Fireworks Start at 9:15

Tonight's fireworks display in Liberty State Park kicks off at approximately 9:15. The best viewing is from in the Park, but downtown locations along the Morris Canal will likely see most of the action, though will not see any ground displays. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail provides access to Liberty State Park at the Liberty State Park Station.

Downtown traffic usually gets crowded starting around 8pm, with all vehicles headed east for the fireworks display and local streets in Paulus Hook, south of Grand Street, are closed to traffic. Local Paulus Hook traffic may not be allowed to pass through the barriers either, though in some cases residents can convince officers to let them in.

77 Hudson Street

77 Hudson Street and 70 Greene Street, continue to rise in downtown Paulus Hook. The 500 foot residential towers, while sharing a parking deck, are actually being built by two different developers. The eastern tower on Hudson Street is a condominium tower being built by K. Hovnanian homes, a developer better known for McMansions than high rise apartments. 70 Greene Street, the western tower, will house rental apartments, and is being built by Equity Residential.

The 1.3 million square foot development was originally going to be a pair of office towers built by Hartz Mountain. But a slump commercial rents and rising residential real estate prices at the turn of the millennium lead to the change in plans.

The construction of the towers has not been without incident. A worker fell to his death a few months back landing on the top of the parking deck. Before that, a fire in the rental tower slowed construction, consuming two floors and damaging several others. Most recently, OSHA recommended an $877,000 fine for unsafe conditions at the site.



The rental tower from Paulus Hook Park at Washington and Grand Streets.


The Hudson Street retail with the parking garage behind.


The exterior cladding on the north side of the parking garage still needs to be installed.


A wider angle of the north side of the parking garage.


The eastern facade of the condominium tower.


The south side of the tower; the parking garage's exterior panels are mostly installed.


Along Greene Street, the facade of the rental portion of the tower is mostly brick rather than aqua-marine blue glass. A scaffold has been installed across the street to protect pedestrians from falling debris.


Looking up at the rental tower on Greene Street.


The tower on the left is the condominium tower.


The south side of the Parking Garage

City Waterfalls Visible from Waterfront

Waterfalls installed in New York City's East River were turned on last week, just in time to compliment the Independence Day Fireworks Show. The Governor's Island installation is visible from Jersey City's waterfront. The waterfalls, the brainchild of artist Olafur Eliasson cost more than $15 million and will be on display through the middle of October.

Below, the distant waterfall is highlighted off the tip of lower Manhattan. The picture was taken from the waterfront walkway at the base of the Goldman Sachs Tower.






Another viewing location in Jersey City is from the Hyatt Pier.

Philipine American Festival in Exchange Place

Sunday Afternoon in Exchange Place in downtown Jersey City was the Philipine-American Festival hosted on the waterfront. Sunday afternoon's severe thunderstorms eventually rained out events like Philipine Idol and several people were injured by tents blowing in the wind. Sunday morning though, the sky was sunny and the organizers were preparing for the event.

Powerhouse District Festival

The Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association held their third annual neighborhood BBQ and street fair on Saturday. The event included live music and arts and crafts vendors as well as local shops like d.e.e.n selling their wares.

The old loading bay served as a perfect live act stage for a mostly on pitch performance.

Gimme Some of that Old Time Religion

City Hall was inundated with Jesus loving congregants on Saturday afternoon singing and celebrating the 30th Anniversary of a local Communipaw Avenue Church, Fuente de Salvacion.

Second Street Car Goes Up in Flames

Saturday evening at dusk, a car burst into flames on Second Street in downtown Jersey City. The car was located between Erie and Grove Street.

Hamilton Square

PAD Development Breeds Artwork

The Toll Brothers plan to build high rise towers in the Powerhouse Arts District may have killed the law protecting the arts centric neighborhood, but its also lead to more art. Anti-development, anti-capitalism paintings have been installed across the street from the historic Manischewitz warehouse.

Perhaps there is still life left in the PAD.

Viral Marketing or Simply Graffiti?

Logos for fast food chains Burger King and Taco Bell have begun appearing around downtown Jersey City, such as the marks seen here. This fence was recently cleaned of graffiti that read "honkey begone" but is now covered in the multicolored adverts. Its unlikely that the fast food chains are involved in vandalism.