> atleast hoboken retains a shred of its character.

Are you taking about cultural character of architectural character?

I’m not saying Hoboken doesn’t have character, but it is much more culturally homogeneous than JC, even if you only compare it to downtown JC. Hoboken is overwhelmingly populated with upper middle class people, which is a group that you seem to abhor.

Hoboken has done a better job at historic preservation, but the tangible benefits of that success primarily accrue to wealthy property owners and landlords, which is another group of people you seem to detest.

Bourke Street Bakery is open.

I would only support it if it meant that JSQ-33rd St trains never stopped at Hoboken.

*Silverstein, not Silverman

At least as of a couple years ago, the top floor was occupied by the building’s owner (Goldman Sachs). Presumably they are happy to keep the view for themselves.

Also, a public observation deck would require a couple of dedicated elevators to keep the public and the office tenants separated. Since you can’t easily add new elevator shafts to an occupied office building, the only other option is to take away elevators from the existing occupants. That would be a pretty big deal because companies in a building like that don’t want their employees to waste time waiting for elevators.

And they would probably need to build a separate lobby for the observatory for security reasons.

It’s not impossible to do, but I imagine the costs would quickly add up.

I can get behind this. I’m a sucker for observation decks.

30 Hudson has amazing views from the top floor. The completely unobstructed view of the harbor to the south is mesmerizing.

1 WTC has the only public observatory with a similar view, but even there you can’t avoid the buildings in the foreground.

The property is definitely owned by NJ Transit. They also own a few adjacent parcels.

In fact, they are seeking proposals from developers to do mixed use, transit-oriented development in this area and on other NJTransit properties.

The agency has recently begun to look for ways to monetize its property holdings to help fill holes in their budget.

More info here.

I complain about PATH a lot, but I’ll admit that it’s better than most American transit systems in terms of late night service.

But we deserve so much better than what we have now. There hasn’t been any significant improvement to trans-Hudson rail infrastructure in over a century. The off-peak trains run less frequently than they did in the past.

The Port Authority isn’t entirely blameless. They own the entire complex and I’m pretty sure Westfield’s lease for the Oculus doesn’t cover anything within the PATH fare area.

They should at least put a departure board on that huge blank wall on the western end of the turnstile level. Everyone would be able to see before they swipe in.

The subway connections to the outer boroughs might be just as infrequent as the PATH, but at least those people don’t always need to make transfers or pay double fares.

For example, WTC might be a quick 10 minute trip from JC. But how many people actually have the WTC area as their final destination? Most people are probably going to need to transfer to a different part of the city. Those kinds of trips are less desirable than a simple one-seat ride between Manhattan and, say, Park Slope.

But in OP’s case, they already live in Brooklyn and commute to FiDi.

Moving to downtown JC near a PATH stop probably wouldn’t add more than 5-10 minutes to their commute. Depending on how deep in Brooklyn they live, moving to JC might even shorten their commute.

>And you’re two stops from Grove to the WTC. That essentially makes downtown Manhattan part of your neighborhood. People travel further than two stops in NYC and still consider themselves on their home turf, but somehow the state line predisposes people to think they’re further than they actually are. I blame the MTA map.

The problem is the infrequent PATH service on nights and weekends. That 10 minute trip from Grove to WTC can easily turn into 30+ minutes if you don’t time the trains correctly. Psychologically, standing around on a station platform and waiting for 20+ minutes is kind of a big deal. Adding a subway transfer to that trip will turn off a lot of people.

The NYC subway runs trains frequently enough that most people never feel the need to consult a schedule. Once you have to consult a schedule before riding a train, it is no longer a seamless experience.

That’s why New Yorkers make such a big deal about coming to JC. Coming here via PATH is not a seamless experience unless they’re traveling during weekday rush hours.

It would be a game changer if the WTC line ran every 7-8 minutes from 9am to 9pm on weekends.

That’s what I thought too. But my wheels got stolen a month or two after I bought the car and it ended up being close to a $10k claim because of the damage the thieves caused in the process.

I sent the car to the body shop of my choosing and got all OEM replacement parts. I didn’t have any trouble getting Geico to pay out the claim and they didn’t hike my rates after that. So my experience with them has been OK so far.

Just sell your car and see what life is like without it for a few months. You can always buy another one, especially since car prices are finally starting moderate.

Personally, I lived here for 3 years without a car before I decided to buy one. I only use my car once or twice a week, but for me it’s worth it to have the ability to leave town spontaneously. It’s definitely more of a luxury than a necessity.

I mainly bought a car because I got into hiking and I found that dealing with rentals got to be really annoying.

The traditional rental car places can be frustrating to deal with. Sometimes the JC Hertz would run out of cars on holiday weekends and ruin my plans even though I had a “reservation.”

Even Zipcar was a hassle because I found that the cars near me were always booked up when I wanted one. And when you do get a Zipcar, you’re constantly looking at the clock and stressing out about returning it on time.

I don’t think this is always the case.

I went 3 years without a car and without auto insurance. When I got a car again, I ended up with a pretty reasonable insurance premium.

But I did have to shop around. My previous insurer was State Farm and their quote was significantly higher than what Geico quoted me for the same level of coverage.

Also important to note that rates vary by address/zip code. JC has higher than average insurance rates, so if you live in a different area than you did when you last had a car then that might explain some of the sticker shock.

I would guess it’s probably strong winds combined with a rising tide. Plus maybe storm water draining into the river from upstream?

High tide is at 8:38am and 9:14pm today according to this.

For PATH, it’s best to keep an eye on their Twitter account.

If ice does turn out to be an issue, you won’t find out until they start cancelling trains. They’re not going to give people much advance notice because the conditions are too unpredictable.

For what it’s worth, PATH seems to be pretty reliable during winter storms except when there’s heavy snowfall and snow drifts impacting the outdoor tracks. Even then, they are usually back to normal within a few hours.

It could be a million different things. E.g., do you have your own business? Need advice for saving for college and retirement in a tax efficient manner? Any tricky investment-related stuff to deal with? Those are the type of things people tend to want to talk to a professional about. For the more complicated stuff, you don’t want to go to a random person at a place like H&R Block or whatever.

On the flip side, if your personal situation is fairly simple and you only have W-2 income plus maybe some interest and dividend income, then practically any tax preparer should be competent enough to handle that.

I don’t think any original residents were around in 1979. I think that would be more like 1579.

/s

You’re whining about a tongue-in-cheek Reddit post.

How ironic.

The tree in the tunnel is back. I’ve seen it several times in the past 2 weeks.

Almost certainly not. The new train cars are the same model as the current ones.

The NJ Transit bus system is very confusing for new and infrequent users. Especially when it comes to calculating the correct fare.

And I say that as someone who’s had very little trouble riding buses in other countries where I don’t even speak the language.

True, but OP asked what it takes to live comfortably.

Personally, I wouldn’t consider spending 30% of your income on rent to be a comfortable lifestyle, but that’s subjective.

A loaf of dark chocolate babka from Babka Bailout.

They opened a new shop in The Heights recently.