Dear Editor:
At the last council meeting, I asked corporation counsel if Jersey City would give a tax bill to the businesses on Newark Avenue between Barrow and Grove Streets and Erie Street from Newark Avenue to Bay Street, since the city plans to close those streets for one year and probably permanently down the road. The restaurants there will benefit by having tables and chairs on public streets to aid their private business. I did not receive a direct answer even though I did ask for a yes or no response.
I think a tax bill is appropriate since the city gave tax bills to developers in the 1990s when they took public streets and placed buildings on them on the waterfront, so why should this be any different? Why should travelers be inconvenience since this particular block is next to the Grove PATH station?
A block west is Jersey Avenue and Newark Street, one of the most congested blocks in Jersey City since it is the route to the Medical Center plus three public and one private school. I doubt if the city contacted the Medical Center to see if closing would have any impact on the EMS service, after all the city is bent on give EMS to CarePoint in Bayonne, anyway.
Unfortunately, there will be more traffic diverted into the Van Vorst neighborhood to avoid the traffic jam.
Most likely this will go through so I think we should all ask city government to close off various streets for commercial use and not receive a tax bill.
Yvonne Balcer