Good morning! Finally some beautiful, cool October weather. Go put on a cozy sweater and enjoy your Sunday morning! — Amy
Somebody please help, there are no early voting sites in Ward D or F
This is extremely concerning. Early voting starts Oct 23rd, but there are no early voting sites set up in Wards D or F. Here’s a map (based on this list by the state, which is also on the Hudson County Clerk’s site) of where they are currently scheduled to be:
Here’s the state’s list of location and hours (the “no” column is an answer to the question, “Extended hours? (yes/no).”
I really feel like the only Ward that is well-served by these places is B, because the site is basically in the middle of the Ward, and in an area where there’s decent public transportation running north and south. Wards A and C don’t exactly have easy-to-get-to locations either.
Now, the beauty of early voting is that you can vote at any of the sites in your city — you’re not stuck just voting in your Ward. So if you live on the border of E and F and want to walk over to the site in E to vote, that’s fine. But this still isn’t great — the whole idea is that it’s supposed to make voting more accessible and easier to do, and somehow setting up voting locations like this don’t seem to really accomplish that, given that a majority of residents in JC don’t have a car.
Somebody reading this knows the right person to talk to in order to get this fixed. Anyone willing to help with this? I don’t know what to do. But maybe you do.
Meanwhile, the state is struggling to even get people to work the poll sites that they do have planned. The Governor raised the pay for the daily rate, so if you’re looking to earn a little extra cash, this might be worth checking out.
(Also, this map comes from the GOTV site over at CivicParent that I incorrectly linked to last week. On it, you will find tons of info and resources about voting in JC, including links to all of the candidates’ sites, so you can make your own decisions. Please check it out and share, when you can!)
A guide to surviving the JC election in case you’re wondering what on earth is happening
Oh no! I woke up this morning and every car in my neighborhood is plastered with scary looking flyers depicting one of the candidates in the worst way possible! And the flyers — which are printed on really expensive glossy, thick stock paper — have no “paid for” line so it’s completely impossible to tell who would have printed such awful things! What am I to do?
Ok!! So first thing — you throw those flyers away. If you see more of them clogging up the gutters in your neighborhood, pick them up and throw them away as well. This is a hurtful, negative campaigning technique that might leave you feeling like “all politicians are horrible” and “why should I bother to vote when these are my choices”?
Stop it right now. Breathe in some positivity and breathe out all those negative thoughts. Your vote does count. There are good people running. Change is possible.
You might be tempted to take images of it and post them on social media. “Look at the ridiculous things they’re saying about this good person! And they’ve fed into racist tropes by darkening his skin in the photo they picked and posting his height to make him seem ‘extra scary.’ People should know about this horrible flyer!” That’s reasonable, and you may be right. But consider for a moment that when you do post that image, you’re giving it further life and a larger audience. That may or may not be worth it to make a point. I don’t know. Just think it over a bit before you immediately make that post, and weigh the pros and cons.
I say, take that flyer, tear it up into a million pieces, throw it away, and just keep moving. You’ll have a hard time finding a garbage can anywhere in JC because for some reason our city hates garbage cans but you can burn off some energy walking several blocks looking for one.
The weirdest thing keeps happening — social media accounts that were established in the last few weeks, that have very few followers and very few interactions — keep following me on different platforms. And even though I’ve never interacted with these people before, they have really strong opinions whenever I voice support for an independent candidate. It’s so strange!
Ah yes — me too! Oh man, I love this time of year because my follower account on various platforms just mushrooms. It’s awesome. Every weirdo trying to do some manipulative BS on JC voters winds up following me, and my accounts get even more credibility and I like to think that blue checkmark I somehow got on Twitter only grows stronger! Woo hoo!
Anyway, ignore these people. “Mute” and “block” are your friends. I tend to only block in very, very extreme circumstances, but I mute freely. Take in a variety of opinions, but have conversations with real people who you trust and you know, and don’t waste your time yelling at someone who just showed up yesterday.
I don’t know… I went to an event for one of the independent candidates and I swear this car followed me home. They didn’t do anything, but they were really following me — there was even a guy taking pictures. What is happening?
So, ok — there are two possible scenarios, each equally possible. On one hand, it is maybe someone is following you home from an event, looking to intimidate you and influence what you do. On the other, it’s entirely possible that this whole election is getting to you, and that you’re seeing enemies behind every possible door. Wait, what’s that?? A rustling in the bushes?? It could be a raccoon or it could be a political operative?!?! You simply don’t know, and you probably never will.
This paranoia, this psychosis? It’s what Jersey City does best. You know, you go out to certain towns and maybe they have “amazing beaches” or “first class public schools”. Here, we have abject paranoia around election time. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s what we do. I say, embrace it.
Oh god, someone just dropped a ton of flyers on the corner of my block. And now they’re clogging up the gutters! Can anyone truly be this clumsy? What will happen to all of these flyers?
This is referred to as “lit drops” or “lit bombing” and no, it is not the result of a clumsy intern somewhere, accidentally dropping dozens of pricey mailers on the ground and just leaving them there. This is a strategy. These things are supposed to lay there on the street so that when you’re walking by and shoe-gazing in your silly emo way, you will notice them.
The best thing you can do is stoop down, pick them up (some of them might be gross and grimy!) and throw them away in the nearest trash can which, as previously noted, may be several blocks away. Listen, it’s good exercise.
Anyway.
Congratulations. Follow these guidelines and you will successfully survive an election in JC. Yes, it’s just as weird as you think it is, and probably way worse. And the next couple of weeks are guaranteed to be a trip.
The extremely depressing Moloney’s update
I’m late on this because I got distracted last week, but after a glimmer of hope (I stopped by and was happy to see at least the front of the store looked untouched?), it would appear as though everyone’s favorite butcher/one of the oldest businesses in JC is now officially gone. I took one last pic because who knows how long this will look like this:
Anyway, here’s the post that makes it official, from their IG:
Ugh. What a bummer.
I went to the Ukrainian Center in the Heights and it’s just as amazing as you’d imagine
I have a soft spot for all things Eastern European. It’s partially because my family is, in part Eastern European, and partially because I’ve travelled a bit there, and the whole Katyn Memorial debacle didn’t hurt in terms of that whole region claiming a little piece of my heart.
Anyway, some friends hosted a Halloween party at the Ukrainian Center on Fleet Street and I was happy to go to support, but also even more happy to see that this center contained the kind of Eastern European charm I crave:
I love this so much.
And of course, in a city where liquor licenses are deeply contentious things; where getting one can cost your business a million dollars or more… they have a bar. Clearly they have had a bar since at least the 1970s, given the design. It’s fantastic:
Notice how the alcohol is a handful of the hard stuff, and that’s it. Beer, wine? GTFO. You drink hard liquor with your boiled root vegetables, you sad little American, or you don’t drink at all. Be a man — unless you’re a woman, in which case be even tougher than the men. Thicken up that blood of yours. Learn to fight.
Anyway, the lack of venues that have parking and are also are close to transportation (this one is close to the JSQ PATH station) are fewer and fewer every year in JC, so if you’re looking for an event space to rent out, this might really work out. They have a huge hall with a stage and lots of room to host events. Contact them via their Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ukrnathome/
Oath Keepers in law enforcement
From earlier this week, in the Gothamist:
Roughly 20 people in the records matched the names, phone area codes, and address locations of police and corrections officers who were listed as active within the last two years. These included officers in two of the state’s largest and most diverse cities, Jersey City and Paterson, along with a swath of rural and suburban communities.
No list has been released to the public, but I spoke to one of the reporters who worked on the article and he says that all the superiors have been notified.
APPLES APPLES APPLES APPLES THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT THE APPLE FESTIVAL IS NEXT WEEK!
With just a week to go, details are pretty scarce on the website for Bergen Square Day/Apple Fest. It’s October 23rd, that much we do know, and it looks like there’s going to be music and vendors and stuff like that, but an awful lot is still listed as TBA.
Here is what I suggest:
You head over to the general area of the Apple Tree House around 2pm-ish. Have a little money in your pocket, and keep your eye out for people wearing old-timey clothing. Get some apples. Go listen to some jazz or poetry, or whatever is happening at the time. Listen, you can’t go wrong. It’s a good time.
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