Dear Editor:
Last spring the city did a street improvement project along Newark Avenue from Summit Avenue west to Tonnelle. New sidewalks were installed and that job was a mess. New street lights were installed. In the last few weeks it appears PSE&G has been removing the old lights and patching in the broken sidewalks around them. In that process they are cementing in with a much darker gray sidewalk than the city installed in four by four foot squares and the result is even worse than the city’s work because the contractor never cleaned the cement residue in large areas around the squares leaving a white chalky appearance. But it gets worse. In over a half dozen squares of new sidewalk from Summit to the Boulevard they have been inscribed by gang members with their tags of “M16” and “Bostwick 464 Mob” in large letters. This is one of the longest blocks in the city and people of all types walk it daily including scores of school children.
A few weeks ago Mayor Fulop hosted a Crime Summit with Paterson Mayor Jose’ Torres and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in Jersey City to announce a joint effort to combat gang and gun violence in these cities. Mayor Torres called for “the return of the community to their rightful owners” and Mayor Fulop said they would “track the bad actors wherever they are”. What can be seen on the sidewalks of one of the city’s major business districts is an abomination and must be corrected. It is unfortunate we don’t have the once very active businessmen’s groups in this city. More disheartening is the disinterest on the part of the storeowners or unawareness of this situation. This was apparent in my conversations with some of them.
As a resident of Jersey City I am disturbed by the city’s lack of attention to a matter such as this. Where are the follow-up inspections by city inspectors or is PSE&G exempt because it’s a utility? This must be corrected forthwith. Failure to do so means that all citizens who walk that street, including our children, and see these gang tags inscribed in cement will be reminded that the bad guys are winning. This just a block from Police Headquarters, opposite a school, a bustling Indian community and along a corridor to the MANA arts galleries.
Sincerely,
Charles Balcer