You are invited to a joyful, hope-filled Easter Service at 16th Street Park, Bayonne, on Sunday, April 20, at 10:30 AM!
Join us as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus together, with uplifting worship music, a vibrant and welcoming community, and an encouraging message of hope that will speak to every heart. It will be a morning of joy, connection, and celebration for all ages!
Whether you’re exploring faith, returning to church, or simply looking for an Easter service to attend, come as you are! We want to welcome you!
Chairs will be set up, but feel free to bring lawn chairs or blankets. There will be space for kids to move around, the backdrop for photos, and coffee and light refreshments.
Hosted by Global Harvest Fellowship. For more information or weather updates, visit www.ghf.church.
In case of rain, two services will be held at Global Harvest’s building at 65 W 15th Street (8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.).
Come experience the hope, joy, and new life Jesus Christ brings through His resurrection!
This month, much of the world will celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, the anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity in the fifth century after Christ.
Today, there are well over seventy million people around the world of Irish descent. For Irish-Americans, this feast day is a time for us to celebrate the contributions that Irish immigrants and their descendants have made to this country.
There is scarcely an area of American life that has not been touched by Irish-Americans. Just to take a recent example, a few weeks ago, the NBC television network celebrated the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. During its history, that show has featured such Irish-American cast members as Jane Curtin, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Farley, Colin Quinn, Molly Shannon, Julia Sweeney, and Nora Dunn, among others. Martin Short, another former cast member, is Irish-Canadian.
Elsewhere in television, Irish-Americans have made their mark as great talk show hosts: Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas (real name: Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr.), and Jimmy Fallon (after leaving Saturday NightLive).
The ancestors of many American presidents came from Ireland: John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama (on his mother’s side), Richard Nixon, James K. Polk, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Ulysses Grant, William McKinley, and others.
Here in Bayonne, the Irish began arriving in large numbers in the 1800’s. Most came here with very little money and a willingness to work hard. Many of the early Irish immigrants lived in the old Fourth Ward (now part of the First Ward) in the Bergen Point area. Bayonne’s Irish-American community has been noted for its large presence in the government sector. Irish-American elected officials, police officers, firefighters, civil servants, school administrators, and teachers have played major roles in our city’s history.
Wherever the Irish have gone, they have brought their religious faith, great music, and gift for language with them. The Irish also carry memories of suffering from religious persecution, poverty, foreign occupation, and the Great Hunger of 1845-51.
Millions of Irish-Americans are grateful for the opportunities this country has provided. Irish-Americans should be proud of our progress in this country and of our cultural heritage.
On Sunday, March 23, when Bayonne is having our annual St. Patrick’s Parade. We begin marching at 1:00 p.m. at 5th Street and Broadway. The parade will move up Broadway to 39th Street. It will move westward on 39th Street to Avenue C, and then will march northward up Avenue C to the viewing stand between 40th and 41st Streets. Finally, the parade will finish up in the front portion of Gregg-Bayonne County Park. I look forward to seeing you at the parade!
One of Bayonne’s Best, an International World Karate Champion and Author who is renowned across the globe, Grandmaster Austin Wright Sr. is one of America’s Okinawa Isshin Ryu Karate Legends.
Sensei Wright recently graced the pages of this month’s International Martial Arts magazine and Deadly Art of Survival Magazine(DAOS) magazine, which is a testament to his enduring legacy in combat arts. His seminal work, “The Universal Warrior Arts System,” stands as a beacon of wisdom, guiding countless young and old aspirants on their journey to mastery.
With each turn of its pages, a new generation of black belts embraces the profound teachings of ancient martial prowess and self-defense, embodying the spirit of the Universal Warrior Arts System – Spiritually Motivating Inspiration for Self Defense and his personal success story.
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.
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.”
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.
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