JERSEY CITY – Temple Beth-El will hold a community meeting this evening for residents in the Lincoln Park neighborhood regarding a planned residential development on a parcel of land currently owned by the temple.
The public meeting will take place Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at Temple Beth-El, 2419 Kennedy Blvd.
While the city’s Tax Abatement Committee and other city officials have known about this proposed development for some time, residents in the neighborhood say they were just informed of this development this week when the temple announced the May 9 community meeting through a letter.
In the latter, dated May 7, Temple Beth-El President Kay Magilavy explained, “The congregation has been struggling for a number of years to maintain our historic sanctuary building. After much consideration we have decided to work toward the sale of part of our property…to help preserve the sanctuary building and fund long-overdue repairs to the roof and the exterior of the building.”
The piece of land the temple plans to sell is 71 Bentley Ave., located at the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Bentley Avenue. The Alpert Group, the prospective buyer of the property, plans to use the site to build a four-story, 37-unit affordable senior housing development.
The senior housing development would tentatively be named the Samuel A. Berman Senior Residence in honor of Rabbi Samuel Berman, who led Temple Beth-El for 50 years, according to Magilavy.
But some residents who live in the area say the low-rise development is out of character with the single-family homes that are the norm in this section of the city. Other residents have said they are angry that they are only learning about the temple’s plans now, after the land deal appears to have been in the works for several months.
Some residents said this week they only learned of the planned development when they saw it listed on the May 8 City Council meeting agenda and on the agenda of the May 16 Board of Adjustment meeting.
Residents in other Jersey City communities have similarly complained in recent weeks that they are being informed of planned developments in their communities after these developments have already received critical city approvals. – E. Assata Wright