George Zalepa

!! Congrats!

BTW, @amywilson.bsky.social and the rest of the newsletter is great (please subscribe and support!), but the Newark Ave. misinformation that Boggiano and others put out there rankles me. 10/10

But...that will be offset directly by the assessment. It's not a 100% win for them, that is why they oppose it. IMO their behavior is self-serving and reprehensible given the minimal community investment here. 9/10

The new SID would have none of the easily identifiable value to PB. Instead it eats directly into their profitability. That is, they certainly will get an econonmic benefit in property value increases, even if tangential. 8/10

No wonder PB does not raise a stink about the 88/month sanitation service: their benefits outweight their costs significantly. I should pause here to note that PB is a MAJOR contributor of trash and clutter on the sidewalk as evidenced by SeeClickFix. 7/10

These are all BENEFITS that PB is getting a significant discount due to larger entities footing the bill via larger assessments. (For example, one tower of Journal Squared paid 36x PB in 2024, $38,351.43) 6/10

Are we to believe that assessment would break the bank of a 140 million dollar enteprise? Give me a break. So what's going on? IMO, PB's $1,061 assessment is not really a tax. It covers daily cleaning of their storefront, new plants, etc. 5/10

Well, we don't have the % that will be applied, but lets look at the existing JSQ SID asssement which should be close. In 2024, PB paid the JSQ SID $1061. That's right, $88/month. Even if you doubled the %, the new SID assesement would be 2k/year 4/10

So to be clear: "Patel Brothers" is not a savior, it is a multi-million dollar money-making machine. So what about the extra SID assessment? Surely, it must be significant if they are so vehemently opposed? Right? 3/10

It's not a franchise either,all revenue goes to the Patel family. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's important to call it like it is. They have no public revenue data, but in 2017 it was reported that they operate a "$140-million enterprise." 2/10

Re: Patel Bros.: they are neither a small local business nor at risk of significant taxation. Their position is much more gross. First, PB is a grocery store chain. They have over 50 stores in 20 states and are growing. 🧵 1/10

What I say to the haters

If you drive your kid to school in an urban area you should find legal parking regardless of the distance and plan your commute accordingly

Finally some recognition! 😂

🎶 I'm special (special)
So special (special) 🎶

New anti-Boggiano ad just dropped 😂😂😂

TFW you find an old (20 years 😳👴🏻) sketchbook hiding in a drawer

#sketch #sketchbook #drawing #art

AND a 300 day duolingo streak…

Does anyone ever think “thank god this app has an in-app browser instead of my usual one?”

Not positive who is behind this survey 🧐

a video of a wrestling match on make a gif .com ALT: a video of a wrestling match on make a gif .com

* the ghost of Chevron deference enters the chat *

My thoughts go out to the person who had to type out these words and finalize this design. I'm searching for a hidden message calling for help.

Agreed. I think it's lockstep with JC political set working together to exert their influence as the largest municipality in HC and one of the biggest in NJ. Would love to see congestion pricing rolled out in the first 100 days.

All that being said, using SIDs like this is better than our current approach of doing nothing.

Also, I do have some concerns about porting traditional tax-based projects (esp. infrastructure) to more localized SIDs. I worry that would shift the implementation of traditional projects to more affluent areas and further divides across the city.

*DMC. I don't want to see the DNC maintain an art walk or a transit line these days...

I'm very curious to see how the mechanics work out to get around that (e.g., for transit, would the DNC maintain the track while PATH/NJT operates it? that seems like a major liability; for Pompidou, is the DNC maintaining the art walk but not curating, that seems more reasonable).

This was my main legal gripe with the new SID that Boggiano completely fumbled at the council meeting, but it's valid. Raising money for transit doesn't quite fit that aim. A DMC is not going to be running the ultimate line. Just like they likely aren't running the Pompidou.

I have many reservations about continuing down the line the administration is taking stretching SID usage here. Under SID law, a district management co. must "provide administrative and other services to benefit the businesses, employees, residents and consumers in the special improvement district."

Big news for artists if true...😂