Jude Americk is Offline

Neil,Since I cannot reply to the NJO board, I will here. To begin, I applaud you for your attempt to "right" this city. However, playing the martyr isn't going to win you any further support, it will be just the opposite.Speaking for myself, the combination of work and work and work with a little bit of time spent on personal projects, doesn't allow for much time on city happenings, other than the usual. I voice my opinion's in several ways: NJO (before I was banned), on the Advocate (which takes days for any one to reply), and with emails and conversations with various city officials. I am concerned about the issues that affect my family. Selfish? You bet. Your post on NJO about how nobody is lifting a finger to assist you in your fight isn't going to put you in a good light with many, it will turn off the few that do show interest and support. As I believe cityedition said, what do you want or expect others to do? Some of us attend the meetings, some speak, some don’t (not always an easy thing to do). What are you doing to get the word out about the Advocate? Is it posted on Bayonne’s website? Can you work with Joe Chimento to maybe use both boards for better coverage?Lately you have been coming off a bit annoyed at everyone. Sorry, but that is life in the spotlight. You cannot take this all too seriously. And, you need not take everything so personally. If you are having issues with what some of us say, what do you think the other media and politicians will do to you? You need to lighten up a bit. And as I have suggested, you need to have more than just Bayonne politics for this board. You need to draw others that may not normally be attracted to a political forum. Think about it. You need to have a bit of fun as well, not all serious all the time.

Regards,

Jude <font face="Times New Roman"> </font>

Not much on here about this potential Mayoral candidate. If we all were serious about Bayonne going in a new direction and getting away from the same ole' same ole, we should be looking to vote for Yitzchak. He is new to Bayonne, young, and could bring a different view to this city. Some on that other board think that a Conaghan victory would just be more of the same, just with a different cast of characters. I truly believe nothing will change.

It is about time we put our money where our mouth is and vote this guy in. What is the worse that could happen?

Jude

[Link]

<font face="Times New Roman">In light of the recent article about an Off Track Wagering (OTW) establishment proposed for 440, many opinions have arisen. Many feel this is bad for Bayonne because it will bring in the “wrong element” (which I recall hearing from many people regarding the movie theater). Others (myself included) say it is being built on a piece of land that is labeled a brown field, which means the new owner of the property will have to have it cleaned up before anything is built. Then when built, the OTW will be on 440 – away from the city center. This place will also bring in some tax revenue, which I don’t believe this property is providing at this moment. From what I have read on OTW’s, they are a far cry from the smoky, cramped conditions of the traditional NYC OTB’s, with old men taking their SS check or the deadbeat dad betting the kids milk money on the ponies or with the hard on his luck guy begging for a buck outside so he can place the bet of his lifetime. </font>

<font face="Times New Roman">The consistent cry against the OTW is that it is not right for Bayonne. Well, my question has been: <u>What is right for Bayonne?</u> Many argue that Bayonne is a blue collar, beer drinking, lottery playing community. Does then the idea of an OTW fit perfectly into this city? We complained about the 100K membership Bayonne Golf Club because it wasn’t right for Bayonne. We complain about the high end condos / housing set to be built at the MOT, with sales prices over 500K and now with rents at 2K+. The usual complaint is: “who can afford that, not anyone in this town”.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman">Depending on how you look at it and I don’t mean this in a bad way, the city attracts what will be successful. We have .99 center stores because the business owners know they will be successful. An OTW owner is looking at Bayonne because they know they will be successful. We don’t have a Tiffany’s, Abercrombie, etc. in Bayonne because they will not be successful based on the current demographic. If the time does come and the city increases its median income to the point of a Short Hills, many of us (including me) will probably not be able to live here any longer. Then what? Did Bayonne finally become “Right”?</font><font face="Times New Roman"> </font>

<font face="Times New Roman">This OTW is not going to be the savior to Bayonne’s financial crisis (unless someone from the city lays down the whole bag of marbles on lucky #7 and wins our budget gap).</font>