Pictured here, members of the Hudson County Community College Class of 2024 School of Business graduates at their commencement ceremony at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. Only 21 colleges in the United States earned this national recognition.
From Main Street to Wall Street, small business and Fortune 500 companies that value educated and knowledgeable workforces attract and retain talent, develop innovative ideas and solutions, and boost profitability. Businesses and organizations employ people with broad perspectives and experiences to help strengthen their reach, build public trust, and improve branding.
High school seniors and juniors who live in Bayonne are invited to take part in the statewide Louis Bay Future Municipal Leaders Scholarship Competition. The local competition is open to high school juniors and seniors who are Bayonne residents who plan to continue their education after high school. This scholarship is sponsored statewide by the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, which is offering three $1,000 scholarships to winners from across the state.
The purpose of this scholarship is to advance the virtues of elected and volunteer positions in municipal government while raising awareness of municipal government in general. The scholarship competition is named in honor of Louis Bay II, former Mayor of Hawthorne, New Jersey.
Qualified students who are residents of Bayonne need to do two things to enter the scholarship contest: 1) Fill out an application form, which is available at the Office of the Mayor. 2) Write an essay on the theme “What I Like About My Hometown.” The essay should be based on the student’s perceptions and experiences with the City of Bayonne’s local government. The essay should consider the public contributions of Bayonne’s municipal government. The essay’s length should be approximately 500 words. Essays must be submitted to Bayonne’s Office of the Mayor by Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 4:30 p.m., along with the application form.
Judging will be based solely on the essay. Please do not include any other information such as transcripts or references. Judging criteria will include the appropriateness of the essay’s theme; effective articulation of the theme; originality; technical composition; spelling; and syntax.
A committee will judge the essays submitted by Bayonne resident students. The Bayonne committee will select the winning local entry. By Tuesday, April 1, that entry will be sent to the New Jersey State League of Municipalities in Trenton, along with a list of all other entrants, who will receive certificates of participation. In early May, the League of Municipalities will announce fifteen statewide finalists and three statewide winners. Later in May, awards will be presented to the three scholarship winners around the state.
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities helps communities do a better job of self-government through pooling information, resources, and brainpower. The League has been serving local officials throughout New Jersey since 1915. The highlight of the League’s activities is its annual conference, which is held each November at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Donation to special needs sports: The Winning Events Group, which creates local health and wellness events, has donated $1,000 to the special needs sports programs sponsored by the Bayonne Recreation Division. The donation will go towards the purchase of special needs sports equipment. Pictured left to right: Bayonne Recreation Superintendent Pete Amadeo, Winning Events Group CEO Elvi Guzman, and Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis.
Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the Winning Events Group has donated $1,000 to the special needs sports program of the Bayonne Recreation Division. The Winning Events Group, which is based in Hudson County, creates local events to support health and fitness programs in communities in Hudson County and New York City.
Elvi Guzman, the CEO of the Winning Events Group, said that the funds for the donation came from the Turkey Trot, a run in Gregg-Bayonne County Park on November 27, 2024. He said that 378 runners took part in that event.
Mayor Davis and Pete Amadeo, Superintendent of the Bayonne Recreation Division, thanked the Winning Events Group for its contribution to the special needs program. Superintendent Amadeo said that the donation would be used for special needs sports equipment.
Founded in 2013, the Winning Events Group states on its website that it has donated over $800,000 to charity since it started.
Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the City of Bayonne website has added a link to obituaries provided by five local funeral homes. Mayor Davis said, “Later this week, the Jersey Journal will go out of business. As a result, there will be no English-language daily newspaper based in Hudson County. Obituaries have been an important feature of the Jersey Journal and other newspapers for generations.”
Mayor Davis continued, “To make up for the coming absence of local newspaper obituaries, the City of Bayonne has contacted local funeral homes, offering to provide links to their obituaries on our municipal website, www.bayonnenj.org.” The obituary link feature will be available through a grey-and-white heading on the right-hand side of the City of Bayonne website homepage.
As of Monday, January 27, five local funeral homes have provided the City of Bayonne with links to their obituaries. Those funeral homes are Bayonne Memorial Home, Caiola Stellato and Koch Funeral Home, Dworzanski and Son Funeral Home, Migliaccio Funeral Home and Cremation Services, and West Funeral Home and Cremation Services LLC. Mayor Davis said, “We would like to thank these five funeral homes for participating in this new obituary program. We would welcome the participation of other local funeral homes in this obituary link service.” He invited other local funeral homes to email the appropriate link to their obituaries to mayors.office@bayonnenj.orgor jryan@baynj.org.
One in three Americans (32%) is uncomfortable discussing finances in their relationship, according to new research.
A survey of 2,000 Americans in a relationship, including 500 in a cross-border relationship (meaning that they have a partner currently living in another country) found that of those uncomfortable speaking with their significant other about money, almost half (44%) worry that discussing finances in their relationship will lead to disagreements.
This is understandable, as the average couple surveyed reported having 58 money-related arguments per year. Disagreements are more common for those in a cross-border relationship, who average 72 arguments per year compared to 53 for couples who live in the same country.
Mayor Davis signs purchase and sale agreement: Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis signs purchase and sale agreement for buying back a parcel of land from the Port Authority for a ferry terminal. Pictured left to right: Joseph Skillender, Jr., Bayonne Director of Planning, Zoning and Development, and Mayor Jimmy Davis.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis has signed the purchase and sale agreement to repurchase a parcel of land from the Port Authority for a ferry terminal. Mayor Davis said, “I am very happy that we are one step closer to completing this real estate transaction, which will help us achieve our goal of ferry service for the people of Bayonne.”
For a purchase price of $4.4 million, the City of Bayonne has obtained 2.3 acres at the former Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY), which juts out two miles into Upper New York Bay from Bayonne’s eastern waterfront. Of that parcel, 1.6 acres will provide space for the ferry terminal and parking. The remaining 0.7 acre will continue the Hudson Riverfront Walkway along the southern shore of the former MOTBY. An adjoining private property owner, Lincoln Equities, is contributing an acre of additional land for the ferry project in return for building the UPS Facility. The terminal will be located about halfway out the former MOTBY, approximately one mile east of the Bayonne mainland.
Plans for the ferry terminal are in the final design phase. The parking lot for the ferry passengers is expected to be 1.4 acres in size, with approximately 130 parking spaces. The number of parking spaces will depend on design, layout, drainage requirements, and other factors. The City of Bayonne has issued a request for proposals/request for qualifications (RFP/RFQ) for constructing the ferry building and operating the terminal.
In a previous attempt at establishing a ferry service, the City of Bayonne selected Seastreak as the operator. However, the time for that selection expired, so the City of Bayonne has gone out to bid again for a ferry operator. The municipality’s goal is to select a ferry company by March or April 2025.
Mayor Davis concluded, “I am very happy that we have the contract with Port Authority to buy this land so that Bayonne will have our own terminal and control our own destiny. This purchase will make it easier for us to achieve our goal of ferry service for our great community.”
In his live-streamed address, Mayor Fulop celebrated the historic progress made over the past 12 years in office, raising the bar for what governments can achieve at every level and establishing Jersey City as the economic backbone for the state of New Jersey.
Mayor Fulop credited the community partnerships, department leaders, and city employees for driving progress and putting the administration’s bold ideas into action. “Twelve years ago, we set out to make Jersey City a model for urban success. Today, we stand together as a city transformed, a place where families thrive, businesses flourish, and opportunities exist for everyone.”
Notable 2024 highlights from the State of the City address include:
Recently, in the Bayonne City Council Chambers, the Bayonne Fire Department held a ceremony for six new battalion chiefs and eleven new captains. The promotions took place to refill the ranks following recent retirements in the department.
New Bayonne Fire Department Battalion Chiefs: Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Fire Department leadership posed with the department’s newly promoted battalion chiefs (BC’s). Pictured left to right: Mayor Jimmy Davis, Fire Chief Keith Weaver, BC Christopher Czuba, BC Theodore Wolf, BC Michael Smith, BC Edward Ratyniak, BC Roger Nunez, BC Marcial Pivano, Deputy Fire Chief William Bartos, and Public Safety Director Robert Kubert.
New Bayonne Fire Department Captains: Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Fire Department leadership posed with the department’s new captains: Mayor Davis, Fire Chief Keith Weaver, Captain Steven Pilanski, Captain Timothy Lynch, Captain James Pilger, Captain David Sisk, Captain Brian Petty, Captain Jeffrey Spengler, Captain Thomas Weber, Captain Richard Baccarella, Captain Michael Visone, Captain Brian Cotter, Captain Kevin Pietranico, Deputy Chief William Bartos, and Public Safety Director Robert Kubert.
The new battalion chiefs are Christopher Czuba, Theodore Wolf, Michael Smith, Edward Ratyniak, Roger Nunez, and Marcial Pivano.
Battalion Chief Christopher Czuba is a graduate of Bayonne High School. He earned a degree in HVAC Technology at Lincoln Technical Institute. He was appointed to the Bayonne Fire Department in 1999. His extensive training and certifications include: Hazardous Material Tech, Confined Space, Fire Officer 2, Fire Official, and Fire Investigator. He has earned several awards including Unit Citations for rescue on June 6, 2004 on 30th St. and Kennedy Blvd., and a Team Effort Award from the Cooperman Barnabas Burn Center for the rescue of a person who was trapped in rising floodwaters of Hurricane Ida in September 2021.
On Monday, January 20, we will observe the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday. This day should remind us about his life’s mission – equality for all Americans. By backing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Dr. King fought for equal rights for all Americans, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, or national origin.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is not simply a figure from the past. Fifty-seven years after his death, Dr. King’s words and actions remain relevant to today’s issues. Recent acts of violence that were rooted in religious and racial hatred reminded us all that Dr. King’s work remains to be fulfilled. Across the country over the years, Americans have been killed, just because they were Black, White, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian, Native American, gay, or members of other groups. The hatred and the violence must stop.
Now, more than ever, we need to respect each other. Now, more than ever, we must become neighbors. Now, more than ever, we must work together to become one nation. As Americans, we have roots in many countries around the world. As Dr. King said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” We must not remain in our silos, caring only about ourselves. Dr. King pointed out that “life’s most persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
During Dr. King’s lifetime, Americans tended to think about better community relations as having mostly to do with Blacks and Whites, Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. Since his passing, our country has become much more diverse. We have more people here now from many other ethnic, racial, and religious groups. The same principles I discussed above still apply to how we should behave towards each other, now with more groups than we had in the 1960’s. Accepting each other, regardless of our ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds, and gender or orientation, remains the great challenge of American life.
John Hume, a Catholic civil rights and political leader from Northern Ireland, was inspired by Dr. King. Mr. Hume said, “Difference is the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth, and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”
The first step towards a better nation is to recognize everyone who lives here as our fellow Americans.
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