Wednesday, August 10, 2011
NJ Transit derailment renews calls for second tunnel under Hudson River to Manhattan (Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“The area between New York Penn Station and the Hudson River train tunnel resembles a big bowl of spaghetti, with wires and tracks and trains veering in every direction.”
New Jersey’s ‘Live Where You Work’ home loan program comes to Camden (Hester Sr., New Jersey Newsroom) Camden, Camden County
“Camden on Tuesday became the 38th New Jersey city or town to join the state’s Line Where York Work program, which provides low-interest, fixed rate mortgage loans to first-time homebuyers who purchase homes in a municipality where they work.”
Developer, Bordentown Township reach financial agreement on waterfront community (O’Sullivan, phillyburbs.com) Bordentown, Burlington County
“A preliminary financial agreement for a planned $300 million waterfront development requires the township to authorize up to $22 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements throughout the multiphase project.”
Jersey City Planning Board forwards McGinley Square redevelopment plan to City Council (McDonald, The Jersey Journal) Jersey City, Hudson County
“The Jersey City Planning Board tonight approved a recommendation that the City Council adopt the controversial McGinley Square Redevelopment Plan.”
Developer Moving Forward With His Efforts to Open Outpatient Detox Facility in Lawrence Twp. Building (Tredrea, Lawrenceville Patch) Lawrence, Mercer County
“Real estate developer John Simone is employing a dual strategy in his continuing effort to install a drug and alcohol detoxification facility in a vacant building he owns on Federal City Road in Lawrence Township.”
Thursday, December 16, 2010 (Morning)
New Jersey May Get $128 Million Refund From U.S. for Canceled Rail Tunnel (McNichol, Bloomberg) Statewide
“New Jersey will get a refund of almost half that $271 million it owes the federal government for canceling a proposed commuter-rail tunnel once the money is repaid, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.”
N.J. Senate panel approves tax breaks for historic building rehabilitations, limos, movie studios (Friedman, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“Developers and homeowners who rehabilitate historic buildings would be eligible for major tax breaks under a bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee today.”
Residents Make Last Ditch Effort to Stop Development (Thorne, Cranford Patch) Cranford, Union County
“The plan to build 163 housing units along South Avenue is now one step closer to becoming reality.”
Friday, December 3, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Gov. Christie selects law firm to challenge $271M ARC tunnel tab (Staff, The Star-Ledger) Statewide
“Gov. Chris Christie agreed today to retain an influential legal and lobbying firm to challenge the $271 million bill New Jersey received from the federal government for work done on the canceled multibillion-dollar Hudson River train tunnel.”
Residents take issue with planned cell tower along Parkway in Cranford (Murray, Cranford Chronicle) Cranford, Union County)
“A public hearing on a proposed cell phone tower in the median between the Garden State Parkway and North Avenue drew complaints from residents who called the tower ‘a done deal’ and a ‘monstrosity’ on Thursday, Dec. 2.”
OPINION
Too quiet in the Highlands (Staff Editorial, The Daily Record) Highlands
“The governor recently nominated seven people to fill multiple vacancies on the state’s Highlands Council. Two of them are from Morris County, Tim Dougherty, the mayor of Morristown, and Jim Rilee, a councilman in Roxbury.”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 (Morning)
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NEWS
Transportation agencies discuss impact of ARC tunnel cancellation (Lee, NJBIZ) Newark, Essex County
“The cancellation of the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project continues to cast its shadow over transportation planning in the region, even as agencies pursue other large-scale infrastructure projects, transit officials said Monday morning.”
West Windsor: Township planning parking (Staff, The Princeton Packet) West Windsor, Mercer County
“Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the township plans to move full speed ahead to build more than 500 new parking spots at the Princeton Junction Train Station, independent of NJ Transit’s plan to privatize parking at 81 of its agencies — Princeton Junction included.”
Zoning Board To Go Forward With Special Hearing (Moses, Hoboken Patch) Hoboken/Weehawken, Hudson County
“Even though the Township of Weehawken has asked to postpone it, the Zoning Board of Adjustment will hold a special meeting Tuesday night, to hear Hoboken unleashed’s application to turn 1714 Willow Ave. into a pet resort.”
RFP
Redevelopment Attorney (Bloomfield, Essex County)
Thursday, November 18, 2010 (Morning)
NEWS
Experts say plans to extend 7 line subway to New Jersey are a dead end, feds won’t fund it (Lisberg/Donohue, The Daily News) New Jersey/New York
“The chances of a subway line running to New Jersey anytime soon hover between slim and none, a top transportation official said Wednesday.”
Bloomberg: New Tunnel Could Be “Even Better” Than ARC (O’Grady, WNYC) New York/New Jersey
“ARC is dead. Long live ARC in a different guise.”
Extending Subway to New Jersey Would Transform Travel in New Jersey (Grossman/Fleisher/Brown, The Daily News) New York/New Jersey
“While it is being floated as a replacement for the cancelled New Jersey Transit train tunnel into Penn Station, the Bloomberg administration’s plan to extend the No. 7 subway line to New Jersey would benefit groups that didn’t have as much to gain from the rail link.”
Tunnel Decision Has Ripple Effects (Miller, The Wall Street Journal) Hudson/Bergen Counties
“A McDonald’s restaurant used to stand on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, but New Jersey Transit tore down the golden arches to help prepare the New Jersey side for the $8.7 billion rail tunnel to Midtown Manhattan.”
NJ Transit may turn to private operators for parking (Duffy, The Times of Trenton) Statewide
“In what some fear could lead to higher parking costs for commuters, NJ Transit is weighing a plan that could privatize parking at 81 of the cash-strapped agency’s sites — including the Hamilton, Princeton Junction and Trenton train stations.”
N.J. DEP against proposed LNG facility off Asbury Park (Hester, Sr., New Jersey Newroom) Trenton, Mercer County
“The Christie administration has filed a motion with the federal government to intervene in opposition to a pipeline that would transverse New Jersey and connect to a proposed natural gas facility 16 miles off the coast.”
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 (Evening)
New York Studies Extending Subway Line to New Jersey (Bagli/Confessore, The New York Times) Statewide/New York
“Ever since Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey killed an expensive plan for a new commuter rail tunnel to Manhattan, the Bloomberg administration has been working on an alternative: run the No. 7 subway train under the Hudson River.”
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 (Afternoon)
NEWS
New York Poised to Grab New Jersey’s Tunnel Money (Barrett, The Wall Street Journal) New York
“The nation’s top transportation official signaled Monday that New York stands to gain some of the billions in dollars in federal construction money that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie rejected when he pulled the plug on a massive project to build a rail tunnel under the Hudson River.”
Summit zoning board denies Shell Station (Keill, Independent Press) Summit, Union County
“In a 4-3 vote, the city’s Zoning Board has denied an application for the owner of the Shell Station at 6 River Road to expand to a 7-11 type operation.”
BLOGS
Questions Loom as NJ Transit Considers Privatizing Parking (Corbalis, NJ Future) Statewide
“NJ Transit recently issued a Request for Qualifications for private firms interested in operating and maintaining its parking facilities at 81 stations. According to the RFQ, the term of “concession” would be 30-50 years.”
RFP
Scattered site redevelopment project — Bayonne, Hudson County
Friday, November 12, 2010 (Morning)
Amtrak ‘no longer interested’ in tunnel deal with NJ Transit (Rouse, The Record) Trenton, Mercer County
“Talks between Amtrak and NJ Transit on any tunnel project are dead, Amtrak officials said late Thursday.”
Christie’s wife didn’t dig tunnel (MacIntosh, NY Post) Trenton, Mercer County
“New Jersey’s first lady helped kill the Hudson River rail tunnel, according to her hubby.”
Lawrence detox doc: We wouldn’t allow any crackheads (or Medicaid or Medicare patients) (Galler, The Trentonian) Lawrence, Mercer County
“The young Florida doctor who wants to open a 38-bed drug and alcohol detox center at 100 Federal City Road near a condo community and single-family homes says he won’t accept Medicare and Medicade patients because “they tend to bring down the level of our clientele.”
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 (Evening)
Gov. Christie says lawyers are reviewing $271M ARC tunnel bill from federal government (Reitmeyer, The Star-Ledger) Trenton, Mercer County
“New Jersey won’t pay ‘a nickel more than we think we have to,” Gov. Chris Christie declared today, saying lawyers are reviewing the federal government’s demand that the state repay $271 million spent on the halted Hudson River rail tunnel.”
How will New Jersey pay $271M for canceled ARC Tunnel? (Holt, New Jersey Newsroom) Trenton, Mercer County
“The bill has just come in for the failed Hudson River rail tunnel. New Jersey must repay the government $271 million immediately for money spent on the project that Governor Christie canceled, a Federal Transit Authority official said.”
NJ Transit director touts $2.5B in construction projects after scrapped ARC tunnel (Frassinelli, The Star-Ledger) Trenton, Mercer County
“There is life after the tunnel.”
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 (Afternoon)
NEWS
Gov. Christie pledges to veto affordable housing bill advanced by N.J. Assembly panel (Friedman, The Star-Ledger) Trenton, Mercer County
“As mayors, lobbyists and state government officials packed a Trenton committee room for a hearing on a bill that would abolish the controversial Council on Affordable Housing, Assemblyman Jerry Green offered words of warning: Nobody, he said, will leave completely satisfied.”
Feds want $271M from NJ Transit for tunnel (Staff, Associated Press) Newark, Essex County
“NJ Transit owes the federal government $271 million for the Hudson River rail tunnel that Gov. Chris Christie scrapped last month.”
Council rejects Hilltop housing proposal (Staff, Verona-Cedar Grove Times) Cedar Grove, Essex County
“The Cedar Grove Township Council rejected a controversial project to build townhouses at the site of the old Essex County Hospital Center on Monday night.”
Voorhees may allow hotels, development on Rt. 73 strip (Desai, The Courier Post) Voorhees, Camden County
“Spurred by a legal challenge to a zone variance approval, the township now plans to change rules to allow hotels and other commercial developments on a strip of Route 73.”
U.F. postpones hearing on rezoning land near Allentown (Meggitt, Examiner) Upper Freehold, Monmouth County
“Over a dozen township and Allentown Borough residents appeared at the Nov. 4 Township Committee meeting, only to find that the public hearing they came for had been postponed indefinitely.”
OPINION
Housing hearing shows why Christie can’t afford to leave home (Mulshine, The Star-Ledger) Trenton, Mercer County
“If I could suggest just one reform to improve the way our state government operates, it would be this: The governor can’t sign a bill until he has sat in on at least one hearing about it.”
