JOURNAL SQUARE WATCH

By Chris Bernardo, Operations Manager

The actor seen to the left laying in the curb-line was observed by me (Chris Bernardo) as I exited 2854 Kennedy Blvd. on 4/29 at approximately 3:30pm. He was initially leaning against the building, he looked suspicious, so I asked him how his day was going and attempted to engage him in a conversation. He became belligerent almost immediately and then began to flail his arms wildly before tripping over himself and falling into the curb-line. I called Sgt. Caritini via the SID police phone and updated him on the situation, he and P.O. Ray Kaszueski responded immediately to the scene with an ambulance about 2 minutes behind them. The actor was removed from the scene.


Local employees and visitors enjoy the afternoon sun and our recently planted spring flowers.



PSEG will be contacted this week regarding the missing pole shown below. It was removed a few weeks ago after it became dangerously loose during a windy day.



Our maintenance crew will keep an eye out for poles with empty bases that look like the one below and will remove litter. PSEG and the traffic department will be contacted this week about repairing these broken bases.



Weed removal will continue in Journal Square this week. The medians on JFK Blvd. will be one of the areas we focus on.



I'm pleased to report that our warnings a few weeks ago regarding outdoor displays seem to be paying-off, as evidenced by the clear sidewalk on Newark Avenue illustrated below.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CAR ACCIDENT AT THE CORNER OF SIP AND BERGEN

SQUARE'S STOPPER
Friday, April 28, 2006
By CARLY BALDWIN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Parts of Jersey City's Journal Square were closed to traffic yesterday after a car crashed into a bank at the corner of Sip and Bergen avenues.

Fabian Velez's 1993 green Saturn smashed into the front window of the Washington Mutual bank at 9:37 a.m. after he was sideswiped by a red 1998 Plymouth minivan at the intersection.

Velez, 22, of Pamrapo Street, told police he was headed southbound on Bergen Avenue and tried to make a left onto Sip when the minivan, driven by Boris Kheyman, of Bethel, N.Y., hit his car, causing him to spin out of control.

Each man told police he had the green light, but only Velez was issued traffic summonses - one for making an illegal turn and another for careless driving, Sgt. Edgar Martinez said.

Four traffic lights were shut down until about 1 p.m. because the car knocked out the controls, said Dan Jansen of the Jersey City Division of Traffic and Transportation.

Sip Avenue was closed to traffic between Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Avenue until about 1 p.m. yesterday and Kennedy Boulevard was briefly closed where it meets Bergen, Martinez said.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The cobra pole on the JFK bridge that was knocked down was replaced this morning.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night Al Rivera pressure cleaned the awnings at 35 Journal Square to remove bird droppings. Before and after pictures can be seen below:








Before/After:

Before/After

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As a quarell breaks out between a local shop owner and a displeased customer, one of our off duty police officers is called to the scene to quell the dispute. The argument ended peacefuly with the patron leaving the store.

Weeds plague cracks and crevices all around the district. Luckily for us, weed removal is our maintenance crew's specialty. Rest assured that this weed will never show itself at Provident Bank again.

These pictures indicate a severe problem for shop owners, customers, and even passers by. The neglegent and irresponsible garbage disposal practices by Newark Ave. residents has caused an enormous collection of pigeons to make their home there. Also contributing the pigeons large numbers are the bags of food that shop owners leave out on the side walks for hours. This is a health hazard not only because pigeons are getting their beaks on food that customers will eventually buy, but also with large numbers of these birds come a large number of droppings which may land on a patrons head or the food he may potentialy buy.

This water filled pot hole was caused by the hosing down of the side walk into the street. This is a bad idea for three reasons. the first reason is the food that is being hosed off the sidewalk is not being collected afterward, creating a buffet for pests. The second reason involves mosquitos who make their homes on standing water. The mosquito problem will increase as the temperature does. The third and most important reason is passers by may step in this pot hole, trip and fall down, or hurt themselves. This picture will be forwarded to the Buildings and Streets department.

Posted by Teddy Drimonis at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 30 - April 13

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Chris Bernardo, Operations Manager

This afternoon Ana and I greeted many visitors to Journal Square, some of whom were passing through for the first time:

Today we had an opportunity to meet Wayne Anderson, the owner of the new Golden Krust Bakery which will be opening up in the fall at 2854 Kennedy Boulevard. Wayne was on his way to a meeting when he saw the kiosk and decided to stop-by. I described to Wayne the services that are provided by the Special Improvement District and talked with him about his new business venture and his hopes for providing Journal Square residents and workers with a delicious new eating and dining alternative for lunch and dinner...I assured Wayne that he can count on the SID to assist him in many ways, especially as it relates to new signage and awnings!

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Tsai today, a tourist from Taiwan who was passing through Journal Square for the first time and decided to stop-by the kiosk to see what we were all about...it turned out that Matt will be starting college in September at Pace University in lower Manhattan and is looking for a good neighborhood to live in as he commutes to and from school...he found our map of the district inside the brochure to be very helpful in becoming familiar with the area.

These young ladies were waiting for their ride to come and decided to stop-by the kiosk...they particularly liked Ana's uniform and think an information kiosk in Journal Square is a great idea!

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While monitoring the district this morning, Thurman Dingle, our Weekend Supervisor, conducted a garbage run with the F-150 which I am pleased to report is sporting brand new signage this spring indicating "Special Improvement District - Maintenance Services" and now includes a light-bar for better visibility by pedestrians and other vehicles.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ana Zamora was stationed at the kiosk this morning and will be utilizing it as an information booth and for monitoring the area in and around the kiosk. As the spring/summer progresses we hope to utilize the kiosk for a broad range of purposes.

Weekend Supervisor, Thurman Dingle was a big help this morning in getting the kiosk set-up.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quality of Life / Public Safety
A vagrant who continually panhandles in the district, especially in front of the Dunkin Donuts on JKF BLVD., is intercepted and given a fierce admonishing by P.O. David Rodgers. The panhandling vagrant was confontational with passers by over the last few weeks and it is nice to know he may not be bothering anyone again.

Maintenance
I spotted this large patch of graffiti above the Burger King billboard on Summit Ave. The billboard has no climbing access so the way in which this offence was perpetrated is questionable. Our maintenance crew will remove this graffiti ASAP.

A new green basket will be the replacement for this damaged container as soon as JCIA retrieves it.

Grease stains of unknown origin have appeared on the corner of Summit Ave. and Sip Ave. Maintenance is scheduled to power wash this problem away.

Posted by Teddy Drimonis at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quality of Life/Public Safety
In response to a call from a local stakeholder the SID management team with the assistance of P.O. Dave Rodgers from the SID Off-duty Police detail successfully escorted an itinerant ice cream vendor out of the district. This particular vendor had carts stationed at two separate locations on Kennedy Boulevard.

Maintenance
High pressure water treatment for the sidewalks and curbs started today to remediate grease and other liquid stains. "After" pictures are not currently available due to the rain that started in the late morning and continued throughout the afternoon.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(1)Project Specifications for Wireless Camera

Set-up and Placement of Equipment
Set up includes configuring the access point, an access point is a device (see example pictured on the left) that connects wireless communication devices together to form a wireless network, in this case the network consisting of the internet connection inside the Sackman office on the 4th floor and the camera which will be housed on the window sill of the front corner office on the same floor (See the diagram above). The access point is the key piece of hardware which will deliver a wireless signal to and from the camera and will allow for viewer access and administration via the web. The actual placement of the access point will be near a window inside the Sackman office and will be connected to the internet router by way of an ethernet cable.

Wireless CCD camera and Industrial Grade outdoor camera enclosure
The camera will be affixed to the window sill of the 4th floor corner office window. The power supply will run from the camera through the window frame and into the office where it will be plugged into a nearby outlet.


See the following photos:



(2)Hardwired alternative

In the event that the wireless network encounters difficulty in obtaining a signal strong enough to ensure consistent and effective operation, a hardwired alternative will be necessary. With this alternative an access point is not required, however a cable that connects the camera with the router will be required. This can be accomplished by running the cable above the drop ceiling between the two points. Pictured on the right, Erwin Aguilera points out the available space above the drop ceiling.


Pricing:

Wireless
Hardware:
$1,500 Access Point for wireless internet access.
$ 575 WiFi (wireless) CCD Color Web Cam with audio support.
$ 200 Industrial Grade Outdoor Enclosure.
Labor:
$ 500
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$2,775 Total for hardware (not including tax) and labor


Hard-wired alternative
Hardware:
$ 500 Secured Router for wired internet access.
$ 500 Wired CCD Color Web Cam with audio support.
$ 200 Industrial Grade Outdoor Enclosure.
Labor:
$ 500
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$1,700 Total for hardware (not including tax) and labor

Views from the 4th floor:

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

These pictures show garbage in one of our jsq trash cans placed there by a woman who lives off of Bergen Avenue. As I approach the woman to inform her of her wrong doing she turned and ran away as depicted in the second picture. The third picture is a front shot of the woman's home. Their have been many insidences of people leaving their trash from home in our recepticals this week. As of now we are unsure of what measures we will taken to fix this situation.

Street Lamps without electrical panels collect garbage frequently and are very difficult to clean out. The exposed wires in the lamp posts may also become a saftey concern. The following are before and after pictures.

Journal Square maintainance workers work hard to keep posted bills off walls and lamp posts.

Posted by Teddy Drimonis at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A pedestrian fell in the Plaza area on Saturday afternoon, P.O. Marty Rutkowski from the SID detail responded.

Posted by Chris Bernardo at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)