Dear Editor:
I sent in this letter to the NY Post and am submitting it as an open letter to them via The Hoboken Reporter.
This is in response to Cahalan, Susannah. “‘Shore’ Thing” NY Post 29 Nov. 2009: “1915 Frank Sinatra born, finally giving Hoboken a reason to exist.”
Oh really? I know New York cannot pass up an opportunity to make a mockery of New Jersey, and I didn’t expect that the Post would pass up an opportunity to do just that, with the new MTV show “Jersey Shore Unleashed” soon to be terrorizing our airwaves. Congratulations and rejoice in your predictability.
But to undermine the accomplishments of a city with such an illustrious history of social, economic and political importance as Hoboken is a claim of the obtuse and uninformed. At the turn of the century Hoboken was a resort area for aristocrats, artists and writers, who not only gained rest on our shores, but also inspiration. A litany of what the Post would claim the “bold-face names” of their time, such as Edgar Allen Poe and Frederick Douglass came to Hoboken to share in the great landscape of the city. Famed notables, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, composer Stephen Foster, and photojournalist Dorothea Lange all hail from Hoboken.
Did General Pershing valiantly declare “Heaven Hell or Hauppauge by Christmas”? Didn’t think so. It was unto Hoboken’s shores that our brave men and women returned from battle in World War I. It was on these same piers that Hoboken contributed to the economic vitality of this country. In addition, Hoboken has always had the ability to boast the capabilities of a true travel hub with its sea and its rail travel operations. Hoboken was site of the first demonstration of the steam railroad, first departure of an electrified train by Thomas Edison and the first steamboat co-invented by Hoboken resident Colonel Stevens.
What else wouldn’t you have, if it weren’t for Hoboken and Hobokenites? Beer, as Hoboken had America’s first brewery, zippers, central air, the ice cream cone, and Oreos to name a few. Now let’s get to the real bane of NY’s existence when it comes to Hoboken. Baseball was born in Hoboken, NJ, and NOT in Cooperstown, NY as New Yorkers would like you to believe. It was on Hoboken’s Elysian Fields in 1845 that the first game of baseball was played. That’s right, your beloved Yankee’s would not exist if it was not for Hoboken.
As you can see, Hoboken made its mark on America before Sinatra, and will continue to do so after Sinatra. We love Frank, but it’s clear, he is only one of many things that we Hobokenites can be proud of.
Irene M. Smith