Tag Archives: River View Observer

General

Sally Deering’s SUPERSTORM SANDY

DAY 4, THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

 

Photo by Newsboi

(Weehawken, NJ) It’s Friday, four days since we Jerseyans woke up to the nightmare of Superstorm Sandy and still 1.4 million New Jersey residents and businesses are without electricity. One harrowing scene after the other is broadcast on TV and the Internet and those of us with power are not only living through this, we’re seeing what our neighbors just a few miles away are dealing with, and it’s devastating. 

There has been so much heartbreak throughout New Jersey, but seeing sections of the Jersey Shore floating in the Atlantic was the saddest. Seaside Heights is gone, just gone. Atlantic City lost sections of its beach and boardwalk and little Asbury Park which has been going through a renaissance took some hard knocks, too.  To us Jersey folks, ‘The Shore’ is a living scrapbook of our childhood memories, teenage romances; days away from the urban landscape with friends and time with our kids and their kids who will follow us in our sandy footsteps. Seeing these popular shore places torn to bits has given all us Jerseyans a heavy heart. Continue reading Sally Deering’s SUPERSTORM SANDY →

Dining

RESTAURANT VIEWS- EXECUTIVE CHEF MICHAEL COLETTI- VB3 RESTAURANT, JERSEY CITY

As part of our Ten Ingreditent series where Sally Deering our Senior Writer  interviews  the Chef’s that oversee the kitchens of some of the finest restaurants in Hudson County -we present Chef Michael Coletti of VB3 Restaurant

Ten Ingredients

By Sally Deering

VB3 on Washington Boulevard in downtown Jersey City features theVB3 Pizzeria where office workers and neighborhood residents dash in for a slice or a pie; and the VB3 dining room and lounge with the sexiest bar in Jersey City. It’s an eye-catching island of dark wood with a surface of “orange liquid lava” and bar stools with bright-orange backs and faux leopard print seats.  No detail in this beautiful restaurant has been overlooked by Owner and Executive Chef Michael Colletti, General Managers Giuseppi “Little Joe” Russo and Giuseppi “Big Joe” Russo; and business partners Gary Leff and Ricky Leff. This team put heart and soul into the place and it shows.

Chef Colletti, 29, attended the Culinary Education Center in Asbury Park and after graduation worked at the prestigious Le Cirque and then Chef de Cuisine at Mai House. After five years in New York, Chef Colletti joined his friend and celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn at the Sunnyside Group and helped him open Good Stuff Eatery in Washington D.C. In 2010, Colletti and Mendelsohn appeared in “Iron Chef” competing in “Battle Proscuitto” against world famous chef Michael Symon. Chef Colletti also cooked for President Barack Obama and his staff at The White House.

Let’s meet Chef Colletti!

RVO:  Chef Colletti, can you tell our readers a little about your background?

CC:  My family is from Sicily. My father moved here at 14 and I was raised in Elizabeth. My grandfather would be in the garden all day and my grandmother would cook in the kitchen. There would be 20 of us in the kitchen – we’re a big Italian family. Continue reading RESTAURANT VIEWS- EXECUTIVE CHEF MICHAEL COLETTI- VB3 RESTAURANT, JERSEY CITY →

General

Our latest Digital Issue is Here March 28 to April 12th

Check out our latest Digital Issue by clicking on the newspaper on the right hand panel of this website.

When browsing our Digital Issue you will find hot links to advertiser websites and to find out more information in our stories.

We welcome your comments -so let us know what you think of our publication.

– The River View Team

River View Observer-Print- Digital -Mobile: “We go where you go to read.”

General

Hudson Then . . . Again – Women’s Suffrage Movement 19th and Early 20th Century

By Maureen Wlodarczyk

With about 8 months to go until the presidential election, the raging rhetoric and political pontification threatens to leave potential voters tone-deaf, disgusted, and dubious that their vote matters. That being said, it will do us all good to remember the struggle of one group of Americans desperate to have that right to vote: the ladies of the women’s suffrage movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Suffrage Leader Alice Paul

 As early as the 1850s, with the cry “Votes for Women,” suffragettes banded together in pursuit of a place at the ballot box, led by movement pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Success remained elusive and as the quest for universal suffrage struggled on at the dawn of the

In the second decade of the 1900s, one Hudson newspaper carried a column titled “Woman’s Suffrage Forum,” a  regular feature that included information on local women’s suffrage lectures, events, news and campaigns and also reported national progress as individual states voted for (or against) extending the right to vote to female residents. In 1915, New Jersey suffrage supporters succeeded in getting the question on a statewide referendum to be voted on in October of that year. In August, as the election drew near and a woman’s right to vote in New Jersey lay in the hands of the men of our state, the pages of local papers carried news of the upcoming arrival of the “suffrage torch” in Jersey City. The torch, symbolically unlit to represent the enlightenment that would come from granting we Jersey girls the right to vote, was to travel throughout the state to raise awareness and popular support for the upcoming suffrage amendment vote. The torch’s travels across the Garden State were to be accompanied by celebrations and ceremonies attended by politicians, prominent citizens and the leaders and members of the Women’s Political Union (WPU).  Continue reading Hudson Then . . . Again – Women’s Suffrage Movement 19th and Early 20th Century →

General

Hudson Then…Again -The Gang that Terrorized Downtown Jersey City in the Late 1800s

The Lava Beds/ Featherstone Gang of the late 1800s and Downtown Jersey City

By Maureen Wlodarczyk

Super Bowl Sunday did not disappoint this year as Big Blue did Jersey proud. For Gang Green fans, there’s always next year. Speaking of gangs, I want to tell you the story of a very different gang of men, the criminal kind, that roamed the streets of Jersey City in the 1800s.

James Featherstone

While New York had its infamous gangs like those depicted in the memorable film, Gangs of New York, its neighbor was no different.  In the 19th century, Jersey City was home to many gangs who claimed specific streets and neighborhoods as their turf. These hoodlums instilled fear in residents and business owners, committing robbery, burglary, assault, extortion and even murder. Those they victimized were afraid to testify against them, making it difficult for law enforcement to arrest and incarcerate them. One of the worst of these Jersey City gangs was the Lava Beds, also known as the Featherstone gang, which operated in what was then the Sixth Ward, a poor immigrant neighborhood. Continue reading Hudson Then…Again -The Gang that Terrorized Downtown Jersey City in the Late 1800s →

Art Views, Our Community

From Across the River: Images and Reflections of September 11th from the Jersey Side

By Sally Deering

aug-28-fromacrosstheriverOn the morning of the 9/11 attack, Jersey City photographer Sandra Swieder grabbed her camera and notebook and headed to the waterfront where she captured the heroic rescue and recovery efforts of firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, EMTs and other volunteers. In the days and months that followed, Swieder continued to photograph and collect stories from survivors, witnesses and emergency responders this side of the Hudson.

 On Sept. 1 and running through Sept. 15, Art House Productions, a non-profit organization committed to the development and presentation of performing and visual arts in Jersey City presents “From Across the River,” a photography exhibition by Swieder that captures the events of September 11th from the New Jersey perspective. Continue reading From Across the River: Images and Reflections of September 11th from the Jersey Side →

Hollyworld-Inside the biz of showbiz, Hot Topics In the News

65th Tony Awards- River View Observer was there!






Actress Tammy Blanchard at the 65th Tony Awards
Actress Tammy Blanchard at the 65th Tony Awards

On Sunday June 12th the 65th Annual Tony Awards were held at the Beacon Theater and our Photographer Steve Mack was there to capture all the excitement.
Hudson County Nominee Tammy Blanchard arrived at the Red Carpet as did Al Puccino, Christie Brinkley, Lynn Redgrave, Kelsey Grammer, Brooke Shields, John Legusiamo, and others.

See all the photo’s by Steveamack.com

tony-awards-al-puccino

 

Education

Saint Peter’s College Launches Largest Capital Campaign in the College’s History

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Students at the Center: The Campaign for Saint Peter’s College to Raise $62 Million to Benefit Fundamental Elements Including Academics, Jesuit Mission, Athletics, Endowment and the
Construction of the College’s First Ever Student Center

Jersey City, N.J. – May 7, 2011 – Saint Peter’s College has officially launched the public phase of the most transformational capital campaign the College has ever seen, Students at the Center: The Campaign for Saint Peter’s College. With a minimum goal of $62 million, the construction of the College’s first ever student center stands at the heart of this comprehensive Campaign. In addition, the Campaign will help to grow the College’s endowment and The Saint Peter Fund, formerly known as the annual fund, as well as invest in Saint Peter’s Jesuit mission and identity, academics and athletics. Continue reading Saint Peter’s College Launches Largest Capital Campaign in the College’s History →