When Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy endorsed Barack Obama for U.S. President two years ago, little did he know that the payoff would be more than just his candidate getting elected.
Money from the federal government has been pouring into New Jersey’s second largest city as the result of Obama’s federal economic stimulus plan, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The city’s departments and autonomous agencies have received millions of dollars for various “shovel ready” projects, or projects ready to start within the next 90 to 120 days.
Jersey City has already received the following:
• $1,749,827 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be distributed to non-profit organizations
• $2,676,991 in Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) for homelessness prevention (which are supposed to be distributed by the city to local non-profits dealing with the homeless)
• $7.8 million for the Jersey City Housing Authority (possible use for demolition and renovation)
• $4.6 million for street improvement projects on Newark and Sip avenues
• $1.83 million from the Department of Justice for policing
Jersey City benefited due to “teamwork” according to Deputy Mayor Rosemary McFadden, who chaired a series of weekly meetings with officials and agencies in January to put together a “shovel-ready” wish-list of projects they wanted to see funded. The city estimates there are 80 to 100 projects.
“It was a great team effort in terms of all the members of the city agencies and autonomous agencies who worked hard on this,” McFadden said.
Healy is grateful for Obama’s plan.
“We are pleased to have a partner in the White House who clearly understands the needs of urban areas like Jersey City,” Healy said. “The CDBG program and funding for infrastructure, public housing, and public safety are all vital resources that will assist us greatly, especially during this difficult time.”
He added, “These were issues that I discussed with President Obama during our first meeting in January 2007 in his D.C. office. I am pleased that he has kept his promise to address these issues early on in his presidency.”
Money not taken for granted
McFadden said the meetings starting in January with various city officials translated into a list of that was submitted to the state, which would receive much of the federal funding allocated to municipalities.
The Jersey City list was accompanied by grant applications listing how much was needed and for what purpose. The exception was the Jersey City Housing Authority, which received its money directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
McFadden said some of the monies will be used for specific purposes, while for others there will be more instruction and clarification on use in coming months.
For example, the $4.6 million for street improvement, with monies by distributed by the New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, will take place on Sip Avenue between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Bergen Avenue, and Newark Avenue between Tonnele Avenue and Coles Street. It calls for road resurfacing, laying down of long-life traffic lines and symbols, the installation of handicapped curb ramps where required, replacement of the catch basin cast-iron curb pieces and installation of bicycle safe grates.
And Jersey City is not done being besieged by waves of green, as McFadden said there are grant applications being submitted for monies from the federal C.O.P.S. (Community Oriented Policing Services) grants program to be able to hire new police officers as there is talk by city officials of a five percent cut of the Jersey City Police Department’s budget.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.