“Shocked” and “offended,” William Colgan, the managing partner of Community Healthcare Associates, emphatically denied a charge by Christ Hospital’s Board Chairman Geoff Curtiss that CHA was unprepared to follow through with their bid.

Colgan says CHA contacted Christ Hospital immediately after the deal with Prime had “fallen apart, which was literally a couple days ago,” he said. “We met with their senior management team and, on the contrary, we substantiated to them that we were prepared to go forward.”

Curtiss had said that when the hospital met with CHA he was unconvinced they truly had the money available to purchase the hospital. “It was pretty clear,” said Curtiss, “the money wasn’t available to do all that they said they would do.”

But Colgan calls Curtiss’s claim “the furthest thing from the truth.” The group’s efforts to continue to purchase the hospital in bankruptcy court will demonstrate their intentions, he continued. That, however, will cost Colgan’s company.

“They’ve put the stake in the ground that that’s the path they chose,” he said. “A tremendous amount of value is pulled out of an institution when they file for bankruptcy. Historically I don’t think you’ll see less than $6 million in lost in the last four to five bankruptcies. The decision was criminal.”

“They absolute do not need to go through bankruptcy proceeding, they had financial needs and we told them we were prepared to meet their financial needs,” he said of a conversation that took place “on two days notice.”

CHA, which owns two hospitals, had a “dialogue with [Christ Hospital's] secured lenders” to reassure them of their financial situation.

Peter Kelly, Christ Hospital’s CEO, declined comment on Colgan’s version of the story and Curtiss did not return a call from JCI.

Following the announcement, Mayor Jerramiah Healy weighed in to support the CHA and Jersey City Medical Center’s bid for the hospital.

“It was announced this week that Prime Healthcare has withdrawn its offer to purchase Christ Hospital. It’s fortunate that the Jersey City Medical Center under the leadership of Joe Scott is not only interested in acquiring Christ Hospital and keeping it open as a non-profit to serve the citizens of Jersey City, but has also made a substantial preliminary offer in order to accomplish that acquisition. We hope the Board and Executive Director of Christ Hospital give this proposal a full and fair consideration as we believe this will inure to the benefit of all the citizens of Jersey City and Hudson County.”

The longstanding Saturday morning tradition of kids hovering around the television to watch cartoons wasn’t the case at the Shurin household, where Michael Shurin – aspiring Republican candidate for Congress and Jersey City resident – instead spent his childhood mornings absorbed in charged political discourse. For Shurin, it was Meet the Press and the McLaughlin Group, not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ProStars like it was for most other kids.

“Politics was engraved into me at a young age,” said Shurin, now 25-years-old, about his political roots. “It’s why I didn’t have too many friends growing up; I always loved politics.”

After watching the talking heads-shows, Shurin would then peruse the newspapers his father kept around the house – the Times and the Wall Street Journal in particular. Perhaps the news of the day resonated so strongly with Shurin because he grew up with the knowledge of political struggle from birth. Shurin’s parents emigrated from the Soviet-bloc, and growing up he would hear stories about their former home in Belarus, where political rivals were killed and their children “re-educated.” Politics wasn’t on the periphery of life, explained Shurin, it landed squarely in the middle of it. Now he looks locally at problems that aren’t sufficiently addressed by the powers that be, such as “what’s going on our own streets, the gang activity, the incarceration rates in the state,” said Shurin.

While Shurin, a St. Peter’s College graduate, wants to avoid being pigeonholed as stressing one single issue, there is something he can relate to in a very personal way: his dismay over the government’s struggles with the so-called war on drugs.

A reformed drug abuser, Shurin can reflect on the unfortunate benefit of past transgressions to understand the government’s struggle to address a problem that took years of life from him. On his website’s biography, Shurin recalls getting surprised by police during an attempted purchase of drugs, only to get arrested and watch as the African American teenager he was trying to buy from was beaten by the police while he was merely questioned. It opened his eyes, he said, to the problems of enforcement and treatment of different people. It also resulted in his barely finishing school with poor grades.

Not incidentally, drug crimes is an issue that Jersey City can relate to, with the the so-called “Hillbilly Heroin Highway” of Route 80 just 15 miles away. In fact, Former Police Director Samuel Jefferson reportedly called the area the home for some of the “purest” heroin back in 2004. The Drug Enforcement Agency also has a smattering of big time arrests in Jersey City, including 26 people arrested in 2010 for selling significant weight in various drugs including PCP, heroin, and marijuana. Before that there was a big bust for the selling of crack cocaine. The convicted felons, perhaps unsurprisingly, all have gang affiliation in Jersey City.

A former user and seller of opiate-based pharmaceuticals, Shurin maintains the government “should be concerned with harm reduction” rather than incarceration. “Local juvenile gangs’ top financing strategy is selling drugs,” he explains. “If we can break that up we can help a lot of kids. We need alternatives to juvenile centers, we need education.”

So far Shurin has not been in touch with the Republican party about getting on the ticket’s primary for the 2012 election, but the process of rubbing elbows with the right people to jockey his way into contention hasn’t interested him much. Rather, he explains, it’s a matter of personal importance.

“I saw all the problems with our [drug policy], not just the product itself but from the prohibition side,” said Shurin. “The main reason I’m running is to alert people of the effects of our drug policy.”

A former computer programmer, Shurin has opted to resign from his job to make campaigning his “full-time focus.” Running for office is “not a job to me, because I’m not in it to make money,” he said. “If I were to be elected, a congressman’s salary and benefits would be more than enough for me.”

Photo Courtesy of Michael Shurin.

After months of assuring Jersey City residents that Horizon Health Center is fully able to provide the equivalent STD prevention and tracking services as the city-operated Preventive Medicine Clinic, Horizon has backed away from the contract after New Jersey Primary Care Association, a group representing 20 Federally Qualified Health Centers in the state, sued the New Jersey Department of Human Services in Federal Court.

NJCPA claims health centers are unable to receive what they say are just fees, and in the suit the group accuses the state of unconstitutional action and the “unlawful taking of health center property without due process.” According to the complaint, “In the event that the [the health care organization] rejects a corresponding claim for any reason… the Medicaid covered encounter will remain completely unpaid.”

NJPCA says their members “will be forced to reduce staff, cut back services they currently provide to their Medicaid and other patients and reduce the number of patients they serve” without what they say is proper payment.

Horizon, citing this loss of revenue, would no longer be able to afford to take over the city’s clinical services.

The decision comes just days after the city received a letter from the state approving the deal. In fact, a public meeting was scheduled between the Preventive Medicine Clinic staffers and the city for Wednesday, under the assumption the transfer of services was a done deal, but the city postponed the meeting without explaining why.

The news, however, will come as little relief for the clinic’s staff or City Council members who want the clinic to remain open: the city maintains that although this sets their plans back, it does not alter them.

“The administration is disappointed that Horizon is unable to move forward with this contract and we will be looking into other possible options,” said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Horizon Health Center did not return repeated attempts to reach them in time for this story’s publication.

Bar LITM (140 Newark Ave) will be holding an opening reception for Darin DeField’s “Afrocentricity,” an exhibition of mixed media collage that explores race, gender, sexuality, and identity, on Tuesday, February 7th, from 6pm-8pm.

One of Jersey City’s most influential artists, DeField’s work has appeared in both public galleries and private collections such as the Merrill Lynch Corporation in New York, the Case Museum in Jersey City and Goldman Sachs Corporate Offices in New Jersey. He has also spoken in reference to his work at Essex County College (Newark campus) and The Jersey City Museum.

Gallery goers may recognize Defield’s most acclaimed work, “Head Series,” in which he re-considers the idea of indigenous tribal masks by extrapolating from African sculpture and archaeological artifacts.

For more information, please contact LITM.COM

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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.

If you had walked into the Route 440 strip mall three hours earlier, it would have been hard to believe that the record shop was having a bad week, let alone going out of business. The store was filled with people sifting through the CD bins, browsing the movie and poster racks, and eyeing the assortment of buttons and memorabilia lining the glass counter and hanging from the ceiling. It reminded me of all the classic record/video shop movies. The sight was surreal. The moment was bittersweet. As customers shuffled through the racks digging for goodies, it was easy to overlook the signs posted around the store letting everyone know that the shop was going out of business and everything was 40% to 70% off.  

I caught up with Maersk Doydora, a longtime customer and avid Michael Jackson fan, after he made his last purchase.

“It’s a sad day,” he said. ”I’ve been going here since I moved here, since ’87 when it was Wow! Records. I used to come here all the time, back in the days, when I was getting into rap and hip-hop, and they had all the good stuff here. It’s sad to see the place go.  I’m here to pay my last respects. 30 years is a good run.”

Tristine Baccam, a regular for the last three years, walked out with an Anberlin 45. “After moving here from Houston 3 years ago, this has been one of the few stores that actually feels like it belongs in this community,” she said. “It’s not all about getting the sale. They would go out of the way to find what you were looking for and talk to you about it.”

“Virtually the last man standing, SuperSounds, you were a great champ — thanks for the memories!” was all Jonathan Bondoc had to say after I rang up his purchase of some reggae vinyl and a copy of Aladdin on VHS. (I was the assistant manager of the store for years, and I couldn’t resist using that old register one last time.)

Supersounds took the place of Wow! Music in 2003, and was managed by Ron Akiyama and Ed Leppard. The shop in Hudson Mall had been a community staple since the early ’80s, and they were the torchbearers bringing music to the next generation.

In 2003, we were seeing the beginning of the shift to digital. Consumers were moving away from physical formats and towards digital downloads, but against the odds, the shop was able to stay afloat with support from collectors, enthusiasts and individuals who hadn’t yet made the leap to a digital collection.

Ron believes it had something to do with the community.

“The urban market still embraced physical format,” he said. ”More so than other areas. There was still a love of music. The people seemed passionate about this genre. And I’m sure that every genre has it’s fans, but it seemed urban was one of the last groups to still want that physical product.”

Even as the neighborhood changed and the genres shifted, it was still the place where you would go to buy music, listen to music, find out about new music, and hang out with other people, that simply, loved music.  

When I had a chance to sit down and talk to Ron, I asked him to describe who his customers were, and it wasn’t easy. What he said showed the heart of what the store actually was. “This [place/neighborhood] was a throwback,” he said. “It’s own world. The people here just seem to have a different lifestyle, a different outlook on life. It’s a very urban area, but people are people. And I loved to listen to their stories.

“I’ve heard a lot of heartbreaking stories,” he went on, “so many more than the great stories. But they felt the music kept them going, and that’s why I still felt a sense of purpose in providing that knowledge. Because it made them happy, the music made them happy. From the people that were poverty stricken, to people that were addicts, to people riding the line, it all came to banding around everyone being equal in loving the music. And if you were in that set clique it was a great clique to be in.”

Anyone who is familiar with music or book retailers understands that there have been many hurdles to overcome in the past 20 years. From the advent of the entertainment mega stores like Virgin and FYE to massive retailers like Target and Walmart, it would seem that independent business have been playing against a stacked deck. And for a long time, it looked as though Supersounds had weathered the brunt of the storm. But in the last days, Ed explained, “As customers dwindled and employees got less and less, I mean, I was here by myself most of the time, and there were hardly any customers. There wasn’t really much going on.”

At the end of the day it’s not easy to say that one thing killed the music industry. “It’s such a combination platter. There are a lot of factors that go into it.  Besides downloading, retailing itself has changed. At the end of the day if we had seen an increase, just some kind of increase it gives you more incentive.  I think the small music store is history,” Ron said.  

But if there was a straw that broke the camel’s back it was, in his words, “Music companies never changing their policies until it was too late.  I still blame the music companies for the downturn.  If they had changed their prices 15 years ago, across the board to $10, like Universal finally did.  But as wholesalers they intended to charge us $11-$12 per product which turns into $16.99 for the customer and they’re not going to pay that anymore.”

The question becomes, is it possible for a small independent record shop, in a not so affluent area, to not only survive but succeed?

Ed’s response was no. “There is not going to be a record store,” he said. “I think Tunes [in Hoboken] has the right idea, because they incorporate a lot of online business, their entire catalog is online, and as a result they sell a lot of product.”

As the last customers left the shop, I saw a lot hugs, a few tears, and more “we’re gonna miss you guys,” than I’ve heard in a really long time. This isn’t just a small store shutting down and another one taking its place. This is most likely the last time Hudson Mall, if it lasts, will ever have a record shop.

At 9 pm the registers were counted and I was able to chat with old friends and co-workers without the worry of leaving our friends, the customers, neglected. As we reminisced about old times, we tried to think about what made the place so special. 

Corey Braiterman, a Supersounds employee from 2005-2012, has worked with Ron for practically his entire post-college life. “While everyone is outside working in the cold, I’m sitting inside listening to music,” he said. “It could be a lot worse.”

I worked at the store from 2004 to 2010, and I’m going to remember it as the place I could always go when I had nothing to do or needed someone to talk to — and where music was the only thing that mattered.

After the doors were locked one last time, we were left with a cast of characters that only a reunion at a small record shop could conjure. I stood at the counter and made my last purchase at a store that has come to mean so much to me over the course of my life that any words past this point would fail to do the memories justice.

The Jersey City Fire Department will add approximately $1 million of life-saving gear – both for firefighters and potential victims – thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The grant will go towards ”turnout gear,” which is protective firefighting safety gear, as well as thermal imaging cameras that are used to help find hidden victims.

“We are always applying for grants from the federal and the state government that can defray the cost of equipment and resources to improve the quality of life for our residents,” said Mayor Healy in a statement. Healy acknowledged Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, along with Congressmen Albio Sires and Bill Pascrell for their support in receiving the grant. “This type of equipment is vital to the work our firefighters do every day, and with this grant the cost will not fall on the backs of the taxpayers.”

Jersey City received nearly half of the total grant money allocated to New Jersey, and the money comes from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, a grant conceived in 2001 by Congressman Bill Pascrell.

“When you see firefighters out there in their gear, it has the appearance of being indestructible, but it’s not,” said Fire Director Armando Roman in a statement. “Heat from flames or tears in the material compromises the safety of the gear for our firefighters, so it has to be replaced immediately. Also, pathogens, blood and chemicals often get on the clothing, which then must be immediately replaced. That’s why a grant like this is vital.”

“We are the second largest City in the State of New Jersey and our needs are greater than many other municipalities,” said Director Roman in the statement. “When these suits (turnout) cost more than $1,000 each, it can get very expensive. Thanks to the grant, now it won’t be as costly to the taxpayers in our community.”

For full listings, check out the Cultural Calendar.

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TODAY

Rob Piersanti’s first Pop Art Show of the year takes place at Boca Grande, complete with a complimentary wine tasting and live jazz band (6 pm, free).

The Black Maria Film Festival returns to NJCU for the 31st year. Admission is free to the premiere of the film festival, and refreshments will be served (7 pm).

Ladies on The Mic presents First Songs of Spring, a free concert celebration featuring two bands that cross pollinate their classical training with other musical genres like jazz, rock & pop–at Art House (7 pm, free).

American vibraphonist Eldad Tarmu performs at Raphs Plaza African Market and Internet Cafe (8 pm).

TOMORROW

There’s a weekend-long Dogfish Head Beer Benefit at the Iron Monkey. A portion of sales from all Dogfish Head drafts and bottles will go to 3 different charities (all day).

The Museum of Russian Art hosts a closing reception for two shows: Red Show and Mechanical Theater (4 pm).

Jordan’s Lounge hosts a National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Benefit. The event, presented by Our Youth, features dinner and celebrity impersonators and will honor HIV Activist Timothy Daniels and Jersey City councilwoman Viola Richardson (4:30 pm, $10).

The Laugh Tour returns to Art House for “an evening of hilarious stand up comedy” (7 pm, $15 in advance, $20 at the door).

SUNDAY

The Dogfish Head Beer Benefit continues at Iron Monkey.

St. Matthew’s is holding a Winter Rummage Sale fundraiser complete with home-cooked meals (12:30 pm).

-SUPER BOWL STUFF-

The Brightside Tavern – Two separate package deals, both include an open bar and buffet. Plus they’ll pick you up with a free shuttle service. 141 Bright Street.

The Lamp Post – A pre-tailgate party starts at 4 pm with $1 Clam Chowder and $5 Boilermakers. $3 shots with every touch down, $2 Kamikaze shots throughout the game. 382 2nd Street.

LITM – Will be showing the game on the big projector screen, and have drink specials and food specials all day–including $2 off all drinks if you’re wearing a Giants jersey. 140 Newark Avenue.

Lucky 7 – Food and drink specials all day, plus Giants jersey give aways at the end of every quarter. 322 2nd Street.

O’Connell’s – Happy Hour all night, $5 food menu, and give aways. 111 Montgomery Street.

Powerhouse Lounge – $40 presale/$50 game day package for open bar and unlimited food during the game. 360 Marin Boulevard.

Zeppelin Hall – The beer garden is boasting the most biggest hi-def screens and half price beer and wings. They will also have mug and jersey giveaways. 88 Liberty View Drive.

Jersey City Man Found Guilty of Strangling Ex-Girlfriend’s Daughter and then Setting Room on Fire: A Jersey City man charged with strangling his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and torching her Stevens Avenue home to hide the crime was found guilty of murder yesterday afternoon.

Hudson County Feeding the Rental Appetite: Hudson County rules the rental housing market in New Jersey, with the largest amount of Class A rental units and the highest average rental rate in the state–and the market is expected to grow rapidly, especially on the waterfront where several new projects in Jersey City are already underway.

Jersey City School’s Contest Helps ‘Kindle’ Student Interest in Reading: The Al-Ghazaly School, a nonprofit private school, has started a successful Kindle contest to get students to read more–some students now read 2 books a week and vie for the highest book report grades to compete for the device.

Former ‘Soul Train’ Dancer from Jersey City Remembers Longtime Host Don Cornelius: Jersey City resident Stephen McMillian commuted to Los Angeles once a month as a dancer for Soul Train; he remembers telling former host Don Cornelius, who died this week, that he admired him for being a trailblazer for African Americans, and discusses his experiences working with Cornelius.

In Statewide News:

New Jersey Assembly Committee Approves Bills Meant to Increase Port Authority Transparency: Yesterday, an assembly committee approved four bills intended to increase transparency at the agency and legislative control over it.

New Jersey Assembly Panel Advances Gay Marriage Bill: The New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee approved the marriage equality bill in a vote Thursday afternoon, promising to escalate the standoff between Democratic lawmakers and Republican governor Chris Christie, who has vowed to veto the legislation.

New Jersey Arts Council Awards Nearly $200K in Fellowships: The New Jersey State Council on the Arts awarded $182,600 in fellowships to 22 sculptors, photographers, poets, playwrights and craft artists yesterday.

Dear Editor,

As a Jersey City resident and voter, I was pleased with the decision of Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop announcing that he will introduce an ordinance at the next City Council meeting that will place a referendum on November’s ballot that will allow voters to give their preference for the date of school elections.

As everyone in our city knows, Mr. Fulop supported the past two board of education elections which led to the majority in the current board. It would be so easy to let the current board members to decide to keep the election on April or to move it to November with a very simple vote, especially if they have the majority.

Mr. Fulop chose to let the Jersey City residents and voters decide what they want to do.

I would like to thank you personally because you set an example of empowering the voters and residents. I know you believe like many of us that if we all work together we can make a big difference in our city’s’ future.

Sincerely,

Nabil Youssef

Former City Council Candidate
Jersey City

A bill under discussion in Trenton would soon prohibit New Jersey politicians from using cell phones during public meetings – a complaint often levied at City Council members and that almost prompted a similar law at the municipality-level.

The bill, according to its sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, would update the “Sunshine Law” to modern times. Jersey City already does an excellent job of falling on the right side of the Sunshine Law as currently written, thanks to the work of ACLU-NJ award-winning City Clerk Robert Byrne, but the bill would go further by limiting private communication between public officials such as by e-mail, instant message services, or other means such as texting. To put teeth in the measure, the bill would force a politician to be removed for two or more violations of the open public meetings law.

“When the Sunshine Law was written, the term ‘Internet’ hadn’t even been coined yet,” said Senator Weinberg in a statement. “The way we communicate with the world has changed so much since the original Open Public Meetings Act was enacted, and while the law may have been revolutionary for its time, the letter of the law doesn’t match the spirit of the law. Through this bill, we would be bringing the 20th Century’s most important government transparency legislation into the 21st Century, and would be able to realize the promise of open government for a new generation of New Jersey residents.”

And for Jersey City residents with a propensity for requesting documents via the Open Public Records Act, there’s another bill of interest: S-1452. The proposed law, along with renaming the Open Public Records Act after longtime transparency activist Martin O’Shea, would allow for more access of government records by permitting documents be OPRA-ed by any citizen, not just a New Jersey resident, and by no longer restricting a public record be requested on official form.

“In this day and age, if I submit an OPRA request on a cocktail napkin, so long as it contains the necessary information, that should be enough,” continued Weinberg in the statement. “The guarantee of transparency under OPRA shouldn’t stop at our borders, nor should it be dependent on pro forma mechanics.”

The law would also broaden the scope of OPRA to include “quasi-governmental organizations” that are “engaged in service to the public, such as the New Jersey League of Municipalities, the New Jersey School Boards Association, and joint insurance groups or funds for political subdivisions of the State.”

“The public has a reasonable expectation to transparency from government, and while New Jersey has, in the past, led the charge nationally in adopting public records and meeting laws, it’s time that we update and expand those laws to stay ahead of new trends in technology,” Weinberg added. “In the Digital Age, our current laws governing public meetings and records requests have fallen behind the times, and have created large gaps in transparency. It’s time to correct the deficiencies in the law, and bring OPRA and the Sunshine Law into the 21st Century.”

The bill will also now permit OPRA request be made by e-mail and redefine the standard for violations from “knowingly and willfully” to “gross negligence” of the law.

“While many records custodians are living up to their responsibilities under OPRA, there are some who feel they need to be the gatekeepers of public information,” said Senator Weinberg. “By simply failing to produce documents in a timely and appropriate manner, these officials are shirking one of the most important responsibilities of government – to be accountable to the governed. In those instances when a records custodian is defying the spirit of the law and the goal of transparency, it’s my sincere hope that their misconception about the role of government be corrected, or the person be removed from the post.”

Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez had proposed a similar measure regarding cell phone use at Council meetings only to withdraw it when it became clear that the state law would make it meaningless.