Dear Editor:
I want to commend Eugene Flinn, David Jayce, Dave Carney and members of the newly formed Hoboken Hospitality Association. This attempt is a step in the right direction, an action that is long overdue.
While some have criticized the City Council and our threats to close the bars earlier if they didn’t change, you can be certain that this new alliance is a direct result of the warnings, along with Mayor Roberts’ task force and the cooperation of the Hoboken police and fire departments. Recently I was criticized and mis-quoted in letters to the editor as saying that I wanted to close down the industry. That couldn’t be further from the truth. You see, my sister and her husband own and operate one of New Jersey’s largest fruit, produce and restaurant supply companies. My largest client is Philip Morris, working on their Bar & Hospitality Public Affairs Programs. Why would I want to hurt myself and my family?
Our intent was to get the bar owners to finally wake up to the cries of the residents that couldn’t get to sleep, the very residents that pay high rents, taxes, send their children to school here and invest millions of dollars in real estate and into their establishments. A stable, balanced community is what keeps a city alive, not one single industry.
To the bar owner (John Sivo) who claims that the bar industry saved Hoboken, I say hogwash! Hoboken’s gentrification began in the 70s through model cities programs, Applied Housing’s massive rehabilitation programs, long-time families that stayed, the artists and the urban pioneers that came here to be close to NYC.
Those are the facts.
The restaurants and cafes came in the 80s through an ordinance that created Hoboken’s popular outdoor dining. One would be hard pressed to find a person who waits hours on bar lines in the cold to be the same person who drops $450,000 on a condo in our City just to drink. Hoboken’s great sense of community, family, friendly neighbors, small scale, urban chic shops, Italian bakeries and good restaurants is what drew people here first, not a nightclub featuring dollar shots and dance-on-the-bar contests.
It’s also worthy to mention that drinking can also lead to drunk driving. Gone unchecked, it would only be a matter of time when Hoboken makes headlines again for something far more tragic than public urination or noise.
A thriving hospitality industry is important to our community and so is the good night sleep.
Tony Soares, City Council President
Let’s be realistic, and let’s keep working together.