The Human Element amidst Aggressive Development (Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District)

 by S.A.V.E.’s Denice Hernandez  

 
…by me (during a recent rainfall and fog. I tried to capture two of the mose recent buildings arising: Trump Plaza condos and 50 Columbus.)

12.5.07
It looks like Toll Brothers, nationally known urban developer, will get to build their proposed cultural anchor for all of JC at the PAD called Provost Square. We can only hope and pray that they maintain some of PAD’s structural integrity and uniqueness as noted in our letter to JC Mayor and City Council. The latter makes final decision on approval of Provost Square plan.

Letter to JC Mayor Healy about making sure that future development in the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD) comply with preservationist guidelines by the City. (Townhall meeting 11/27)

Seeing the Roman ruins in Spain last month made my partner and I appreciate, fully, the necessity of preserving structures of unique historical significance. It is the most basic form of hommage and respect to things past; to who we were and what we did. Juxtaposing this to the more recent development only adds aesthetic cultural layer to Jersey City’s still-developing character which is and must be uniquely apart from that of the ever-dominant NYC.The PAD is one of those few areas in JC which is a very aesthetically attractive spot for creative and artistic-minded residents. So this human element must be taken into account, encouraged, and nurtured through PAD preservation or Jersey City will just be another lego-like high rise zone without any historical and cultural factor (the human element) essential to balanced living.Let us not allow money to diminish forever that human element—our history and past—by failing to take heed of the urgency of historical preservation of the unique Powerhouse Arts District.

Ian F. Hinonangan, Esq.
Julius R. Torres, RN 
(Oneida Torres-Hinonangan)

P.S. SAVE THE COBBLESTONES!!!

[Making] our fort assume the furniture of home…

this line I excised from W.H. Auden’s poem (from Bo, thanks!) entitled and/or dated September 1, 1939. Between the recent clearing of 4 Kissam and the transfer of furnitures from there to the limited space at 140 Bay, it has been about, “[making] our fort assume the furniture of home”.

With that said, we give thanks for our many blessings this year. Here are pockets of gratefuless:

1.Familia

 

 

Before the actual non-stop eating, I took time with my parents to attend Church by Hamilton Park area. The browning leaves nanay had to see, the fan of Fall that she is. But the Church’s Thanksgiving Mass had passed so we checked out other Churches in the area— quite a few Roman Catholic churches here with Italian/Polish/Irish immigrants at the turn of the 20th century— and came across one where a client is the main caretaker. So although their mass had also happened, he allowed us in to at least light our candle. To my clients, him and the rest, thank you for returning the favor.

I captured a candid shot of Franz, my cousin, and his daughter (my godchild), Isabela.

 

 

 

2. Musica

 

With the surprise musical treat, we give thanks for the gift of music. Tita Norma brought Asako Tamura, a soprano who sang opera arias to the amazement of many of us, especially to musicphile Julius,  a la Lolo. (See, scan of her cd later) Speaking of lolo, early that morning, I played to nanay an Ave Maria version of Filipino composer, Francisco Santiago, which is a predominantly violin piece. Since Lolo was a self-taught violinist, this brought her to tears. 

3. Apoyo              

Before our party began, I made a couple of calls to give thanks and reconnect: 1. to Tita Fely Ocampo, mother of Ben and my high school best friend, Abdon (may he R.I.P.); 2. to Rowena, my client and restaurant owner; 3. to Camille, just to let her know that she is missed in this family-centric Holiday. By the way, her birthday is coming soon.

In the spirit of making our fort assume the furniture of home, I am adding garden photos from Kissam. It there was a dead spot that we truly made alive, it was the little patch of earth in front of our townhome that we transformed into a garden. These are photos from this summer when the mint and other greens really took root and off.

Holidays…yikes and yeay!!!

With all the sorting, cleaning, throwing, handing down, and packing that Julius and I have had to do b/c 4 Kissam will be rented by December 1st (Salamat Senor Sto Nino and David Bartz for a listing well done!), I came across this great photo I took of a parol hung in 2006 at our ancestral home in Baybay (owing to Nilo’s handicraft skillz!).

More photos of Kissam as it is cleared out and repainted and recaulked. (Is there such a word?) Kissam was a home Julius and I built; a garden filled with plants: a sunflower bloomed early October, the cusp of Fall. It was from a stray away seed from the birdfeed that we hung on the sole tree in the middle of that enchanted garden; the peppers ballooned in a shared pot with bamboos this past summer. At Kissam, we entertained and partied a lot there: with law skool crew, coworkers of Julius, family get-togethers, 2 Pride parties, etc. We remain tight with our neighbors; by far we were the coolest block. We still are.

After Thanksgiving at our place downtown, commercialized Holidays will be at full-swing. As much as possible, we will stay away from the mall mania (that’s the yikes part), so help us God, but definitely take part in the Holiday’s spirit of sharing and giving (the yeay part).

Preparation for Thanksgiving…

Julius and I will host Thanksgiving at 140 Bay, our new place downtown, with immediate relatives… We give thanks for another blessed and fruitful year; for our good health and peace of mind…for the gift of new life (Tita Connie [Don's mom] and Nanay [her win over breast cancer); the gift of new opportunities so that we may have our daily bread; the gift of family and their support and challenge; our pets (Neida, Coolidge & Einstein); the Earth (in all its untapped bounty).

Camille, we miss you! Happy Thanksgiving! Minette, see you soon, pohon. Ma and Pa, see you soon here, pohon!!!

We renew our commitment of sharing our blessings in the form of service to others in the myriad of ways that they manifest.

Career Day @ Marist High School in Bayonne, NJ

I was invited by Brother Luke of Marist High School to speak on Career Day, today. He found my ad at Our Lady of Mercy and asked if I can speak about what it means to be a lawyer, how to be one and the nature of the work involved. I am very happy to participate.

With Shannon, my first legal assistant, finishing at Northeastern (Boston), Victor Valenzona (my summer intern last year) reviewing for his LSATs, I will be very gratified to inspire another to be an attorney. This begs the question: who inspired me to pursue law?—Tia Nina Valenzona (prolific writer); YPA’s activists and legal advisers; Prof. Abisi Sharikiya (philosophy professor-Binghamton); Prof. Kelvin Santiago (Post Colonial Studies-Binghamton/Sociology).

Spanish in Philippines

A Possible Re-establishment (taken from: http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t5561-0.htm)
In recent years, there has been a growing of interest in the Spanish language, including re-establishing a sense of nationalism amongst the Filipino people. Also, there is a growing demand in the Philippine call center industry for Filipinos who are fluent Spanish speakers.

Recently, the ULAP (Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines) organization, composed of Philippine local government adminisrators, appealed to Philippine President, Gloria Arroyo to enforce the requirement of Spanish in the curriculum of all schools and colleges (both public and private) throughout the country. If Arroyo agrees with the plan, this will soon pave the way for the re-establishment of Spanish as one of the country’s official languages and possibly, one of its national languages alongside Filipino.

(See, wikepedia for more info. Vale!)

Whole Foods in Jersey City…give us some wholeness…

I know the last part is corny but wouldn’t this be cool?!
Anyhoot, here is a letter I sent to Whole Foods Corporate in the hopes that they will OPEN in downtown Jersey City. Much going on down here, for real. We can’t sit around and passively wait for them to come. They have to be summoned!

To Whole Foods CEO/CFO/Board:

I am not a broker but a lawyer with interest in neighborhood development and preservation. I recently moved with my partner, Julius, to the Powerhouse Arts District of downtown Jersey City. There are two high rises with huge commercial storefronts opening this week, so we, together with other like-minded residents, were wondering if a Whole Foods will be coming to us soon. (The two high rises are: http://www.50columbus.com/ and http://www.grovepointecondos.com/)

I looked at the guidelines for a WF retail location and downtown Jersey City meets them—there are a large number of college educated professionals now in the area; easy access from lightrail and PATH train; in a high traffic area. Moreover, there is a live arts scene down here. Just to give you an idea, there are:
L.I.T.M. (local dive bar/mini gallery); 58 gallery; Powerhouse Arts District neighborhood association; S.A.V.E. (a local preservation group made up of youngsters with an ongoning exhibit re Powerhouse Arts Disctrict in City Hall).

I hope that you check out our neighborhood and bring Whole Foods (wholesome food) to us.

-Ian F. Hinonangan
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This is a picture by s.a.v.e. member, Helene Chen, on exhibit. We have yet to check out the exhibit in City Hall.

Julius and I are supporters and members of our PAD Neighborhood Association. They are a watchdog ensuring that the unique character of the warehouse area will not be overrun by highrises. We love the logo!

We attended the monthly (cada first Tuesdays) meeting for the 1st time. (We missed October por que fuimos en Espana.) Very interesting things about crime watch and that we are covered by J.C.P.D.-East District. Thanks PADNA! We feel very involved—all grown up and invested in our neighborhood. Yeay!!!

chillfest -jersey city

is the mostly gay and lesbian film series of JC (2007-2008) held at l.i.t.m in 140 Newark Avenue. Their kickoff was this afternoon and julius and i were there to lend our support to both the film fest and to l.i.t.m. It will be a second sunday series so the next one is 12/9, 1/13, 2/10 (2 days b4 my bday, pohon), 3/9, 4/3, 5/11 amd 6/8. Hope that yo’all can join us in one of those dates. For this afternoon, “Holding Trevor” was shown. The writer, actor, and co-producer/director, Brent Gorski, was present for the Q&A (as this was also the East cost premiere!). His love scene with love interest (actor’s name Eli) was really hot!

Primera semana del Noviembre 2007

It’s Friday night, looking forward to a rested weekend: since 4 Kissam will be put up for rent, we will spend a good part of the weekend moving out furniture either to my office or to our downtown pad. Two big buildings for rent opened in downtown this week: 50 Columbus and Grove Point. Pretty soon, Trump Towers, 2 blocks from us, will also open. These units may make it harder for us to rent out our Droyer’s Point place. But we are optimists.

Neida, keeps on smelling either mine or Juluis’ jeans whenever we get in. These are the same jeans we had on last Saturday with Einstein. She must smell and miss him. We will try to drop her off there with him at auntie and uncle’s every other weekend. (By the way, we still have dog-shots from Spain that I have yet to post.)

Two birthdays coming up: Jeanette on 11/13 (Tarragona representado!) and 11/29 Papa Ulyos, pohon. Belated Happy Birthday to Papa in Libya!

Pacts for the week…

From my comment in Michelle Gumbretch’s blog:
“chelle, i like the idea of pacts to oneself. it fits well not so much with daily to-do’s but the idea of mini goals for self-wholeness [as well]. i will apply same—pacts for the rest of the week—spread my work and home load and inserting fun things in between.”
Work load: finish up client Affidavits
Home load: refinancing Kissam then finding bona fide renters starting January 2008.