Last year I took the week off between Christmas and New Years to go to as many of the events as possible. There are tours that explain the Battle of Trenton, lectures on historic topics, civics discussions including one by New York Mayor David Dinkins (a Trenton native), re-enactments galore, concerts, historic dinners and the famous Capitol Steps.

However, the big shows are the re-enactments of The 1st and 2nd Battles of Trenton on Saturday Dec. 30. People go this year after year and pick a different spot to watch, however, Mill Hill Park or N. Warren St. are always good bets.

Last year was twice as big as the year before and this year is almost twice as big as last year.

I do have a Patriots week story to tell. Michelle and I were working on the renovation at 6 Peace St. a few years ago and heard what sounded like a gun battle going on outside. We were a bit scared but I was mostly worried that violent crime had reared its ugly head in downtown Trenton right next to my rental units. Turns out it was the Continental Army chasing the Hessian soldiers out of their barracks a block away and past Peace St. Since then, I try to remind my tenants to be prepared to enjoy the battle.

I could go on about how great Patriot's Week is but of course the best thing to do is to take a look at the web site and pick out some events you'd like to see.

Some of you may have seen the article in the Trenton Times that claimed that 2500 people had sent in rental applications. I called developer Richard Libbey with an admittedly frustrated tone as they have committed to giving Trenton Lofts subscribers an early shot at the applications for over a year and I've yet to see it. To his credit, Mr. Libbey called me back and explained that the article was a fabrication by the Times reporter, which is disturbing on an entirely different level.

Libbey went on to explain that the application is still hung up in an NJHFMA in review. It's been in review for over a month, so either one of two things has happened. Either NJHMFA is the most pitiful bureaucracy in NJ (which is certainly possible) or the rental application from the developer was a disaster to start with.

On another front, the Mayor is pressuring Libbey to heavily market the project because the marketing campaing will promote the city in addition to the project. I've told the developers that while I'm certainly in favor of them spending marketing dollars and for the same reason as the Mayor, its really not all that necessary. Many of you have already expressed strong interest and if just 1/2 of you who were interested actually put in an application that would put a big dent in the occupancy.

Look for my article about the Broad St. Bank in the January edition of the Trenton Downtowner due out on Jan. 2. (it will also be on trentondowntowner.com).

Avner has made a big investment in Trenton and has done good work with these buildings. 364 S. Broad is a mixed use building just up the block from my new home. For Trentonians, it's the old Light Furniture buildings. The second building is 15 Front St., in the heart of downtown and next door to my Peace St. rentals. Trentonians will know it as the Backes Hill building.

For those of you with Commercial needs let Richardson know. Both are nicely renovated old buildings.

In addition to these two buildings 12 Front St. just across from Backes Hill, is now finished its restoration as well. These two commercial projects along with my Peace St. renovations makes the corner of Front and Peace Streets just about the most renovated corner in Trenton. Hopefully, The Golden Swan project at down the block at Front and S. Warren will finish soon as well.

Light Furniture

Backes & Hill

A devious last minute campaign by our opposition took a copy of the mailer we sent to voters and marked it up to suggest that voters vote "no" on the ballot instead of "yes" to support the ban. This marked up flier was distributed throughout Trenton's West Ward and was signed, "The Real Trentonians" (I guess I'm a fake Trentonian). The ploy didn't work but it tells you something about the level to which the beneficiaries of pay to play will stoop to protect the status quo. For the record, only five politicians in Trenton had a motive to oppose the ban: Mayor Palmer, Annette Lartique and the 3 rubber stamps (Pintella, Staton and Segura). The other three council members (Coston, Melone and Bethea) voted for the ban in a losing cause when it came before council over the summer.

I explained to her that I have a day job.

The truth is that if I charged anybody for Trenton Lofts then I'd have to be a lot nicer than I am sometimes. I'd have to be on time with my newsletters. I'd actually have to bill people and sell things. My web site would have to look slicker than it does. No fun at all.

Instead, Trenton Lofts started as a page on my personal web site that promoted buildings that I might buy. I wanted to have a list of people that would rent or buy ready before going to get financing. Some of those same people are still on the list looking for the right project.

Over the last two years others have begun developing in Trenton and it occured to me that continuing to expand my web site and newsletter would help bring buyer and seller together. Some of these projects (Broad St. Bank for instance) take years to develop and my guess is that people want to keep up to date on the progress of a building they're interested in even before its ready for sale or lease.

So, Trenton Lofts is more a civic duty than a business. Michelle volunteers for social causes but to me, pushing redevelopment along is just as important to the life of a city.

Also, I'm always happy to field questions where I can about projects and living in Trenton in general.