Our sister publication, the Bayonne Community News, has received numerous letters over the past year about the many changes taking place in Bayonne. Our correspondents praised and denounced new high-rise residences and lamented the deterioration of Broadway’s shopping district, suggesting remedies, while mourning its past glory. This lively dialog demonstrates that Bayonne residents are passionate about their town and its future. It seemed like a good time to take stock, so we asked longtime Bayonne watcher, Al Sullivan, to talk to a few folks and offer his vision for the future of Bayonne. We welcome yours, too. Visit facebook.com/bayonnemaglifeonthepeninsula or email bayonnemag@hudsonreporter.com. We will publish your responses in the Bayonne Community News.
Had fate been kinder and local politics a little less intense, the city of Bayonne might well have begun its recovery from lost industry in the mid-1990s.
Local officials understood the city faced a serious economic decline as a result of the closing of many manufacturing plants and began to lay the foundation of a new 21st century Bayonne.
Armed with expertise from Stevens Institute of Technology and possible federal grants, the city brought together leaders from every walk of life to help develop a plan called “Bayonne 2000” that had the potential to reshape the city into a telecommunications hub.
This vision came at the exact right moment. The World Wide Web was just emerging, and if the city had reshaped itself in time, Bayonne might well have become the East Coast version of Silicon Valley.
The idea was to strengthen the city’s business and industrial base by infusing it with new technologies and attract new businesses, replacing outgoing heavy industry with a technology hub.
But a tough election saw a change of leadership at a critical moment, and the closing of the Military Ocean Terminal (MOTBY) created a new vision that leaders hoped would turn Bayonne into a new Hoboken or downtown Jersey City.
But misguided plans to redevelop MOTBY on its own and a downturn in the economy have left the city in worse shape than it was in the 1990s.
City leaders are trying to develop a new vision.
If You Build It?
Most residential and commercial buildings were constructed prior to World War II. The industry that allowed Bayonne to thrive for almost a century has moved on.
City officials fought to take control of MOTBY, replacing industry with residential and other development there.
But the high hopes for the base had been dashed by miscalculation, missed opportunities, and the recent recession.
New development on MOBTY will provide things Bayonne doesn’t have, such as new hotels, and a varied mix of residential and commercial development that will attract upscale business and well-heeled residents.
Mayor Davis said, “I want to be able to walk onto the base with my grandkids and know I had a part in making it happen.”
City officials have their eye on upgrading the housing stock in other parts of Bayonne, as well.
The mayor said Avenue E is also important in attracting young professionals.
It runs parallel to the light rail, and yet large segments are vacant lots or closed gas stations.
Silk Lofts, the high-end rental project near the 22nd Street light rail station, is already bringing young professionals from Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken, and even out of state.
As in towns like Hoboken, the transit village concept that creates housing near transportation options makes sense for Avenue E.
“People can walk to the train,” Davis said.
Positive redevelopment on the horizon includes the former Texaco property near the foot of the Bayonne Bridge, which is expected to break ground next summer, a residential development on First Street, which is already underway, a hotel at MOTBY set to break ground in the fall of 2016, and new residential development on Oak Street where 12 new houses have been built.
While the mayor wants to avoid the canyon effect that tall buildings create, he said developers need to construct projects large enough to justify their investments.
High-End Kids, High-End Cribs
Bayonne’s strength had always been that whole generations had lived and worked in town. Grandparents and great grandparents often lived on the same block with succeeding generations.
“People who lived here, went to school here, got a job here,” Mayor Davis said.
Then the federal government closed MOTBY, and companies such as Best Foods also closed.
Jobs lost when major manufacturing left town caused many younger people to leave.
And Bayonne’s old housing stock discourages upscale residents. Younger professionals are flocking to the Gold Coast in Guttenberg, Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken, and West New York because their massive new development provides high-end amenities as well as easy access to Manhattan.
This was the great hope of MOTBY for many local real-estate professionals who envisioned new development in an area the size of Hoboken. Unlike downtown Jersey City and parts of Hoboken, this model would have followed those of Weehawken and West New York which would include total infrastructure, from water and sewerage systems to streets and lighting.
But the city wasted time and money in attempting to do this work itself, according to Nicholas Chiaravalloti, former chairman of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority, who oversaw the early stages of the redevelopment of MOTBY. The city plowed money into electrical, sewerage and water systems it should have let developers handle. The city also saw the property as a pot of gold it could tap to handle everyday expenses, borrowing against the future, only to have the recession hit and stall redevelopment plans.
New Life for Old Bayonne
City Business Administrator Joe DeMarco said vacant stores and vacant lots have plagued the city for more than a decade, even in areas where redevelopment zones have been established.
Developers need incentives to invest in older sections of the city, though doing so will boost revenue and create new structures for housing and business, and thus draw in some of the people local businesses want.
Abatements are one incentive to encourage development in the older parts of Bayonne. With abatements, the city offers to do away with school taxes and most county taxes for developers. In exchange, the city gets more than it would normally in conventional taxes. More important, currently low-taxed property would pay more into the overall coffers. Theoretically, this would help stabilize taxes for the general taxpayer.
Ferries Will Keep Us Afloat
Ironically, the peninsula isolation that allowed Bayonne to thrive when industry was plentiful has turned against it in recent years.
Bayonne’s ability to retain its youth and bring young people back from the suburbs—the the way Hoboken and Jersey City have—rests on its ability to get people to jobs in Jersey City and New York City.
Transportation to and from jobs outside the city is essential, which is why a ferry to Manhattan is key.
Vincent Virga is a financial consultant with offices near 42nd Street on Broadway and former president of the Bayonne Chamber of Commerce.
“It is very clear from the work going on with the Bayonne Bridge and the Turnpike exchange, that we can be trapped here,” Virga said. “A ferry service starting today would be of extraordinary value. We need an alternative to the light rail and bus service.”
Mayor Davis is expected to have an agreement for two ferries in the near future.
The Not-Quite Way
Although vacant stores pepper the two-mile Broadway shopping district, many residents remember when the avenue was lined with baby strollers, and shoppers had ample choice.
Chiaravalloti recalled growing up when kids got their sneakers from one of two shoe stores, one uptown, one downtown.
Now, there are no shoe stores, and people either go to Wal-Mart or a box store out of town.
The battle for Broadway will be fought block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, with smaller shopping districts thriving, only if they are built smartly.
Bob Campbell, a former banker and now in real estate, thinks all of Broadway needs to redevelop.
“They are all stick buildings with no historic value,” he said, citing the Resnick’s Hardware store, which will be demolished to make way for a proposed seven-story structure.
Campbell sees little hope in restoring the two-mile Broadway shopping district and said a plan should be developed to maintain it for a specific area below 32nd Street.
In the Hood
Chiaravalloti said the shopping model needs to be neighborhood based, with residential and commercial construction that generate their own base. For example, a few blocks of retail could serve residents who live in the neighborhood. This model might be used at intervals throughout the city, but especially along Broadway.
Virga believes this model can be used to rebuild the entire length of Broadway. He said the transit village concept, which promotes ground-floor retail with residential above it, generates sustainable business within each block.
Virga said many people fear change, but change and gentrification are necessary if Bayonne—and in particular the Broadway shopping district—is to grow.
DeMarco believes part of the redevelopment problem is lack of vision. “Many people in Bayonne live their lives thinking about places they used to go to,” he said.
But Virga thinks that with the right kind of investment, Bayonne’s shopping district can be restored, and he sees the Resnick’s project as an example of the kind of development needed, retail with upscale residential above it.
“Residents who live in a neighborhood will shop there,” he said.
Virga believes development on MOTBY will not affect the heart of Bayonne and that big-box developments like Bayonne Crossing can go hand in hand with a successful business district along Broadway.
“We need businesses within town, and I believe both the malls and Main Street can coexist, even complement each other,” Virga said.
A number of business owners on Broadway are convinced that bringing in an upscale population is key to Bayonne’s revival.
No Turning Back
“When driving a car, you might have to look in the rearview mirror occasionally,” Vincent Virga said, “but you can’t be constantly doing it. You have to look ahead.”
Virga said the administration of Mayor Mark Smith set the stage for a number of changes, and the current administration appears to be moving ahead with them, promoting the city and offering abatements to outside developers, a smart strategy in attracting outside money.
“I’m not saying we should be like Hoboken,” Virga said. “Bayonne should have its own identity. We need to have our own vision.”
Bayonne is also competing with cities like Harrison, reinventing itself from the ruins of an industrial past.
But change won’t come immediately. The last master plan was completed in 2001 and needs to be revisited.
“We’re looking 20 to 25 years down the road,” Virga said.
Mayor Davis is encouraged by Pittsburgh’s model. Once a steel-industry rock star, it became a major tourist destination. Retirement groups claim it’s one of the best cities for seniors. It’s also home to numerous colleges.
Improving Bayonne’s educational opportunities and upgrading its facilities is on the Davis agenda as well.
“We can be Pittsburgh on a smaller scale,” he said. “We know that industry is not coming back.”
Davis said that people do not see progress now but will in a few months with spring in the air and shovels in the ground.
He said, “Change brings hope.”—BLP