Volume 17, No. 5
May 17th - May 31st 2013 FREE PUBLICATION
riverviewobserver.net
201-349-4336
Pg. 2 On the Cover Pg. 6
30 by 30
Steven Fulop Wins Jersey City Mayoral Race
See page 7
Pg. 8
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Pg. 15
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Courtroom Artist Christine Cornell Sees the Art in Justice
A
By Sally Deering
terrorist flirted with her; a murderer stuck his tongue out at her; and a victim whose face was slashed shared with her the heart-stopping details of her attack – it’s all in a day’s work for courtroom artist Christine Cornell who has spent decades in the courtroom with her canvas and pastels drawing some of the biggest criminal trials in our country’s history. Cornell, a Weehawken resident, has been drawing trials since the 1970s and images from her portfolio are sought after by documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns who features 30 Cornell drawings in his new film “The Central Park Five” which recently aired on PBS about the five young men convicted and later found not guilty of the rape attack of the “Central Park Jogger”. Just last week CNN contacted Cornell for a documentary on the 1980 murder of Beatles’ singer/songwriter John Lennon. They wanted to purchase the drawing Cornell did of gunman Mark David Chapman at his arraignment clutching the book “Catcher in the Rye”. When asked what makes a good courtroom drawing, Cornell says, “Composition. You have to have the key elements and be able to see and feel what the defendant is feeling. You need the judge, the witness, the attorney engaging the witness. It’s always more interesting when there’s more than one person. These drawings are more telling when there’s an interaction between people. You can look back at the drawing and it can con’t pg. 2 actually tell the story.” Pictured at right are some samples of Christine Cornell’s Courtroom Scenes: (top) Woody Allen and Mia, Custody Battle over Dylan (middle) Mathra Stewart Trial (bottom) Howard Kosell USFL vs NFL
on the cover . Courtroom artists have been attending criminal trials and drawing the events inside the courtroom since the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s. By the 1960s, courtroom artists were in demand because TV cameras were not allowed in
..
By Sally Deering
the courtroom, but things began to change in the mid-1980s with more courts allowing cameras and since then, courtroom artists have seen a decline in numbers. Still, Cornell is considered one of the best in her field
and travels all over the country to draw courtroom trials. And when she’s not in the courtroom, Cornell spends her time working on her first book, a visual history of the biggest trials of our times and a collaboration with her sister Irene Cornell who has covered most of the same trials as a reporter.
Famous Trials
Martha Stewart, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump – these are just a few of the celebrities Cornell has covered in the courtroom. In December 1980, she was called in to draw the arraignment of Mark David Chapman who was clutching a copy of “Catcher in the Rye”. In the late 1980s, Cornell covered the trial of Bernie Goetz, dubbed the “Subway Vigilante”. She also covered the trial of Leona Helmsley aka the “Queen of Mean”. During her trial, Helmsley leaned
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over and asked Cornell: “Is my hair really that messy? If I looked like that my husband would divorce me”. “I told her she was right, and I fixed it,” Cornell says. In New York, Cornell also covered the Central Park Jogger trial. Watching the daily courtroom proceedings, Cornell felt that the boys on trial were not guilty as charged, she says. “None of their confessions matched. None had a criminal history and it was hard to imagine they could get all the details wrong if they had participated in it,” Cornell says. “They couldn’t agree on what she was wearing, where the event took place. The sentiment in the courtroom was they were guilty of something. Everyone knew they shouldn’t have been out there, but they were kids. In the end when they got convicted, I figured
okay, you don’t confess unless chances are you did something. So there it is. But all along I didn’t think they committed the rape.” For the Bernie Goetz trial, Cornell did a series of five drawings that included a re-enactment of the crime where Goetz was attacked by a group of young men and alleged that he used his handgun in self-defense to shoot his attackers. Cornell drew the re-enactment by reading the transcript of Goetz’s confession. She also did a re-enactment drawing for the trial against the men who slashed the face of Marla Hanson. “In that case I sat down with Marla and she described to me what happened,” Cornell says. “I drew the assailants from her descriptions. She told me that the guy carving her was smiling.” At John Gotti’s trial, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano testified to 19 murders and Cornell was there drawing it all in and on paper. “He looked at me and stuck his tongue out at me,” Cornell laughs. And when Ramses Yousef was on trial for the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, Cornell says his lawyer came over to her and relayed this message from his client: “If I beat this rap, will you go out with me?” In 2012, for the show “In Session” on Tru-TV, Cornell was courtroomartist commentator for the Jerry Sandusky trial in Pennsylvania. It was her job to describe how the young men who accused Sandusky of sexual abuse were handling the pressures of telling their stories in public and how Sandusky was reacting. con’t pg. 3
con’t from pg. 2
“It was a challenging task I took seriously,” Cornell states on her website ChristineCornell.com where you can purchase prints of her courtroom drawings including one from the Sandusky trial. “People began to approach me on the street and tell me how I had added to their understanding and appreciation of the emotional goings-on inside.”
How to Draw Justice
Born in New York and raised in Yonkers, Cornell grew up in a news-gathering home. Her dad Cameron Cornell was a popular newsman in radio and her sister Irene went on to be a reporter for CBS radio. Eager to go to college, Cornell was 16 when she entered the Pratt Institute where she earned a BFA in Drawing. She attended the College of
Physicians and Surgeons – part of Columbia University – where she studied anatomy to hone her skill drawing the human body. “We learned all the external musculature and it made it so I could draw figures from my imagination from every position,” Cornell says. Honing your craft is important to being a courtroom artist, but so is having a strong sense of compassion, Cornell says. That’s because courtrooms are emotional places and the human drama is what makes
Pictured at left: Another sample of Christine Cornell’s courtroom art: Sheik Abdel Rahman Trial
a good drawing. “If you’re missing out on the feeling, what’s the point,” Cornell says. “You’re trying to tell the emotional story as well as get their likeness.” To view Christine Cornell’s courtroom art, go to www.christinecornell.com. For more info on “The Central Park Five” documentary, go to http://www.pbs.org/ kenburns/centralparkfive/
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THE 10th ANNUAL NEWPORT 10K WINNERS
The 10th Annual Newport 10K race took place on Saturday May 11th at Newport in Jersey City. Over 1500 participants took to the streets on a course known as the fastest course in the tri-state area. This years Newport 10K participants wore special ribbons in proud recognition of the bravery and dedication of runners and their supporters everywhere -- especially those who ran in Boston. Pictured above Jamie LeFrak, developer of Newport, awards the 2013 10K race winners: Male Winner: 30-year-old Alene Reta San Francisco, CA. Finish: 29:00.01; Avg. mile: 4:40 Female Winner: 26-year-old Askale Merachi of Queens, NY. Finish: 33:07.42; Avg. mile: 5:19
JCFamilies Holds Mother’s Day Celebration
On May 10th JCFamilies a community group of momswho support other moms and families in the Jersey City and Hoboken sharing in playdates, kid activities, mom activities and other events held a Mother’s day celebration at Hamilton Park. This was the the largest mother’s day event in Jersey City attended by more than 400 moms from the area! For more information on JCFamilies visit www.jcfamilies.com
Job Fair June 5th – Culinary Conference Center
Have a job you need filled or looking for a great place to work this is the event for you.
HUDSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Center for Business and Industry Spring 2013 Job Fair
CBI and its partners invite you to be a part of a unique opportunity to engage job-seekers at the Culinary Conference Center in Jersey City
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
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THE MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ART (MoRA) in conjunction with 25CPW GALLERY
located at 25 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023 will present International Art Show : Visual Variety Fifty great works by
emerging and established artists from Russia and other countries represent some of the leading currents in contemporary art. Participating artists: Elena Kogan, Marcio Decker, Irina Kasperskaya, Grigory Gurevich, Yuri Gorbachev, Angin Ovanesyan, Andrey Sterkhov,
Opening reception: Wednesday June 5th, 6 - 9 p.m.
Marcela Carvalho, Olga Nenazhivina and Michael Ioffe. June 4 - June 6, 2013 June 4, 5 p.m.- 10 p.m. June 5, 1p.m. - 10 p.m. June 6, 1p.m. - 8 p.m. Painting right by Grigory Gurevich
25CPW Gallery, located at 25 Central Park West in midtown Manhattan, just steps away from Lincoln Center, Museum of Arts and Design and Carnegie Hall will host the art show, intended to benefit the Museum of Russian Art.
Page 5-May17th-May 31st,2013 rvo 2013 River View Observer
30 Before 30
Jonathan Verpent’s Mission: 30 Good Deeds by his 30th Birthday By Sally Deering
O
n August 25th Jonathan Verpent of Hoboken will blow out the candles on his 30th Birthday cake and complete something that took him a year to accomplish. Verpent will be celebrating his birthday doing his 30th good deed of the year. 30 Deeds is Verpent’s website where he documents his experiences volunteering for many welldeserving non-profit organizations here in Jersey and in New York. With the help of New YorkCares. com and NewJerseyCares. com – two websites devoted to connecting volunteers with non-profits who need a helping hand – Verpent has completed 18 good deeds that have included walking dogs at an animal shelter, giving out meals to people who are homeless and building homes through Habitat for Humanity. Verpent performed his first good deed on the Saturday after Hurricane Sandy. “I gathered clothes, shoes and food, drove down the shore and went to Belmar where I spent a lot of time growing up,” Verpent says. “I spent the entire day from 9 am to 8 at night helping sort through donations and give out donations, helping in any way they needed a helping hand.” Verpent walked around town and saw first-hand the devastation Hurricane Sandy left behind-
Jonathan Verpent water getting pumped from peoples’ homes, the National Guard driving up and down the streets upholding the town’s curfew. “I’d never seen anything like it, people coming with a handful of donations, people showing up from all over the country with truckloads of donations,” Verpent says. “It was extremely inspiring to see how people came together at a time of crisis. Then I thought why do we have to wait for something tragic to happen to help each other? That’s what drove me to continue. I created the website, Twitter and Facebook pages to keep track and to motivate as many people as I can to give back. If one person reads it and decides to give back, I feel I’m accomplishing my goal.” Verpent admits he never realized doing good things for others could feel so good.
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He says it wasn’t until his 29th birthday that he realized he had spent 29 years celebrating himself and that for his 30th year, he wanted to celebrate others. To find non-profits that could use a helping hand, Verpent visits NewYorkCares.com and NewJerseyCares.com which lists local volunteer opportunities. “They make it very easy to find opportunities that are right for you,” Verpent says. He just completed Deed No 19 this week – a trip to Little Ferry where he helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity. This coming weekend, Verpent will be running a 5K race called “Hair of the Dog” at a winery in Robbinsville where all proceeds go to an animal shelter. Race organizers are allowing runners to bring their dogs, so Verpent will be running with his aunt’s pup Kali. The 5K race will be his 20th deed and Verpent has until his August 25th birthday to complete his mission. He plans to do his 30th deed as part of a two-week volunteer vacation in another country, possibly South Africa. “I wanted to complete 30 deeds and I wanted it to lead to something,” Verpent says. “Just in the past couple of months, my overall outlook has changed. One of the things I did, I volunteered at a church that serves food to the homeless, people who don’t know where they’re
going to sleep, how they’re going to stay warm. It makes you stop and think no matter how bad you think you have it there are people that have it much worse. I’ve tried to be mindful and respectful of the people I’m helping.” If you’d like to read more about Jonathan Verpent’s 30 Deeds, go to: www.30deeds.com
www.facebook. com/30deeds www.twitter.com/30deeds For volunteer opportunities, go to: www.nycares.org www.njcares.oprg River View Observer Print-Digital -Mobile 201.349.4336 riverviewobserver @gmail.com
Bayonne Library to Host Seminar May 23 on Starting and Managing a Business With over 23 million small businesses in the United States already doing business and more new ones opening every day a prospective new small business owner should have all the necessary information to help them start their business. On Thursday, May 23, at 7:00 p.m., the Bayonne Free Public Library and Cultural Center will host a seminar entitled “Starting and Managing a Successful Business.” Frank Dunne of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a national nonprofit organization, will offer the
program. The seminar is free and open to the public. It will take place in the O’Connor Gallery on the second floor of the library, which is located at 31st Street and Avenue C. Mayor Mark A. Smith said, “Small business plays a vital role in Bayonne’s economy, providing consumer goods, professional services, and jobs to our residents. The City of Bayonne is committed to helping small business prosper. We welcome new enterprise to our community, and hope that many
aspiring local businessmen and women will attend this important seminar.” The presentation will address factors leading to the success and failure of new businesses; market research; preparing and following a business plan; how and where to register and get licensed; advertising and publicity; record keeping and tax obligations; how to define and reach one’s market; insurance considerations; sources of financing; and legal requirements. Registration suggested, but is not required. The library asks that you call 201-858-6980, or e-mail library@bayonnelibrary. org to find out homw many people will attend the event.
Ward E Councilman
Steve Fullop
Elected Mayor of Jersey City Jersey City has a new Mayor after yesterday’ s election in New Jersey’s 2nd largest city. Councilman Steve Fullop who represented Ward E won by an impressive margin over current Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Fullop with a little over 52% of the vote won with 20,373 votes and Mayor Healy received close to 38% of the vote with 14,575 votes Jerrimiah “Jerry” Walker came in third with over 8% totaling 3,000 votes and Addul Malik came in fourth with 1% of the vote totaling more than 300 votes. After the final count Fullop’s team won the Ward E council seat making Candice Osbourne the only member of Fullop’s team not facing a special run-off election on June 11th.
will have Six at-large candidates and two Council candidates vying for those seats. Fullop told his supporters at the after election party at the Zeppelin Hall Restaurant and Biergarten in downtown Jersey City that “We are going to work relentlessly to make sure that those of you who put your faith in us, we will make you proud.” Steve Fullop at 36 will be Jersey City’s 45th Mayor.
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Tips for Setting UpYour Home Theater Viewing Space
(BPT) - The home entertainment center concept has evolved dramatically over the past decade, from a single “tube” TV and a DVD player to full-blown, high-definition multi-media centers. The technology today offers a more immersive experience, but without a proper set up, you might not enjoy to full potential the pride and joy of your living room. Choose adjustable lighting. Place lights on a dimmer so that you can adapt the lighting level depending on what you’re watching. Outfit windows with shades that can easily be closed to further darken the room. Opinions vary on what’s the best distance from which to view a screen. According to the Consumer
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Electronics Association, a reliable formula for calculating optimal viewing distance is to multiply the diagonal size of your TV (for example, 50 inches) by two or three. That number will tell you how many inches you should sit away from the screen for the best possible picture. Keep in mind that in addition to the size of the screen, the resolution will affect your calculations.
you’ll want to sit farther away from a larger screen, but if it has a higher resolution you can sit closer. For example, a “4K” TV like LG’s 84-inch Ultra HD TV offers four times the resolution of typical HDTVs, meaning more detail, so viewers get a crisp, clear picture from as close as five feet. If you want a large screen in a small space, an Ultra HD TV is an ideal solution.
Memorial Day Mass Serving God and Country: A Memorial Day Salute to Our Heroes Monday, May 27th at 11:00am
HOLY OLY CROSS CEMETERY
MARYREST CEMETERY
Most Reverend John J. Myers (Celebrant) Reverend Carmine Rizzi (Homilist)
Most Reverend Charles J. McDonnell (Celebrant) Reverend Thomas Dente (Homilist)
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Reverend Philip J. Waters, O.S.B. (Celebrant)
ST. GERTRUDE CEMETERY
CHRIST THE KING CEMETERY
COLONIA, NJ
Most Reverend Manuel A. Cruz (Celebrant)
HOLY NAME CEMETERY METERY
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Most Reverend John W. Flesey (Celebrant)
JERSEY CITY, NJ
Most Reverend Thomas A. Donato onato (Celebrant)
PARISH H CEMETERIES
* Location where re mass will be celebrated
St. John Cemetery * St. John Parish - Orange, NJ - 8:00 am Reverend George Faour
* Mt. Olivet Cemetery Reverend James Brown
St. Peter Cemetery * St. Peter Parish - Belleville, NJ - 9:00 am Reverend Ivan Sciberras
* St. Rose of Lima Cemetery Short Hills, NJ - 9:00 am Reverend Msgr. George R. Trabold
* Mt. Calvary Cemetery Saint Adalbert - Linden, NJ - 11:00 am Reverend Krzysztof Szczotka
* St. Luke Cemetery Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ - 9:00 am Reverend James J. Weiner
* Immaculate Conception Cemetery Upper Montclair, NJ - 9:00 am Reverend Joseph Scarangella
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” John 11:25
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Hudson Theatre Ensemble Silly on Sixth Children’s Series presents a zany and funny adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk by Chris Stiles
Photo by John Crittenden of ShowMeYourFace from Jack and the Beanstalk attached. Left to Right: Howard Richman (Jersey City); Nora Taylor (Hoboken); Gregory Nye (Jersey City); Laura DiCerto (Hoboken); Thomas Tyburski (Jersey City)
Jack and the Beanstalk and its all-adult cast will delight children ages 3 to 10 while entertaining their families in the 13th season of the Hudson Theatre Ensemble Children’s Series Silly on Sixth. Our beautiful, child-friendly, groundfloor, air-conditioned theater is completely barrier-free & accessible to persons with disabilities.
6 performance Only Cast: Laura DiCerto, Gregory Nye, Howard Richman, Nora Ryan Taylor, Thomas Tyburski and featuring ballerina, Grace Raterman, of Garden Street School of the Performing Arts Producer/Artistic Director: Diana London; Director of Development: Florence Pape Director: Howard Richman; Stage Manager: Donna Gearhardt Healey.
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IF YOU GO:
Saturday June 1, 2013 at 11 AM & 1PM Sunday June 2, 2013 at 11 AM & 1 PM Sunday June 9, 2013 at 11 AM & 1 PM Show runs about 40 minutes Hudson School Performance Space 601 Park Ave Hoboken, NJ 07030 $7 for Kids; $10 for Adults; 201-377-7014 or reservations@HudsonTheatreEnsemble.com
restaurant VIEWS Brava RAZZA Owners Dan Richer and Fred Shandler Take Pizza to New Heights in Jersey City By Sally Deering
W
hen you step inside RAZZA, Pizza Artigianale on Grove Street in Jersey City (right across from City Hall) you are immediately transported from the city street to a totally different atmosphere. Industrial and mysterious, like something out of a futuristic movie, the restaurant and the food are both unique and original. The walls are unpainted and reminiscent of the days when the space was part of the old Majestic Theatre, an old movie theater. There are unvarnished wood tables, metal stools and a large blackboard that features the day’s menu.
RAZZA is the dream restaurant of owners Dan Richer and Fred Shandler who also own Arturo’s in Maplewood. They named their Jersey City eatery RAZZA, which in Italian means “pure breed” because it signifies the two entrepreneur’s philosophy. Richer, who is Head Chef, explains it this way: “RAZZA is basically a celebration of the uniqueness and individuality that applies to everything that we do. Our veggies and meats are specific breeds. You’ll never see cross-bred products at our restaurant. We are definitely unique and we like being unique.” For example, Richer explains that the lettuces used in RAZZA’s salads are
specifically grown for the restaurant. They are particular heirloom varieties of lettuces instead of the typical Iceberg or Romaine that everybody uses, he says. Richer and Shandler work with farms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, that grow the restaurant’s vegetables and supply its meats and Razza’s bread, butter and cheeses are made on site with the purest of ingredients. “From a chef’s perspective, our ingredients will determine the final product and it’s my goal to create the finest product,” Richer, who earned a 2011 James Beard Award as Rising Star Chef of the Year, says.
“Food is highly perishable, so why am I going to get something from California? It’s either old by the time I get it or they have to preserve it by some means like chemicals or picking it when it’s not ripe. If we purchase from a large farm in California it doesn’t help our local food eco-system at all.” The proof is on the plate and RAZZA’s one-page menu offers Small Plates, Salads and Pizzas. For the Small Plates, there’s homemade Bread and Butter, a naturally leavened bread and cultured butter from grass-fed Lancaster Valley
cow’s cream; Olive Oil Tasting, which is three varieties of extra virgin olive oil served with naturally leavened bread; Ricotta Crostini, naturally leavened bread with cow’s milk ricotta cheese; Ceci, Chickpeas with California extra virgin olive oil and parmigiano reggiano; and Polpette al Forno, fire-roasted meatballs. ($4-$8) Salads include Funghi Misti, mixed Shibumi Farms mushrooms, urban greens, roasted shallot vinaigrette Cont’d on page 16
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RAZZA
Cont’d from page 15 parmigiano; Kale Caesar, Tuscan kale with Caesar dressing, sourdough croutons and parmiagiano reggiano; and Beet Salad, fire-roasted beets, pistachios and goat cheese. ($10-$12) RAZZA’s Pizzas are served several ways including the Margherita, tomato sauce, handmade fresh mozzarella, basil, Maine coast sea salt and California extra virgin olive oil; the Blanco, fresh mozzarella, ricotta and basil; the Panna, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, grass-fed Lancaster Valley cow’s cream and arugula; the Mai Pie, fresh mozzarella, maitake and cremini mushrooms and parmigiano reggiano; and the Santo, tomato sauce, mozzarella, sausage, shaved onion, roasted chili oil, ($15). The pizza dough is made with “oo” flour milled from American wheat. “We use flour from a Vermont-based company that mills only American wheat,” states RAZZA’s Blog on its website www. razzanj.com. “They have cultivated trusting relationships with their wheat farmers to ensure the best flour possible. In fact, the wheat is milled right here in Clifton, NJ. Our flour is the
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highest quality wheat produced with the least environmental impact possible.” Both Richer and Shandler believe every decision they make for their restaurant must adhere to the highest standards. The two friends and business partners met and clicked immediately when Richer took ownership of Arturo’s restaurant in Maplewood six years ago and Shandler came on board as co-owner. “We worked there for six years straight to develop the system, “Shandler says. “We knew we wanted our next restaurant to be in a city. We found this space and fell in love with it. Dan is the chef and I run the dining room and we each run the business. That’s how we operate. We make sure we train our staff properly and that they meet our expectations which are very high.” A welcome addition, RAZZA brings a new and different style of eatery to Grove Street. The neighborhood is a bustling area filled with restaurants and retail shops and RAZZA is just a couple blocks from the Grove Street PATH station. “We want to be part of the development of the neighborhood and contribute to the growth of the community,”
Richer says. Shandler adds: “More restaurants are doing the right thing which adds credibility to the neighborhood and to Jersey City.”
If you go: RAZZA 275 Grove Street Jersey City (201) 356-9348 www.razzanj.com Dinner: Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sun: 5:30 pm - 10 pm Fri & Sat: 5:30 pm-10:30 pm Lunch: Saturdays & Sundays only, 12 pm-2:30 pm Closed Tuesdays
The River View Observer Like us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/ riverviewobserver
Page 17-May17th -May 31st, 2013 River View Observer
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Page 18-May 17th-May 31st, 2013 River View Observer
Downtown Jersey City Prime Location
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This clean well kept home is located in desirable Midtown Horace Mann school district close to 34th street Light Rail Station and Broadway.
Recently converted attic offers master bedroom with ½ bath plus room for office, dressing room or 4th bedroom, above ground pool will add to the enjoyment of this home.
$339,000 NancyMyAgent@yahoo.com
To advertise on this page call 201-349-4336 Page 19-May 17th -May 31st, 2013River View Observer