To the Editor:
First, I would like to congratulate Mayor Davis on his bold initiative in seeking the Amazon headquarters for Bayonne. It is a fine example of what can happen when clear, determined vision is applied to available assets. Unfortunately, that same process has long been absent when it comes to development on Bergen Point. I have stated publicly that Bergen Point, especially southwestern Bergen Point, has been treated like a red-haired stepchild. Some history on that score: in the early 90s there was the ill-conceived attempt to put a cogen plant at Best Foods by the Rutkowski administration; next was the tragic idea of a trash transfer facility under Mayor Doria, but Mr. Doria does get kudos for preventing an oil recycling facility at Best Foods; next the residents got saddled with the noise, dust, traffic, parking problems, building damage, and potential infrastructure damage of the raise-the-bridge project, whatever its real value; the Port Authority, Skanska Kiewit, and some malleable minions of the Smith administration even conspired to remove the only stoplight on Avenue A south of North Street creating a dangerous temptation for a raceway. The current administration was already told that the light will not be restored. Port Authority claims to the contrary. In the newly accepted master plan, crosstown transportation is afforded to every light rail stop except Bergen Point and the 8th Street stop. In a map DMR asked me to draw, I found it necessary to provide three routes in this sprawling area, but the new plan offers none. Now the current administration offers a warehouse project with no idea of who will use it or how.
For years we had the horror at the harbor. Now I suppose we will get the misplay on the bay. Sadly, had adequate forethought been applied, the same developments which may arise along the bay could have occurred, but in reordered fashion which would have made sense. The residential component should have been by the North Street, A and P, and Brass Foundry sites. The warehouses should be at Texaco where remediation would have been less, and truck traffic would not be bothersome. The commercial aspect then should have come to the south of the Brass Foundry along the Best Foods site. That would create a contiguous, interdependent and as the city planner wants, cohesive development plan. As it is now, Bergen Point has become what urban studies types call a “food desert” served only by bodegas. This, in a neighborhood that, going back to the 9th Street A and P of my youth, always had a supermarket. Instead we get slap-dash ad hoc development which makes little economic sense. As it is now, western Bergen Point potentially faces a truck-choked future with few valuable services. The warehouse, the proposed residential development near the A and P site, and its relative remoteness from light rail all threaten the nascent Texaco development and could create a housing project rather than a luxury facility, something we saw beginning once already in this city.
While I believe that a change in administrations now is the worst possible result for Bayonne’s economic future, I also think that residents need to hold their local elected officials accountable for the economic direction and quality of life in their neighborhoods. No longer should we accept any solution simply because a problem has been kicked down the road by past officials. We must insist that assets get maximized for long-term economic growth and increased livability and remind those in office that political support granted can be withdrawn with the flick of a lever.
RONALD PREZIOSO
