Dear Editor:
Very interesting. Mr. Matsikoudis seems to think that this change [eliminating affordable housing from 110 First St.] is needed to ensure that construction begins. Before I get into development in general downtown, let me speak to affordable housing in general.
There are people who believe that affordable housing essentially equates neighbors that people would not want. Quite the contrary. Speaking personally, I had someone, a respectable person in the community, ask me if I knew where any affordable housing was. This person was looking to improve their quality of life and stay in Jersey City. And if they could not find such a place, they might need to explore moving out of Jersey City all together.
With the amount of people still out of work, I am certain that most people in Jersey City can share at least one similar story. What have we become? Has Jersey City allowed itself to become hostage to developers or will it finally stand up for its constituents and make an effort to ensure there is affordable housing all across Jersey City?
In most of these cases, these are upstanding citizens who aren’t making as much as others but simply want a chance to live a respectable life. In turn, these are people who would certainly add to the diverse city that is Jersey City.
Speaking on development downtown, quite frankly, with all the development that is already completed, a developer has a lot of nerve to make threats such as stating construction won’t occur unless the requirement is removed. Stick to your original deal or take business elsewhere. This is simply smoke and mirrors due to the real problem that is the market is not good right now and you are looking for what in my eyes equates to a subsidy for the risk you took.
Protect the people, not the developers.
John Hanussak
Highland Ave Neighborhood Association