Dear Editor:
A few years ago I had a letter published in the Jersey Journal spelling out why Jersey City will never be the great city on the west bank of the Hudson River. I would like to expand on this article and even though many people may not agree with me, these are the facts.
Jersey City is only 15 square miles in size.
First, do we really need a 1200 acre state park on the most valuable land in the world? Liberty State Park is absolutely beautiful, but it is a drain on the tax revenues of Jersey City. The park should be scaled back to 20 acres behind the Statue of Liberty and some land around the Central Railroad Terminal. The other solution would be to have the state pay Jersey City $20 to $25 million in lieu of taxes each year.
Second, the creation of the light rail has NJ Transit taking a tremendous amount of land on both sides of the city for parking of out-of-town vehicles. This land is also prime land and should have been used for housing and industry which would be paying taxes to the city. The solution here would be to make NJ Transit a private corporation like Conrail and make them pay taxes to the city.
Third, we have the Port Authority which owns hundreds of acres in Jersey City and owns numerous other properties which are off the tax rolls. The Grenville Yards should be used to create an inner harbor like the one in Baltimore City, MD. with a football and baseball stadium, and luxury hotels, etc. This land should not be used for storage buildings or warehouses or controlled by the Port Authority. The solution here would be for the Port Authority to pay Jersey City 25 cents for each car that passes through the Holland Tunnel. This would compensate us for all the land off our tax rolls, the pollution caused by the toll booths and the congestion on our side of the river caused by New York City and its inadequate roads.
Fourth, we are seeing very valuable land being used for the new Medical Center. The Medical Center should have been built somewhere else and not on the site where expensive tax producing condos could have been built. I don’t see any solution here. It’s too late. The prior administration should have stopped this.
Fifth, Jersey City State College is buying up large tracts of land on the west side of the city and taking it off the tax rolls. There should be some sort of compensation from the state or the college for all the land they are taking. Jersey City State College is a tremendous asset to Jersey City but in all fairness all tax exempt entities have to be looked at and some sort of compensation has to be given to the city.
I must remind you that the city is only 15 square miles and between the Port Authority, the state and all other tax exempt entities, it is almost impossible for Jersey City to realize enough revenues to properly run this great city.
Jersey City has to wake up and realize we are not the doormat for New York City and we will not tolerate the toll booths, pollution and lack of respect shown to us by various agencies. The taxpayers cannot sit back any longer and watch the loss of tax ratables. Jersey City is a great city and I would love to see Alexander Hamilton’s wish of seeing the great city on the west bank of the Hudson River become a reality. Anyone who feels that I am wrong or the taxpaying residents of Jersey City should feel this way, please contact me and I will debate anyone on these issues.
Richard Boggiano