JERSEY CITY – Residents of McGinley Square have been invited to attend two meetings about the controversial McGinley Square East redevelopment Plan. Gary Flocco, managing director of the development firm Corvus, will be on hand to talk to residents and answer their questions and concerns about the redevelopment plan.
One meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Peter’s College (at Montgomery St. and Kennedy Blvd.) in the McIntyre Lounge.
Flocco will hold another similar meeting with residents on Wednesday, Sept. 7, also at 6:30 p.m.
Residents said Wednesday that they were informed of these meetings just hours before the one on the 7th was scheduled to begin.
The upcoming meetings might be residents’ last public opportunity to meet with Flocco before the McGinley Square East Redevelopment Plan comes up for consideration before the Jersey City Council.
The council is expected to consider in the coming weeks a resolution that, if approved, would recognize McGinley Square East as an area in need of redevelopment and rehabilitation. The council will also consider an ordinance adopting the McGinley Square East Redevelopment Plan, which was drafted by the Division of City Planning.
Residential and commercial property owners in the McGinley Square community fear that language in the ordinance and resolution could eventually open the door to eminent domain, and over the past two months they have organized a citywide campaign against the use of eminent domain.
St. Peter’s College selected Corvus to redevelop parcels of property owned by the school. This association paved the way for the company to begin working with the Division of City Planning on a broader redevelopment plan for the McGinley Square East community. Some residents have questioned the apparent lack of competitive bidding in the city’s selection of Corvus.
Flocco has stressed that he believes he can redevelop the area without using eminent domain to acquire private properties in the McGinley Square neighborhood and will use eminent domain only as a last resort. – E. Assata Wright