There was a time not too long ago when Creola Mainor could not leave her home without running through a gantlet of drug dealers camped outside her front steps.
That was at “Nine” – 9 Heckman Drive – the public housing tower in which the nursing assistant and “General Hospital” fan spent nearly 25 years of her life. It was a place where she raised four daughters. It was a place to which police hated responding. But now it is a place that no longer stands, and on that place two story townhouses and detached homes will now rise.
In scenes being replicated throughout the country, from Chicago’s Cabrini Green to Yonkers to Jersey City’s Curries Woods and the A. Harry Moore (Duncan) projects, grim public housing buildings are being taken down, replaced by townhouses.
Mainor has lived in one of those townhouses at 28 New Heckman Drive for the past three years. And while her house is a little smaller, and her washing machine sits in her kitchen next to the refrigerator, she loves it.
“Now,” she said of the drug dealing, “you don’t see it anymore.”
On Tuesday, city officials and residents got together to celebrate a new phase in the transformation of Curries Woods that included a groundbreaking for 43 townhouses and a ribbon-cutting for 84 existing ones. A recreation center is being built on the western side of the projects.
Rising on the Bayonne border and visible from the New Jersey Turnpike extension, the seven towers that comprised the projects had seethed with crime during the crack epidemic of the mid-’80s and early ’90s. Housing Authority director Robert Rigby admitted, “We lost control. The junkies took over.” Vacancies built up.
Now only three towers remain, and after March of 2004, the only reminder of the old Curries Woods will be a rehabbed senior housing tower.
The total number of apartments will shrink from 712 to 307, but, said Rigby, no resident of the former towers who wants a new place is being denied.
The total rehab of the projects will run $24 million, part of a $32 million federal grant called HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere) VI coming to Jersey City.
A number of notable officials attended the ceremony, including outgoing Mayor Bret Schundler, who flashed some emotion during his speech.
“Our life in this world is short,” said Schundler, repeating a pet phrase, “but what we leave with others…” he paused, turning his head and wiping a tear, “is what stays.”
Rigby noted the buildings just to the west of the projects, the gated community known as Society Hill.
“There should be no reason, no reason in the world,” said Rigby, “that Curries Woods should be any different from Society Hill.” In a bit of irony, the construction of the 43 townhouses will be conducted by K. Hovnanian, builders of Society Hill.
While it was a time of celebration, Rigby noted that the federal budget now being debated cuts $52 million for New Jersey in funding for housing and more money for a drug elimination program. He said if the cuts indeed go through, he would not eliminate the program, but new windows at Berry Gardens and lead paint screening will likely be delayed. Rigby said he would try to find money in his own budget, which is funded 45 percent through rents and 55 percent through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Rehabilitation and construction also continues at the public housing projects known as Lafayette Village, Lafayette Gardens and Dwight Street.
A new face for the projects Curries Woods celebrates transformation
