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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