Jersey Journal, April 27, 2004

Dear Editor:

Those who weren't at Wednesday's Hoboken City Council meeting missed the biggest show in town. With two hotly contentious redevelopment issues on the agenda, it played out like a surreal cowboy flick - the heroic homesteaders versus the evil railroad barons (or cattle rustlers, take your pick), complete with hired guns, in this case obstreperous black-hatted shills flaunting red W's. What an unruly and ill-informed crowd, barely kept at bay by the bemused "sheriff."

As TV cameras rolled, the proceeding masqueraded as "local governance" and can air as a new sordid reality show, sleazier than the best of Jerry Springer. The few intrepid citizens who dared to waste the council's precious time with legitimate questions about the endless changes to the project or the financial soundness of the deal were invariably booed and heckled by the gnarly mob.

None of the critical concerns were addressed by the mayor's "usual suspects" and a predictable 5-4 vote cinched yet another egregious deal for High Rise Rober(t)s, that valiant crusader against overdevelopment. Perhaps a taste of "frontier justice" is in store for Dave and his posse?

To be continued, with the literal cliff-hanger "The Saga of 800 Jackson."

Ira Landgarten