Dear Editor:
I would like to respond to Jean Forest’s ridiculous letter to the editor last week.
First, Ms. Forest says she witnessed shivering people sleeping in line to get an application to Marine View Towers (the building in which she lives). Well, if the Marine View Towers management had a rational and humane policy for accepting new applications, such as a mail or lottery, there would be no need for people to sleep outside like cattle. Why doesn’t Ms. Forest speak to her own management.
Then, Ms. Forest launches into a tirade about construction workers starting work early on a new “huge, ugly block building” across the street. (It sounds like she is referring to Marine View Towers). Ms. Forest says the developer is in a big hurry. Would she rather the construction of the new building drag on for years?
Finally, Ms. Forest rambles on about Democrats versus Republicans and greedy developers and how it is “sad and exasperating to see the middle ground of decent living standards and housing for hard working people being eroded,” whatever that means.
Does Ms. Forest know enough about economics to know that a primary cause of expensive housing is a supply/demand imbalance. Currently there is a great demand for a limited supply. Guess what…creating more housing (supply) ultimately lowers housing prices. So griping about “luxury development” in Hoboken as a cause of expensive housing is ridiculous. If Ms. Forest wants to gripe about development in terms of congestion fine. But don’t waste our time writing about luxury development causing a housing crisis. Obviously, Ms. Forest has no solutions for the “formidable issues” she raises, or she would not be asking “is there anybody out there?”
Marisel Santiago