To the Editor:
The council chamber was packed, standing room only for the two meetings concerning the hotly contested “High Rise Project” on 46th Street and Broadway. At both meetings, those who spoke in favor of the high rise were in the minority; they argue that blight would be eliminated and Broadway would be revitalized only by building a high rise structure.
That premise is totally wrong. The current master plan allows for a 45-foot, 5-story building; implementation of this existing plan will also remove the blight and help revitalize Broadway without causing a disruption of the quality of life in the area. According to one council member and the business administrator, building a high rise would require a prolonged approval process; the 5-story structure, on the other hand, would need no such process.
A large majority of those who spoke at the meeting offered many valid reasons that the high rise building should not be built on 46th Street. Among those reasons were: increased traffic, parking scarcity, need to develop a new city master plan, lack of open space, lack of sunlight for some homes, need for a parking garage and possible additional burden on the school system. There were many additional reasons raised in opposition to the high-rise construction.
The mayor and four council members may do well to reflect upon the fact that they were chosen by a relatively small majority in the election of June, 2014. By voting in favor of the high rise, the council disregarded, even ignored, the voices of the overwhelming majority of residents who spoke in opposition to the high-rise project. Perhaps the council members should recall Abraham Lincoln’s words that government is of the people, by the people, and for the people (and not for an individual developer).
The people of the 3rd Ward, on the other hand, should be proud of their councilman, Gary LaPelusa, who heard the voice of the large majority by voting “no” on the high-rise building.
RICHARD A. RUTKOWSKI
Former Bayonne Mayor