Dear Editor:
I was born and raised in Hoboken and that’s over 60 years ago. I remember the city slowly dying, when industry moved out, buildings deteriorated or burned down, and half the stores in Hoboken were empty and the city was a mess. That’s when Joe Barry and his father started Applied Housing and rehabing old tenements. Other builders added to this and home owners started to take pride and fixed up their own property. Take a look at 12th and Willow, Bloomfield, Washington and Hudson Street, these buildings were rehabilitated over 25 years ago and yes they were all rebuilt and maintained by Applied Housing. They look better today than when first rebuilt and are better maintained than any other rehabilitated back then.
I lived on 2nd and River Street once, on the west side, 4th floor. Looking out my window all I could see was a continuous row of warehouses and office buildings from 4th to 1st Street and hundreds of trucks waiting to be loaded. Believe me, there were no airways. We were stuck with fumes from trucks, ships and machines. Whatever view you see is a lot better now than it was then, or did you prefer looking at the falling down piers? Lets face it, you are just angry because you are losing your view, the same as everyone else along the Hudson river. A person’s rent base is none of your business. That’s why we call this a democracy. Building a business and making it work and making money.
The Barry’s made the biggest contribution of all, taking on the largest load, in some of worst neighborhoods, being one of the first to rebuild and maintain it. They gave us back Hoboken. Let’s not forget about this paper he gave us, so some can vent their jealousy and viciousness. I refuse to believe a man that remembers all the seniors in his buildings on Mothers Day, with a small gift, did anything that wrong as was implied in one of the letters. Michael Barry you have every right to be proud of your family, but you will not convince these newcomers. The ones born here know what your family did and there are lot of us around. Thank you Mr. Barry, for making our city what it is today.
Anonymous