A Hidden Agenda? PART I: a tale of two tales

The Curious Case of Nathan Carman

The Urban Dictionary says: hidden agenda: a hidden agenda is like an ulterior motive; you or someone else may do something or act a certain way in supposed benevolence, but the real reason you or they actually did that was also for personal gain, not to just help out. Hmmm….let’s read

Asperger syndrome is a previously used diagnosis on the autism spectrum. In 2013, it became part of one umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5). Typical to strong verbal language skills and intellectual ability distinguish Asperger syndrome from other types of autism. It generally involves difficulty with social interactions, restricted interests, desire for sameness, conversational difficulties, and distinctive strengths, such as: remarkable focus and persistence, aptitude for recognizing patterns, and attention to detail.

It was about seven years ago when I caught a glimpse of this news report. A man…a kid huddled in some sort of alien-shaped vessel being rescued at sea by a Chinese freighter. Now THIS IS A STORY! Firstly, this man-boy was SAVED! And by a foreign ship! Truly made me so joyous, giddy almost. Stranded for over a week! A miracle! A marvel! This ‘kid’ MUST be special. A seaworthy prodigy! A marine savant! A saltwater Einstein! This kid MUST be somethin’ special, I thought. And I was right.

Not sure at what age I became unduly interested in desperate ‘tales st sea’. That Disney Swiss Family Robinson flick? More assuredly the William Bendix & Tallulah Bankhead “Lifeboat” movie, which I ruminated in my conscious and unconscious mind for years. “Abandon Ship” (Tyrone Power) and later “The Poseidon Adventure” saturated my prepubescent brain with a wierd meaning to life, not mentioning the sad perseverative thoughts and dreams I garnered for years from all this cinematic and theatrical seafaring melodrama. The original Titanic movie, well, it might be just too much to discuss. You see, as I kid, I was kind of a loner, an escapist from a family I either feared or couldn’t understand. If I couldn’t eat an entire bag of ‘Old London’ Cheese Doodles on a Sunday…. That meant one extra flick to enter my belly. Movies were my way to escape a not so perfect childhood. War movies abounded at that time also, but that’s another blog. When that Nathan Carman story FIRST entered the headlines, I was intrigued and soon CAPTIVATED. A real life rescue-at -sea story. But soon, this tale became polluted. Not sure if the ongoing saga delighted my anticipation of its plot or disappointed my utter delight about the ‘happy ending’. You see the star of this reality show looked and sounded familiar. A lanky boy/man. Really didn’t appear worn from exposure of ‘days drifting solo’ lost at sea! His demeanor appeared stiff. He was too tall. Hesitant. Awkward. And INDIFFERENT. Odd, for a fella having so narrowly escaped a surely nasty demise. He was wearing a white jumpsuit, clamdigger-style, when rescued. A maritime ghostbuster! Yet there was such familiarity to me in this lad. As if he needed a translator and I was it! I understood. And Why? I knew him. I spent years and years with him. He was my friend. I was his friend. I could translate. Let me help! You see as a teacher and later school nurse for 35 years with students solely on ‘The Spectrum’, I had a bit of discernment…acumen into his ‘world’. And, he surely needed friends, for the world was about to meet a person about whom they have only heard about, except for the few who knew him. And not everyone liked him. For Mr Carman has a condition (formerly) called ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’. And this story is a nearly perfect example of how intolerant, ignorant and suspicious we ALL are and can be. But how do we trust him? How do we trust ourselves? This story stages the perfect storm of two ingredients: firstly, the sheer impediments Nathan now faced in trying to tell his story. Not just the rescue, but of him. His strengths and weaknesses which were so vital in understanding Nathan and ‘Nathan’s world’. And secondly, our reticence to give the kid a BREAK. To learn to recognize, understand and ACCEPT him in a world where ‘odd’ behaviors are greeted with undue skepticism, premature judgement and trepidation of the eccentric. Yet is this idiosyncratic pathology worthy of giving his almost preposterous story credibility? How do we circumvent his diagnosis and regard him as we would anyone else relating a story seemingly suspicious and at the same time sorrowful? It’s a dive. But, shall we try?






Nathan and Linda





This is a story of a young man accused of  heinous crimes.  Murders.  And not just any young man. A fellow diagnosed and clearly displaying all the classic symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, as previously mentioned. “Autism Speaks”  goes on to highlight other challenges for this population such as hypersensitivity to light/touch/sound/taste, social cues and ability to read other’s body language, impaired gross motor skills as well as anxiety and depression. Yet Nathan was reported as having a near genius IQ. This is important in understanding this drama. A Tale of Two Tales.  The perceived tale vs the truth.  And when you are a parent, a sibling, a teacher or anyone within the life of a lad like Nathan…this scenario is not a news headline.  It is your life.  And you exert energy in understanding the population, as famed activist Greta Thunberg stated,  “I would have been stuck in this social game everyone else seems so infatuated with,”… that if she were not so strange.  Spending time with this population breeds an appreciation for neurodiversity.  Learning how to appreciate their valuable yet sometimes unconventional insights, while recognizing their innate limitations is significant. But difficult. And this what this story is about. At least for me. A true puzzle. Where do truth and pathology meet?  Or don’t they?  A seaworthy venture….And I hope it will be for you as well. 










So… what happened?  Nathan Carman and his mother Linda left for this ill-fated fishing trip on September 17, 2016 in a 31-foot aluminum boat named ‘The Chicken Pox’.  They motored south through a salt-marsh pond off Narragansett Bay by the light of a full moon, as they trawled deeper waters in search of tuna. When they reached the edge of the inlet, they slipped through a narrow breachway into open water, and the Chicken Pox’s 300-horsepower engine continued ahead at full speed.  Linda  had a navigation plan and she told friends Saturday night that they were heading to an area southeast of Block Island to go fishing and were to return Sunday morning.  But when they hadn’t returned by Sunday evening, the friend alerted the Coast Guard.  They launched a six-day search that covered 62,000 nautical miles off the Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York coastlines. They called off the search after six days.  New England boaters and coastal residents shared theories about what had happened. Had the Chicken Pox collided with another vessel?  Suffered a catastrophic engine failure? Or encountered a massive rogue wave? People who had seen the boat before Nathan and Linda left said it appeared to be in working order and in good condition, equipped with an emergency transmitter that could send a distress signal and location directly to the Coast Guard. How, in the age of GPS, had a vessel like the Chicken Pox vanished without a trace?  Then, 7 days later,  a crew member walking along the deck of the Orient Lucky, a hulking freighter sailing 115 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, spotted a red raft bobbing in the water off the ship’s bow. Standing in the raft, waving his arms to catch the crew’s attention, was Nathan Carman. 










Nathan Carman was rescued by this freighter that spotted his raft about 100 miles off Martha’s Vineyard.  Evidentally, “The Chicken Pox” allegedly sank with him and his mother on board.  Nathan reported the boat took on water and as he prepared the life raft for two guests, his mother was no longer in sight, apparently somehow pulled down with the sinking vessel. Nathan  was alone in the raft. He apparently was able to quickly stock the raft with some non-perishables and water, according to his statements to police and attorneys.  He was able to don a red life jacket as well at some point after the tragedy and along with a long sleeve shirt and blue jeans, he boarded the Orient Lucky.  The boat’s captain said Carman “looked tired” upon the rescue but appeared otherwise “healthy”.  Once aboard the Orient Lucky, Nathan radioed the Coast Guard an account of what had happened.  He  said:  “Mom and I — two people, myself and my mom — were fishing at Block Canyon, and there was a funny noise in the engine compartment,” .  It’s reported this account was said in a sober, detached and dispassionate tone. Again, not unlike the Asperger jargon and inflection I mentioned earlier.  “I looked and saw a lot of water … I was bringing one of the safety bags forward, the boat just dropped out from under my feet. When I saw the life raft, I did not see my mom. Have you found her?” Later, after a brief rest, Nathan stood on the deck of the freighter, staring out across the ocean for more than two hours. “I got the feeling he was looking for his mother,” the captain of the ship told The Hartford Courant. “Captain Zhao Hengdong also described Carman as appearing ‘sad’”.  










Why hadn’t the Coast Guard found a single piece of wreckage? Most importantly:  Why hadn’t Linda made it to the raft?  “This story is starting to smell like week-old mackerel,” one fisherman wrote on a message board. Linda’s three sisters were among the suspicious. For years, according to them, Nathan had displayed troubling, often hostile behavior toward his mother, screaming at her over the slightest provocation. They clearly were highly suspicious of Nathan and his  account of events.  Plus, there was no overlooking the fact that, with Linda dead, Nathan stood to inherit at least $7 million of the family’s wealth.










In October of 2016, investigators discovered Nathan spent $60,000 on improvement to ‘The Chicken Pox’ during the past couple of years. And, this inquisition divulged that his vessel was, in fact, need of repair.  However, it appeared Nathan, himself, was personally overhauling it, perhaps rendering it unsafe, as outlined in an affadavit by the South Kingston, RI police… it was truly a ‘fishy’ story to most.  His rescue, after more than a week at sea defied believability.  What did he eat? Drink?  Why hadn’t he activated his emergency transmitter?  Why was no wreckage found?  What happened to Nathan’s mom?  Well ‘something was stinking’ and it wasn’t just the mackerel awaiting cleaning onboard the fishing boats… Nathan’s aunts were especially reticent to accept this tale o’ the high seas!  As stated, they clearly contended that Nathan and his mom were not the mother-son as described by Nathan and with a hefty inheritance thrown into this fish stew! 










That was September 17, 2016. Linda Carman’s body has never been found. Three years after Nathan found way back to shore, he is embroiled in a fight with family members who have turned on him. His aunts — Linda’s sisters — say he not only killed his mother but he also killed his grandfather, millionaire John Chakalos.  The three women say he shot and killed Mr Chakalos in 2013 then later killed his mother so he would inherit her share of the $44 million estate as his mother’s only surviving heir.  It was proven Nathan bought a gun days before his grandfathers murder however other facts clearly negated this theory. Clearly he was initially a suspect in the murder of Mr Chakalos.  It was thought he was the last person to see the 87-year-old alive before his body was discovered with a gunshot wound to the back of the head.  According to the Boston Globe, Nathan allegedly  discarded his computer’s hard drive and his GPS during the investigation. He was named as a suspect but a warrant for his arrest was never signed.  A judge was slated to examine this case all over again, despite the fact that he was never charged over either his family members’ deaths.  Surely a chowder of fishy ingredients.  










To add to this nautical ballad, Nathan was also  accused of tampering with the Chicken Pox before it set off on its doomed fishing trip.  Court documents filed in 2017 accuse him of tampering with holes in his  bedeviled boat.  As reported in The Boston Globe,  “In removing the boat’s trim tabs hours before departing on it’s final voyage, Carman not only failed to properly seal four through-hull holes he thereby opened at the transom’s waterline … but two recent depositions establish Carman enlarged those four holes…No wonder the boat sank and Carman’s mother died.”   The insurance company, National Liability and Fire Insurance Company refused pay out the claim he made on the lost boat.They say its sinking was no accident.  This story just gets more complex and sinister… could this Nathan really be as calculating and blackhearted as purported?  Or, are we misinterpreting data due to a shadow of brain-shaming. If Nathan’s diagnosis clearly incorporates stiff, indifferent affect… would not this mask or, in fact, make a comorbidity of  sociopathy realized?  Wow!  A tricky latitude to navigate. Even when Nathan is your ‘friend’…










However, not all the evidence convicts Nathan. A new theory that emerged in October 2018 recounted that he could not have killed his grandfather because he was pictured on CCTV at a different location at the time of the shooting.  Surveillance footage around Carman’s apartment suggests he shopping at a local convenience store and then at home around the time a neighbour heard a loud bang inside the Chakalos residence.  “Simply stated, if John Chakalos was shot at 2am, then Nathan Carman clearly was not the murderer,” lawyer David Anderson said.  Thank you, I say. I am NOT convinced.  And, in December 2018, A New Hampshire probate judge dismissed a legal challenge against Nathan, ruling that his grandfather wasn’t really a resident of New Hampshire so his aunts have no standing to file a court case. The dismissal of the petition ended any civil court efforts by his aunts to keep him from getting any inheritance. 










In November 2019, a judge ruled that Nathan “made improper and faulty repairs” to his boat, contributing to its sinking three years ago killing his mother. US District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. found that Carman wasn’t entitled to collect $85,000 from two insurers because his alterations caused the 31-foot Chicken Pox to “directly or indirectly” sink.  Lawyers for the insurers alleged that Nathan sabotaged the boat to kill his mother and had previously killed his grandfather in a scheme to collect a multimillion-dollar inheritance. In January 2020, a new trial was denied during the ongoing insurance dispute concerning the condition of ‘The Chicken Pox’.  Nathan has consistently and continually denied any role in his grandfather’s death, or in his mother’s disappearance.  ABC’s prime time television show “20/20” featured an interview with Nathan in which he was unable or refused to answer specific questions. And, in fact, became agitated at one point, awkwardly walking out of the interview. He is portrayed as an intelligent young man… however rehearsed, clumsy, uneasy and acutely phlegmatic.  The end?   Not by a long shot. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances of Linda Carman’s disappearance. And I am still investigating a hidden agenda in the mind we know so very little about. Stay tuned for PART II.   PLEASEREADTHIS 🗽






	


	

			










	

		
The house(s) that Charles built
	


	
	

		






And it did not begin here but…





NEWARK – Real estate developer and political contributor Charles Kushner  pleaded guilty today to 16 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns, one count of retaliating against a cooperating witness and one count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.  Kushner, 50, of Livingston, entered his plea in U.S. District Court. 





Charles.  Charles Kushner may have been born in the same town as myself, Elizabeth New Jersey, in a neighborhood not far from me, but it might as well have been the Warsaw ghetto.  It was the 1950’s.  We didn’t study about World War II at St Genevieve’s grammar school.  We ruminated on why babies went to Limbo instead of heaven. I knew NOTHING of the Holocaust, but proudly could recite most of The Baltimore Catechism.  You see we lived in The Elmora section of the city and although a stone’s throw from the Jewish populated Elmora Hills section, the lines of segregation were clearly drawn.  Meeting only when riding the #24 bus to downtown, we stared at the students heavily weighed down by books on their way home from the Jewish Education Center on Elmora Avenue as if these students were circus characters. The yamulkas they wore were as strange as our ribboned scapulas draped around our shoulders…you see we were CATHOLICS, proudly wearing the green-emblemed jumpers with crisp white starched Peter-panned collars. These boys were quiet , as if doing their homework already in their heads. They looked smart, like they were much older than their 12 years. They appeared unkempt, wrinkled, colorless and goggled. I heard them called ‘The Jews’, just as my parents would speak of the ‘Italian section’ of town or ‘the poor people’ living downtown. Did they speak English?  Did they laugh?  Well,  that was how it was growing up in the Kushner neighborhood. As as you can see, I knew NOTHING about it….NOTHING…










Charles Kushner is the son of Holocaust survivors who emigrated from the country now known as Belarus to the United States in 1949. The story of the group they were part of was even portrayed in the 2008 film Defiance starring Daniel Craig. Charles also has a Hebrew name (Chanan), after his mother’s brother who died in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. 





Charles Kushner grew up in Elizabeth, with his elder brother Murray and sister Esther.  His father worked in construction, as a builder and real estate investor.  Kushner graduated from the Hofstra University Law School and earned an MBA at New York University.  He practiced law for four years before leaving to open a real estate business with his father and his wife’s brother. And so it starts…










Together, they constructed an extensive real estate corporation with more than $3 billion in properties. Their business plan was simple. Buy an existing property, renovate, and raise the rent. Simple and extremely fruitful. ‘Charlie’ found this employment to also be a dynamic and productive fund-raising instrument to nourish a political agenda. Supporting Governor McGreevey, Cory Booker, Sharpe James and Bill Clinton, he became a shrewd and active participant in the state and national political arenas.  He was the largest campaign contributor to McGreevey and was later named chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by the Governor. Well…this is where the Prince of Real Estate’s luck took a nosedive. Greed can get the best of anyone…





“Developer to Pay $500,000 in Political Financing Case”.    The New York Times, July 2004.  ‘Charlie’ (as he was called) Kushner agreed to pay more than $500,000 to settle federal charges of improper campaign contributions, including Senator Bill Bradley’s run for the presidency. He was charged with improper funding to the total of $540,900!  Federal officials charged Mr. Kushner with making political contributions in the names of 40 businesses and partnerships that he controlled as a managing partner. You think he’d know better, but….





Mr Kushner never regarded this payment as a ‘penalty’ but rather an avenue to avoid any litigation.  And, he  continued to be the focus of other investigations connected to other political misuse of monies.  Furthermore, he’s also been investigated after his brother and accountant reported accounting irregularities with his expansive holdings and the evasion of campaign contribution limits.










As noted in The New York Times, July 2004, Mr Kushner’s career followed a messy path towards total disgrace.  At that time, he pleaded guilty to attempting to compromise and discredit a witness in his campaign finance investigation through the videotaping of the use of a prostitute.  Clearly, a clear example of a corrupted and desperate man.  An indelible stain on the Kushner Company’s reputation.  And, this patriarch and  co-founder, ‘Charlie’, was relegated to serve 18 to 24 months, having pled guilty to tax fraud and witness retaliation.  He was suddenly on front pages of major newspapers as a man charged with trapping his own sister and brother-in-law in a sleazy scam because they were cooperating with the Feds!  Mr Kushner then necessarily stepped down as chairman of his own empire.  I guess he didn’t learn…





Long Branch.    Although the story above is complicated and sordid, the rest of the story isn’t any better.  I need to discuss my concerns with the past, current and future manic acquisitions on this Jersey Shore town by the Kushner Company.  Now it gets personal. This is My Shore. The shore I grew up visiting and relishing in all its beauty, chaos, wilderness, and diversity.  From the pandemonium of Asbury Park and Atlantic City to the tranquility of Island Beach State Park to the macadam ‘boardwalk’ of Manasquan … it is the Jersey Shore that presents itself as an entity like no other.  Long  Branch was a town for everyone. For daytrippers or renters if you had the money and was lucky enough to find a rental, it was ideal.  Not many motels here. No B & B’s like Ocean Grove. No hotels like Spring Lake. Seven Presidents Beach we would go…a day of jumping waves and hot dogs at The Windmill.  Yet, although ‘change’ is good, is necessary for rebuilding, safety and infrastructure improvement, I find the ‘Kartel Kushner’ acquisitions of excessive land in Long Branch as obscene.  It’s been told that in the 19th century, this Jersey shore town on the was considered so quiet, serene and restorative that doctors brought the mortally wounded President Garfield here after he was shot in the summer of 1881 expecting that the quiet pace and soothing sea air would make his time left as peaceful and comfortable as could be.  Well,  that was then.  Now?  










Well, it appeared to start some years ago, in the redevelopment plans in the early 2000’s and Pier Village Development Project. Located in the Jersey Shore’s Long Branch community, Pier Village was developed in collaboration with Kushner Companies, and the entire development was slated for completion in 2020. This resort styled development featured 245 condos, 90,000 square feet of retail space and a boutique hotel.  The final phase of the project will include the hotel and private beachfront amenities that include a four-season carousel, lounge, and recreation areas.





In itself, the Kushner project, Pier Village,  presented an attractive commodity to the area, especially after the devastating pier fire of 1987.  The city hit the economic skids in the 1990s. Vacant buildings strewn along Broadway, the main thoroughfare. Rioters took to the streets in 1994, sparked by rumors of a police shooting.  Crime is down significantly, further eroding memories of the riot that took a toll on Long Branch’s image and psyche. Population losses had leveled off as more and more young people, monied home buyers and immigrants have flocked to the beaches.  New eateries were appreciated.  A new modern hotel was acknowledged and was certainly utilized, although pricey.  This phase of development was extremely successful for the upper middle class now who were presented with reasonably-sized summer and year round abodes in a town where summer homes were something of the past.  Daytrippers continued to visit spliced among Staten Islanders and Brooklynites staying at The Ocean Place Resort. A place closer than Long Beach Island and certainly not as populated.  Real estate sales were extraordinarily profitable for the Kushners and, to their credit, did provide jobs and revenue to the area.  However, that was started nearly 20 years ago.  And now?  It hasn’t stopped, but rather escalated and the town, as I see it, is becoming unrecognizable.  It’s a Kushner Village. Not for the common people. No longer for all of ‘us’…Thus… the next part to this story….










In the ‘beginning’…Mr. Charles Kushner, in 2004, having completed two years in federal prison, wanted private beach access near his home and provide parking places for beachgoers a few hundred yards away.  This was essentially a trade off:  Kushner gets Adams Street private beach access and Long Branch gets 10 parking spaces.  But in Long Branch, already embroiled in eminent domaine issues, this proposed ‘swap’ caused quite a stir in the community.  Now the government’s power to seize private land for public use has historically been justified as benefiting the greater good.  But as reported in The New York Times in 2004, the coastal town of Long Branch, eminent domain, as the legal doctrine is known, is ‘expanding in a way unseen before in the nation on such a large scale’.  As it undergoes massive redevelopment through the destruction of houses not for schools but for expensive condos and townhouses, what is happening to the residents who have been there since the 1920s? 1940’s?  Rose LaRosa’s seaside cottage stood in the way of this new redevelopment plan, which her family bought in 1944.  Where will she go?  A Pier Village $600,000 townhouse?  I. Think. Not!  Most homeowners protested, stating that they will not sell, no matter how much the city or a developer was willing to pay, and they have cast themselves as the wronged working-class heroes. Thus fight became a PR disaster for Long Branch at that time. The 30 or so holdout homeowners planted signs saying ”NOT For Sale” in their sandy yards, and they filled the windows of their pastel bungalows with posters declaring ”Eminent Domain Abuse”.  





Now the use of eminent domain laws to replace existing homes with more expensive ones has been happening since the 1950’s, but on a far more limited scale than in Long Branch.  Gideon Kanner, a professor emeritus at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and the editor of ‘Just Compensation’, a monthly periodical that criticizes the expanding use of eminent domain in urban redevelopment, said he was ‘troubled’ but not surprised by Long Branch’s strategy.  “Somewhere along the line cities started losing inhibitions,” Mr. Kanner said. ”But this kind of open economic rape is outrageous.”  Residents said they were still considering their legal options, but saw no reason they should have to come up with a plan to save homes they already own. They did offer to spruce up their neighborhood to keep it from being leveled, but with the city asking them to sign disclaimers saying they might not be compensated for any improvements if their houses were seized. Property rights lawyers maintained that redevelopment plans should be based more on budgets than on blight.  Neighborhood residents argued that their streets and homes should not have been included with the adjacent abandoned buildings and that newer, pricier condos in their neighborhood that are within the improvement zone and could be seized but are not slated for demolishment.  As one resident proclaimed, “We worked hard for our little house,” she said, starting to cry. ”Where am I going to go at 78 years old?” I find this heartbreaking, and although this consequence is frequent everywhere… this is OUR Jersey Shore. Not the Kushner’s…










Today.  Since it’s inception, The Pier Village Project was conceived in three phases.  Since launching sales in 2017, Extell’s in partnership with Kushner Company’s latest property in New Jersey, “The Lofts Pier Village”, has now passed several milestones, with more than 100 residences now either sold or in-contract.   Jared Kushner’s company has just purchased another ocean block lot for $1.45 million with plans to build a hotel on the property, the Kislak Co. Inc. announced.  Kushner Company has purchased 36 Morris Avenue, a .47-acre lot near Pier Village, which the company also owns.  They plan to build another hotel on the lot. In total, Kushner has purchased 1.86 acres of ocean front and adjacent lots for the hotel project.  This new construction is imminent. The hotel, a seven-story project called the Onada Surf Club, has been approved by the Long Branch planning board but additional approvals are still pending.










Opportunity Knocks.  Kushner’s beachfront property was eligible for Trump’s Poor-Area tax perks….supposedly to attract investment in low income areas… right?  Extell Development’s in partnership with Kushner Company’s Pier Village 700 sq foot one bedrooms rent for approximately $2,800/month.  Hmmm… and this neighborhood has been classified as ‘distressed’ as Long Branch, itself is deemed an “opportunity zone”- a classification created in Trump’s  2017 tax law…ergo, generous perks for developers tax wise.  Kushner bought into about 9000 opportunity zones across the United States. (Bloomberg.com)





How does one define an ‘opportunity zone’?  Some areas in Queens, for example, can be seen as far more distressed than others. Same in Asbury Park. Everywhere!  Can Pier Village be truly designated as such?  Is this area one which the new law truly points to?  How?  It was based on the 2010 census and did not track the incomes of seasonal residents flocking to this beach town, truly doubling Its population!  22.6 % poverty rate was noted… just above the 20% threshold.  Therefore, under this new provision,  and due to the fact that the poverty level increased since 2010 in the tract… the presence of high-end seasonal housing “did not disqualify them from receiving an opportunity zone designation,” even though Monmouth County, where Long Branch is located, is among the nation’s wealthiest.  Something stinks in the state of New Jersey and it begins with a ‘K’…










Now it’s no secret The Kushner Klan has deep roots in Long Branch.  And in no way am I implying the family keeps a deep seated historical and grounded love for the sandy soil earth and stinging salt air. Nope!  It’s a lust for land. And not just any land. Water framed land.  Land to be bought for a making deals. Land that was cheated and planted into the hands of greedy landlords. Not homeowners.  Opportunists.  Dealers. For Charles Kushner, Jared’s father, built his real estate fortune in New Jersey first then headed to New York a decade ago.  Yes the family has summered in the community for decades. Why not?  Fifty miles from Livingston.  Culturally suitable. They saw Opportunity. Tasted it. A town, not unlike Elizabeth, where hard workers built homes, churches, synagogues. A town with buildings and factories in need of repair, rebuilding, renovation. And….RENT!  Middle class eateries to be gentrified.  But The Kushner’s knew just how to revitalize such places.  THEIR WAY!  And, at a January groundbreaking for their new boutique hotel, Jared’s sister, Nicole Meyer,  recalled walking the town’s boardwalk with their grandmother Rae Kushner, who owned a condominium there. A town of Kushners.  And, in 2007 the family upgraded their ‘cottage’…spending $4 million on a beachfront home with a pool and tennis court outside what would become the opportunity zone.  The Opportunity Zone.  And, after the designation, the Kushners also purchased the 24-room Bungalow Hotel for 9 million and spending in excess of 4 million in August on two single-family homes, all in the zone.  The Opportunity Zone.  And, to get the benefits, opportunity zone investors need to spend funds equal to the purchase price on improvements to the property.  They must also invest through so-called ‘qualified opportunity funds’.  So far, most lawyers have been configuring contracts so that those funds hold stakes in limited accountability companies which will own the property. There are no public disclosure requirements for qualified opportunity funds, and selling interests in the LLCs doesn’t require disclosure either. Get it?  Confusing but clear enough to realize the shrewd minds entailed in this business. 










Jared Kushner, son of Charles, who transferred many assets to his family members as soon as he became a White House adviser, continued to be a beneficiary of the company that bought the houses as of January, as noted in his most recent financial disclosure. His company hasn’t committed to taking the tax breaks, according to Jared. But this is moot as the opportunity zone designation is.  Clearly quite lucrative and cost-effective, to say the least. There may be no limit to this company’s profits and a surge in development in other areas of Long Branch by other development entities will only maker whatever investments the Kushners have made even more valuable. 





Back to Charles.   In December 2020, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner as part of a late-hour clemency spree during the final days of his presidency.  He granted clemency to nearly 50 people in that same week.  No surprise here. Why wouldn’t he. Other pardons here, at least to me, were far more repugnant. Cited was Kushner’s ‘charitable’ work since 2006. I can only guess Trump’s  appreciation for the beach clearance making it easier for him to get to the Kushner’s beach Rosh Hashanah gig that September. Trump managed this without a reference to Charlie’s son, Jared, his son in law and soon to be out of work Senior advisor. I wonder why?  Well, One thing for sure. The younger Kushner either learns from the mistakes of the father or not. I mean the poor boy had to run the Kushner business during Pop’s imprisonment all the while commuting for visitation all the way to Alabama. And all this in his early 20’s. All is forgiven now. Charles lucked out with the President and his son, who clearly thinks his Dad deserved a second chance. The House of The Kushners is thriving again. And Long Branch is FINALLY getting a third new boutique hotel fitted with a private carousel.  All is well in the world.  Let’s just hope they all stay out of both ‘Big Houses’ this time.  PLEASEREADTHIS🗽





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A HERO IS A VERB
	


	
	

		











I would be hard pressed to find a gal who hasn’t seen or recognized the movie “Beaches”, a tear jerker gal-pal flick that I personally have seen many times and enjoyed just as many. Although not Oscar-worthy, it is worthy as a tribute to the meaning of an enduring friendship.  The lyrics above are derived from the song Bette Midler recorded for the movie.  Although others recorded it, the most famous version of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ was in 1988 when and it became one of her signature songs.  It speaks to Hilary,  the “Beaches” character, who is regaled as a ‘hero’ to the Bette Midler character…the ‘wind’ of strength for her.  Bette’s true ‘hero’!   Well.. now to the point I will try to make… that is, Who is a hero?  What makes a hero?  Not that I have anything against sappy melodramatism, but as much as I weep listening to that earth shattering voice sing that euphony, I’m NOT thinking of the Hilary character of ‘hero’ but rather the beauty of the description of the term ‘hero’.  The melody and lyrics are in harmony, but not necessarily the plot.  Let’s get on with it…










I have spent time thinking about the concept of a ‘hero’ much over the years and most of the time clash with others in discussions of its intrinsic meaning, not that there is one clear definition.  In fact one article I recently read was entitled “23 Definitions of Hero”.  Well, that’s just plain over-zealous.  Wiki says:  A hero is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength.  Ok.  Remember these words. For they may, or may not, stay with you.  I like Dictionary.com’s words:  1. a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character: ‘He became a local hero when he saved the drowning child’.  2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal.  I do agree with these translations, but a bit meager.  For they are just that… definitions….





You see, there are reasons I hesitate as persons tend to conveniently use the term ‘hero’.  Firstly, I am not necessarily an avid sports fan.  So the use of the term in this arena I find quite distressing and unacceptable.  So this is truly a strike (pun intended) against me as the relegation of ‘hero’ in sports is pervasive.  And I, despite knowing this is most biased, aspire to question the validity of the term to persons who can out-run, out-hit or out-throw a ball accurately far or swim a butterfly stroke in record breaking time.  These are examples of ‘talent’ to me.  Certainly worthy of immense praise. Not heroism.  





However, in the case of a sports figure who may have overcome great adversity (physical, mental, environmental) in order to achieve success, well, that would personally allow my use of the term applied to that kind of situation.  Persons like Jackie Robinson.  Jesse Owens.  Lou Gehrig. Few an far between. 





Lately it seems the meaning of the word hero has been watered down until it seems like everyone can be considered a hero.  I myself several years ago won an award entitled ‘Healthcare Hero’.  Well!  I have the plaque and saved the newspaper articles, but they’re not displayed.  I do not discuss the distinction.  I never believed I deserved the merit.  However I did not conceive the endowment. I was nominated.  I was chosen. I am not a hero.  I did some respectable deeds.  Many people do.  And recently, I even saw a statement online that said, “Everyone is a hero in his or her own way.”  I hesitated before I thought ‘’so true”.  Has the word hero become little more than a participation trophy?










 I now want to offer my definition of a ‘hero’:  A hero, to me, is someone who gives of him/herself for the greater good of others, for a purpose of helping humanity, often putting his own life at great risk, for the greater good of others.  It entails Bravery.  The most heroic are the most ordinary of people doing ordinary things for a greater humane purpose.  Think of Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Margaret Sanger, Jackie Robinson….  And thousands if not millions more people who have had the courage to incite or uphold humanity or changes in the world to make it a more honorable place. A person who is an extraordinary example of human achievement that makes us gasp in wonder and admiration… Yet to many the true definition of a hero varies according to the individuality of a person due to our uniqueness, as I attempted to illustrate earlier. To reword my definition to be more diffuse, a hero is a person who acquires courage, intelligence, selflessness, strength of character, and has risked and sacrificed his life for the dignity of himself and the wellbeing of others.  A hero bears the characteristics of a leader, by not only possessing physical strength but most importantly the fortitude and perseverance to uphold honorable values. 










The Bradys and the Bransons of the world are spectacular. Truly physical and mental wonders.  They are most certainly appealing, revered.  The are no doubt philanthropic.  But when one has in excess of millions of dollar, it is seen as nearly ruthless to not share, so…. To me it doesn’t ‘really’ count as an element of true ‘heroism’.  I have noted that most persons list public figures as their heroes.  As referenced, sports stars, actors, musicians, pop stars…. I mean, really… if Michael Jackson is considered a ‘hero’, would Dr Conrad Murray be one too?  Sir Paul McCartney?  Hmmm… Is everyone a hero now?  I daresay the term is banal today… overused.  Losing the strength of its true meaning.    “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” — Zeus, Hercules.  I’ve also noted that people  tend to name “public” figures as heroes. Names the rest of us, or at least the members of their generation, would recognize.  Significantly, important politicians, journalists, business executives… Military figures seem to be rarely spoken of, at least among my peers, yet is not this group one which might just be the stuff of heroes?  Leaders of social movements and non-establishment figures like Martin Luther King Jr. or Cesar Chavez clearly embed heroism.  And, people tend to gravitate toward individuals of their generation, which is easier and natural.  And nearly absent from conversations, I’ve noted,  are figures from the “distant” past whose relevance has slipped through the cracks of time.










I’ve seen and heard references that teachers, nurses, farmers, plumbers, electricians, ministers, and parents are all heroes.  Well, think about it!  Then would not most of us be included in this exclusive sect?  No!  They are admirable professions.  Yet are they admirable people?  We dare not speculate they are heroes.  And, I’m not saying that these people don’t perform necessary or noble services—clearly, they do.  And, being courageous does not make one a hero. Courage is admirable, but unless it involves risk or sacrifice in order to help others, then it isn’t heroism.





One needs to narrow the definition of hero back down to someone putting their life and property at risk to save someone or to invoke positive change.  Martin Luther King, Jr. is a good example of a hero who sacrificed his life for positive change. A hero takes action to help others at considerable risk to himself, however, if that action also helps himself, then he is not a hero because he is acting out of self-interest.  For example, a bus driver careening down an incline  needs to suddenly brake, however the brakes fail. But he is able to stabilize the vehicle with his years of experience and veer off the road so as to safely halt the bus. Thus he has averted a catastrophe which could have resulted in the loss of lives, including his own. Hero?  Compare this scenario to a passerby who sees a fiery car crash and runs into the flames to rescue a person he sees alive and suffering in the car. Hero?  I daresay both situations are not the same and the bus driver may not be necessarily labeled a hero.  Was he not also saving his own life?  Was if not his intrinsic duty to safely dive the bus?  










In summarizing,  clearly heroes come in all shapes and sizes and they represent different professions, even a common man and a simple man can be a hero.  An individual is not born a hero; he may develop into a hero as he lives his life. People such as cops, fighters of fire, military officials, lawyers and well as doctors and nurses ALL can even be regarded as heroes IF they exhibit characteristics of a true hero as I attempted to define earlier.  If they make the lives of other human beings better through their fearless nature and valor.  An armed official fighting on the border does not fight because he is a psychopath who has an eye for killing other individuals; his main purpose of fighting is the wellbeing and safeguard of the people of the nation he is representing.  Both the cops as well as firefighters have repeatedly risked their lives to ensure that the people of their society are safe.  Individuals who are on death bed and experiencing tremendous amount of pain due to their health condition and are still fighting against their health diseases without taking up mercy killing as an option to relief pain … can not they be considered heroes?  Is not the most important characteristic that an individual requires to be recognized as a hero- bravery. Heroes have a special condition called bravery because they stand against their darkest fears and are courageous enough to continue fighting even if they fear that their attempts may fail. A true hero is one who is dedicated to a particular cause and he is dedicated towards that cause in order to protect the interest of others and not to protect his own interest. A true hero does this. 





Mark Twain





“Unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other men, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one, and is this: we admire them, we envy them, for great qualities we ourselves lack. Hero worship consists in just that. Our heroes are men who do things which we recognize, with regret, and sometimes with a secret shame, that we cannot do. We find not much in ourselves to admire, we are always privately wanting to be like somebody else. If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.” 
― Mark Twain





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