It’s not the total dollar amount that matters, it’s the dollars per capita.

Households in the suburban NJ generally have higher incomes than urban households, which means they pay higher taxes per capita and receive less in return in the form of school tax subsidies relative to their urban counterparts.

Which means that taxpayers in JC may collectively pay more in total tax dollars than, say, Paramus taxpayers, but that does not mean that the tax burden is “fair” on an individual level.

I’m not taking a side in this debate, just trying to explain the math.

This is not accurate.

> no landlord of any dwelling as defined in § 260-1

That part is very important. These provisions only apply to apartments that are subject to the city’s rent control ordinance.

Most buildings built in the past 30 years or so are not subject to rent control. Many older properties are also not covered by the ordinance.

I used to work nearby before COVID too. It was only busy on weekdays until like 6:30pm or 7pm. It was a complete ghost town on weekends.

I know it’s technically a historic building, but I think they should’ve just demolished the whole building instead of renovating. The layout of this massive multi-block long building is inherently uninviting and I don’t think the renovation did enough to change that.

More like Luxury Ave. nowadays, amirite?

/s

Last I checked, you need to take at least 43 rides a month for a monthly PATH pass to be cheaper.

For the NYC subway, the OMNY system has automatic fare capping if you use contactless payment. That essentially means that you will never pay more than $33 a week as long as you use the same contactless card with every ride. At most, that works out to be about $5 more expensive than a monthly metrocard which is a flimsy plastic card that you’ll have to buy and refill at a vending machine.

The best of both worlds is a Smartlink pass for PATH with auto-refill enabled (you don’t have to buy a monthly pass for that) and a contactless credit/debit card or digital wallet to use with OMNY readers on the NYC subway and buses.

You will never have to wait in line to deal with a vending machine again.

But not everyone in Weehawken works or shops exclusively in NYC.

The light rail wasn't intended simply to provide a connection to transit to NYC. It also improved transit connectivity within Hudson County (+ maybe Bergen county at some point) as an alternative to the traffic clogged streets.

I know people who live in Port Imperial and take the light rail to work in downtown Jersey City. Such a commute would not be as attractive without the light rail. A bus would likely be slower and less reliable without a dedicated right of way like the light rail has.

I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule.

I’ve lived in buildings that would do free replacements of water filters, air filters, and even light bulbs (if they were in fixtures that are hard to reach without a ladder or required an unusual bulb).

My current landlord mails me a package of filters every 6 months and I just swap them out myself.

I don’t know all the legal technicalities, but some stations like Christopher St and 9th street aren’t required to be accessible because they are so old.

Generally, public spaces only need to be made accessible when there’s a major renovation or if it’s new construction. But even then, there could be exemptions due to impracticality. For example, the Christopher St station would need a major reconfiguration to be made accessible.

However, WTC is practically brand new and it’s pretty inexcusable, if not illegal, if they don’t maintain accessibility there.

A foreign tourist in Times Square trying to haggle with illegal street dealers? Sound like a great way to get ripped off.

OP: just take an Uber to Zen Leaf in Elizabeth. Avoid making the trip during rush hour. The product might seem pricy, but at least it’s regulated and you know exactly what you’re getting.

To piggyback off of this: how is it that a bunch of suburbs got dispensaries opened well before JC?

Is the state somehow causing the hold up or did the city just completely drop the ball on this?

You really shouldn’t be relying on random people on the internet to answer these questions for you.

You should seek the advice of an experienced real estate agent and/or a lawyer to look into the HOA’s finances and the status of any litigation.

The housing market is pretty jacked up right now.

One reason is that a lot of people are disincentivized from moving because it would mean giving up the mortgage they refinanced at ~2.75% 2 years ago in exchange for a new mortgage at close to 7%.

That translates into fewer people listing their homes for sale. But that does not necessarily mean that buying an apartment the Beacon is a good investment now.

I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in a JC building with full amenities with HOA fees under <$400.

Even if the HOA is skimping on maintenance, the staff wages add up pretty quickly.

Nope, it wasn’t downtown. Too small a building to name specifically without doxxing myself.

High property taxes are not what killed Detroit. The decline of manufacturing and the rise of suburban sprawl are what killed Detroit.

There is nothing of that scale currently happening in JC or in the broader metro area. It would take a protracted financial crisis or other major event for that to happen.

If anything, higher property taxes are a symptom of increasing prosperity because they generally reflect the fact that property values are also rising. Property prices and rents only go up as long as people are willing and able to pay them.

It’s not such a black and white issue in my experience.

I’ve lived in both and each has its pluses and minuses.

For what it’s worth, I used to live in an 1890s building that appeared to be very solid. The apartment was huge with taller ceilings than you’d find in any high rise, but the building turned out to have the worst sound insulation of any place I’ve ever lived.

Personally, the convenience factor of a doorman building is worth it to me. A few months ago, I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment late on a Saturday night. Didn’t realize it until I got home around 1 or 2am. I simply asked the doorman for my spare key and problem solved.

In my old building, which had no live-in super and a landlord who lived 1,000 miles away, that same situation would’ve been a big hassle.

I’ve also rarely have to wait more than 2-3 minutes for a package. And I never have to worry about being home to make sure a valuable package isn’t stolen off the front stoop.

Assuming a 1.6% tax rate, a $40k property tax bill implies an assessed value of around $2.5 million, which may even be below the property’s market value despite the recent reval.

All I’m saying is that at the end of the day, they will probably emerge from this situation in a better financial position than most.

Sure, it’s sucks to be forced to move because you can’t afford the property taxes on your dream home, but so many people are being forced to move under much worse circumstances than your friends. Hence my lack of sympathy.

> So put yourself in my friend’s shoes and and ask yourself what do I get in return?

Since they bought and renovated the house over a decade ago, they’ve likely had plenty of opportunities to sell it for a decent profit in the last couple years. Not to mention that the first $500,000 of the capital gains from selling a primary residence are exempt from federal income taxes for a married couple filing jointly.

In short, I have practically zero empathy for them. If they can afford to pay $40k in annual property taxes, they are doing better than the vast majority of households.

> they would hear running, screeching and screaming outside their apartments

It was probably just one of the neighborhood crackheads. /s

But seriously, I lived there in the Criterion for 2 years. That building was originally a tuberculosis hospital and then a nursing home. So I’m sure lots of people died there over the years.

I was sick one night with a high fever and thought I saw a man dressed in white standing at the end of my bed. But I’m pretty sure it was just a fever dream and I don’t count it as a paranormal experience.