The 2060 plan will still focus on Zone 1 – the empty lot by the PATH station, the previous location of the demolished hotels – bounded by Sip Avenue, JFK boulevard, Pavonia Avenue, and Summit Avenue.

The zones are mapped below:

Click to view larger size

The Pedestrian Plaza
The planned open space for pedestrians is bounded by Garrison Avenue on the west, and Baldwin Avenue on the east, as shown in the maps below:

The color green highlights the Pedestrian Plaza

Open PATH Rails - JFK Boulevard and Pavonia. Loews in the background.

Baldwin Avenue overlooking PATH Transportation Building

Follow the link to download and read the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan. If you think 37 pages is a long read, just click on the links above(nj.com and JCI) for a summarized read.

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Inset: From left to right, Jack O'Brien, Barbara Dabinett and Dom DeVito of the drum and fife corps, Spirit of Liberty, play "Chester" during the 26th Annual Presidents' Day Celebration at the historic Apple Tree House on Academy Street in Jersey City this morning. Copyright Reena Rose Sibayan -- Jersey Journal

Yesterday morning (February 15, 2010), Jersey City honored George Washington in front of the Historic Apple Tree House on Academy Street.

This structure — one of the oldest buildings in Jersey City — was where George Washington and General Marquis de Lafayette met to discuss war strategies. “I for one choose to believe it,” Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said of the legend. News.

About 30 people who are members of two groups (George Washington Commemorative Society and The Spirit of Liberty) joined the sidewalk festivities.

In the news, JC Councilwoman Nidia Lopez said she hopes the interior construction will be finished before next year’s observance.

Will they open this historic site to public once the construction is completed?

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Find out which offices are closed in observance of Independence Day …

• Post-Office Journal Square Branch
  Bergen Avenue
  July 3, 2009 (Friday) – 7:30AM – 12Noon
  July 4 (Saturday) – Closed
  NOTE: Main Postal Service in Downtown, Jersey City (69 Montgomery St) will operate normal hours July 3, 2009 (Friday)

• Social Security Administration
  Kennedy Boulevard
  July 3-4 (Fri – Sat) – Closed

• DMV/MVC office
  Summit Avenue cor. Sip Avenue
  Jul 3-4 (Fri – Sat) – Closed

• And from the Jersey City official website:
  Regular trash pickups will continue, but street sweeping will be suspended. All municipal offices will re-open at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 6, 2009

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Site of the Twin Tower

Now that the dilapidated structures are finally gone, the square looks brighter than ever. The site is clearly flat, but still fenced off. The view from PATH station stairs is good. However, the construction and renovation for the Greater Journal Square Redevelopment, which Mayor Healy calls “The Vision” will start later this year, according to news.

On this site will rise the Twin Tower that will flagship the renaissance of Journal Square, Jersey City.

* This entry is a retroactive post.

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2. The Greater Journal Square Redevelopment Plan: Put On Hold View of the New JSQ looking South. (Inset: Richard Boggiano...
3. JSQ Redevelopment Plan Unveiled Today A rendering of the planned development of the Hotel on...

I noticed this shattered glasses on the street of Journal Square last week — climax of snow. People were avoiding this spot and dog-walkers had to go to other side of the street.

Who do you think is responsible for this?

Jersey City has a division for neighborhood improvement. It’s called the Division of Neighborhood Improvement District, or simply NID, and their office is located at the Journal Square PATH Plaza. If you see anything bad (dangerous or eyesore) for the neighborhood, you may report it to the NID.

To find out their full function, please read the rest of this entry…

[UPDATE: Feb. 10, 2009]

Shattered glasses on the street were gone– they were probably cleaned up by the street-sweeper. However, the ones on the sidewalk are still there. Those can be dangerous to people especially at night.

Division of Neighborhood Improvement Districts

1 Journal Square Plaza
2nd Floor
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel: (201) 547-5683
Fax: (201) 547-5644
Web: Online Help Center

Larry Smith, Director

Description

The Division of Neighborhood Improvement Districts (NID) is part of the Department of Public Works and is one of the City’s most active quality of life agencies. Each day, code enforcement officers patrol the City’s streets in an effort to create a cleaner, safer and more enjoyable living environment in your neighborhood. The NID has as its mission the enhancement of the quality of life for all the residents of Jersey City.

Part of the NID’s mission is to also educate City residents about the ways in which they affect quality of life in their community. This includes Code Enforcement Officers distributing educational brochures on municipal ordinances, as well as regularly attending community block association meetings. By empowering you, the residents, we are helping to create a partnership in which we can work together to make Jersey City an even greater place to live, work and visit.

Issues that may seem small to some can have a great impact on the daily lives of many residents. The small details can often get overlooked in a City as big as ours, but we at the NID are here to field those concerns.

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Looking for a place in Journal Square where you can file your taxes? There’s one at Five Corners Branch Library (it’s FREE), all you need to do is call for an appointment. If you are a procrastinator, don’t worry this free tax filing will run through April 15, 2009.

FREE Tax Filing & Benefits Screening
Where: Hudson County ACORN Center at Five Corners Branch Library
Address: 678 Newark Avenue, Jersey City 07306
Phones: (201)547-4543 (Five Corners) or (201)719-6172 (ACORN)
Web doc: JCLibrary (PDF File)

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Click to view larger size

The picture above is how this block in the square looks like from Sip Avenue. The photo was taken last September, but it doesn’t matter since nothing has changed. This is the location where two high-rise buildings will be built as the center of what Mayor Healy terms as the “VISION“.

View from the back - click to view larger size

The Journal Square Vision, according to this news, is closer to adoption, as it has been reviewed and approved by Jersey City Planning Board last week. The plan will be passed to the council for final approval.

The picture below is the rendering of the buildings that will replace the dilapidated hotel above.

The rendering of two towers

Journal Square ‘vision’ closer to adoption
Planning Board recommends City Council approval
by Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter Staff Writer

The Jersey City Planning Board voted at its meeting on Tuesday to recommend the Journal Square Redevelopment Plan for final adoption by the City Council.

The plan is meant to revitalize the Journal Square area of town, adding 10,000 to 15,000 new residential units including two towers next to the existing bus/train station.

The plan calls for a 244-acre area to be redeveloped covering Vroom Street to the south, Tonnelle Avenue to the west, State Highway 139 to the north and Baldwin Avenue to the east. The plan is known as the Journal Square Center City Plan or “Jerramiah T. Healy’s Vision for Journal Square.” It is currently posted on the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency’s website (www.jcra.org).

Within the area, the city envisions thousands of square feet of commercial and retail space and 9 acres of park space. As part of the plan, the existing Journal Square transportation station might be replaced with a newer model. Implementing the plan is estimated to take upwards of 50 years and billions of dollars.

The centerpiece of the plan is the two $400 million towers (68 and 50 stories) to be privately built on land adjacent to the Journal Square Transportation Center by longtime Journal Square businessman Lowell Harwood and Washington D.C.-based pension firm MEPT. That project is expected to break ground this spring.

In November, the City Council approved a resolution declaring Journal Square an “area in need of rehabilitation”, a necessary step before any adoption of a comprehensive redevelopment plan, which calls for improvements to properties by their owners.

Now that the Planning Board approved the plan, the council may vote for final approval within a month’s time.

Watching closely

A truncated version of the plan was presented to the board by veteran urban planner Anton Nelessen, who along with Hoboken architect Dean Marchetto was commissioned by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency earlier this year to develop a plan based on input from city officials, and from community meetings that were held since July. Longer presentations on the plan were given last fall.

In those community meetings, there has been both praise and opposition from people living in the Journal Square area. At Tuesday’s Planning Board meeting, there was a little of both from longtime Journal Square resident Richard Boggiano, a former Jersey City police officer and president of the Hilltop Neighborhood Association.

Boggiano said he did not object to the plan but wanted the city to make improvements to infrastructure and city services, which will be impacted by future Journal Square development. He also does want any large-scale parking garage or skyscrapers built in the vicinity of his block of Magnolia Avenue, both concepts which were proposed in the plan.

“We have one of the last neighborhoods in Jersey City … we are a tight neighborhood and we will be watching,” Boggiano said.

‘A model’

Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Healy, as expected, touted the plan.

“We think it is a great plan and it is a great vision,” Healy said, “and we really think it’s going to be a model for the United States.”

But Healy admitted that the financing is not readily available to fulfill many of the goals set out in the plan. The city is currently exploring the idea of designating the Journal Square Rehabilitation Area as a revenue allocation district (RAD) where the revenues generated in that district is dedicated to capital improvements within the district and/or retiring debt incurred due to redevelopment within the RAD. But the city has to wait for the state Legislature to pass a pending bill that would also allow RADs in an “area in need of rehabilitation” not just in “an area in need of redevelopment.”

After Healy’s speech and some other business, the audience was treated to a slide show containing numerous images of Journal Square at the present time, with its wide-lane roads, surface parking lots, and lack of greenery. Then images were shown of a future Journal Square, with narrower roads, more pedestrian walk space, and an abundance of trees.

Nelessen also talked about the other transportation elements of the plan, including the Hudson-Bergen light rail running through Journal Square, and buses that stop in the Square rather than inside a station.

News Source: Hudson Reporter

Related posts:

1. JSQ Redevelopment Plan Unveiled Today A rendering of the planned development of the Hotel on...
2. JSQ Redevelopment Plan is Moving Forward Journal Square rendering shows towers, new PATH station, and greener...
3. New Plan: The Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan The Journal Square Redevelopment Plan has been revised last Friday....

Read the rest to view some places in 07306 where you can cast your vote:

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SCHOOL
Public School Number 11
886 Bergen Aveenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Office-201-915-6521
Fax-201-418-8582

MAHATMA K. GANDHI SCHOOL
Public School Number 23
143 Romaine Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Office-201-915-6490
Fax-201-435-8514

ANTHONY J. INFANTE SCHOOL
Public School Number 31
3055 Kennedy Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Office-201-714-4370
Fax-201-659-7711

William L. Dickinson High School
2 Palisade Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Office-201-714-4400
Fax-201-792-2292

Liberty High School
299 Sip Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Office-201-714-4373
Fax-201-369-3714

BRUNSWICK TOWERS
75 Liberty Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
595 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

Fire Station
200 Sip Avenue
Jersey city, 07306

You have to check on this site and enter your exact address to find out where your polling location is. You can also use Google Maps to find more polling places.

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The Historic Apple Tree House

Ever wonder why this seemingly abandoned house stays rooted on Academy Street? It has to be, as it is a historic place not only in Journal Square or Jersey City but in the entire country. This house is called “The Apple Tree House” a.k.a. The Van Wagenen House, the shelter where “…George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette met to discuss war strategies under the apple tree…”

The signs in its front read that the site is being restored. Does anyone know if the restoration is finished already? Is it going to be open to public?

JCRegister’s post last March has different photos of Apple Tree House over the years.

The Apple Tree House/Van Wagenen House
Description: Historical Landmark
Address: 298 Academy Street, Jersey City NJ 07306

Related posts:

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