e right how you hey good evening everyone we're about to get started if we can silence our cell phones and if someone would be kind enough to close the back door and any side doors that are open I greatly appreciate it
thank you so much good evening everyone we are on the record today is Thursday the 13th day of February in the year 2025 this is a regular meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 6 PM start the clock on my
cell phone is showing 6:04 p.m. maybe have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting council person Ridley here council person priner here council person bajano council person SLE is not here yet council person Solomon here council
person Gilmore is not here yet council person Dees here council person Rivera here and council president Waterman here we have seven council members in attendance at 6:04 PM can we kindly rise for a moment
of silence please I'd like to dedicate this moment of silence to Joseph coor Senor father of Joe coor director of the MUA Gary Greenberg thank you very much on behalf of council president Waterman and the members of the municipal Council in accordance with
New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of City Hall the annual notice which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the
municipal Council for the calend the year 2025 and filed in the office of the city clerk on Friday November 15 2024 in addition at its time its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday February 7th 2025
at 5:45 p.m. to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator Corporation Council and the local newspapers and post it on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law before we get before we move I'm want to make
Mark council person Cay present at 6:06 PM so now we have eight council members present all right if you would allow me to read the
first readings into the record Doge me for a couple minutes because there are quite a few of them right first one item 3.1 city ordinance 25- 009 is an ordinance amending chapter 69 special Improvement districts
revising Article 2 Central Avenue special improvement district excuse me to be consistent with the other special Improvement districts implementing articles item 3.2 city ordinance 25- 010 is an ordinance supplementing chapter
131 uniform Form Construction codes adopting the updated construction site safety manual 2024 Edition and requirements for stand pipes incorporating the safety regulations contained therein by reference into chapter
131 item 3.3 city ordinance 25-11 is an ordinance amending chapter 160 fees and charges amending the fee schedule for City owned Pro city-owned and operated swimming pools at persing field pool Pavone municipal pool and
Lafayette Aquatic Center item 3.4 city ordinance 25- 012 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stopping amending section 332-2491 Sussex Street item 3.5 city
ordinance 25- 013 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 9 parking for the de table of the Jersey city code designating reserved parking space at various locations throughout the city item 3.6 city ordinance 25-
014 an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations Section 332 d8 prohibited right turns on red signal to prohibit turns on red at all times at multiple locations in proximity to
schools parks and protected bike bicycle Lanes item 3.7 city ordinance 25- 015 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stopping amending section
332-2437 along 9th Street East of eie Street item 3.8 city ordinance 25- 016 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stopping amending section 332 -24 parking prohibited at
certain hours on danith Avenue Early Childhood Center 160 danith Avenue item 3.9 city ordinance 25- 017 is an ordinance approving a 20 23-year tax exemption authorizing a financial
agreement for multiple site affordable rental project previously renovated by Roseville Avenue Redevelopment urban renewal pursuant to New Jersey housing and mortgage Finance Act of 1983 as amended supplemented by njsa 55 colon4
K-1 exec and the rules pregated under nj5 colon 80-1 EXA item 3.10 res excuse me ordinance 25- 018 is a franchise ordinance granting permission to St George and St
Cuda Coptic Orthodox Church to encroach onto the public right of way sidewalk along the frontage of 395 Sip Avenue block 11 180101 lot one and item 3.11 city ordinance 25- 019
is an ordinance authorizing the city of Jersey City to execute an extension of a lease with New Jersey schools Development Authority on the real property at block 21102 lot 52 on the city's tax map located at 70 E Avenue for the purpose
of temporary parking for the vi JC service and last but not least item 3.12 ordinance 25- 020 is an ordinance expanding the boundaries of Exchange Place Alliance special improvement district to include sections of Marin
Boulevard Christopher Columbus Drive Morgan Street Bay Street First Street stuan Street and Provo Street council members are going to be taking a vote for introduction on items 3.1 through 32 council person Ridley hi for introduction council person Prince AR hi
for introduction council person banao no on 3.12 I on the rest okay council person SLE I for introduction council person Solomon I for introduction council person Gilmore is
not here council person Dees hi for introduction council person Rivera hi and council president wman introduction okay allow me to recap items 3.1 through
3.11 are intro are introduced 80 with council person Gilmore absent and item 3.12 is introduced 71 with council person bajano voting no and council person Gilmore
absent before we move on to our second reading ordinances I believe the ba would like to address the municipal Council hey Council I just wanted to uh update from the caucus on Tuesday uh 10.14 which was a resolution that we said we were going to withdraw for team
Wilderness um we were able to make the corrections on that and leave it on the agenda so um we'll be voting on the completion of all resolutions tonight from 10.1 uh to the remainder of business and including on that is also a payment to uh Team Wilderness which is
also continuously on the agenda and Sean uh I want to make a motion to table ordinance 4.1 prior to conducting the public comment second that we have a motion to
table city ordinance 24-104 prior to conducting the public hearing made by council person bajano seconded by council person Riva on the motion to table city ordinance
24-14 prior to conducting a public hearing council person Ridley hi council person Prince hi council person bana hi and one of the reasons Sean is that this has caused so much disruption uh to
people in the community uh and it it's just totally uh CA a lot of problems I vote uh I okay council person s listening to all the voices and um my Council colleagues and this needs
further input so I'm going to vote I council person Solomon I council person Dees hi council person Rea hi and council president wman motion carries 80 with council
person Gilmore absent to table city ordinance 24-104 prior to conducting a public hearing it's basically is meaning that if any form of this Sid that has to be br it would have to be brought back and reintroduced just wanted the members
of the public to to know that that the procedure and people watching at home ba yeah Sean just uh to that point some of the comments that were made by the council would trigger uh substantial changes so we'll work with the council I'm bringing it back Reen noticing and starting the
process okay on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.2 city ordinance 25 5- 001 is an ordinance adopting amendments to the moris canal Redevelopment plan including reg regarding standards and the mixed use C and mixed use e
districts this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record and I see Le L you're gonna have to bring that mic down Le with Washington what is the c and what is the
E what is the change EA explain this please Whitney on can't hear you okay uh we can look it up real quick we don't know the difference in the
designations it's to allow um for a commercial space below residential space thank you okay this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 25- 001 any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to
the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close my camera operating slacking motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 001 was made by
council person Rivera seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 001 council person Ridley hi council person priner I council person bajano council
person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president wman motion carries 0 would council person Gilmore absent to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 001
for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25- 001 council person Ridley I council person priner council person bajano council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi council person
Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance 25- 001 is adopted 80 with council person Gilmore absent on to our next second reading
ordinance item 4.3 city ordinance 25- 004 is a franchise ordinance granting permission to Sam Steinberg and his successors and assigns to use approximately 21662 square feet over the public right
of way within 50 foot of the right of way of First Street adjacent to Lots 8 n and 10 block 12603 on the official tax assessment map of the city of Jersey Jers City this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public
wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion second motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25004 was made by coun council person
rera and seconded by quickly by council president wman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 004 council person Ridley I council person priner council person
bajano C we got to make sure our mics are on council person CLE I council person Solomon hi council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president wman motion carries 80 with council
person Gilmore absent to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 004 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25-4 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi
council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Dees hi council person Ribera hi and council president wman city ordinance 25-4 is adopted 80 with council person
Gilmore absent our next second reading ordinance which is 4.4 city ordinance 25-0 005 it's an ordinance implementing Sean yeah I'll just read it into a record
implementing chapter 67 pedestrian malls article three Provo Provo Street between Bay Street and Morgan Street Pedestrian Mall before we can conduct the public hearing I believe our Corporation Council is going to redress the council as we did at the caucus on Tuesday just
a refresher sure um this is a pedestrian mall we need to do similar noticing we're going back and forth Just because there's a lot of condo units we need to make sure that they're notified so we need to carry it to make sure we conduct the proper notification so if we can move it to March 12th that would be
great 12th or to 26th may maybe the 26th because we have something else coming back on the I I would just I would just recommend the 26 to give us ample time to do the noticing sounds good okay so council members with
that being said I need a motion to carry C back excuse me oh Al suvin yeah everybody's just recognizing Al suvin here he's back in the council chambers so okay everybody can applaud
if they want I'll applaud thank you that's Grandpa all right before we get out of hand we need a motion to carry city ordinance 25 de 005 to the March 26th Municipal council meeting second we have
a motion made by Council person Riva seconded by council person CLE on the motion to carry city ordinance 25- 005 to the March 26 Municipal council meeting council person Ridley I council person Prince I council person bajano I
council person CLE I council person Solomon I council person Dees I council person Riva I and council president Wardman motion carries 80 with council person Gilmore absent to carry city
ordinance 25- 005 to the March 26 Municipal council meeting next item 4.5 city ordinance 25-6 is an ordinance of the municipal Council of the city of Jersey City amending chapter 105 demolition chapter
131 uniform construction codes chapter 160 fees and charges and chapter 345 zoning article 3 section 30 and 31 local Landmark designation standards and section 33 this is public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to
the podium and state your name for the record motion second motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 006 was made by council president wman and seconded by council person CLE on the motion to close the public
hearing on city ordinance 25-6 council person Ridley hi council person Prince hi council person bajano Hi council person s i council person Solomon hi council person Dees I council
person Rivera and council president wman motion carries 80 with council person Gilmore absent to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25-6 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25-6 council person Ridley I council
person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person s i CC person Solomon hi council person Dees council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance
25-6 is adopted 80 with council person Gilmore absent on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.6 city ordinance 25- 007 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing and
stopping amending section 33224 parking prohibited at certaint hour is at ps37 along 9th Street East of eie Street this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the
record motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25-7 was made by council person Cay seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25 days 007
council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore not here yet he's here we're closing the
public hearing on city ordinance 25 day 007 and I will also Mock You present at go 6:24 p.m. so we have all nine council members present at 6:24 on the motion to close a public
hearing just in case we forgot on city ordinance 25007 council person Dees hi council person Rivera and council president wman city ordinance 25 um excuse me motion carries 90 to close the public
hearing on ordinance 25-7 for final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 25-7 council person rley I council person priner I council person bajano I council person SLE I council person
Solomon I council person Gilmore 25- 007 4.6 you just closed the public hearing on it6 oh sorry yeah 4.6 this is for um amending article three
parking standing stopping at ps37 along 9th Street East of are council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance 25- 007 is adopted unanimously
90 we'll finish the second readings and then council person Gilmore I'll catch you up on the first readings and the rest of the second readings that you missed count um on that with that being said the last second reading ordinance item 4.7 city ordinance 25-8 is an ordinance supplementing
chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 8 permit parking section 33258 parking regulations and residential zones to amend the zone parking districts along Newark Avenue between 6th and 7th streets this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard
please come up to the podium and state your name for the record second motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25-8 was made by council president wman and I believe the second was made by council person
SLE thank you on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 008 council person Ridley hi council person Prince council person bajano I council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council
person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president Waterman City or the motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 008 for final consideration and Adoption of city
ordinance 25- 008 council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person bajano I council person SLE I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees council
person rera I and council president wman excuse me city ordinance 25- 008 is adopted unanimously 90 before before we get to our public speaking portion of
the meeting I just would like to catch council person Gilmore up on his votes on the first reading ordinances so the first reading ordinances council person Gilmore items 3.1 through
3.12 3.1 through 3.2 and we made the changes to the ordinance regarding the pools as discussed at the caucus yes I'll vote um I on all but 3.11 I'm gonna vote no on that one but I
vote I for introduction on arrest so 3.11 no yes okay okay and I on the rest also um John if we can get a Sean oh as it relates to I
know we had um got some money for like electrical vehicles with v um so if you could just update us on what if anything would happen if we decide not to use VR going forward yeah I'll give you the parameters around that money absolutely
thank you okay just bear with me one second so now the vote on I items 3.1 through 3.10 is 90 for introduction item
3.11 is 81 with council person Gilmore voting no and 3.12 is also 81 with council person bajano voting no that catches you up for the second I
mean the first readings on the to the second readings item 4.2 ordinance 25 de 001 council person Gilmore
I so city ordinance 25- 00 25-1 is is now adopted unanimously 90 our next second reading ordinance item 4.3 city ordinance 25
there 004 counc okay city ordinance 25- 004 is now adopted unanimously 90 just so you know council person
Gilmore we carried 4.4 city ordinance 25- 005 to the March 26 meeting due to having to notice all of the condo units so with that being said I would like your vote on item 4.5
city ordinance 25- 006 I okay 25-6 is now adopted unanimously
90 and I believe you were here for the rest so we are now all caught up and you are caught up everybody here and everybody watching at home is caught up so with that being said we are now going to enter our public speaking portion of the meeting I would like to remind
everyone that you have three minutes and please be courteous to the clock because we have a lot of speakers ERS listed on the agenda and we want to be kind and Cur and courteous to everyone who is speaking so please hold your applause to
the end if you could and a reminder to follow along on the agenda I'll be calling the the number and the first name of the individual with that being said speaker 5.1 lever good evening again uh I would like to address to what you all said about
the pools and Al pool and laffayette you know we have a nice outdoor round pool in the winter it' be nice if we could make that a ice skating rooming for our kids right down in that
corner by uh Maple Street which you guys think about and then the other thing in the summer our pools now in the public schools we can't use them cuz they being rented out so we need to address that and see what we can do cuz our kids need
to learn how to swim I learned how to swim in 22 pool 70 years ago I was 5 years old we had a swimming uh teacher matter of fact it was 72 years ago but we not doing for our children what was
done for everybody like sitting up there young or old our kids are standing on street corners and we got people here with kids here today that doing stuff like I do with kids the lady got a a nice after school program on Dwight and
B and ocean we got different organizations Jerry Walker different people like me but it's not enough it's not enough we need help out here to motivate our children and get them off these street corners for these
older people grab them up for 30 some years that's why I do what I do I do not get nobody's r money or none of above since I do what I do I worked with people like my lawyer that just
left and different development I said get back to the community you give to the politicians but get back to the community let us give back and teach them our kids need help out there and what what's going on now but they talking about cutting back stuff we need
help we need motivation and we need affordable housing on so proud of that building was that Harrison Avenue or free yes that building up there is all affordable we need help I get 50 calls a
day we need help with more affordable housing I did the Web building I did the Fred Martin building trying to do another we need help people need somewhere live in special what's going on now and I appreciate you guys I brought my grandson here this morning
morning this afternoon to let him learn what's going on in this city he's 11 years old and these nice young kids here older ones that we need more exposure for them thank you guys and be blessed thank you our next speaker 5.2
Edward he's not here okay next speaker 5.3 Gina I know she's here i s good evening Gina Davidson Ward F I'm speaking tonight on behalf of myself as a resident of Jersey
City Justice for drew first up I want to talk about the issue of how our city leaders choose to develop and build and generate revenue on top of where people and animals already exist we continue to give far too much power to developers and big businesses
Paul Hoffman and the Liberty Science Center are benefiting enormously from the scitec city project which has morphed into a fullon residential development project be sming one of the gems of our city Liberty State Park LSC is being allowed by this
Administration to run a muck and recently a massive fence was built cutting through the Liberty s Science Center open field near all of this construction Museum patrons have already complained they were trapped by the fence during a building evacuation so
there's a fire safety issue here um there's a recreation issue actually all the kids in Bergen Lafayette who wanted to sled this winter were disappointed this new fence cuts off the only sledding hill accessible to the neighborhood and most concerning as you can see from the pictures that I
provided is that the fence has cut off critical Wildlife pathways um we did have some deer stuck in the fence recently that had to be rescued by residents in Jersey City police department unfortunately the call never made it to animal control where it
should have but this fence never should should have been built in the first place there's a reason we have a planning board zoning board all these checks and balances that are supposed to be working to manage the change of this city over time as it evolves we know you all work very hard in reviewing
resolutions and ordinances around how we grow this city and so the problem seems to be that the system doesn't seem to be working properly allow me to join countless voices pleading with our city to slow down plan and work with residents instead of against them to enforce our
standards on these developers I also want to uh continue speaking about Rec Recreation and encourage everyone to support ordinance 25-01 co-sponsored by council person Solomon and Gilmore reversing the public
pool change changes that were passed back in 2023 we tried it as a city for a year and it didn't produce the level of revenue from non JC residents that the previous Recreation director may have been hoping for that director is no
longer here and we have removed access for countless families to a critical healthy outdoor activity this is a drop in the bucket for the city but for residents this means the difference between a family being able to cool off in the summer and have a healthy outdoor family
activity or not at all and I'm guessing that mayor FIP isn't about to host everyone in his balcony pool this summer so let's pass this ordinance thank you okay our next speaker 5.4 Tina I didn't see Tina oh oh she's there all
the way in the back it's that hat covering that beautiful hair Thea you don't want me to start the clock on you do you okay Waterman got on me last time I spoke so I don't want to mess up my guy for the position that I got of me doing
good in the community so I'm speaking upon myself that's it Tina NOS she worked for the yes I do we need good more people in the community up in City Hall so so you actually right first of all I want to say justice for
drill Justice for drill okay guys I also want to say about the pool I pray that tonight that yall do pass that that's so important again I'm going to tell a story of me working for educational Gilmore and doing the
summer program I never knew the mission of him not charging the parents for them being in at the summer camp because we needed the extra money to make sure the kids was able to eat to charge money for the pool is going to be difficult for parents to go to the pool so I think
that we need to start learning about our community whoever making these rules of of charging parents for the pools they need to be out of of being inside a politician because we all know in our community that we are very poor and we live from paycheck to paycheck so to see
somebody trying to charge us for the pool is so wrong and I want to talk about too the guys that been in the class for jery Walker they should not have to be here to look for jobs it should be jobs on the market for them to be there the developments that here in
Jersey City they end up hiring people that's not even living in our community some of them live in Virginia some of living in Florida some of them Liv in Maryland one of the guys end up joking with me about that talking about oh year he end up living in a hotel here and he
get his money from us and go back down to Maryland and live we got guys that go to these classes they want to make money too for their families they also want to live the life to able to be having a apartment that also to be able to grow in our community we should not have
Outsider I see you have some but we should also have other guys that's here in our own Community working on these project so they'll be able to survive for their family we shouldn't keep going on the same thing over and over and over and over this should be like a job if
you're not get the mission of what we should do for our community then you should be out of our community okay our next speaker 5.5 Kevin good evening I'm a ward D resident and I biked here tonight using a mix of
shared roads traditional bike Lanes protected bike lanes and I wanted to give a shout out to my ward councilman youf sle uh because last month you know even though he's been getting hit by both sides on this issue like a pinata
he came out and support of the Franklin Avenue portion of the proposed protected bike lanes and as a biker obviously you know I would benefit from the Manhattan portion but when I went out to measure it myself I can understand some of the
resistance uh and I really hope the Franklin Avenue portion can't gets I I really hope the Franklin Avenue portion can get done now I know you guys as elected officials you have to balance your constituents needs and the 800
lound gorilla in the room is that 80% of drivers that were surveyed for the protected bike Lanes oppose them all right so you know I think one thing that the city should do is throw non- bikers of bone and the biggest bone that you
can throw them is to start enforcing the traffic rules against bikers that violate traffic laws as a matter of fact when I biked here tonight I was on Columbus right by the really good Chinese uh dim some place I don't
remember their name um and there was a biker going the wrong way in the protected bike lane against me and I think oh I'm in the bike lane I'm safe but then here's this other biker treating our Jersey city streets like Mario Kart
okay I think that's wrong I think uh I don't want to see bikes on the sidewalk because I'm not on the sidewalk they should take responsibility as well now I used to be an elected official in Westchester New York and codin on Hudson and I support strongly
supported a project that is unpopular to this day to set up multiple traffic lights and a bike lane and we kept thinking oh once we do this people aren't going to be opposed to it anymore well guess what we built it and people still hate it uh my brother lives in the
area and he's older smarter and less attractive than me and people stop him in the pizza place and they complain about it thinking it's me all right so even after this happens people are still going to complain at you guys and you guys just got to focus on doing the right thing you're not going to make the bike Advocates happy because they want a
protected bike lane in every street if they had their way they'd put a protected bike lane on the palaski skyway oh shoot I think I just gave him an idea I'm sorry um you know some streets need protected bike Lanes some streets it doesn't work after you're
done with this hopefully in Franklin Avenue hopefully it happens I'm crossing my fingers you can look at doing other protected bike Lanes so next time I bike here I have more protected bike Lanes on the way over here and I don't have anybody going the wrong way on the protected bike Lanes thank
you our next speaker 5.6 sudon Sudan not here our next speaker 5.7 Jerry oh you can't miss Jerry he's a Cowboy fan but we won't hold that against
him but listen hey hey no no no no no in all fairness St Anthony's on Hall come on now Superstar thank you um good evening Council council president uh to my esteem colleagues on the council I'm
here tonight to to talk a little bit about what we're doing uh at Team Walker in terms of our vocational training and I know councilman Gilmore and Solomon you guys was at the ribbon cutting since then we have two graduation cohorts uh that we have 72 graduates with
certifications EPA certifications o 30 certifications and one of the things that I wanted to from you all what's the mandates in terms of some of the development projects that's going on right now we don't do too much development on the county level the one development project that we do have was the big courthouse and we mandated that
it was 35% minority based uh construction contracts and workers so I'm not sure what y'all have going on right now but when we go to these sites and try to get jobs they don't even they they disregard us um they just don't like like they just disregard us like
Tina was saying is a lot of these Journeymen that what we call them come from other states and they put them up into hotel rooms and we were just trying to figure out cuz we have I have my a lot of my classmates here right now and all these guys went through a rigorous program five six months and we're just
trying to figure out how we can work together uh from the county and the city perspective to ensure that our residents of Jersey City receive some of this uh these contracts and receive some money in jobs it's over a billion dollars worth of construction work going on right now throughout Jersey City and I
don't when I go to these sites none of the people from my community is benefiting from it so we trying to figure out how to work together and one of the things I did on the last uh meeting for the uh County Commissioner was to try to put together a task force because we have the Gateway tunnel
coming and I want to some of you guys could be a part of that it's going to create 30,000 jobs and the Gateway is going to start on the Jersey City side so we don't want New York City to control most of them jobs we have people that certified it was the the old game used to be we don't no certifications
well we have certifications now U you know we have certifications now so we want to try to figure out how to work with you all and how to try how to solidify and how to make sure whatever mandates that you guys put forth with development projects because I'm not sure what y'all do in terms of that but
whatever mandates you guys have if y'all could share with me that I could I could go out and I could be the henchmen and go out and make sure these developers and these contractors doing the right thing for our constituency in Jersey City and I do appre appreciate you know seeing some of them on the job site
being a flagman but let's be honest here you know the flagman they only get paid a certain amount it's not a liable wage in Jersey City by no means so we do have certifications we have people that's willing and able to work so we just need to work with you all to try to figure out how to to to to to get jobs for them
basically and that's what I'm here so all you guys I hope everybody on the coun have my my my cell phone number and please call me up and let's try to figure out how to get on these job sites and how to get some of these people somewhere because I don't want to train these people and then hit a dead end I don't want to do that I want to continue
to make sure that they could provide for the family right Sean good to see you buddy Jerry I'm curious Jerry Jerry Jerry Jerry did did Patty Keller have anything to do with this training excuse me Patty Keller no he um he came to the
site and he promised to to to you know at least take 10 hour our students but I haven't heard okay that's what need so if you can put a little pressure there and and whatever whatever y'all know like it's just a lot of stuff going on right in our own Community hey give me some courtesy here Sean come
on Cowboy fan I'm not gonna give you that much courtesy come on now no but Ser on seriousness right in the Lafayette section right by Dr Le Ed was Park it's all these buildings going up and we can't even get jobs in our own community so please help us out guys please thank you
Jerry just let the record reflect the Giant gave a Cowboy fan extra courtesy all right with that being said it um speaker 5.8 Gary let the record know that he's a commission of the city of Jersey City yeah I'm only joking council president
County Gary Gary bures bring the mic down to you Gary hi I'm Gary burges um I'm part of Mr Walker program so we dedicated our time and our energy our hopes and our dreams to this program that to make make
us become better citizens or what not so promises was made to us know I mean most was kept and we was educated with the trade even the every two week pay you know mean that help us along the way dra placements with promised but that's one thing that we needed that wasn't guaranteed I was like I um go around to
each site around myself without the um Team Walker and they tell me I have to be I don't get past the gate I have to be into a local a local union or whatever the case may be so um I was born and raised in Jersey City
so I want to know how locally do I have to be to really be inside one of these unions like I do the applications and been over backwards to try to make a better way for my family that's what we out here doing with um Team Walker we
did six months 328 hours electrician assistant um oer 30 as he said I got over 25 years um Power Lift just put Power if anything so driving machines and I still can't get past the front gate
so I worked at sooko at a gas station getting paid $14 an hour and most of the guys that contractors that come through get the Cofe that I make for them all from out of state like everybody was saying in Connecticut I got friends that I met I got friends from out of state because they had a contract they did it
for six months seven months and I'm sitting here can't even pay Peter to pay Paul and I yeah looking at this is it hurt us so now that I'm part of Team walk I want to walk with it I mean walk with us like that thank you thank
you our next speaker 5.9 James is James here oh he's coming up hello good evening uh this is my first meeting so bear with me uh I'm here basically just to explain my
situation I was one of the students at Jerry Walker School he gave us the opportunity I was able to be blessed to pass I'm a certified hbac technician Universal um I've applied for multiple
jobs but it seems like the only positions that they give us are flaggers or helpers it seems as if when it comes to us doing more you know jobs that pay more or more
responsibility it seem like they they're all filled up pretty much and I don't see anybody that come from where I come from or look like me in those positions so I'm here just you know just to get experience see what's going on in the
city hall you know have a voice and let you guys see my face so you know the troubles that we dealing with and I'm not going to take too much of your time but I appreciate you know thank you thank you thank you Tex our next speaker
Ahmad good evening um name is Amad O'Neal I was part of the course with Team Walker um we were given an opportunity in our community to receive an education and to
receive a trade um I was blessed to pass as well just like my cousin who just spoke I graduated along with him my brother-in-law and my nephew and that was extremely important to me because like he said we don't see people who
Like Us in these positions we don't see a lot of people get those opportunities and we've tried to get those opportunities and we're continue to try to get those opportunities that's why we're here speaking um this program is important because it's given us an opportunity to better
ourselves an opportunity to contribute to our community and to also help it develop I've watched it develop my whole life it's going to continue to develop I don't want it to to stop but I would like people from the community to be able to contribute to the community and
remain in the community thank you thank you okay our next speaker 5.11 Darnell good evening sorry if the nerves get to me um my name is Darnell Parker I'm currently not a resident of Jersey City but I frequent Jersey City to become a student over at
Jerry Walker School in his Trade Center um my own personal experience I just want to say that I've we've done a lot at our school and we tried to do what we can to improve and we've only been asking for an opportunity so far just try to become better people and to try
to become dedicated to something this school gave us the opportunity to do so when I come to this city I see people struggle and I see people that are always trying to become better I also see people who motivate me to try to become a better person they give me life
they give me energy to do what I can do people like Jerry people like Tina they motivate me and they instill in me things to become a better person and to become a better worker in general we came here today specifically just to ask for an opportunity we take chances every
day to try to become better and try to go into fields that benefit us and walls hit us routinely you know I hate to be the person that say it's always a struggle you know but we try and from what we hear it's
like our city isn't trying to provide for us as well I'm speaking as someone who's not from Jersey City by the way but from the people that live here they always tell me that it's a struggle just trying to become a better and become get money from their own Society so we came here to ask specifically for an
opportunity from our own Council to try to give us jobs so we don't have to go out anywhere else the money is coming in from other people other groups they come here and they go somewhere else where you could put the money into the community that can then put the money back into the community and grow from there I just don't think it's right that
we have to continually try to go other places when our own Society isn't trying to help us out so our chances are just they don't go anywhere um I didn't really have much but I just wanted to say that much you know uh thank you thank
you our next speaker 5.12 Deone Deone here last name Jeter next speaker 5.13 James not here okay next speaker 5.14 Danielle
good evening council members Daniel dama wardc resident let me first state that I am a driver but I would love to ride my bike more if only it didn't feel like a death wish the reality is that biking in Jersey City is stressful dangerous and
in too many cases fatal we have an opportunity to change that with the original plan for protected bike Lanes on Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street this isn't about forcing anyone to ride a bike it's about making sure those who do are't gambling with their lives every
time they hit the road cities around the world are proving that real bike infrastructure isn't just possible it's transformative look at Paris which has committed to becoming a 100% cyclable City they didn't get there by half
measures or by letting car traffic dictate every decision they built a true bike Network that prioritizes safety and accessibility and the result is a city where biking is not just for the brave but for everyone Jersey city deserves
the same ambition there was a productive meeting with councilman Cay and his team where clarifications were made requiring some of the concerns around this project to his credit Cay came open-minded and willing to hear from Advocates and residents who have been pushing for this
he says he supports both the original plan and the water down revision but he also claims that the votes aren't there for plan a the problem he couldn't say who exactly would oppose it Cay has taken a lot of heat for the delays but
the truth is many council members have been quietly dodging responsibility hoping this conversation Fades away it won't the better for B for the fight for better bike Lanes isn't just about infrastructure it's about respect
priorities and and knowing our worth when we settle for unprotected Lanes or half measures we're accepting less than we deserve cities that take bike safety seriously don't compromise on protection they commit to it the longer we drag
this out the harder it gets to deliver what the community actually asks for a fully protected bike lane the heights is a neighborhood full of people fighting to make it safer more connected and better for everyone the question isn't
whether we can build a real bike network network is whether our leaders have the political will to do it if you truly support bike infrastructure now is the time to prove it thank you you our next speaker 5.15 Dwayne
good evening ladies and gentlemen how have you been long time no see uh I'm here today to support uh Team Walkers program uh I don't want to sit here and repeat everything everybody's already said excuse me but I think it's
important that uh on this end of the table that we get together and collaborate and find out what jobs what sites are being done here in Jersey City um making another attempt to speak to them in a meeting with you um hopefully
that we can sit down and get our kids to work collectively uh we've been able to save a lot of lives been keeping the kids busy been playing basketball we've had two father's days
Summers where they're were no incidents of us losing our kids in our community it's very hard to explain to a kid that after we've asked you to stop shooting
at each other come off the streets learn how to do something have a skill go through the process get him through the process and then tell him that we can't get him a
job in Jersey City where there are Towers going up every day so thank you for all the help that you have given us and we would like to help you make sure that these developers adhere to the contracts that they've
signed with you I know there are agreements to give Jersey City residents employment in these projects so we're going to do our best to support you and making sure that they do what they're supposed to do thank you
our next speaker 5.16 Christine Christine a not here next 5.17 Emme left thank
you next speaker 5.18 Corey no next speaker 5.19 bill I didn't see Bill next speaker 5.20 essence good evening Council well first today I definitely
wanted to mention um about the th best situation as far as him becoming the director for recreation defin wanted to point out he's a Pioneer in our neighborhood definitely was able to talk to his daughter Taylor about how much he
sacrificed as far as being executive the way he's been in our neighborhood which is amazing this is also dedicated to coach C thank you senator mcnight for making that a possible day in our future as well as wanted
to establish that the youth Frank Gilmore even though he's not sitting there about the youth jobs that are coming this summer thank you for making that announcement of course Wy he's not here either and of course to mention about
the Jerry rer Center as a former graduate in December definitely wanted to say that um Bo a as far as Denise there's a lot of development going on in that area so hopefully that's a possibility to have a
conversation with you and that is all for today thank you thank you our next speaker 5.21 jimie she's not here our next speaker 5.22
annia anthon I'm sorry there you go good evening everybody my name is anayia I'm in seventh grade at ms4 and team Wilderness has been one of the best experiences I've ever had
probably ever I joined last year in August 2024 for the summer he hikes the staff and track track leaders were great and they knew how to handle sensitive situations the instructors always made a safe space for everyone
involved and they never made anybody feel ostracized or alone we went on many different Explorations and Hikes like for example repelling
kaying and long hikes that were up to 3 miles long after the summer tracks ended I joined the empowering youth program which is just as fun as the summer hikes but more laidback and you still got to
go on the the hikes that everybody likes so much all in all I have a great time there and I wish everybody who works there the best I highly recommend it and I hope you all consider uh fundraising it and doing
more things for it thank you for your time thank you our next speaker 5.23 Daniela my name is Daniela Rodney and I am in 10th Grade I join team team Wilderness last April for photography
club through this program I was able to use a professional camera for the first time and I was also able to use the photos I took with this camera in a gallery and sell them I had never really
sold anything before so I was very excited to sell my photos and I sold my first photo a picture of cherry blossoms to my mom last year I made more than
$130 from the galleries photography club has also allowed me to be more creative I have learned to appreciate nature more because of the hikes we take and now I love to spend more time in
nature the first hike I took with Team Wilderness was at Lincoln Park I was able to experience a new part of the park that I had never seen before team Wilderness has also allowed me to meet new people and make new
friends thank you thank you you our next speaker 5.24 Norah hello my name is narah and I'm a sophomore at belov Community Charter School today I'm going to be telling you about my experience with Team Wilderness to start team Wilderness is an
organization that gives inner city kids necessary opportunities to connect with nature and step away from the city in January of 2022 I started attending the team Wilderness photography club after schools during the club we learned how to use cameras and went around the neighborhood taking pictures before this
experience I wasn't very familiar with cameras but this club opened my eyes I thought it couldn't get any better and then it got so much better I soon found out that the photo club would have monthly nature walks and Hikes where we could take pictures of nature my first
hike was January 2022 my first hike was January 22nd it was definitely one of my favorites it was so cold that year that a waterfall had froze I was intrigued our first oh wait um our first hike we
went we spent some time at that Frozen waterfall it was breathtakingly beautiful I fell in love with hiking that day in 2023 I joined Nerf star a program under Team Mist that provides youth ages 12 to 18 with one-on-one sessions and trips Outdoors Northstar program has
helped me to build communication skills a stronger work ethic and overall confidence in myself over the four years that I've been a part of the team wildness program I feel that I have grown so much as a young adult thank you and have a nice night
soon next speaker 5.25 Dario good evening everyone my name is Dario I'm 16 years old and I'm a junior and I go to Jim Jeff's High School I joined the team Wilderness in October of last year it's been really great at te
wildness I've learned to enjoy nature and all its beauty since I join team wildness I have been meeting with a personal development coach and it's been really helpful it helped me improve academically I have learned to set goals
to myself and be more motivated to reach them or even surpassing them it's been really great having someone to motivate you and to thought about your class your grades or ARS before te oldness I've never went on a nature walk or did other
things related to Nature I really like it since I've join sness I only went to one trip but I only needed this one trip to begin to like it and I have to go to Tre in the future thank you for your time thank you thank
you our next speaker 5.26 Vance jce for Drew hi my name is Vance Douglas I'm 16 I go to I'm a sophomore at McNair academic High School uh I came to you to talk about first times
uh my first time going in the water to go kaying and paddle boarding was with Team Wilderness four years ago um the program was Wilderness on the water and I learned that I like to paddle board and I like to kayak except paddle
boarding standing up because then I fall over a lot um and I met a good friend of mine that I'm still friends with with today he's in college now but it's still I talk to him a lot um that same year I also learned about
the photography club and I really enjoyed it uh I because of it I am now like very good at photography well not very good at photography uh but I enjoy photography a lot um I actually recently just did a little um thing for my school
where I photographed our uh National Honor Society Club so I'm proud of myself for that um I just want to say like team wilderness what they do is like they bring kids and they take them and they
give them like these experiences that they might not get to do otherwise and they just let them feel things that they might not have been able to feel beforehand and I just feel like that's something that we should like appreciate and also feels like something we don't
get to do see a lot of around here in Jersey City uh also something that the other speakers were talking about um I'm only 16 but uh I feel like that I'm seeing a lot less like jobs open up for some people like my the friend I
mentioned who was in college he's actually having a little bit of a hard time getting a job and so that's just something that I felt was a little bit weird to me so that's just one issue I want to address uh but other than that I
think you just you know keep the kids like happy you know make sure to give us something to do in a free time other than just sit around in our house playing video games make some more parks and stuff you know just so that they can have those same like firsttime
experiences that I had uh that's all I've got to say byebye our next speaker 5.27 Sean is Sean here I just want to say great job team Wilderness on public
speaking it's not an that's not an easy thing to do come up in front of your peers and everybody and speak you you guys did a great job so congratulations our next speaker 5.28 Kevin back
H guys get the uh papers oh he's gonna hand them back very good good evening council members last week some of us gathered to play a game called wavelength it's a game of perception
where you place a clue on a scale between two extremes and everyone else has to guess where you placed your clue on the scale one round used a mayoral candidate's name the scale was good to
evil for that round Solomon's name was the clue and he'll be happy to hear the group placed him a good way towards good most of the way towards good but then another round came the
scale hero poor villain and that spark debate because good isn't the same as being a hero imagine a cat stuck in a tree an evil person might set the tree on fire a good person might say soothing words might even love cats perhaps they
would hold a press conference but the cat would remain in the tree a hero well a hero climbs the tree and rescues the cat counil we are the cat our tree is the lack of uniform security at Portside
Towers another tree the missing resident superintendent in each of our buildings and yet another the mother who stood here before you in June of last year after a bullet ripped through her son's window she came looking for a hero
instead she got silence she is back tonight I hope you can look her in the eye when she addresses you again since she was before you we've had many more security failures and more people begging this Council for help councilman Rivera recently said that the danger is
even worse now because everyone knows Portside is vulnerable he's right but you can fix that where would each of you place yourself on the scales before you based on your action where do you think the tenants of the city would place the arrow on the scales before you are you
going to be a hero the people of Jersey City aren't just looking for good they're looking for a leader who will climb the tree and in November they're going to elect a hero who among you is ready to be that hero we'll take
more than one ideally every one of you tonight we are the cats and you will again hear about us stuck in our trees thank you our next speaker 5.29 Jessica R not here thank you our next speaker
5.30 David good evening council members last month mayor phli stood here and said uh that he had added 9,000 affordable and market rate units last year so if you weren't paying close
attention you might have thought he was saying that they we added 9,000 affordable units rather than actually what happened which was adding a lot of market rate units which rather than providing housing for people who need it
it actually prices people out of the housing that they need so this is a kind of I this is a kind of misdirection um that I've had to become very sensitive to and uh council president when you introduced
mayor Phillip you said that he' made enemies and I was curious about that so who are who are the enemies that we're talking about uh were you talking about the two sisters who lived at Portside towers for 18 years before they were
forced out because of Mayor fips in action were you talking about the mother that we've already mentioned that who stood here last uh last June desperate for help after a bullet hole had shattered her child's window because I know who isn't his
enemy it's not the developers who are are charging the illegal rents it's not the landlords who are violating ordinances it's not the real estate firms that are making millions by while families are being pushed out of their homes so you might have seen one of some
of uh mayor Phillips commercials um and he says that he's taking on developers so I have to wonder you know like the 9,000 affordable and market rate units is there is is there a different meaning to this taking on developers and you
know it makes me think about 40 years ago there was a song by aha that was called take on me and I have to think that maybe that's the way that mayor fet means that he's taking on developers because it's not the sort of standard
meaning of taking on as into confront and lastly I have to wonder are we the enemies Have We Become the enemies um that you're speaking about because we didn't come here to become enemies we come here asking for the same
treatment that we want for everyone we want this leaders of the city to do your your jobs and we want to enforce the laws that are already in place we've never asked for special favors we've never asked for special
treatment and so if that appears like an enemy to you then that's a choice you know and and you know when it's election time we're all going to have to make our choice thank you very much thank you our next speaker 5.31
Jennifer um good evening council members uh eight months ago I stood in this very spot shaking after a bullet hole a bullet came through my son's bedroom window um I begged you for help look I'm
getting te thought it was over it um I begged you for help I asked for something simple enforce the uniformed security ordinance so families like mine could feel safe in our own homes you listened
some of you nodded councilman Solomon even promised an update at the first meeting of 2025 that meeting came no update the next meeting came still nothing and now here I am again and
still no uniform security but you know what we do have a bleeding woman stumbling into our building an attacker walking right through our lobby no security to stop him a crime scene inside our home
because no one has enforced the law so I ask you what are you waiting for are you waiting for another bullet another victim another mother standing here pleading for help after it's already too late because that's what it feels like
waiting stalling hoping will give up hoping will forget I'm not forgetting we need this and it's important that you do what you're supposed to do so all the promises that we get mean
nothing if you don't do it I want the heroes you know Kevin talked about the heroes where are you you know please stand up and be our heroes that would be really wonderful
thank you our next speaker 5.32 mark not here next speaker 5.33 Eve city council I told you that Jersey City's audit firm Donna Hugh geranda Doria Tomkins is a political campaigned
donor to Mayor fulli you are required by law to hire independent Auditors instead you allowed a compromised auditor overc finances so millions of dollars are being funneled away from citizens into pockets of big developers landlord and Steven phips campaign fund I told you
building code fire code and rent control laws are not being enforced the result my suffering is exponentially worse my landlord Muhammad Shahed forced me to double pay five months rent plus pay $5,000 of his repair costs my landlord keeps putting me in the hospital I've
been through four carbon monoxide attacks and two gas leaks I'm now legally disabled with permanent Vision impairment then on top of that you put the burden of prosecution on me which is illegal you tell me to also pay a lawyer on top of paying double rent on top of paying hospital bills on top of paying
repair costs when I say you are crushing me to death President Waterman said not my jurisdiction I just spent two days in tears struggling at the welfare office I was a financial controller managing a team of 10 now I'm on food stamps with
no income for eight months while my landlord pillages my bank account I wanted to own a home I wanted Financial Security I worked for my career but your audit failure stole my future what does city council do you send inspectors but then you stop the law enforcement by
saying not my jurisdiction where is the money city council is the financial police here responsible for Revenue collection oversight last year I told you about millions of dollars in missing Municipal
fines what are you doing to recover it audit the fire violation summons ask when is the fine collected and paid why is the landlord tenant office still underst staffed underfunded and Powerless when you were warned about
this because now I need it and basic safe housing protections are not there by the way I don't live at Portside Towers I live down the street from you I've clearly heard them right here tell
you the exact same thing with signs I can hear them why can't you city council your actions Redline fire victims marginalize the low-income seniors and disabled residents who are being crushed by this
I see them why don't you city council since you need help managing the budget I invite you to go ask commissioner Bill o day thank you our next speaker 5.34 Joel good evening council members Albert
Einstein is credited with saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results so let's ask the obvious question who here is truly insane is it us for coming again and
again demanding that the laws of the city be enforced or is it you for ignoring us every time and expecting the problem to go away without investigation for two years tenants have documented violations submitted evidence and laid out the facts alongside
relevant ordinances in black and white independent officials have investigated and confirmed the truth but still no enforcement let's be clear this city is not powerless the uniform security ordinance exists but it's ignored the
resident super intendant requirement exists but it's ignored the landlord identity disclosure law exists and it's also ignored laws don't fail leaders do laws only mean something when people
responsible for enforcing them choose to do their jobs so I'll ask you who benefits from this madness it's not the renters not the families who have to beg for safety basic safety not the mother who stood here moments ago and8 months ago after a
bullet came through her son's window it's not the city spending countless tax dollars responding to Residents stuck in elevators inspectors repeatedly called back to the buildings and its Public Safety officials responding to bullets through windows and illegal activities
on a portion of Washington Street that should be off limits to Vehicles after 8:00 p.m. now the ones who benefit are the landlords the developers the same people mayor FIP claims he's taken on maybe he's taken on his shoulders while
they keep pocketing money from illegal rents unsafe buildings and non-existent enforcement and this Council by refusing to act you're helping them ignoring us hasn't worked hoping will give up hasn't worked
pretending the problem will fix itself hasn't worked so why not try something new try enforcement investigation use the powers the city Charter give you to protect the people who live here not just the ones who profit from it because one thing is
certain our persistence isn't Insanity it's resolve and if you think we're going to stop then maybe you should take a closer look at what Insanity really means thank you our next speaker 5.35 Daniel
good evening city council when I last spoke before you all two weeks ago at the People's State of the city I discussed how Steven phip censors and restricts comments on his official social media platforms silencing his critics and from my viewpoint violating our first amendment rights to respectfully voice our concerns with his
administration on a public forum so what you come is no surprise to you all that on the following evening at Steven Phillips stateof the city address he or whoever man manages his social media turned off live comments on the Facebook live stream of his address as soon as he started speaking I was able to make
comments on the Facebook live stream when others before him were speaking but comments were turned off once he started speaking live comments on the Instagram live stream were turned off throughout the entire event and comments on the YouTube live stream were disabled Midway through once I along with a handful of
others respectfully criticized the mayor these actions further demonstrate that mayor Philip does not respect our freedom of speech and prefers to silence his critics instead in addition I wanted to address the ongoing issues with building security at Portside Towers on January 15th of this year I reminded you
all that an attacker who had attacked a young woman to the point where she was bleeding entered our facility our building on Friday November 22nd 2024 and despite the fact that ordinance 24-5 was adapted unanimously by this Council on June 26th of last year and
requires that owners of dwellings with 100 or more units shall furnish a minimum of one uniform security guard for each Residential Building upon its premises 24 hours a day 7 days a week we do not have uniformed security 24/7 and I often enter the front door of my
building with nobody at the front desk as a reminder the new ordinance has language about a security exemption if an owner of a multiple dwelling seeks an exemption from the security requirement an official must inspect the dwelling to determine if the existing security arrangements are adequate to protect the
safety and property of its residents the inspection count shall include the evaluation of Resident security concerns and complaints when issuing or continuing an exemption now if Portside does seek an exemption this must not be granted several doors from the public parking garage that lead directly into
our building are unlocked the south end of Washington Street is never changed as mandated in ordinance 07-15 3 leaving it open to drug deals and other criminal activity port side did not comply with the previous exemption granted on August 14th 2014
which requires that Portside undergo an annual security inspection of the premises recommendations in the old exemption for more cameras were ignored on Sunday June 19th of last year a bullet pierced a window of our building and it was in a kids's bedroom no less as you just heard and like I said I
often come home with the front door open and no one in the lobby we need more Security in our building as I along with several other of my fellow tenants don't feel safe living here thank you our next speaker 5.36
Drew good evening council members last time I stood here I made a mistake I meant to say uniform security but I accidentally said uninformed security turns out that slip of the tongue was more accurate than I ever could have
imagined because at Portside Towers we don't have uniform security we have uninformed security we have coner who aren't trained in deescalation we have front death staff who aren't trained to respond to emergencies we have employees who in a crisis are left just as
vulnerable as the rest of us and we've seen the consequences a few weeks ago a bleeding woman ran into our building fleeing her attacker the person who assaulted her he walked in right after her no one was there to stop him because there is no security the law says we should have
uniform security the law not a suggestion not a recommendation the law and yet instead of trained professionals we get front death staff thrown into dangerous situations they were never hired to handle instead of enforcement
we get excuses instead of action we get silence so let's be clear this city isn't just failing tenants it's failing the very workers who staff these buildings because when you force someone to do a job they were never trained for and you leave them vulnerable to violence that is n just negligence it's
reckless endangerment but here we are two years later still talking about the same thing so tell me council members what exactly is the plan here are you waiting for someone to get seriously hurt are you waiting for the next tragedy are you waiting for the next person to bleed in
our lobby before you decide that maybe just maybe this law should actually be enforced because right now the only thing uniform about our security is that they are all uninformed and that is entirely on you our next speaker 5.37
Tara and mayor Phillips rebuttal to the People's State of the city he said some of you grew up here and can remember when people chose to leave the city as a sign of their success my dad was one who made it out his Jersey City life was not easy but
the business he owned in Hoboken the house he bought in the suburbs and the two kids he put through college were his life achievement he died 10 months after I graduated he never would have believed me if I told him a SMI was moving back to Jersey City he never would have
believed Jersey City could change he knew it too well it killed me to see my dad forced to return to work after after discovering the person he trusted to run his Trucking route was passing off his inventory as hot in the streets of Hoboken I lost precious time with my dad because he was being
scammed so let's talk about Municipal enforcement not the kind that exists on paper not the kind that makes you makes for good sound bites actual enforcement the kind that keeps people safe because this city isn't bothering to pretend anymore it doesn't claim enforcement and
work is working it just says nothing I used to live at 70 green I came here like so many others asking for help I did everything I was supposed to do it didn't matter instead of help I lost my home but I keep coming back because I've seen too many others Fade Away not
because they lost the will to fight but because they lost the ability because they lost their homes waiting for Action that never came we don't see the tenants of 100 Montgomery here anymore because one of them is now homeless we don't see some of the Portside residents who used to be here because they lost their homes
waiting for this Council to act I used to see many faces in this room that you might not have noticed or missing but we notice and we know why this city this mayor is breaking the people who stop stood up and said I have rights and when that happens when a system punishes
people who are 100% right under the law it stops being a system of governance and it becomes a scam Liv Malone stood here and exposed the truth Jersey city has perfected the illusion of enforc complaints get logged cases get filed the process moves forward until the
final step and then like clockwork dismissed prosecutorial discretion Building Safety violation dismissed landlord ignores the law dismissed I am 49 years old I am now living back in the home I grew up in and when I look at that great piece of Irish Catholic
interior design the crucifix over a picture of my dad I tell him you're right Dad Jersey City will never change our next speaker 5.38 Brendan not here next speaker 5.39
Shannon good evening council members I haven't been able to make it for a few meetings so tonight I'm very glad I could stand with my friends and neighbors why do I make time to come here lots of reasons but first I want to talk about being reminded of a man named
AJ musty who's an American activist uh during the Vietnam war he stood in front of the White House night after night with a candle one Rainy Night a reporter approached him and asked Mr musty do you really think you're going to change the
policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a candle oh musty replied I don't do it to change the country I do it so that the country won't change me so while that is definitely true I
also come here because I know this Council has work to do for us the Portside residents and for all the people of Jersey City I'm a nurse in my job we can't ignore emergencies because they're complicated I don't get to tell a patient oh there's just too many
problems here I think I'll do nothing instead I do what's called triage I choose what gets my attention first and I stop the bleeding I stabilize what I can because doing something is always better than doing nothing this Council has just a
few months left you can't fix everything before your term ends but will you fix one thing will you enforce uniformed security so that tenants aren't left unprotected will you stop ticket fixing scandals so that the laws actually mean
something will you ensure tenant resources are properly staff so that people don't lose their homes waiting for help pick something anything because right now it feels like the default response to every crisis
that we bring here is to wait us out to stall to let time run out and leave the problems for the next Council and I tell you if a nurse ignored and waited like this she would lose her license because whether it's patients or
residents people suffering don't get to wait for a new Administration the mother who begged for security Jennifer eight months ago she doesn't get that luxury the tenants being priced out of their homes right now don't get to hit
pause and one day sooner than you think you'll be the ones asking for something our votes maybe we'll mirror our experience and offer use the same silence you've given us but as you must know by now we don't stay silent instead we'll raise our voices in support of the
people who actually take action a few people are proving that action is possible and I bet between now and election day they'll prove it again which means when the time comes our choice will be easy thank you very much our next speaker 5.40
Michelle tonight you've heard from the people of Jersey City again not donors not developers not political insiders the people who live here the people who have lost their homes their
safety and their trust in a system that was never built to protect them and once again that system has stayed silent because this isn't just mismanagement this isn't just incompetence this is
what happens when a government stops functioning as a government and starts operating as an Enterprise an Enterprise where landlords violate the laws the rent laws and City officials look the other way an Enterprise where
developers fund campaigns and in return rules don't apply to them an Enterprise where enforcement is nothing more than a press release and prosecutorial discretion is just another way of saying we protect our own and it's working for
them for them it's efficient fines don't get collected landlords don't get prosecuted complaints disappear into a bureaucratic void and the money our stolen money it
keeps flowing into that void but here's the problem with running a city like an Enterprise eventually the people realize they've been robbed they realized their homes weren't lost by accident but by Design
they realized the city's failure to act wasn't a mistake but a business model and they realized that this whole system the landlords the developers the elected officials who serve them isn't just
corrupt it's something else entirely and it's starting to get attention and this is what happens when a government starts operating like an Enterprise and here's what happens when the people start
treating it like an Enterprise too we audit it we investigate it and we hold every single person responsible we are documenting we are exposing so to those
in power who think they can Outlast us you can't to those who think this will all blow over it won't and to those who have spent years profiting off the suffering of the people of this city you
may not actually get away with it I would also love the update on uniform security councilman Solomon if you have one and uh I will seed the rest of my time to you thank
you our next speaker 5.41 Wendy she left okay next speaker 5.42 Justin Justin why no next speaker 5.43
Norman no next speaker 5.44 kishan left okay 5.4 5 left 5.46
James 5.47 Michael gonna be long I just came that mic up Mike we can't hear you good evening everyone um I just came uh to thank you all for introducing the P fee
ordinance um I'll be back to talk about it again on the second reading hopefully you'll pass it then um but you know it's important that you know we the children in our in our community especially if they are in a single parent household uh
with you know groceries rising and you know all of that stuff happening provisions and and just everything it's it's important to know that you know every dollar counts especially when you living uh paycheck to paycheck and you know you know five 10 $15 right a day
we're not talking about a week we're talking about a day and you know like the count like councilman Gilmore said before if there's a heatwave them kids are going to want to be at the pool at least five times a week so you know I just want to uh thank you all for that and um just really quickly I heard a
gentleman mention that um 9,000 uh affordable units have been brought to Jersey City so um I just ask you to update your website because it's only eight available there thank you our next speaker 5.48 Corey
c left okay thank you 5.49 Bernard no i.5 50 Otis left how about 5.51 say
s no 5.52 Tyler gotcha hi Council my name is Tyler Nukem I'm a resident of board B A homeowner a cyclist pedestrian Transit user and
occasional driver and I'm also on the board of bike JC like many of my neighbors here today I'm here to ask for your support of the full Manhattan and Franklin bike lane in the heights I want to tell you a story on a beautiful Sunday in June of last year my father
was visiting and he my boyfriend and I were heading to brunch by bike just a few short blocks from my house while riding on Westside AV a driver of a min man came up behind us and started honking Westside a is not wide and uh
according to both city and state laws I have a right to ride in the center of the lane clear of the door Zone and drivers must wait until they can give me four feet of space before passing the driver began revving his engine and he and his passenger both
began to lean out the window and yell at us to get out of the road when we stopped at the red light on the corner of wests side in Bentley the driver began screaming and calling us slurs I turned my head to tell him that I had a right to be there and when I
turned back around I heard the engine rev and I felt a sharp jolt from behind he had used his 5,000lb car as a weapon to bully me off the road he promptly fled the scene I filed a police report and while the officers
were understanding the most they could do if they found him was issue him a ticket for fleeing the scene of a crash I was lucky my story did not become one of the more than 40,000 annual traffic deaths in this country
nor one of the estimated 3,000 sorry 3 million annual injuries but nonetheless my story was one of hundreds of millions of close calls and Driver aggression that happens every day across this country and in this city my bike still does not have a rear
fender my heart rate on Westside AB is much higher when I bike now I question my roots more I ride in fear but the story of biking in Jersey City does not have to be one of fear I bike because it is practical but more than that I bike because it brings me
joy I can get fresh air and exercise I can say hi to my neighbors I get to see people walking their dogs hanging out in the park with their friends and I always bring a smile to someone's face when I ride around uh with my foster dog in the front of my
cargo bike or when I go to the hardware store because people don't even consider that you can bring a bike to a hardware store I think that everyone in Jersey City deserves to experience the joy of cycling without fear we know what works
physical infrastructure that separates cars from bikes we have the $670,000 of funding secured to do it now we need your support don't let your residents live in fear choose Joy thank you thanks Joel I was just about to ask
Kevin next speaker 5.53 Tom thank you for this opportunity to address the council my name is Tom Kane and I'm here tonight as a member of bike JC and as a taxpayer in both roles I've become increasing frustrated at the city's inability to build 0.8 miles of
bike lane that is already paid for by a grant from the state the project in question is a critical eastwest Link in the Heights along Manhattan and Franklin Avenues you may remember that you voted to pass a resolution accepting the granted funds since that time the city
has designed and executed on a proof of concept demonstration project feedback from the public was gathered during that time 93% of survey respondents who bike or scoot in the Heights supported the project 27 households on the corridor itself support it Mike JC circulated a petition
which included in-person canvasing in the neighborhood over 700 individuals sent letters of support to your offices to demonstrate the Grassroots support for the project it's key to note that no one who drives in the neighborhood today will be prevented from doing so once the project is built of the hundreds of Lane
miles that crisscross the heights we're talking about only 0.8 miles of protected bik Lane and you can still drive on those streets let's talk about the benefits of the project provides a strategic eastwest Link Link across the heights connecting the Western Slope to persing field to Palisade Avenue the route was chosen
because of its historically High crash rates and it includes intersections along the high Injury Network route is also called for in Jersey City bike master plan on the western end it'll provide a connection to the greenway which is the which the state is in the process of building this means that Jersey City could have a safe off-road
link to communities like new and mon the plan accomplishes all of this without a meaningful impact to parking and the funding from the state is guaranteed if we stick to the plan there will be no cost to the taxpayers of Jersey City that said we don't have a great track record here you may remember that the
city had to petition the state in December to extend the deadline to get the project started let's not make the same mistake again we cannot afford to waste $670,000 especially in a national political climate where we can expect little to no grant funding headed to the city in the coming years
there is no legitimate reason not to support this plan the only arguments against the plan are for convenience and fear of change I'm sorry but no one's convenience can be valued higher than our neighbor safety I'd like to thank mayor phip for his vision and his public statements in support of the project
just today I'd also like to recognize councilman s for his willingness to listen to Advocates on this issue I urge you all to work together with each other and with the city to get this done not waste these $670,000 thank you okay our next speaker 5.54 Tony hi Tony
barell vice president bike JC asking all of you to immediately and publicly and strongly support the full protected bike lane project on Manhattan in Franklin I too want to thank councilman s for his uh support on this issue I would like to ask that from every one of
you it's a maxim beloved of Advocates everywhere that those accustomed to privilege view the slightest diminu of that privilege as oppression earlier tonight we heard a crystal clear illustration of that kind of warped
perception we heard that cyclists or actually bike Advocates who are safely accommodated on perhaps 1% of Street mileage in this entire city and on 0% of streets in the Heights want protected bike Lanes on every
street and further that you should throw a bone to non- cyclist when in fact drivers of cars are already accommodated on 100% of streets in this city I don't know what dinner's like at your house but that sounds like the
whole stake to me we're the one who needs to be thrown a bone we're the one starving to death sometimes metaphorically but literally I ask you all to consider which of these rhetorical paradigms represents reality and reasonable
requests for Change and which is the illogic of those grasping at Straw Men because I think you're going to hear a lot more arguments like that in the days to come it is right and proper that Height's voices are heard and way
loudest on this issue but and you will hear many more as you've already heard but it's also true that all of your constituents have a stake in a protected bike Network in every
neighborhood of Jersey City it's supposed to be Transportation not segregation one Jersey City not two please make that happen for all the people you're represent and thank you for your support our next speaker
5.55 Ju good evening everyone my name is Juan I'm a resident of Jersey City for the past 20 years uh I see the city progressing and I want to thank to all of you guys let me speak uh it's my
first time I'm a little nervous and uh well yes I'm going to be short on my uh part as um person who's been cycling for the past 14 years in your city I have encountered with a multiple drivers who has no empathy with
pedestrians and cyclings even between drivers uh close cut they want to get into a fight with me uh and 2020 on uh October I was uh victim of a
hidden run it was no evidence of the accident how it happened I spent about a month on the hospital another eight months of uh Physical Therapy uh Rec you know uh recovering and uh so it was just it was
staric for a moment uh my recovery and I went to PL the part like you know uh bike sa uh safety Street for pedestrians is crucial and um yeah that's all I wanted to say thank
you thank you next speaker 5.56 Aya good evening I think most of you only know me in my capacity as the president of bike JC but I would actually like to take that hat off for a and speak to in my professional capacity as an urban planner and a transportation
grants manager I actually received my master's degree from the very same esteemed Rutter's planning program as the city's entire Transportation Planning Department including director Manzel and director Patel who we are so lucky to have urban planning is a
specialized field that takes years of training and practical experience I work in this field every single day to deliver Transportation infrastructure projects just like the protected bike lane currently proposed for Manhattan and Franklin in the heights this project
as applied for in a successful State Grant would add an eastwest protected bike lane across the heights I've read every single word of the city's Grant application for this project and it's no surprise to me that we won this highly
competitive Grant it is a sound plan based on Modern Transportation principles where streets are designed for all users all users it also aligns with many of the city's existing plans like our bike master plan among many
others and most importantly it's data driven Equitable and centers safety this Corridor intersects multiple streets on the city's dangerous High Injury Network including Tunnell Central and Summit we have the tools to create a safer City
for all and this project is just that it was designed by our expert infrast structure team tested via a successful pilot program last summer and is widely supported by the community let's build it and nothing less in my day job I also
serve as a transportation grants manager I know a whole lot about how Transportation grants work there's usually a very small margin of allowable scope changes from original applications but major scope changes do not get funded especially ones that stray significantly from the intent of the
original grant program this case the New Jersey DOT bike ways grant program that we received only funds new miles of protected bike Lanes this is why we must pursue the original project as applied anything less May cancel or dramatically
reduce our state grant funding the funding for these type of projects is drying up faster than we can blink I unfortunately know this because it's my job but we have the we have the funding to build the highest and best version of this project and leaving a single scent on the table here would be an object
failure here please let's do the right thing finally I want to wholeheartedly thank councilman CLE for partnering with Advocates and the community on this project for close to a year and also thank you to mayor fulli for his public support of the full plan I hope we can
count on the rest of the council to bring this over the Finish Line the residents of the Heights and the whole city are counting on you thank you thank you and our last speaker 5 57 Jean evening Council my name is Jean AI also known as Jean Jean the dance
machine but uh what I'm here to speak about though is uh I live at 72 Montgomery uh downtown in a senior building um and actually uh Mr Solomon yes you you appeared in my apartment yes
and and there was something there was an exchange that we had that concerned me and it still concerns me these years later um one was uh I was explaining some of the situations that happened in
that building uh where there are uh things uh that uh should not be happening for instance uh like even right now the gate uh to the parking lot is not functioning it is open to
whomever uh my car had the catalytic converter ripped off the bottom of it in that parking lot um the cameras were rolling I was told but
the management did not release those tapes to the police so I was left with this back and forth with them there are many uh instances when uh an elevator is down there are two elevators this is like a
15 uh story building uh 20 I don't know 36 or 40 Apartments people come in from they're they're shopping because there are these vehicles that will take them with their Wheelchairs and their
their uh Walkers and whatever and and the line goes down the hallway way because there's only one elevator working fortunately there's always been at least one but sometimes you know that's even questionable um the the
premises are not uh maintained very well uh I have had to go to Legal Services even to get a a separate key uh to my apartment because there are two tenants uh and they said we could only have one key uh that got resolved by
going through to Legal Services I've contacted HUD the one thing that with James that when you said to me well we all know about this building and I thought that was kind of an uplift I said okay maybe we can get somewhere but then you said that is not I won't say
you were abdicating at that point but it was like this is not my jurisdiction this is a federal uh and and you were running for city council and I thought to myself well where or the city council
members where is our first step to get to the next one do I just simply go to the president of the United States to do get something I go or do I go to one of you guys to help me get there that's all
thank you Jean thank you h Sean Jean I I appreciate you coming um we will follow up on the parking lots and the elevators I think what we were referencing was HUD rents but we can get there in a second second time but we will work on the things that are in our jurisdiction
which include the parking lot and the elevators thanks Jean okay that concludes our public speaking portion of the meeting on to our petitions and Communications any questions or comments on items 6.1 through
6.30 hearing none there are no officer Communications any questions or comments on reported directors 8.1 on to our claims and addendums number one and and number two council members are going to be taking a vote on claims and addendums number one and
number two council person Ridley council person priner Hi council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees council person
Rivera hi and council president wman claims and addendums number one and number two are approved unanimously 90 on to our resolution hold on Sean um two quick things uh one uh I want to move to
motion a table uh 10.8 I tried to reach out to um I forget the young lady oh you got the email uh there it is I have the email to pull it so okay yeah uh director Rand reach out to us and ACC us to with draw
10.8 that it we can carry to the next meeting and it's not time sensitive and also uh John if you can provide I didn't see this on Tuesday I know um the initial meeting when we had as a release to upgrading the 911 system we were
supposed to have a meeting and somehow it came back on I didn't I don't recall anyone from Public Safety coming to yeah there was um a back and forth of q&as that uh director Moody had responded back to the council with uh memo identifying answers to those
questions it was the 78 last week on Friday did y'all I didn't see it who's seen it I didn't see it this is there they can't move out 911
okay are we good yeah okay all right council members so I'm going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.12 with the exception of 10.8 which has been withdrawn council person Ridley I council person
priner I council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore that sh one through 10.1 through 10.12 with the exception of 10.8 which has been
with drawn I thank you council person Dees council person rera I and council president wman items 10.1 through 10.12 with the exception of 10.8 which has been withdrawn are approved unanimously
90 on to our next set of resolutions items 10.13 through 10.23 again that's 1013 to 10.23 council person Ridley I council person princey I council person ban hi council person SLE
I God bless you council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore God bless you I council person Dees I council person Reber I and council president wman items
10.13 through 10.23 are approved unanimously 90 on to the balance of our resolutions items 10.24 1030 can I just say something before on30 on Monday night no one was here
from uh on I'm sorry on Tuesday night no one was here to address this item that's a joke but Public Safety should have been here to listen to ask so they can answer the questions we received a memoral about this but it only told us what we already knew the 911 system in
the city is broken and they are severely understaffed and they equipped that's another joke I emailed the public safety department and asked exactly how this money is being spent but no one ever got back to me this is typical of
the public safety I want to know dollar for dollar what we are getting for the $0 million government spending and waste is a big topic for us legislators right now and we should be able to see exactly what we are buying and how much we are
paying for it until I can see that this money is being spent on lavish office on lavish offices or vanity items I can't vote for this I think it's a shame and they don't you know Public Safety should have got back to us we asked and I asked
a couple other Council people asked last last council meeting they only get back to to us and nobody got back to us they only get back to certain people they don't like to answer questions they act like they're so upset they get paid the most money they Public Safety is a
disgrace man they're horrible I have emails back three three years they never get back horrible have to do that as elected officials if you can't email back a sitting council member how do you think the public is gonna feel when they try
to reach out that's a disgrace I don't have we shouldn't have to show up to the office on their door why do we have to show on door they get they get paid to provide a to do a job okay I understand what you're saying but
when they don't answer me I show up on their door they supposed to come to the council about their project I show up on they do $4 million and the director can't come and give us a itemized Budget on how we're spending that's $40 million
yeah know you need to 20,000 that's 40 million we all show up at the door do we have to Sunshine that if we all Council go to well Public Safety i' have to come with you and yes we would have to Sunshine that you don't want to say it
but you're fustrated with them not answering I mean the only comment that I have to say is I get what everybody is saying here you know the price the directors don't come up and don't come here but in the middle of this we have
our jury City Police Department we have our churchy city fire department and and not you know pay attention to this line item and not voting on this you put those men and women In Harm's Way and I'm not going to take that
chance okay council members I'm going to be taking vote on items 10.24 through 1030 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano I say it's an embarrassment they never got back to us it's an embarrassment to this
Council I say no no one wait hold 10 I'm sorry 1030 and I on the rest I on the rest oh man just burns me up on council person SLE G to vote I
for all except 10:30 vote no until I get more information so council person Solomon high for all council person Gilmore I'm going to vote um no 130 I think it's it's just
becoming of good government to provide how we're dispersing this money um I do get the importances of our emergency responses excuse me responders I'm not being dismissive of that but ultimately my goal is to make sure that we're doing
right from a financial standpoint um by the constituency of Jersey City so without a director coming explaining um again I can't get I don't know how many times I reached out um but I I I know how many times I got a response um
so in light of all that I'll vote no on30 and I on arrest thank you council person Dees I council person Riva I am going to like reiterate what I said I get it and yes the director does
in come the assistant director whoever they are I mean I didn't get any information from them anyway uh but I am not going to sit here and jeopardize a Communications um information between
our Public Safety our police our fire our OEM I'm not going to do that I'm not going to be you know the uh the person to blame God forbid if something happens because we didn't vote on the
communications uh uh budget for these guys I'm not going to do that so I always have their backs and I continue to do that and again I get it your your points are valid my Council
colleagues points are valid no they do not answer emails they do not you know they don't answer texts in a timely fashion they do not but here we are at this juncture I vote I
council president Waterman you know um I I hear the frustration but I want people to understand exactly how government work it is the ba and it is the mayor Administration we ask to meet with them I show up at their doors surprisingly to
get some answers what I which I should not have to do that but the council don't control each director you can see that that's the the way it is written because if we control them then we could fire them easily but it's a processing
for us to get rid of them because they are appointed by the mayor so when we are frustrated with public safety especially you hear the frustration of some of the council they are frustrated because they're not responding to some of them you know some of their questions or some of their calls what I want the
public to know is that it is the mayor's Administration he is responsible for them he hires a a to look over them this is how it is run I want it clear because I don't want them to think that this council is not trying to get no answers we have done all that we possibly can do
like I said I show up at their doors and we should have a com conversation it is the Ba's responsibility to make sure they respond to this Council and the mayor's responsibility and when that do not happen then you should put a plan in place to have them removed that's how
this process go okay I want the public to really understand that that's how it goes so with that in mind I do vote I I want them to know that because they think it's us time okay no frustration now you hear our frustration done
items I'm sorry items 10.24 through 10.29 are approved unanimously 90 item 10.30 is approved 63 with council members bajano Cay and Gilmore voting
no may I have a motion to adjourn at 8:14 p.m. second motion was made by council person Rivera seconded by council person SLE can I ask you a question before you join the meeting you cannot there was just you can you can do
a cbor one of the council members on the motion to adjourn at 8:14 p.m. all council members present by acclamation please say I I we are out of here at 8:14 p.m. thank you so much everyone in attendance and everyone watching at home remember Teamwork Makes the DreamWork stay safe and have a great
rest of the night for