Dear Editor:
No doubt Jim Doyle is a very crafty, articulate attorney/activist. Two weeks ago he called URSA’s proposed development plan more URSA “chutzpah,” which I am certain he believes. He presented a one-sided recitation of facts that seem to make the case that URSA did not live up to their obligations without mentioning the many lawsuits, roadblocks and delays that were engendered by activists like himself.
While I have always believed that the two most pressing issues for Hoboken were (and still are): (1) new recreational options for our children; and (2) the creation of affordable housing, I believe the methodology of how to achieve those goals has always been at issue. Activists such as Jim Doyle and wife Leah Healy work for their cause of creating more open space, and developers such as URSA have worked to accommodate that vision as much as possible without losing sight of sensible development.
When we proposed the Southwest redevelopment plan, many supporters of Mayor Zimmer, including the mayor herself, opposed it. Their main argument was that a four acre park was too small and that the plan should have included a six acre park. Our plan tried to find a compromise. In retrospect, how great would it have been to redevelop the gateway of our great city; by creating a destination place with a four acre park, affordable housing, as well as flood and traffic improvements as opposed to the nothing we have right now. After almost four years, flooding is still a problem, traffic still remains an issue, buildings have been built as of right, and the opportunity for a six acre park has been completely undermined by the outrageously high appraisal the city received for land in that area. We must not allow history to repeat itself.
While Jim points out all that URSA didn’t do, let’s look at things they did: (1) substantial donations towards refurbishment of our Little League field; (2) purchased lights for the Housing Authority multi-purpose field; (3) partially funded the Hoboken High School’s varsity baseball team’s trip to Florida; and (4) created a state of the art movie theater for Hoboken. So let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water because this may be the only opportunity to have real meaningful progress for our children in the foreseeable future.
I strongly urge Mayor Zimmer not to succumb to the same binary political thinking that has led to the polarization of our great community.
Although Mr. Doyle and Ms. Healy are two of her fiercest allies she must resist the temptation to fall into the same pitiful framework residents of Hoboken are tired of listening to.
Residents do not care who’s to blame. They want real results for their children, and no more empty rhetoric. With this unstable and uncertain economy, I believe it’s best to work diligently to find some common ground with the private sector that have always out-performed local government in producing tangible results.
Christopher Campos