Dear Editor:
I think the residents of Hoboken and the Roberts administration need to consider Steven’s plans for the waterfront carefully. The proposed buildings are necessary and important for the school’s continued growth, but I question the need to place them right at the river’s edge. Stevens plans to build its new 400-foot long wave tank and office building right next to the state-mandated waterfront walkway. Wouldn’t it be less obtrusive across the street and away from the public walkway, perhaps on the site where the proposed parking garage is to be built? If this facility is to be open to the public, as it’s advocates claim, then it would be easily accessible while keeping intact a public waterfront. Further, this building could serve as a more suitable and attractive front to Sinatra Drive than the parking garage for which Stevens is already excavating without Planning Board approval. Stevens’ original conceptual plans for the Maxwell House property have proven quite appealing to many Hoboken residents. Yet no one is talking about Stevens more recent additions to its plans, including 12-story residential buildings with up to 500 housing units. Between the school, the athletic facilities, and the new residences, traffic on Hudson Street and Sinatra Drive will substantially increase. And this increase will be exacerbated by Stevens’ proposed closing off of the section of Sinatra Drive that runs next to Elysian Park to Hudson and Eleventh Streets. Therefore, southbound traffic will naturally continue down Hudson, while northbound cars will head from Sinatra Drive to a waterfront road that leads through the Shipyard project. I suspect that Hudson Street and Shipyard residents might like to see traffic studies on the potential impact of Stevens’ proposal. I ask our administration to demand that Stevens be more forthcoming with its current plans for these waterfront sites. The public deserves to see exactly what is to be built at each site. Perhaps then we can engage in an informed discussion of the future of Hoboken’s waterfront.
Ann Wallace