Issue 98: Go to the Oddities Market!
Issue 98: Go to the Oddities Market!
Also there's been a ton of fires, Right to Counsel update, and ICYMI
Hi hi hi! I hope you’re doing great and let’s jump right into this week’s newsletter! - Amy
Oddities market is TODAY
One of Jersey City’s most unusual events is today at 140 Sip Ave. Twenty+ vendors, plus live burlesque (which will be in a separate part away from the main event in case you’re traveling with children or people who want to avoid naked ladies, although apparently one of the performers performs as a clown-but-also-a-stripper? “Turn your phobias into philias!” the IG post recommended) and a taxidermy workshop. The event is right in Journal Square, so if you take the bus/train to JSQ, it’s just a few blocks away and very easy to get to.
Think: preserved animals in jars, lots of skulls, tarot readings, and accessories for people who potentially over-identify with memes like this:
It’s a good time, honestly. I hope you can check it out!
There have been a lot of fires lately.
Last weekend several of us were caught up in trying to help out the survivors of the Olean Ave fire, right around the corner from where I live. The stories are insane — all sorts of people suddenly running from their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs, from a couple of former nuns, to an elderly woman who speaks no English, to a young couple struggling to wrap their heads around what has happened — the stories of the people affected from that fire are just endlessly heartbreaking. Just one after another, they keep coming.
The fire on Olean was on the heels of another fire right down the street. And then after Olean, there was another later in the week. And then another. And another. There were at least six major fires in Hudson County last week, maybe more.
So what is going on? My theory is it’s all of Hudson County’s most stubborn — and most ignored — issues bubbling up, all at once. Deep pockets of poverty plus landlord neglect plus unlicensed repairs plus extreme density plus about a dozen other things in the mix as well. The hot, dry weather last week didn’t help the situation either.
A few weeks ago, there was talk of the JC and Hoboken fire departments potentially merging and it’s probably a good thing that didn’t happen. But beyond that, how do we respond to this? I think all we can do is care for the survivors and make sure they’re as okay as they can be, and try to protect ourselves (and spread the word to others). Renters or homeowners insurance is a must. A fire extinguisher in your home is probably a good idea.
For now, I want to direct you to two Gofundmes for people displaced by the Olean fire. I’m sure there will be many more for the more recent ones and I’ll post those when they’re available. But for now — the young couple I referred to earlier, Leilany and Alex needed a moment to regroup a bit after losing everything. While a lot of other people who lost their home on Olean were able to quickly post a GFM almost immediately, they took a few days — and unfortunately, as a result, they lost out on some of the momentum that other survivors were able to get it on. Their fundraising effort has struggled a bit, but their need is great — and I hope you’ll consider donating.
There is also a GFM for Vera, an elderly woman who was living in a basement apartment at the time of the fire. Vera ran out in her bathrobe and slippers, and left everything else behind. She speaks only Portuguese (a very kind neighbor has been helping us with translation and has been looking after her) and is partially deaf. Vera’s need is great — but the only reason why I put her second to Leilany and Alex is because her GFM is doing quite well already. Still, every little bit helps, and the thought that this kind older woman has to depend upon the donations of strangers is a lot to grapple with. If you’d like to donate, her GFM is here.
Right to Counsel goes before the City Council
This week was the first read on a Right to Counsel proposal before the JC City Council. RTC, which would guarantee legal representation for tenants facing eviction, seems to be a pretty widely popular issue, but as usual the devil is in the details. There remains the questions of who/what is going to pay for the program and who it will serve and who will qualify.
I reached out to Julia Tache with the group leading the way for RTC locally and she had the following statement:
On Wednesday, April 12th, dozens of tenants descended upon City Hall to speak in favor of two ordinances: Ordinance 020-30 which would establish a Right to Counsel and Ordinance 020-29 which would authorize the city to collect fees on new development to fund the program and put millions into the affordable housing trust. The meeting went long into the night, but many organizers and supporters stuck it out to speak in favor. People gave impassioned speeches on issues with high rents, broken heating, eviction, and other major housing problems.
There is little to no mechanism for accountability against landlords in this city. Slumlords refuse to fix basic habitability issues in their apartments while holding the threat of eviction over their heads. Large, faceless property companies are not following the rent control laws and overcharging tenants. Evictions are rising nationwide to pre-pandemic levels. Everyday people in Jersey city are ill-equipped to deal with these problems because they are not guaranteed legal representation in housing court. The anxiety and fear of potentially losing the place one calls home is unimaginable, and most tenants–the 97% who are unrepresented in housing court–go through this alone.
Over the past several months, the Right to Counsel Campaign has been building ground-up power to show city council that there is mass support for this policy. Tenants across Jersey City of all different backgrounds are connecting on common goals: reduce evictions, improve living conditions, and make housing more affordable. Even though the ordinances were approved unanimously upon first reading, the fight is far from over: we must make sure that the two ordinances be passed with no substantial changes.
A key aspect that we have demanded from the start is that this program must be universal. Upon legal review, lawyers from an external housing policy clinic interpreted state law to determine that development fees collected in Ordinance 020-29 could only apply to people who make less than 80% of the area median income. This means any money that comes from this source to fund RTC can only go towards tenants who meet that threshold.
Another change that has been made over the course of working with council sponsorship and receiving the mayor’s support includes the “phasing” in of development fees (increasing from 0.5% to 1.5% of the equalized assessed value of the land from 2023 to 2025) as opposed to full collection from the start. We are also concerned about the timeframe of elements of the ordinance like hiring which opens the possibility for the office to not begin delivering service until 2026. If the ordinance is passed, city council must be receptive to the demands of their constituents that the process of hiring a director and new legal counsel is swift, fair, and prioritizes those with commitments to housing justice, not commitments to the office of the mayor or landlords/developers.
The Right to Counsel policy as it stands contains language that would allow for the program to become universal as long as more funding is secured in another way that does not have the same restriction as developer fees. Arbitrary wage limits act as bureaucratic hoops to jump through when people can just receive service directly. Finding more funding will take time, and the council must be intentional in making sure it is sourced in a way that does not burden average taxpayers. Our main priorities right now as a campaign are getting Right to Counsel passed in its fullest scope and continuing to connect with tenants across the city.
The date of the second ordinance hearing and vote is somewhat up in the air. The development impact fees ordinance will be going through Planning Board review on April 25th, and council people may suggest changes between now and the next few council meetings. The campaign will continue knocking on doors, making phone calls, blasting on social media, and getting the word out about why we need these crucial housing justice measures in their strongest forms. We hope that the council will listen to their constituents who have faced landlord harassment or have been pushed out by massive development, not real estate donors.
We encourage folks who are interested in plugging into our work to please email us at righttocounseljc.org, follow our social media sites for updates (@rtcjc201 on all platforms), and sign our petition.
Solidarity!
ICYMI
Mayor of state’s second largest city announces he’s running for governor and also a several of you owe me a drink. No, seriously — as late as two weeks ago, a neighbor called me “crazy” for suggesting he was going to run. I’m at least glad that we cleared this all up and ripped the bandaid off this announcement he’s been teasing.
Craig Guy and Eleana Little, candidates for Hudson County Executive, met at a debate at the Journal Square Community Association. You can watch the full video on their Facebook page here.