Dear Editor:
When I ran for Mayor of Hoboken, I stated the following on the front page of The Jersey Journal on April 1, 1997: Mayor Russo’s development initiatives are slowly killing the town and that city Government must be brought back to the people. At that time, many thought my words were as foolish as the day. I wanted to “preserve a way of life” for the people who made the town a great place to live – but, unfortunately, were being displaced not able to afford to live in Hoboken. I described “Russoism” as local government oppressing the people by working with outside business interests (namely developers) culturally strip-mining the “Mile Square City.” I stated that overdevelopment translated into steady decline of the city’s core population that would inevitably cause the loss of our cultural identity.
When I challenged the Mayor to debate me on these issues, he stated three days later on the front page of The Jersey Journal: “There are no issues.” We now all know, who still can afford to live in Hoboken, that these were the issues.
Mayor Russo has successfully succeeded in re-creating the town in his own image, a Russoville, similar to what Mussolini re-created in Rome. As you drive into Rome as I have on two occasions, you first see Mussolini’s New Rome. It is cold, sterile, and stark with high rise buildings similar to Newport City in Jersey City. The New Rome only lasted in image eight years, and we all know the outcome. Rome, The Eternal City, lives, and never lost its identity.
As a life long resident of Hoboken, local businessmen at Lepore’s Chocolate for 20 years, coach, sponsor, Vice President, and President of The Hoboken Babe Ruth League on three occasions, founder of “From Here to Eternity”, a museum in honor of Mr. Frank Sinatra, that the Mayor closed down, and candidate for Mayor in 1997, I ask you to support and vote for Dave Roberts and The Hoboken United Team. Mr. Roberts will stress “fair management” in government opposed to “fear management.” I know Mr. Roberts respects what is left of Old Hoboken and would never dare to re-create Hoboken in his own image. Dave Roberts is using his own money that he earned and refuses monetary help from developers, the golden bulk of Mayor Russo”s war chest, that will drive the final golden spike into the heart of Hoboken if he is re-elected.
I thank Dave Roberts, former Mayor Steve Cappiello, and former Governor Jim Florio for supporting my efforts and visiting “From Here To Eternity”, the museum in honor of Mr. Frank Sinatra, who was just named the Greatest Singer of the Twentieth Century. The museum is created in Mr. Sinatra’s image, in scale for the city, and people continue to visit his place of birth from throughout the world. The museum is Old Hoboken as is Old Rome, not Russoville.
If elected, the Mayor will try once again to impose his will on creativity still not adhering to the old Roman saying: Vita Brevis, Ars Longus. Life is short, but art lives forever. If elected, Dave Roberts will have the opportunity to become a very great Mayor because of the work at hand. If elected, Mr. Roberts will serve with respect, an inborn, intangible quality that must be nurtured in a person of character, intelligence, and conviction. For these reasons, I urge you to support and vote for him and the team of Hoboken United.
Ed Shirak Jr.