Dear Editor:
We have been long standing residents of 22+ years in Weehawken. We wanted to write this letter to reveal to those of you, the personal undertaking that Mayor Turner and the Council took on with the 46th Street homeowners and residents, which consists of Hispanics predominantly.
Back in 1993, the once quiet stable neighborhood developed a major problem with the Rooming House known as 77 – 46th Street. This property was a haven for prostitution, transvestites, drug problems, drunken residents, men urinating in the streets, blaring music at all hours of the day, residents screaming, strangers coming and going and violent boarders waiting to attack passersby provoking physical attack neighborhood residents. This is what the 46th Street tenants and homeowners had to be subjected to.v Health Inspectors issued summonses; police visited the rooming house on numerous accounts during the day and wee hours of the night. This became the norm for many months.
Mayor Turner and Councilman Sosa increased police presence on 46th Street and opened what is known today as the “Town Hall extension” around the corner from this property on Park Avenue. Also, the Mayor and Council went to the State who regulates these Rooming Houses and had changes instituted on how these properties were to be managed. Due to this, Weehawken was the first town in New Jersey to receive the right to manage these properties under the auspices of the State. This was a major undertaking that took the Mayor, Council, residents and homeowners of 46th Street to accomplish, but we did this jointly as a “team.” We are extremely grateful that every problem was resolved in our neighborhood and it has been safe. Thank you Mr. Mayor and Council.
Radames & Esther Figueroa