Dear Editor:
Last March, Ron Hine asked the City to require Stevens Institute to control the asbestos hazard resulting from their blasting of serpentine rock to construct a garage on Sinatra Drive. He also questioned the legality of the permits that Stevens obtained for this garage. Since then, Stevens and their loyalists have been seeking to discredit Hine and the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW), the organization that he has lead for over a decade. Since the Port Authority showdown, Hine has been committed to the completion of the waterfront park for the people of Hoboken uninterrupted with private buildings, and based upon smart planning.
Stevens is no longer the little college on the hill. It intends to grow a lot, which has brought it into conflict with FBW’s goal of completing a continuous waterfront park. Last week Demetri Sarantitis, the architect of the Stevens waterfront garage, joined in the campaign of character assassination. The greatest value that Sarantitis brings to this project is that he is connected to this administration. This is consistent with an administration that has weighed in for Stevens over the safety of its residents (last spring’s blasting) or to require that Stevens comply with the legislated approval process before beginning construction. Did anyone from the administration or City Council ask the construction official to rescind the permit because the Planning Board was ignored? I don’t think so.
The enormous Stevens garage will extend to the edge of 5th Street across from the Little League field and to the edge of Sinatra Drive across from the soccer field. Instead of putting architecture and people on one of the best waterfront properties in Hoboken, Stevens is putting cars. That’s poor planning and it’s the result of Stevens playing the political connection to get the garage built and not reaching out for good planning and design expertise.
Sarantitis said that Hine supported the Maxwell House plan. FBW has spent considerable time working with the developers of Maxwell House to preserve the piers and water’s edge as public-park. The Maxwell House project will not receive FBW’s support until the deal to preserve parkland is complete and adequate funding from the developers is in place to build a high quality park and pay for all future maintenance. There is a major difference between the Stevens’ garage and what is planned at Maxwell House. At Maxwell House no parking garages will be visible along the street facades. There will be apartments and stores facing streets and the waterfront. That’s a big difference and that is a very important planning principle: what the people want to look at is good architecture and buildings with life in them. Stevens’ long, exposed, grim parking facility should not be part of Hoboken’s waterfront architecture.
Don’t get fooled by the Sarantitis and Stevens assault on FBW and Ron Hine. Stevens wants your waterfront to become part of their campus. Don’t let Stevens privatize major portions of your waterfront park and don’t let them fool you about what they say the community wants in their slick direct mail ads. Support FBW in its public interest goal of completing the continuous waterfront park in Hoboken, without walking around and looking around buildings that Stevens or other developers construct in the park or on piers.
Aaron Lewit