https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/nyregion/238-million-penthouse-sale.html

Its real. He was supposed to move to NYC and at the time it seemed like "HQ" was going to move to NYC. I worked for Kenny G at the time.

I remember being happy about this place opening and thinking its a nice addition to the neighborhood, and then I never went, so I can't say I am surprised.

Somewhat unfortunate, but that seems like a pretty big space so hopefully something good will replace it.

I am sure they are putting in an 8 hour day, but to close at noon is just nuts. I was walking past their the other day at lunchtime, and as I was about a half block away I was like oooh Scram doesn't have a line out the door, an egg sandwich would really hit the spot... but it was 12:20. They were closed.

I can not imagine how any business can make money staying open 4 hours a day. And I mean its good, and I guess they want to become a Thing like Magnolia was in the 2000s, but its not that good at all. And the few times I walked past, the line was like 30 minutes long, because they crank out like one sandwich every two minutes, the inefficiency was actually impressive.

They have to be bleeding out money. If they are actually turning a profit, that is incredibly impressive.

This post has some big NextDoor energy.

Yeah so the database I mentioned above apparently is no longer online for some reason, it used to exist at http://openpv.nrel.gov but it is not available, its unclear if that is permanent or temporary- a doc from another part of the site kind of implies that they might charge for the data now, but if that's true, its not clear how you would even do that- but it was the only site that actually got me to someone actually willing to do a project around here.

If you get some real leads, please share!

Do not go on typical sites like EnergySage- its a complete waste of time and they will resell your phone number to dozens of companies that will blow up your phone for literal months.

I have attempted to do this twice- the first time was at the end of February 2020, and everyone ghosted on me because of Covid. Regardless, dozens of companies called me after I put my info in on some sites like energysage but almost all of them ran away when it was not your stereotypical single family house. The last time was this past spring/summer. I didn't love the quotes because they couldn't guarantee anything specific due to supply chain issues- and panel quality can very tremendously, and a warranty doesn't mean anything if its from some fly by night company in China. I shelved it, as the IRA had just been passed, and we had some family health issues, waiting for a better day when you can just buy panels without issue. The IRA should hopefully bring costs down as well when it fully kicks in.

Anyway, Greenhouse Solar and Apex Solar were two companies that were actually willing to do the work (and that's all I could find). I found these companies by looking at a database online of actual installs that listed, the date, size, address of the install, and the company who did it that exists somewhere. I can't seem to find it at the moment, which is frustrating. I begged Brooklyn Solar to give it a go, but they politely declined. I also wanted a battery as well. These guys were balking, until I made it clear that I am not too worried about payback periods and such with a battery system. Of these two, Apex seemed like the much better option, an actual knowledgable person spoke to me, did not panic when we veered off his script- I had all the numbers already worked out in terms of payback or not. There are multiple issues with brownstones/townhouses- the biggest is the roof area and the fire code. You need to be at least three feet away from anything up on your roof- a skylight, AC equipment, the edges of your building, so firefighters can potentially get up there. This dramatically limits the amount of panels you can fit up there. My house has power lines in front of it, so there is even extra BS/permits terms of getting a crane to get the stuff up on the roof. There is also the issue that no one wants to puncture a flat roof, so you need to get a ballasted system, which means you need to get approval that the roof can handle the additional weight, etc.

Another option is to go with community solar. There are several projects out there, I went with solarlandscape.com. It seems like a scam- a guaranteed 15% off your bill and you get powered by solar? But its worked, and while they seemed to have figured out their issues, I was actually getting like 80% off my electric bill for awhile. I wasn't going to complain about it.

Finally, you can attempt to DIY a part of it- I seriously considered this. Companies like renvu solar: https://www.renvu.com/ Will design a system for you, and get all the permits taken care of, for a very reasonable price- $500 for their "full" package. You can then subcontract out the rest. I came up with a way to get a small jack/crane on my roof, so I could hoist all the stuff up there, that seemed to be a major sticking point for most of the little guys doing single family homes. They didn't want to deal with cranes.

Anyway, send me a DM if you want to discuss further. I really want to do this but it just has not worked out... yet.

Putting Solar on a typical detached house vs a Brownstone/attached house in Jersey City are very different things. I had literal dozens of companies hang up on me once it did not fit their archetype of a single family home with a shingled, angled roof on a stick frame house.

I have done Walmart a few times, I had no issues. Produce is good, some of the substitutions were not great- I wanted thighs, I guess they were out, so they gave me drumsticks.

The prices are equivalent to shoprite, and cheaper if you are willing to do their store brand, but the meat selection is inferior.

You got downvoted a bunch for this, but I have had some fantastic meals at Corto, yet also some absolutely terrible ones as well- consistency is a real issue there. We went on a holiday weekend in 2021, either July 4th or labor day, and it was like they just forgot the salt... in everything. Another time, we had the chocolate cake, and it appears they used fish sauce instead of whatever oil they typically used- it was... gross. Another time they hyped up a smoked pork dish, and I love bbq'ed pork, and it was extremely dry, it would have been better used to resole my shoes. Less extreme is that the chicken diablo or whatever the specific name is can go from "taco bell spicy" to "omg more water please ASAP".

On the other hand, when its on, its on, and is one of the best places in JC. The only others that rival are Ondo- which I am shocked has not blown up yet, the food, drinks and ambience are amazing, and its not even that expensive, and the new Madame was great the two times I went as well. Both are pushing the envelope to new places.

Yeah I actually took a look at Stony Hill Farms pie ingredients, I am not sure where I can get a monoglyceride plant, but I am interested to know how well they grow in NJ.

Its all kind of a scam really- I treat it like a slightly more expensive foodstore that happens to set up shop down the block from me, but there is nothing better about their stuff at all IMHO. This past fall I was really disappointed in their apples- Shoprite's Honey Crisps were better, and Shoprite's produce is typically one of their weak spots.

I mean... if that's what Solomon says, I guess... but they have already done work in that part of the property that the state owns... so how did that happen?

I am not saying Solomon is being outright dishonest here, but he may be misunderstanding the situation.

There was contamination from an old oil tank that was buried on the site, but that was cleaned up a bunch of years ago. Its slated to be a park, they ran out of money a bunch of years back. IIRC- GS had set aside a lump sum, and then a smaller maintenance sum annually for several years, and then it ran out, but they would occasionally do some work as the maintenance money trickled in. You can see the walkway extends back there.

Ha! That is indeed a fun fact I did not know. Thanks!

HP- a bakery. We have several bakeries that are neighborhood adjacent, but a legit bakery on or around the park would kill it IMHO.

In kinda related news, I have never understood why there has been a storefront vacant on the south side of Jersey across from HP for years... anyone know the deal with that?

I've been in a few times. It's fine, but it's definitely got it's local crowd of mostly Spanish speaking people. It's not the nicest place but they have a pool table in the back and cheap drinks. It's been relatively empty every time I have gone but the patrons there never gave me pause of any sort- at least say compared to the characters that hang around the Barge Inn bar.

Drivers are getting next level bonkers around here. The other day I had the car out and was coming to full stops at the stop signs on Jersey- and people were honking at me and one tried to drive around me.

It's literally pretty much lawless around here.

There is only two of you, and you may have differing priorities. You might be looking at the place long term, wanting to upgrade mechanicals/landscaping/roofing etc, the other person might be looking to get out in the next year or 3 to get more space in the burbs so just wants to band-aid everything.

Things like putting in solar or doing electrical work to get an electric car charger are two areas I can see where things could be tricky in a two person condo if you aren't on the same page.

I lived in PH for about a decade. The playbook was move to JC, get a dog, get married, move out to the burbs. 80% of the people that move there are there for 1-3 years, with another 10% staying for 5 if they buy a condo.

Yeah- I was hoping to see an article that discussed how the financial crisis made building rentals more profitable than condos and how that effects neighborhoods, but this... this was just word vomit.

FWIW- I have long lamented that pretty much all the new buildings aside from 99 hudson have been rentals downtown. I lived in Paulus Hook for a long time, and it was almost frustrating meeting someone cool at the dog park- you knew this was their stop on the way to the burbs in 1-2 years. HP is much better in this regard, its an actual neighborhood. You also see people wearing JC or local spots t-shirts often, when I lived in PH, it was extremely rare.

Lighthorse Tavern, I have sat next to SO many awkward first dates at that place. Satis is good too. Both are in the pretty but quiet neighborhood of Paulus Hook. The others mentioned here might be better choices if you want the option for a more bar-like scene either during or after.

No real information here- so I will add some:

The path has a substation behind the building, and until that is moved, they can't do anything with the property. About 10 years ago, maybe longer at this point, a project was done to "stabilize" the structure, and they put up the yellow guards in the windows and put some bands around some areas where you could see the walls seem to be buckling under themselves.

There is no real plan to move the substation, so this building is likely going to sit like this indefinitely.

Not sure if you were just being snarky, but he does the many 8-bit looking things around town and has an insta here: https://www.instagram.com/blaze_on_walls/?hl=en

Depends where you move to- Downtown/JSQ, and close to the PATH/light rail? It will be more inconvenient to own a car than not have one, unless you move to a high rise and pay for parking in their garage- not sure on specific pricing these days, but its probably somewhere around $250/month.

The Heights, or anything south of walking distance to Journal Square, you may want a car, even if you don't need one. But you can get by without- Via, Citibike, the light rail and Uber can get you around pretty well.

No love for twin mart? Haven't had cangianos, so I can't compare but Twin Mart does a good classic BEC. 9th and Erie since you are new here and it's easyish to overlook

Are dogs allowed? I have never been and it seemed more like an outdoor festival in the past but now it seems more like a show.