Dear Editor:
Of course, everything is “in the eye of the beholder”. It is also true that we often need these different “beholdings” to see something in its entirety.
I’ve been a grateful resident of Marine View Plaza for nearly 20 years. When I saw the people camping out in the cold in front of our building a full 24 hours in advance to just get on the “waiting list” for upcoming vacant apartments, I was ashamed of being a resident of Hoboken.
Ashamed because the awful background noise of the construction for the plundering of our southern waterfront (to be affordable to only those with very high incomes) was the accompaniment to the vigil of these Hobokenites. Our city government and the totally self-centered greed of the developers completely ignore the fact that the charm and character of our unique little city lies in the courage of the very people they are forcing out of an affordable place to live. Sure, let them live in the tenements with the unhealthy environment for raising children (much less adults) or try for Applied Housing with its concentration camp-style rules and regulations and shoddy construction…wasn’t it Marie Antoinette who said “Let them eat cake?”
Well, we all know what happened to her. I can only hope that it is true that what goes around comes around and that our city “fathers” and the gobbling developers get their come around while we’re still here to see justice done. We’re losing our health, our access to open air, the uniqueness of our city and our longtime residents and trading it all in to fill just a few pockets. I think this is only the capitalistic side of what makes America what it is. At the moment, the other side of our greatness is being trampled, perhaps even to death, by the very few on their way to the bank.
I choose to remain anonymous because with great power often comes great corruption. I’m paying enough as it is.
Marine View Plaza resident