After two years of continuously pleading with local officials to spend city resources on the redevelopment of their neighborhood, residents of the city’s Lafayette section were answered yet again Wednesday when Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham celebrated the beginning of a block-front restoration program he said will inject new life into the commercial activity of the area.
Standing outside an assemblage of shops on Communipaw Avenue between Van Horne and Woodward streets, Cunningham cut a ceremonial red ribbon to unveil the $400,000 façade improvement program he said was the perfect example of what his administration is doing to help the city’s disenfranchised areas.
“We’re trying to reclaim our neighborhoods,” Cunningham said, “and things like this show our commitment to revitalizing the community.”
The restoration, which will completely transform the block’s façades to their original, turn-of-the-century appearance, is expected to be done in December. West Side Avenue-based PRK Builders Corporation is completing it.
“A month from now, you won’t even recognize the storefronts,” Cunningham said. “For two weeks, you’ll be walking past and not even knowing where you are until you get used to it.”
Financed by the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation [EDC] through funds acquired through the city’s Urban Enterprise Zone initiative, the Communipaw Avenue block restoration comes on the heels of transformations of other, more visible city shopping districts like lower Newark Avenue and McGinley Square. The job marks the first time the EDC has restored storefronts in the city’s smaller commercial areas.
“We wanted to make an impact on the smaller commercial corridors of the city,” EDC Director Gene Nelson said Wednesday.
Both Nelson and the mayor cited the diligent efforts of the Communipaw Avenue Block Association [CABA] and its president, Rosalyn Brown, in bringing the project to fruition.
“This shows you what we can get when a community takes a stand and works with the city to make their neighborhood a better place,” he added.
Neighborhood strategy
Jersey City’s Lafayette section – the Ward F neighborhood adjacent to the Morris Canal that was once a center of industry and commerce – has long been plagued by economic decline and a high crime rate.
“We have two commercial streets, Pacific and Communipaw avenues, and for years they’ve been dilapidated and overrun with illegal drug activity,” said Brown. “We specifically chose that area because that’s where all the drug trafficking was going on. We thought revitalizing the commercial corridor would encourage the drug dealers to move on and bring back some decent living for people who live and work there.”
Cunningham echoed those sentiments at Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting, saying that the Jersey City Police Department has arrested 8,000 drug dealers in 19 months in its campaign to improve the quality of life in the city’s most depressed areas. He and other city officials said the block-front restoration works toward the same goal.
“I am elated, I’m so happy,” said Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson Wednesday night. “[The restoration] is such a new perspective to the neighborhood. It also brings hope that new development will keep coming to the area.”
The high incidence of drug-related crime in the area has also lowered shoppers’ confidence in Lafayette’s commercial corridors, and both the mayor and area residents said the block-front restoration is an important tool in transforming disenfranchised neighborhoods.
“We hope that this revitalizes the area,” Brown said. “It’s our hope and our dream that this will become a thriving commercial district like Newark Avenue and West Side Avenue. We know this can happen because we’ve prayed for it and we’ve worked towards it. I thank the mayor and the City Council for supporting us in this effort.”
One group’s commitment
In addition to the block-front restoration, the CABA has also effected other positive changes in the Lafayette section. The group has taken a pro-active role in the reconstruction of Rev. Ercel F. Webb Park, formerly known as Lafayette Park, and they have lobbied aggressively for the city to bring in more development to the area.
One example of this is CABA’s persistent support of the redevelopment of the Whitlock Cordage site, which is being rehabilitated by Maryland-based Housing Trust of America. The $35 million project, which is slated to bring 350 units of rental housing to the neighborhood, will feature 198 units of low- to moderate-income units.
The group also instituted, through a partnership with the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and a host of local churches, a “Keep Lafayette Clean” program, where neighborhood residents get together on weekends for street cleanups.
The group’s commitment to rebuilding the downtrodden area is getting attention from other local organizations, and the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy awarded the group with its Theodore Conrad Preservation Award this May.
“People are coming to our meetings and they’re very excited about the development going on,” Brown said. “Some people are afraid their taxes will increase, but others are saying development is important. Even if taxes did go up, we would at least have a clean, healthy and revitalized community. That’s really what we’re striving for.”