To the Editor:
What can be said about the media? They have consistently blown up stories across our great nation just to get ratings and they will drive the same story again and again until people believe the narrative of the month. It’s a damn shame that it’s so very hard to disseminate the so called News these days.
For the past couple weeks, we have seen Mayor Davis state that he is “embarrassed” and Senator Sweeney, state that “it is disgraceful what is going on to preach hate, without even stepping into our town. Yes, this is the same Senator Sweeney, who worked to get a law passed banning protesters from protesting in front of his house.
I have to say that yes, there were some interesting adjectives used to describe the upcoming protests but are they valid points or is it just fear?
For the past nine years, the Bayonne Muslims have been praying and teaching at the old St. Henry’s Church and have bothered no one. I do not know how many parking spots are in the lot but there may be about 30. I have not heard of any complaints about noise or parking but then again what do I know. One may ask the Bayonne Police Dept for that info.
The way I look at it is that we all think that most people in Bayonne are Polish, Italian, Irish, Slavic, Dutch, Spanish, African American or German. Most of our own parents were immigrants themselves and came over here from other countries. The reality is that Bayonne has changed in many ways over the course of the last 20 years. There are increased populations of Egyptians, Spanish, Indian, Asian etc. This is evidenced by the closing and consolidation of the Catholic Churches and the growth of new churches and new businesses all over town.
It is understandable that some may think that this development is being pushed through and maybe more notice should have been given to the surrounding residents in an effort to bring more transparency to the surrounding neighbors. Advanced notice and consideration should be given in the future to the residents, period.
Think about this though, if there was a lumber warehouse being built on the same property, or even a two floor learning center for kids, there would probably have been zero protest. The only true valid points and concerns were possible traffic concerns and parking. I believe that the issue can be resolved if the owner purchases another property close by and paves a new parking lot, if possible.
I understand the fear that we all feel because of ISIS and radical Islam. It is very real and I would never want that violence in our hometown. I think we should all have faith and hope it never happens here. The landscape and makeup of Bayonne is indeed changing and we should all be open minded and positive and let our voices be heard loud and clear.
“Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences”- Mikhail Gorbachev
JOHN MILAN SEBIK