Dear Editor:
I was reading George Ortiz’s breathless essay on the Russo rescue of an “abandoned…forgotten…neglected” city and thought perhaps there was a helium leak at Russo HQ to account for all this high-pitched chatter. (Just use those tanks to fill the balloons, people, that stuff can be dangerous.)
The image of benevolent stalwarts handing out candy bars to destitute children, helpless to help themselves, is a soothing one. It just doesn’t square with anyone’s reality in Hoboken.
Hoboken has enjoyed a moment in history, a perfect storm of sorts. Urban revitalization (check Exchange Place, Jersey City if you think Hoboken has the patent), and available housing stock, lot space, willing entrepreneurs, transportation, a party district (begun, for my money, by Maxwell’s in ’79 where you could see REM for cheap, not to mention the occasional politico.) And location, location, location.
If you are a newcomer to town (this designation can cover a surprisingly long period) stop and ask yourself if any administration could have stopped Hoboken from undergoing massive renewal with those historical forces in play. We have to count our blessings.
And then we have to ask ourselves if we’ve really done our best by this windfall.
The problem with the Ortiz mind set is it begins from such low expectations. The beset, ravaged city. Surely any improvements come against all odds. Every offer to overdevelop, however, short-sighted and grotesque, is a thing of wonder. So what if we can’t park, don’t have a park on the west side (unless you count the bizarre concept of “roof baseball” which has been pitched, so to speak), grant endless variances to people with no lasting commitment to the community, can’t figure out what our taxes do, watch one new family after another drive off forever because of housing costs and doltish planning. It’s still better than we had, right?
That’s your call. If you don’t think the hand Hoboken has been dealt could have been played any better, then stay with the present administration. They’re telling you that what you’re seeing is as much as you had a right to expect and then some.
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking this much good fortune shouldn’t look and function like such a mess, then seriously consider alternatives. Stop by Hoboken United on Washington Street, mid-block between 4th and 5th.
They’ve made a campaign commitment not to use helium in letters to the editor.
Mark Heyer