Photo: Amanda Thackray

It’s not every day that a co-leader of the Dead Milkmen plays in Jersey City, but it does appear to be happening more and more frequently. Joe Jack Talcum’s show with local faves Any Day Parade at the Iron Monkey on Friday, March 5 was in fact his second appearance (so far) at a JC Fridays event.

Talcum wrote and sang lead on many of the Milkmen’s most beloved classics including probably their biggest song, “Punk Rock Girl.” Performing acoustically and solo really allowed Talcum to highlight just how good his songcraft has been all these years. Covers of Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” and Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End” sat shockingly comfortably next to Milkmen classics like “Watching Scotty Die” and “Methodist Coloring Book.” The set also included some of Talcum’s solo material (he been self-releasing his solo work since his DIY cassette days of the mid-80s.) The night came to a close perfectly as Any Day Parade drummer Pat Byrne joined Talcum on the encore of “If I Had A Gun.”

The aforementioned Any Day Parade opened the night with a great set in perfect urban honky-tonk style, with lead singer and geetar player Tree occasionally channeling the spirit of X when harmonizing with her frontline companions Larry Brickman and Joe Daly while Chuck Daly and Byrne laid down the foundation. This Jersey City band has written a lot of classics in a short period of time and it feels like it is only beginning for them. They are currently prepping for a trip to South By Southwest in Austin later this month. Indeed, they even had a can at the door to accept donations to help fund the trip (gas isn’t exactly cheap, you know.) So if you see them around town, why not slip a few dollars in their back pockets while they’re not looking?

The classes, which begin this Friday, are open to only 10 people. The first lesson is on Scratchboard Drawing — you can take this one on Friday, March 12 at 7:30 pm, or Tuesday, March 16 at 1 pm. And you can take the second class — on Stationary Making — on Thursday, April 8 at 1 pm or on Friday, April 9 at 7:30 pm. All classes cost $25. All materials are included in the cost of the lesson, but you should bring your own reference materials.

For more info or to RSVP, email kristen (at) kanibalhome.com.

Jersey City officials are fighting to preserve state Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) funding that was recently frozen by Gov. Chris Christie as part of his attempts to balance New Jersey’s budget. Advocates of the program are warning of dire consequences to urban business areas already struggling with the nation’s severe recession if Jersey City loses the $10.6 million in frozen funds.

Mayor Healy assures he is taking “several immediate steps … to develop a comprehensive strategy,” working closely with Jersey City’s state legislators, local businesses and the Urban Mayors Coalition/UEZ Coalition to keep the funds intact.

UEZ Benefits

The state Department of Community Affairs oversees the New Jersey UEZ Authority, run locally by the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation. Businesses in designated UEZs are allowed to charge a 3.5 percent sales tax, rather than the usual 7 percent, to attract customers.
 
The lower sales tax revenues are then dedicated to local economic development projects. Additionally, UEZ businesses may enjoy tax exemptions on certain purchases and other benefits - such as using low-interest loans to finance facility upgrades. The overall aim of the program is to spur development in the predominantly urban areas that most need assistance.

Jersey City’s UEZ zone, which makes up a third of the city, is the largest in the state based on the amount of revenue collected — and ultimately dispersed into the community.

“The UEZ program is very important to Jersey City in so many ways,” state Sen. Sandra Cunningham says. “Not only does it create jobs and attract new businesses, but it also provides funds to renovate old buildings in improving the city’s appearance.”

Jersey City spends between $11 and $12 million in UEZ money each year to fund a variety of items and programs within the districts, according to city press secretary Jennifer Morrill. The expenditures cover, among other things, police salaries, closed-circuit TV cameras, job training, streetscape improvements, street cleaning, “gateway beautification” projects and renovations to historic structures like the Powerhouse, the Loew’s Theatre and the Appletree House.

According to Morrill, the UEZ also contributes to Jersey City’s “economic success” by keeping property tax rates down because the program “directly fund[s] municipal services” within UEZ districts.
 
The loss of state money “could have an adverse impact on future economic development,” and increase unemployment, she worries.

But a spokesman for Gov. Christie, who has frozen about $78 million in UEZ funds statewide via executive order, says this is just one of many hard cuts the governor is making as he confronts a horrid budget situation.

“The governor’s act not only affected Jersey City’s UEZs, but many other programs throughout the state budget,” Michael Drewiniak tells JCI. “His actions not only eliminated wasteful spending, but, unfortunately, affected many good programs like the UEZ.”

Christie’s office insists that the cuts to this and other programs are necessary to avoid a fiscal meltdown.

“Nothing was spared,” Drewiniak insists. ”Something had to be done, and we had to act swiftly. Each day we hadn’t would have only worsened a very serious financial crisis.”
 
Yet Healy, in prepared remarks his office issued March 2, warns shrinking UEZ monies will bring despair to urban business areas already struggling with a severe recession.
 
“If the UEZ program is not restored to its full funding, there will be negative economic effects for Jersey City,” he says in the statement.

A Victim of Belt-Tightening
 
In a Feb. 11 address to a joint session of the state legislature, Christie declared a statewide financial crisis. That day, he issued Executive Order No. 14, proclaiming ”that a State of Fiscal Emergency exists” in New Jersey.
 
Drewiniak explained the order enabled the new governor to freeze ”unexpended balances and surpluses” in various state accounts, including the UEZ.
 
He noted this step required the state treasurer “to move the unused monies to a general fund” in the state budget, dedicated to deficit reduction.
 
Christie’s UEZ funds policy is outlined in a document posted on the governor’s official Web site, titled, “FY 2010 Budget Solutions as a Foundation for Reform.” It affects “undesignated project balances and reimbursements to the state of past overpayments.”
 
But the legality of Christie’s actions is being questioned. Jersey City UEZ director Roberta Farber contends that Christie’s order is couched in “technical terms” and “vague.” The fact that Christie bypassed the state legislature on this has also drawn criticism.

Drewiniak counters that his boss’ actions are on solid legal ground.
 
“The governor’s ability to issue a spending freeze, via executive order, was not an issue in dispute,” he says. “We hope the legislature will now work with us in exercising its legal authority to balance the budget.”
 
Cunningham says she thinks the matter will ultimately be resolved by legislation, not by Christie’s executive order.

“I can’t tell you exactly what I intend to do,” she says. “Certainly, I will do whatever it takes in trying to help Jersey City and Bayonne restore lost UEZ funding.” 
 
Christie’s act has created great uncertainty over the viability of future projects awaiting funding in Jersey City. Morrill cites Phase II of Martin Luther King Drive improvements as one casualty placed in limbo since Christie’s order.
 
“No projects can move forward” unless legislators restore funding, she explains. However, she notes that the Jersey City UEZ program has over $5 million for “ongoing projects” it can use until some time in June.
 
“We’re hoping to have a dialogue with the governor and his officials to discuss the benefits UEZ programs have brought to urban areas like Jersey City,” Morrill says. “We’d like to jointly craft solutions so the program can keep moving forward.” 

According to Drewiniak, so would the governor — to a point.

“Anybody disagreeing with us can propose alternatives,” he says. “But they have to be viable.” 

- Re-introducing Bills: Ward E councilman Steven Fulop, as we reported a few weeks ago, plans to keep introducing several of his failed ordinances at each council meeting. But another ordinance being introduced by Council President Peter Brennan would prevent him from doing so; it would limit the reintroduction of failed measures to once every six months. Fulop has dubbed it the “anti-democracy ordinance.”

- Federal Stimulus $$ for NJ Transit: Federal officials have spelled out how $52.4 million in stimulus funds already earmarked for NJ Transit will be spent; despite the timing, this money will not offset the service cuts and fare hikes announced last week. Meanwhile, NJ Transit’s payroll rose more than $154 million from 2006 to 2009, about three times the rate of inflation.

- Reilly’s Family Looking for Answers: A year after Healy aide John Reilly died after being rushed to the hospital following a “verbal altercation” at the Astor Bar, his family doesn’t believe the truth about that night has come out.

- Pre-K Milestone: Jersey City’s pre-kindergarten program is celebrating its 20th year.

- HCCC Culinary Students Competing: A team of five students from Hudson County Community College’s Culinary Arts program will compete in next weekend’s American Culinary Federation Student Team Northeast Region Championship.

- Clock Repair: Dislocations talks to the guys who were recently out repairing the faux-antique clock at the Grove Street PATH plaza.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Tuesdays are turning out to be a happening day for culture in Jersey City and tonight is no exception. There’s an opening reception for Beatrice M. Mady’s digital prints and paintings at City Hall (6 pm), followed by two excellent free live music options. Right across the way at Bar Majestic, Roland Ramos’ band Forbidden Fruit will play at 7:30 pm, while over at Lucky 7’s, Sean Kiely of Square Wave Punch, playing solo, will share a bill with Australian rockers The On Fires (9 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Poll: Christie Popular, Tax Cuts for the Rich … Not So Much: Gov. Christie is viewed favorably by 45 percent of New Jerseyans, and unfavorably by 26 percent, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll. But most in the state think that tax rates for New Jerseyans making $400,000 or more per year should not be cut, despite Christie’s support for allowing the surcharge imposed on high earners to expire.

- Studying Inmates: A bill approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Monday would create a panel to study characteristics of the New Jersey inmate population, analyzing prison inmates by race, length of incarceration and participation in prison educational and vocational programs, among other obtainable data.

- Recession Continues to Take Toll on Arts Groups: Arts organizations in New Jersey have trimmed the number of performances they’re offering, substituted large productions with smaller ones and reduced staff and marketing expenses, and now some are even shutting their doors.

- Dogs Seized from ‘Puppy Mill’: Animal agencies have rescued 90 dogs that officials said suffered several infections while being housed at an alleged “puppy mill” in South Jersey.

- Rutgers Air Guitarists Rock Out, Come Up Short: Rutgers University students and assorted locals came together Friday night with hopes of breaking a world record for the largest air guitar ensemble, but there were not enough people to break the existing Guinness World Record — set at Brock University in Canada when more than 1,436 people gathered last September for an air guitar performance.

- Contract for Graduated Driver Decals Awarded: New drivers subject to “Kyleigh’s Law” will pay $4 for a pair of decals supplied by a Chicago-based company that submitted the only bid for the contract, the state Motor Vehicle Commission says. Drivers subject to the Graduated Driver License Law, mostly teenagers, will be required to affix decals to the upper left of their front and rear license plates or face a $100 fine.

- Menendez Gets Animal Award: The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund have given Sen. Bob Menendez the Humane Champion award for his leadership on animal protection legislation.

Lunafest is a traveling festival of short films by, for, and about women. _gaia needs films from Hudson County residents that are under 10 minutes long, and center around issues concerning the lives of women or feature principal women characters.

All submissions have to be postmarked by Friday, March 19. Anything received after that deadline will be considered for next year, and no submissions will be returned. Send your stuff to: Lillian Ribeiro, Director of Performance & Film, _gaia Studio, 315 3rd St., Jersey City, NJ 07032, and mark the envelope “LF.”

Lunafest Jersey City 2010 will be held at LITM on April 11.

For more information, email performing (at) gaiastudio.org.

At the WFMU studios on Montgomery Street in Downtown Jersey City on Friday, March 5, host Gaylord Fields asked callers not to get too obscure with their requests — or at least to be reasonable. And for the most part listeners cooperated. Yo La Tengo — Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew — fresh from their Australian/New Zealand tour and with their pal Bruce Bennett on guitar, played requests live from 8 pm to after 11 pm. The requests show, which has become an annual ‘FMU tradition in support of its yearly pledge drives, was hosted by Pseu Braun and Gaylord Fields. Meanwhile, the nonprofit freeform station’s drive continues this week, culminating in a live closing broadcast from Maxwell’s on Sunday, March 14. Tune in locally at 91.1 or on wfmu.org.

Here’s the set list:

Bob Seger: Old Time Rock & Roll
Beatles: Rain
Sandy Denny: For Shame of Doing Wrong (I Wish I Was A Fool For You)
Dump: Secret Blood (my request)
Grateful Dead: Ripple

Hotlegs (Godley & Creme): Neanderthal Man
Fleetwood Mac: Second Hand News / 1910 Fruitgum Company - Indian Giver (medley)
Yo La Tengo - Drug Test
Brownsville Station - Smokin’ In The Boys Room
Iggy Pop - TV Eye

Violent Femmes - Add It Up
Lulu - To Sir With Love
Big Star - When My Baby’s Beside Me
The Embarrassment - Sex Drive
Yo La Tengo - Can’t Forget
Ronettes - Be My Baby

Martin Denny/Duke Ellington/Dave Brubeck/The Ventures - Caravan
Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away
Television - Marquee Moon
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
Grassroots - Midnight Confessions

Question Mark & the Mysterians - 96 Tears
Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug
Sam The Sham - Wooly Bully
The Scene Is Now - A Man’s Coconut
Yo La Tengo - Blue Line Swinger

Barbarians - Moulty
Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Chic - Le Freak
Tommy James & the Shondells - I Think We’re Alone Now

Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
Mission of Burma - That’s When I Reach For My Revolver
Flipper - Sex Bomb (medley), including, among other things: Donny Most - Rock Is Dead; Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows; Rodd Keith - How Can A Man Overcome His Heartbroken Pain? (American Song Poem Anthology); Kingsmen - Louie Louie; Modern Lovers - Astral Plane; dBs - Dynamite; Leonard Cohen - So Long Marianne; Brenda Lee - I’m Sorry; Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy; Sesame Street - Rubber Duckie; Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You; Velvet Underground - We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together; George Harrison - All Things Must Pass.

- Cuts to UEZ Funds Hurting Cities: More than $10 million in Urban Enterprise Zone revenue slated for Jersey City has been frozen by Gov. Christie since last month, which has stopped the city “from doing planned projects in the pipeline.” We’ve been getting a story together on the UEZ cuts as well; look for more from us on the subject later today.

- Departmental Budget Hearings: Starting today, the City Council is holding a series of departmental budget hearings. The public is invited to attend.

- LeFrak Also Against Gas Pipeline: The gas pipeline proposed by Spectra Energy, which we’ve reported is being fought by Mayor Healy, several City Council members, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, is also being opposed by Newport developers the LeFrak Organization. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires seems to still be on the fence about the issue, telling the Journal he is “studying the issue closely.”

- Lots of Cities Breaking State Cap on Property Tax Increases: While many residents have cried foul over Jersey City’s proposed property tax levy in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, saying it — among other things — exceeds the state’s cap on raising such a tax, the practice is by no means confined to Jersey City, according to a Star-Ledger review. The paper found that nearly a third of the state’s 566 municipalities raised property taxes above the cap with the state’s permission last year, many because they were able to show they were facing virtual civic dysfunction.

- Teens Shot: Two Jersey City teenage girls, ages 15 and 16, were shot early Saturday along Old Bergen Road. Both are listed in stable condition.

- Road Construction, Delays in Area to Continue: Construction-weary motorists traveling through the Tonnelle Avenue circle have a ways to go before they see visible progress on the exchange that links the busy thoroughfare with the Route 1 & 9 viaduct and the Wittpenn Bridge.

- New Contract for Stop & Shop Workers: Supermarket workers at Stop & Shop have ratified a contract that ends weeks of difficult negotiations about wages and benefits, fending off a potential strike. The contract, which will affect about 40,000 workers, raises hourly wages while maintaining pension and health benefits. The chain operates more than 350 supermarkets in the region, including one on Central Avenue in the Heights.

- NYPD Officers Caught Up in Perfume Heist: A group of would-be armed robbers that included two New York City police officers used their own IDs to rent trucks in Jersey City for a heist of about $1 million worth of expensive perfume from a Carlstadt warehouse, according to a federal criminal complaint released Friday.

- Tenants May Come to 255 Grand Soon: The 348-unit apartment building at 225 Grand, which is part of the massive Liberty Harbor North development, plans to start leasing units in April.

In Statewide News:

- Dropping Immigrants from Low-Income Health Plan: Gov. Christie’s plan to drop nearly 12,000 residents who have had legal immigration status for less than five years from the NJ FamilyCare program for low-income residents has drawn an outcry from critics who warn it might end up being more costly and perilous to public health.

- Less State Aid for Schools: That’s the message being delivered by acting education commissioner Bret Schundler. “The state just does not have the money to fulfill its obligations,” he said at a Saturday meeting of school board members and administrators.

- What the Lack of Health Insurance Means: Families USA, a national group pushing comprehensive health care reform, says the lack of health coverage will indirectly lead to the deaths of 6,500 New Jersey residents over the next decade if things remain as they are currently.

- What’s Next for Marriage Equality? For opponents, the New Jersey vote against legalizing same-sex marriage was a temporary victory. For proponents, the Senate action was seen as a short-term setback as they continue to prepare to go back to court, probably in the next few weeks on the grounds of unequal treatment under the law.

- Concern Over COAH Reform: New Jersey affordable housing advocates are objecting to the new proposed affordable housing bill, saying it would let too many towns off the hook and do little to ensure that more affordable housing will be built.

- Corruption-Connected Charity Can’t Get $ Back Yet: A legal challenge by a Hasidic charity over the seizure of its bank accounts after last summer’s sweeping money laundering and corruption sting has been thrown out by a federal judge, who says a decision on whether the nonprofit’s accounts face forfeiture will depend on how the criminal case plays out.

- Senate May Go Paperless: A resolution recently introduced by Senate President Steve Sweeney and Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. would eliminate rules that require all official chamber business to be conducted via paper.

- Cabinet Nominees Get Hearings Today: The state Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the following cabinet nominees of Gov. Christie today: Janet F. Rosenzweig to serve as Children and Families commissioner; Gary M. Lanigan to serve as Corrections commissioner, and Jennifer Velez to continue in her post as Human Services commissioner.

The agency’s plan entails raising fares by 25 percent systemwide. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail fare, for example, would rise from $1.90 to $2.40 per trip.

“We recognize that any increase is a burden for our customers, particularly during a recession,” NJ Transit executive director Jim Weinstein says in a statement. The cuts come on the heels of the agency’s announcement earlier this week that it was laying off more than 200 workers and freezing spending.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign, in a statement, calls the cuts “devastating,” saying they will force riders to “pay more for less service, longer commutes and more crowded buses and trains.”

The group is calling on Gov. Christie to restore full funding to the transit agency. Christie announced last month that he was withholding $32.7 million in state funding from NJ Transit this year, and warned that more cuts are to come. Meanwhile, he has refused to raise the state gas tax, which is among the lowest in the country.

“Gov. Christie’s recent slashing of NJ Transit by $33 million and refusal to raise fees for drivers is inequitable. The system-wide service cuts, including longer wait times on 50 bus routes and every train line, will worsen commutes for all transit users but will have a disproportionate impact on bus riders,” Tri-State says. “Nearly two-thirds of NJ Transit users are bus riders, many with incomes below the state median. By underfunding NJ Transit, Governor Christie hurts working families, students, seniors, and people with disabilities the most.”

Hudson County legislators say the fare hikes aren’t what our residents need right now.

“Hiking fares by this much is a major blow to New Jerseyans who rely on NJ Transit trains and buses to get to work and earn a living day-after-day,” Assemblyman Charles Mainor says. “Gov. Christie promised no taxes, but this equates to a major tax hike on middle-class and poor New Jerseyans.”

His colleague Vincent Prieto, echoing language being employed by more Democrats around the state, also equates the fare hike to a tax increase.

“Gov. Christie’s fare hike is for all full intents and purposes a major tax increase on New Jersey commuters,” he says. “That is not the type of change New Jerseyans were seeking.”

On the service-cut side of the equation, the agency is, among other things, looking to eliminate 32 of its 725 active commuter trains, cut bus service, and run fewer Hudson-Bergen Light Rail trains during the late-night weekday hours.

Under the plan, off-peak roundtrip discounts on NJ Transit would also be eliminated, and 10-trip bus discounts would be capped at 15 percent off the full fare.

If approved, most of the plan’s changes would take effect May 1. But first, there will be 11 public hearings and information sessions later this month. For more on the NJ Transit budget, or to submit a comment, click here.

PUBLIC HEARINGS & INFORMATION SESSIONS:

Thursday, March 25 (5:30 - 8:30 pm)

• Paterson: Passaic County Community College Theater (Ellison Street & Memorial Drive)
• Newark: NJ Transit Headquarters Board Room (One Penn Plaza East)
• Trenton: Trenton Transit Center (725 South Clinton Ave.)
• Manalapan: Monmouth County Library (125 Symmes Drive)

Friday, March 26 (5:30 - 8:30 pm)

• Secaucus: Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station (County Road and County Avenue)
• Camden: Camden City Hall (520 Market St.)
• Morristown: Morristown Town Hall (200 South St.)
• Long Branch: Long Branch Middle School (350 Indiana Ave.)
• New York: Port Authority Bus Terminal’s Times Square Hall (625 Eighth Ave.)

Saturday, March 27 (1 - 4 pm)

• Hackensack: Bergen County Freeholders Public Meeting Room (One Bergen County Plaza)
• Atlantic City: Atlantic City Rail Terminal (One Atlantic City Expressway)

It began with predatory loans, now it’s unemployment, but change of fuel source not withstanding, the foreclosure crisis sweeping through Jersey City showed no signs of checking its progress in 2009.

“It’s not letting up at all,” says John Restrepo, director of Jersey City Episcopal Community Development Corporation’s (JCECDC) real estate division.

There were 1,970 foreclosure filings in Jersey City in 2009, slightly more than the 1,937 filings made in 2008. The pace of Jersey City’s foreclosure filings was in line with the statewide trend. In New Jersey, there were a total of 63,208 filings last year, representing 1.8 percent of all housing units. That number is 1 percent higher than the number of foreclosure filings in 2008 — about the same increase that Jersey City saw — and it is 103 percent higher than the number of filings in 2007, according to online data firm RealtyTrac.

The foreclosure rate actually fell in Jersey City and statewide between December and January, by 43 percent and 39 percent respectively, but despite that fact there is little indication it will begin a sustained decline anytime soon. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, almost 200,000 New Jersey mortgages were past due in the third quarter of 2009. By 2012, they project, there will be another 235,881 foreclosures in the state.

Until recently, homes were going into foreclosure after payments on adjustable rate mortgages increased beyond the ability of borrowers to pay. But that is beginning to change. The recession has kept apace of the foreclosure crisis, and job losses have begun to play a larger role in pushing homes into foreclosure.

“We’re seeing people with bad mortgages and no income, but we’re also seeing people who had two jobs and they lost them and now they’re five months behind on their mortgage payments,” Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, says of the people approaching her organization for help.

After holding steady at 9.7 percent for October and November, New Jersey’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.1 percent in December — a 33 year high, and the first time since October 2006 that the state’s rate topped the national rate.

Jersey City’s unemployment rate has been even higher, outpacing both the state and national rates. In December, the city’s unemployment rate was 11.5 percent, marking the eighth straight month it was above 10 percent, a streak not seen here since March 1997, the final month of an 81-month run of 10-plus percent that began in January 1991.

All those job loses are forcing formerly solvent borrowers into the red. Tellingly, the rate of foreclosure filings tracked the end of year trend in the unemployment rate. There were more than 200 foreclosure filing in Jersey City in each of the last three months of 2009, some of the highest rates of the year.

“It’s bad loans, but it’s more apparent now that foreclosures are being caused by unemployment,” Restrepo says.

During the housing boom, adjustable rate mortgages were approved for homes concentrated in Jersey City’s lowest income neighborhoods, and as the foreclosure crisis began, those neighborhoods were most affected. The result was a pronounced concentration of foreclosure filings. In 2008, there were almost 800 foreclosure filings in the 07305 ZIP code, which includes the Greenville neighborhood. That rate was nearly double that of the next hardest hit area.

Now that the economy and bad loans are both playing an active role in driving people into foreclosure, the same pattern is repeating. The combination of predatory lending and limited job prospects means that Greenville has been doubly impacted by the recession — and the foreclosure crisis.

“It’s a huge issue,” Restrepo says. “My biggest concern is that all the progress the neighborhood has experienced in the last ten years is being rolled back.”

In 2009 there were 769 foreclosure filings in the 07305 ZIP code. Like 2008, that rate is almost double the number in other areas. In 07304, which includes the Bergen-Lafayette, McGinley Square and West Side neighborhoods, there were 423 filings; and in 07307, which covers most of the Heights, there were 357 — less than half the rate Greenville experienced. In contrast, other areas saw very few filings. There were only 134 foreclosures in the 07302 ZIP code, which is mostly comprised of the Downtown area, for example. That concentration of filings exactly aligns with the pattern seen in 2008.

As the foreclosure crisis drags on, the damage done to the city’s poorest neighborhoods by consecutive years of high foreclosure rates is being compounded by real estate investors. Sensing that declining fortunes create good investment opportunities, speculators have begun purchasing foreclosed homes, hoping their value will increase when the recession ends. Sometimes they even buy homes sight unseen, betting that an economic turnaround will raise the value of any property in Jersey City.

Investors are “not even trying to put families into them,” Restrepo says. “They’ll sit on them until the market stabilizes.”

Purchasing properties with the intention of keeping them unoccupied delays recovery, because empty and unproductive properties suppress the value of adjacent properties. And a heavy concentration of empty properties increases the cost of policing and fire services, because they are an enticing target for scavengers searching for wiring, pipes or fixtures, and for vandals and squatters. Even if property tax is paid on an empty property, it still burdens the city and the neighborhood it is in.

“What it does is breed abandonment,” says Arnold Cohen, policy coordinator of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. For homeowners that are able to pay their taxes and mortgages, living in a neighborhood with a large number of empty properties is a burden. “It makes it an unpleasant place for people who are paying their mortgages to want to stay.”

Property speculation has also hamstrung city efforts to stabilize neighborhoods impacted by the foreclosure crisis. JCECDC received a neighborhood stabilization grant from Jersey City to purchase foreclosed properties and sell them to working class families. The program began at the beginning of the year, but JCECDC has not purchased a single home to date. Every building they have considered buying has been snatched up by investors who either outbid them, or purchased the properties before JCECDC was able to complete their due diligence process.

“We’ve seen investors making money on peoples’ hardship all over,” Salowe-Kaye of New Jersey Citizen Action says of the practice.

To counteract the negative effect property speculation has had, Restrepo, who is also president of the Jersey City Affordable Housing Coalition, plans to push Jersey City to adopt the state’s abandoned property ordinance.

If adopted, the ordinance would allow the city to make a list of unproductive properties and demand their owners find occupants. If owners refuse, or fail to respond, the city would be able to seize the properties, compensate the owners, and place them back on the market. The ordinance would be a powerful tool for the city’s housing advocates, and might dampen the enthusiasm of speculators.

The Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey advocated for, and was able to pass, the abandoned property ordinance at the state level before the housing boom. It has since been adopted by nearly two dozen municipalities, but not by Jersey City.

Legislative intervention is necessary, Cohen says, because investors are doing what the market dictates, and nothing shy of government intervention is likely to stop them. It is now possible to buy property for a fraction of what it was worth only a year or two ago. There’s no reason an investor wouldn’t buy foreclosed homes in that environment, even if the practice suppresses property values in the short term and makes it more difficult for a neighborhood to recover. Without a countervailing pressure like legislation there is no reason to presume they will stop anytime soon.

“That becomes a real problem for our member organizations who are looking out for what is best for the neighborhood as a whole,” Cohen says. Without legislative intervention, neighborhoods that went through the trauma of boom and bust could be stuck at the bottom of the cycle for years.

“It’s going to be at least a decade before market forces bring these neighborhoods back,” Cohen says.

TODAY

With JC Fridays back in town today, there is plenty of good stuff going on. While you can see the full event listings on the JC Fridays website, there are some standouts worth mentioning. The Jersey City Museum’s spring season kicks off tonight, with a special reception for Hair Tactics, featuring more than 30 artists whose works explore hair as subject matter and medium. Traditional Puerto Rican percussion and dance ensemble Segunda Quimbamba will perform (6:30 pm). Fish With Braids Gallery also has a big opening tonight: Ryan Ford’s Behind Bluer Boroughs tells “the twisted tale of an urban princess escaping her captivity into the bluer borough’s inferno” (6 pm). Also on your art-opening dance card this evening: Adam Ramirez’s Phantasmagoria at 32 Jones Gallery (7 pm) and Joanne Simmons, Beth Achenbach and Leigh More’s collaboration More Than One Way at Alley Cat Gallery (7 pm).

If you’re looking for something more musical to do tonight, Chilltown is your oyster. Boca Grande plays host to a jam-packed night of dancing, singing, vjing/djing and drums, with all proceeds going to Haiti relief efforts (10 pm). And local fave Any Day Parade returns to the Iron Monkey to help raise funds for the band’s coming trip to the SXSW festival in Austin (11 pm). If you’re in the mood for something more intimate, check out Ace Case at Made With Love Bakery (8 pm).

SATURDAY

One sure sign of spring is Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors. Don’t miss this year’s parade, which gets started at Stegman Parkway and heads north along Kennedy Boulevard to Lincoln Park (11 am). Up in the Heights, the Hope Center presents the latest in its Dinner Theater series, The Curious Savage; dinner is included with the $15 ticket price — $12 for children 12 and under (6 pm). For those of you who can’t drag yourselves west of Brunswick Street, there’s still plenty to do. The newest exhibit of folk art at Nuradeen’s Gallery — “The Assassination of Whistling Rufus” — kicks off today (3 pm), and later on, metal outfits In Musth and Aminal will be dishing it out at the Lamp Post (10 pm).

SUNDAY

The annual Milad Festival commemorates the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad; you can join the celebration by following his birthday parade from 530 Montgomery St. (near the corner of Florence Street) to City Hall (11 am). For more religion-inspired celebration, stop over to St. Michael’s Methodist Church for an afternoon of gospel music featuring local singers and choirs (4 pm). And cut your own singing chops with the help of the “encouraging, listening audience” at the Iron Monkey’s Singer-Songwriter Open Mic (9 pm) — be sure to swing by the Monkey a little early (7 pm) to check out the opening of a photography exhibition from Michael Brown.