Fire destroys abandoned house

Passaic N.J. –A three-alarm fire demolished a vacant home in a sleepy neighborhood atop a steep hill in the city of Passaic.

Authorities and the owner of the house at 483 Harrison St., Barry Fredson, blamed the blaze on vagrants who had been squatting inside it since its last tenants left 10 months ago.

While the home had been boarded up, vagrants repeatedly broke in through the three-story building’s rear windows. Firefighters found scraps of food, empty liquor bottles and homemade ladders believed to have been used to sneak into the house.

The alleged squatters were nowhere in sight when firefighters arrived about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday to find the house fully ablaze, said Passaic fire Chief Patrick Trentacost.

And while there were no reported injuries, firefighters still struggled to contain the fire with low water pressure. Because of the elevation of the house, firefighters were forced to stretch hose lines several blocks to reach hydrants with sufficient pressure, he said.

“The water pressure was just horrible,” he said.

Part of the house collapsed during the fire, Trentacost said, leaving firefighters with no other option but to battle the blaze from the outside.

The fire was under control by about 4:50 a.m., although the house continued to smolder throughout the day. The Fire Department ordered a backhoe to demolish part of the house so that firefighters on scene could hose down any hot spots that they could not reach from the outside.

Fredson, the home’s owner, had drawn up plans to redevelop the property into condominiums, but has not yet presented a proposal to the city’s building commission. Myheraldnews.com

NJ Assemblyman Resigns in disgrace

Disgraced Assemblyman Neil Cohen (second from right), Assemblyman Gary Schaer  and State Sen. Loretta Weinberg  look on as Gov. Jon Corzine signs bills into law in the Ahavas Israel Shul in Passaic. Rabbi Ron Eisenman is behind the disgraced assemblyman.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey legislator resigned Monday amid reports that he’s under investigation for suspected possession of child pornography.

The clerk of the Assembly received a one-sentence letter from Assemblyman Neil Cohen just before 9:30 a.m. Monday. Cohen said his resignation is effective immediately, but he did not offer any explanation.

Cohen has not been charged with a crime.

Colleagues who use the same legislative district office as the 57-year-old Democratic lawmaker said last week that they told law enforcement authorities about images of child pornography found on his computer.

State Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, who shared a district office with Cohen, said the investigation began after a staffer in the Union Township office found a printout of a nude girl, possibly in her early teens or younger.

Cryan and State Sen. Raymond Lesniak said they referred the case to the state Attorney General’s Office. Attorney general spokesman Peter Aseltine said the office does not comment on whether it is investigating cases.

Cohen, an unmarried divorce lawyer, has served in the Assembly in 1990-91 and continuously since 1994.

Regarded as one of the most liberal legislators, Cohen is also considered one of the busiest, having introduced 342 bills this legislative session — 94 more than any other legislator.

“Assemblyman Cohen was a respected legislator who dedicated his life to the State House and whose legacy would have been great,” said Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts. “Unfortunately, all of that will now be forever overshadowed.”

“We sincerely hope he receives the help he desperately needs,” Roberts said.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine issued a statement Monday calling the allegations “deeply disturbing.”

“All of us who have worked with him are shocked by the reports,” Corzine said. “Child pornography reflects a horrible debasement of children that is totally intolerable. Creating, distributing and using child pornography should be pursued vigorously by law enforcement wherever it is found.”

Cryan said Cohen remained hospitalized for psychiatric treatment on Monday.

Cohen did not return a call to his cell phone Monday morning.

Is it a miracle that Route 21 in Passaic is clean!

PASSAIC – The usual piles of litter — old tires, beer bottles and flyaway papers — along the sides of heavily traveled Route 21 have suddenly disappeared.

It’s not an environmental miracle, but the hard work of 10 young people — nine teenagers and a 24-year-old — hired to prune, cut grass and clean up eight grassy strips adjacent to the highway.

The Downtown Merchants Corp., a non-profit dedicated to beautifying the city, hired them to work for five weeks during the summer. They are being paid $9 an hour through a $35,000grant that Downtown Merchants received from the state Department of Transportation this year. Wearing long pants and long-sleeved T-shirts and armed with machetes and weed-whackers, the crew worked seven hours a day, five days a week, cleaning up the debris in the blazing summer sun. They said that although it’s hard work, they are learning valuable life lessons.

“It gives you respect for people who do it year-round,” said Branden Valenzuela, 18, who recently graduated from Passaic High School and plans to attend Bergen Community College this fall. Valenzuela wants to study business.

And with college tuition rising, Valenzuela said the summer job will help defray the cost. “I’m trying to take the weight off my parents’ shoulders for college,” he said.

The Downtown Merchants Corp. applied for the $35,000 competitive grant through the DOT’s Urban Gateway Enhancement Program. The program provides jobs and employment opportunities for urban youth in the fields of forestry, landscaping and streetscaping. This year, the Passaic group was among 10 awarded grant money for the summer program. It is the first time in two years that a city group has received such a grant.

City officials have lauded the program for helping young people find jobs in the summer, when traditionally the part-time job market is crowded with college students. At a time when the economy has taken a downturn and families may need the extra money, the summer program is a good opportunity, they added.

“They are making money, they are keeping busy and, third, they are learning skills,” said Victor Santiago, Downtown Merchants director, as he drove around the city on a recent sunny afternoon, pointing out some of the newly manicured spots.

One local businessman, Jaime Delgado, owner of JFJ Delgados Landscaping & General Contractor, of Passaic, is working with the crew, teaching them pruning techniques and how to use the equipment.

At the end of the summer, those who successfully complete the program will receive a diploma listing the job skills they have acquired, Santiago said.

Some of the workers said the money they earn this summer will give them extra cash for things like a new laptop computer or pay for public transportation.

“If my mother is in a good mood, she’ll give me money,” said 15-year-old Yusef Reaves, “but usually I have to buy my own ride or [movie] ticket.”

Reaves said he is saving money so he can attend college out-of-state and not make his parents pay the extra tuition costs.

“It’s going to cost a lot of money to get a dorm room,” he said.

Darnell Burrells, 24, said the summer program was teaching him something more important than just landscaping. Burrells said he understands how important it is to get a college education so he won’t have to do menial jobs. He wants to work in a field he really likes: music.

Burrells said he sings in the church choir at Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church on Autumn Street and operates a recording studio out of his home.

Although he was happy to have a job, Burrells said, he was less than enthusiastic about the cleanup work.

“The only thing is the bugs and allergies and stuff,” Burrells said. “It has got me thinking, do I really want to do this for the rest of my life? Definately no.” Northjersey.com

Police Car Crashes, Sgt. Curses at Hatzolah Volunteers Trying to Offer Aid; Delays Care

NYPD police car after the crash. Witnesses stated the car was speeding with lights on, but no sirens, and failed to slow at the intersection.

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn — A police cruiser slammed into a 15 passenger van at around 9:30 Sunday night. The incident took place in the intersection of Albany Avenue and Carroll Street where a 15 passenger van, driven by a Jewish man, heading down Carroll was broadsided by a police cruiser coming down Albany.

Multiple eye witnesses stated that they observed the police car driving with only its lights flashing and no sirens, and when approaching the intersection the police car did not slow down. Police officers on scene said the police car did not appear to be responding to an emergency.

The two vehicles collided and the van ended up on the sidewalk.

Hatzalah and the police arrived on scene within moments, but the lack of professionalism on the police’s behalf reared its ugly head on scene.

One Hatzalah member immediately walked up to the police car and began giving care to one of the officers and just as he began stabilizing Sgt. Walls of the 71st Precinct walked up to the member and told him to “take his @#$! and move away”, the member was taken aback and walked away.

Other Hatzalah members evaluated the driver and passenger from the van, both of whom did not require medical attention, B”H.

After the sergeant gave Hatzalah the boot some 7 Hatzolah members were seen standing on the side along with other curious onlookers instead of giving the care they are supposed to.

After 7 minutes the first EMS ambulance arrived on scene and 25 minutes later the second ambulance arrived on scene. Both officers were transported to Kings County Hospital for checkup and observation. (CrownHeights.info)

Record Number of Jewish Ambulances in Passaic on Sunday!

File photo of a Hatzolah Ambulance in Passaic

Passaic, NJ – Sunday evening between 6:30 and 6:45 pm, a record number of Jewish ambulances were spotted in Passaic.

And here is the rundown (can I have a drumroll please):

1 Hatzolah of North Jersey ambulance driving down Bond Street.

2 Hatzolah of North Jersey ambulances parked on Reid Avenue (facing in the appropriate directions!).

1 Hatzolah of Passaic / Clifton EMS ambulance parked on the corner of Brook Avenue and Dakota Street (probably distant enough from the corner to avoid ticket-hungry and possibly tape-measure-toting cops).

1 Rutherford Volunteer Ambulance parked in the bus stop (yes, illegally, as all ambulances except ones with Hebrew lettering can do in Passaic) across from the kosher pizzeria on Main Avenue. (Jewish volunteers deserve pizza too.)

1 Pulse Medical Transportation ambulance (marked “SCTU”) driving down Van Houten Avenue in Passaic, with two yarmulka-wearing EMTs inside.

1 Pulse Medical Transportation ambulance (not marked “SCTU”) driving down Main Avenue in Passaic, with one yarmulka-wearing EMT inside.

Get the world records book people on the line! Now Passaic can boast of not only holding the (dubious) record for the town with the most Hatzolah organizations (2), but also of the most Jewish-operated ambulances at one time within a 6 block radius!

In related news, while parked on Main Avenue, someone was overheard asking the driver of the Rutherford ambulance if they were the third Hatzolah in town! PCJN Staff

Will Gary Schaer really run for Mayor this coming November?

Acting Mayor And Assemblyman Gary Schaer

Editor’s Note  We at PCJN believe that Acting Mayor and Assemblyman Gary Schaer has to much to lose to run for Mayor in November. If Gary Schaer would run for Mayor, and win he would only be Mayor for several months, and have to give up his Assembly seat. If he gives up his Assembly seat and lose the Mayor Race next year he is pretty much out of politics’s.

 Why would Gary Schaer pretend to run for Mayor?  Gary Schaer would pretend to run for Mayor to build him self up for the Mayor election next year in 2009.

Also interesting to note that Gary Schaer may try to put a weak Mayor in, this way he can run for Mayor next year and win the Mayoral seat easily.  PCJN Exclusive

Schaer weighs mayoral run in Passaic

PASSAIC – To be in Trenton, or not to be in Trenton, that is the question for Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), who became the acting mayor of Passaic in May when a federal judge found Mayor Sammy Rivera guilty of corruption.

Initially, Schaer, who received the chief executive’s job by virtue of his position as council president, figured he would serve long enough to hand off to whoever wins a Nov. 4th special election.

But about three weeks into his service as acting mayor, with no stunning personality on the city’s horizon line, by his reckoning, Schaer began mulling the idea of pursuing his own mayoral run. 

“We can’t afford to have a mayor who’s not going to build on some of the positive things we’re doing,” said Schaer, who implemented local ethics reforms, imposed a 37% cut to the mayoral salary (from $117,000 to $72,000), and a municipal hiring freeze.

Now he wants to help stand up some key new public development projects in the economically downbeat Passaic, including a federally qualified health clinic and four school projects.

Pulling the trigger on a run for mayor will not be easy.

That’s because Schaer, a dual office holder who serves as vice chair of the Assembly Budget Committee in addition to acting mayor, also sees the potential for another opportunity in Trenton.

If state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) beats Medford Mayor Chris Myers in their 3rd Congressional District standoff, that would probably mean that Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Voorhees), chair of the budget committee, would move up to assume Adler’s Senate seat.

A Manhattan investment consultant now in the middle of his second term in the Assembly, Schaer says he wouldn’t mind serving as budget chair, and would probably lobby Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) for the job should it become available.

He wouldn’t be the only one.

Fellow budget committee member, Assembly Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro), would also be interested in the position – that is if he doesn’t end up running for U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews’s (D-Haddon Heights) 1st Congressional District

seat.

“It’s a real holding pattern right now,” Burzichelli told PolitckerNJ.com. “I’ve expressed an interest in the Congressional seat, but it’s not my call. If that doesn’t happen and the budget chair becomes available if John Adler wins, and if Lou moves up, I’d be very interested.”

Prior to last year’s Assembly session, Schaer’s dilemma would have provided him with no big Hamlet moment, as the law would have allowed him to assume both the mayor’s post and his assembly seat. Grand fathered as a simultaneously serving councilman and assemblyman, he will be able to continue serving at the municipal level in the event he opts to stay in the Assembly.

But if goes for mayor and wins, Schaer won’t be grand fathered – and will have to relinquish his Assembly seat.

He knows he will have to decide soon – at least before the filing deadline come September. The trouble from a planning standpoint is he won’t know if the committee chairmanship is free until after the Nov. 4th congressional election – the same day of Passaic’s special mayoral election.

When he considers the two opportunities – mayor or assemblyman – “I’m in an enviable position,” he admitted.

Schaer loves his work in Trenton, yet he’s long nursed an ambition to be mayor of his beloved city, the third most densely populated in the country. As the city’s senior orthodox Jew on the city council in the polyglot Passaic where that demographic reliably punches in with 2,200 votes, he enjoys considerable political clout.

“We need a mayor who can appeal to all ethnic groups,” he said, and he has demonstrated the ability to draw votes from beyond his base, as 40% of his support in the last two municipal elections came from outside the 3rd Ward.

Latinos compose the lion’s share – or roughly 62% of registered voters among the four wards of Passaic – but their numbers are broken up into different groups: Puerto Ricans and Dominicans chief among them.

A month and a half before deadline day, the candidates include community development director Vincent Capuana; businessman Jose Sandoval; Council people Joe Garcia, a veteran; and relative newcomer Maritza Colon-Montanez; potential rising star School Board member Alex Blanco; and Ritzy Morales, an aide to U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson).

Schaer already trounced Sandoval – a Republican – in a 2005 Assembly match-up, and was moving away from onetime ally Rivera even as Maritza-Colon cozied up to the self-combusting former executive.

If anyone out there is gathering signatures for him to run for mayor, he hasn’t personally dispatched them and doesn’t know about them, Schaer insisted.

Passaic sources say Schaer and Blanco – a physician who practices in Passaic – are close, but the acting mayor denies that he and his potential rival for the mayor’s seat would hammer out a deal for one of them to stand down in the event that the other runs.

“I don’t anticipate that we will have those kind of talks,” Schaer said.

At least one political ally believes Schaer should stay focused on the Assembly rather than run for mayor, and that’s fellow District 36 legislator, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen).

“Gary is great in the Assembly, where I think he has an obvious opportunity to continue to grow and move into a leadership position,” said Sarlo. “The next mayor of the city of Passaic is also in an important position, in part because that person will have to bring all of the various ethnic groups together.

“If I were to encourage Gary, it would be for him to remain in the Assembly, where with (Assemblyman) Fred Scalera (D-Nutley) we have a great team,” Sarlo added.

Similarly grand fathered out of the new law that prevents dual office holding, Burzichelli serves as mayor of Paulsboro in addition to his Assembly duties.

“Gary and I are friends,” said Burzichelli. “He’s solid, good people, and very smart. But I understand his interest in being mayor. The mayor’s role is very hands-on. I serve as the mayor of a small town, and I love it.” politicker.com

Severe Thunderstorm watch in effect today

Passaic New Jersey- Severe thunderstorm watch is in effect today throughout the day. Conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms to develop. Stay alert, and be prepared to seek shelter if a warning is issued.

Did Oxygen Tank Explode on Jet?

MANILA, Philippines (July 27) – Australian investigators are focusing on the possibility that an oxygen cylinder could have exploded mid-flight on a Qantas jumbo jet that made an emergency landing in the Philippines with a giant hole in its fuselage, officials said Sunday.

 

 

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said Qantas has been ordered to urgently inspect every oxygen bottle aboard its fleet of 30 Boeing 747s.

“At this stage, there is no evidence whatsoever that this is a security-related event,” Neville Blyth, senior investigator from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, told a news conference in Manila. “This is being treated as a safety investigation.”

Blyth said tests for bomb residue were negative. Philippine bomb-sniffing dogs went through the aircraft, particularly the cargo hold and the passenger baggage, and found no indication of explosives.

He said the focus is now on an oxygen bottle missing from the cargo hold that was left exposed when a section of the 747-400’s metal skin ripped away at 29,000 feet over the South China Sea on Friday.

“I can’t speculate as to indeed the probability of that cylinder having caused the damage,” Blyth said, when asked if there were indications that the scuba tank-like cylinder had exploded and damaged the plane.

“In the vicinity of the damage, we are missing one cylinder. The areas around the damage will be inspected. We’re obviously looking for evidence on where that cylinder may have gone,” he said.

Peter Gibson, spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said an inspection of all oxygen bottles in Qantas’ fleet will take several days. He said bottles located near the hole contained emergency oxygen for the flight deck. aol.com

New York – Israeli IDF Vets Train NY Jewish Paramilitaries In Catskills

New York – Yonatan Stern, the “Sgan Mefaked Hakita” (deputy squad commander) of Kitat Konenut New York, insists his “paramilitary emergency armed response team” is no “group of vigilantes or a JDL “The goal of the organization is to have a competent and professional group of armed volunteers ready to respond to a threat at a moment’s notice in any area where Jews reside,” explains the Israeli combat veteran.“We do not carry out demonstrations or political activity of any kind as we have no political agenda. Our agenda is to protect Jews wherever and whenever necessary and by any means needed.”

On Friday, the third session of the group’s training camp will begin in the Catskills woodlands of upstate New York, on land belonging to a Jewish supporter of the organization. With tuition at $400, the group expects 15 participants and five instructors for the 10 days of training. Participation has doubled since the group began three years ago.

Kitat Konenut New York is modeled on the rapid response teams in the West Bank settlements that are often the first to act when terrorist attacks or other emergencies take place. The group bills itself as religious-Zionist but nonpolitical.

American Jews have “felt a false sense of security in the United States,” Stern believes, “because historically there has been less anti-Semitism than in other countries. But there have been incidents – neo-Nazi terrorist attacks, Arab terrorist attacks. Jews have to be vigilant.”

“The threat is not from the American people or government,” he adds, but from “terrorist sleeper cells that want to target Jews. These people are very dangerous and the FBI issues warnings against them very often,” he said, citing the FBI’s warning, after the killing of Hizbullah operations chief Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in February, that the Lebanese group might carry out terror attacks on Jewish communities.

“The average American is friendly to Jews, but we’re worried about those individuals on the periphery of society,” Stern says.

 

The group was founded in the summer of 2006 in response to the shooting attack at the Jewish federation of Seattle premises by local Muslim Naveed Haq.

 

“We realized there is a need for this kind of organization, and as Israeli combat veterans living in the US, we have the skills and ability to respond to this,” Stern says.

The group’s MySpace page details the camp’s regimen, which includes training in the IDF’s Krav Maga martial art, use of non-lethal weapons and identification of suspicious objects, but also sharpshooter and assault rifle training, infantry exercises and endurance marches. Explanatory literature lists a large number of weapons with which participants can expect to train.

“We believe all Jews in the US must be legally armed and trained,” Stern says, “and towards this goal we hold paramilitary training camps to train and equip Jewish American youth.”

The group’s literature notes emphatically that all firearms used in training “are 100% legal and in compliance with all federal, state and local laws.”

“We strongly believe in the constitutional right to bear arms and we express this right to its fullest,” it adds.

The group claims to be “well-connected with the New York police and fire departments” and it invites “all members of the law enforcement community to join in our life-saving activities.”

Stern says, “We are all legally armed and carry radios and cellphones” during all hours of the day, and even on Shabbat, “as we need to be constantly ready to respond to any incident.”

The camp literature also promises discussions on Torah and Halacha, understanding and confronting terrorism, fighting anti-Semitism, the history of the Zionist movement in the Land of Israel, and encouraging participants to “know your rights and learn how every American can and must be legally armed and how to express the Second Amendment” – the right to bear arms.

 Funded by tuition money and a handful of private donors, the group does not exclude secular Jews, Stern says, but asks that they respect the Orthodox nature of the camp by observing Shabbat in public and refraining from bringing non-kosher food.

“We wouldn’t have a problem with non-Jews coming either,” says Stern, “but no non-Jew has applied thus far. Vinnews.com

Reminders of Jersey greeted Corzine throughout Israel trip

New Jersey Governor Corzine

As he soaked up the sights and culture of Israel during a five-day trade mission halfway around the world last week, Gov. Jon Corzine often felt like New Jersey was just a Turnpike exit away.

From the first day of his journey to the last, Corzine stumbled upon reminders of his home state in all corners of the country.

Tourists recognized him during breakfasts at the hotel. Summer interns in the Knesset government headquarters told him they hailed from the Garden State. A cluster of Jersey schoolteachers descended on him at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

“It feels like I’m in New Jersey most of the time when I am in a public forum,” Corzine said early on in the trip.

New Jersey and Israel often invite comparisons over their similar size and population, as well as specializing in some of the same industries. New Jersey’s large Jewish community also makes for strong cultural ties.

But for the governor and his traveling posse, last week took the link to another level.

Bradley Abelow, Corzine’s chief of staff, took to calling the New Jersey state Legislature “our Knesset,” after the famously combative Israeli legislative branch.

Parallels popped up when driving around the country. Spotting a nasty traffic jam on the main north-south highway leading to the urban center of Tel Aviv, Ambassador Asaf Shariv, consul general of Israel in New York, pointed to the green exit signs and grinned. “It’s like the Turnpike, no?”

The governor’s motorcade – led by a blue stretch limousine provided by the Israeli government — was itself an attention magnet. Curious passers-by who were told the governor of New Jersey was inside sometimes asked if he was the one who romanced an “Israeli guy,” Shariv said.

Corzine’s predecessor, former Gov. James E. McGreevey, resigned from office after admitting a homosexual affair with Israeli national Golan Cipel, who claims McGreevey sexually harassed him.

One-on-one connections were equally bizarre. Visiting Israel’s leading technical university on Tuesday, Corzine made small talk with a professor showing off a surveillance camera embedded in a miniature helicopter. Soon they found common ground: both used to live in Summit.

Another random encounter brought Corzine face to face with Kenny Kleinerman, who said he worked with former Gov. Thomas Kean on developing E-ZPass.

By Thursday morning, it was hardly a surprise when Tal Brody – the Trenton Central High School graduate who achieved Israeli basketball superstardom – stopped by Corzine’s hotel.

“It was like musical chairs in terms of people coming to meet with him,” said Abe Foxman, a Bergen County resident and national director of the Anti-Defamation League who stumbled upon the governor in the hotel dining room one morning. “He’s so comfortable, you’d think he was in Jersey.”

The constant stream of connections clearly amused Corzine as he hawked Jersey as a home for Israeli business. On a tour of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot Thursday afternoon – the last public stop on his official trip – Corzine was shown an exhibit of dangling mirrors meant to portray chaos.

Want chaos? “Come to New Jersey,” he said.

“You’re from New Jersey?” asked his young tour guide, Hadas Cahalla.

“Yes,” said the governor. “Are you?”

For once, the answer was no. NJ.com

Vehicle rear-ends jitney bus, injuring 7

PASSAIC – Seven people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, after a car rear-ended a jitney bus on Friday, police said.

At 3:16 p.m., Jorge Lesmes Jr., 23, of Bloomfield was driving a two-door Acura on River Drive at Elliot Street, when he hit a jitney carrying 16 people plus the driver, said police Detective Andy White.

Lesmes was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson with facial injuries. The jitney driver, Gil Abreu, 51, of New York, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, along with five of his passengers.

The jitney bus had been headed to Union City, then New York, White said.

According to jitney passenger Priyank Rana of Passaic, the jitney was parked at a bus stop on River Drive when the accident occurred. Rana’s friend, Badal Rana, was among those injured. Northjersey.com

Passaic Police Ticket Cars Out Side Shul

The Passaic Police Dept. this morning was out this morning at approximately 8am ticketing cars outside of the Ahavas Israel. In recent days the Passaic Police Dept. has been giving out a lot of ticket’s in the Passaic Park area. It might have something to do with our “Mayor”. All residents should be aware you may not park with in 50 feet of a stop sign or with in 25 feet of any corner or cross walk. Please be advised it does not matter if it is marked or not. Also all ways remember to wear your seat belts. PCJN

Gasoline prices in NJ dip down

TRENTON, N.J. – Motorists in New Jersey should be seeing lower prices at their gasoline stations.

AAA-Mid-Atlantic spokesman David Weinstein says the average price for regular is $3.92 a gallon Friday. That’s down two cents from Thursday and eight cents from the state record of $4 a gallon that was set on July 8.

The auto club says the state’s highest average price is now $3.95 in Bergen and Passaic counties. Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties have the lowest, $3.87.

The prices pale compared to the state’s lowest for the year of $2.82 set on Feb. 15.   Newsday.com

 

Passaic Police Harass The Jewish Community On Friday Afternoon’s

Attention all Passaic resident’s

           It has been brought to our attention that at least the last 2 Friday afternoons the Passaic Police Dept has been out full force on Brook Ave and Main Ave. They have set up a check point with approximately 10 police officer’s. As our PCJN reporter passed by there were 4 cars pulled over all of whom were Orthodox Jews. We at PCJN are going to try to contact the Passaic Police Dept. for comment. And the Acting Mayor Gary Schaer.

Capawana runs on name ID in Passaic

When a fire started by two children devoured the industrial base of the City of Passaic in 1984, Vincent Capawana remembers trying to summon some good during the aftermath.

“I thought, ‘Thank God nobody got killed, and now we have 25 acres open, which we can develop,’” he says.

That was almost 25 years ago, and all Passaic has to show for its rebuilding effort along the river are a Shoprite and a handful of small, scattered stores.

“Fifteen acres are still empty,” says Capawana, 59, longtime director of community development, and president of the school board.

 

When a fire started by two children devoured the industrial base of the City of Passaic in 1984, Vincent Capawana remembers trying to summon some good during the aftermath.

“I thought, ‘Thank God nobody got killed, and now we have 25 acres open, which we can develop,’” he says.

That was almost 25 years ago, and all Passaic has to show for its rebuilding effort along the river are a Shoprite and a handful of small, scattered stores.

“Fifteen acres are still empty,” says Capawana, 59, longtime director of community development, and president of the school board.

A chance to finally get some light commercial into that area there to stabilize Passaic’s tax base is one of the reasons Capawana’s running for mayor.

He came to Passaic from Sicily 50 years ago, served on the school board for over 27 years, and raised two sons – one of whom is a captain with the Passaic Police Department.

In the wake of Mayor Sammy Rivera’s disgrace, conviction and exit from city government, Capawana, a resident of the city’s Second Ward, says he’s running in the Nov. 4th special election on his record, and the trust he has that a lot of people here know him.

The fact that most of the voters are Latino does not deter him.

“The Latinos are no different from the immigrants of the 1940s and 50s,” Capawana says. “I’m going on my name and what I’ve had here for the last 50 years.”

Of Rivera, who was convicted earlier this year on federal corruption charges and is now awaiting sentencing, Capawana says the former mayor is the exception.

“You’ll always have corruption. It’s people,” says the candidate. “Ethics reforms are good. Pay-to-play will help us, but sooner or later one or two people will do something that makes it bad for everyone. But 99.9% of the people in city government are good, decent and hardworking people.”

Now in the process of gathering petitions, Capawana in the coming weeks plans to have some fundraising events, including a hot dog night where he will sell tickets for $7 or $8. He says he does not expect to have – nor will he seek – Rivera’s personal support.

The field of candidates hoping to succeed Rivera remains broad and still unsettled in the weeks before the September deadline for petitions filings. Some of the prospects include businessman Jose Sandoval, Councilwoman Maritza Colon-Montanez, Councilman Joe Garcia, School Board member Alex Blanco, and Ritzy Morales, staffer for U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson).

“No one running has the accomplishments I have,” says Capawana, who notes in work in building and grounds, and his ability to get elected.

“I was elected to the board of education nine times; I have been school board president for 12 years,” he says. “In the last four to five elections I came on very strong, showing very strong numbers. I go to every neighborhood to campaign. I have a history here.”  Politicker.com

Passaic woman charged after leaving tot in SUV

A 33-year-old Passaic woman was charged with endangering the welfare of a child yesterday after she accidentally left a toddler inside her SUV for about three hours in Clifton, police said.

The 2-year-old boy, also of Passaic, was not breathing and had al most no pulse when she finally no ticed him and got help, but the toddler was expected to fully recover, Clifton Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken said last night.

Meira Lebovitz spent part of the day carpooling six children, including several of her own. Later, after dropping off five of the children, she stopped at the Home Depot in Clifton at about 2 p.m., not realizing the 2-year-old was still asleep in the back, the detective said.

While in the store parking lot on Bloomfield Avenue, Lebovitz suddenly noticed she had forgotten to drop off one child, who had fallen asleep in the rear of her Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle, Bracken said. Lebovitz, a friend of the boy’s family, rushed the child into the store, the detective said.

The child was dehydrated, had a temperature of 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit, was not breathing and did not have a noticeable pulse, Bracken said. The boy ap peared to have advanced heat stroke, he said.

Two customers in the store began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child as they waited for emergency rescue crews, according to the detective. Nj.com