Lynn & Tony Know
Lynn & Tony Know
How Patrick Ambrosi Wants to Fix Trash, Grow Housing, and Bring Life Back to Central Avenue
What makes a neighborhood truly livable isn’t a slogan—it’s the basics done right. We sit with Ward D council candidate Patrick Ambrosi for a grounded conversation on how to bring Central Avenue back to life, deliver real affordability, and fix everyday problems like trash, park maintenance, and street safety. Patrick grew up in the Heights and has spent years fighting for open spaces; that track record shows in a plan that treats plazas, outdoor dining, and a stronger SID as catalysts for local business and weekend energy.
Housing is the heart of the debate. Patrick makes the case that affordability requires supply: targeted upzoning where it fits, inclusionary rules that actually apply in Ward D, and a community land bank that turns city-owned or foreclosed lots into attainable condos with capped prices. Instead of demonizing developers, he argues for performance-based deals that protect the public while producing the units families need. We also dig into sanitation—a topic most candidates avoid. With contracts in place and budgets tight, the path forward is tighter enforcement now and a phased move toward hybrid city services, not an overnight switch that would blow up the budget.
We talk parks and public space with the same candor: Pershing Field needs steady investment, not posts and promises. A dog run, open fields, and routine maintenance should be basic, not controversial. And when national politics spills into neighborhood spaces, consistent permitting and safety for all communities must guide the response. If you care about clean streets, walkable blocks, small businesses that survive, and a Heights where families actually want to linger on weekends, this conversation lays out a practical roadmap.
If this resonated, follow the show, share with a neighbor, and leave a quick review—it helps more Ward D residents find it and join the conversation.
Your hosts: @lynnhazan_ and @tonydoesknow
follow us on social @ltkpod!
Hey, welcome to the Lynn and Tony Know podcast. I'm your host, Lynn.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm Tony. We are both wellness coaches and married with kids.
SPEAKER_01:Join us as we talk about all things health, wellness, relationships, life hacks, parenting, and everything in between unfiltered. Thanks for listening and let's get into it. Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_00:Welcome back.
SPEAKER_01:We're back for special interviews for local elections.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:I think we mentioned last episode that we're nearing the Jersey City elections and we wanted to interview some of the candidates whoever reached out and is available. We're open to everybody to have a chat and see, you know, where they're at with things. And as Jersey City residents, we're, you know, we also need to decide who we want to vote for, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And honestly, I think if you asked uh the public at large, like what they know about local elections and candidates, I think it's a pretty low. I think the bar of knowledge is very low. So we're going to attempt to fill some of that gap in and and let people make decisions based on what they hear.
SPEAKER_01:For sure. So today we have Patrick Ambrosi. He's a candidate for the Heights for Ward D, which is where we live. We we met Patrick.
SPEAKER_00:Probably a year ago or so.
SPEAKER_01:A year ago, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I don't remember what it was. I think it was just a random post or something that popped up and I was like, oh, I like this guy.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Uh and at that point.
SPEAKER_01:I think he posted something. You know, obviously everybody knows where we stand with the Israel Gaza war, the former war. That were uh yes, they the hostages came home yesterday. We should do a separate episode about all that. We will. And it's it's clear where we stand. Uh when local official so here's where I stand now. I think uh two or years ago or a year ago, I wanted all the local officials to say something about the hostages and say something about the war. Now I'm happy when they say nothing sometimes. You know what I mean? When they stay out of it and they stick to local issues.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Do you know what I mean? They do. Um, but all that being said, Patrick has definitely shown um support to the Jewish community. He can't uh there's a pop-up on your screen. Uh he came to the heights, uh, Mount Sinai Temple, uh synagogue when we um were doing what we're doing, we had like a mitzvah day. Oh, he's gone? Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, he's back. We did a mitzvah day where we basically cleaned up the synagogue. It's a hundred and twenty plus old synagogue, and Patrick came with his girlfriend. Yeah, so I appreciate when people show up and and all that stuff. So let me read his bio before we bring him on. Patrick Ambrosi is a first generation Ecuadorian American who was born and raised in the heights of Jersey City, where he still lives today. The son of a union painter and a paralegal turned entrepreneur, Patrick learned the value of hard work and giving back from a young age. He spent years fighting for Jersey City's open spaces and stronger communities, serving as president of the Leonard Gordon Park Conservancy, board member of the Jersey City Parks Coalition, and former member of the Reservoir Alliance. His advocacy helped transform Mosquito Park from decades of neglect into a vibrant, reimagined public space. The fact that it's called Mosquito Park is hilarious. But anyway, with a master's in public administration from St. Peter's University and nearly a decade of public sector experience, Patrick combines community passion with policy know-how. Now he's running for Ward D. City Council to bring accountability, accessibility, and a renewed focus on issues like affordability, clean streets, and maintaining the parks and neighborhoods that define Jersey City. Welcome to the show, Patrick Ambrosi. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having me. I'm I'm excited. I I don't know where you guys got that bio. I think I don't know if it's from us or a mixed mash, but I it sounded very good, so thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Oh good.
SPEAKER_02:It's a mixed mixed mash.
SPEAKER_00:It is a mishmash of uh stuff we're gonna do. From the website and then someone cool.
SPEAKER_01:So okay, I want to like do the hard questions first, like the elephant in the room. Can we do that? Just like throw that out there.
SPEAKER_02:I'll say this. Yes, go ahead. Whatever you guys want to do, I'm here to answer any questions.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:So I like that.
SPEAKER_00:I like that response because you know uh uh a lot of people would duck certain issues, questions, whatever. And over the course of a year, I don't think you've done any of that.
SPEAKER_01:So I I do want to Yeah, we respect we respect where you where you coming from for sure. All that being said, I don't know how to phrase this.
SPEAKER_00:Well, listen, I'll phrase it like this. Obviously, there is no love loss between our community, and I'm not speaking for the entire community, obviously, but between us and Mousaba Lee, which is the head of your ticket. That is the ticket you are running on uh is Tima Lee. And if obviously if you join the circus, you're gonna get asked about the clowns, and that's kind of where it is for us. And and I'm not gonna put any words into your mouth whatsoever. Obviously, you and I have had this conversation at great length. And yeah, what what is the what is the idea behind joining what is the idea behind joining a ticket in general when it comes to local elections and in particular your choice for ticket?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. So so I think there's there's there's like two main things when you're thinking about, you know, should I join a ticket or not? And one of them is in the belief that, you know, more people kind of striving for the same thing, you know, share resources, share, you know, networks and and all that other things. And it's definitely helps. I mean, I think that a lot of people, even you look at the city council now today, I think if a lot of them ran independently, most of them would not win, right? Um, and and and so I think it's about that, the shared kind of like commodity and like network. And then I think for me, you know, it was really focused on two things. It was focused on, you know, someone who is kind of my peer, yeah. He's 28, I'm 31, and really saying, you know, this is an election that's an election that's a generational change. You know, what do we want to see in Jersey City? And for me, it was mainly the ideas that he was running on. And I know, you know, Tony, you know, you and I kind of talked about some of them and about housing, about expanding mass public transportation, which is sorely needed in Jersey City. It's about, you know, ending like the corruption at City Hall when it comes to uh vendor pay-to-play. So, you know, it for me it was kind of that decision making of like, you know, is this closely aligned? Look, do I agree with him on everything? No, 100% not. You know, is he more vocal on certain things than I am? Sure. You know, my focus has always been Jersey City and Ward D. And so that's where I kind of like to keep, you know, the conversation. Um but then again, you know, I'm not I'm not I'm not shying away or kind of fearful of of like, you know, the either the negative comments or you know, that the negativity that comes with it. You know, I I say, you know, I'm a person with my own track record, a proven track record, and you know, that's what we showcase Jersey City voters.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, that's fair.
SPEAKER_00:That's completely fair. Now, I'm gonna ask you about this because it literally just came out today. What do you think about uh what do you what do you think about national political players endorsing candidates at the local level? And how do you feel specifically about the endorsement of Rashida Talib when it comes to this mayoral race?
SPEAKER_02:So, you know, I I think the national endorsements, you know, if you can make it work, you make it work. Um and if you don't, you don't. And I think that the the test of that is gonna be on election day. You know, Rashida Talida, I'll be honest, for me, you know, I I don't really know too much about her. Um and I think it just happened. I think it just came out on the news this morning, correct? Correct, yeah. Yeah, you know, so so you know, I you know, I haven't even I'm not even caught up on that aspect of it yet. Um, you know, because we kind of do our own daily morning things, you know, we're at different spots and whatnot. But look, I mean, you know, if if if he feels that that's the way that you know he wants to go, that's that's that's that's his own his own actions.
SPEAKER_00:Cool.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:All right. I think we can get into the local stuff. The ins and outs of Patrick Ambrosi now. And uh before we do, I will say that I attended the first half of the Ward D uh, it wasn't debate, it was uh I'm blanking forum, forum, candidate forum, yeah. And I have to give you a lot of credit on on how well prepared you felt for that in comparison to some of the other candidates. Uh you were articulate, you were not reading every answer. There was even a funny moment, and I don't remember which candidate brought up. I think it was Leonard Gordon Park, and you had a a pretty funny little eye roll moment as being that's your baby, and then they were trying, it felt like they were trying to wedge in on some claiming or or anyway, it felt like your territory that they were they were stepping on a little bit, and you gave like you had a funny little smirk. I I thought you performed very well for what I saw, even though the second question in that candidate forum was crazy. I couldn't even make heads or tails of what they were asking. But regardless, I thought you showed very well. You were very well put together and your ideas were cohesive and well put without sounding like a robot. So that was uh cool to see because it it you sounded good. And with that, let's get into some of your some of your ideas that you have for the heights and and what that might look like over the next four years.
SPEAKER_02:So first, yeah, that forum. I'm happy to participate in anything that we can participate in to talk about the issues and the ideas. Yeah, I think by and large, everyone was a little kind of they were like, you know, these questions are are super long and like they changed the formatting in them. You know, but it is what it is. You know, I think we did what we set out to do, which is, you know, talk about the issues, talk about the issues that we could talk about, you know, considering the questions that they gave. And look, I think all the candidates, um, you know, I think, you know, some of us like each other more than what, you know, uh I think maybe sometimes we give off. But you know, I think I think it's a good group of people, and I I respect all of them. This is is this the most crowded ward race? It will be one of the most crowded in the I would say the last 20 years for sure. Yeah. Um there's five of us. I think originally I just meant like now. No, actually it's ward ward B. So originally there was gonna be seven. So no, I think ward B is the crowded with now seven. There's only five in Ward B, but we're still I mean Ward D's, so we're still one of the most crowded, but not the most crowded. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And when it comes to obviously, I guess people may or may not know. We're we're residents of the of the heights, and obviously Ward D encompasses more than just the heights, but you know, largely the heights is very central to the Ward D race, which is where we live. So we would potentially be your constituents and we have our own ideas of what could be improved, as we've discussed offline. What are the what are the what are the most cr give me the most critical thing that you would want to to do in in the office? And you can expand on a few more if you'd like. But what what is like the number one thing you're hearing, the number one thing you've pinpointed that if Patrick Ambrosi wins this race, this is what I want to get done without question.
SPEAKER_02:So I think um, you know, uh a lot of people don't necessarily bring this up. They bring it up in different like topics, but I think revitalizing Central Avenue is a big one for me. And the reason why is because it's it's gonna take a couple of steps to do that, right? We need to pick up garbage correctly, right? We need to support small businesses and we need to bring in small businesses into the avenue. Right now, you go on Central Avenue, there's a lot of businesses that are closing down, 99 Cent stores and cannabis shops, right? And so, you know, we want to make sure that we have the foot traffic. So we want to make sure that we're building housing in order to make sure that we're able to bring in, you know, the restaurants, the one or two bars, you know, we want to make sure that we're uh establishing outdoor dining options. You know, the Burger King parking lot for me is a center point to the idea of revitalizing Central Avenue because I really think that we're gonna be able to build a pedestrian plaza in that space to increase our tree canopy, to increase outdoor dining, to do family-friendly events. You know, I know you guys talk a lot about downtown Jersey City, about the good job that Rachel's doing at the historic downtown as idea. We want some of that energy too in in Central Avenue. You know, when I knock on doors and I ask people, you know, when your family comes, where do you guys go to eat? They say New York City, which, you know, we'll never beat that, right? But you know, that's an option, right? They say Hoboken and they say downtown Jersey City. And I want them to start saying, I go with Central Avenue. I go, you know when my family comes, that's where we're going to eat, right? Because if you're living here, you're spending your money here, everything kind of goes back to the ward. And I think we make it a more inviting place. So for me, it would be revitalizing Central Avenue.
SPEAKER_00:So you obviously mentioned the downtown SID, um, SID and and Rachel's job that she's done with it. As a city council person, how do you identify the people to do that sort of thing? And I don't want to step on the side.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, there is a there's a central SID. Definitely.
SPEAKER_00:And I don't obviously I don't wanna I don't wanna insult anybody that works for the SID here, but how do you get it to a place where it mirrors that? And when I say mirrors, you're obviously not going to have the same funding necessarily or the same budget or the same the same resources that the downtown SID does, but at some level you can mirror what they're doing in some ways to get to get it up to a place that feels good for what we are.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So, you know, I think, you know, so the way that the Central Avenue SID gets funded is through the fees of our small businesses on Central Avenue. So the more small businesses we're adding, the more revenue we're getting. And look, as a city council person, if we have to put money in, uh, I think it's 100% doable. As for the board itself, you know, I I have no issues with the board members. I have no issues with, you know, the executive director. I do think that they need someone that is, you know, more full-time. I know, you know, at the time the salary for the the SID director was about$30,000, maybe a year or two ago. No, and and part-time. I think we need a full-time director. I think we need a uh competitive salary uh to make sure that we're able to do, you know, the family-friendly events, look for sponsorship, bring people in, right? Um and so, yeah, I mean, I I think, you know, we first have to start with kind of like a marketing plan of what do we want Central Avenue to look like, right? What kind of small businesses do we need? What businesses do we need, right? Um, because you look, there's m if I say, you know what, we're gonna bring in 10 new pizza shops, we have pizza shops, right? Like we have that thing. We need more diversity. Um so I think we need a marketing plan, and then we need to actually put the money in to hiring a full-time executive director.
SPEAKER_00:So when you say put the money in, where does it come from and how do we pay for that position? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So again, it comes from the fees through the small businesses and then the UEZ. So it's advocating on the state level to make sure that we're getting UEC funds. But sometimes UEC funds aren't they're not reliable. You know, one year we'll have them, one year we won't. If we have to put them in through the city budget, I will absolutely be advocating for that. Nice.
SPEAKER_01:What about a park in Pershing Fi a dog park in Pershing Field? Yeah, I think. I know it's like a it's a funny joke because I've been I've been I've been talking about this fucking dog park since I moved to the heights and I've been complaining to our local officials about this dog park and even saying, like, oh, you're talking about Israel, Gaza. I want my dog park. Like, why is that not happening? Why are we focused on geopolitical issues when you know this simple thing that can you just have to put like a fence.
SPEAKER_00:Turf and a fence.
SPEAKER_01:A turf and a fence, and so my dogs can run around and you know, do their thing.
SPEAKER_00:So you know just promise us a dog park and it's a done deal.
SPEAKER_02:Let's go. What's funny about that is like, yes, yes, we need a dog park in Pershing. I think Pershing Field needs a lot more work than what people may realize, right? Like the playground needs work. You know, you have two uh baseball fields that are are closed for most of the time. And I think that that's such a shame and a waste of space, so we have to open that up to the community. But dog park should be easy to do. I mean, you know, at Mosquito Park, we did what now it's been a while, but you know, it was supposed to be a temporary dog run. You know, we're looking to add a big dog run and a small dog run. Um, but in person field it should absolutely happen. And I thought it was happening. I mean, I remember seeing a post saying that we have the money, we're going to do it. And I I don't I don't think that ever happened. And I think that that's the I think that that's my problem is that a lot of people like to legislate through like social media instead of like actually getting the work done, right? It's like saying, like, yes, we're gonna get it done. And the critics kind of calm down for like a a couple of months, you know, and it's like, no, you get the dog run, you know, it's it's pretty simple, it's not that hard. So yes, we will get a dog run. I have no issues getting it.
SPEAKER_00:Fortunately, it's on tape, we got it, we're getting a dog park if Patrick Ambrosi is elected and we have a long memory. Uh it worked four years later, and we're still talking about this dog park. So we will not, we will not forget. Right and never forget.
SPEAKER_02:And I think like, look, I mean, I think when you look most at most of our open spaces, the problem is that even on a maintenance standpoint, is that like we have really only about 15 full-time employees within the city of Jersey City, and everything else is kind of contracted out. And so, you know, our ability to address situations as they occur, it's it's really we're we're we're we're tied with that. And so I think that's something that we have to kind of fix and we have to make sure that we're investing in our city. Because at the end of the day, you guys are paying taxes, right? Taxes have gone up 40% in the last five years, and to say that we can't get trash picked up from our streets and to say that we can't get a dog run in our park or we can't get regular maintenance in our in our parks, that's a shame.
SPEAKER_00:So you mentioned this was the next thing I was gonna ask you about, and you brought up the trash thing now twice. Uh talked, we're gonna talk trash. Let's talk some trash. Uh, what is explain to us what the current arrangement is with our trash vendor. It's not a municipal service, which seems to be one of the biggest issues. If you could help us understand maybe who who's doing our trash, why is it not a municipal service, and what would you like to see when it comes to trash collection? As unsexy as this topic may be, I think it's kind of a big deal up here in the heights. Yes, it's a big deal.
SPEAKER_02:And I think so. That's been happening since I believe 2014. So when Steve came in, he uh it originally was city run, right? So in 2014, it's became a vendor. And the problem with that is that, you know, as much as you want to hold the vendor accountable, you know, you really can't I mean, you really can't. That's the problem. Unless you're really gonna put the the clauses into terms and you're gonna find people. But in Jersey City, we haven't really been doing that. And so, yeah, I mean, you go on my street, I live on New York Avenue. I don't like hide where I live. I live between Barrows and South and New York Avenue. And sometimes you go out and trash is all over the spot. And I know we didn't put it in there because we put it in the bins, we put it in the bags, right? And so, yeah, it's been a major issue. The question comes into what do we do? How do we fix it? And so here's the reality. Because I know there's a couple of there's a Ward D candidate who talks about bringing trash in, and it sounds great, and I myself would support the general idea, but here's the reality is that Jersey City is$1.5 billion in debt. We're facing a$20 to$25 million, if not more, of a deficit coming up, right? Our our credit scores, our credit rating was rated down twice, right? And one of the main reasons is because of health premiums, right? So it's the amount of employees that we have. And so contracting it kind of helps kind of uh defer that cost. But look, I think we need to get I think if we were to bring it in-house, it couldn't be done in the first four years. It would have to be done with part-time employment, and it has to it would have to be done kind of in a in a shared way where we bring it half back and then half bidding out. Now that's not a sexy answer. It's not. It's it's it's really kind of all over the spot. And the reason why is because if we were to bring it all in next year, we would go bankrupt. We couldn't do it. So that's the reality of the finances of Jersey City.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, which which yeah, is not not fun to talk about necessarily, but that I'm really glad you brought that up because there are and and and let me preface this by saying I I haven't felt this from you once. There are a lot of things that are said on on can on the campaign trail that just make no sense dollars and cents wise. And that's without me even understanding necessarily the the fiscal position of the city, but just on paper, I'm like how the how in the hell would that work? Because obviously it came up at the at the forum, you know, this, you know, this privatized garbage situation and it's not working and this and that. And obviously we should bring it, we should bring it on the municipal level, but at the same time, like this contract's going out for this private trash company at$70 million, I think, or something. It's close to only$80 million. Yeah. Okay. So so some astronomical number, and then it's like, well, okay, we're paying somebody a very large amount of money to do it, probably because they have the infrastructure to do it that we don't have. So there's got to be a good reason because it's really easy to point at all the issues that are out there and go, well, this is dumb, this is dumb, this is dumb. And I don't think dumb people made all the decisions on these things. So there's there's a disconnect sometimes versus the the the bullet point headline, catchy clickbait thing and the reality of what is actually happening or what could even be possible, which is what I think you're doing a good job of alluding to.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, look, I mean, you know, the other thing where I think the catchiness kind of catches on with some campaigns is really when you talk about affordable housing and affordability, right? And the need to kind of build housing. And and the and the and the reality is this whether you're talking about including more affordable housing in Jersey City, whether you're talking about, you know, uh, you know, uh, what is it, a thousand dollars a month rent, right? Either way, you're going to have to build those units. And so there's a lot of people that are saying, no, no, no, we're not gonna build, we're just gonna have affordable housing. We're gonna have, we're gonna have, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna make dessert and not have the ingredients, right? And so, you know, one thing that we want to do and something that I'm proactively really talking about, I'm the only one really in Ward D talking about, is that, you know, we need to build more housing, especially in Ward D, right? I think the times of saying no to like, you know, four or five story units, it's kind of, it's kind of it's kind of gone, right? I mean, if we really want to be a diverse community, if we really want to bring in people of all different backgrounds and whatnot, we have to build the housing uh because we're not doing it. And that's not to say that, you know, some areas can't have, you know, historic designation. I know Sherman Place, for example, you know, the neighbors there have been fighting for a historic designation. I have no issue giving it to them, right? I have no issue working alongside them and saying, okay, this is what you guys want. However, you go on Palais State Avenue, and the fact that like there is, you know, a two-family house on what is supposed to be a commercial district, right? It it kind of defeats the purpose of having that commercial district. Um so that's why we're really pushing the community land bank, which will allow us to kind of build on a city-owned property, vacant property, foreclosed property, and allow us to build, right? And allow us to have the affordable housing we need. But that's kind of land that then the city would acquire.
SPEAKER_00:So when we're talking about affordable housing, uh affordable housing has a specific definition, correct?
SPEAKER_02:Uh yeah. So if you follow I guess the highest uh level of government with federal government, right, you would follow the HUD uh guidelines, there are designations onto what is affordable housing, 30% AMI, 50%, you know, and up to like you know 180%. Yeah. So so there are there are rules and regulations above it on it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I guess I guess my point being that when we have the affordable housing conversation, which is the most hot button topic in this entire election across the board, whatever you're running for, that the term affordable housing, while vaguely is on a scale depending on who you are, right? I my affordable is different than the next person's affordable, different than the next person. But when it comes to actually legislating affordable housing, that has a specific definition that that transcends our idea of what affordable might be. And I I don't know what it is, but I it's something that gets left out of the conversation, I feel like, because there is an actual definition for what that means. And it may not fit everybody's idea because affordable housing comes with also income restriction in terms of who's allowed to access affordable housing, which in in my experience, seeing it only impacts it impacts a very small portion of the population when the idea of affordability impacts the entire city. So it gets granular and it and people start to glaze over, but I I think it's important to understand that affordable housing on paper when it comes to actually building means something different than making things affordable for everybody. Percent.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, look, you know, Tony, you attended the forum, right? I could tell you that, you know, when we're talking about affordable housing, I would say that, you know, about 90 to 95% of the people attending that forum probably do not qualify for affordable housing. But they're probably still struggling, right? I mean, there's still probably paycheck to paycheck, right? They're probably still saying, hey, you know what, this city's unaffordable, right? So, you know, that's where the community land bank, I think, allows us to have more control over what is affordability, because now we set the standards per the city. Because we're never able to go higher than the federal government, but we're always able to go lower. And so, you know, when we're talking about the community land bank, and I I could I'll explain it real quick. What it is, it's basically it'll be city run, right? Um, so if there's vacant land uh that the city owns, or whether that's foreclosed land, maybe even donated land, it could happen, right? Uh what we would what we would be allowed to do is don't um sell it to a developer for a dollar, right? Um and we tell the developer this is what we want built. Build a four-story, 20-unit condominium building, right? Uh and we'll say you can only sell it at I'm throwing a number out there, three hundred thousand dollars each unit. The developer's still making their money because they only paid a dollar for it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you've already cut out six to probably low seven figures off of their off of their right.
SPEAKER_02:And then um, you know, if we have to throw in additional incentives, whether that's C D BG funds, home funds, will absolutely uh do that. But we really realistically won't have to do that. Uh so at$300,000, you get two, three-bedroom condominium, uh, that's more affordable for uh a resident that's talking about like affordable housing than saying, hey, you know what, here's an affordable rental unit where you're paying$17,000 a month. And what we're doing is we're creating long-term sustainability and also like just keeping people, you know, secure and in in, I guess, in a way, feeling secure about where they live, right? Because when you have a roof over your head, the decisions you make are completely different. So, you know, again, I think the affordability conversation in more D, we've built zero affordable housing, right? And we have the ICO, but we don't build high enough for the ICO to actually have an impact in the heights. What's the ICO? Uh it's an inclusionary zoning ordinance. So it's something that the city council passed now a couple of years ago. Uh and you see it in uh journal square where if they build to a certain height, they have to restrict some of their units to affordable housing. In Ward D, we we don't do that, right? Just because we don't build high enough? You don't build high enough, right? So it's a middle ground. So it's do we have to bring down the ICO requirements and then also up zone? Yes, that that's the answer, right? But what I'll tell you too is on a community standpoint, there's you know, you have some you know, I'm I'll tell you like we have some neighborhood associations that look at a five-story building and they say, it's too much we don't want in our community, right? And it's right next to another five-story building. And that five-story building on Palisade, so I'll tell you the the issue. So on Palisade Avenue, uh there was a proposed five-story or four-story building with four units of affordable housing. And the community came out against it. Why? Because it's too much, too much housing. And I think that that kind of conversation has to kind of stop. I think the conversation we need is how do we build, how do we build housing? How do we make it so that it's economically feasible to lower the rents? And we've seen it in cities like Austin, in cities like Chicago, in cities like Charlotte, North Carolina, where there's there's homeowners who will say, hey, I'll give you a month or two for free. Just don't move, right? Because there's enough supply. Here the problem is we have great demand, very little supply.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's where a lot of the conversation gets lost because there are a lot of candidates that simply spend most of their time demonizing developers, which is actually the people that we need to get us out of some of this rut. Because you can't go, we need to make everything affordable, we need more supply, we need more housing, but we as a community reject all the people that are doing it. So I think that there is a lot of bridge burning when there could be bridge building in terms of um, you know, making it attractive to the people that do this for a living to do it in a way that serves the community, which is what it sounds like you're advocating for. So could you repeat the last part again? It's just it just kind of broke out. Yeah, I uh what I what I think is that as a an entire community as all across all candidates, there could be a lot more bridge building and a lot less bridge burning when it comes to talking about developers because they're ultimately the people that need to create the supply that's needed to remedy the affordability issue if we incentivize them in a way that serves the community.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And look, we have to hold them accountable. Sure, absolutely, a hundred percent. If if we're giving them pilot agreements, if we're giving them funding, they should absolutely do what they're we're told to do, right? If they're if they're illegally um, you know, raising uh people's rents, they should absolutely be held held accountable. I think the conversation really is has to one, yes, we have to stop demonizing it, but we have to be realistic. How are we going to solve the housing affordability issue without the housing, right? I mean, it's just as simple as that. So I mean, look, I think that that's kind of my standpoint on on uh on housing when it comes to Ward D is that you know we do need to build more. I think we do need to up zone to R2 soning so that that way we can get more units. Now, how do you sell that as a campaign in like 30 seconds? In 30 seconds it's tough. But what I'll say is that, you know, if you want to talk about affordable housing, we have to talk about housing uh, period, right? And if we want more people, if we want Jersey City to continue being diverse, if we want people to continue to live in Jersey City, we have to lower the cost of housing, right? Whether that's home ownership or rentals. And what I would tell you is that the more homeownership that we have, the more that the city can pull, right? The more money we can pull to improving our services. So housing has to be a fixture in what we're talking about in the political realm. And what I would say is that a lot of the candidates are talking about degrowth policies that are only going to make it expensive for actual people who struggle day in and day out to live in our city. They might not look honestly, they might not hurt me. They might not hurt you, right? But they're gonna hurt the people who really do not have, like who are really struggling paycheck to paycheck. So that's something that we have to remember when we talk about that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I find that a lot of the policy I hear floated around actually hurts the people that it is is being sold as helping in a lot of ways. And I think your your clarity around that makes some of your policy more attractive than some other candidates. I have a I have a question for you guys actually.
SPEAKER_01:You're you're doing your thing.
SPEAKER_02:What is it? I have a question for you guys. You know you guys have been Ward D residents now for a couple of years. What do you guys think is like the most important issue, like the most important local issue for you guys? I mean you guys what now you guys have on YouTube.
SPEAKER_01:I'll mouth off a few. Yeah I think um stay uh road safety multiple times I've almost been run over from people uh blowing stop signs people drive like absolute maniacs and it's really scary. Uh I mentioned the dog park for the dogs hush you know on central walking on like I'll I'll admit walking downtown it sometimes is a lot nicer than walking in the heights you know what I mean like it's just in terms of like trash and cleanliness and you know so that's another thing. What else?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah I think you hit the main ones I also I I really do believe in your SID project because we are one of the people that if you ask us where we go, we go to Manhattan and the thing is like you don't have to be as good as Manhattan to to attract people to the heights and to stay in the heights it just has to be good enough that we don't want to drive into Manhattan.
SPEAKER_01:There are a few good spots in the heights and there was a few that I'm sad to hear that like closed like Fox and Crow I thought it was like a cool like hip spot right yeah so like and they're also like they're not like all c close together too there's another new place that opened the Alps I think I think if we were you know more open to going out in the heights there are some cool spots.
SPEAKER_00:Maybe not enough like there is downtown like saturated downtown and also we don't go we don't go out downtown either to be to be clear our our reservations for going out in Jersey City are different than just we don't have enough choices. It's just different for us going out a little bit and we prefer manhattan just just to go where we blend in very easily and it's nice. But but I I like your vision for it. I like I like the way that you talk about the issues that make it sound like you're talking to an adult about adult issues.
SPEAKER_01:You don't have to dumb it down you don't have to placate and you don't have to sell us an idea that isn't backed by any of the fundamentals that that local governance requires and I I think that's why um I think that's why we like you as a candidate and I I do want to ask though because you know and I know it's again talking about the Israel Gaza thing but more specifically on a local perspective because we have you know encountered some issues like locally like listen I want to go buy my coffee and not be faced with anti-Israel stickers everywhere I go. And that's been a huge issue in the heights and we've raised it a couple of times many times and nothing has been done about it. And it's not fair. You know we're we were Jews we live we were Israeli like it's not fair that I have to be faced and of course you know freedom of speech I I'm all pro freedom of speech but this is on another level of blood libel you know and there's like a boycott Israel like it you know you're you're it's it's it's it's xenophobic, you know, and it's like it makes me feel like as an Israeli that I'm not welcome in this community because it's constant. So there was that so there's that aspect and like you know we we talked about this thing I don't know if we talked to you about this but uh a couple of weeks uh a couple of months ago I went to the farmers market on a Sunday it's a beautiful Sunday I'm you know preg I was pregnant at the time I was like nine months pregnant I'm with my toddler and there was a you know anti-Israel protest and it was at the farmers market which I don't think is appropriate on a Sunday like it's one thing sorry in August I think that was right like in the summer yeah it was in August yeah and and you know it's a beautiful Sunday and and of course I'm all for freedom again freedom of speech protests at City Hall protests that outside of government buildings like but you know you're at a farmers market with small children r running around and there's fake dead body bags on on the sidewalk and it was just absolutely horrifying and I'm there with my toddler and I was like I felt like now every time I go there I'm like looking around over my shoulder because I don't want to be I don't want to see see that. You know what I mean? Like I'm I'm I'm faced with it six you know seven days a week every single day I want to be able to go to the farmer's market and buy fruits and vegetables and take my kid to the playground without being faced with it. And the candidate that's you on you know your Musaba Lee was there talking to the protesters and that and that upset me. You know again I live in the heights and I don't want to you know I don't want to face this.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah no I I'll and I'll say you know I was at the farmers market right um I think a little earlier than you guys um and and I could I could tell you that even the or the organizers for the farmers market were not happy about it, right? So it's something that I think by and large all of us kind of agreed with it probably wasn't the appropriate time. You know like there should there should have been some kind of consequences for that 100%. Because at the end of the day also like what they're what they're worried about is like this is a nonprofit organization. They don't want to be seen as like political in this kind of realm and whatnot. You know, I mean I think that there's like I don't know what happened. I don't even know who the organizers were you know I think uh you know they they obviously should not have done that. And I'll tell you like even with Moosab like I I I talked to him about it right like I believe it or not we we have these kind of discussions more often than not. And like where I draw the line and kind of anything is like for City Hall for example like the flag raisings. You know, I think whether you agree or disagree with a country's actions or not they should absolutely not be canceled. They should absolutely not feel endangered you know if we can work with you know our police department to make sure that you know everyone's able to kind of raise their flag and be proud of their culture we should absolutely do that. I think the park spaces you know if they didn't have a permit whether it was look I would say this whether it was a pro-Israel a pro-Palestine if they didn't have permits they should not have been there right um and so like that's something that we really need to kind of talk to our police department about because it's about fairness for all at that point. The way I'm looking at it is that you know there's a time and place for everything.
SPEAKER_00:Patrick thank you so much for your time you're a good guy grew up here and uh we have a lot of respect for your vision for what the heights could be and we're very happy you took the time to take us up on our offer to be uh interviewed today.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you Patrick good luck