Dear Editor:
If you don’t already know, the “Friends of the Loew’s” (FOL) is a group of volunteers who have given their time to rescue the beautiful and historic Loew’s theater in Jersey City (JC) from extinction and make it available for movies and other events. Now FOL is being betrayed by the JC Fulop Administration, who are in the process of breaking JC’s agreement with FOL to help pay for the restoration of the Loew’s and are trying to take the theater away from FOL and give it to “professional promoters” with way more JC funding than JC had agreed (and failed) to contribute to the FOL restoration effort.
The FOL’s struggle is exactly analogous to our frequent battles with city governments who try to throw citizens’ rights (and our efforts to defend them) in the garbage to benefit developers and other political insiders.
Please visit the website “friendsofloews.org” which explains the history of the situation, shows you the results of their passionate hard work that went into restoring a wonderful movie palace that serves the public as a wonderful venue for the arts, and how you can help by signing their petition to “uphold Friends of Loew’s Lease to maintain Loew’s Jersey Theatre as a true arts center serving our community & region”.
Please tell everyone you know who will be adversely affected by Fulop’s attempt to undermine FOL and the rest of the citizens who live in the vicinity of the Loew’s at Journal Square (including Hoboken and New York residents who come to the revival movies which are shown on its massive screen in a very dark theatre like they use to have in the old days). Please encourage them to sign the online petition. We can make a difference by uniting for the arts and for our community.
Please show your support by signing the petition. Don’t let outsiders destroy what a united, committed community has saved from the wrecking ball. Please help to save the Loew’s.
Mary Ondrejka
Dan Tumpson