Dear Editor: Robert DeRuggiero, whose little realty sign stood forlorn on the narrow industrial lot at 1600 Park for ever so long, begging for a buyer, charges that the vigorous citizens’ movement opposing his new client’s plan to jam an 18-story blockbuster between the Park and Willow viaducts is just a gaggle of silly chickens, whining “the sky is falling!” Did the people who packed City Council chambers for the Zoning Board meeting come for fun? Has Residents for Responsible Development been building its sizable war chest to hire a zoning law attorney and other experts just to write nursery rhymes? And the hundreds upon hundreds of area residents who continue to sign petitions against the proposed project nerds? Is it “visionary,” as Mr. DeRuggiero claims, or is he just spinning a little Golden Legend of his own? Parts of his letter, (January 30) might work as a sales pitch for the prospective 344 (minimum) renters, if they currently live in Arizona and contract their future leases by mail. But if they should have eyes, ears, noses and even a lil’ chicken brain in their heads? Who could believe that this industrial zone will be magically transformed into a great “neighborhood,” as these “visionaries” would have it, when developer Sandy Weiss constructs the third and tallest residential complex on Hoboken’s northern edge (6 stories higher than the Lipton Tea building), a structure that will loom with the mega-charm of a hospital, is planned solely for transient residents, is not in walking range of serious shopping, and is tightly belted by viaducts streaming with traffic? (Maybe the new neighbors’ 389 cars will grin and clasp hands, like in the “Drive Friendly” campaign?) Will they hail each other through open summer windows as they relish the aromas of the nearby sanitation plant, built there because the area is industrially zoned? Will they rejoice on Toilet Moratorium days, while their solid waste is slowly digested by the old hollowed-out logs through which it must flow after leaving any building at 1600 Park? Will romantics saunter under the viaducts, through drizzling exhaust fumes, on down to a “cover” which is presently a catchall for raw sewage dumped into the Hudson from New York’s side? Will luxury renters at Weiss’ “Hudson River Club” entertain elegantly and sleep soundly encircled by gear-shifting buses and honking cars backed up in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel? During the rush hours, will they be able to exit their new parking garage at all? In short, as so many folks are bewildered to know: Who but pigeons would want to roost in this coop? Even peskier are all the questions about the good this project is supposed to do for our town. In the Weiss-DeRuggiero fable, where our real estate “renaissance” has created “what you and I enjoy, living, working, shopping, eating and recreating” in Hoboken, the proposed residence towers “will create 100’s of jobs.” Hundreds?, for how long? How many renters at 1600 Park will work in Hoboken? Hasn’t this realtor heard that higher prices, taxes and a shrinking stock of affordable housing have already driven out many people who used to enjoy “living and working” here? Even born-and-raised Hobokenites residing in their family’s houses are moving away because they can’t stand what their home town is becoming. High rises and huge parking structures, and all they bring, destroy, don’t make, the uniqueness of our “neighborhoods.” Then, presto, there’s the traffic-vanishing act of Weiss’ promised “access road under the Park Avenue Bridge.” Will police be on hand to remind drivers of their civic duty to use that lil’ yellow brick road? Where does it lead? The developer’s diagrams don’t say. And how many more times do we need to hear the light rail invoked as the answer to over-development, while its imminent arrival in 10 years continues to excuse failures to commission independent traffic-impact studies for a rapidly changing area? As Weiss’ engineer has memorably put it, Lincoln Tunnel traffic is not their problem. What was he hired for? The tale gets taller. What powers does the developer, whose 1600 Park property does not border the river, have to deliver on his extravagant promises to “accomplish the rebirth of the inner harbor” (letters 12/19/99)? Even if Weiss were Midas, would some future life on that waterfront stretch justify letting him build now as tall and wide as he likes? If, as DeRuggiero says, “the fact that the land is located between two 3-story bridges makes low rise development impractical” does the location’s implausibility make it practical to ram an 18-story colossus up against both roadways, nearly filling an entire city block? Practical for whom? And by what nursery-tale magic will it not strain our services, as the realtor flatly claims? Do we need higher math to imagine what more FAX/modems, computers, security and heating systems, microwaves, DWs, W/Ds, TVs and air conditioners in the 3000 new units coming soon above 11th Street will do to the city’s circuitry next summer? Shall we just load on more at 1600 Park, at the colossal Maxwell House property next, even more elsewhere, and ensure our very own Y2K meltdowns for years to come? Is this fear of the sky falling, or plain sense that we’ve already reached capacity development? And why does DeRuggiero think Hobokenites have no democratic right to say they want to preserve the glorious view of Manhattan that greets them nightly as they come home from work –a sight Weiss has called a “jewel, a wonder of the world.” Because, as his realtor puts it, “the free market drives the economy.” Citizens, get out of the way! Weiss wants our jewel, his only real magnet for golden rents at that most awkward site. Whose “unjust taking without compensation” is this? Why are people all over town, from every ward and a wide range of occupations, educational and ethnic backgrounds, questioning this project? Simple, Simon: Every argument made for it is questionable. Many would like to see this lot turned to positive use ,but Weiss’ plan is not the answer. Its touted boons for Hoboken remain unsubstantiated and change every time the fable is told. No Zoning Board member could approve the special favors wanted for 1600 Park without betraying the common good — and common sense. No local politician can risk supporting this project now., Hudson County residents nearby are up in arms about it. If it’s not dead yet, it’s dying, being crushed by its own overweight. That’s what’s falling, Humpty Dumpty. Mr. DeRuggiero’s letter reads like a desperate last stand to protect what’s turning out to be his not-so-golden egg. Janet Larson