Friday, July 18, 2008

And This Very Colorful Tourist Destination Of Course Is?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Right. Cape May. New Jersey’s southern tip.

Just 40 miles beyond Atlantic City!

You can’t miss it. At least, we hope not....

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Tonight: Key Hearing On Huge Traffic-Making Jumbo To Our North

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

The Riverview. About 1,000 yards north of the Galaxy, on the river side of River Road.

North of the Watermark and the Mirabelle. Just this side of the forthcoming I-Park (Unilever), and across from the River Road intersection with Bulls Ferry Road.

First described here and most recently here. Next post, more on the environmental campaign for that park, perhaps now the only way of stopping this destructive monster..

This one is so large that it will loom over River Road like a giant casino. Very bad traffic implications for Bulls Ferry Road. Also for a very congested stretch of River Road. Plus problems for North Bergen’s schools and police, and the overloaded sewage plant which we share.

In fact, this developer is almost uniquely greedy. So desperate is he to cram more and more and more residences onto the site that all parking is to be by valet, so as to squeeze in even more vehicles. You want to get to the hospital or your office in a hurry? Good luck! Call the valet, and maybe an hour later, after 18 other cars have been moved around, you get to head out.

THAT should sell a lot of apartments.

Bergen Ridge on Bulls Ferry Road (shots of them and their views below) would lose much of their river views, and the road itself would turn into a nightmare of a drive. They have been putting up a huge legal fight with John Lamb as their lawyer. Woodcliff Gardens at cliff-top (shots of them also below) would also see their views and traffic severely affected. They also are being very vocal at the hearings.

Tonight at 7:00 at the North Bergen Town Hall on Kennedy Boulevard at 43rd Street. Great if you could be there.

[Townhouses, not shown in these renderings, are now proposed to front the development by the Hudson Walkway]

Below: Severly affected are Bergen Ridge (white townhouses) and Woodcliff Gardens (brick clifftop apartments)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

What You Need to Know About Your Spouse’s Finances

Posted by Steven & Carole Rosen

Failure to share information can magnify problems in a crisis.

Are you and your spouse completely familiar with each other’s financial situation? Are critical documents up to date? Are you prepared if a spouse is incapacitated or dies?

You need to know where everything is kept and be sure everything is up to date.

It’s essential to have up-to-date knowledge of the details and location of each other’s financial records and documents. Some insurance policies and investment accounts may only have annual statements. It could be months before some kind of notification arrives in the mail. If you have stock or bond certificates that haven’t been converted to digital records, you may never receive any notification.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Retiring Early

Posted by Steven & Carole Rosen

Most of us fantasize about being able to retire at a young age.

For a number of Americans, it is not just a fantasy, but a reality. A few even manage to do it by the time they reach their 30s. There are different ways that people approach an early retirement strategy, but one aspect is consistent for most – it requires careful planning.

The appeal of early retirement is obvious. Along with having more free time, fewer demands and reduced stress, you also benefit from the advantage of still being in the prime of your health. A benefit of leaving fulltime work well before a traditional retirement age is the ability to do more physically than if they wait until age 65 or later to retire.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

And This Very Colorful Maritime Destination Is?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

8

Right. The US’s oldest seaport. Gloucester in Massachusetts.

About 30 miles north of Boston. South shore of Cape Ann. A long half-day’s drive from our own area,

Built originally to kill whales. Most recently the home of the vessels whose epic tale became The Perfect Storm. One of which, of course, never came back.

A very colorful town, and surrounded by other good destinations.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

And This Not-Too-Distant Tourist Destination Of Course Is?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Right. Shelburne Falls. In north-western Massachusettes.

You can get there in about three hours. It’s about half an hour east of the Berkshires - and the amazing and increasingly famous Museum of Contemporary Arts in North Adams.

Shelburne Falls is not only just a beautiful place. It is is one of the very best craft villages in our entire greater area. Many working craftsmen make it their home.

Shots below are of the very scenic surrounding area. The second-to-last shot of course is of a… Well done!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #8: Structural Engineers Consider This Dangerously Nuts

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]


[Previous posts in our series here]

Shots of the giant chain netting holding up the severely-hacked cliff on Church Hill Road.

Good luck with that one. Engineers we showed these shots to could not believe their eyes.

To them, not only is this work amateur, profoundly ugly, and degrading of our neighborhood and the Palisades generally.

There seems zero chance that this solution will hold up for the long term. Probably not even for the short term. And for the next X million years… ?

Yeah. Well. As we’ve explained previously the Palisades cliffs are not stable and forever. They evolve remorselessly on, as a real work in progress. There is erosion of the surface (macro and micro - boulders and sand), fault lines opening within, and deep below, the ever-present earthquake threat.

Here you can see a train-wreck almost being MADE to happen…

Needlessly. Stupidly in economic terms. And without any Plan B....

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #7: Why Did The Church Hill Road Hack Have To Be So Gigantic?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]


[Previous posts in our series here]

Believe this or not....

The views from those townhouses, set far back from the river, are WORSE than just about ANY views from anywhere in the Galaxy.

The lower floors of these plywood boxes look onto the backs of some cottages (shots directly below). And the higher floors look onto a mess of street cables, and a very busy River Road, and our local Superfund site!!

But it was not for some truly crappy views that the gigantic hack was executed.

We gather the story actually goes something like this.

The developer apparently wanted to put maybe 60 townhouses on the site. In TWO ROWS. Hence the huge depth of the excavation.

But if those townhouses at front have crappy views, you can imagine the “views” of any townhouses directly behind!!

And anyway the developer apparently needed many more dwellings, to pay the huge bill for removing all of that rock.

So the developer dropped the more-townhouses idea. In favor of a huge and dominating tower block (renderings at bottom here) at the east end of the street.

Not yet approved.

And right now, North Bergen have a moratorium on new projects on Church Hill. While the town plan gets an overdue update updated - from what looks seriously like the 19th century version.

The developer must be really sweating this one. Good.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #6: Nastiest And Ugliest Of New Cliff Hacks

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]


[Previous posts in our series here]

Above, the Palisades cliff in north North Bergen, as it was just three years ago. And give or take some erosion, for 190 million years before that.

Below, the same stretch of Palisades cliffs today. With several thousand tons of rock removed. And of course, as they now will be for millions of years. If they dont erode or collapse first.

Draped with a huge eyesore of a chain net, which is visible for at least one mile north. Presumably to be replaced every few years - for the next X million years.

Four months ago, the New York Times made scathing comments about this very project.

We are told the epic mess is the work of one Steve Silverman. Apparently a neophite large-scale developer, who normally sticks to less outrageous conversions in Hoboken.

Three-four years ago, the North Bergen approval boards claimed themselves powerless to stop the huge hack, as the town plan was showing legal building sites there.

And now? In face of the continuing outcry, the Town Council and Planning Boards do seem to be doing a U-turn on respecting the Palisades.

Finally. More coming up.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

And This Local Tourist Attraction Of Course Is?

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Right! Kykuit Manor.

On a mountain-top north-east of the Tappan Zee Bridge. First of the great Hudson Valley mansions. And almost in line of sight from the Galaxy.

Built in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller, flush with Standard Oil’s real-life Monopoly money. Where grandsons Nelson and David Rockefeller largely spent their childhood. Nelson later lived at Kykuit and collected the scuptures you can see here.

Great landscaped gardens. Spectacular Hudson views. The house interior and stables are worth the tour alone. And about those sculptures:

The real treasure is grandson Nelson’s extensive modern art collection, including striking wool tapestries by Picasso, as well as important works by David Smith, Louise Nevelson, and Henry Moore, two of whose sculptures adorn formal gardens designed by William Welles Bosworth.

Directions at bottom here.

Directions for getting there:

By car: Cross the Tappan Zee Bridge and take Exit 9 at Tarrytown. Go two miles north on Route 9. The Kykuit Visitor Center is at Philipsburg Manor, on the left. You are taken up by bus to Kykuit itself. By rail: Via Metro North Railroad (Tarrytown Station) from Grand Central Station.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Wolves! Always Good For A Day Trip

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Half a day at New Jersey’s one wolf sanctuary will jolt your reality and stick in your mind.

Wolves are built lighter than dogs. In the wild, they can pad along lightly for 100 miles or more daily without even getting breathless.

They have perhaps the strongest jaws in creation, and surely the most haunting and beautiful of howls in all nature.

These Jersey wolves DO howl. And very good eye contact - they stare back at you like you’re their lunch! People just love ‘em.

The four or five different kinds of wolves (total close to 30 plus some wildcats and foxes) at the Lakota Wolf Preserve look stunning, both now and (when they look completely different) in deep snow in winter.

Directions: Map at bottom here. The sanctuary is high in a forest off Interstate 80 (exit 4) a few miles short of the Delaware Water Gap. Head north on Route 94, and then at Hainsburg, head left up Mount Pleasant Road to the camp.

The sanctuary layout is such (you will see) that you will be totally SURROUNDED by the wolves. And the explanations and stories are funny, interesting, and often real moving.

Note on the shots: These are from the website. There’s a double chain fence that makes outside shots impossible. They charge photographers a fee to shoot photos inside. We didn’t yet pay it - though we are tempted.

An enterprising and very nice team runs it. A good story in themselves.

And below: the bob-cats and Arctic foxes that also have a sanctuary to call home

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #5: This Bridge Is Stupidly One Of Jersey's Most Dangerous

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]


[Previous posts in our series here]

This bridge is on the most dangerous list of the State of New Jersey.

Less than five minutes north of us, on Boulevard East. Across from 77th Street, in the town of North Bergen. Across River Road from the Palisades Hospital.

This is one of the infamous box-girder bridges. The ones known for a strange quirk: they keep falling down.

Another at risk carries us from Secaucus to the Meadowlands.  And another at risk takes us from Jersey City to Newark Airport.

But there is ANOTHER infamous reason why THIS bridge is ESPECIALLY prone to failure…

It sits directly above one of the largest hacks ever made into the Palisades cliffs.

It was stupidly authorized. And thousands of tons of rock were removed from below that bridge. To make way for what became… a mere warehouse. Torn down in 2005 to make way for… a mere condo.

The Palisades cliffs keep eroding.

Historically, they were twice their present height, and their cliff-face was a lot closer to the Hudson River.

Check the photo here for the large mound of earth and rock in front. Once ALL of that earth and rock was part of the Palisades.

Same thing is happening on this very site. Rocks keep breaking loose, and they come tumbling down. This bridge here was rebuilt only 10 years ago. Precisely because its support strata kept eroding.

Guess what is going to happen? That bridge will have to be rebuilt, again and again, once every 20 or 30 years. Throughout all future history.

And WE will be paying for it all. That is for sure. Because someone wanted a warehouse. And now a condo.

And North Bergen okayed them.

Below: Five shots on Boulevard East at 77th; the anti-suicide fence is because of the sheer drop below

Below: This is the (so-far) more stable southern bridge. It too will definitely not last forever

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Bizarre Hoboken Waterfront Standoff Continues

Posted by Peter Quennell

Hoboken is doing a good job with its waterfront development.

Some of the fronting buildings are a little bland but this effect is a good one. And we do like the walkway.

Meanwhile this eyesore continues to linger.

The protestors are right, and it is good that this was stopped.

The once-respected Stevens Institute was underhand, arrogant, and aggressively litigious on this one. It made itself a lot of enemies, and the bad feelings are proving slow to dissipate.

Stevens clearly ignored the zoning, lacked the proper approvals, knew the new traffic would make haywire of existing traffic on Frank Sinatra Drive, and went ahead anyway - with a whole team of lawyers wanting to sue anything that moved.

And now Hoboken is stuck with this eyesore. Right across from this.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #4: The Fine Well-Preserved North Edgewater Section

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

Panoramic sweep from the bridge down to the Binghamton area. Nearly three miles.

Please focus on the green? There sure is a lot of it, and it is only very rarely broken into by anything new.

As you’d expect of Edgewater, a town with a personality as strong as Hoboken’s, and with a mayor, council and town residents who care.

In th winter of course, with the foliage gone, the look is somewhat different. The cliffs actually show through in some places. An equally great view.

With luck, these summer and winter views will be sitting there steady-state for many years to come.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Money-Wise Advice for New Grads

Posted by Steven & Carole Rosen

At this time of year, many recent graduates are leaving collegiate life behind and embarking on their first “real” career.

It’s an exciting time, but it’s also a time of new financial responsibilities. If you know someone taking their first steps into the work world, the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA) advises that there are several money-wise steps to make sure recent grads start off on sound financial footing:

Create a Savings Plan

Create a realistic budget that balances what you take home in your paycheck against your regular monthly expenses. Among your expenses, include a small amount that will go directly into a savings account. Although your money may not stretch very far at first, it’s important to make savings a habit as soon as possible. When you need the cash for an emergency — or for a well-deserved splurge — you’ll be glad you have a savings plan.

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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Tackling Money Concerns in Remarriage

Posted by Steven & Carole Rosen

Roughly 75 percent of those who have been divorced will ultimately remarry, according to government statistics.

Money can be a source of tension in any relationship, but that there are steps that couples who are remarrying can take to preserve harmony, advises the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA):

Take a New Approach

Old habits die hard, but you may have to change some of your spending, saving and planning habits in a new marriage. While many newlyweds are just beginning their adult lives together, those who are getting remarried already have experience in sharing a household with another person and making financial decisions together. Their approaches to money may be completely different.

One person may have spent a lifetime being a meticulous planner, while the other may never have reconciled his/her checking account statements. It’s a good idea to understand these differences now and to develop a financial approach that will suit your new family. Decide how you will make decisions and monitor your finances. This is also a good time to discuss your near- and long-term financial goals to be sure you are on the same page. Discuss any previous divorce decrees and if they include payments to a former spouse or children that will affect your financial future together.

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Can You Identify This Tourism Destination?

Posted by Peter Quennell

Right.

Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds. A small lake high in the Adirondacks.

The original source of our own River Hudson.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Trader Joe's: Okay, So We Underrated It Too!

Posted by The GR Team

[click for larger images]

Who didn’t!

A quirky place, Slate says. We thought it was a nothing, until serious food shoppers set us right.

Strong to fanatical about organics, flavors, and keeping the costs down. It pays staff well for retail (like Costcos and Vitamin Shoppe) which maybe explain the over-caffeineted aura - not that we don’t like that, though.

Oh and a really informed and gung-ho customer base. Picky picky picky.

Trader Joe’s is not yet a huge chain (around 300 stores nationwide, roughly the same as Whole Foods) but it sure is on fire. Founded in the 1970s by Joe Coulombe on the 7/11 convenience store model and you can still see the traces.

The original in the greater NYC area opened on 14th Street east of Union Square two years ago. At weekends now it is like a zoo in there. There are about a dozen Trader Joe’s within an hour’s drive of us, and the store in Paramus on Route 17 seems to be the busiest.

Now we seem to be there every weekend. Oooo-kay....

Above: Our Trader Joe’s in Edgewater. Below: East 14th Street in Manhattan and Route 17 in Paramus

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #3: Now Take A Look At The Palisades Themselves

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

So. How do you think the cliffs stand up?!

Compared with other cliffs here and around the world, which you can see in the two posts below? Two obvious comparisons where they come off pretty well:

• They sure are long. One of the longest single granite cliffs in the world. By our estimation, maybe 40 miles long, from Jersey City to Fort Lee (our section; shots soon), and on to Piermont, Nyack and Hook Mountain just this side of Haverstraw (shots here now).
• They sure are high. Especially north of the G-W Bridge: over 500 feet at their highest point, where the two lookouts are on the Palisades Parkway (great views from there, by the way). Hook Mountain north of Nyack (above) is 730 feet.

As you might conclude from these shots, the rockface seems to be at its most spectacular in winter, when the foliage hides nothing, and they often glow red around sunrise.

Notes on their geology and history down below.

And next week, the contentious parts. Our parts. South of the G-W Bridge.

Above and first four shots below: The north Palisades in winter

From the Wikipedia here is their geology:

The cliffs are the margin of a diabase sill, formed approximately 200 million years ago at the close of the Triassic Period by the intrusion of molten magma upward into sandstone. The molten material cooled and solidified before reaching the surface. Subsequent water erosion of the softer sandstone left behind the columnar structure of harder rock that exists today. The cliffs are approximately 300 ft (100 m) thick in sections and were probably originally 1,000 ft (300 m) high...

Below: The north Palisades with their foliage cover in summer

From the New York Times here is their recent history:

At the turn of the century, when the Palisades were being blasted to rubble for construction traprock, civic outcries from New York and New Jersey stopped the quarrying. A substantial appropriation from both states, coupled with gifts of land from J. P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller Jr., helped preserve much of the cliffs and waterfront in Bergen and Rockland Counties.

Landmark legislation by both states in 1900 laid the groundwork for a bistate commission that ultimately came to supervise Palisades Interstate Park. With its 300-foot cliffs [peak height is 500-plus feet] towering above the Hudson, the park is one of the most beautiful and spectacular in the region. [In 1983] the Secretary of the Interior designated 13 miles of the Palisades - from Fort Lee north to Sparkill NY - a National Natural Landmark in recognition of its geological significance.

Shots below and the painting: The north Palisades in the fall

A note here on the Hudson School painting by Samford Gifford below:

"Sunset Over The Palisades on the Hudson,” by Sanford R. Gifford, oil on canvas, 18 1/8 by 34 1/8 inches, 1879, private collection

[This] much later work, “Sunset Over The Palisades On The Hudson,” a 18 1/8-by-34 1/8-inch oil on canvas that he painted in 1879, is the quintessential Gifford painting, an evocative work that epitomizes the glories of the Hudson River and the lush nostalgia of approaching twilight.

Like many of John F. Kensett’s Luminist shore scenes, Gifford has pushed the landmass to one side and slightly animated the waters with sailboats and the sky with minimal clouds.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #2: Some Great Cliffs Elsewhere In The US

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

The messages in these shots seems clear enough.

The United States has some really amazing cliff-faces: sea-cliffs and otherwise, some of which just leave the rest of the world standing for height, color, and drama.

But the really majestic cliffs (no surprises here) are all out west, starting with Hawaii and Alaska, on through Arizona and California, and concluding with Colorado and New Mexico.

The only cliff-face we could find in the north-east - in all of the east - resembling the Palisades cliffs is about a hour’s drive away. The Shawangunk Ridge, on NY’s Route 17.

Very scenic, but noticeably smaller. The Palisades cliffs really ARE rather special.

Next post: the Palisade cliffs themselves.

Above and two shots below: Molokai, Kauai, and the Big Island, in Hawaii; volcanic rock, not very hard

Below: Many great granite cliffs in the vast national parks of Alaska as you’d kinda expect

Below: Soft sandy sea-cliffs along the Oregon coast, spectacular but in steady erosion

Two below: Granite at Yosemite Falls, and the 4,000 foot sheer drop down from Glacier Point

Below: Obviously, the Grand Canyon; soft rock if it is even rock at all; some wonderful strata, though

Below: Cliffs in the great canyonlands of southern Utah, surely the most extensive cliffs in the world

Below: Ancient cliff dwellings in a sandstone cliff-face in northern New Mexico

Below: Sandstone cliffs at the southern tip of the Rockies in southern Colorado

Below: Dull, right? East of the Mississippi, cliffs are much smaller; this is in the Appalachians

Two below: The Shawangunk Ridge on Route 17, about one hour’s drive north-west

Below: Granite cliff face, rock-climbers’ heaven, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Below: Red sandstone cliffs, among Maine’s highest (sorry guys) in the Arcadia National Park

Monday, June 16, 2008

Preserving The Palisades #1: Some Great Cliffs Elsewhere In The World

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

The Palisades cliffs at their highest eight miles north (shots here soon) are over 500 feet high.

Some cliffs, those. Higher than any one of the three Galaxy towers for example. Unusual for anywhere in the US, and maybe unique east of the Mississippi.

We’ve been checking Google Images for other sea-related and river-related cliffs around the world. Not a lot of really high cliffs show up. It seems most of the world’s countries have no cliffs at all. Or anyway, none of real consequence.

The few that do have high sea cliffs are mostly in north-west Europe (Ireland, Scotland, England and Norway), southern Europe (Italy’s west coast), and Latin America (Chile). Also Canada (Newfoundland) and China (the great gorges) have some awesome rock-faces. And as for Venezuela, it has… the Angel Falls cliffs!

Images of great foreign cliffs here. And in the next post, images of great American cliffs; some at least as awesome.

Above and two below: Moher cliffs in western Ireland; highest sea-cliffs in Europe, and most photographed

Below: Pacific coast cliffs of Chile, one of several great sea-cliffs in southern Latin America

Two below: The highest English sea-cliffs; the chalk cliffs at Dover and the granite cliffs in north Devon

Below: Sea-cliffs in the Orkney islands off northern Scotland, like many much used by birds for breeding

Below: Sea-cliffs of western Newfoundland island in north-east Canada; even more bird-breeding done here

Two below: Sea-cliffs on the western Italian coast; trust us, these images don’t really do them justice

Below: Sea-cliffs in a deep saltwater fiord in southern New Zealand known as Milford Sound

Below: Cliffs in the gorge of the Yangtse River in east-central China, below the Three Gorges Dam

Two below: The Angel Falls cliffs in Venezuela; they don’t fit our definition of sea and river cliffs - so shoot us!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Times Square's All-Glass Tkts Ramp Should Be Worth The Wait

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

One day, those red glass steps (now half complete) will glow softly in the dark.

Really.

But the new Tkts ramp is sure taking its time about getting there. Twenty-six months now and counting. Notional deadlines of New Year’s Eve of 2006 and 2007 were both missed.

Why? Well, it’s complicated. Verrrry complicated.

In fact this structure is unique in the world today. An essentially all-glass structure that must support up to 1500 sightseers. The glass will also support itself. Steel beams are there too, for standby, but the glass would carry that load even without them.

The ultra-strong tempered and laminated glass comes from an Austrian glass manufacturer, which took over mid-project from a Scottish manufacturer that went bankrupt.

Here’s a description of just how complex the glasswork is; it’s by the lead glass engineer. And here is the stress-test engineer describing just how tough the glass is.

Curbed New York’s most recent stories on the ramp’s ups and downs are here and here and here.

And the Wired New York thread from which several of the shots were taken is here.

Hopefully we’ll all be sitting up there one day. Soon…