The Jersey City Armory stands like a general among privates near McGinley Square. Built in the Great Depression, this 1930s icon serves as a military and mustering facility for the New Jersey National Guard. Civilians use it as a sports arena for boxing, basketball, track and field, and martial arts. It’s also been a stop on the Jersey City Artists’ Studio Tour.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the vintage building has been a victim of neglect. Vincent Pantozzi, a member of the neighborhood group, Mercer Street Block Watchers, is spearheading an effort to fix it.
“The once-gleaming steps are now black with urine.”—Vincent Pantozzi
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The steps have also become a barracks for homeless people and a hangout for drug addicts.
The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has jurisdiction over the building.
“They’re the only people who can fix it, and they’re not fixing it,” Pantozzi charged.
While the Jersey City Incinerator Authority power-washes the steps on a regular basis, Pantozzi said it isn’t enough.
Barrier to vagabonds
Months ago, the state set aside $105,000 to repair the sidewalks around the building, but a barrier was never set up to keep vagrants off the steps. The police, according to Pantozzi, cannot act quickly enough to prevent public urinating, and the Mercer Street Block Watchers point out that it is the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs that needs to solve the problem because, unlike the sidewalks, the steps are part of the building.
“Saint Aidan’s Church had a similar problem with homeless people in cardboard boxes at the entrance to the church,” Pantozzi noted. “The church put up a gate to bar people from sleeping on the steps. The same thing happened at the Old Bergen Church.”
So why not a barrier at the armory?
The brass weighs in
“We don’t condone that behavior,” said Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Daugherty of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, referring to loitering and urinating on the steps. “We have no authority except to tell them to leave and to ensure that the steps are clear at all times.”
Who does have authority?
“Local municipalities make sure people adhere to the laws,” Daugherty said, adding “We have no plan to build a barrier. No one formally addressed a proposed project to build a barrier. Someone of influence would have to come forward and propose a solution. We’ve had no formal request. Neighborhood associations need some kind of formal request.”
Authority figure
State Sen. Sandra Cunningham was one of the public officials that Pantozzi has contacted in an effort to repair the sidewalk and a create barrier on the steps. “We were able to reach out to the department of military affairs on the sidewalks,” said Christian Martin, Cunningham’s spokesman, “but they said there wasn’t a whole lot they could do to keep vagrants off the steps.”
He said the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs punted the gate issue. “We raised the gate issue, they said they’d look into it and get back to us,” Martin said, “but for whatever reason they don’t seem to want to do that.”
The brass weighs in some more
When Daugherty checked back through the department’s records, he reported, “The department was aware of a request to install a barrier to keep vagrants from urinating on the steps, but because it is a historic building, it would require modifications of the exterior archway.”
He said that to “set up a barrier of accordion metal to accommodate a barrier flush with the exterior, the historical preservation office would have to get involved.”
Daugherty said costs would also have to be considered. “Budget constraints are always an issue but at this point in time we are not inclined to make modifications based on historic status.”
DIY solution
Christian Martin of Sen. Cunningham’s office had another idea for Pantozzi and his group. “Whatever the cost would be,” he said, “they could look outside government for funds to make a gate.”
Like a bake sale?
“That would be their best bet to raise money.”
Pantozzi said his group would be willing raise funds for the fence and labor to install a “rollback metal gate.” At press time he did not know what the cost would be, but, he said, “It would be way less than the $105,000 spent to repair the sidewalk.”
But the Mercer Street Block Watchers clearly think it’s the government’s responsibility.
“The expense is so minor for them to hold out,” Pantozzi said. “It reveals something about the government. Their slip is showing and they realize they’re embarrassing themselves.”
Kate Rounds can be reached at krounds@hudsonreporter.com..