The Jaffe Briefing - August 21, 2019

The Jaffe Briefing will be on vacation Monday, August 26, returning Tuesday, Sept. 3

JERSEY CITY – You live here, and you just want to get some sleep. But the city is home to a growing number of Airbnb homes; the ideal place for penny-pinching tourists eager to flee the NYC hotel rates. The Record reports that Airbnb has hijacked many local neighborhoods, with tourists shining flashlights into homes at all hours as they search for their rental, small apartments being jammed with tourists who plan to be up all night, piles of garbage and endless noise. With this dramatic rise, city officials are passing sweeping regulations this summer, trying to crack down on Airbnb, which is escalating housing costs and annoying the heck out of good, decent people who have to get up for work tomorrow.

STATEWIDE – It may be time to renovate the basement, with word that recent college graduates are drowning in debt and may be living by your water heater for the next couple of years or so. Politico reports on a study that shows New Jersey students are carrying more college debt that graduates from 44 other states. About two-thirds of our fresh-faced graduates collected their diploma, along with interest-generating debt, last year. The average bill is about $33,593 in New Jersey, while the national average is $28,565. In completely unrelated news, Lehigh University just decided to bump its tuition another $2,310, bringing the total cost, with room and board, to about $70,000 a year, and a whole new cycle of loans.

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – You just never know who’s leasing that summer rental next door. On Limroth Drive, you'll find Snooki, Jwoww and the rest of the tacky “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” cast. They're here without permission and didn't bother giving Borough Hall a heads-up.  Mayor Stephen Reid tells the Asbury Park Press: “They know they’re not really welcome here. I don’t think they’re welcome anywhere,” noting the show was denied permits in Brick, Lavallette and a few other towns with some class. The show got outed in Point Pleasant Beach only after one of Snooki’s on-camera hissy fits ended up on social media. Guess they figure asking forgiveness is easier than getting, you know, permits.

IN THE MEDIA

NEW BRUNSWICK – This spring, there was plenty of news coverage about the fate of The Daily Targum, the school newspaper, after Rutgers students voted to stop subsidizing its production. No one knew what would happen to this newspaper that began production in 1869, and the story quickly fell out of the news cycle. So, a reporter from TAPInto New Brunswick decided to stop by the Neilson Street office this week, with a simple question: “So, whatcha guys going to do?" The answer: The newspaper will be printed Monday-Thursday and scrap the Friday edition. Meanwhile, the Targum will focus on building its digital content, consistent with every other paper in the country. The silver lining: The Targum can still print, with or without student support.

HOBOKEN – You should read the “Eulogy of a Small-Town Paper,” about the demise of the Hoboken Reporter, written by Caren Lissner. She writes: `The media’ is not talk show hosts on CNN or Fox; it’s your cousin who earns $11 an hour at the Plano Eagle or the investigative team at the New York Times who kept our families safe from tainted food by researching this Pulitzer-winning series on problems with meat inspections. Those stories weren’t 'sexy' and won’t make the reporters wealthy, but they literally save lives. Journalists are clearly the opposite of anyone’s ‘enemies,’ and we’ll never know most of their names, just as we don’t know the names of so many in law enforcement, social work, office administration, government, and so many other fields who quietly go to bat for us.” The 16-minute read is here.

ON AIR – It looked as if Verizon was getting out of the news business in New Jersey, with a Journal News report that the company would stop producing FiOS1 newscasts through Hudson Valley-based RNN beginning Nov. 16. That prompted a flurry of protests; even Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted he was “disturbed” by the plan, calling the Verizon programming “a great source of local news & a blow to the already struggling local news landscape.” Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted too, saying Verizon needs to live up to its “stated commitment of ensuring local news.” Verizon now says it will continue to offer “hyperlocal” news in some new form, but we need to stay tuned for more information.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

FRANKLIN, IN. – Uh, it wasn’t mine? That may have been the lame excuse of the motorist on Interstate 65 who threw a dirty diaper out the backseat window on Monday. That soiled bundle of refuse flew through the air and landed on the windshield of an Indiana State Police cruiser. The cop, who was tired after working a full shift at the Indiana State Fair, let out a deep, tired sigh, as he watched the diaper bounce off his car a couple of times. Even though he was desperate to go home, the sergeant had to turn on his lights and pull the motorist over, handing over a ticket and a lecture. “It's not something I could really let fly,” the officer told the Indianapolis Star.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was one year ago that the world was rocked in Waterville, Maine, when Bolley's Famous Franks decided to switch up its 56-year-old French fry recipe. The Kennebec Journal says the money-saving move caused shockwaves internationally, with journalists as far away as China demanding to know why, and locals threatening extreme violence. The reason? Bolley’s explained the crinkle-cut fries require a special blade that needs to be replaced monthly. So, they switched over to the straight-cut stuff, which you just rip out of a bag and dump in the deep fryer. The new owner told the local paper the response has been “99.9 percent” positive – which, we figure, didn’t include the angry mob out the window, ready to torch the joint.

WORD OF THE DAY

The Jaffe Briefing will be on vacation Monday, August 26, returning Tuesday, Sept. 3

JERSEY CITY – You live here, and you just want to get some sleep. But the city is home to a growing number of Airbnb homes; the ideal place for penny-pinching tourists eager to flee the NYC hotel rates. The Record reports that Airbnb has hijacked many local neighborhoods, with tourists shining flashlights into homes at all hours as they search for their rental, small apartments being jammed with tourists who plan to be up all night, piles of garbage and endless noise. With this dramatic rise, city officials are passing sweeping regulations this summer, trying to crack down on Airbnb, which is escalating housing costs and annoying the heck out of good, decent people who have to get up for work tomorrow.

STATEWIDE – It may be time to renovate the basement, with word that recent college graduates are drowning in debt and may be living by your water heater for the next couple of years or so. Politico reports on a study that shows New Jersey students are carrying more college debt that graduates from 44 other states. About two-thirds of our fresh-faced graduates collected their diploma, along with interest-generating debt, last year. The average bill is about $33,593 in New Jersey, while the national average is $28,565. In completely unrelated news, Lehigh University just decided to bump its tuition another $2,310, bringing the total cost, with room and board, to about $70,000 a year, and a whole new cycle of loans.

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – You just never know who’s leasing that summer rental next door. On Limroth Drive, you'll find Snooki, Jwoww and the rest of the tacky “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” cast. They're here without permission and didn't bother giving Borough Hall a heads-up.  Mayor Stephen Reid tells the Asbury Park Press: “They know they’re not really welcome here. I don’t think they’re welcome anywhere,” noting the show was denied permits in Brick, Lavallette and a few other towns with some class. The show got outed in Point Pleasant Beach only after one of Snooki’s on-camera hissy fits ended up on social media. Guess they figure asking forgiveness is easier than getting, you know, permits.

IN THE MEDIA

NEW BRUNSWICK – This spring, there was plenty of news coverage about the fate of The Daily Targum, the school newspaper, after Rutgers students voted to stop subsidizing its production. No one knew what would happen to this newspaper that began production in 1869, and the story quickly fell out of the news cycle. So, a reporter from TAPInto New Brunswick decided to stop by the Neilson Street office this week, with a simple question: “So, whatcha guys going to do?" The answer: The newspaper will be printed Monday-Thursday and scrap the Friday edition. Meanwhile, the Targum will focus on building its digital content, consistent with every other paper in the country. The silver lining: The Targum can still print, with or without student support.

HOBOKEN – You should read the “Eulogy of a Small-Town Paper,” about the demise of the Hoboken Reporter, written by Caren Lissner. She writes: `The media’ is not talk show hosts on CNN or Fox; it’s your cousin who earns $11 an hour at the Plano Eagle or the investigative team at the New York Times who kept our families safe from tainted food by researching this Pulitzer-winning series on problems with meat inspections. Those stories weren’t 'sexy' and won’t make the reporters wealthy, but they literally save lives. Journalists are clearly the opposite of anyone’s ‘enemies,’ and we’ll never know most of their names, just as we don’t know the names of so many in law enforcement, social work, office administration, government, and so many other fields who quietly go to bat for us.” The 16-minute read is here.

ON AIR – It looked as if Verizon was getting out of the news business in New Jersey, with a Journal News report that the company would stop producing FiOS1 newscasts through Hudson Valley-based RNN beginning Nov. 16. That prompted a flurry of protests; even Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted he was “disturbed” by the plan, calling the Verizon programming “a great source of local news & a blow to the already struggling local news landscape.” Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted too, saying Verizon needs to live up to its “stated commitment of ensuring local news.” Verizon now says it will continue to offer “hyperlocal” news in some new form, but we need to stay tuned for more information.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

FRANKLIN, IN. – Uh, it wasn’t mine? That may have been the lame excuse of the motorist on Interstate 65 who threw a dirty diaper out the backseat window on Monday. That soiled bundle of refuse flew through the air and landed on the windshield of an Indiana State Police cruiser. The cop, who was tired after working a full shift at the Indiana State Fair, let out a deep, tired sigh, as he watched the diaper bounce off his car a couple of times. Even though he was desperate to go home, the sergeant had to turn on his lights and pull the motorist over, handing over a ticket and a lecture. “It's not something I could really let fly,” the officer told the Indianapolis Star.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was one year ago that the world was rocked in Waterville, Maine, when Bolley's Famous Franks decided to switch up its 56-year-old French fry recipe. The Kennebec Journal says the money-saving move caused shockwaves internationally, with journalists as far away as China demanding to know why, and locals threatening extreme violence. The reason? Bolley’s explained the crinkle-cut fries require a special blade that needs to be replaced monthly. So, they switched over to the straight-cut stuff, which you just rip out of a bag and dump in the deep fryer. The new owner told the local paper the response has been “99.9 percent” positive – which, we figure, didn’t include the angry mob out the window, ready to torch the joint.

WORD OF THE DAY