Dear Editor:
Here we go again. It seems as though we are constantly experiencing the same daily abominations in our lives, with no end in sight. Almost everyday, we hear of violence and crime occurring within our city’s perimeters. Jersey City, unfortunately, should be highlighted in the next remake of Dodge City. Regrettably, the loud outcries of protest from the populous have been muted by the Healy Administration’s improper policies and procedures of keeping cotton in their ears and going along with the unacceptable status quo.
As I stated in my previous articles, Jersey City police are performing their tasks to the best of their ability. These outstanding individuals are working under extreme adversities, especially when our political leaders are supposed to be the role models of decency, honesty, and trust, instead of projecting the acceptance of the unqualified, the corrupt, mismanagement, nepotism, high taxes, tax abatements, dishonesty, and distrust. These ill effects of an administration fully endorsing these characteristics are definitely tying their hands.
Why would anyone, except Marshall Wyatt Earp, deliberately take a calculated chance and risk sacrificing their finances and lives by investing or starting a small business in wards A, B, C, D, and F? Why would any established corporation relocate to our city while facing the hazards of increasing gang population, drugs, violence, theft, and vandalism, by forcibly creating an atmosphere of solitary confinement just to protect their property and employees from these social deviants?
The Healy Administration has deliberately turned their backs on the majority of citizens, who are struggling to make ends meet in this unstable environment.
Naturally the most desirable locations are in Ward E, “the old downtown section”, now home of the “Gold Coast” where cold water flats became luxury town homes, condos, apartments, and high rises, where security is not only expected, but the norm, and tax abatements flow like wine.
Crime has been around since the creation of the human race; it has no boundaries. No race, creed, color, or religion has an exclusive monopoly on this social-eating disease, but Jersey City has more than it can handle, with no antidote. This is a sad reality, not fantasy. When night time approaches, its every man and woman for themselves; no one is safe.
No statistic can convince any individual, who lives, works, and plays in this city that crime and violence are down. These good citizens are only trying play by the rules, obey the law, and follow regulations, using their blood, sweat, and tears to maintain a decent living for themselves and their family. This Administration uses whatever means at their disposal to counter their efforts.
As President Abraham Lincoln once said “a house divided against itself can not stand.” We can’t have one section of the city develop into a utopian society, and the other into a war zone. This must stop. We are one united municipality that shouldn’t be fragmented by different resources.
William P. Frasca