Wham, buzz, thump, rat-a-tat-tat – the sounds of construction were reverberating throughout the west side of town on a recent Tuesday as the Reporter walked south along the new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tracks that are being installed there. That previously neglected side of the city, home to factory buildings and the 21 federally subsidized housing projects, is seeing new housing and new transportation. But how will that affect the people who have lived there for decades?
The Reporter will conclude its “Tuesdays in Hoboken” series with one story this week and one story next week examining what’s happening in the area where the city’s west side meets the Palisade hills.
Train’s coming
Tuesday was a blustery day, and bright rays of sunlight reflected upwards from recently laid tracks. Workers toiled all along the glimmering line, some raising overhead electric wires. In the distance, pile drivers hammered long poles into the ground next to a large Shop-Rite that is scheduled to open before year’s end. Circular saws cut four-by-fours for luxury condos. All around were the sounds of change.
The Hudson Bergen Light Rail system presently runs from Bayonne through Jersey City to a station at Hoboken’s southern end. Soon, it will coast along the west side of town, then through Weehawken and toward Ridgefield in Bergen County.
According to Ken Hitchner, a spokesman for NJ Transit, the completion of a station on the Hoboken/Jersey City border this past year signaled the completion of phase one of the line. The west side is part of the second phase. That six-mile, seven-station segment will be completed in 2004.
The city’s hope was that the light rail will bring the western “frontier” of Hoboken into the mainstream and attract the kind of investment that the east side already has.
“My wife and I moved here primarily because of the light rail,” said Martin Mangold, a Jefferson Street Resident, last week. “When we bought, there wasn’t much here, but we knew that was going to change.”
Perking up
Heading south along the tracks, a reporter noticed that the area north of the 14th Street Viaduct has not wrested itself from the city’s industrial past. There are still blighted lots, parked tractor trailers, rickety warehouses, closed factories. The residential development boom hasn’t reached this far yet, but nearly every week, it lurches further north.
At Eleventh Street, a new Shop-Rite is under construction, part of a massive residential redevelopment project approved by the city some years ago. Under that plan, developers will build 432 housing units, approximately 100 of which will be affordable housing. There will also be parking facilities and a charter school. A park pavilion will cover 2,200 square feet.
The supermarket will cover 67,000 square feet, not including its parking lot. There will also be 8,800 square feet of other retail stores.
“I’m looking forward to the Shop-Rite,” said Beverley, 27, a six-month Grand Street resident, last week. “For the first time since moving here I’m going to be able to walk to the grocery store, which will make this part of town feel more like a neighborhood. In a town the size of Hoboken, you shouldn’t have to drive to go to buy a carton of milk.”
Rosie Ruiz, a 34-year-old Puerto Rican immigrant and resident of Monroe Street, said that she is constantly woken up many mornings this past summer by jackhammers as workers build all around her home.
“Right now it’s an annoyance,” said Ruiz. “But it’s something that we have learned to live with.”
Close to Ninth Street is a striking site – a 10-story green elevator that runs up the Palisades. This February, residents of the Jersey City Heights and Union City at the top of the hill will be able to ride down to Hoboken’s Ninth Street light rail station. The two high-speed traction elevators will travel at the quick clip of 350 feet per minute. Each car can carry 17 people.
Coming of a ‘transit village’
The area around the Ninth Street light rail stop is a perfect example of the theory of “new urbanism” in practice. New Urbanism is the restoration of existing urban centers within coherent metropolitan regions. It preaches the creation of “transit villages” which integrate residential and commercial uses in a compact, pedestrian-oriented environment surrounding a transit station.
In addition to several residential projects, across the street from the station is the Monroe Center for the Arts. Right now there are 100 artists and small companies occupying what is the old Levelor building. The owner of the property recently received approvals for the renovation and restoration of the old industrial buildings. Inhabitants include sculptors, furniture makers, toy designers, flower arrangers, painters, graphic artists and surviving Internet companies.
The restored building will be part of a six-acre artist-friendly community called Village West. The developer’s approved plan calls for two 13-story towers, a 10-story and a 12-story tower, as well as smaller buildings. There will be units set aside specifically for artists.
“Artists tend to not be afraid to move into a rundown neighborhood,” said Hoboken Director of Cultural Affairs Geri Fallo during a recent interview. “They come in and make the area fun and trendy, but then before you know it, the area is gentrified and the artists are gone. Cities really need to be resilient and nurture the artist, because their diversity makes an area a better place to live.”
Dog with argyle sweater
Just south of the Monroe Center for the Arts, near the corner of Seventh and Jackson streets, Cathy, a 32-year-old banker, was walking her bulldog Rodney, who was wearing a burgundy and gray argyle sweater.
“Once the light rail opens, I can be to my office in Newport in less than 20 minutes,” said the Madison street resident.
This is a far cry from the way the neighborhood was even five years ago, when old buildings and vacant lots were abundant.
Only feet away from where Cathy was standing is Pino’s Tow Yard, another example of what is disappearing in Hoboken. With the increasing price of land on the west side, the city’s only towing yard – which has been filled for years with metal parts and automobiles – will be shut down.
The Pinos have sold the yard to new owners who presently have an application before the Planning Board.
The new owners would like to build 204 units of housing in place of the cars and weeds.
To find out what the residents of the city’s low-income housing projects say about the changing neighborhood, and what the Reporter found south of Seventh Street, pick up next week’s newspaper.