Perhaps best known for promoting labor and women rights over the course of her 13 terms in Congress, Norton’s namesake housing– the Mary Norton Manor– is a 24-unit condominium geared towards working families. The housing comes as part of a citywide effort towards constructing new affordable housing undertaken by the Healy administration. For the Manor, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency and the city will offer more affordable mortgage rates to help make owning a home a reality.

A number of Jersey City politicians will be speaking at the event, including Senator Sandra Cunningham and Council President Peter Brennan, as well as scholar and featured speaker Barbara Griffin, Dean of St. Dominic’s Academy in Jersey City, and Norton scholar.

“I am honored to speak on behalf of Mary T. Norton,” Griffin said. “She has been a hero to me and the work she did on behalf of the American people has so often gone unnoticed. It’s a wonderful tribute to Marty T. Norton to name these homes in her honor.”

The condominium was also built to Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design silver status as part of a green initiative the Healy administration has been promoting.

“We strongly believe in creating affordable housing opportunities for all of our residents, including those individuals who are contributing members of our workforce but who may need some assistance with acquiring a home,” said Mayor Healy. “The Redevelopment Agency has been successful at instituting our philosophy of making Jersey City a great place to live, work, and raise a family, and we are pleased to see the ribbon cut on their latest accomplishment – the Mary T. Norton Manor.”

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- Motorcycle Crash Victim Still Not ID’ed: The fatal accident on Route 440 in Jersey City Wednesday afternoon is still under investigation and the motorcycle rider who died has not yet been identified.

- Dead Man Found at Vacant House: A man was found dead yesterday at a vacant house on Oak Street near Martin Luther King Drive; the death, which does not appear to be a homicide, has been classified as “suspicious” since the cause and manner of death has not been determined.

- Attorney Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes: A prominent Jersey City defense attorney has pleaded guilty in federal court to tax crimes in connection with his law practice, admitting he has not filed a personal income tax return in more than a decade.

- Wyldlife: The Journal has a profile of Wyldlife frontman (and sometimes JCI contributor) Dave Feldman, as the band has just released its first full-length.

- Walk/Vigil for Murdered Man: Jersey City community groups and residents will host a prayer vigil and memorial walk tonight in memory of a 28-year-old man who was shot and killed by a city police officer seven weeks ago.

In Statewide News:

- Pay to Play Laws: The state’s highly touted Pay-to-Play law has done little to curb local governments from steering contracts to politically favored vendors, according to a report released yesterday by State Comptroller Matthew Boxer.

- Affordable Housing: The Christie administration has officially dissolved the state’s Council on Affordable Housing, giving the Department of Community Affairs responsibility to ensure poor residents have access to housing.

- Christie’s Travels: Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg wants to force Gov. Chris Christie to tell Legislative leaders every time he leaves the state.

- ‘Jersey Shore’ Tax Credits: A chorus of angry politicians and a national coalition of Italian-Americans are calling on Gov. Chris Christie to veto a controversial $420,000 film tax credit awarded to the hit MTV television show Jersey Shore.

- High School Tests: Lofty rhetoric about the need to improve New Jersey’s high school tests aside, the Christie administration this week got down to a more mundane task: the advertising and awarding of its next testing contract.

- Beetles: North Jersey’s ash trees appear to have escaped at least one more summer unscathed by an invasive beetle that has caused serious tree damage in 15 states, including neighboring Pennsylvania and New York.

- JC Firm Lays Off 6% Off Staff: Jersey City-based Knight Capital Group has eliminated about 6 percent of its staff, or approximately 88 people, reducing sales and trading positions in equities and fixed income after trading business slowed.

- Bear Attack or No Bear Attack? Wildlife officials have repudiated the claim that two young campers, including one from Jersey City, were injured by a black bear in Stokes State Forest Wednesday morning.

- Chicken Pox in the Jail: Roughly 60 immigration detainees at the Hudson County jail in Kearny are being kept away from the general population because they share a pod unit with a detainee who has been diagnosed with chicken pox.

- US Marshals Join Homicide Investigation: The U.S. marshals have now joined the hunt for a 19-year-old Jersey City man charged with fatally shooting a man on a Greenville street late on the night of July 11.

- Mom Arrested: Jersey City police arrested an apparently intoxicated woman yesterday after finding her 8-month-old baby alone in a parked car, where he was lying on the floor in the back seat area.

In Statewide News:

- Income Taxes: Raising state taxes on the wealthy New Jerseyans does not cause them to leave the state and results in substantial new revenue, according to a new report released Thursday by Trenton-based liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.

- Racial Profiling at Newark Airport: An internal TSA report finding that Hispanic passengers were racially profiled at Newark Liberty International Airport has revived concerns that security screeners may have engaged in racial profiling at airports nationwide.

- Labor Endorsements: The AFL-CIO chose not to endorse Senate President Steve Sweeney and other Democrats who supported Gov. Christie’s bill that changes pension and benefits for public workers and weakens collective bargaining. MORE from NJ Spotlight.

- NJ SMART: Starting next school year, NJ SMART will begin reporting detailed data on graduation rates for every high school — including what happened to students who didn’t finish.

- Corzine to D.C.? As speculation about how long Timothy Geithner will remain as U.S. Treasury secretary simmered today, former Gov. Jon Corzine’s name began to bubble up as a possible replacement.

The development, located at 317-319 Pacific Avenue, features eight units of affordable housing and commercial space that will house the offices of the nonprofit Morris Canal Community Development Corporation, which helped spearhead the project. The commercial space will also serve as a meeting place for community events. The development team is being led by The Metro Company and built by Black Dog Construction, both of Jersey City, while the building was designed by the Perth Amboy firm ASA + Zambrano Architects.

The project, which will contain five two-bedroom apartments and three three-bedroom apartments, is being funded by several sources, including the state Department of Community Affairs, BCB Bank, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Jersey City.

The official groundbreaking ceremony is slated for Wednesday, July 27 at 11 am.

- Cunningham & Christie: State Sen. Sandra Cunningham takes exception to the idea that she’s lying in wait to supply Gov. Christie with a needed Democratic vote at any given time.

- Quidsi Launches New Site: The Jersey City company behind Diapers.com, Soap.com and BeautyBar.com, has launched the pet-product site Wag.com.

- Bank Robberies: Jersey City police are seeking the public’s help in catching two bank robbers.

- Guilty Plea for Robberies, Carjacking: A 41-year-old Newark man charged with the armed robberies of pharmacies in Jersey City and Union City and a carjacking in Jersey City pleaded guilty to the charges yesterday.

- Fire: Fire ripped through two Greenville homes on Stegman Street yesterday morning, destroying them and leaving nine people homeless.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Eugene McKnight kicks off the annual Jazz for Lunch free outdoor music series today at Exchange Place (noon). For the thirsty, both Barcade and the Iron Monkey host special beer nights featuring Brooklyn Brewery and Weyerbacher, respectively (5 and 6 pm, respectively). Statue Cruises hosts its weekly summer Sunset Cocktail Cruise (5:45 pm), and the annual Mt. Carmel Feast gets rolling in Marion (6:30 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Budget Hearings: Democrats who control the state Assembly will hold hearings throughout the summer on the effects of Gov. Christie’s line-item vetoes to struggling cities and social welfare programs.

- Hearings on Energy Plan Too: Fresh from opposing the Governor’s decision to pull out of a regional initiative to combat global warming, Democratic lawmakers plan to hold their own hearing on the Christie administration’s draft Energy Master Plan.

- Education: New Jersey is applying for an up-to $60 million federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant, which specifically addresses education in children from birth to age five.

- Affordable Housing: Development of big homes on big lots and zoning that favors businesses over townhouses has stymied efforts to make wealthy towns affordable for low-income residents and helped push New Jersey’s suburban sprawl, a new report concludes.

- State Budget: The Christie administration has secured a $2.25 billion line of credit with JPMorgan Chase to help plug a cash shortfall, leaving some lawmakers puzzled at the timing of the move.

- Cops & Steroids: Citing the need to uphold the public’s faith in law enforcement, Attorney General Paula Dow on Thursday will announce a series of broad reforms meant to stamp out the abuse of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone among New Jersey’s police officers.

- Newark Airport: The Port Authority is studying how to expand capacity at Newark Airport and its two other airports, amid warnings the region could lose billions of dollars in economic opportunity in the coming decade if travelers fly somewhere else.

- Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Changes: Legislation that would pave the way for hundreds of millions in tax credits for the Meadowlands project formerly known as Xanadu also includes a last-minute change that would allow developers in Jersey City and other urban areas to claim a tax credit while easing their obligations to provide affordable housing. The switch is drawing the wrath of housing advocates who today called it a fast-tracked gift to developers.

- Barclays Back in JC in 2013: The PGA Tour has announced that it has set the venue rotation for The Barclays through 2016, which includes two trips to Bethpage Black on Long Island and a return trip to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City in 2013.

- Doc Turns Down Plea Deal: The Jersey City doctor charged in a prescription drug distribution conspiracy has turned down a plea deal.

- Rivera & Flood Reportedly Ill: Members of the City Council last night asked residents to keep Hudson County Freeholder Eliu Rivera and former Councilwoman Willie Flood, who are both ill, in their prayers.

- Law Firm Wants More $ from HudCo: A high-powered Morristown law firm is suing Hudson County, saying it is owed an additional $125,000 in legal fees for representing the county in its 2008 suit against former County Executive Robert Janiszewski.

- Building Boats: In the past few months, students at Resurrection School and Our Lady of Czestochowa School have planned, built, and launched their very own boats in the Hudson River.

Today’s Best Bets:

- The Reservoir opens its gates tonight for a free outdoor painting session (6 pm), and 58 Gallery hosts an opening reception for Social Distortion, a new group exhibition featuring work by Joe Iurato, R.E.U.J and Distort (7 pm).

In Statewide News:

- State Budget: The Democrats’ $30.6 billion budget proposal is now headed to Gov. Christie’s desk. MORE on the budget battle from NJ Spotlight.

- Drug Benefits for AIDS Patients: Nearly 1,000 people with HIV and AIDS would have their subsidized prescription drug benefits restored that Gov. Christie reduced last summer under a bill the Assembly approved yesterday.

- Charter Schools: The Assembly advanced a package of bills last night that could stymie the growth of charter schools in the suburbs while dramatically expanding their portfolio statewide.

- Affordable Housing: In a move designed to streamline state government, Gov. Christie says he is abolishing the Council on Affordable Housing.

- Crowley Won’t Run: Republican John Crowley has announced that he will return to his role as CEO of biotech company Amicus Therapeutics instead of challenging Bob Menendez for his Senate seat.

The Berry Lane Park project, which the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) calls “one of the most ambitious open space projects in the city’s history,” is slated to be 13.5 acre park with both passive and active elements built on land formerly occupied by rail yards, auto repair shops and warehouses just south of Communipaw Avenue and east of Garfield Avenue. (The photo at right shows one part of the area as it is now.) This year’s federal grant of $200,000 adds to $600,000 in federal grants the project has received in the previous two years.

The second $200,000 award will be used to clean up a site on Dwight and Ocean, which will eventually house 64 affordable-housing units. The site contains contamination from both a former gas station and a former dry cleaning business, and the JCRA estimates the total cleanup cost at $1 million. The agency hope to break ground on the project next fall, according to the JCRA’s Franklyn Ore.

“By then we hope to have the land cleaned and we hope to have all of the funding finalized,” he tells JCI. The JCRA project will join two existing affordable-housing buildings for seniors recently built by the Jersey City Housing Authority at the intersection.

“This project is very important for that neighborhood,” Ore says, pointing out that it will go a long way towards cleaning up the rest of the intersection.

Jersey City’s grants are part of $3.4 million in funding allocated to a number of projects in New Jersey, which itself is part of a larger $76 million being doled out nationwide.

“The grants we’re awarding to communities across America will support projects that will help create thousands of jobs and make our communities cleaner, healthier and more prosperous places to raise a family and start a business,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson says in a statement. “They’re part of our overall effort to clean up communities and put our nation on the path to a sustainable future.”

Local officials welcomed the awards as well, with Mayor Jerramiah Healy saying the grants will keep Jersey City “moving forward towards a more sustainable future,” and Sen. Frank Lautenberg praising the success of the federal program.

“The Brownfields program has a history of success throughout the state where new businesses have sprung up in place of abandoned properties,” he says in a statement.

- 9/11 Fountain in JSQ: Councilwoman Nidia Lopez has sent a letter to United Water asking for financial assistance to fix the 9/11 Memorial Fountain’s underground pump.

- Additional Charges for Holland Tunnel Defendants: The New York man shot by police in the Holland Tunnel Friday night and his codefendant have now been charged with robbing a Jersey City Walgreens in addition to the multiple counts already filed against them.

- Restaurant News: A new family style Italian restaurant, Abbondonza Trattoria, is coming to Grand Street as part of the Liberty Harbor North development.

- Real Estate Loan Transaction: Helios Capital has arranged the sale of a $14.1 million, nonperforming commercial loan collateralized by 912-924 Bergen Avenue, a three-story, 60,000-square foot urban retail/office asset near Journal Square in Jersey City.

Today’s Best Bet:

- LITM hosts the opening reception for the new WHO?! group exhibition (7 pm).

In Statewide News:

- State Supreme Court: Gov. Christie will step down from a standoff with Democratic lawmakers over a seat on the state’s Supreme Court, pulling his nominee and renominating her for another spot on the court.

- Carl Lewis: An appeals panel has upheld a decision Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno made last week in her dual role as secretary of state, stating Carl Lewis should be kept off the ballot because he voted in California as late as 2009. Lewis had hoped to run for state Senate.

- Education & bin Laden’s Death: For New Jersey educators involved with a pioneering 9/11 curriculum package, the death of Osama bin Laden is more than a teachable moment.

- Affordable Housing: New Jersey has a severe shortage of affordable rental housing, according to Out of Reach 2011, a national study released Monday that found an estimated 61 percent of New Jerseyans can’t afford to rent a two-bedroom unit.

- Xanadu: Gov. Christie is scheduled to visit the Xanadu retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands to offer more details on a deal to revitalize the troubled project.

- Corruption: Developer Moshe Altman has been sentenced to nearly 3½ years in prison for money laundering and bribing Jersey City building inspector John Guarini.

- Cops Release Sketch in Rape Case: Police have released a sketch of the man wanted in the attack on a 34-year-old Jersey City woman who was dragged into an alley and choked, robbed, and sexually assaulted.

- Healy’s Son Arrested: One of Mayor Healy’s sons was arrested yesterday morning in Hoboken in an alleged domestic violence incident, though the mayor says “there was no domestic violence of any kind.”

- Panasonic: Hartz Mountain, the current landlord for Panasonic in Secaucus, has filed an appeal with the state Superior Court contending the electronics giant should not receive a $102.4-million tax credit from the state’s Economic Development Authority. MORE from NJ Biz.

- Additional Charges for Couple: A Jersey City couple busted on robbery charges after being spotted in a Hoboken-bound cab on Monday have now been charged with additional crimes, including shooting a man in the head at point-blank range in a Greenville alley.

In Statewide News:

- Affordable Housing: The New Jersey Supreme Court has decided to take up a controversial case that could change affordable housing in New Jersey.

- Transportation Trust Fund: Gov. Christie’s five-year plan to shore up the state’s crumbling transportation infrastructure is giving the jitters to members of the Assembly budget committee.

- Deregulation: The state Board of Public Utilities has approved a petition by Verizon New Jersey to do away with what some officials view as burdensome rules dealing with billing, record keeping for trial programs, and offering discounts to senior citizens and others.

- NJ Victory in PA Coal Plant Case: A Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant that has been polluting New Jersey’s air for decades will be forced to reduce a major asthma-causing contaminant coming out of its smokestacks, federal officials said Thursday.

- Education: Acting state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf said Thursday that he wants to look at possible replacements for New Jersey’s high school graduation tests, which he sees as flawed.

- The Affordable Care Act: New Jersey was ahead of the game when it came to addressing the goals of the federal healthcare reform bill, experts agree, but making it all work will not be easy in the Garden State.

- The Meadowlands: Harness rac­ing at the Meadowlands Racetrack has been granted a temporary reprieve from the gover­nor.

- JC Women Honored: Twenty-seven Jersey City women were honored during last week’s 12th annual Women of Action awards ceremony.

Today’s Best Bet:

- The practice of female genital mutilation, which is still widespread in certain areas of the world, will be the topic of a free Women’s History Month panel discussion at NJCU (7 pm).

In Statewide News:

- School Funding: NJ Spotlight notes that the Abbott v. Burke school funding case has moved far beyond the original 31 Abbott districts, as the State Supreme Court’s latest fact-finding report lists 205 underfunded school districts — both urban and suburban. Meanwhile, Peter Verniero, the former New Jersey attorney general and Supreme Court justice, has been recruited to Gov. Christie’s legal team defending state cutbacks to school funding.

- State Revenue: New Jersey’s tax revenue for the coming $29.4 billion state budget will grow slightly, but still end up $4 billion less than three years ago, a nonpartisan analyst said Monday.

- Eyewitness ID at the Supreme Court: With a recent report recommending tighter restrictions, the state Supreme Court could force New Jersey courts and law enforcement agencies to change the way they handle identifications of suspects, and place far more scrutiny on the long-held custom of picking out a suspect from a lineup or a bunch of photographs.

- UEZ: Gov. Christie has vetoed $45,700 in budgeted spending in the Long Branch UEZ budget, calling the expenses “unnecessary.”

- Newark: The ACLU of New Jersey has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that two Newark police officers illegally detained a promising city high school student and threatened to have her charged with obstruction of justice after she filmed them on a city bus last year.

- Affordable Housing: Concerned about potentially dramatic federal cuts to housing and community development, New Jersey housing advocates will travel to D.C. this week in an attempt to preserve funding for low income households in the federal budget.

- Romney Sends $ to NJ: Gov. Christie’s campaign to carve out Republican majorities in the Legislature has received a helping hand from Mitt Romney, who pitched in with a $25,000 donation to the state Republican Party.

- SBA: The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced that Alfred Titone will serve as director of the New Jersey district, replacing James A. Kosci, who retired in December.