Hoboken Reporter, August 6, 2000

Dear Editor:

Joe Barry may not publish this paper anymore, but obviously he still retains special priviledges when he wants to express his opinion. How lucky for him when yet another of his projects has become the subject of controversy. What are the chances of having my letter boxed in and placed at the top of the page like an editorial, with a diagram, no less?

From his bully pulpit, in "Part I" of his manifesto on the proposed extension of his Shipyard project, Mr. Barry purported to tell us the facts about why he should be allowed to proceed, and how it will benefit us all. Unfortunately, the facts were in short supply. While I am tempted to dissect the letter point by point, and expose each distortion, misrepresentation, and obfuscation, in the interest of brevity, I will stick to the one that I believe most warrants a response.

As he has done in the past, Mr. Barry attempts to demonize his opponents, characterizing them as "a small group of politically motivated individuals" trying to steamroll his project with a campaign of "intimidation, exaggeration and falsehoods," who don't represent the "legitimate concerns of the community" which he later claims to recognize. Nice try, but no go. I am reminded of the old saying about the pot calling the kettle black.

In fact, the opposition to his project, of which I am a part, is a broad, loosely organized group of conscientious citizens that share the #1 legitimate concern in Hoboken today: that our town is being overdeveloped, and that the quality of life here is diminishing as a result. As with any such group there are a few people who are taking the lead, some of whom have been active in this area for many years. To my knowledge, none of them have ever sought political office, let alone personal gain, through their actions. These people who have sacrificed countless hours of their personal time in an attempt to stem rampant development, are true heroes of Hoboken, and without their efforts, our precious waterfront would today be a wall of high-rise buildings with no public access to the river.

On the other hand, what is Hoboken to Joe Barry other than a profit center and the pond where he gets to be Big Fish? Does he even live here? He has undoubtedly already made a fortune developing real estate here, but he is not content. The market is hot, and he wants to cash in some more. He wants to take the subsidies out of his government subsidized housing (the one enterprise he might actually deserve praise for) and start collecting market rents. His Shipyard project, as originally approved, is not even completed, and already he wants to add to it, in the process of going against the policy applied on the southern waterfront to limit construction to existing city blocks and leave the piers for park and recreation space. Does anyone really believe he is acting for the public good?

Make no mistake about it. This project will not be good for Hoboken. The only good thing about it would be the additional, albeit limited, recreation space, but not at the price of putting that building on the pier. Forget for the moment about the blocked views, and the potential pollution of the river from improperly filtered runoff. Stick a building in a remote corner of town, put a parking garage in it, and how do you think people are gonna get around? How many more cars can we absorb? This town just wasn't built for it. I'm convinced it's just a matter of time before they rename my street The Garden Street Parkway. And how many people in town are going to go all the way out to that pier to sit on an esplanade in front of a big apartment building. That's not public space. But it'll be very nice for the residents of the building. As will the tennis courts and the park.

And let's not be sucked in by their cutesy design that makes the building look like a steamship. The architect, Dean Marchetto (another Hoboken non-resident who claims to be sensitive to the needs of the community), attempted to sell it to the Planning Board back in June by telling how it will evoke the maritime history of the city. Hoboken isn't a theme park. It's a real place where real people live and work. And its small town charm is in danger of being spoiled. If we want to evoke the maritime history, than let's leave the old rotting pier alone and keep it as an open-air museum.

Don't get me wrong. I would never presume to deny Mr. Barry the right to pursue his business interests. But as a 17-year resident, property owner and business owner here, I have just as much right to insist that he do so in a responsible way that doesn't detract from the qualities that made me want to put down roots here. If he wants to add to the Shipyard, he's got plenty of room left on his upland property. Let him build us a nice big park on the pier with some real recreation space (as opposed to the bone he's proposing to throw us). For that he could be a local hero too. He claims that he can't afford to do it that way, but I don't believe it. Maybe he'd just make a little less profit. Would that be so terrible?

Steven Kosmacher
Hoboken