The Jersey City Independent "

Nine months after Jersey City rejected an initial “preposterous” settlement with developer Steve Hyman, owner of the 6th Street Embankment, an agreement was reached Friday that will transfer the valuable downtown land to the city for $7 million, pending Council approval. The settlement comes after a 7-year legal battle that has accrued millions of dollars [...]

It’s never easy to watch an important piece of your life disappear. For 30 years, I’ve had a record shop within walking distance of my house in Jersey City’s Westside neighborhood. But on Tuesday night, I heard the music pour out of the store and into Hudson Mall as Supersounds closed its doors for the last time.

Joanne Smith, the volunteer coordinator for Hudson County’s Point-In-Time census count, is an old hand at the 24-hour census count of Hudson County’s homeless population, and it’s an experience that’s stuck with her in large part because of how “daunting” the experience is.

At 19 years of age, Demetrius Terry isn’t always the youngest speaker during a City Council meeting’s public hearing, when residents, union reps, former pols, and business interests address the municipality’s legislative body, (often) airing concerns or (occasionally) applauding city actions. On some days, in particular when the cause is related to elementary schools, Terry [...]

In her paintings, videos, and collages, Margaret Murphy either debases Catholic icons to the lowly status ordinarily set aside for mass-produced knickknacks — or she elevates dime-store trash to the celestial ranks usually reserved for patron saints and martyrs.

A Jersey City middle school was the backdrop for conservative activists with the New Jersey Tea Party, who visited this month to promote their ideas for improving public education.   Smack in the middle of an urban public school district the state has defined as failing, a panel of seven advocates assembled in the Franklin L. Williams School auditorium Jan. 22 [...]

Thursday’s Board of Education meeting focused on two immediate concerns: the possibility of filling the vacancy left by Sean Connors and potential shift of the upcoming election from April to November.

This is not the first confession I have made in my life, and it will not be the last. I had never visited the art gallery Curious Matter before September 2011. To date, they have organized 13 exhibitions that have featured more than 200 artists from Jersey City, New York, and abroad. Raymond E. Mingst and Arthur Bruso run the gallery, which opened in 2007.

Downtown Jersey City is a great place for trend-spotting. A cultural hub with a mix of suburban transplants, NYC commuters, international travelers and more, the neighborhood is full of the eclectic, the artistic and the fashion-forward. Marinell Montales, a part-time barista at the Warehouse Cafe, has created a place to celebrate the style of these residents: a blog she calls Downtown, natch!

Calling the decision to strip Council President Peter Brennan of his presidency “illegal” and “arbitrary,” Mayor Jerramiah Healy has announced that he will be vetoing the newly approved law.