This sounds like an episode of the Sopranos...
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> February 21, 2007
> As Newark Neighbor Moves Toward Rebirth, Some Pains Are Felt
> By RICHARD G. JONES
> HARRISON, N.J., Feb. 20 For decades, the nicest thing said about
> this town of withered factories, toxic waste sites and dried-up
> ambitions was that at least it was not Newark. Or that it was a
great
> place to park and catch a train for Manhattan.
>
> It was a sobering descent from the days when Harrison, which juts
> into the Passaic River just across from Newark, was the city where
> the likes of R.C.A., Otis Elevator and Thomas A. Edison helped
forge
> the town's motto: "Beehive of Industry."
>
> "The factories left, everything left, some of us stayed," said
Manny
> Amaral, the owner of a car dealership and a parking lot, who has
> witnessed the ups and mostly downs in Harrison for the past 25
> years. "We tried to make it better."
>
> But now, even as a proposed $1 billion redevelopment project on
300
> acres of abandoned industrial land along the waterfront has
captured
> a good deal of attention and large-scale investment, some
residents
> are already asking if their city's much-heralded rebirth is worth
the
> trouble.
>
> After more than a decade of discussions, preliminary work has
begun
> on the first of a handful of projects that would almost double the
> town's housing stock, replace punched-out factories with more than
a
> million square feet of retail space and make Harrison the home of
a
> professional soccer team with a new 25,000-seat stadium.
>
> The concerns about the redevelopment project are nearly as
plentiful
> as the abandoned factories. For one thing, residents question
whether
> the city is prepared to handle all the new commercial development
and
> housing, which could double Harrison's current population of about
> 14,000 and strain the school system and other services. They are
also
> puzzled by a plan to build so close to the waterfront, an area
with a
> history of flooding.
>
> Others question the presence of so many politically connected
> developers, like the company founded by Joseph Barry, Applied
> Development Company. Mr. Barry was released from federal prison in
> April 2006 in a public corruption case.
>
> Others with connections include the law firm of Alfred C.
DeCotiis, a
> Democratic National Committee official, which played a role in the
> stadium deal; McManimon & Scotland, a Newark law firm whose
lawyers
> have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to county and state
> party officials, which was hired to handle a $40 million bond
sale;
> and one of the principal developers, the Roseland Property
Company,
> which is led by the chairman of the agency that runs the
Meadowlands
> sports complex.
>
> Then there is the issue of the city's plans to seize several
> properties for redevelopment through the use of eminent domain.
>
> "We don't mind the development," said Mr. Amaral, a plaintiff who
> recently lost a round in an eminent domain lawsuit. "We want to
see
> the town get better. It's just the way they're doing it."
>
> Change usually comes slowly to Harrison, as evidenced by Frank E.
> Rodgers, who was elected mayor in 1946 and went on to serve in
that
> post for 48 years. The town's current mayor, Raymond J. McDonough,
> who has held office since 1995, referred telephone calls about the
> project to Gregory Kowalski, executive director of the Harrison
> Redevelopment Authority.
>
> Mr. Kowalski dismissed the notion that politics played a role in
the
> selection of Applied Development and Roseland Property Company,
which
> is headed by Carl Goldberg, the chairman of the New Jersey Sports
and
> Exposition Authority, to develop the area. "I don't see it," he
said.
>
> The grand plan for Harrison, which officials say could take 10
years
> to complete, encompasses four projects two involving the
> construction of condominiums and townhouses, which is the first
phase
> of an estimated 7,000 new housing units, and another for
construction
> of a retail complex, and the stadium, which will be the home of
the
> New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.
>
> Among the concerns is a tax abatement plan that calls for a lump-
sum
> payment up front in lieu of annual taxes later. Critics say tax
> abatement is not needed here since the site is desirable enough to
> attract developers without added inducements.
>
> Mr. Kowalski defended the abatements, and said that if the project
> was seen to fruition it would generate more than $2 billion in
> taxable revenue. He deflected the question of whether the town has
> sufficient roads, schools and parking spaces to accommodate such a
> sharp increase in population.
>
> "We're envisioning this as a mass-transit-oriented project," Mr.
> Kowalski said, adding that he expected most of the newcomers to
> commute to jobs in Manhattan. "We're not going see this huge
> increase." He said Harrison had already seen benefits from the
> redevelopment, describing a new Hampton Inn that opened recently
as
> a "rousing success."
>
> "We had big industry," Mr. Kowalski said. "We got into the '70s
and
> virtually all of it was gone, we had brownfields" low-level
toxic
> waste sites concentrated mainly near abandoned factories.
>
> By the time R.C.A. shut down operations in 1976 it had made
vacuum
> tubes Harrison was already in a downward spiral.
>
> It was not always that way. During World War II perhaps the
city's
> most prosperous period there were an estimated 90,000 workers
> commuting to factories within a 1.3-square-mile patch of industry
> here.
>
> The city has long been defined by the river and its working-class
> population, which over the last 30 years has shifted from European
to
> Hispanic immigrants, who now make up more than a third of
Harrison's
> population. And it was the river that insulated Harrison from some
of
> the racial strife in 1967 and the subsequent white flight from
> Newark. The neighborhoods of low-slung row houses have largely
> remained stable, although in many cases in need of improvement.
>
> Yet despite the prospect of new residents and new revenue, some
> residents remain unconvinced that growth here is a good thing. "I
> don't know, until it's all built up we'll see what it'll do to
this
> town," said Joseph DiBenedetto, 49.
>
> Seth Schneider, 29, who lives in Rockaway, N.J., and commutes on
the
> PATH train from Harrison to Manhattan, worried about the traffic
the
> project could bring. "It's already congested," he said.
>
> Mr. Schneider, who works in the financial industry, also wondered
> that with the Newark hockey arena under construction and the
> Meadowlands sports complex just 15 minutes away, "Why a stadium
here?"
>
> Property owners like Mr. Amaral and Steven Adler, whose father was
a
> scrap metal dealer, with adjoining properties near the town's PATH
> train station, have been made targets for seizure under eminent
> domain laws.
>
> Mr. Adler said he had been negotiating with developers over four
> acres of land he owns when he abruptly received notice that his
> property had become a target for eminent domain proceedings. "I
don't
> mind selling," said Mr. Adler, adding that he had been offered
about
> $20 million for his property. "I do mind doing so under the
> compulsion of condemnation."
>
> Mr. Amaral said that he was not even allowed a chance to negotiate
> and only learned that his property was identified for condemnation
> last fall. "It's sick what's happening here," said Mr. Amaral, 55.
>
> Last week, a Superior Court judge ruled that the town could
appoint
> commissioners to begin considering the condemnation of Mr.
Amaral's
> property. On Friday, Mr. Amaral received notice that he had 90
days
> to vacate the premises. Mr. Kowalski declined to comment on the
> dispute over the use of eminent domain because it is in litigation.
>
> The two property owners have an ally in Steve McCormick, a member
of
> an all-Democratic City Council who upset some members of his party
> last year by running a campaign that questioned the development
> deals. "This town is an unpolished stone," he said. "But this town
is
> basically being given away."
>
> One day last week, Mr. Amaral pointed out the abandoned factory
> across the street from his businesses and spoke of the workers who
> used to fill the street now known as Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard.
He
> also pointed out a sign in his storefront window that reads: "Stop
> Eminent Domain Abuse."
>
> "People come in and they don't know what it is," Mr. Amaral
said. "I
> say, `It's where the government can take your property.' They
> say, `That can't happen in this country.' I tell them, `Yes, it
> can.' "
>
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