www.constantreader.org, May 17, 2000

"Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable." --John Kenneth Galbraith

To no one's surprise, the Jersey City Planning Board managed to choose the disastrous at their meeting last Tuesday. Disregarding the protests of citizens from Jersey City and Hoboken, the Board voted 6-1 to amend the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Plan. The Jersey City council, however, gets final say on the project.

The amendments in question concern a specific project, known as the Millennium Towers. The developer, United Diversified of Bayonne, wants to build two 43 story apartment towers at the base of the Palisades, in what is now an abandoned industrial area right next to the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. The plan proposed is 110 feet higher than the zoning currently permits. The towers would be the highest structure for miles around: in fact, they would be half the height of the World Trade Center towers.

There are a million reasons why this is a terrible project. For one thing, the towers would completely destroy the view residents in Jersey City Heights currently have of Manhattan from their homes and park. It's not just a view; it's something that has defined that neighborhood for ages. The towers would most certainly also destroy views of the Palisades themselves. Then there is the idea of inviting another 30,000 people to live in an already overcrowded area. If you have ever driven through the Holland Tunnel, you have some idea of what traffic is like around here.

But the bigger question is, what does "city planning" really mean, if anything, in Jersey City? In what type of plan would 43-story towers look good six blocks away from 3-story brownstones? In whose best interest is it to grant a wealthy developer 20 years free from paying taxes on the property? In what version of reality can yet another gated community, filled with people who have no interest in this city, its history, its health, or its well-being, be a good idea?

The meeting was packed with people on both sides of the issue. Concerned citizens representing half a dozen neighborhood and environmental groups voiced their problems quite passionately. The size of the project, the number of people, and even the way in which the project is being pushed forward were all voiced as concerns. As an example, the amendments introduced that night had been written by the developer and the board had not even seen them before the meeting began. Marjory Daley put it quite succinctly when she said, "The Heights will on longer be the Heights.... There is no plan here....This is spot zoning."

The most eloquent speaker against the Towers was Hoboken resident Helen Manogue, who spoke on behalf of the Hudson Consortium and the Quality of Life Coalition. Manogue has campaigned on behalf of environmental issues in Hudson County for 30 years. Putting the Towers up, she said, would be a catastrophe for the area environmentally, not to mention aesthetically. It would be like putting up "two huge pink plastic flamingos blinking in neon" on the Palisades, she said. She assured the Planning Board that they would be the laughing stock of the nation if they went forward with this plan.

It was disappointing to learn the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association had caved in to the developer, on the flimsy promise that they would build a "park" in the area. Another controversial issue hinges on NJ Transit. The amendments require that a light rail stop be included at the Towers. Sources disagree, however, as to whether NJ Transit has any plan to build a stop there.

It was also extremely disheartening to see the level of disdain the Planning Board held for the general public. I've never seen public officials treat citizens with such arrogance, flippancy, and callous disregard for the concept of a public forum. I realize these people are appointed and not elected. But shouldn't they still at least pretend to have some concern for the people of Jersey City? It was an absolute disgrace.

On the other side ofthe issue, dozens of union members from Local 164, the I.B.E.W. (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) showed up wearing T-shirts that read, "The Millennium Towers Mean Jobs." I can understand the union's interest in wanting to create jobs for their members. But this is an odd time for unions to claim they are out of work in Jersey City. There's more new construction here than anywhere else in the state. Buildings are going up so fast on the waterfront, it looks different every time you go for a walk. It just doesn't wash.

Neighborhood groups agree. As one citizen said, "Somebody's bought their way into the City with this project." In Jersey City? Huh. Who would have thought it!

Carol Van Houten
Jersey City