The six-building Montgomery Gardens housing complex on Montgomery Street in downtown Jersey City is either a relic of bad housing policy and should be torn down, or a group of necessary affordable apartments for hundreds of residents – depending on whom you ask.
Montgomery Gardens is managed by the Jersey City Housing Authority, an autonomous agency that operates with an $80 million budget, funded by the federal government through its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The JCHA oversees 2,670 affordable units in 13 housing projects. There is an estimated population of 7 to 8,000 people living in Jersey City public housing.
Last year, the 435-unit complex was slated for demolition within the next two years, much to the shock of residents who are not sure whether they’ll get their homes back if they are displaced. They found out in October through a New York Times article that the property will be redeveloped into mixed-income housing by one of four developers who have already submitted proposals to JCHA Executive Director Maria Maio.
The news caused an uproar among residents who felt that Maio should have told them instead of the Times. Maio claimed she would have told tenants about any future plans if they had attended past community meetings. She also said the Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners voted publicly in June to seek a developer, and to offer vouchers to families wanting to leave.
There were calls for Maio’s ouster from the Housing Authority, but instead she was able to keep her powers.
Since October, according to Housing Authority Board Commissioner Raj Mukerji, there have several “very good” meetings with tenants, but he deferred to Maio to answer more in-depth questions about those meetings.
Why are there vacancies?
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, local resident and longtime public housing advocate Telissa Dowling addressed the council about vacant units in the various Housing Authority complexes across the city.
“That’s 95 units [that are] off-line and not generating any revenues.” – Telissa Dowling
________
Dowling also mentioned that there were 95 vacant units in Montgomery Gardens, information she said she got from various sources connected to the Housing Authority.
“That’s 95 units [that are] off-line and not generating any revenues,” Dowling complained.
Speaking to City Council members in February, Maio told them that there were 83 vacancies in Montgomery Gardens, of the 121 in all the complexes. She acknowledged they have “held off” reoccupying the units except for relocating residents from the near-empty A. Harry Moore complex on Duncan Avenue. She said there are limited capital funds to rehab the units and it costs from $7,000 to $10,000 per unit for such work.
City Council members Viola Richardson, Michael Sottolano and Mary Spinello all implored Maio to make sure the units are occupied, pointing out that there are people waiting.
Mixed feelings
Brenden Washington, a 19 year-old Montgomery Gardens resident, has lived in the complex his entire life.
“I don’t want it to change, but [the Housing Authority] is looking to knock it down, and I don’t want to go,” Washington said.
Shermise McKiver, 26, lived in Montgomery Gardens for the first 18 years of her life until she moved out. Her mother and sister still live in the complex.
“I hope they knock down some of the buildings, but not all of them, because there too many problems relocating people,” McKiver said.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.