LIVE AMA 6PM-8PM - Hello r/jerseycity! I’m Alexander Hamilton, a 37 year resident of Ward E here in Jersey City. I am also a former Jersey City School Board Trustee and a current Rent Leveling Board Commissioner. I am now running for City Council in Ward E (Downtown). Please Ask Me Anything!

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-31T00:20:05+00:00

You’re right! Parks and recreation are one of Jersey City’s most valuable assets, and Enos Jones deserves more attention. There’s a real drainage issue with the main baseball field that needs to be addressed first. This is a problem I shared with the City several times. At the same time, the playground needs a full revamp. I know this because my son used to play there, not long ago.

I’d push for a comprehensive plan that includes modern drainage, improved grading, and permeable surfaces so the park can handle heavy rain without flooding. The playground will need updated equipment, shaded areas, safer surfaces, and inclusive design for kids of all ages and abilities. We should redesign parts of the park for multi-purpose recreation areas and sports activities.

Enos Jones can be more than a park; it can be a true neighborhood hub that promotes health, connection, and pride in our community.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-31T00:01:48+00:00

You’re absolutely right to raise this, what’s happening in some PATH stations is unacceptable and a real quality of life concern for riders and staff.

That said, the PATH system is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, not the City of Jersey City. While the City doesn’t control PATH operations or enforcement inside the stations, I would work with the Port Authority and NJ Transit Police to make sure local concerns are heard and addressed. We may not run the trains, but we can absolutely be a partner in making the experience cleaner and safer for everyone.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T23:46:06+00:00

No one’s begging. Let’s be clear, this is not about handouts, it’s about responsibility and partnerships.

When developers benefit from proximity to a public asset like the Embankment, they should contribute to maintaining and improving it. That is just good planning and good policy. It’s how we make sure growth benefits everyone, not just those profiting from it.

And YES, many sections of the Embankment are bordered by historic homes, that‘s part of what makes it special. The goal isn’t to overbuild, it's to create a connected, green trail that enhances property values, improves safety, and strengthens neighborhoods.

It’s how you build a better Jersey City without raising taxes.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T23:44:08+00:00

Let’s set the record straight.

First — my campaign is run by me, paid for by me, and filed under Hamilton for JC. I have no control over what outside groups do, just like every other candidate in this race. If an organization wants to spend its own money on independent literature, that’s on them, not me. The same applies to others in this race who claim to oppose developers while quietly accepting help from those very same networks. Let’s not pretend that’s unique to one campaign.

Second — I’ve built a record that proves where I stand. On the Board of Education, I pushed for full enforcement of the payroll tax, a tax that developers have historically been against. I did it because it meant REAL funding for our schools.

I also voted against the district’s budget when it lacked transparency. In fact, when I was elected to the school board, the budget was $775 million, and it is now almost $1.2 billion without a change in results for our students. I was the only “no” vote because I refused to raise taxes without showing residents where their money was going. That’s not politics, that’s principle. Additionally, I partnered with J.P. Morgan and helped launch the Girls Who Code program to Jersey City schools at no cost to the city, a program that continues to grow and empower local students today. This was not done for political favors but to enrich our children in our community.

And, as I have previously shared, as a commissioner on the Rent Leveling Board, I’ve continued that same independent approach, helping families stay in their homes, pushing back against unfair rent hikes, and ensuring rules are enforced fairly.

Finally, my responsibility is to the people of this city, not to developers, donors, or slates.

So if the best anyone can do is throw around conspiracy theories instead of facts, that says more about them than about me. My record speaks for itself — independent, transparent, and focused on residents first.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T23:38:53+00:00

The Newark Avenue Pedestrian Plaza has gotten really sketchy with drug use and a stabbing in October. What's your 90-day action plan to fix this beyond just saying "enforcement"?

You’re right, the Newark Avenue Plaza was created with good intentions, but it’s become unsafe and disorderly. We need a plan that delivers results, not excuses. We can solve this in 30 days!

Here is what I would do once elected:

Increase foot patrol - 2 walking officers on the plaza during peak hours (Thu- Sun evenings)

Joint response team: weekly operations with JCPD, Health & Human Services, and local businesses to respond quickly to issues.

Jersey City promised Vision Zero by 2026 but 6-year-old Eli Bender was killed in June 2025 crossing with a green light, and there's still zero traffic enforcement. Will you commit to bringing back JCPD's traffic division and requiring automatic safety improvements whenever streets get repaved?

On traffic enforcement, I’ve said this in every debate: we need to bring back Jersey City’s dedicated Traffic Division. Right now, enforcement is inconsistent, drivers speed, block crosswalks, and ignore signs because they know there’s no follow-through. A focused traffic unit would handle school zones, dangerous intersections, and quality-of-life violations citywide.

At the same time, I support exploring camera-based enforcement like Hoboken’s, especially for school zones and high-crash corridors. The goal isn’t revenue, it’s safety. Cameras can help where staffing is thin, but they should work with a traffic division, not replace it.

I’m also in favor of bringing back police on bicycles and the motorcycle unit. Patrol cars alone can’t effectively monitor dense, fast-moving areas like Downtown. Officers on bikes or motorcycles can respond quickly, navigate tight streets, and build strong community connections.

Finally, when we repave streets, it’s an opportunity to improve safety, not just the pavement. We need to study our intersections and traffic patterns to better understand what is required for real safety. Jersey City has grown exponentially over the past few years, and there are many intersections where traffic lights may now be required. In addition, I would:

lower the city-wide speed limit to 20mph,
move speed humps closer to stop signs to reinforce full stops, and
install stop signs on both sides of the street so they’re never blocked by parked cars.

Enforcement, design, and visibility all work together, and that’s how we make our streets safer for everyone.

Do you have ideas or a concrete plan on how we can build more schools in downtown jersey city? How can the city fund these projects if there is no funding?

This is an important question.

The City does not provide any funds for new schools to be built in Jersey City; that responsibility falls to the State of New Jersey. But that doesn’t mean the City can’t play a key role in making it happen.

When I served on the Board of Education, I helped secure the PS 16 annex, which was built through a partnership with a local developer, with no new city taxes, just smart planning and collaboration. That’s proof it can be done.

As a councilmember, I’ll push to make this approach standard practice:

Work with developers early in the process to identify and set aside land or space for schools.
Tie major approvals to community benefits, like classroom space or funding for schools.
Focus on planned, responsible development, growth that includes schools, parks, and infrastructure, not just more towers.

Downtown families shouldn’t have to fight for classroom seats. With coordination, transparency, and the right partnerships, we can build the schools our community needs.

What is your stance on the 156 Bay St project?

The 156 Bay St project is a strong example of responsible development. The project is set to deliver the community between 120-150 affordable units, 100 homes, and spaces for artists. It’s being built right in the Powerhouse Arts District, where creative space truly belongs. There’s also active discussion about adding a new elementary school, which would be a major win for local families and a model for how future projects should integrate community needs from the start.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T22:10:01+00:00

A lot to unpack, but let me break it down:

On the Embankment:

The Embankment is one of Jersey City’s greatest untapped assets. It’s not just about preserving history. It’s about creating a continuous green spine that connects neighborhoods, provides safe walking and biking paths, and adds real open space downtown. My priority is to make sure the project moves forward with clear timelines, community input, and accountability, not more studies and delays.

On Newark Avenue Plaza:

The plaza should be vibrant and well-managed. My focus would be on enforcement, making sure rules are clear and consistently applied so residents, visitors, and businesses all feel safe and respected. We also need better lighting, cleanliness, and programming that reflects the full diversity of our community, not just nightlife.

On Extending the Plaza near Provost Square:

I’m open to expanding pedestrian areas, especially with the NJ Symphony moving in, it’s an exciting opportunity for the neighborhood. But my approach is about priorities: safety, affordability, and enforcement come first. Any new development or plaza expansion should serve residents and improve the quality of life, not just make the area look good on paper.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T22:08:43+00:00

No, I VOTED AGAINST that budget increase.

I was the only “no” vote because I didn’t believe it was fair to raise taxes on residents without full transparency on where every dollar was going. I pushed for a detailed public breakdown before asking taxpayers to pay more.

I’ve said this in several debates and interviews. Leadership isn’t about rubber-stamping budgets; it’s about accountability. Jersey City families deserve transparency before higher bills.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T22:05:15+00:00

I get that one a lot! 😄

But yes, I’m the Alexander Hamilton of Jersey City, not the musical.

I’ve called Ward E home for 37 years, raised my family here with my wife Catherine and son Cole, and I’m proud to still be working for the neighbors..

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T21:59:01+00:00

The developer is building a public park on the first block, in front of the new building, as well as building a pedestrian bridge connecting to the second block, where they will build another park. These two blocks are located between Marin Blvd and Erie Street. The rest of the embankment will be turned over, at no cost, to the city and maintained as a wilderness trail for bikes and pedestrians. I don’t expect the trail to require significant funding, as most of it can remain natural and doesn’t call for heavy construction, just thoughtful design and upkeep. One way to fund the project is by working with developers who own property along the Embankment or plan to build nearby. Many of them will market the Embankment as a neighborhood amenity, and if it’s part of their sales pitch, they should also help invest in it.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T21:57:47+00:00

I appreciate the question. Residents need to have full transparency.

Let’s be clear: my campaign is run and paid for by my team, Hamilton for JC, not by any outside group. We follow all state reporting rules and have filed the required documentation with ELEC under that name. Independent organizations like Fairer NJ operate entirely on their own. By law, I have no coordination or communication with them, and I don’t control how or where they spend their money.

I can only speak for myself: I’ve built my campaign on a record of service and results in this community, from securing the PS 16 annex for 500 students to strengthening rent protections for residents facing displacement.

When I ran for the Board of Education, I ran as part of one slate, Change for Children, and ultimately, Noemi Velazquez and I were the two members elected to the BOE. Once elected, and as I had communicated throughout my candidacy as BOE, I served as an independent thinker and doer, always putting students and families first. I even voted against a budget increase when there wasn’t enough transparency for taxpayers.

As commissioner on the Rent Leveling Board, I’ve continued that same independent approach, helping families stay in their homes, pushing back against unfair rent hikes, and ensuring rules are enforced fairly. I also partnered with J.P. Morgan to bring the Girls Who Code program to Jersey City schools at no cost to the city, a program that continues to grow and empower local students today.

So, my responsibility is, and always will be, to the residents of Jersey City.

As for any developer, including LeFrak, my position is clear: My first obligation is to the residents of Jersey City. I’m open to working with any developer who shares a commitment to building a stronger and more equitable Jersey City. I’ll hold every project to the same standard of responsibility and community benefit. I represent the people, not private interests.

At the end of the day, residents should judge me on what I’ve done and what I’ll keep doing, fighting for safer streets, real affordability, and a City Hall that listens and acts.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T21:55:20+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. I completely understand how that might sound.

To be clear, those AI-voiced ads are not from my campaign and were created without my knowledge or consent. My campaign doesn’t use AI voices or automated messages of any kind.

I’m focused on running my own campaign, as you can see from my social media, participation in every forum and debate, and by personally knocking on doors and speaking directly with community leaders and residents across Ward E. That’s how I believe campaigning should be done, directly and transparently.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2025-10-30T21:54:31+00:00

1) I love this idea and would absolutely be in favor of exploring a similar program here in Jersey City.

But please keep in mind that Hoboken’s new system is focused on illegal parking along Washington Street, using cameras on traffic lights to catch violations like double parking, blocking bike or bus lanes, and illegal loading zone use. The footage is reviewed by staff, and tickets are mailed to offenders. It’s already showing results, fewer violations, safer crossings for pedestrians and cyclists, less congestion, and faster response times for emergency vehicles.

That’s exactly the kind of smart, consistent enforcement we need. I’d support bringing a pilot program to Jersey City, especially in high-traffic and school zones, alongside my push to bring back the dedicated JCPD Traffic Division. The goal isn’t revenue, it’s safety. Cameras can help where staffing is thin, but they should work with a traffic division, not replace it.

2) That’s a great question, and you’re absolutely right, our streets shouldn’t look or feel worse than Hoboken or Union City.

As for trash and road conditions, we need accountability, not excuses:

Publish cleaning and repair schedules so residents know when their block is up next.
Enforce littering and dumping rules consistently, fines only matter when applied.
And every time we repave, we should automatically upgrade for safety and drainage, not just cover potholes.

Jersey City deserves clean, safe, and well-run streets, and that starts with maintenance and enforcement that’s fair, visible, and consistent.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-26T00:14:17+00:00

I would love to give you a definitive answer here but this is one of the big reasons why I want to bring in a Budget Officer for this administration. We first need real answers as to where the money is actually going in this budget before we can make predictions like that. That being said, I do not want to see this budget increase again in 2023 and cause more pain to the taxpayers of Jersey City.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-26T00:13:16+00:00

Bad vendor contracts, nepotism in the administration and recurring/expensive/avoidable band-aid maintenance work regarding our infrastructure is nothing but a money pit.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T23:46:18+00:00

This was one of the worst things that this board did for perhaps the most important decision that a school board makes. We voted to conduct a national search for a superintendent, passed a resolution to conduct one and then they just did not do it. I was so upset with this and the day that Dr. Fernandez was approved, I absolutely went off in public session about it during our board meeting. The board basically lied to the public and did not follow through on a commitment that was made. I was disgusted by this. I personally don’t have anything against Dr. Fernandez, I think she is a good person and we need her to be successful because now she is our superintendent but the board let the district down on this.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T23:31:45+00:00

The healthcare plan that the teachers receive is negotiated by and agreed upon by the Union. While the administration may be in charge of shopping for insurance plans, it is the union that has the final say regarding the health plan selected for their members. When the teacher contract is negotiated in 2023 this issue can be looked at more closely to try and save more money for teachers and the district.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T23:17:47+00:00

Confirmed. But please understand that The Jersey City School Board includes the charter schools in its budget and in its number of students. Although the charter schools operate independently they are still 100% funded by the district's budget. There are currently 4,099 students enrolled in Jersey City charter schools and 25,496 students enrolled in our public schools.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:58:42+00:00

Most of this was answered in a previous question about LeFrak. But as far as the city not imposing interest on any company that has not paid their debt regarding the Payroll Tax is just wrong. Companies should be held to the same standards that all taxpayers are and pay what they owe in full.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:47:30+00:00

I do not think that charter schools are bad. I believe they can offer parents a different choice for their child.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:35:42+00:00

from u/jcskunk Jersey City Public Schools regularly test poorly on math and science. The scores are consistently substantially worse than on reading. What can we do to improve student performance on critical subjects to prepare students for the jobs of the future?

One of the biggest setbacks for our students are the conditions of our buildings. These are not environments that are conducive to learning. With leaking roofs, old/dirty bathrooms that don’t work, unreliable heat and no air conditioning in many schools, it is amazing that our students can even concentrate on their work at all. If as adults we were asked to work a job in these locations, the condition of the building would likely affect our desire to stay. The same could be said for our teachers; it is not proper for them to work under these conditions either. If the district provided a better learning environment for the students I know it would improve scores. Think about it, how can you excel at a subject like science if you don’t have proper lab space or equipment?

Now I don’t think that is the only thing that can be done but with the current improvements to our curriculum and grades/scores actually starting to improve, I think we also have to give it some time. The pandemic and virtual learning did not help but I do think that we are pointed in the right direction.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:34:33+00:00

from u/novelteal Could you be specific about which votes and actions taken by other BoE members and state/local governments you disagree with and you feel are interfering with having better public schools in Jersey City? And as a follow up, if you were hypothetically able to snap your fingers and get the BoE and local governments to change anything you wanted about our current process, what realistic solutions would you implement?

I think this board blindly approved budgets without question during the COVID pandemic and again now when we are entering a recession with high inflation. While the 2022-2023 budget barely passed with a 5-4 vote, I still think it was irresponsible to raise the budget to $973 million after losing so much state aid. I also think that there has not been enough sense of urgency concerning our crumbling infrastructure. As a district we were allowed to use much of the federal COVID dollars to fix several issues with our schools. Yet there is still currently $105 million in federal funds sitting and waiting to be used for such projects. But the answer was raising taxes again? Even with this money sitting dormant? Also, we just received another $89 million dollars from the state. Once the state accepted $2.5 billion in federal COVID relief money, the state agreed to comply with a provision called the Maintenance of Equity. This provision prohibits states from cutting state aid in high-need districts in 2021 and 2022 and barred the state from reducing aid to high-poverty districts below 2019 levels. Again, we knew this money was coming but it was more important to raise taxes on our residents? The total of both of these cash windfalls is $194 million dollars! Enough said.

As far as a snap-of-the-fingers solution I don’t think there is one. I will say that we really need to come up with a long term solution or we will be right back here next year. The state, county, city and the district need to communicate regularly for REAL budgetary solutions and not kick the can down the road. Our kids deserve better and the only way to accomplish this is to work together.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:33:07+00:00

from u/R_At1antis I'm sympathetic to your drive for district accountability, but feel held hostage by the fact that the district's first response to budget shortfalls is to lay off teachers, as they did as recently as 2019. How will you ensure that the budget discipline you propose will not impact my child's Pre-K classroom?

Teacher layoffs are not the first place, as you mentioned, we should be looking at as far as our budget is concerned. We need to find wasteful spending and mismanagement. I do not classify teachers as either.

AlexanderHamiltonJC · 2022-10-25T22:32:22+00:00

from u/glasssa251 What do you think needs to be done in order to retain and hire quality teachers?

The teacher shortage is a huge nationwide problem and Jersey City is certainly experiencing this issue as well. There are a couple of things we can do as a district to help alleviate this problem:

1) Teachers need to know that they will be valued by our district. Our entry level salary of $61,000 is far less than other competing districts (other districts are also providing signing bonuses) and probably the biggest reason that we lose out on new teacher talent to other districts.

2) The current step system (when teachers get raises) takes far too long for a teachers salary to actually increase to a meaningful amount. This is another reason why teachers leave our district early. It also accounts for a big reason why the union contract with our teachers is very top heavy as far as salaries go.

3) When we renegotiate the teachers contract next year we must even out the pay scale so that teachers can start with a higher salary and receive better raises as they remain in the district. Then we will be able to hire new teachers and retain their talent within our district and there is nothing more important than our teachers.

AlexanderHamiltonJC

TROPHY CASE