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Until You’ve Lived It, You Just Can’t Get It

Christie’s Republican Critics Don’t Get It

In early December of 2005 I attended the annual holiday gathering of the Monmouth Ocean Development Council.  This particular party stands out in my memory of the hundreds of such parties I’ve attended over the years because of the entertainment.  A jazz band from New Orleans was touring the country to raise money for the Katrina recovery efforts.  Their music was fabulous.  Their plea for help is what stuck with me.  It was deep, personal and profound.  The wreckage seen on television four months earlier was a distant memory for me, until I felt a little of the pain in that band’s plea.

The difference between hearing about and watching news accounts of a devastating hurricance and living through the aftermath of such a catostrophic event is like the difference between watching porn and having sex, though not nearly as fun.  It’s not fun at all.

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Posted: November 20th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 Presidential Politics, Art Gallagher, Barack Obama, Hurricane Sandy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Jersey Shore Musicians To Kickoff Rebuilding Tour In Highlands on Sunday

A growing group of Jersey Shore musicians lead by producer Rick Korn and musical director Michael Mancini are raising money and the spirits of Jersey Shore residents with a concert to support the Rebuild The Jersey Shore efforts on Sunday November 25 in Highlands at the Seastreak Ferry terminal, 325 Shore Drive, at 2 p.m.

The Rebuild The Jersey Shore Band And Friends includes members of the Asbury Jukes, Glenn Alexander, Tony Seguso and bass player Tony Tino.   The expanding list of artists scheduled to perform in the Hope for Highlands Concert includes Bob Bandiera, Bob Burger, Lisa Bouchelle, Lisa Lowell, Layonne Holmes, and saxophone legend Tommy LaBella.

Admission to the concert is free.  Food and beer will be sold by local restaurants and merchants at the “Taste of Highlands” food court, with profits going to Highlands survivors.  There is a $10 parking fee at the Seastreak parking lots in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, which will also go to those impacted by Sandy. Seastreak will provide free ferry service to the concert from Atantic Highlands.  There will also be ferry service from New York leaving from E 34th and Pier 11. A $65 fee will include the round trip boat ride, food and the concert.  Excess proceeds will go to support Highlands’ Sandy survivors.

The money raised through the concert will be administered by “Hope for Highlands”, a fund set up through the non-profit Highlands Business Partnership under the direction of Mayor Frank Nolan and Councilwoman Rebecca Kane. The  Hope for Highlands Fund is designed to go directly to the people and businesses in Highlands that need it most.

“Highlands, like so many devastated small towns up and down the Jersey Shore, was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Sandy”, said Nolan,” This half square mile middle class fishing village, has been devastated with severe damage to over 1200 of its 1500 downtown homes and almost all of its businesses.”

Highlands, the first stop on the Jersey Shore, is known for its spectacular restaurants, Sandy Hook, Historic Twin Lights and its fishing and clamming industry.

“The loss of these homes and businesses has had a ripple effect on the community beyond the norm because many of the residents worked and lived in the town”, said Borough Administrator Tim Hill,  “An economically challenged town before the storm, this community is now faced with not only the loss of their homes but many have also lost their jobs.”

Sponsors include Seastreak, Shore Point Distributing, Boulevard Pro, Big Top Tents of Long Branch, Streit Purveyors, Boardwalk Sausage, This Is It! Stageworks and Tri-State LaCrosse.

For more information or to donate to Hope For Highlands  visit www.highlandsnj.com .

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Posted: November 20th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Highlands, Hurricane Sandy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

FEMA Website Provides A Resource For Sandy Survivors To Find Rentals

LINCROFT,  N.J. – Families and individuals in New Jersey who are registered for federal disaster assistance and need a place to live can search through hundreds of rental listings on the FEMA Housing Portal.

 

The FEMA Housing Portal consolidates rental resources identified and provided by federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA), and also lists rental properties provided by private organizations and property owners willing to help their neighbors during these difficult times.

 

FEMA recommends that those who use the portal contact the number on the listing prior to traveling to the location of the property to make sure the property is still available. This site is updated regularly, but available housing units are being filled continuously so FEMA encourages users to check back often for the most current information.

Posted: November 19th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: FEMA, Hurricane Sandy, Press Release | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

Monmouth County Businesses Rebuilding Conference Call Scheduled for Monday November 19 at 4 PM

FREEHOLD, NJ – Monmouth County business owners can be part of a teleconference call at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19 where they can find out about the various programs, support services and opportunities available to them as they recover from Super storm Sandy.

 

“Monmouth County’s businesses are working hard to get back in action after Sandy,” Freeholder Deputy Director Thomas A. Arnone said. “This conference call will provide business leaders with critical information and updates about resources that can and will assist them with their recovery efforts.”

 

The hour-long Business Rebuilding Call is being presented by the county’s division of Economic Development and will include information about the federal and state business disaster relief programs, tax assessment basics for commercial properties and more.

To access the Business Rebuilding Call on Monday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m., dial 559-726-1300; access code is # 147878.

 

For questions or assistance, please contact Monmouth County Division of Economic Development at 732-431-7470 or [email protected].

 

“Businesses and home owners who have had losses due to Super storm Sandy, must register with FEMA by Dec. 31, 2012 to be eligible for any federal assistance,” Arnone said. “This is the first step our businesses must take on this road to recovery.”

 

After registering with FEMA, business owners can visit the local Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) in Monmouth County for more information. The locations are:

  • Belmar Municipal Building, 601 Main St., Belmar, NJ 07719
  • Henry Hudson Trail Activity Center, 945 Hwy 36, Leonardo, NJ 07737 (Atlantic Highlands/ Middletown border)
  • Union Beach Municipal Building, 650 Poole Ave., Union Beach, NJ 07735

 

The DRCs are open daily from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Posted: November 18th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: FEMA, Hurricane Sandy, Monmouth County, Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, Press Release, Tom Arnone | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Governor Christie on Saturday Night Live

Posted: November 18th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Christie, Hurricane Sandy, Saturday Night Live | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments »

Christie: Fort Monmouth Housing Will Be Determined By Lottery

Governor Chris Christie said at a press conference this afternoon that utilities will be connected to homes at Fort Monmouth this weekend and that New Jersey residents that were displaced by Hurricane Sandy should be able to start moving into the temporary housing sometime next week.

The governor said that “some type of lottery system” being developed by the Department of Community Affairs will be employed to select residents who will move onto the fort, because the demand of tempory housing is expected to exceed the supply.

The governor went on to explain that officials are assessing the need for housing this week by interviewing people still in shelters and surveying local officials.

Christie called the press conference to announced that he met with the four leaders of the legislature, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, JR and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, who all agreed that the states efforts to recover and rebuild from Sandy will not get bogged down in partisanship.

Christie’s press conference can be viewed here:

Watch live streaming video from governorchrischristie at livestream.com

 

UPDATE

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that resident selection for temporary housing must comply with FEMA rules and that specifics of when, how and who will be moved into Fort Monmouth is expected to be worked out within a few days.

Posted: November 13th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Hurricane Sandy, NJ State Legislature | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Christie: Fort Monmouth Housing Will Be Determined By Lottery

Governor Christie recalls 9 year old Ginger from Middletown and other New Jersey faces impacted by Sandy

Posted: November 12th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Christie, Hurricane Sandy | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

Trucks from Washington DC Bring Donated Goods to Jersey Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Donations Arrive at Salvation Army Warehouse in Trenton En Route to Shore Areas
Trenton, NJ, Nov 11 – Two packed trucks—loaded with donations for New Jersey victims of Hurricane Sandy— arrived in Trenton today and were unloaded by a group of volunteers, including Congressman Chris Smith (Robbinsville, NJ), whose district was pummeled by the hurricane.
This is a wonderful act of goodwill and charity on the part of many who want to help New Jersey victims of Hurricane Sandy,” Smith said. “It is truly heart-felt. On behalf of the people of the Fourth Congressional District and all the hard hits areas of New Jersey, I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. LaTourette of Ohio, the Chesterbrook Elementary School, Gentle Giant Moving Company and the American Trucking Association and all those who made contributions for collecting and shipping these donations to New Jersey. I am extremely appreciative to Maj. Phil Davis of the Salvation Army and his workers who helped unload the trucks and will help make these items available to the victims of Sandy.”
Smith, who represents Trenton as well as large Jersey Shore areas in Monmouth and Ocean counties, helped unload two trucks alongside the drivers, Salvation Army workers and other volunteers at the Salvation Army’s warehouse on Enterprise Avenue in Trenton.
U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette (OH-14), who is retiring from Congress at the end of the year, and his wife Jennifer and their two children, helped coordinate the effort through their school, sending a total of three trucks. Cong. LaTourette’s Washington office is down the hall from Cong. Smith’s office. After viewing some of the carnage at the Jersey Shore, they decided to offer to collect goods for the victims.
The first truck arrived Wednesday night at a Monmouth County staging area in Lincroft, N.J. Drivers braved the heavy snowfall that totaled over a foot of snow in some areas of Smith’s district from the powerful Nor’easter that followed a week after Hurricane Sandy. The snow storm hampered hurricane relief efforts, including causing a power outage at the Lincroft site that left the drivers out in the cold to sleep overnight in a Lincroft parking lot. The following morning, the drivers were assisted by hard-working county employees from the parks and recreation departments to unload the donations.
The Salvation Army, which runs a relief operation in Monmouth County, sorts through donated items at its Trenton warehouse for redistribution at the Jersey Shore. Donations included bottled water, blankets, winter coats and cleaning supplies (such as new brooms, mops and cleaning chemicals) and other goods.
Posted: November 12th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Smith, Hurricane Sandy, Press Release | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Hope for Highlands

 

Just 200 feet from where the guts of their homes are piled a story high and a block wide, the residents of Highlands took a break from their clean up today and came together in Huddy Park to enjoy the gorgeous weather, good food and music and to smile, laugh, cry, and look forward to rebuilding their community.

With music provided by Carl Gentry, Mary McCrink, Dave McCarthy and Kristian Rex, weary and waterlogged Highlanders greeted each other with tired smiles and warm embraces as they stood in line to enjoy the $10,000 worth of food donated by Boardwalk Sausage of Neptune.  The outdoor kitchen was provided and staffed by the business owners, employees and volunteers of the Highlands Business Partnership(HBP).

HPB, a 501 c-3, has established a fund, Hope for Highlands to accept tax deductable contributions to support the community’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy.  $6,672 was raised today at the event.

Tax deductable contributions to Hope for Highlands can be mailed to PO Box 375, Highlands, NJ 07732.  For additional information about the fund, call 732-291-4713.

 

Posted: November 11th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Highlands, Hurricane Sandy | Tags: , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »

Governor Christie Announces Extension of 100% Cost Share for State Recovery and Restoration Efforts

FEMA Approves 5 Additional Days of Full Reimbursement for Emergency Power Restoration and Transportation Assistance in Hard Hit New Jersey Communities

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that President Barack Obama has approved a 5-day extension of the federal cost share for Hurricane Sandy, from 75 percent to 100 percent for emergency power restoration and emergency public transportation assistance, including direct federal assistance, for those areas of New Jersey within counties designated for public assistance.

 

“I want to thank the federal government for the continued responsiveness to the needs of New Jersey as recovery efforts continue – particularly this extension which recognizes the additional challenges posed by the winter nor’easter and our ability to make full and proper use of the initial 100 percent reimbursement approved by the President on November 1st,” said Governor Christie. “As we continue to make progress after each of those storms to restore power and get people’s lives back to normal as much as we can, this assistance will remain critical to our recovery and clean-up efforts.”

 

The previously approved increase of reimbursement authority will now continue through November 14th, rather than expire yesterday as previously schedule. This increased level of federal assistance program pertains to those areas of New Jersey that were previously declared a federal disaster area, including Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties. Other forms of Category B assistance remain at a 75% cost share, consistent with the initial approval of assistance.

 

More information on the original November 1st approval of 100% cost share for these expenses can be found here.

Posted: November 11th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chris Christie, FEMA, Hurricane Sandy, Press Release | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »