e e e e e e e e with aquatic renovation System Incorporated for the provision and installation of a Rena system PVC membrane system pool liner at Pavonia Marin uh municipal pool may have a motion to add item 10.23 resolution 24-37 to the agenda motion motion made by Council person s second and by second second and by Solomon okay um motion to add item 10.23 resolution 24-37 to the agenda m a motion made by S second by Solomon council person Ridley uh council person princer I council person bajano I council person Cay I council person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person Dees I council person Rivera hi council president wman okay 90 to add item 23 resolution 24-37 to the agenda now we are moving on to our first reading ordinances item number 3.1 city ordinance number 24-25 an ordinance expanding the boundaries of the historic downtown special improvement district to include sections of Marian Boulevard M Street Brunswick Street Forth Street and Newark Avenue item 3.2 or city ordinance 24-26 and ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 7 meter parking section 332-4800 designation of the parking spaces and section 33257 on Street permit parking zones and article 7 permit parking section 332-5800 in the area between Marian Boulevard and the Hudson River Waterfront uh item 3.3 city ordinance 24-27 and ordinance amending chapter 296 streets sidewalks and public rights of way to clarify the duration of time that a dumpster may be legally placed in the right away item 3.4 city ordinance 24- 028 and ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article part looking for the disabled on the Jersey city code designating a reserve parking space at various location throughout the city item 3.5 city ordinance 24- 029 and ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic violations section 332-8290 times and chapter 332 article 3 amending Section 3 32-41 limited duration parking to implement safety improvements along mallerie Avenue Council Members we are taking um a vote on items 3.1 through 3 3.5 3.5 yes sorry 3.5 council person Ridley I for introduction council person priner Hi for introduction council person bajano Hi council person c i for introduction council person Solomon I for introduction council person Gilmore I for introduction council person Dees I for introduction council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay items 3.1 through 3.5 have been introduced unanimously 90 okay we are going to defer to item 10.10 res 24- 294 motion to defer second I'm sorry I read it okay it's a resolution recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month the motion is made by council person Prince Ary may I have a second second by council person Solomon sorry I'm going to have to get used to the voices no I'll announce my name okay okay so to defer item 10.10 resolution 24- 294 council person Ridley council person priner I council person bajano I council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera hi council president wman okay 90 to defer to item 10.10 resolution 24- 294 now now we will take a vote on this resolution council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano Hi council person C hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay um Dr bishnu would you like to come up and say a few words on behalf of Hudson speaks and in the meantime just for the general public I will read the resolution into the record good evening this is 10.10 this is Dr bishnu this is this this is 10.10 okay good evening before you start let me just just just for context okay so this is a resolution recognized in April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month the council offered and moved adoption for the following resolution whereas during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April we proudly recognize and applaud Hudson speaks against sexual violence for its decades long commitment to supporting victims of sexual violence in our society and whereas with unwavering dedication Hudson speaks as Champion the cause of creating safer communities by prioritizing the healing and well-being of survivors through inclusive practices and intentional strategies the organization has ensured that no Survivor feels marginalized or overlooked uplifting marginalized identities within our community and organization and whereas Hudson speaks serves all survivors of sexual assault offering essential support regardless of gender race religion financial status immigration status educational background gender identity or sexual preference this holistic approach extends Beyond survivors to Encompass their families partners and Friends fostering healing and recovery at every level and whereas we commend Hudson speaks for its tireless efforts in ending sexual violence through education awareness empowerment and advocacy their commitment to amplifying the voices of survivors and promoting a culture of support and Justice is exemplary now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of Jersey City that we observe April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and we stand in solidarity with Hudson speaks in its mission to create a world free from sexual violence thank you so much um thank you uh honorable uh council president and all the council members um for passing this very important resolution you know in Hudson County we have so many victim and survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence and we have been serving every day and we have the 24 hours hotline and the case management um and Outreach uh prevention program education program and support group we have uh self-care program for the victim of sexual violence and domestic violence in Hudson County we we work closely with the state department and uh federal department they are our financial uh you know supporters and J City have been in s city of Georgia city has been supporting these uh clients for many years especially during the covid you know uh almost 2 years um they provided food and materials and uh you know um emergency packages for our victim of sexual violence and domestic violence and I thank you so much for passing this resolution this is the historical moment for us and uh let's continue to support those people people and thank you thank you so much and especially thank you Council Mira and you know you worked really hard on this uh resolution thank you so much thank you um we are going to defer to another resolution item 10.11 res 24- 295 a resolution recognizing Bishop Ralph E Brower for his outstanding Community involvement motion made by Council SLE thank you council person SLE seconded by second it second but they're not here no they're not here you want to it okay they're not here okay okay so they're not here right now so we'll do the vote for that later on or if they come in um we're going to uh next will be we're going to have a motion to carry ordinance 24-19 to the May 8th 2024 Municipal council meeting council person um Solomon I believe this motion is being made by you yes I will make that motion second by S okay motion to carry ordinance 24- 019 to the May 8 2024 Municipal council meeting motion made by council person Solomon second and by SLE council person Ridley I council person Prince AR I council person bosano I council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay the vote is 90 to carry ordinance 24- 019 to the to the May 8 2024 Municipal council meeting now we're going to move on to our other second reading ordinances okay okay so this is a the our second reading ordinance item 4.2 ordinance 24-20 is an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of a section of the Hudson River walkway known as block 14502 Lot 4 formally known as block 8 lot 5 from the Jersey City Redevelopment agency this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard you can come up to the podium please sir can you kindly state your name for the record sure Jim Jim BL Jim I also have a note um a board on there can you write your name your first and last name there as well thank you the or the what's written here is a little bit vague it says authorizing the acquisition but it doesn't say who is acquiring this property who who is going to be acquiring this property from the Jersey City Redevelopment AG yeah sure I I can answer it's fine uh the city of Jersey City is acquiring it it's a portion of the walkway and it's being done so the city can repair the walkway okay thank you motion okay excuse me motion to close a public hear hearing on ordinance 24-20 made by Council personis s seconded by council president Waterman oh it was Rivera I apologize that's so don't worry about it get the next one councilor person rley council person preri Hi council person bajano Hi council person Cay hi council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay 90 motion to close the public hearing on this ordinance 24-02 for final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 24-20 council person Ridley I council person Prince AR I council person bajano Hi council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person zes I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay city ordinance number 24- 020 is adopted 90 item 4.3 city ordinance 24-0 to1 an ordinance granting an easement to the Linhurst Board of Education affecting real property owned by the city of Jersey City known as block 233 Lots lot 11 has shown on the official tax maps of the township of Linhurst this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard second by motion made by council president Waterman second by council person Cay motion to close public hearing on ordinance 24-0 to1 council person Ridley I council person Prince I council person B hi council person s hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi council president Waterman 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 021 for final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 24021 council person Ridley I council person priner Council bajano I council person CLE I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person zis I council person Rivera hi council president Waterman okay city ordinance 24- 021 is adopted 90 item 4.4 city ordinance 24-22 an Ord an ordinance authorizing an amendment to a certain dedication agreement among 126-142 Morgan Street urban renewal LLC 134 Bay Street LLC and the City of Jersey City dating May 24th 2019 for certain land and improvements located within the PowerHouse Arts District Redevelopment area at Prov Street between Bay Street and Morgan Street this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard motion second by SL motion made by council person Rivera seconded by council person s motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 022 council person Ridley I council person Prince council person bajano Hi council person C hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person thees Hi council person Rivera hi council president wman okay Z on the motion to close public hearing for ordinance 24-22 is 9 or final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 24-22 council person rley I council person priner council person bajano I council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gil hi council person Dees I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay for uh city ordinance number 24- 022 is adopted 90 item 4.5 city ordinance 24-23 an ordinance creating chapter 276 lithium ion batteries prohibiting the sale of second use lithium iron ion batteries creating a lithium ion battery business registry and changing regula and charging regulations for lithium ion batteries and supplementing chapter 160 fees and charges establishing a fee for the inspection of sellers of lithium ion batteries and powered Mobility device businesses this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wish to be heard motion by SLE motion made by C second and by second rley council person Ridley motion to close the public hearing on ordinance 24- 023 council person Ridley I council person Prince AR I council person bajano I council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera hi council president Waterman okay motion to close public hearing on ordinance 24-23 is 90 for final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 24- 23 uh council person Ridley I just want to thank our uh Jersey City Fire Department for uh working with the Council on this ordinance and um you know we we look to to hopefully uh improve some of the safety as much as we can on our end and we're still looking for the federal government to pass laws to help regulate some of these batteries further um we actually just had a battery fire between us uh passing this for first read and getting to today we had a battery fire on uh Skyline Drive um since we put this ordinance together so it is a problem um and thank you to my colleagues uh councilwoman priner and councilman Rivera for helping to work on this with us too I v I thank you council person priner just want to thank councilwoman Ridley and councilman Rivera um for our work together on this ordinance um unfortunately we have had um lethal fire um in addition to regular fires from these batteries and it's really important that now um should this ordinance pass that the educational piece really comes into play um our fire department has been exemplary in the work that they've done on their research and in helping us understand what we can do locally at the local level um so hopefully this this will help and as laws are amended at the federal level we can actually take additional action here at the local level I vote I thank you council person bajano Hi council person Cay just want to thank councilwoman Ridley councilwoman preri and councilman Rivera for their work on this as well as the TR City Fire Department lithium batteries um are ubiquitous now they're all over the place unfortunately when a fire starts it's very difficult to put out and it endangers people's lives and really want to thank your forward-looking uh perspective and thinking on this because it's going to save lives that I vote I thank you council person Solomon echo my colleagues thank you to council councilman prer councilman Rivera and jcfd for much needed legislation and I vote I thank you council person Gilmore I council person zis council person Rivera yeah I'll Echo what everyone is saying thank you Denise mea uh to all the council colleagues who support this uh listen you know the these fires can get you know pretty serious uh when these lithium batteries uh uh get out of hand like this but I was wondering you know before I vote I I'm going to vote I but can we can we wave the 20 days and have this effective immediately yeah I think we just take a resolution from the council so if you want to propose one we're fine with it I vote I thank you council president Waterman okay city ordinance number 24- 023 isop is adopted 90 our last second reading ordinance is item 4.6 city ordinance 24- 024 an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article eight permit parking amending section 332-5800 any member of the public wishing to be heard motion by slay motion made by SLE seconded by council person Rivera motion to close public hearing on ordinance 24-24 council person Ridley I council person preri I council person bosano Hi council person Cay I I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I council president Waterman okay motion to close a public hearing on ordinance 24-24 is 90 for a final consideration and Adoption of ordinance 24- 024 council person Ridley I council person prener I'd like to thank the Traffic Division um the McGinley Square special improvement district and residents in in the area and the broader Ward um for working with me on this as the business district grows as we welcome more businesses into the district um we do have to look at all available parking for them so everyone can be successful here um to the residents that this may impact that have the permit we are working with traffic and parking to see how we can best assist you guys with the transition so with that I vote I thank you council person bosano I Council person s hugn from McGinley square and uh awesome work councilman priner I vote I thank you council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi council president Waterman okay city ordinance number 24-24 is adopted 90 okay so council person Dees is going to leave early today I am just going to cast her vote you can just give me one second um may I have your one second may I have your vote for claims in addendum number one and two I thank you resolutions 10.1 through 10.12 with the exception of 10 .8 being withdrawn and 10.10 being approved earlier I thank you he and resolutions 10.13 to 10.23 I thank you now we're going to move on to the public speaking section of our meeting Le web Washington he in Council uh I have a big problem going on in Jersey City I don't work for this city and I'm not none of this city hall people but the people are calling me left and right for hden our Hing has gotten really bad and affordable forget it and guys with Section 8 and some people got another housing thing voucher that they have out but they can't even find an apartment so I ask you I beg you these all this new development going on in Jersey City we need to do like we did 30 years ago down here when we built right here we demanded developers to put at least five floors when they did 30 and 40 stories to put at least some affordable in there I have a lady friend of mine been down here 30 40 years since they built it they didn't go they didn't go no higher in the fifth floor with the affordable and we need to stop letting these people come in ripping off our city when people then big here they have nowhere to stay if I don't live in my sister's house I wouldn't have nowhere to stay my house burned up in 1985 and I just let it go I was going through some problems with my marriage I'm not asham that but what I'm saying is everybody is not as blessed as me as a large family I have that own houses here in the city and we look out for one another but there's people call me left and right I have a lady still down there and see C for over a year I told you on dialysis she still has nowhere to live we paying for her out in tunley EV she goes to dialysis born and raised here in Jersey City she was going in the WB building then the city brought that building now belongs to Housing Authority and she's still catching hell getting in there that they having a little bit of stuff needed to be done in there they didn't fix it did this is sad I did the Web building here with Jean I did the Fred Martin building I it ain't about money I I sleep good at night knowing two buildings with 40 units in this city that I know people got somewhere to live that's affordable this is what going on ain't right we can take care everybody else the people that's been here born and raised here and they don't have nowhere to live we got to do better we had to do better with the jobs the homeless thank you Tina NS hey guys Justice for Drew hey I just wanted to say um I don't really have too much to complain about I'm definit for nonprofits um I'm just asking everyone up there before um it's too late that we just come together and just help out more nonprofits I seen that education of geore last night a lot of nonprofit was there and he was actually really talking to them um I feel like he can't get nobody else on board because he got me can't get nobody else but it's a lot of nonprofits out there that need help and stuff so I'll just want y'all to see maybe we can come together and help that with nonprofits um I'm just going to ask you education Gilmore I think that's good you and um Chief staff Erica we're going to do the clean up on my block I thank yall really for focusing more on them blocks because them blocks right there have been not tamed not educated not nobody paying no attention it's like they went over our war F and forgot about it like maybe they felt like you know what one day they going to leave and the new people from New York or whoever's going to come over and take over and these people go somewhere no we not going nowhere I'm just like education girlmore we're going to stay right there in that war F and I want us to be able to bring a new generation and show them like Miss web said for hous and that is my number one call me calling education Gore and chief staff about people needed somewhere to live y also have um let um two of the security guards that be right there on Montella he called me last week crying he don't have nowhere to live they don't they only bring 40 hours him and his wife so the rent is more like 25 and they can't afford right there on west side so I definitely agree with you about that I give our clothes and my main phone calls is about people needed somewhere to live they behind in their rent they light bills they need more clothes so I just want y'all to please just come together for our community like Miss web say it's people that been living here for years I ain't asking y'all for nothing I'm from Alabama I'm not saying free Alabama let's go Alabama I'm like right here in Jersey City on Oak and Martin Luther King where the rough part at and you know that education and get and I want them to see changes like I bring them to your office I bring them to um Jeffy Walker because they want to see changes so if yall show them and and show them that it's more help and believing like how it was with me I believe our community will get cleaned up thank you guys and have a good night thank you Edward Perkins there are so many things near and dear to my heart but I too feel the same way Miss web Washington feels and Tina NOS you know but um I do want to start with the ceasefire it's more than a shame that since October 7th this body under the leadership of president wman has not been able to do that an unconditional ceasefire right a unanimous vote for unconditional peace like irregardless it's just more than a shame that our federal government from the top spending those dollars neglecting us but there's responsibility left here for this body too irregardless of our mayor's ethnicity IR regardless there is Authority here on this body and you you fail to use it an unconditional peace there is no way there are members sitting here in this body that are running for the highest uh position in city government and that's mayor you are UND deserving of widespread support if you cannot take this time to lead if you cannot take this time to leave undeserving of support one vote a nickelsworth the money for the war the money for militarized policing what's happening in our country is a shame I'm wondering now will you outlaw protest here against the war Pro Palestinian protest it's a genocide You're darn right but I'm wondering will peaceful protest will we lose the right to free speech right here because that's what's happening you lack the gumption to pass a ceasefire a ceasefire resolution and then you turn your backs on us and draw the police out on us that's unacceptable but we will not give up I stand with everybody who has called on this body to move for a ceasefire resolution the war is first and these issues are interconnected these issues matter here they do matter to us and it's just another glaring failure of how you failed us how you continually fail us I have had much to say about housing on record and I still do part two of this body's continual neglect to us as a people and our wider Community thank you Philip Carrington okay Mira good evening last week you all received a petition with 1,044 Jersey City residents signatures urging the Jersey City Council to pass a very fair and thoughtful C fire resolution asking for a permanent ceasefire a restoration of unra funding entry of all humanitarian Aid into Gaza and an all forall hostage exchange I know that most of you wish that we would all go away and stop bothering you so that life can go on as normal it will never go back to normal when there is a genocide taking place with billions of our tax dollars aiding in this atrocity it will never go back to normal as Israel with us complicity continues its aggression against all its neighboring countries Iran Syria and Lebanon which may very possibly lead to the next World War campuses around the country are exploding as peaceful protesters in major universities are demanding divestment from Israel each of us is here to do everything in our power to put the brakes on this unchecked unfathomable violence that has taken the lives of over 34,000 human beings we are here to attempt to put the breakes on the war crimes perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank including shooting amputees in hospital beds shooting a seven-month pregnant woman whose baby had to be delivered by cesarian section after she and the father had been murdered we can either be part of of the problem or we can be part of the solution if we want to deescalate what's going on in the Middle East we need to start with an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank the United Nations voted for an immediate ceasefire Governor Murphy called for a ceasefire why some council members think the word meaning stop the violence is in any way controversial or is inconceivable a ceasefire has nothing to do with anti-Semitism quite the contrary a ceasefire would help negotiate a peace in which all people would live in dignity with equal rights it will help Jews uh free Jews from the Yoke of oppressive apartheid regime that has been per perpetrating ethnic cleansing and genocide for the past 75 years some council members have said they only want to stick to local issues was that the case when Jersey City Council passed the Philippines Human Rights Act in 2021 was that the case when Jersey City decided to make beat shamesh in Israel a sister city in 2022 where ethnic cleansing is being perpetrated against all non-jewish residents was that the case when two months ago the entire Council voted to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day yet refused to acknowledge a holocaust being perpetrated for the past 200 days in Palestine thank you thank you Amron I'm standing here today to implore you to pass the ceasefire resolution for Palestine I have struggled with what to say to you do I remind you that children are being starved to death do I remind you that babies are being born from the bodies of their Dead Mothers would it help you to change your mind if you saw pictures of fathers carrying their children's limbs in plastic bags of a mass grave with men women and children executed with their hands tied perhaps a reminder that you've paid for 34,000 people to die I presume you know all of this and it has not swayed you I have heard some of you want to find a middle ground there is no middle ground in genocide you either agree with mass killings of a group of people from One ethnic group or you don't your lack of action tells me that you have allowed Zionist rhetoric to shame you into believing that Palestinians are not worthy of life after all Israeli officials have said that Palestinians are inhuman animals so instead of all that I'm going to tell you this my name is Dana and I'm a Palestinian American I'm a grandchild of the first nakba and I am a human my grandfather Elias also a human was born in Bethlehem his favorite joke was telling his grandchildren that he was born in the same stable as Jesus he and his human Brothers built an apartment building for their Human family so they could all live together it still stands today in the katamon neighborhood Family lore says if you break open the front steps you will find a tube with a copy of the deed inside listing their names I'm told many Jewish American students live in that neighborhood perhaps perhaps even in those five Apartments how lucky for them that they can live in my grandfather's home I'm not allowed that same right of return I've only visited via Google Earth when I was a child I was not allowed to tell our neighbors we were Palestinian because my parents were afraid for our safety I have not raised my sons with that fear they know exactly who they are and will proudly tell anyone when I get home tonight they will ask me how this went should I tell them that the people who report to care about their constituents don't see us as human that they are okay with the mass killing of the same people who share our ancestral DNA who have the same curly hair and big brown eyes that they do who look exactly like the children that I watch die every night on Instagram and every morning you can say you have no real power in your position but we all know the collective power of the people make no mistake by not passing a ceasefire resolution you are telling our federal government to continue supporting Slaughter with our tax dollars one day this will be over and knowing you were in a place of power during this time your human children and human grandchildren will ask you what you did to help stop the slaughter of other human children what will you tell them ceasefire now and the occupation get out of my grandfather's house free Palestine thank you e no Mar Miriam Sal alikum peace and blessings to all my name is Mariam Sayad and I am a resident of a city of diversity and inclusion a sanctuary City Jersey city the city that voted for the RCV system the right to counsil the pathside museum Community Center and various community in Heritage acknowledging resolutions thank you and yet Day 2011 we still haven't passed a ceasefire resolution so my question today is what have we got to lose by passing this resolution because as I see it every day that we don't pass the resolution we lose we lose trust in our justice system we lose trust in democracy we lose our civil rights we lose our values we lose our inclusiveness and we lose compassion we lose our sense of unity and ultimately we lose our Humanity as individuals communities and a nation it is imperative that we uphold the principles of Justice equality and fairness when we compromise these fundamental values we jeopardize the very fabric of our society and that is what we are seeing the Ripple of of the repressive policies Across the Nation this is where we are losing our Collective values of freedom justice and opportunity that are deeply rooted in the belief that all people are created equal and deserve dignity and respect when we lose sight of these values we risk becoming a society divided by fear hatred and Prejudice and that is where we are losing every day we wait we lose now what this resolution does represent is a ackowledgement validation human equality and healing it does not exclude it does not against it is not against anyone rather it includes it includes the full spectrum of diversity that this city has to offer it includes the recognition of the people that voted for you to represent them and it includes hope a hope that we will have a better tomorrow because our leaders lead with Integrity in fact the truth is passing this resolution will help us restore what we are losing so again I ask you as our Representatives what have we got to lose by passing this resolution and if the thought enters any anyone's mind that this is not a city issue okay let it not be a city issue and keep uh stop sending our tax dollars elsewhere keep them to the city because as long as we have people here that have any monetary familial or humanitarian uh ties at stake in this issue it is our issue it is a city issue and it is a humanitarian issue we know fully well our history and world history and we understand that there have been many injustices done even on this land itself but we will not be held accountable to that history what we will be answerable for however is what we are doing now now when we are aware now when we have the power now when we can change the course of history so let us Stand United for the sake of democracy civil rights values future generations and most importantly our shared Humanity thank you jce for Palestine permanent ceasefire now thank you 5.8 erra no okay 5.9 Nia 5.10 Donna so I spoke here in March asking you to again pass a resolution ceasefire resolution I had thought that since it uh the resolution was first defeated in January but so much had happened that you might reconsider but nothing happened I had suggested that maybe people try to see the film israelism which explains why so many Jewish people might be so committed to Israel's policies but I don't know if anybody anybody did so most of the um council members who who voted to abstain did so for saying that it was an international issue and you weren't elected to deal with international issues but I think that this International issue is also a local issue like some of the people who just spoke before me pointed out that number one this destruction and death and genocide in Gaza is being done with our tax dollars um so this would make it an international issues issue we are a local issue we elect representatives to Congress to represent us and and they're voting to send all this money to Israel for weapons billions of dollars I don't think that that's representing us the majority of people in the United States are opposed to what Israel is doing in Gaza so doesn't this make people this this make make this a local issue that our representatives are not you know are not representing us truly um someone pointed out several people pointed out that the billions of dollars that are being spent could be spent at home for uh for health care for education for for jobs for infrastructure so and instead it's it's money is being used to kill people this does the killing of well also um many Palestinian members of our Jersey City their families have been killed so that makes it a local issue as well someone pointed out the danger of World War II and nuclear war that's a serious thing that's a local issue is to uh too um you know I just wanted to point out since I only have a few seconds left you know Aaron Bushell the serviceman a 25-year-old serviceman who burned himself to death in uh because he felt he could no longer be complicit with the war with the genocide he said many of us like to ask ourselves what would I do if I was alive during slavery or the Jim Crow south or AP paride what would I do if my country was committing genocide the answer is you're doing it right now so I urge you to please pass a sus resolution put Jersey City on the side of people who are calling for an end to war crimes to to to death Al alisan no uh Andrew my name is Andrew V West I'm resident of Jersey City ward F I'm here to speak on the resolution in support of CE ceire in Palestine which I can see is no longer on the agenda I try my best to be an ally to those who are unfairly treated here in Jersey City an ally to those not given Fair access to housing food Healthcare education and jobs what is happening in Palestine today is an extreme version of what we face right here in Jersey City 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza in the last 6 months imagine every single person in Hudson County Essex County and Union County were forced to leave their homes while bombs were raining down 30,000 of us die imagine that more are dying of hunger every day the people of Palestine need allies Hamas is not their Ally the Iranian government is not their Ally the Israeli government is not their Ally the US federal government is not their Ally but we have the power to change that millions of people all over the world including many Israeli citizens are allies to the Palestinian people we are saying that Palestinian genocide is not an acceptable solution for stability in the Middle East when governments don't reflect the will of the people those governments must change this resolution matters you are adding your voice to the millions who are demanding peace and your voice carries weight this resolution will be heard not just by the people of Jersey City but by other city councils and government at all levels the ceasefire resolution is not in support of violence violence only creates more hatred more violence we know that doesn't work this resolution is declaring support for peace and the people who want peace support for Palestinians who are hungry and homeless and injured it gives time for negotiations it gives time for people who are skilled at peace and diplomacy those who are skilled at consensus building to do the real work of creating a just world the people of Palestine and Israel who want to live in peace they need our support the people of Palestine who are not allowed to access to education to work to start a business they need our support the people of Palestine who now have no access to Medical Care or food or shelter they need our support the people of Palestine who are not treated as fellow human beings they need our support we have people suffering every day in Jersey City who are not given a fair chance and just as you need to support them you need to support a ceasefire in palestin you need to add your voice to those demanding an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people thank you thank you hamy no okay uh 5.14 Ali no okay Mona 5.15 good evening my name is Maad I have been a resident of jerse City since 2009 specifically w b I'm an attorney with experience with international law and military law and I have worked in with the US Military and NATO allies in Belgium and I'm here to urge you to reintroduce and pass the ceasefire resolution in December of last year five members of this Council abstained from voting on a cease fire resolution claiming that it called for an act that is outside of this council's Authority international law has now made it clear that is not only within your Authority but it is your obligation to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza genocide convention which was ratified by the United States in 1988 establishes on state parties the obligation to take measures to prevent the crime of genocide including by enacting relevant legislation in January the international court of justice ordered Israel to take specific measures to prevent the crime of gen side against the Palestinian people in Gaza but according to the UN and numerous human rights organizations Israel has failed to implement the necessary measures to prevent genocide in Gaza this now triggers your obligation as the legislators to enact any and all relevant legislation to prevent the genocide of the Palestinian people as per the genocide convention Jersey city has a long and established history of denouncing human right violations as ex as exemplified by the memorial to the Katen massacre at Exchange Place it is vital that we continue this tradition uphold our commitment to the rule of law and join the numerous other cities in New Jersey and around the country that are calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire from a non-legal perspective I have had years of experience learning about the conflict of the Middle East I have lived in Israel during operation protective Edge in 2014 and I am telling you that the only way that we will prevent future massacres from happening to the Palestinian people is by enacting and calling for ceasefire resolutions in every single town and every single city in the United States if my taxpayers if you cannot prevent my tax dollars from going to funding the government of Israel the least you can do is ask for a ceasefire thank you thank you Isaac okay Ahmed good evening I'm I'm sorry one second um is Isaac jenez here okay honey you can come up I'm I called you sorry hi my name is Isaac Jimenez I'm a w b resident uh I'm here to support the introduction and passage of a ceasefire resolution with some of my comrades behind me here um it is the 200th day since um the beginning of this genocide and it's been a long long road for a lot of people in this room but most importantly for Palestinians Israelis and many more uh people around the world that are seeing this before them play out and our government not respond we've seen 80% of hospitals and schools be inoperable we've seen the threat of famine almost inevitable that was reported this week 300 bodies were found in an open grave that's believed to be the result of six Mass ings that happened within the course of 24 hours your own Council colleague lost family in Palestine meanwhile the students in the United States have been building encampments turning their campuses into encampments to let their leadership know that we want to divest from this apartheid from this genocide meanwhile in Jersey city after months of begging of petitioning I believe a thousand people have again called for a renewed introduction to a ceasefire resolution we met with with crickets and I I've heard colleagues on on the council have said that this doesn't mean anything that nothing is changing or that the word ceasefire is offensive when has it have been offensive to call for peace but the reason why nothing is changing is because we have inordinate structures and power that we're up against but we're dismantling that we have our Congressman who's funded by APAC the Israeli Lobby that uses GOP money to pick off Democrats we have businesses doing business in the city that are pairing us up with this apartheid state funding it and so we ask the council if there isn't going to be a resolution why should we expect for you to have a reelection why should we expect for us to give you for us to give you our votes if you can't give us this symbol of what Jersey City stands for thank you thank you am good evening yes I'm here for the ceasefire resolution we needed to be back on the table I know that and I heard many times that it's not the concern of Jersey City yes but it's a concern of many people in Jersey City who your k your friend and some of you in families I'm not here talking about only the Palestinian which as I support the fights before but I'm talking about the Egyptian the Saudis the Israelis the Yemen the Jordanian the Iranian the Iraqis everybody in the region there that might get involved in the war soon or later we need to save everybody's life guys the the history is changing right now in front of our eyes look at the people in K American University in Cairo the last one I told that they going to be rally against the war knowing the culture there and knowing the politics there but they reminded me by when I was a youth and I ready is and I sit ready and stand in the street for the human rights and for the need of every uh body right now we look at New York University Colombia Yale Barkley many other universities around the world around the state are calling for the change of the one side vision for the double standard that the American government does giving the food and giving the weapon to kill the people this is this has to be to stop we have to see where we stand we need a call from Jersey City to say hey we are standing with the people who's suffering around the world especially in Gaza we need your voice we need to hear it as I said the world is changing around us and there is a many in the world are running against the policy of this country so please stand with the right thank you 518 Maya hi y'all um I'm here again my abon arov um I'm Jewish part of my family is Israeli um and have Palestinian friends with family in Rafa and in the West Bank um I didn't get the chance to think about what I was going to say as thoroughly as I usually do because I've been running over the past week pretty much non-stop um from action to action for a ceasefire there were several nights when I didn't go home at all uh I spent the next the the fir the second night of pesak um incarcerated because we had a Seder in the streets in New York um in order to call for a ceasefire on a holiday dedicated to the liberation of freedom and all people um everywhere but especially in the Holy Land um to which we have a sacred relationship and it's hard for me to know what to say to you tonight because after doing all that we come and ask can you please raise your hand and say I it feels like a very small lift particularly compared to the endless quest of Palestinians in Gaza to dodge bombs to swim out into the sea to receive Aid packages to bring the tiniest bit of flow back to their families to Palestinians in the West Bank um a friend of mine's family who's taken in people who were uh ethnically cleansed from their Village um by violent settlers and the IDF and are now Sheltering in a neighboring Village in the West Bank um the families of the hostage hirs who is my age who had to get on TV today after a video of their son hand amputated begging for a hostage deal they had to get on camera and beg President Biden to push for a ceasefire agreement and a hostage deal so that hirs can come home almost in one piece how many people will never come home how many people will never have an exodus from this tragedy how many people will never return to their homes whether spiritual or physical to the land that they belong to it's been too many people and it's been too long and I came up here several months ago asking y'all to call for a ceasefire in the hopes it would pressure Congressman Menendez to call for a ceasefire to stop funding the bombs that may have already killed my friend's family because we don't know whether they're still alive Congressman Mendez of course just voted for more offensive military aid to Israel I don't know if the ceasefire resolution will do anything I'll be honest but I know that not passing it won't do  if you don't pass it we'll never know what difference it could have made if every day we don't say what am I doing to stop this and do something decide what do I have the power to do we won't know if we could have stopped it there's still million Palestinians alive in Gaza ceire now every for everyone hostage thank you 5 point 5.19 Renee Rene is not here okay 5.20 Jake good evening um my name is Jake EOS I'm a resident in the Heights um I'm also Jewish and I also have Jewish Israeli family and I'm here to call on our city council to support a ceasefire resolution as well um as the previous speaker mentioned um it's Passover so to all who observe and um I I've been just struggling with what do I do with this holiday this year um how do I observe this Jewish holiday that's about spring and life and freedom amidst the genocide in Gaza part of the the holiday uh is repetition um we repeat this story year after year to never forget what it means and to never forget the significance that it holds for us and at the end of the Seder of Passover um we we say next year in Jerusalem um and and again it it signifies that we're going to tell this story over and over because we have to relearn every single year how to win freedom and so we will see each other once again next year in Jerusalem to share that story and to teach each other again how to win freedom but whenever this year I hear next year in Jerusalem I think of this year in Gaza this year in Palestine tens of thousands have been killed with our tax dollars with our government support and we have to teach ourselves once again how how not to just win freedom for one group of people but for everyone for all of us and I I'm really not the most religious guy I went to Hebrew school and so I I celebrated um Jewish holidays my whole life um but my my hagada the story the book that we read um during the Passover Sedar my family hagat I looked at it and and it said that you know there's this story um that God didn't actually let the Jewish people commit violence against the the Pharaoh in Egypt um in the story of Jews being slaves in Egypt because God said it was important that the oppressed not become the oppressors and the Resonance of that the horrible horrible Resonance of that this year has been weighing on me and we we demand that our City stand on the right side of History pass a ceasefire resolution and gear up to vote uncommitted in the primary election this June here in New Jersey to show President Biden that we are not going to stand for his unwillingness to support a ceasefire thank you ceasefire now 5.21 mo hi it's Mo again yes for the sixth time last time I saw you was two months ago where I gave a speech with my wife who was standing behind me 7 months pregnant at the time about the horrific effects this genocide is having on the the pregnant women of Gaza not only did that not phase you but neither did the five other times I came here to speak as well as the hundreds of other speeches you've heard from others demanding that you represent our most diverse City in calling for an immediate and permanent end to the genocide of my people so yes like I said I was here two months ago with my wife who was seven months pregnant at the time what does that mean well you'd think I was giving you guys a break from me from me because two months is certainly a long time but no I gave myself a break from you because I couldn't stand looking at your faces as you continue to deny that there's a literal genocide happening as we speak while continuously catering to your absolutely racist Zionist donors who celebrate whenever you don't call for a ceasefire and yes I'm specifically speaking to all those of you that abstained in the last vote I'll repeat again last time I was here it was two months ago with my wife who was seven months pregnant at the time what does that mean well I'm sure you could do the math yes my baby daughter was born just 3 days ago and I'm standing here with you all instead of being with my newborn daughter right now does that make me a bad parent Hell No in fact it makes me the best parent I know I can be why because I'm here fighting for children who are of no blood relation to me I'm up here fighting against oppression occupation apar tide and genocide I'm up here trying to do everything in my power to show my son and daughter when they grow up that Baba did everything in his power to fight for a better world for them to live in let me repeat this one more time last time I was here was two months ago with my wife who was 7even months pregnant PR at the time what does that mean well 2 months ago 13,000 children were killed in Gaza and as I stand here today 3,000 more children have been killed two months ago not a single Western politician could even utter the word ceasefire and as I stand here today not only are politicians being forced to change their tune but even our genocidal president of the United States has actually uttered the word ceasefire but only in the temporary meaningless context only to gain more votes in November and the worst of it all is that as I stand here today in my most diverse City very own councilmen and women have yet to call for a ceasefire making our city look so incredibly foolish corrupt and devoid of humanity over 100 localities have passed resolutions calling for a ceasefire including our neighboring towns of Union City Patterson and even Wayne Township which has a current sitting counil woman who is Israeli and of is a descendant of Holocaust Survivors and she was the one who spearheaded emphatically called for an immediate ceasefire so calling for a ceasefire now is just the bare minimum I'm demanding that you call for the defunding of Israel and cutting off all ties to this apar state lastly I'm here to demand that you become better humans because as I stand here today I'm looking at people that do not represent this city or Humanity as a whole so now would be the time to crawl out of that dark soulless hole of yours because I don't want to come back here two months from now after thousands more children have been killed and look you all in the eyes again demanding the same things like a broken damn record thank you thank you who F now thank you 5.2 to anarie good evening Ann Marie Jersey City together and Our Lady of sorrow's Parish I feel this urgency and I speak another urgency we invite every council member and all these Community participants to the action and commemoration that Jersey City together is planning for the fourth anniversary of George Floyd's death Saturday May 20 5th 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows church on the corner of ocean and Claremont Avenues in the Bergen Lafayette section of Jersey City it will be particularly meaningful if the commemoration includes the announcement of Jersey City's program for a behavioral 911 response for community members with a mental health or substance use challenge funding and the will are critical to getting this done we reiterate three state Assistance programs that New Jersey offers Hudson County particularly arrive together the AG's initiative MC Court 988 mobile crisis Outreach response teams from our mental health and Addiction Services and our own New Jersey legislature enacted SE Brooks yay Drew Washington community-led crisis response to put us further at ease that Jersey City can actually afford this life saving initiative I want to describe for you the income numbers Jersey City used to be in the days of Margaret heg maternity hospital where I was born a working class City remember Colgate remember Dixon Mills the Jersey City Pencil Factory the muers macaroni products Factory on Baldwin Avenue became the best purveyor of pasta in the United States we are no longer a working class City now in the 2000s and accelerating under mayor FIP Jersey city has become identified as high-end expensive living City the latest income figures are these the new the nation's median household income is 7 $ 4,580 Jersey City's median household income these are the latest full year figures we have from the Census Bureau one 91,5 what a contrast to 745 it's more accurate to say that Jersey City today is A Tale of Two Cities not every Jersey City household has $91,000 a year coming in in the Our Lady of Sorrows section the Bergen Lafayette 50,000 is the income thank you very much initi thank you thank you thank you okay thank you welome just please abide amme amme thank you next speaker 5.23 Morgan Morgan hello my name is Morgan Fields uh I'm from Union City and I'm here to support putting on uh the agenda of ceasefire resolution and to pass that ceasefire resolution I'm going to share with you something that I wrote on February 9th 2024 126 days of genocide it is now 200 plus the 21st day of genocide 200 days of witnessing Palestinian people be murdered by an Israeli government and Zionist occupation funded by the US war machine on February 9th the TW 126th day of genocide in Palestine in the Gaza Strip prime minister of Israel Netanyahu called for 1.2 million now Refugee people to evacuate from Rafa Rafa is the last safe Zone in Gaza Israel just bombed Rafa two days ago now here in the time that we're living in killing 17 children a ground Invasion there is still being threatened Nasser medical complex in conun has been under siege by the Israeli Army for 20 days by February 9th they have now withdrawn Mass Graves now just two days ago have been discovered at Nasser Medical hospital and alifa Hospital 310 murdered Palestinian children mothers and doctors have been found in Mass Graves at this um medical complex this is what 6 months of genocide looks like at a GL understand this genocide does not function under the terms of Peace negotiations it functions within the terms of annexation and Annihilation understand the pro Palestinian movement is not new it is not new because colonialist and Zionist ideologies are not new it is not new to white suprem white supremacist and Zionist oppressors to exert violent force over people they deem resistant resistant to the idea that people people outside of white Colonial and settler ideologies do not deserve the right to exist this is a fight against white supremacy once again coming to a global Pinnacle this is a rejection to the idea that people are to go from their land willingly and that in the past they have gone willingly for after 200 plus days of genocide there is a call to humanity a call to your Humanity are you there it is time to question who we allot power to daily who we have been allotting power to resistance is Justified ceasefire now land back right to return and free Palestine until the day I die thank you thank you 5.24 Michael no okay 5.25 shuy this week I learned that in Naser hospital and conun there were about 300 bodies recovered that were found in Mass grave the bodies the hands were zip tied many of the bodies were of hospital staff wearing scrubs many of the bodies were children who had also been decapitated many of these bodies had been skinned if you need to learn more about Israel's skin Bank you can Google that there's some very public records and also very freely given interviews from Israelis about the skin Bank very proud of it I think that I've heard a lot of comments about how this is not a local issue in this room behind your heads is a very large and prominent American flag obviously there is some nationalism to be found within our individual communities I think all of us who get up here and try and speak to you are doing so because we want to hold ourselves our communities our country definitely our representatives to I would say the highest level of humanity but this is not even that we are seeing in this genocide it's not a war it's a genocide we are seeing the scale of what we will allow to be done to other human beings grow and shift and morph into something so nasty I'm scared I'm scared to have children I I don't understand how we can look at weapons that were not designed to be used on human populations that are being used on human populations and act as though that is something we can stomach should stomach keep moving keep showing up to work every day as though nothing's going on I don't think any of you are that heartless I I can't imagine someone wanting to go into public service who is not at least somewhat interested in making sure that things like this don't happen I don't think that there's any reason to pretend like after seeing many other cities do this a ceasefire resolution a call for an embargo on weapons thank you thank you please call for a Seas fire call for an embargo on these weapons 5.26 Jim hi good evening Council my name is Jim leg since I've heard that you think that genocide is an international issue does this mean that this Council would not vote to condemn slavery because after all the slave trade was International Commerce freedom of navigation and all that U this Council has some serious questions to ask itself we've heard uh numerous arguments over the last few months uh concerning legal arguments moral arguments arguments about compassion Justice fairness dignity so what are the magic words the magic words are money money money money money I think that's why you here we know from Jersy uh City uh newspapers that a good number of you the majority took a $100,000 campaign contribution from mayor philli uh you might call it a campaign contribution we see it as a bribe a bribe for your compliance and subservience and the elephant in the room is Apac of course they have publicly announced they've got $100 million to bribe American politicians the good news is they've been failing recently they tried to put down uh these uh the group of five women in the Congress the Gang of Five and they've been losing APAC is not winning against people mobilizing and I want to point out that this is not the United States of Israel that's an American flag there APAC is a foreign entity for some reason it should be registered as a foreign ENT entity but it's not anyway what put you here are votes remember that votes remember your voters remember them not APAC not the guys with money not the 100,000 campaign contributions the voters of America most Americans want a ceasefire 80% of democrat voters want to ceasefire Hudson County is Major majority Democrat voters think of your voters forget the money money is not going to give you votes APAC is not going to give you votes we are giving you the votes and we want to see SP thank you very much 5.27 Eugene excuse me be before you got before you put the clock on for the for the speakers that are going to come to speak you know from from this gentleman on if if you hug that microphone up there we cannot understand zero that you're saying you should speak away from the microphone this way we can understand what you're saying everything is scratchy when you guys are hugging that microphone right thank you uh yes my name I'm father Jean squeo uh long time well now longtime retired pastor of St Patrick's and assumption All Saints Church in Jersey City and uh I'm here also to ask the members of the council uh to uh really consider uh endorsing a ceasefire resolution I think the the starting point for each of us should be to recognize the suffering uh of the Israeli people the sufferings of the Palestinian people and to say that this cannot go on uh a ceasefire uh will remove from the United States from President Biden uh the justification to supply Israel with offense of weapons that are used against the civilian population in Gaza uh ceasefire resolution will take away the justification of the Israeli government uh to use food as a weapon of war the uh ceasefire resolution uh will enhance the ability to get the needed Aid to the Palestinian people uh so tonight and asking for you to approve uh to consider approving a ceasefire resolution uh to me it's very simple it's not about choosing sides it's about choosing peace uh a ceasefire resolution hopefully will be a stimulus to Israelis and Palestinian to start focusing on a future of peace and security for both peoples the Palestinian people are not going anywhere the Israeli people are not going anywhere a ceasefire resolution would add to the momentum to have uh negotiations and looking to the Future a future of peace and security for all thank you thank you Father 528 Albert I hope you don't mind if I don't scream and yell and pretend that I was beat up or anything like that but I'm going to just try to talk quietly I had a written speech but I just am reacting to everything I'm hearing I didn't hear one word about the massacre of 12200 Jews on October 7th 200 days ago I didn't hear about the 370 missiles that were launched civilian targets just this week thank God we had the defense in Israel to prevent thousands of lives from being killed have thousands of people from being killed I just I listen to this and again I'm sitting here in Jersey City and things that I think you should be more concerned with are not being done done I I just it gets me very very angry and I don't want to exude that feeling I'm gonna sit down thank you thank you Sor Albert 528 that was just Albert oh sorry uh 5 9 Yasmin hello city council members my name is Yasmin Pasar I live in Ward b i stand here tonight with my fellow sapharic Jews Jews from Middle Eastern Nations the ones that were expelled from their countries for just wanting to practice their Judaism openly I stand here too with my ashkanazi Jewish brothers and sisters Holocaust Survivors who sought refuge in the newly established state of Israel in 1948 I stand here tonight with my zarrian druzi Jane sik Hindu Muslim and Christian friends who are in support of Israel on October 7th in 2023 we the people of Jersey City and around the world witnessed the horrors of Hamas and later hasbalah on this day young men from Gaza sexually assaulted brutally murdered and took hostage our innocent Jewish brothers and sisters babies and children were included not only that they took Israeli Arabs beduins Jim and foreign tourists you can find me almost every Sunday in Central Park I'll be marching to bring my captive brothers and sisters home and believe me I will not stop we will not stop until they are all brought home I say I have some more time so I'd like to actually say that I am Persian and my last name is pesar which means sons in he in fari and my father had to come he had to leave before the Revolution why because he could not practice his Judaism in yasan and it's very unfortunate and I'd like to quote somebody who I follow molana RI who is actually a philosopher and a poet from Iran who I admire so greatly he said my dear heart never think you are better than others listen to the sorrows with compassion if you want peace don't Harbor bad thoughts do not gossip and do not teach what you don't know I'm and thank you very much for for your time thank you 5:30 Tara is terara here come on Tera good evening president water city council members and fellow residents of Jersey City I stand before you today not as a resident of Portside Towers but as a concerned citizen who believes in the power of our Collective voice and the importance of fair housing for all tonight you will hear from the tenants of Portside Towers who continue to face illegal rent increases more than six months after the rent leveling board's unanimous ruling in their favor this ongoing struggle raises a crucial question for all of us in this city if these tenants who have fought tirelessly followed the administrative process and delivered over 500 speeches before this very Council and still are still facing such Injustice what does that mean for the rest of us it is encouraging to see their determination and perseverance in the face of adversity as their fight is not just for themselves but for the sake of all renters in our city however it is deeply concerning that despite acting Corporation Council confirmation in this room that the rent leveling board's determination is binding and there is no stay there seem to be no consequences for the landlord's continued non-compliance the fact that this Council has had to ask what would happen if Equity residential were a regular landlord only underscores the impropriety of this entire situation it is clear that something is fundamentally wrong when a landlord can flagrantly disregard the law without repercussions I implore you council members to listen carefully to what these tenants are trying once again to make you understand they need your help and they need you to take another step to support them in their fight for justice as represent representatives of our city it is your duty to ensure that the laws protecting our residents are upheld and enforced fairly regardless of the size or influence of the landlord in question the tenants of Portside towers and indeed all renters in Jersey City are counting on you to do what is right thank you thank you Kevin good evening as a group this is our 33rd time speaking before you having done so at every single council meeting since November 9th 2022 at various points in time each of you has expressed your desire to assist us at times publicly In This Very Room and at other times at various town halls and events your expressions of your willingness to help have even been covered in the Press numerous times councilman Rivera even stood with us as closely as Corporation Council would allow which was a much appreciated gesture three Council meetings ago several of you publicly requested that we provide specific examples of rent Control Ordinance violations by our landlord since the bureau and and board determinations after that request and one day before the next council meeting director Richardson sent a letter indicating the fines and penalties for rent control violations including up to 90 days in jail per violation I believe that your efforts inspired that constructive notice from director Richardson to our landlord the very next council meeting following that written notice of penalties and fines we offered more than 30 such examples of violations this group standing before you today is being charged more than when you offered your help Madam president and city council I believe you thought surely with that level of proof director Richardson especially given his letter saying as much would take action in addition to providing proof publicly before this Council tenants have submitted requests directly to Mr Richardson detailing Equity residentials violations of the ordinance and explicitly request in his enforcement action starting tomorrow we will begin submitting additional violations to Mr Richardson with a copy to this Council we request that you review whether or not enforcement is taking place and if not why not that brings me to my main point concerning this council's regular statements of support as you know we've hired attorneys to represent us as part of the process our attorneys have sought permission by the court to intervene in the federal case brought by Equity residential against the city so we can represent our interests although Equity residential has consented to our intervention and so they should since what happens affects our lives the attorney representing you has refused to consent to our involvement how can this be when you have said you support us and the rent leveling board unanimously found in our favor in favor of the tenants your attorney indicated that he did not receive authorization to allow the tenants to participate when you read his counter brief it's like he said don't worry he has the tenants back how does that sit with you that your attorney would attempt to silence our voices a step that was too far even for Equity residential please authorize your attorney to consent to our involvement in the federal case thank you very much David Dave is not here okay okay uh Rihanna thank you good evening council members I'm Rihanna Maki and I'm here once again I should be at home with my six-year-old practicing her kindergarten reading or packing for a work trip tomorrow to a conference called deepening impact through transformative leadership I've chosen to be here instead because I believe in this I also believe in recognition and change let me start with recognition I believe in giving credit credits due as you may recall my husband daughter and I have experienced water intrusion in our apartment since April 2020 mitigative attempts have been made over time and still the water flows this really came to a head the peak flow you might say in January when we experienced a bad storm and 3 Ines of water flooded our bedroom resulting as having to have the carpet removed 15 weeks later and we still have the floor strip back to the concrete but I said I believe credit worth credits too we have a new manager cours side and I reached out to her last Saturday and asked her for an update and she was very responsive and has arranged for the external repairs to happen this current coming Monday I also believe in change to illustrate the kind of change I believe in allow me to share my English teacher background with you by way of a parable it's a tale of two people walking by a river when they notice puppies floating down the river one starts grabbing the puppies out of the river while the other runs Upstream the first asks where are you going we have to save the puppies and the other replies I'm going to see who's throwing the puppies in the river by going Upstream we can eliminate the cause of the problem yes there are immediate needs a towel laid on the floor to soak up the water when it rains in my apartment but we also need transformative change we need the Integrity of the exterior of the building to be fixed Equity is part of a large systemic problem that needs to be tackled yes we need the rent LEL board decision to be enforced but we also need systemic change against billion dooll entities that seek to drown folks in illegal rents illegal evictions and attempt to snarl us up in years of protected litigation I call on you to affect mitigative change within your purview taking all steps to secure the enforcement of the rank control decision but I encourage you to be part of transformational change too mahak Mandi once said be the change you want to see in the world council members you were called on to serve and bring positive change credit where credits due you're helping move the needle please go upstream and be part of the bigger change thank you for your time Daniel Feldman evening City Council Members as you hopefully know by now on October 19th 202 3 the rent leveling board determined unanimously that both the East and West Tower of port side Towers so both 155 Washington Street and 100 Warren Street were subject to rent control uh they also made a legally binding determination that rents must be rolled back to 2016 rates so six years before the first illegal rent petition in 2022 and that determination that legal determination has no stay so any current litigation is Irrelevant in the enforcement of this the fact that it's been over six months in port side not only hasn't reduced rents to 2016 rates but has continued to raise rents despite the rent leveling board sending Portside sending Equity a letter warning of fines in jail time and despite us providing you with mounds and mounds of evidence indicating over 30 specific examples of rent control violations to Portside is just sad disappointing and infuriating don't really understand why you're not doing any more you can contact the rent leveling board and demand that they issue fines and jail time for any and all rent increases as their letter indicated they would do tenants are being overcharged by thousands of dollars each month putting their livelihoods at risk right now folks with families to take care of are struggling right now to pay rent because they're being overcharged by thousands this is urgent right now if someone wants to live at Portside Towers they have to sign off to a statement staying uh pursuant to njsa 24284 3 we hereby not notify you that the premises and the community are exempt from the provisions of any rent Control ordinances instituted by Jersey City Hoboken or West New York as the case may be in said premises and Community will be exempt from any future rent control rent stabilization rent leveling ordinance instituted by these municipalities for a period of 30 years following the completion of construction at this community prospective tenants still today have to to sign off on that statement if they want to live at Portside Towers it's absolutely mindful that they're able to get away with this without any consequences as I mentioned in my speech two weeks ago Equity residential is committing Consumer Fraud at the expense of its tenants your constituents so as I mentioned last time you can fight for us or you can continue to sit back do nothing thank you Sheamus Sullivan hi I'm Sheamus Sullivan um and uh I am one of those ongoing violations that um some of the other speakers have talked about uh our lease runs out on May 15th Equity has not rolled back our rent in compliance with with the board's October decision um they have continued to insist on an illegal increase we've even told them we would settle for a rent freeze while the litigation is worked out and they have not budged on this um you're going to hear many examples like this you've been hearing many examples like this uh without enforcement equities law breaking will only intensify and so will the anger of local renters obviously none of these issues are going away so I just have to ask what is your plan here if the plan is to wait for Equity to price out all of the voters who are upset by this I'm sorry but everyone here and a lot of other people are going to do our best to ensure that plan fails if the plan is to wait for Equity to lose in court which I think is likely then this council is squandering some political Goodwill by allowing landlords to thumb their noses at the law in the meantime I would humbly suggest enforcing 260 and capitalizing on the resultant Goodwill while there is still time to get ahead of this issue um I also want to use my time up here uh to join some of the other speakers in calling for this Council to again take up and uh pass a resolution supporting an immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza uh I want to thank the three council members who did vote Yes on the last version of this resolution that came up um I want to respond to an objection that some other members voiced at the time that such a resolution would have no effect and Falls outside the purview of uh what this Council can do respect y while significant movement is needed on US foreign policy here I would argue that the only reason we are seeing the very modest beginnings of change in our foreign policy towards Gaza and this is happening in the White House in Congress and in the UN um the only reason that is happening is because of ordinary Americans demanding a permanent ceasefire ordinary people like many of the people who spoke here tonight students creative artists and film theater and television um primary voters and yes local elected officials right here in Hudson County I believe that a ceasefire resolution in intensifying that pressure will help to save lives in Gaza and secure the safe return of the remaining hostages and I urge this Council to pass such a resolution with all haste thank you thank you 5.36 Marlene previously I'm a former teacher and a recovering lawyer now other times I have said to you I'm here as a teacher and I'm not going to give you a quiz but tonight I'm giving you a quiz don't worry I'm not going to call on you but I wish that you would think to yourself did I get the answers right so the quiz is what happened what happened on February 7th 1986 that's when that's when rent be control became the default position in Jersey City well next question how you doing June 25th 1987 was when they passed this newly constructed multiple dwelling statute requiring o owners to cease an exempt to get an exemption they had to file a claim well July 26 1992 this was the last day for the exemption claim to be filed on 100 Warren Street no claim was ever filed similarly December 1st 1997 was the last day for an exemption claimed to be filed on 155 Washington Street no claim was ever filed well let's get to modern history I hope you're doing okay October 19th 2023 and this is a big one so I hope you know this one the Jersey City rent control leveling board voted unanimously 60 in favor of the tenants March 19th 202 for Richardson sends a letter to equity residential threatening fines and penalties for non-compliance so how about today must know this one nothing no fines or penalties have been issued and Equity residential continues to impose illegal rent increases this one's for extra credit what happened on November 25th 1944 that's my birthday so it's a big one this year you could send cards but the important issue here is I'm a senior citizen and I vote and as Ed cotch said this is your grade ask your constituents like Ed cotch would say how am I doing thank you 5.37 Derek good even Council it's a shame I have to follow that I did not bring visual aids so bear with me uh this is uh handful of times I've been here now a few months in my last appearance I spoke about the lack of political will by our elected or appointed officials enforcing the rent control laws of which by the way there are there is no ambiguity um there's a clear set of criteria our landlord fails to meet in terms of rent control this means the rent that they have been currently and will charge with continued inaction uh are legal in causing harm to Residents current and and passed there are enforcement mechanisms the city can use at any moment including right now since there is no stay in the pending litigation and yet here we are remaining installed action all while there is a monthly scheduled crime committed on the first of each month by our landlord so again I'm brought back to my original questions from my earlier speeches of it all bases around why why why why why can't we just enforce the laws why can't we enforce the determination there are mechanisms in place for you to use to to force the issue why why not uh by profession I'm a contractor in a design build uh construction adjacent field I uh deal very frequently with real estate developers uh property managers mostly in Manhattan I quickly learned that one needs to modify the language used to suit the audience or communicating with uh the way I speak with developers is very different than the way I speak with say Architects or Engineers or the way I speak with General Contractors even when discussing the very same project uh what I've learned over the last 12 years is that when I'm speaking uh to those in the real estate development profession I must always speak in terms of Roi return on investment uh inherently there's nothing wrong with this this is their job to maximize Roi I get it they're doing their job uh it's always their number one priority when it comes to project expenses right um they want to spend just enough to give the appearance of luxury for the marketing materials but not spend a petty more Port sers does it sound like anyone we know I say all of that to make a point if every dollar that leaves the pocket of developer carefully weighed and measured for its ability to return even more dollars then I have one very specific question I'd like to ask what does it mean that the list of donors to Mayor fb's re-election pack is essentially a who's who of developers and Builders whose Collective donations total in the hundreds of thousands is it possible they are simply and suddenly an altruistic Bunch that give out large sums of money out of the kindness of their hearts with no expectations attached we have a few potential mayoral candidates in the room perhaps we should ask them if developer donation money is still rolling in for their mayoral campaigns maybe that's why we haven't heard any updates on past Promises of internal investigation don't bite the hand that feeds you in all to be clear my intention is not to make any accusations I'm simply pointing out that my public anecdote along with publicly available campaign donor data one can reasonbly conclude that some of our elected officials may not be working in the best interest of the constituents okay let's just follow the rules there okay next speaker 5.38 as you all should be aware although it's not clear how much Corporation Council actually keeps you informed our landlord filed suit in federal court to prevent Jersey City from enforcing its rent Control ordinances we have requested to intervene in that case in support of the city and its enforcement of rent control surprisingly Council for Jersey City Eric M Bur Ste and Associates has opposed our request we've repeatedly told you that when the city does the right thing we would stand with the city now the city says we don't want your help we'll take care of your interests trust the city really two years ago tenants at Portside Towers contacted Dina henden to inquire about rent control status of our homes she told us the buildings were subject to rent control but we had to file petitions to allow the office to do its work we followed their guidance in September Miss henden corrected herself in a long convoluted obus skating determinations that sufficient filings had been made to Grant the buildings exemption status for 30 years from the date of their respective cosos a complete landlord friendly reversal trust the city really miss henden did promise to consider evidence of amortization period of the initial mortgage for the buildings if you recall the maximum exemption is the shorter of the amortization per period or 30 years from the co surprising everyone we located that initial mortgage it had an amortization period of four years expiring in September 1992 the office then determined that without any evidence that this mortgage was not really a mortgage at all they claimed that it was a construction loan another landlord friending decision trust the city really we appealed these determinations of the rent leveling board as said before it unanimously held 6-0 that both buildings were never exempt and ordered the bureau to recalculate the legal rents of our homes 6 months later our landlord continues to increase our rents without complying with chapter 260 to qualify for any increase trust the city really why doesn't the city want us to stand with it in federal court why does the administration and Mr Bernstein who has donated at least $20,000 to Steven phlips pack want to silence the victims of the non-enforcement of rent control in a critical federal court case it's a terrible look given our repeated statements that we would support the city when it enforces its ordinances it's a terrible look given president lerman's ass assurances that you truly care about us you know that we can be a powerful and organized Aly of Ally of the city's efforts to enforce its rent Control ordinances against arrogant corporate Mega landlords you are all responsible for the Optics of of the situation if you do not direct Corporation Council to support our intervention you are supporting a mayor and his financial backers including developers landlords outside Council against your constituents should we trust you really uh 5.39 Suzanne evening Council um before I get on my speech I have been up since 4:30 I shouldn't complain because Kevin here doesn't sleep um but I have a massive headache I've had a long day and I'm here with these people who I love and I love Jersey City um and we're all here fighting for your tenants you know not just WF but all of your tenants and that's why I come here with a pounding headache to speak to you again okay um for my speech so at the last meeting I read some requirements that landlords must follow in order to legally increase rents as a reminder section 26 3D requires land landlords to provide new tenants with information about the previous tenants rent our landlord has failed to do this section 260 d3i outlines the consequences for landlords who misinform tenants about prior rents or illegally increased rents our landlord has done both um section 263 J mandates that landlords provide tenants with the truth and renting statements and comply with a landlord identity disclosure provision again they have not done this um to this day even six months after the rent leveling Board hearing I want to ask you why are you in the city continuing to dig a deeper hole in this what does it take for the city to enforce its own laws I feel silly I have to come ask you this I see you move forward on other ordinances I've applauded some of them I see people be affected positively in this room why is our case you know what seems willfully neglected a lot of times I see you all not looking at us you're all looking at me right now so I appreciate it but you know what does it take to get a case that's nationally followed to have some real action as we've said there is no stay in the bureau's ruling yet still nothing has been done to enforce it has there still been no investigation on your behalf can we can I safely understand that you've chosen not to investigate we've had nothing from this Council frankly in receiving any justice of any kind I understand you don't enforce ordinance 360 but you can investigate why it's not happening last time at the last meeting President Waterman said we all have a purpose in life and do you all ask yourself what is your purpose as a council as a person like what do you want in your life as your purpose I'll ask you again when will we see real action like that is why that is what we need is real action like I I I appreciate councilman River standing with us but we need real action real action is rent reductions back to 2016 per the rent bureau's ruling if you can't follow this determination can you at least call for a rent freeze to 2022 rents rent levels these laws have been provided by equity in their landlord registration statement can we at least call for this it is deeply troubling to witness the ongoing struggle faced by tenants of Portside towers and probably many other in the city and to see Kevin and all of us fight for just our City's laws to be followed you know is is just crazy and to this day tenants are still subject to Legal rent increases and I know that you all can do something about it this corruption and lack of enforcement calls for an investigation a duty you chose to swear an oath to undertake as a Jersey city councilman or councilwoman when will you open an investigation into this willful neglect of ordinance 260 we are all Counting on you to to support our rights thank you it's not me I don't know what is going on uh 5.40 Tasha good evening council members my name is Tasha sa this is my fourth time speaking to you while I am sure you are very aware at this point our landlord Equity residential has never met the criteria in Jersey City's ordinance for any approved rent increases yet tenant after tenant at Portside tower has had to endure rent negotiations and illegal rent increases with Equity residential despite the fact that it has been ruled that we live in a rent controlled building further mind you this is during a time when many Americans are struggling with everyday costs it costs the average American household today an extra ,000 on basic necessities this is compared to three years ago according to Moody analytics if we spoke to everyone in this room right now I can almost guarantee that every one would agree that the high cost of living in inflation is something that has greatly impacted all of our lives and this is something that we cannot help but think about daily it is no secret that the economy is a top voting issue for many Americans as we make our way into this fourth month of the election year this topic no doubt includes access to affordable housing and with affordable housing this also leads us into this discussion of rent control the fact is America has a housing crisis and this is a crisis that is only growing more serious every day as was stated in a recent article in time while this issue is a much more complicated issue to cover than I can even begin to touch on in a three minute speech before you today I want to ask you once again as I have asked in all my previous speeches what side of History do you want to be on when you look back on your political career serving the people of Jersey City as a city council member do you want to remember that you've helped big corporations who utilize illegal price fixing and illegal rent increases or do you want to help citizens who are just trying to hold down a home for their families this leads me back to why we keep coming back here week after week we Portside residents continue to be presented with illegal rent increases despite the fact that we live in a rent controlled building lastly mind you this is not just a Jersey City issue this is an issue across Ross the UN United States right now and we ask that you begin the push against these predatory landlords so that we can hope that this momentum will spread across the country with all due respect we earnestly request your continued assistance in compelling compelling excuse me Equity residential to comply we appreciate your time please fulfill your duty to the public thank you Drew good evening council members my name is Drew kochanowski and I'm here for my sixth time to urge you to help us in our fight to enforce ordinance 260 what I can't comprehend is your inability to do anything do you not work for the city do you not work under mayor Phillip is it not your job to enforce the laws when the laws say that our landlord is purposefully ignoring them to squeeze every penny out of your constituents I was at the state of the city address with a few of my neighbors here and we were baffled by how we were treated when our first amendment rights were taken from us in this very chamber and yet again online during the live stream it's almost it's almost as if we are being specifically targeted to dampen our voices on the Injustice Portside residents face are you not seeing the problem we've given over 30 examples of illegal increases we've given you the proof you asked for we all know this is a direct violation of the fauler ACT we have informed you we have educated you and we have been here week after week to give you the information you've requested and more what else do you need it's truly a disappointment to see our elected officials fail us when I moved into Portside in the fall of 2023 right as the rent leveling board unanimously voted 6 to zero in our favor for recalculations and roll backs I was ecstatic but never imagined this would go into April almost May of the following year it's a shame what else needs to happen for you to take action for side residents and Jersey City residents are just trying to live in this feeble economy and corrupt landlords like Equity are making it near impossible for us over half of my monthly income income goes to rent and I know I'm not the only tenant who's in the same scenario can you even remotely imagine that perhaps I should stop with the rhetorical questions and ask you to please speak up if you think that should be legal it shouldn't we can draw a recent parallel to the housing market in the United States during the early to mid 20th century particularly in urban areas before the implementation of comprehensive rent control measures there were instances of exploitative practices by landlords this led to situations where tenants faced exorbitant rent increases and unstable housing conditions similar to the challenges faced today in areas with limited or no rent control the lack of Regulation during this period mirrored some of the issues seen in contemporary debates about housing affordability affordability and tenant protections but what's wild about this is Jersey City does have regulation ordinance 260 does exist so do you and other government bodies in the city want to see issues arise regarding the regulations that are so clearly not being followed do you not want to intervene to consider the welfare of the city if raising rents on rent control buildings is indiscriminately illegal but won't be deemed as so it will lead to housing instability not just at Portside Towers but across Jersey City know that this enforcement Falls in your hands thank you Erin A's not here okay Sonia 5.43 council members today I stand before you the 22nd time 22 times of looking into mostly blank faces typing on your laptops or maybe even online shopping yarning half a sleep people in front of me I might be naive but it still shocks me that you seem to find it okay that deeply troubled residents stand here before you week after week and pour their hearts out and all you have to give us is ignorance not all of you I'm not addressing you Frank I really thank you for hearing us honestly hearing us so what does a person do who is being ignored who is denied help who is even threatened and denied constitutional rights what do they do they seek help elsewhere but only if they have the resources to do so so I volunteer Here in My Chosen home as a crisis counselor and I know that seeking help is one of the hardest things to do this group though that you see here week after week includes some of the strongest people I've met in my life that is why everything we do we do for over 500 other families at Portside for 72% of renters in Jersey City and possibly for all renters in New Jersey and even the United States we have resources and we use them what still troubles me though is the fact that with your ignorance you've let this problem become much bigger than just a fight for legal rents and the execution of city ordinances we are now sadly also talking about upholding the core values of democracy and safeguarding our constitutional rights the incidents at the state of the city address from the intimidation by police and security Personnel to the censorship of dissenting voices on the live stream represent blatant violations of constitutional rights can't you see that your problems become bigger and bigger each week I once again implore each of you to reflect on your responsibilities as elected officials entrusted with the welfare of our city what actions have you personally taken to to take care of our concerns I guess the answer is nothing again so I assume nothing thing in our position we cannot afford this kind of non-action different than you we're not getting paid for non-action instead we lose money month after month because of your inaction due to your failure to protect your citizens we feel compelled to seek more and more outside help we have extended our Outreach in multiple ways and Way Beyond New Jersey I'm pleased to report that in just the last two weeks we've got quite some attention stay tuned on that for tonight I'd like to end with the quote by who would have thought our mayor Steven fup from his Facebook post of today changing culture in New Jersey means accountability you can count on us on that thank you 5.44 Dan Leo good evening our first amendment rights were taken away at the state of City address Jersey City police and private security harassed us we spoke about it we also wrote emails to some of you right after the incident including you president Waterman what has happened since did you feel the need to support your constituency in this matter did you feel the urge to do something against such an outrageous violation of our freedom did you invest at who ordered the sign B based on your ignorance of our cause in the past I guess not but but I'm happy to be surprised right now yes your hands are still tied as you president Waterman told us almost exactly one year ago looking at the connection of your supervisor this is no surprise here's some examples in addition to what we heard earlier according to Matt Freedman in a tweet on April 16 mayor fullop Super Peg raised 1.2 million in q1 alone and has 8.4 million on hand many many real estate developers on the donor list as usual end quote according to aj.com mayor fup in 21 bought his new house with five bedrooms spectacular NYC fuse rooftop Pool movie theater and the forar four car garage from Dixon advisory the real estate arm of an Australian company that contributed 200,000 to followup super peeg the same company that oversaw a half a million dollar renovation of the mayor's previous home buob even maintains a blacklist of journalists who don't get any information even City contractors are afraid to ask for for permission before talking to the Press according to NJ monitor from 22 a contractor winning near nearly 1 million in taxpayer funds for a highly touted City effort and before a company official would talk to a reporter about it he wanted to know if the reporter is friendly and the city's response was no ignore them president Waterman looks like your hands indeed are tied but you could lose the law our help or the help of outside Council to break free and finally be able to do your jobs the jobs you got elected for by the people not by the mayor and maybe even look in the mirror in the morning and be proud of what you do I know the first step is hard but after that it will be a big relief for all of you I promise you and I can tell you from personal experience fighting for and winning fre feels no good thank you thank you 5.45 Shannon can you hit the side of it thank you sh go ahead good evening two weeks ago I gave a speech with a great amount of detail about the March 19th shyron Richardson letter um I'm not going to talk about that letter again necessarily just except to say that in preparation I was looking at those ordinance numbers and subsections and parentheses and I just thought about the slippery loophole our landlord seems to be trying to make the thought came over me that they're trying to pull this over on real people and it seems like it's a game to them but it's our real lives I looked at the dollar amount referenced in the letter to refresh her memory it was 2,556 92518 and what I pictured was the little ceramic dish next to my bed where I keep my loose change and I wondered is there 18 cents in there this led to my picturing of Sonia and danilo's home they have these welcoming little nooks all over the place where you can have a nice conversation or read a book shell and Joel's house that's really inviting they have all these smart books around to cute little dogs Kevin and Jesse's home that they've utterly transformed into something really special where we all spend a lot of time together and Erin's house where she has such aesthetically weird pleasing things around and has made this Brave single life like I have we both got out of difficult marriages and we're working on peace and healing and I will tell you that living at Portside helps so I'm telling you all this just to let you know that these homes really mean something to us they're not assets profit units when we get a chance to all get together inevitably there's this moment where somebody usually me will look out one of the windows and say some version of wow we feel connected to Jersey City we're connected how hard we've had to work to stay here there's been talk that we're just a bunch of rich people complaining about our rent but if that's the issue please let's look no further than Equity how much richer does a corporation need to be with net worth here I am considering my 18 cents that I can maybe put toward my illegally bloated rent for my home I'm not breaking any laws by living here at port side I'm not doing anything wrong Equity they are doing a lot of things wrong including willfully and blatantly ignoring your laws there's so much evidence of wrongdoing and we've eagerly provided it in addition to the facts and figures I could also provide um the many more letters and instances that we could give you I've also got about 520 other port side stories real stories about real people please investigate equity and help to enforce 260 so we can stay home John I since we've been coming to these events so long it's easy to fall into the feeling it's just a thing we do now simply a routine like something that's just a regular fixure in a calendar like a group of mates meting up a pub quiz or a book club once a week L enjoyable obviously sorry I can't make it Wednesdays when we go to City Hall and talk for a bit and get stared at that's not to say that I never lose sight of the reasons why we come here of course I ever lose sight excuse me every now and then it really hits home just how utterly ridiculous it is that we're having to do this at all it's so simple the city has laws and ordinances in place to protect its residents from mistreatment by landlords landlords are breaking these laws and that's it the laws are in place enforce them we shouldn't have to come here cap in hand asking the city's Administration to do its job instead the city not only stands by and allows the laws to be broken it actively as we've heard like sty is are efforts in court seems to help with Bad actors as much as it can it's just ridiculous we have it's come to this and we have to come here time and again to spell out that it's wrong like you don't know everyone in this room and beond knows it just come here every time just pointing out the obvious can you not appreciate how upsetting and stressful it is to have to work this hard just to have the city enforce its own laws at the same time knowing the city does not have our backs I lose so much sleep all the time now not cuz I have young kids or anything it's CU this this is constantly on my mind one of or two of you said that you do care about us and you'd hate to be in this situation well thanks but will any of you be prepared to publicly call on the mayor and the city to do the right thing the state of the city addressed was Mar on March 21st when the mayor addressed his Echo chamber that evening one of the first things he said was how invested he is in the welfare of the residents and affordable living that would normally be a comfort but given what we're experiencing is just ging president Walman left the room I was going to ask her cuz a few months ago she promised my friend Danilo that she would investigate the city's conduct in this matter uh I was going to ask if the investigation has started I can only assume not given our response previously anyway thanks Noel there um it's been i' I've been here times I don't know how many uh but it has been seven weeks I was last able to make it um that was when I threw my speech out the window in a little bit of a huff but got some interaction from the council got some requests for data um which we fulfilled uh two weeks later we turned up with an awful lot of information documentation everything you requested for an investigation we're now seven weeks past that request five weeks past providing everything and nothing I don't know did you start an investigation did you look at the documentation is anything happening I guess not um yeah so I didn't bother to write a speech this week I thought I'll just wing it see how it's going got the flavor of the room of what's Happening nothing's happening uh but we're still going to keep coming we're not giving up and you should know which is the the right side to be on I'll just say it I'll put it out there it's the right side we're on the right side of the law we're on the right side of fairness uh of what you want to be remembered for what you want to work toward what what do you want to stand for so yeah standing for appreciate the ones of you are still here it's again it's even more disappointing that we keep turning up and then here I am talking to half less than half of the council don't know what that is uh but okay I will leave there like I say you've heard it before we just want to know what's going on please give us some update David evening my name is David Wilson I've been a Jersey City resident since 2005 this is the first time anyone has ever told me I didn't speak loudly enough seriously um so I've been at Jersey City resident since 2005 this is my second time speaking here um I've been a tenant at Portside Towers from 2005 to 2007 and again from 2021 until now um my lease was up on April 15 and I received uh I received a lease from Equity residential with an illegal rent increase and also an addendum stating that the building wasn't subject to rent control which I know to be false um and they wouldn't budge and I ran out of time I'm I'm a living I'm a live animal you know I need food and sleep and uh Shelter From the elements and uh Equity residentials are real estate investment trust and it doesn't need any of those things so who has the leverage here um I ended up signing a lease that I knew to be illegal because I didn't have a choice you have a choice you can pressure the ren leveling Bureau to enforce that you know the law to do what they promised they would do in the letter that they sent in March the last time I was here I gave you evidence that Equity residential was continuing to violate the rent control law dozens of of my fellow tenants did the same thing the bureau has done nothing since then um so I ask you uh the only thing that a that a real estate investment trust is going to understand is consequences and so far there have been no consequences for them why would they follow the law right it would be cor it would be malfeasance practically for them to follow the law given that there are no consequences to them for breaking it so please give them the only thing that they understand which is consequences they you Brendan I here okay uh Jessica pardon me I have a little bit of a allergy going on so I'm not covid positive that's not what this is um but good evening city council um I was going to say president Waterman but she's not here um so I stand here tonight not as a single tenant petitioner but as a voice for the our Collective concerns of the tenants of Portside Towers we have diligently followed every rule attended every meeting provided all of the evidence requested of us yet we continue to witness the city's in action in this matter despite director Richardson's warning of fines for non-compliance on March 19th Equity has not been penalized we've provided proofs of malicious behavior and illegal rent increases by our landlord Equity residential on March 20th as requested by this Council yet no action has been taken the April 10th deadline for Equity to submit 2016 leases passed without consequence we have extended our hands in cooperation and appealed to your sense of justice over this last year and a half but our pleas have not yet yielded meaning results October felt like a meaningful result but without enforcement it just isn't it's essentially a piece of paper these results speak volumes suggesting that the struggles of our families and our seniors seem to hold less weight in this City's governance than the interests that oppose enforcement of a rent Control Ordinance as representatives of the people we urgently need you to follow through on the commitment your requests for proofs implied the city is watching and history will remember how you respond to this moral crisis as a personal note I was recently traveling for work um for a scientific conference which I always enjoy and would you be so surprised to know that someone a colleague of mine at this conference who doesn't uh otherwise know of this fight asked me if I knew about what was going on in Jersey City when I mentioned I live here so in addition to the concerns that I've raised it's important to note that at this last city council meeting we mentioned our legal team was invest instigating potential Rico violations due to concerning patterns we observed since that council meeting we were astounded to receive hundreds of pages of documents from multiple tenants at unrelated properties which are now under review by our legal team if anyone else has information about suspicious or inexplicable circumstances related to landlord tenant relations in this city please contact us at rcontrol JC atgmailcom we urge you council member members to take action uphold the laws of our city and protect citizens please authorize your attorneys to consent to our involvement in the federal case as it directly impacts our lives and well-being and actually a question for you did you all know that your Council said we should not intervene did you know they did not Grant permission thank you Elena hi good evening city council my name is Elena little and I'm a resident of Jersey City first I want to acknowledge that the tenants of port side Towers who just spoke have been fighting this fight for two years not just for themselves but for tenants across Jersey City what will it take for the city to enforce its own rent control laws and side with tenants over large commercial landlords I also want to join the many voices earlier calling for a ceasefire we have seen too many innocent lives lost entire families killed nearly half children in indiscriminate carpet bobbing and starvation tactics with funding and weapons from the United States of America let's make sure please that a ceasefire resolution that also condemns both anti-Semitism and islamophobia is on the agenda next meeting with the votes to pass but now I want to talk about a few items that are on the agenda tonight first I want to support the harm reduction kiosk pilot Naran saves lives test strips save lives and covid tests save lives to make these things free and readily available to the public is a great public service and a great thing for public health and I hope that the pilot is a success and that we can expand these throughout the city please pass this resolution I also want to thank councilman Solomon for bringing forward the resolution urging our state legislature not to codify the county line on our primary ballots it is my view as well as that of federal judges that the line is unconstitutional abolishing the line is also the right thing to do as someone who would probably have been elected County Commissioner in 2020 if not for the line I am thrilled to see the success of Andy Kim's lawsuit this year and yet I recognize that our sitting state legislators have every incentive to try to keep the line or something like it to avoid primary Challengers so it is important to send this message a 2020 paper by recers Professor Julius s Rubin shows the line conferring an average of about 30 points advantage in the same North jersey.com article covering this paper council member deis then the chair of the Hudson County Democratic organization defended the line saying quote it does confuse voters when they see a whole line and then right next to it is one name the thing voters think is why are you by yourself why does no one want to run with you you in addition to being petty this also shows that she understood full well the advantages the line confirm confers and yet still preferred the status quo of undemocratic primaries because it benefited her and her allies and not to single out council member Dees it's most of you only two of our council members Solomon and Gilmore had the courage to stand up against the line in favor of small D democracy before Kim's lawsuit while I sincer sincerely hope the other council members uh come over to the right side of History I want elected officials who are willing to stand for democracy every day thank you Mary Mary's not here okay Elvis uh Jenny good evening 10 days ago my cousin messaged I can't sleep I'm waiting for the bombs to fall just a couple weeks prior I was in Israel and we took a road trip together in the Israeli desert 10 days ago I watched from afar as over 300 missiles Hur hurdled from Iran towards populated areas of tiny Israel each missile the size of a box truck the international response was a chilling silence silence now stop and consider can you anyone in this room imagine waiting for bombs to fall that is what dread is no one in this room can imagine that extremist regimes surround Israel and throughout history have called for its destruction I dread that my family and Friends Are In Harm's Way and that their Nation with all its strides in areas like medicine technology and lgbtq rights remains under constant threat of attack Hamas a terrorist proxy group of Iran still holds 100 surviving hostages captive I dread that the hostages confined in tunnels and enduring abuse including rape may never return home what has Kamas done for the Palestinian people they have taken billions in funding and used it for 350 Mi of tunnels extremist indoctrination and weaponry we must blame Hamas then in Northern Israel 200,000 Israelis have been evacuated because of missile attacks from Hezbollah another proxy of Iran in Lebanon I dread that the displaced will never return home and that Israel will be forced into another War to defend its northern borders we must blame hasbalah demanding a ceasefire is not the same thing as wishing for peace we all wish for peace demanding a ceasefire must include first and foremost the release of the hostages it must include security for Israel's borders it must include a progressive future for Palestine without Hamas it must include eliminating anti-jewish indoctrination like unra it must include pressure on Egypt to accept refugees from Gaza it must include a cessation of missiles from Lebanon it must include pressure on Iran to stop funding terrorist proxies the list goes on Israelis hold protests against their own government weekly while acknowledging this reality if the city council considers another ceasefire resolution it is choosing to do so blindly our dread as Jews has been and perhaps always will be a cry in the darkness that is what anti-Semitism looks like you thank you Harris hello everyone good evening my name is Harris merer and I will express my support for ordinance 24304 which entails initi inating a pilot program that aims to dispense harm reduction products via a kiosk such a pilot program will consist of utilizing a single Kiosk for a limited time to determine the viability efficiency best implementation strategies and estimate the cost of a wider program dispensing har reduction products harm reduction vending machines are similar to drink or snack vending machines but are stock with supplies like nalo oxone steroid injection equipment condoms fanol testing strips for State kits and pregnancy tests they do not support or enable drug use but instead aim to empathetically meet people where they are in their course of drug use and help Empower them to take steps that minimize the potential hazards associated with its use research shows that access to syringes can reduce opio overdoses deaths and lower the transmission of viral hepatitis HIV and other bloodborne infections there is no evidence that across to these supplies increase drug use or risky Behavior initiation of this pilot program will also rescue our beloved drug addicts for the embar for the from the embarrassment of obtaining such items from established businesses that may look down upon them with all the information Incorporated herein I support this pilot program to take effect immediately to further expand into a permanent and wider project that dispenses harm reduction products thank you thank you Lis he Maria hello so after we've heard so many um ceasefire requests um I want to give you some uh numbers I love numbers so I just want to remind you of some things and U uh little bit different so if you know there are only 15 million Jews in the world now it's it's less than it was in 1939 before the Holocaust this is how genocide really looks like Israel is of the size of New Jersey its population is about 33 times less than the United States and we know that on October 7th it started with a massacre of the Jewish people but Israel is accused of disproportionate military response now I want you to try something just imagine that one day you wake up and you hear that more than 100,000 Rockets were fired at your country that more than 35,000 Americans were killed in Just One Day More Than 7,000 taken hostages imagine this this is what happened in Israel if you take this uh population portion it to the US now try to think what the US would do and who would accuse the US of inoporn disproportionate response so you hear a lot of um misinformation here but we need to remember that hostages they are still there they're still in the tunnels there are more than 135 people most of them probably not alive already but think about if it was America that was uh that would be about 3,000 what would you do if there were 3,000 Americans in tunnels including like 35 babies of one years old so just take this into proportion and this week is a Passover this is our holiday holiday of freedom of Jewish people celebrating their freedom and their way to the land of Israel so and what we got is all the wave of hateful Pro on the campuses which try to hide their anti-Semitism under different disguises but they protest and they attacked any Jew that happened to stand there and be just visibly identifiable as a Jew he is attacked they don't ask are you for Israel are you against or for the whatever bombing is happening then don't ask just by that appearance the person is threatened a person is feeling not safe they need to take this all into account when they think about this this far and take our feelings and what happens to our community here these days thank you thank you David Joseph okay we are done with our speakers we'll move we'll move on to our petitions and Communications are there any questions or comments on items uh 6.1 to 6.30 no okay move on officers Communications 7.1 to 7.3 are there any questions or comments none and for the reports of directors there are none okay uh so we'll move on to our claims and addendum number one and two your vote for claims and addendum one and two council person Ridley I council person freri I council person bajano council person Solomon sorry SLE SLE first council person SLE oh thank you I sorry council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Rivera I Council of President Waterman um I have to abstain from 10.2 and I on all the rest and claim um for the claims and agendum tions I'm sorry hi okay for claims in addendum 1 and two are approved 90 okay uh before we go into our resolutions um I have a motion to add item 10.24 which is resolution 24-38 to the agenda motions made by council person Rivera second by council person SLE do does the council need clarification on adding this late item no no we're okay all right so I'm going to read the title and the complete resolution unto the record okay this is item 10.24 resolution 24-3 um 308 the title is a resolution authorizing the waiver of the 20-day waiting period pursuant to njsa 4060 9 A-1 181b for ordinance 24-23 creating chapter 276 lithium ion batteries of the municipal code whereas on April 10 2024 the municipal Council introduced ordinance 24-23 entitled an ordinance creating chapter 276 lithium ion batteries prohibiting the sale of seconduse lithium ion batteries creating a lithium ion battery business registry and charging regulations for lithium ion batteries and supplementing chapter 160 fees and charges establishing a fee for the inspection of sellers of lithium ion batteries and powered Mobility device businesses and whereas ordinance 24-22 4 was adopted unanimously by Municipal Council on April 24th 2024 and whereas njsa 40 colon 69 A-1 181b mandates that there will there will be 20-day waiting period after an ordinance is adopted and prior to it taking effect unless the municipal Council by resolution declares an emergency waving the 20-day period and whereas it is necessary that ordinance 24- 023 take effect immediately so that to address the fire hazards presented by the sale of second use lithium ion batteries and whereas it is therefore necessary for the municipal Council to adopt a resolution by a 2third majority invoking njsa 4069 A-1 181b in order for ordinance 24-23 to take effect immediately now therefore be it ordained by the municipal Council of the city of Jersey City that an emergency is hereby declared for that reason set forth herein and pursuant to njsa 40 colon 69 a 181b the 20-day waiting period prior to the effective date of ordinance 24-23 is hereby wave so that this ordinance is effective immediately okay motion to add item 10.24 resolution 24-38 to the agenda was um made by Rivera second and by council person Ridley I council person preri I council person bajano council person Cay hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees council person oh Dees is not here she is gone for this one so that's okay um council person Rivera hi and council president Waterman counc president Waterman I okay sorry I didn't hear you um okay so this um resolution item 10.24 resolution 24-38 is approved to be added to the agenda 80 with council person Dees absent now to move on to our resolutions okay we have items 10.1 to 10. quick to be yeah thank you councilman before we begin we just want to withdrawal 10.8 that's resolution 24 - 292 that's a duplication of the county line resol thank you okay so to our resolutions 10.1 to 10.2 uh with 10.8 being withdrawn and 10.10 approved earlier council person Ridley uh I'm going to vote I for all and on 10.2 I know that um some of our businesses have been waiting for a long time to get their approvals and I'm glad to see that we're moving forward with some um local vendors who are uh Jersey City residents and who've been in the community a long time and that's really why we started this process here with the Canabis businesses so I hope we see more of that and I wish them the best of luck bye okay thank you council person princer I council person bajano no on 10.2 I on the rest okay council person s i for all council person Solomon I for all council person Gilmore want to say um I for all on 10.2 I I think this this this type of application checks the box with respect to what the legisl the legislation was meant to do affected communities check one minority check Community oriented check check check um so congratulations I know it's been a while um I probably vote I on all okay thank you council person Rivera I vote I president Waterman on 10.2 and I on all of this okay so for excuse me for Resolutions 10.1 to 10.12 with 10.8 being withdrawn and 10.10 approved earlier we have 10.1 approved 90 we have 10.2 approved 81 and we have 10.3 to oh no I'm sorry it's going to be 7 7 1 1 so let me rephrase I'm sorry so 10.1 90 10.2 is 711 with council person bajano uh nay and council president Waterman abstaining then we have have 10.3 to 10.8 no 10.9 10.3 to 10.9 90 uh 1010 was approved earlier and we have 10.11 and 10.12 90 sorry if that was a little confused but we got it 104 that's it okay so we will vote now on resolutions 10.13 to 10.23 council person Ridley I council person priner I forgot council person bajano Hi council person Cay I for all council person Solomon just clarifying how far are we going uh 10.13 to 1023 1023 okay I'm going to vote no on 18 and 19 and um I think um I for all the rest um just have some concerns regarding recent news reports and so want to want I you know get more information before approving those so voting no on 18 and 19 for now and I on the rest okay thank you council person Gilmore um vote I on all except for 18 and 19 okay council person Rivera uh I vote I and all and I know some people are maybe asking questions why are the numbers unbalanced uh councilwoman Dej voted prior to her leaving yes thank you for clarifying that um council person uh council president Waterman okay so to recap on these uh resolutions we have 10.13 to 10.17 approved 90 we have 10.8 and 10.19 um approved 72 okay and then we have um 10.20 to 10.23 approved not 90 and for our last resolution we have 10.24 uh council person Dees is absent for this one that's why I separated it um so council person Ridley how do you vote I thank you council person preri I council person bajano council person Cay I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Rivera hi hi council president Waterman okay uh resolution 10.24 is approved 80 with council person de absent John just quick question before we conclude um what regards to the allegations of uh protesting um the residents have a right to assemble and a right to protest even if it's a venue that's going uh something that's going on such as the State of the Union correct I'd rather discuss that outside of a public meeting um I'm more than happy to answer your questions in your office right now if you want no I would I would like to because it's a public issue so I would like to discuss it in the public I mean I'm I'm I'm just of the opinion everything that I've read that individuals have a right to protest and a right to assemble um but I mean if you don't want to answer you don't have to answer I just was trying to get uh I don't know if anyone is planning litigation on this so I'm not going to comment on the record publicly about anything here all right motion to adjourn he motion to adjourn made by councilman SLE second by council person Rivera okay okay on a motion to adjourn at 9:05 p.m. council person rley council person priner council person bajano council person Cay I council person Solomon council person Gilmore council person Rivera council president Waterman hi okay we are okay to get out of here at 9:05 p.m. thank you everyone and get home safe Teamwork Makes the Dream Work you Teamwork Makes the Dream work so my boss is very happy that I say that after