenville Branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library is located at 1841 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Insurance company brings 300 jobs to JC
Arch Insurance Group Inc. announced earlier this month that it has signed a 15-year lease for 100,000 square feet of office space at the Harborside Financial Center, Plaza 3, in Jersey City. That means a move by this coming summer of 300 jobs from its corporate offices at 1 Liberty Plaza in New York City.
Arch Insurance Group, a division of Arch Capital Group Ltd., provides insurance for corporations, professional firms and financial institutions in North America.
Arch Insurance also received in June a Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, worth an estimated $9.6 million over 10 years, to help facilitate the move.
Jersey City Mobility 2050 meeting
The second public meeting for JERSEY CITY MOBILITY 2050 will be held on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St., in the Anna Cucci Memorial Council Chambers.
The purpose of JERSEY CITY MOBILITY 2050 is to create an action-oriented transportation master plan for Jersey City’s multi-modal transportation network (including light rail, PATH, bus, ferry, bicycle facilities, sidewalks, and roadways) through the year 2050.
Come to the public meeting to learn about the plan’s draft vision, goals, and objectives and the proposed steps to achieve that vision. Feedback on a work in progress is requested.
For more information on the plan, visit: www.jerseycitymobility2050.com.
Seat inspection center opening
The Division of Trauma at Jersey City Medical Center and the Jersey City Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit have joined forces with Safe Kids Hudson County, part of a statewide organization which works to prevent accidental childhood injury, to operate a permanent child seat check station.
The grand opening and ribbon cutting for the new facility is scheduled for Feb. 5 (beginning at 10 a.m.) The Jersey City Traffic Safety Unit will have certified safety technicians providing free safety seat inspections on the first and third Thursday of every month (from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) in an effort to educate parents. No appointment is necessary.
The safety station is the first of its kind in Hudson County and one of several throughout the state. Both English and Spanish speaking technicians are available.
For more information on the car safety seat inspection station, contact Marissa Fisher at (201) 915-2906.
African Diaspora Film Series at JC Museum
The Jersey City Museum will present the fifth Annual African Diaspora Film Series on Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan. 31, both days from noon-5 p.m. The Jersey City Museum is located at 350 Montgomery St.
Screening on Jan. 29 at noon – The Great Bazaar (2005) 58 min; 2:30 p.m. – Made in Jamaica (2006) 110 min. On Jan. 30, Slaying Goliath (2008) 80 min, and a double feature: 2:10 p.m. – La Ultima Rumba de Papa Montero (1992); 3:10 p.m. – Sara Gomez, an Afro-Cuban Filmmaker (2005). Please note: Films are unrated. Viewer discretion is advised.
Highlights from the series include two premiere film screenings, a two-for-one double feature, a question and answer session hosted by the filmmakers of Slaying Goliath, and a post film analysis between Reinaldo Barroso-Spech, co-director of the African Diaspora Film Festival, and artist Ben Jones. Ben Jones’s exhibition, “Deliverance” THE ART OF BEN JONES 1970 – 2008, is currently on view in the museum’s main galleries through Feb. 21.
Individual tickets may be purchased at the museum on the day of the events or purchased in advance on the African Diaspora Film Festival website at www.nyadff.org or by phone (212) 864-1760. Tickets per screening are $10, $8 for students and seniors, $7 for members of the museum. ADFF/JCM Series Pass is $30.
For more information, visit www.jerseycitymuseum.org or call (201) 413-0303.
JCMC kicks off free ‘dinner with the doctor’
Jersey City Medical Center kicks off its new “Dinner with the Doctor” series on Thursday evening, Jan. 29 (beginning at 6:30) with a program on “Signs, Symptoms and Treatment Options for Colon and Rectal Cancer.” The speaker will be Dr. Nathaniel J. Holmes, a board certified general surgeon. The program will be held in the first-floor cafeteria at Jersey City Medical Center (355 Grand St., corner of Grand and Jersey). To register, call (201) 377-6056.
Smith introduces job training legislation
Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Hudson) announced recently he’ll sponsor legislation directing the state to create an urban job training and resource center for disadvantaged women and their families.
“This is the worst economic downturn since The Great Depression, so the time is right to devote more attention than ever to disadvantaged women and their families,” said Smith.
The center would have to offer at least seven of the following services: job counseling, job training, job placement, self-help programs, mentoring projects, information and referral programs, child care, technical assistance, pre-business and business development and information and guidance on how to access post-secondary education.
The center would be funded by 0.5 percent of the revenues – about $500,000 – collected for a workforce development fund administered by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.