Grant to  Help Prepare Coastal Communities for Climate Change; Funding Includes $100,000 from NOAA
 JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced today the City of Jersey City has been selected by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to receive a $100,000 grant to fund a groundbreaking project that will identify flood-risk pathways into Jersey City as well as potential mitigation strategies with the Stevens Institute of Technology and the NJ Sea Grant Consortium called “Collaborative Climate Adaptation Planning for Urban Coastal Flooding.â€
           Mayor Mark A. Smith announced that the City of Bayonne will be rolling out a program called municipal aggregation that will cut residents’ electric bills. Mayor Smith said, “Recent changes in state law allow the municipality to negotiate on behalf of all energy customers in Bayonne and to receive a reduced bulk rate for electric bills. At its June meeting, the City Council passed my proposal to enable the City of Bayonne to start energy competition through aggregation. We are excited about beginning this new, cost-saving program that will help our entire community.†Continue reading Smith Program Will Slash Your Energy Bill,Savings Could Be Up to 20%→
Mayor Mark A. Smith announced that the City of Bayonne will host a Medicare open enrollment event on Wednesday, October 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., in the City Council Chambers, at 630 Avenue C.  The event will give Medicare patients the opportunity to compare plans, and make sure that they have the right health and prescription drug coverage.  It is time for Medicare patients to review their Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.  It is also time to consider health insurance that works with Medicare, including Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans. Patients may stay with their current plan if they are happy with it, or look for a new one with better coverage, higher quality, and lower cost.
The Medicare Open Enrollment period began on October 15 and runs through December 7, 2013.  New enrollments will take effect on January 1, 2014.
Representatives of the Bayonne Office On Aging and the Hudson County Senior Health Insurance Plan will be on hand to assist the public.
For more information, please call the Bayonne Office On Aging at 201-858-6119.
City to Hold Meeting on Special Needs Sports Program
Willie McBride’s is a local Irish styled Bar & Grill in Hoboken. It exudes fun. A place to unwind from a hectic day over a cold beer, or cocktail before dinner. On Fridays, and Saturdays McBride’s offers live bands and dancing. If you, and some good friends want to listen and rock to some of the best bands around call McBride’s, and their limo shuttle will pick up you, and your friends for free.
The staff is very congenial at Willie Mc Bride’s, and the weekend crowds are an interesting mix of young professionals.
This bar/club is off the beaten path but worth the taxi ride if you can’t get the free limo. It’s a wonderful place to relax, mingle and meet new people. McBrides features a full bar serving a variety of drinks for your pleasure and you will find them to be delicious and reasonably priced.
If you want a deal get the $19. Special per person and get a 3-hour open bar with cover charge included.
  Kooky Characters Come to Life as Local Live Theaters Begin New Seasons
 BY SALLY DEERING
Â
Clay and Sandy Cockrell Production Director at J CITY Theater rehearse a scene from APARTMENT 3 A
Culture flourishes in Hudson with art, music and dance performances happening throughout its cities. We also have some terrific live theater groups putting on shows for adults and kids and the new season is now kicking off, like J CITY Theater’s production of APARTMENT 3A. Along with J CITY Theater, the Attic Ensemble in Jersey City is celebrating 43 years as a community theater and the Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken opens its season with a wink to the kids in its production of the Broadway play A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD.
Here’s a closer look at some local theater companies and their upcoming shows. Why not check out a performance or two? You’ll be supporting local theater and those artists who may work in the cultural milieu of New York City and who also nourish the cultural fabric of Hudson’s community
CRAZY DOES IT ON LIVE TV
Producing Director of the J CITY Theater Clay Cockrell and his wife Sandy Cockrell, who is the company’s Artistic Director are thrilled to be back on the boards after almost a year-long hiatus brought on by Hurricane Sandy. (See our interview with Clay Cockrell following this story.)
This marks J CITY Theater’s 8th season of presenting popular and contemporary plays on the stage of the theater which is located in the basement of St. Michael’s RC Church facing Hamilton Park in Jersey City. The company recently opened its season with APARTMENT 3A, a romantic comedy about a public television employee who loses her faith in God, men and public broadcasting. As the heroine takes a ride on the romance rollercoaster, she eventually has an on-camera meltdown during a pledge drive which leads to pandemonium and hilarity. The play runs through Oct. 26 and features Sandy Cockrell, Stephen Hope, Randall Marquez and Clay Cockrell. Stage Manager is Jack Vandewark and Tech Director is Nick Probst; Jacquelyn Bird is choreographer. Continue reading LIVE THEATER -A FROG, DETECTIVE AND HAMLET, TOO!→
  Michelle Mandaro and her Family fill Shoeboxes with Holiday Gifts for Underprivileged Children
 By Sally Deering
Michelle Mandaro and her children Alexander 9 and Emilie 7 collect items all year long for Christmas Shoeboxes
Â
Not all shoeboxes are the same; some hold heels, some hold sneakers; while still others hold toothbrushes, combs, socks and a whole lot of love.
Since 1993, more than 100 million children have received shoeboxes through Operation Christmas Child, a project from the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.com) with more than 100,000 volunteers creating and distributing the shoeboxes  filled with trinkets to put a smile on a child’s face Christmas morning.
Operation Christmas Child brings shoeboxes filled with trinkets – both the necessary and the fun kind – to underprivileged children throughout the country. Participating for the fifth year are Michelle Mandaro – owner of Amelia’s Bistro in Jersey City – her 9 year-old son Alexander, and 7 year-old daughter Emilie.
“My sister-in-law Fortune Mandaro has been doing it for 20 years,†Michelle Mandaro says. “This is my fifth year doing it with my my children. Last year we created 54 shoeboxes and this year we’re making 60. My kids love shopping for the boxes they love stuffing the boxes, they write letters to the children and they receive letters back.â€
“We had fun with the fusion of Mexican and American.†Mendelsohn says, giving a visitor a tour of the restaurant. “The most prime example on our menu would be the Casa Gringo. We took the most common American dish, mac and cheese, and incorporated it with chipotle and Mexican cheese sauce. As a special we did a Mexican version of classic fried chicken. We marinated the chicken in a number of different herbs and chilies and our breading had cinnamon and sugar. It was sweet and salty. We took something fun and twisted it; that was a huge hit.â€
JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced today the administration’s plans to bring redevelopment to Journal Square, with a $600 million, three-tower residential project near the PATH station.
The project, by KRE Developers, will see three residential towers rise behind the Journal Square PATH station – on Summit Avenue between Pavonia and Magnolia Avenues. The three-phase project, called Journal Squared, will result in 1,840 market-rate units, as well as 36,000 square feet of retail space. Approximately 700 construction jobs will be created during each of the three phases, with ground expected to be broken later this year on the first phase.
JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the City of Jersey City will file a brief in Hudson County Superior Court at noon today seeking a waiver of the 72-hour waiting period for marriage licenses so that same-sex couples may begin to marry at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 21st.
 On Sept. 27th, Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson granted an emergency request by six gay couples, ordering state officials to begin officiating same-sex marriages on Monday, October 21st. Her ruling was on the grounds it denied those couples federal benefits by only allowing civil unions.
“This is a civil rights issue and we are seeking legal action on behalf of our constituents whose rights currently are being infringed by the state administration with their delay tactics,†said Mayor Fulop. “Jersey City has the largest LGBT community in New Jersey and we are intending on being the first to issue licenses and perform weddings on Monday. The courts have spoke and marriage equality is coming to the Garden State. As elected officials we should be doing everything in our power to ensure all of our residents have the same rights.â€
Want to read our print publication? Very simple look to the right hand column and click our publication.
Read our stories, click our advertisers links and if you like what you see like us on facebook by scrolling down the right column and clicking on to our facebook page.
Thanks if you do -The River View Team
A lifestyle and entertainment publication serving the Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne, Weehawken, West New York, North Bergen, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Secaucus and Guttenberg Waterfront Communities
 JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced today the City of Jersey City has been selected by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to receive a $100,000 grant to fund a groundbreaking project that will identify flood-risk pathways into Jersey City as well as potential mitigation strategies with the Stevens Institute of Technology and the NJ Sea Grant Consortium called “Collaborative Climate Adaptation Planning for Urban Coastal Flooding.â€
