Spring cleaning in West New York means more than taking out the trash and cleaning out the attic. For West New York, spring is a time to clean out the entire city. With two new streetscape projects underway to complement the new and improved Bergenline Avenue shopping district and many of the town’s parks being renovated, residents can expect a whole new West New York by the end of the summer.
“This is an effort to beautify the entire town,” said West New York Mayor Albio Sires recently.
More business
While West New York seems to be having little trouble attracting new business into its small one-mile town, the town’s Urban Enterprise Zone is working hard to beautify the town’s business district in hopes of attracting even more business to the area.
The Urban Enterprise Zone, established in West New York in 1996, allows businesses to charge only a 3 percent sales tax, which goes directly into the UEZ budget to bolster the town’s business districts.
After completing the streetscape project on Bergenline Avenue, the town’s largest shopping district, the UEZ wasted no time beginning its next project; the streetscape of the Park Avenue Shopping District from 60th to 67th street.
The project only used $300,000 of UEZ money. The town also received a $500,000 Community Development Pell Grant and $300,000 from the Hudson County Transportation Management Agency.
The plans for Park Avenue’s Streetscape Project included redoing the sidewalks using cement and also adding a new parking lot to make it more convenient for people to shop there.
“The Park Avenue Business District is a little section with a few [locations] for new business to come to town,” said UEZ Coordinator Oscar Miqueli.
However, while Park Avenue and Bergenline Avenue are getting face-lifts, Kennedy Boulevard has become a hot spot for new business.
In 1999, Corporate Marketing Solutions opened on 56th Street and in the past couple of months, West New York saw Walgreen’s and P.C. Richard and Son open on Kennedy Boulevard.
However, the shopping districts aren’t the only areas undergoing revitalization.
The Boulevard East Streetscape Project will replace the sidewalks, benches, and lighting and add new trees from 60th to 67th street.
“We will have one continuous Boulevard Promenade from 54th Street to 67th Street,” said Sires, who explained that the area from 60th to 67th Street would then have the same cobblestone sidewalk, lighting fixtures and park benches as those already installed between 54th and 60th streets.
The town received $1 million dollars from state Green Acres funding to complete this project. The money was divided, and the town received $500,000 last year and the remaining $500,000 this year.
Green Acres is a type of state funding meant to preserve municipalities’ open space and recreational facilities. However, Sires said that the project may have to be completed in two phases, explaining that the amount of work that is required may be more expensive than what the town has budgeted for this year.
“There are a lot of little parks along that area,” said Sires. “We want to fix the parks as we fix the sidewalks.”
The project will be going out to bid at the board’s June 20 meeting, and Sires plans to begin the project this summer.
The town is currently looking into how much of the renovations can take place with the funding they already have.
Fixing the parks
While the sidewalks are becoming nicer places to sit and enjoy the view of New York or shop, West New York is also creating more modern and safe places for younger residents to play.
The $1.09 million renovation taking place at Washington Park on 66th Street is about halfway completed. This park will have a new drainage system, two new playground areas with rubberized floors, two volleyball courts with rubberized flooring and two sprinkler systems.
The second phase of the three-part project to renovate Miller Stadium is also just about finished. The first phase, which included cement work, new bleachers, and work in the bathrooms and locker rooms, was completed last year. This year, phase two, which included new walls and fencing around the stadium, is just about complete. Phase three, which will add a new drainage system and sod to the field, is temporarily put on hold.
“Some other projects may be put ahead of phase three,” said Sires explaining that they have to apply to Green Acres for more funding. “The field is still in good shape now.”
Plans to renovate the park on 51st and Bergenline Avenue and to create a passive park area at Donnelly Park are now underway.