I was driving around CT this weekend and there were entire shopping centers that had half the stores just sitting empty. Vacant storefronts are common everywhere but you go ahead and pretend it just happens here if you want to keep slinging that horse manure you keep slinging. Only someone who is blind or has never lived outside of this mile square town will be dumb enough to believe you though.

NOPE, but you knew that.

Hoboken compared to most places is doing well in what is a nation wide very slow economy.

This is more of the same politically based negativity that Mike Novak who heads up the "non-existant" Hoboken Chamber of Commerce tried to spread before he moved out of Hoboken . Sure business could be better but Hoboken is still one of the places people want to open new businesses. Thehigh rents on Washington Street underscores that point.

The constant drumbeat of negativity about everything in Hoboken from OLD GUARD politicos looking to regain power is DISGUSTING.

Can you stop blaming the old guard for everything in this town, the old guard is a non majority and the Mayor's office and her council have the power to help out more. They don't. While I have a business here, I am not retail but I know a ton of them and they all say the same thing, no parking, city doesn't help, business is down. For once try not to defend Hoboken. It does have weaknesses, and to say everything is perfect in business as you've just stated is incorrect and foolish.

Yes. Why should the chamber of commerce attempt to help commerce, when there is a city that has to manage everything, and the chamber can just pass the buck and do nothing under it's fine command. And by playing politics, you seem to have conveniently forgotten about parking improvements (Muni-meeters, removal of waitlist for midtown garage opening spaces), local shopping initiatives (shop local, monday makeovers). Also, seems the recent crime wave is due to two things, more open reporting and crimes after 1 AM, probably not hurting our retail businesses.

Also, I've heard that in order to open a place on Washington, you need to prepay 1 year of lease for about $300,000. That sounds like a greedy landlord who owns the property outright and would rateher sit on a small loss than take less than their hopes and dreams.

Shop Local lol? That was a failure!! Ok, obviously you're clueless to what you're talking about.

yes, shop local failed, but name ANY one thing that the Chamber of commerce did that was any better. At least the city tried, and they are still trying and will try again. That's one over Mike Novak, who's greatest achievement is reporting to the NYTimes that the city may never come back.

There should be a rent control on increasing rents for retail spaces in town. Just like there is a rent control for apartments. But don't take just my word for it, visit your local merchants you give business to and ask them if they're doing good and if their not, what do they contribute to the ailing retail / professional marketplace in Hoboken. It appears some of the commenters here are defending an administration thats done nearly nothing to help the business community, but they know that.

Now that is an all around dumb idea. If businesses had rent control, the town would be dominated by businesses that most people wouldn't at all patronize. Most of the newer thriving bars and restaurants in town took the place of businesses that failed b/c people didn't patronize them. Your idea would mean places the new Biggie's Clam Bar, Bin 14 & Village Pourhouse never would have opened. What we would have instead is a bunch of old businesses w/ old and way below market rate leases just squatting in those below market rate storefronts just scraping by but able to stay open b/c of that below market lease & many of the newer businesses that make great food or provide other goods & services we all consume would be elsewhere so we too would be elsewhere eating, drinking & buying goods & services.

Blockbuster failed because technology made their retail operations obsolete. I

Ibby's failed mostly because Hoboken had an influx of too many humus shops....

Look how many new bussiness open each year on Washington Street and elsewhere in Hoboken. Bussiness wants to be in Hoboken.

Constant politically motivated negativity about everything in Hoboken from the OLD GUARD is disgusting.

I hope you are joking - this would be the definition of corporate welfare. Keep a struggling business and penalize the landlord. Seriously, I pray someone like you never gets in power.

This is business owner based. But every other comment out here, one side blames the other side. Stop playing the blame game and get with reality Hobbs, nothing is orchestrated. I'm hoping some business owners come out here and stand behind my thought.

Agree with you Guest, let's get the businesses to form an organization to act in the interest of commerce in this town and do what the Chamber of Commerce isn't doing, namely SOMETHING. Unfortunately the current head of the Chamber of Commerce is just saying "Zimmer Sucks" and not doing a thing to help it's constituents. I'll bet if they presented an idea or two, the city would help to implement it.

NOPE.

You have to be kidding yourself if you think the constant negativity about everything in Hoboken is not being orchestrated by OLD GUARD politicos looking to further their own agenda.

That said the City has been reaching out to Hoboken businesses to help make the business enviornment better BUT businesses also need to organize and reach into their own pockets to succeed in this economy, In addition to the improvement mentioned by others, the recent call for a bond issue to repave and improve Washington Street is another example of the City trying to make things better for the merchants.

Rory, I think your efforts would be more effective trying to revive the Chamber of Commerce. That said your input will add to the mix. :-)

“Compromise is a word found only in the vocabulary of those who have no will to fight.”
― St. Josemaria Escriva

You either support those who would continue the corrupt political and governmental practices of the last two decades or you don't. You don't "work with both sides" and "bring both sides together." Given what I know about Hoboken's kleptocracy, I find your views on Hoboken breathtakingly naive and uninformed. If you are serious about running for office, make an effort to truly understand the motivations of Hoboken's politicos. You owe it to yourself and the voters.

Whom are you kidding stating that the "residents" need a guy like you, who openly declares his intent to work with the OLD GUARD?! You may get a few votes from low-information voters, but anybody who has followed the goings-on in this town for any length of time will know to stay well clear of voting for guys like you.

Definitely we could use more places on Broadway and Ave. C. Not that what we've got is bad, but I hate vacant storefronts.

They sell 4-5 different Hale and Hearty soups at Re-juice-a-nation.

Ian- Agree 100% with the Amazon effect on retail not just in Hoboken but everywhere.

On to the bar scene. After the financial crisis of 2008, the bars on weekdays never have come back to their 2007 levels in a lot of the Hoboken establishments. Whether that is due to change in spending habits or more young families popping out kids like loaves in a bread factory, the cause of this makes me wonder.

Wait until Amazon has to start charging full sales tax + delivery costs in NJ. Those 3.5% UEZs are going to be very, very appealing.

Amazon Prime is far more appealing even after paying sales tax.

I went into Office Depot a month ago and was intent on buying a 7" Samsung tablet, when I went to purchase it, the manager said "we don't have this in stock but if you order it I can have it in 3-4 days" I just shrugged and said, "Actually, I can get it faster and cheaper online. My reason for coming in is that I didn't mind paying the extra $30 to get it now", he looked annoyed, but so was I so too bad. Went to Radio Shack to price a memory card for the tablet I eventually got, and it was $35 and he claimed "It's half off the regular price!", "The regular price is $70? I can get them for $20." No sale. Things like books, electronics and similar items, just forget it, online sales will kill you. I think one of the only things that is somewhat safe is clothing and jewelery, most people want to see it in person first.

Agreed - the internet killed retail. However, the internet cannot kill a good restaurant experience. There are not enough good, interesting restaurants in Hoboken. Why? Because the liquor licenses are too expensive. It's too costly for a talented young chef to come to Hoboken and open a restaurants without being able to make money on liquor sales. Instead, all the creative chefs go to Brooklyn where you can get a liquor license for a small fraction of what you pay in Hoboken. In Hoboken, we get a slew of draft beer joints that serve mediocre burgers because you can get back your liquor license investment by selling cheap draft beer to the post-collegiate set. We need to find a way to de-value the liquor license while giving the current liquor license holders a fair reimbursement for their investment. Once we do that, more interesting restaurants will move to Hoboken, more people (and a more diverse set of people) will come to eat here which will carry over to retail.

Have you tried Choco-Pain on 1st? Not open 24 hours, but wow, great pastries, bread and other food items like quiche and sandwiches. I think that most of their baked goods are better than Pain Quioteden.

Parking would be less of a problem if local businesses had their employees stop parking in front of their place of employment all day and instead parked in a garage. If you take a walk along Washington about 10 minutes before local stores, salons & restaurants open, you can see the employees grabbing a ton of spots, spots they will be occupying all day long to the detriment of customers.

Trader Joe's should go there!

Someone willing to compromise with people who have no integrity and who are willing to sell the whole community out for 30 pieces of silver aren't willing to do the work necessary to clean this town up.

So Rory- Now that you have floated out the idea of running for office to make Hoboken improve greatly can you name some things that you want to see changed.

Please be specific since the more detailed and well though out your ideas are the more likely you will get votes.

So lets get started:

If elected what will you do as City Council Person to help Hoboken Businesses? Please make sure the suggestions are legal and within the framework of what a City Council person can do.

Do you think friends should appoint their friends into positions of oversight like Carmelo Garcia and Joe Bronco at the HHA? If so why?

Do you support NJ Transits purportedly massive plan to develop the railyards in Hoboken provided it is of massive scale?

There you go, three questions to get you started on your platform. Good luck.

Rory --

If you run for office will you be receiving the endorsement of Batman? If he endorses you, you have my vote. However, if the caped crusader refuses to endorse his former sidekick, you may have problems getting elected.

WTF kind of non sequitor is that post? Do you read English as your first language?

The "Turd Way" yearnings of the Jabberwock have found their way back to Patch. Lets be clear, I don't see the elections with the same lenz as Jabberwock.

With that said it seems elements of the Old Guard could perhaps propping up people like Rory much like the stalking horse Paetzold in the ward elections. From a strategy standpoint it makes sense to encourage Rory to split the vote for reform. That may not be Rory's intent but that is likely to be the outcome.

I have no self-righteousness here but the fact is if Rory or others run it is very likely to pull more voters away from the Zimmer camp should he run. He can't win (just like I knew I couldn't win for Freeholder but the difference is Romano was running unopposed until I threw my hat in the ring. Typically an independent can expect between 600-1000 votes. That is not enough to even come close to winning City Wide. It will just force a runoff and that favors super duper high rise developer backed candidates (i.e. Old Guard)

The fact is Zimmer saved Hoboken from bankruptcy and the Old Guard can't beat her straight up or fairly (that how they roll) so here is the attempt at divide and conquer.

Perhaps Jabberwock wants to see Zimmer go down to renew his/her unrequited political ambitions. Jabberwock should be careful what he/she wishes for.

so what new business would the great Jabberwock like to see on Washington Street? That is, after all the topic of this thread. Perhaps he can open the Jabberwock Family Civic association devoted to supporting all candidacies that profess to offer a "third way?"

Nothing good can come from having the Russo/Mason alliance control the CC just like nothing good can come from trying to compromise w/ people up to absolutely no good.

I agree entirely - using cars for delivery in a 1 square mile city makes little sense to me, and if I owned a restaurant I probably wouldn't use a car to make deliveries. Are you proposing that City government should somehow impose that choice or are you just expressing frustration that restaurants choose to run their businesses differently than you would like?

Absolutely not neither do pizza places II hate Dominos for that reason. They crate a hsafety hazard on Newark Street. It is an incredibly dumb idea to use cars for delivery in Hoboken.

What changes Rory? Are you saying it is the government's job to pick winners by helping them out? If so how?

It is pretty hard to sell produce when you have a competitor 2 blocks away w/ an awesome selection of produce at pretty reasonable prices that also sells pretty much everything you do with the exception of liquor.

Please describe some specific changes that are needed?

How can the chamber impact market rate rents and lack of imagination on the part of many food and boutique start ups? Why should chamber or city hall dictate these decisions?

Melissa, I respectfully disagree. One of the great things about Hoboken's shopping districts is that there are few chain stores. Some communities actually prevent them in their ordinance and we should too. If one can get the same things in Hoboken that are sold in Tucson or Kansas City, we're just feeding the same cancer that is the death-knell of US business and entrepreneurship and that approach represents the complete erosion of a sense of place. Those large chains can find plenty of places along major highways, a place where independent stores can't thrive. We don't need them on our main street.

ian, honest question: besides easing up on some parking restrictions and holding feel-good "shop local" days (which may or may not actually help), what exactly can any city do to support businesses? and isn't it a slippery slope when the government starts to prop up certain businesses? i certainly don't want my tax dollars spent that way.

seems clear that the VAST majority of the responsibility of helping local busineses is with the chamber of commerce. i mean, look at their name, it's what they do!! supposedly. :)

There is nothing stopping any local business from contacting the owner of the handful of billboards in town and entering into a contract to put up a sign for a period of time other than their unwillingness to pay whatever price CBS is charging.

It is my understanding that the few billboards that have been allowed in Hoboken in the past would be phased out when their contracts end. :-)

Ian- Other than signage what other things should the Government do help businesses in Hoboken in you opinion? I know the erudite Jabberwock wants a small bookstore but didn't Barnes and Noble and Amazon kill that business model? Does the City give them free books for sale? Of course commercial is better for the city fiscally than residential?

What is the Chamber of Commerce doing to promote Hoboken's businesses? The only public statement anyone can recall is that it's head, Mike Novak, denigrated Washington Street's businesses in the Wall Street Journal. How did that help and what is the plan to replace him and revive this important organization? Anyone know?

Commercial rent control.

Commercial rent control is such a horrifically bad idea that even California outlawed the use of such a backwards and counterproductive law. The state of California claims that "commercial rent control would not encourage a competitive environment for businesses and could give one business an unfair advantage over another."

Please - no more crappy take-out food with their drivers idling in cars, picking their noses and dumping cigarette butts on our streets. AND NO CHAIN STORES!

Love these ideas! How about an organic cafe? Energy Kitchen is okay, but not everything is organic. Same with Re Juice Nation - so much sugar in their drinks!

Furey- With respect to number 5, don't we already have a the Tilted Kilt? - The High end Hooters?

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/24/breastaurant-boom-hooters-style-eateries-experience-mini-boom/

Interestingly enough, the "Breastaurants" are booming...

You need to move to Paramus. They have all of that and more in EVERY ONE of their malls.

YES YES YES to Whole Foods or Trader Joes - I vote Trader Joes.

I think a Banana Republic would do well, but I'm biased because it's one of those places I can always find something. The Josef A. Banks store seems to be doing OK over on Hudson St, and with all suits in this town, it make sense to have one. Tilted Kilt is pretty close to a Hooters, and even though it's way over in the Metro Stop building it's packed on a UFC fight night. Def agree on the BBQ. Joey's wasn't half bad, but the location sucked. I only ever wanted to order takeout from there. Blue Smoke is probably the only BBQ spot in all of NYC that's nice enough to take a date to, perhaps if Joey's had a location that was bigger and a little more appealing to spend some time in, even just for the bar, they would have lasted. Another option other than Garden of Eden would be welcome and would do well. Especially a Trader Joe's which has lots of reasonably priced good quality products and frozen items which would appeal to anyone who doesn't have time to cook from scratch every single night.

Rory do you truly believe that restaurants deliver by car because they can't afford to buy a bike or moped so all the City needs to do is give them one for free?

I have a business in town. It's based on services sold outside of Hoboken. However, I like free stuff and if I can get a $400 moped, then I can sell it and go buy bagels in town for a year.

Thank you Councilman Chadwick. Keep those handouts coming!

Why should the city pay anything to buy mopeds for the employees of businesses on Washington so those same business owners can free up parking for customers in front of their businesses? If those businesses are so short sighted as to deny parking to customers in front of their stores, restaurants & take-out joints, that is their problem.

trader joe's said no because of parking? there are a bunch of TJ's in manhattan and none of them have parking.

Many businesses find Hoboken's local demographics together with its proximity to NYC and its easy accessibility to and from NYC by public transportation to be an extremely desirable mix that more than makes up for limited parking. Other businesses like big box stores depend on automobile access and therefore decide that Hoboken is not an ideal location.

Not every location is optimal for every business, and Newport Mall is certainly more car friendly, most Hoboken residents I know are quite happy its in JC and not in Hoboken. The rising Washington Street rents are the best evidence that Hoboken is considered overall a good location to open a business by a lot of people.

Hoboken ultimately will have the kind of businesses it can support based on the assets and limitations inherent to its size, demographics and infrastructure. Every location has its limitations and successful businesses are the one's that learn to leverage the assets and work within the limitations.

I for one live in Hoboken in part because its access to NYC via public transportation is way more important to me than being able to park when I grocery shop, something you can't do in NYC either. Hoboken's proximity to NYC, JC etc is a blessing and a curse to local business and those that can figure out how to access the blessings survive and thrive.

If you don't have parking, pedestrian traffic is a must. Hoboken doesn't have enough of either to support chain stores that also happen to have other locations most of us can already shop at nearby. Any new Gap store they might build would not be accretive much to sales b/c it would be cannibalizing sales from other Gap stores like the one up in Edgewater Commons.

That will be a short story. :-)

Tom/Claire.
Please remove this slanderous post and keep this poster from reposting under this or any other name by blocking the URL being used.

As you know by our previous coorespondence who I am this attempt at slander is obvious.

Thank you.

AKA Hobbs

Which ID's are you saying belong to GA? Subtlety is pointless. You're making an accusation. So make it.

My Edgewater friends are currently unavailable, possibly due to appointments in Newark. I recently suffered a horrible loss, my Weehawken guppy died. Well they say he's gone away but it's just the same; he's dead to me.

Will have my broom friend back, the olive oil guy who spends too much time on Jersey City back soon.

We're on a short break but promise to be back with more filth and scum than ever. Have you thought about paid blogging? If you would like to apply, please send three samples of the worst filth you can muster on the Zimmertinis, the less true the better.

Thank you.

If you liked the civil discourse, why did you have to go and stir the pot.

Once troll always a troll

yes, mr. first-time/new name LHH (welcome!). i too noticed a lack of negativity and nastiness on these comments with the absence of probus/curiousgirl. good point, those two do tend to drag things down.

so, name some names: who else have you not seen commenting on this post? go on, tell us.

When you call yourself "Last Honest Hobokener" you insult loads of people, even people you probably agree with.

Be that as it may, you are flaming hypocrite Alan, honestabezi, overreax, superslaw, and a host of other names. And logging on here to lay that charge at the door of one person I know who doesn't use multiple IDs - LIKE YOU DO. Namely, GA.

Whatever, hypocrite. Run this through your processor. People take vacation in July and August. People in general. You still haven't named the IDs you are referring to. And in any case you are a GA-obsessed lunatic - to the point where she should start considering her personal safety. Any sane person knows this is one of the 2 biggest vacation months of the year. But you don't appear to be sane.

You're building up quite a track record of online stalking. Is it only online?

Oh STFU already, you loser.

um, the reason I post before 7AM is I need to be up to get into the city for work. Apparently the concept of a real job is lost on you government job seekers who live off Ricky Mason? Guess you decided to scrap the last name because it was so obvious that you were making stuff up?

What exactly is the point of creating a new ID every few days?

does anyone at the hoboken chamber of commerce actually get a salary? if so, i'd be pretty POed if i was a dues-paying member. i certainly hope local businesses are putting pressure on the CoC to do something, seems misguided to just give up on them and blame the city.

Furey - It hurts new restaurants. I posted this reply higher up on the chain. Here it is again.....
There are not enough good, interesting restaurants in Hoboken. Why? Because the liquor licenses are too expensive. It's too costly for a talented young chef to come to Hoboken and open a restaurants without being able to make money on liquor sales. Instead, all the creative chefs go to Brooklyn where you can get a liquor license for a small fraction of what you pay in Hoboken. In Hoboken, we get a slew of draft beer joints that serve mediocre burgers because you can get back your liquor license investment by selling cheap draft beer to the post-collegiate set. We need to find a way to de-value the liquor license while giving the current liquor license holders a fair reimbursement for their investment. Once we do that, more interesting restaurants will move to Hoboken, more people (and a more diverse set of people) will come to eat here which will carry over to retail.

I agree FAP, I think the policy has a benefit, but I think we need a smarter government rather than just shutting down all licenses. For example, if a good restaurant wanted to open at Blockbusters - they can't because of the current law. I think we should have a committee (sort of like Zoning) that can review and approve/deny specific cases for new bar/restaurant locations or create a new class of licenses which allow for beer & wine to be sold and not hard alcohol.

I also think selling of liquor licenses should be controlled by the city. Much like Personal Seat Licenses (PSUs) are controlled by Jets/Giants when you buy season tickets. I don't think the transaction should take place between bar owners. You sell your license back to the city, who sells that to the person opening the bar or restaurant.

thanks, first-time/new name commenter (welcome!). it's nice to know new businesses are coming to town...but why the slap at the administration? instead of just taking a gratuitous shot at the city, why don't you explain what the administration has done that's so bad. how is it different from what any other city would require?

unless you explain the situation, we have no basis to evaluate and believe your remark.

Like RTrux said what exactly did the administration do?

So, they are using the exact same name as their sports bar in NYC but not going to run it like a sports bar?

Hah - it is a good place in a horrible location for a bar that size. It is the pits for the neighbors and walking on First Street Thursday Friday and Saturday nights in front is unpleasant at best.

Do me a favor, tell them I would eat there more often if they'd put 80% less salt in their food. That's what salt shakers are for, you can add it if you want, but you can't take it out.

Honestly, I highly doubt guys who run businesses on that level get their nose out of joint over a liquor license. They should be thankful Zimmer got rid of the old guy who was ripping everyone off in the construction office.

Rory, you can kind of see how that can be prohibitive...

They also added velvet curtains along the windows and doors that face the street which dampen the sound coming from the interior.

all of this goes back to my original question: what does this have to do with the city? why is it the administration's fault that next door neighbors complain about a noisy bar?

really, you guys are like the boy who cried wolf sometimes, using the city as your default whipping boy for any obstacle faced by a business. bars deal with neighbors all the time, that's got nothing to do with the city. cry me a river.

It looks like the Village Pourhouse did have a noise problem and then took multiple steps to corrected problem. :-)

They could keep the sound down in there if they finished the ceiling with something that absorbed sound, last I was in there, it was still unfinished, but that could have changed. In case anyone didn't know, large flat surfaces reflect sound back at almost full force, while anything with a pattern or textures will dramatically dampen it. Next time you're in a place that seems really noisy, take a look at the ceiling, it's the biggest culprit. OK, now that concludes your Architecture/Interior designing lesson for today, there will be a quiz next week.

Yeah, but I think the city should allow just wine/beer licenses for places that want to sell ...I know that Park & Sixth closed down their place because they wanted to become more upscale from a deli to more of a restaurant and couldn't get a license to sell wine & beer in Hoboken - so they moved to Jersey City.

I fully respect that we shouldn't have crazy full serving bars with everyone getting licenses to open where ever they want, but I think we need a happy medium. I also think restricting sales to only NJ wines or beers is absurd.

Ho - the number of licneses was et, I beleive in teh stte consitution int eh 1940s and is related to the number of people in a munciaplity. SInce Hoboken had a gazillion bars at the time, even though I forget the exact ration, it is unlikel that Hoboken will ever be able to issue any more licenses for the next hundred years or more, unless the ratio is changed. I know of owners who have actually surrendered licneses in town, there is value to them, but not as valuable as you may think. There is an enormous number in town. Every corner bodega sells liqour, even if it is just beer, or did at one time.

So how are the neighbors complaints the city's fault?

"and town busted their chops about it."

rory, once again, i ask: what did the city do to "bust their chops"?? give us some examples. and how is it the city's fault when neighbors complain?

also, don't give me this "you don't own a business" BS, i've been in business my whole life and you know nothing about me.

rory, why is that a problem. If people are drinking where they want to drink, maybe Moran's will figure out how to get more people in the door. Sure, based on the police blotter, we have too many drunks and idiots, but I have no problem allowing people to drink in a capitalistic manner.

It is not the city's responsibility to protect weak competitors from the competition so if that is the main rationale for having a limited # of licenses, then it is time to get rid of those restrictions.

I'm sorry I don't buy into that. I love Moran's. Fan of Lenny and the bartenders there. I don't think their prices are any different than the so-called "Megabars" and if you want to get a buy back, Moran's would be a place you can get one (just tip well). I also know that the owners of Sullivans own their entire building. So what's their overhead? Electricity and taxes? They could make money hand over fist at Stinky's but I don't think they updated their bar or beer list in 15 years. They need to innovate.

Rory and what is the mayor supposed to do to control a landlord's greed?

On and the city council is the branch that writes laws.

Yeah I don't buy into the "box stores won't work here" when nationwide these box stores are going under. If you have a good product and it works nationally there's no reason why it can't work on Washington Street. You have 50,000 people packed into a mile square town - you can't complain about enough customers to sell to...

It would take far more than 50,000 potential customers to keep a Gap store open in Hoboken and Gap is perhaps the most over-stored retailer in the country. There is only 1 Gap store for every 300K people in this country and we happen to have multiple Gap stores nearby including 1 in Edgewater, 1 in Newport & several in NYC. Most of the 50K people in this town probably pass near one of these stores on a daily basis and already can shop at Gap just about whenever they want. The exact same rationale can be applied to many other box stores why they may not want to put a store in Hoboken.

Yes, Rory, and maybe that means they had a below market lease and the store owners needed to find more afordable space off of Washington or change up the line of products they were selling. The owner had to know when their lease ended and not making provisions for an increase is absolutely poor business. I just faced a similar issue. I am not crying, just finding a way to make it work That is the joy and beauty fo owning your own business - it is what you make out of it. I hate whiners.

Drinkup
1. you almost had me until "The mayor took our HISTORIC parade." You may want to get over that, you still had leper-con, and if you are making money serving obviously intoxicated patrons on St. P's parade day, you should be fined.
2. Why will giving more liquor licenses crush the bar and restaurant community. Maybe it will allow new restaurants to come in and take your business, but who's fault is that.
3. If 85% of the bars are hurting horribly, why have so few closed? I can't think of a single bar in town that's closed over the past year except Clam Broth House, I'm sure I am missing a few.

I have to think that if you moved onto Washington street, you shouldn't be making noise complaints about bars, but when a new bar comes in, you should have some right.

It will never happen that all restaurants will get a liquor license, NJ would never allow it given space in town. Hoboken ordinance states you can't have a license within 500 feet of another. I can only imagine if everyone did have a bar, the fights and the chaos that would ensue would kill this town over night.

Now I'm confused. If all the bars are struggling, (ok, 85%) how is it that more bars would cause chaos? Do we have people rolling around who can't find a place to drink in this town?

drinkup, you still haven't explained how this is the city's fault. if neighbors complain, it has to be looked into. how is the city at fault?

all you've done here is repeat the same vague "they don't want to work with us" and "lots of other things too long to list" BS, that's just a copout. list them out, then maybe people will agree and support you. otherwise, you're just playing games.

"The city is against all the bars every day and the city makes in continuously impossible for us to do anything anymore."

that's total over-the-top crybaby BS and you know it.

I don't think we need more bars, but I do think we should get more restaurants in Hoboken that can compete with existing ones without having to spend $500,000 on an existing liquor license. More bars, no. More restaurants that can serve wine/beer, yes.

You dont own a bar - the statement about giving eveyone a licnese gives you away - the number of such licenses is frozen by state law (based on population) and there are no more to issue. Rule number one that you are too stupid to have figured out before you put up a fake post. Pathetic.

Khoboken, did you even read my follow ups? I went on to say the state won't allow that, size of the town, no more licenses would be issued. I simply said "if" everyone had a license it would be chaos and a failure. Im rereading a lot of the comments and looking at the new comments. I am a bar owner, I am not someone pretending to be a bar owner, furthermore I get that you all seem to have a love for the current mayor and her people and thats cool, but don't fantasize that I'm not who I am just so you have something to chat about. Khoboken, you said in another post you're a business owner, which one? If you won't tell me, what industry are you? Retail? Professional? Food and beverage?

but again, with all due respect, this doesn't answer the question. how is the city "busting their chops"? if a resident brings files a noise complaint, it has to get looked into.

How does Zimmer have control over people calling to complain about your noise? She doesn't. If the police show up and there is no noise I am sure that is documented in their report. And if it isn't you have a good beef with the police. I have to think you can't get charged with anything if the police find no evidence of wrongdoing. Am I wrong?

Has Zimmer changed your hours or cut outdoor seating? Not at all. So I don't see how you say they hate bars

you know, forget it, i'm banging my head against the wall here. i'm not blaming bar owners for anything. for the 100th time, my question is how is it the city's fault when a resident complains about noise. cops are just doing their job, responding to a citizen's complaint. what do you expect them to do?

I'm telling you to ask the bar and restaurant owners yourself, they'll tell you how they see the city to blame, I've stated my reasonings, I'm not going to say all my problems because if I do then it's easy to figure out who I am and i fear Dawn Zimmer. She can yank my cord. So to answer your question rtrux, get off your ass and walk in to a bar and ask the bar owner what you're asking of me and until then, keep banging your head.

now it's my job to prove your arguments?? LOL, i give up.

Sorry just not buying that Drinkup is a bar owner.

All signs point to it is just one of the usual suspects under his/her screen name de jour. :-)

You haven't stated your reasons. I have yet to hear 1 thing the mayor or city council has done to hurt bars. And if it is the St Patty's day parade that is a totally different argument to have.

If you are mad about phantom calls about fake noise complaints you need to discuss with the police. For a person to have a complaint they need to give the police their name. Without that you have a great case that its BS

What's a Tavern Sheet...is that like a write up? Perhaps you mean the Tavern Sheet policy if flawed??

yup, the rest of us store owners are busy running their stores and don't have time for fantasies

Hey idiot - I meant the drunks that I have seen stumble out of the VP and then piss/vomit a block or two away. Following idiot incoherent drunk patrons on Forst Street is not an uncommon event for that establsihment.

Live in the 4th ward and NOT a fan of VPH as a neighbor - it is the wrong concept for that stretch of 1st Street - but I actually the several occassions I have been in there. They just cant control what their drunk patrons do after they leave and the outside line that takes over the sidewalk.

Once someone leaves a bar they're on the sidewalk. You've answered your own question. If people can't handle themselves then they shouldn't go out, were not here to babysit them and coax them, we do our best to tell them to be quiet and get them to move along and away from our establishments. Goes along with a drunk guy at the Shannon get drunk and walks home and starts a fight in front of the Nags Head, Nags Head gets that write up, but they didn't serve the person a drink. Don't blame Nags Head right?

Wow, you're very pro business today aren't you? An ordinance in limiting free enterprise? How much pot have you smoked so far today Ally? And sidewalks are relaid not repaved bozo.

You are certainly not the first person to exclaim that "There will NEVER be enough parking [in Hoboken]", and that is an unfortunate view to take. It is one that I certainly hope the current administration and parking director do not take. Hoboken is an open economy--we are not just serving ourselves as residents, we are serving our visitors and patrons from outside our community. We are also less of an enclave than an integrated part of Hudson county and the surrounding areas whose citizenry depend heavily on motor vehicles for transportation and commerce. We are so dissimilar to NYC that your parking comparison is laughable. Hoboken is not the resort destination that it once was; public transit and walking/biking are only part of the answer. Other than that, I have no concerns with your post.

Bingo! Shops that are relevant to the lives of the people in the community - no more nail salons, cell phone stores, clothing stores stocked with last year's samples, dry-cleaning fronts and bad take-out.

A very active Chamber of Commerce working with, not against, our Director of Community Development would be great way to promote Hoboken as a brand, including ALL businesses - like the amazing, unique and wonderful enterprises in Neumann Leather, the My-T-Fine and Monroe Center buildings - not just retailers and restaurants.

Yeah I hear things are so bad people are fleeing to Edgewater.

Um, the reason rents are so high is because people want to live here so much. If people decide to move out, supply and demand will dictate new lower rents. Also, new bars will respond to demand and continue to make this a good place to spend money (VP comes to mind here, they are doing well, and adding 2 more restaurants, apparently, which is awesome news). Having been given a 3 figure ticket for parking at a meter in NYC for an extra 10 minutes, I don't believe that is what makes cities fall, maybe we just need better signage for where the municipal garages are, and people have to be willing to part with $5.

congrats, ooc! last week i applauded you for "dumbest comment of the week", and now you've achieved back-to-back titles!

the points of your "chicken little" argument are so over-the-top or just outright wrong that i can't even be bothered to shoot them down one by one (for example, "rents are outrageous"...well, no, rents are at market rate, and higher than in the past because of the strong demand of people who want to live here...which is a reflection how good things are here!).

perhaps you simply suffer from nostalgia, the illusion that "it was always so much better back in the day", back when you were here and before all these other "outsiders" (aka, "yuppies", reformers) moved in and "ruined" your town. we realize that when you get to a certain age, it's hard to accept change, and that time waits for no one. rant away, we understand.

I guess all our problems will solve themselves then. As people realize how undesirable hoboken is they will move out and nobody will be willing to move in to replace them. Both residential and commercial rents will plummet creating a free market solution - always the best kind - to our high rent problem. Since young people will stop coming here to recreate, businesses will fail driving commercial rents down further. Competition for the businesses that remain will disappear allowing them to thrive based on unimaginative and outdated business models that depend on low rents and cater only to long term Hoboken residents.

The reduction in both population and tourism will solve all of our crowding problems including parking and open space without the need for a penny of public expenditure. Fewer people means fewer cars and fewer of those annoying yuppie children unwilling to play in the streets like we did when we were kids. Fewer restaurants means less trash allowing our streets to be cleaner while reducing our sanitation costs.

And Outofcontrol will be able to move back to Hoboken circa 1970 without all those darn "transient newcomers" gumming up the works.

Pupie Raia and the Ursa gang can buy up all the property again on the cheap, and develop us back into the modern world and get rich all over again.

I think we've hit on Pupie's vision for the future - Back to the past. Throw in some corruption and patronage and we've got the entire platform.

and demothenes gets the "best comment of the week"! LOL, spot on, i think you've uncovered the old guard master plan!

is that anything like being "retroactively retired"? :)

Uh, no. It is not the city's responsibility to buyout current liquor licenses, give them reimbursement or anything approximating any such thing. If you want more liquor licenses so more restaurants open in town, then you are just going to have to accept the fact that you will also be eroding the value of these liquor licenses. And if you don't want to erode the value of the liquor licenses, then you are just going to have to get used to only having bars owning most of the licenses. But under no circumstances should the city look to bailout people who invested in liquor licenses with taxpayer funds.

Bullshit. If you want a good interesting restaurant, start one yourself. The cost of the liqour license wont be your stumbling block. You obviously have no clue about opening, operating and owning a business.

Tom / Claire

More swearing by Khoboken, please suspend her like you suspend everyone else for swearing, please keep it fair and balanced. If you let her swear and don't suspend her you will look one sided and many of us will give you a hard time for it.

Agreed! The town is a mile square. A person can on foot easily walk from one end of town to the other and back in a reasonable amount of time. A person can even hoof it to go pick up their takeout and get home while it is still hot from a huge portion of the places in town. There is no need to drive anywhere except perhaps to the grocery store and Shop Rite has a massive parking lot so no need to complain about parking if you shop there.

If someone decides they want to rely on street parking for their daily commute, that goes beyond the problem of the city, given that their are garages or lots around town with monthly access plans, including those owned by the city or private, and now, even the midtown garage has spaces available (We all know how that happened, no matter what story some whiners around here want to pitch). It is not the cities responsibility to provide adequate free parking for residents.
On the other hand, reserving half the streets for residential parkers makes it easy for those of us who do need to occassionally drive to get somewhere. Every once in a while, I just need to shell out $5 to park in a garage. Of course, if I lived in a less dense area, I could just park in the parking lot, but that's not why I moved to Hoboken.

This weekend we had some absolutely fantastic weather yet the double parkers who are too lazy to walk anywhere were out in force on Washington St.

They put convince and laziness over safety. It will take a major disaster to change their mindset, that or major ticketing. I would much rather have them ticketed than for them to be hit by a car because of blocked visibility.