 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Edgewater vote advances plan for new police station  Edgewater vote advances plan for new police station Wednesday, August 16, 2006 EDGEWATER -- The borough, amid much controversy, is moving toward purchasing 1.9 acres on the former Unilever property for a proposed new police station and borough hall. The council voted 3-3 to introduce an ordinance on the plan Monday night, with the Democrats in favor and the independents against. Mayor Nancy Merse, a Democrat, broke the tie, voting in favor of the plan. The borough would spend $3.7 million to buy the land and build a municipal complex and a parking lot. The two-story building is to be built by the owner of the former Unilever property, i.Park Edgewater, affiliated with National RE/Sources of Greenwich, Conn. The property owner plans to turn the 24-acre property along the Hudson River into a mix of homes, offices and shops. The company specializes in redeveloping brownfields. The council Democrats have called the project a wonderful opportunity to clean up the last major piece of available waterfront property in town. In addition to the municipal complex and the cleanup, Merse said, the project would give the public access to the Hudson River in that location again. "That's going to be wonderful for Edgewater," Merse said. But the council's independents have urged caution, raising concerns about contamination on the property and questioning whether the location, at the southern end of town, was really the best place for the police station and borough hall. They also have asked what the borough would be asked to give up in exchange for the municipal complex. The i.Park firm offered the current parcel after another one, with a building that could have been retrofitted for the borough, was found to be contaminated from the nearby Quanta Resources Superfund site. The company has pledged to excavate all of the contaminated soil underneath the proposed footprint of the new municipal complex, as recommended by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Independent council members also pointed out Monday that two i.Park principals, President Joe Cotter and Lynne Ward, contributed money to a political action committee that gave campaign contributions to Edgewater Democrats last year. According to reports filed with the state, Cotter and Ward each gave $4,800 to the Public Awareness PAC, chaired by Paul Kaufman, who is one of the lawyers working on i.Park Edgewater's behalf, although he has not appeared before the council on the project. The PAC gave $7,000 to the Edgewater Democratic Campaign Organization last November, though the two Democrats who ran last year lost. "I just question why business people who do not live in Edgewater would want to influence the composition of the governing body by contributing to political campaigns," Councilwoman Valory Bardinas said Tuesday. "It's obviously to buy influence." Cotter declined to comment on the contributions. Kaufman, who also has donated money to Edgewater Democrats in the past, said he would not apologize for being a lifelong Democrat. Asked about the purpose of the Public Awareness PAC, Kaufman said, "We support candidates and organizations, political organizations that have a similar political philosophy as ours." Kaufman said all of the contributions were legal and that the i.Park project would generate at least $4 million to $5 million per year in taxes when complete. "This project is about providing the borough with a police station as part of a redevelopment. What do the contributions have to do with it? Nothing," he said. "This is not pay-to-play," Kaufman added. "If this was a quid pro quo, this certainly would have been done a whole lot quicker." E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
DEP concerns jeopardize police station plan Wednesday, August 9, 2006 EDGEWATER -- Police Chief Donald Martin may have to wait even longer for a new police station. For years, Martin has been pleading with the Borough Council for a bigger and better space for his department of 30 officers plus civilians and special officers. The Police Department has been housed in the cramped basement of Borough Hall since about 1906. Now, the state Department of Environmental Protection has rejected i.park Edgewater's plans to address contamination on the latest site offered by the company for a new police station and Borough Hall. The company, an affiliate of National RE/sources of Greenwich, Conn., plans to redevelop the former Unilever property on the Hudson River into a mix of homes, offices and shops. The developer offered to build the borough a police station and Borough Hall on the latest site under consideration, which is about 1.5 acres, for about $3.7 million, according to Borough Administrator Harvey Weber Jr., who estimated the land and building would cost about $9 million on the open market. The proposal came after the borough declined an offer of another site from i.park Edgewater earlier this year. That site included a building that could have been retrofitted and expanded to accommodate the Police Department and Borough Hall, but officials declined the offer after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said part of the building sat atop a plume of contamination from the nearby Quanta Resources Superfund site. In a letter to i.park Edgewater dated June 30, the DEP rejects Edgewater's conceptual plans to deal with contamination on the latest site and instead "strongly recommends" excavating the contaminated soils and refilling the area with clean soil. The DEP also points out that i.park Edgewater's plans do not address PCBs in soil or groundwater and states that a vapor barrier will be required, to prevent vaporized contaminants from entering the building. Paul Kaufman, a lawyer for the developer, said his client will agree to excavate the soil as recommended. "That should satisfy the concerns," Kaufman said. The Borough Council is set to discuss the issue at its next meeting on Monday. Councilwoman Neda Rose said she is confident about the new site. "It's going to work," Rose said. "We still have to figure out how." Others are not so sure. This is at least the third site the borough has seriously considered for a new police station. Before the two Unilever locations, the borough spent over $300,000 to design a police station for a site across the street from the current Borough Hall, only to abandon the plans because they were too expensive. Councilwoman Valory Bardinas believes locating the police station and Borough Hall anywhere on the Unilever site, where consumer products such as Wisk laundry detergent were created, would lead to lengthy delays because of environmental concerns. "I think we should look for a different site," Bardinas said. "I think the perfect site is next to Borough Hall. Put the extension next to Borough Hall or do it across the street without the overpriced architect." Councilwoman Beatrice Robbio believes the borough should at least have an alternative in case the newest proposal doesn't work out. "My feeling is we cannot keep our police officers where they are now," Robbio said. "It is not only a disrespect to them, but also it could potentially be hazardous for our residents if the police don't have sufficient space and up-to-date communication systems." Martin, the police chief, said any place would be better than the current police station. "Right now we're in a dangerous situation and in a place where we can't function properly," Martin said. "I'm tired of the whole situation. I've been through so many plans for the police stations I could choke a horse with them."
Prosperity at a Price Tuesday, June 27, 2006 From their seventh-floor apartment at the Saint Moritz in Edgewater, Alex Mataras and his wife watch tugboats chug along the Hudson River and the New York skyline twinkle at dusk. "The view is tremendous," said Mataras, a retired banker who is among the first tenants to fill the new 26-story high-rise, where a penthouse runs $10,000 a month. In many ways the Saint Moritz, with its stunning views, rooftop pool and gilded lobby, offers the kind of dream living that has fueled the transformation of the waterfront from Fort Lee to Bayonne into a virtual "Gold Coast." Edgewater's makeover has been among the most dramatic in northern New Jersey over the past two decades. Once a blue-collar backwater, the Bergen County borough has become a thriving luxury bedroom community. Where the factories of Ford, Alcoa Aluminum and others once hummed, upscale housing, steakhouses and boutiques line the waterfront. The population, once mostly European immigrant families, is more diverse and has more than doubled. Today, one in five of the town's 10,700 residents is Asian. On weekdays, almost one-third of the town commutes to Manhattan. On weekends, New Yorkers looking to escape city crowds cross the Hudson for a seat in a new multiplex cinema or to stroll the waterfront promenade. Where seedy bars once were the big attraction, now there's Whole Foods, Barnes & Noble, Target and Starbucks. But some say Edgewater's dream came at a price. A growing number of officials and residents ask how much more new building the town can take before it buckles under its own success. All the construction has put a burden on infrastructure, schools and services, they say. "The town is overdeveloped," said one of the newest Edgewater council members, Beatrice Robbio. "We have deviated so far from our original vision, it has been a detriment to the community on every level, whether it be traffic, crowding in schools, noncompliance with affordable-housing laws or open space." Political tensions over development are running high at a time when the borough is dealing with major projects, including a ferry service scheduled to open later this year, a proposed municipal hall relocation and a plan to turn the polluted former Unilever property on River Road into a waterfront village with 420 housing units, open air dining restaurants, shops and offices. At the same time, the borough continues to tackle the toxic legacy of industries that poisoned much of the waterfront decades ago. The town's most polluted property, under Superfund status, is oozing with arsenic, heavy metals and tar in the shadow of new luxury homes, boutiques, a hotel and a day care center. Pollution aside, borough officials are concerned about what they see as a lack of planning for the landscape. Robbio and council members Valory Bardinas and Denis Gallagher are part of the Independent Coalition for a Better Edgewater (ICBE), a community group that is critical of former and current Democratic leaders on development and pay-to-play issues. The trio accuse the Democrats of allowing high-density housing to run roughshod over a vision for a walkable riverfront community. The Democrats contend Edgewater is far better off than its gritty days two decades ago, when the town was in the red. "Only 70 percent of the taxes were being collected back then," Mayor Nancy Merse said. "We advertised in the New York Times. We couldn't give the waterfront away." With its northern border less than a mile south of the George Washington Bridge, the 3 1/2-mile-long borough has put up an estimated 3,500 new housing units since 1990, mostly along River Road. "The market has been unbelievable," said Fred Daibes, a developer who started out as a local dishwasher and became a main player in the borough's real estate boom. "We're no longer Fort Lee's ugly stepsister." In addition to completing the 225-unit Saint Moritz and at least a dozen other projects in town, Daibes plans to build two nine-story towers with 209 housing units on the site of the former Octagon Process Inc. plant, and a 156-unit hotel and office building, both on River Road. In the southern part of town, crews are erecting a 15-story tower with 168 units. The developer, Tarragon Corp., is advertising a design inspired by the Chinese art of feng shui. The borough is also considering a $3.7 million relocation of the municipal offices from its aging 100-year-old town hall to a parcel on the former Unilever property on River Road. The offer comes from National RE/sources of Greenwich, Conn., which is seeking approvals to redevelop the property. The relocation effort has been delayed, however, by the discovery of pollutants spreading from a 15-acre Superfund site, once home to a waste oil processing terminal, Quanta Resources Corp. The site is laced with lead, chromium and an underground coal tar creosote plume. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is studying the site for cleanup and monitoring the air, soils and water of the area. "The property is being hemmed in on all sides," Gallagher said. "It's going to be more expensive and take longer to clean because of all this development around it." Somewhere between Edgewater's sullied past and golden future are residents like Pat Nardo, who moved from California to the borough five years ago after seeing a condominium for sale in the Promenade complex on a pier in the Hudson River. "It's like small-town living in a big city," said Nardo, a retired television writer-producer who enjoys walking along the waterfront promenade and shopping at the nearby Whole Foods. "I just love my apartment, I love this town," Nardo said. "But there's so much that was not here five years ago. Up and down this river, no matter what empty spot, something's going up. The traffic is a real problem. I call it 'Newfornia.' There's one road in, and out." After moving in, Nardo, 65, learned she is living near the Superfund site. Also, she was "stunned" by how fast developers built a multiplex cinema and the CityPlace project on polluted land near her home. Parts of the CityPlace village of boutiques, restaurants and luxury rentals were built on a parking deck, over an 18-inch "cap" of gravel and concrete. Alarmed, Nardo got involved in the ICBE group. She is convinced her dog, Rosie, died of cancer from walking on polluted dirt. "None of these issues crossed my mind when I moved in," Nardo said. "I saw the view and that was it." Development issues are a constant flash point for the borough council, with the mayor and fellow Democrats Neda Rose, Maureen Holtje and David Jordan often at odds with the independents. The independents accuse the Democrats of being influenced by campaign contributions from major developers, an attack vigorously denied by the Democrats. "What we're getting is what the developers want to do, not what we want to do," said Gallagher, a retired airline pilot who has lived in Edgewater for more than 25 years. Gallagher and his allies claim that development contradicts the master plan: high-density housing has sprung up on sites slated for office and research use; gated mid-rises block skyline views along the Hudson River; narrow sidewalks create a hazard for pedestrians, where the master plan once called for wide, tree-lined medians. The town no longer feels like a close-knit community, Gallagher argues. "This development was something that was going to happen one way or another, but it's coming at way too high a price." Enrollment at the town's only school, Eleanor Van Gelder Elementary, jumped from 232 students in 1991 to 415 this year. And even with a $7.9 million school renovation, officials are planning the next expansion. "Projections show in the next five years we'll get 600 students," Superintendent Ted Blumstein said. "We only have capacity for 550." Council President David Jordan says the borough is trying to accommodate growth. There are plans to refurbish Veteran's Field, and to install a new PSE&G gas main. A new ferry service to midtown Manhattan, which is expected to begin later this year out of the renovated Grand Cove Marina, is designed to reduce the number of cars on River Road at rush hour by up to 1,600 vehicles, Jordan said. "We're trying to play catch-up and it's tough," Jordan said. "We could have planned better." The town is also behind on affordable-housing obligations. The Council on Affordable Housing recently noted in a letter to the borough that its housing plan set aside 10 percent of units for affordable housing on properties where it has authorized 1,284 new units since 1998, yet no affordable units were built. "There's not one single affordable unit on the river," Bardinas said, noting all affordable units are on the west side of River Road. Councilwoman Neda Rose argues the town needs to take advantage of market forces and should welcome developers who wish to transform polluted sites. "This town is far cleaner than it has been in 100 years," Rose said. "Where were the independents in the '60s, '70s and '80s? ... There was no way to get to the river then, you had to crawl through weeds. "Now I can walk quite a distance on the river walkway," Rose said, "and I can even stop and have a cappuccino."
2006 Letters to Editors Your views Magnificent, impenetrable, and still beneath the summer sun ... we revel in Edgewater as if she were our own unique sandcastle, and rely faithfully on local officials to monitor the tide. But what is happening beneath this radiant fortress is unthinkable: Edgewater's own majority-Democratic Borough Council is proactively dredging canals and inviting surges of unnecessary development, which eat away at our very foundation. For instance, school property where children play safely is being rented out by a restaurant for extra parking. Some of the most valuable historical landmarks in the country are being washed away by developers of mirror-image McMansions. Even Town Hall is showing signs of losing its footing, only to be rebuilt atop a section of land scrutinized by the EPA for unsafe toxins. As with sandcastles, these waves have created fissures in Edgewater's once sufficient infrastructure, burying residents in debt that currently exceeds $27 million. And as you might imagine, some residents will turn inward as this dreadful erosion takes place. But you can face the tide with the more critical-minded, by speaking your mind at council meetings on the first and third Monday of every month at Borough Hall. Whatever you do, please get involved before Edgewater as you know it is washed away. William T. Brendel Your views At the last Edgewater Council meeting, my Democratic colleagues loudly criticized a position I took -- calling it grandstanding and not doing my job. My job, and that of the other two Independent council members, is making sure Edgewater government is open and accessible to citizens and that it provides answers and solutions. It does not. I had asked the borough administrator if the municipality had a system to track citizen questions and complaints to ensure a timely response. No answer. Again I simply asked, "Do we have a system?" Still no answer. My Democratic colleagues began to complain that we should move to other business. That's right: They had business other than making sure our residents are listened to and their questions answered. After years of interacting with Edgewater government, I'm more convinced than ever that the Democratic majority running Borough Hall is broken. It doesn't serve our citizens, and, even worse, it doesn't seem interested in solving problems, answering complaints or honestly listening to the people they are supposed to serve. Beatrice M. Robbio
New Town Hall Site Polluted Edgewater Independents Criticize Push for Project Friday, March 24, 2006 EDGEWATER -- Mayor Nancy Merse mailed a lengthy letter to borough residents a few weeks ago describing the potential benefits of a proposal to turn a building on the former Unilever property into a new police station and borough hall. For no more than $3.7 million, she wrote, the borough would receive a completely renovated building worth more than $9 million, courtesy of National RE/sources, the Greenwich, Conn., company that wants to redevelop the remainder of the Hudson riverfront property into a mix of homes, offices and shops. The mayor left out one detail, however. The building sits almost entirely within the plume of contamination including coal tar creosote, arsenic and benzene, running from the nearby Quanta Resources Superfund site, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The boundaries of a Superfund site extend as far as the contamination does, which means that in buying the building, the borough essentially would be taking on a portion of a Superfund site. Merse, a Democrat, said the borough is aware of the potential contamination and has hired the engineering firm Schoor DePalma to conduct a preliminary environmental assessment to determine the exact nature and extent of the contamination. "We're doing a feasibility study and due diligence to see what is there and what is not there. We have no information yet," Merse said. She acknowledged having seen some maps of the contamination previously prepared for Honeywell, the party that is being held primarily responsible for the cleanup of the Quanta site, but said the borough wanted to do its own investigation. The three independent members of the council, who say they only learned definitively of the contamination recently, contend the borough is moving ahead with the project far too quickly. Already, the borough has discussed declaring the former Unilever property an area in need of redevelopment and buying furniture for the proposed borough hall and police station, they said. "I think the borough needs to put an immediate stop to spending money on architectural plans and paint chips and purchasing furniture until we know what is beneath that building," said Councilwoman Beatrice Robbio, an independent, who called the mayor's letter "duplicitous," given her apparent knowledge of the contamination. "If we were to take over this land knowingly, then we're stuck with the bag for cleaning it up," Robbio said. "We will be vulnerable." The independents also worry that the project could echo the borough's last failed attempt to build a new police station, across from Borough Hall, which is nearly 100 years old and regarded as in dire need of substantial renovations. In that case, they say, the borough spent more than $300,000 to design the building, only to abandon the idea because officials realized it would come in well over budget and cost a fortune to heat, since it was designed with electric heating. To this point, the borough has spent $45,000 in architects' fees and $4,500 for Schoor DePalma's environmental study on the newest proposal. Councilwoman Valory Bardinas, also an independent, said she is concerned that the contamination could, at the very least, delay the opening of the new police station for too long. "The whole issue of this began with the need for a police station," Bardinas said. "Everybody agrees that's really a need. If we go ahead with this property and there needs to be remediation, we could be looking down into years before this happens." For the same reason, fellow independent Councilman Denis Gallagher wants the borough to at least begin considering alternative locations for the police station. But Councilwoman Maureen Holtje, a Democrat, pointed out that a building that sits between the Quanta site and the Unilever property is home to offices and even a day-care center. She said testing has been done there to ensure the safety of the children and workers in the building, which leads her to believe the contamination on the Unilever property is not likely to be serious. "I would think the issue is, is it contaminated and how much?" Holtje said. At this point, no one knows how much remediation would be required at the proposed police station and borough hall building. Richard Ho, the project manager for the Quanta Resources site, said the EPA would need to approve any work on the building, given the contamination, which includes arsenic and benzene in the groundwater. The former Unilever property also contains contamination from Unilever's operations there, said Ho, who does not know what kind of contamination or how much. One possible solution would be for the borough to obtain a special agreement that protects a prospective buyer from taking over responsibility for the cleanup, although the buyer would still be liable if it contributes to spreading the contamination further. Still, Ho said, most people tend to steer clear of Superfund sites. "Generally, people in this kind of situation would not take the land or take control of the property until it's been cleaned up," Ho said. Ho has requested a meeting with Edgewater officials to discuss their plans. "We want to help them out. In order for us to help them, we need to know what information on contamination there is and what are their plans," he said. E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Can't We All Just Get Along? Not on Edgewater Council Wednesday, February 8, 2006 EDGEWATER -- The gloves are decidedly off in the already rough-and-tumble world of Edgewater politics. Last fall, two Democratic council members lost their seats to independents, bringing the count to three Democrats and three independents on the council. The tension between the two groups has since ratcheted higher. Online message boards and newspaper letters to the editor bristle with pointed accusations and cutting remarks, often from the council members themselves. Independent Beatrice Robbio, who was sworn in to the council in January, said her mailbox has been glued shut twice and the air let out of one of her car tires since her November victory. At a council meeting Monday night, independent Councilwoman Valory Bardinas urged Mayor Nancy Merse, as the head of the Democratic Party in the borough, to call upon "certain members to cease and desist in their constant threats of violence and personal attacks upon independent council members." Bardinas cited several examples. She said that on Election Day last year, Democratic Councilman Dave Jordan advised now-Councilman Denis Gallagher, an independent, "that he didn't know who he was [messing] with." Bardinas, an independent, said that during a council meeting last month, Democratic Councilwoman Neda Rose threatened to punch her in the face. And during a groundbreaking ceremony for the ferry at Grand Cove Marina on Jan. 20, John Schwartz, husband of former Democratic Councilwoman Lois Fein, hurled insults and obscenities at Robbio, to the point that Robbio feared for her safety, Bardinas claimed. Schwartz denies that the incident happened. "When we sit up here as a governing body, we all have the hair on the back of our necks standing up instead of working together," Bardinas said. "If we want to sit here and verbally do battle, that's one thing, but the threats have to stop." Merse said: "I agree, but I also believe as elected officials we have to show respect to each other." Bardinas told the council that her family's cars have been repeatedly "keyed" over the years that she has been on the council, frequently after contentious meetings. She also said in an interview that the lock on the hair salon she previously owned was glued shut about 10 times. She said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office had installed cameras in her car and her home to try to catch the culprits, but the cameras failed after news of their installation spread. Democratic Councilwoman Maureen Holtje responded to Bardinas' allegations by saying that after the election, her car was bombarded with eggs and was keyed. And the day after the election, she said, the Democratic headquarters in town also was "egged." Holtje said Tuesday that she hoped the council would be able to work together more productively. "I just hope that as we go forward we can all work together and work for the benefit of the town and not argue over nonsense," Holtje said. "I think what happened got out of hand. I hope we can sit down and straighten the matter [out]." Rose acknowledged she had made an inappropriate remark to Bardinas at a council meeting. She said she was sorry she had done so, and that she had lost her temper. She also said she had been struck on the shoulder by a member of the Independent Coalition for a Better Edgewater, a grass-roots group to which Bardinas, Gallagher and Robbio have belonged over the years. She said she had her car keyed, but that she never raised the issue because she felt it was a waste of time. Robbio, who brought the incident with Schwartz to the attention of police but did not file a formal complaint, described the incidents as a "pattern of intimidation and threats." Robbio acknowledged that she had no proof that it was persons sympathetic to Democrats who glued her mailbox or let the air out of her tire, but said the timing of the events made her suspicious, occurring days after she was elected and again just after she was sworn in. Contacted by telephone, Schwartz vehemently denied Robbio's description of events at the ferry groundbreaking. "Oh, gimme a break," he said. "That's an outrage. That's a lie." Schwartz said he was "mad" because Robbio appeared to be taking credit in a television interview for bringing the ferry to Edgewater. Schwartz said he told the interviewer that what Robbio was saying was not true and that the interviewer should speak to his wife and Rose to get their perspectives.
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Edgewater Faces Suit Over Sports Complex Tuesday, February 7, 2006 A Fort Lee resident who hopes to build tennis, boccie and volleyball courts atop a Superfund site in Edgewater has sued the borough, seeking to overturn the zoning board's denial of the plan. Mitchell Meyer, an avid tennis player, sought a use variance to build a sports complex on the Quanta Resources Superfund site on River Road. The land is zoned for offices and research but has been regarded as an eyesore for decades. The complaint was filed in Superior Court in Hackensack on Dec. 19, and is scheduled for a case management hearing today before Judge Jonathan N. Harris. Neither Meyer nor his lawyer, Joseph Mariniello Sr., could be reached for comment, but Mariniello previously said his client intended the project as an interim use, to be constructed before the full Superfund cleanup was completed. Edgewater's zoning board voted twice on the application. In September, the board voted 4-2 in favor of the variance, with one abstention, but the measure failed because such variances require five affirmative votes to pass. Meyer appealed the decision and was granted a second vote, in October. A zoning board member who previously abstained voted in favor, but another board member changed his vote to "no," so the measure failed again. Mariniello, who previously served as the zoning board attorney for Edgewater, argues in the complaint that the first vote "should have been considered a sufficient affirmative vote and approval of plaintiff's application." Meyer is also seeking to recover lawyer's fees and the costs of the suit. Mariniello argues in the complaint that the second vote should not count because the board "considered evidence outside the scope of the record before it, issues that were non-zoning issues." Neither Dennis Oury, the zoning board's designated lawyer, nor Scott Sproviero, the lawyer who typically stands in for Oury at the meetings, returned calls for comment. Robert Regan, Edgewater's municipal attorney, and Barbara Rae, the borough clerk, said they were not aware of the lawsuit and that they had not been served. The Quanta Resources site, at 163 River Road, was previously home to a tar-processing plant and an oil-recycling facility. Among the contaminants that have been found at the site are polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, arsenic, chromium, lead, coal tar and creosote. Mitchell has contended that most of the dangerous substances were removed in previous cleanups, and that his proposed sports facility would not present any health hazards. The EPA is still working on the cleanup of the site.
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Ferry Grant Looking Shakier Friday, February 3, 2006 EDGEWATER -- Even as the backhoes rumbled this week onto Grand Cove Marina, site of the town's future ferry landing, some critics questioned $2 million in public funding for the project. Several speakers at a Bergen County freeholders meeting Wednesday night urged the board to reconsider a grant from the county's Open Space Trust Fund for the ferry and marina project. They said that when the grant was approved, the project did not include a ferry. The plans for Grand Cove Marina, at River Road and Route 5, have changed so much, the critics argued, that at the very least, the county should formally reconsider the issue and vote again. Betsy Kohn, chairwoman of the Sierra Club North Jersey Group, said that while the Sierra Club supports ferry service and other forms of mass transportation, the group objects to "using $2 million from the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund for a transportation terminal." Kohn said what had begun as a park and marina for the public has been reduced to little more than a ferry terminal with parking spaces, waiting areas for buses and landscaping. "We are very concerned about this improper use of open space trust fund money for a transportation project," Kohn said. "It sets a terrible precedent. It opens the door to future diversion of open space money for other non-open-space-preservation purposes. And it violates the public trust." Freeholder Valerie Huttle responded that the goal of the grant was to preserve open space, and that the proposed ferry terminal did not affect that goal. "That area in Edgewater was in threat of development for condos and restaurants," Huttle said. "Whether a ferry is there or not, that piece of land is preserved in my view." Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney was not present at the meeting, but Brian Hague, McNerney's spokesman, said Thursday that he agreed with Huttle. "We can tell you what's not going there," Hague said. "We're not going to have some 15-story condominium complex rising, creating more congestion, importing more people into Edgewater. We think the allocation is fine. Edgewater is preserving that open space. The public is going to get a marina. It looks like a win from our perspective." McNerney participated in a ceremonial check presentation with Edgewater officials last month, but the money has not been turned over yet. Robert Abbatomarco, executive director of the open space fund, said the money will be released after Edgewater submits paperwork. Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, who also serves on the county's Open Space Trust Fund committee, agreed with the stance of the Sierra Club and a couple of Edgewater residents who also spoke at the meeting. "Two million dollars that could have gone to another project somewhere else is tied up because Edgewater is trying to use it to build a transportation amenity," Sheehan said. "If that $2 million is allowed to be used for a transportation amenity, there are 69 other towns in Bergen County that would like to improve their transportation amenities." Freeholder Lisa Randall, the lone Republican on the board, following the suggestion of Edgewater resident Donald Kopczynski, asked to see a copy of any agreement signed by the county and the borough. Kopczynski said he believed no agreement had ever been signed by both parties. Former Councilwoman Lois Fein, one of the ferry's strongest supporters, acknowledged that the scope of the project had changed, but said the changes had nothing to do with the ferry landing. A planned playground, for example, was eliminated but only because the council decided the borough already had enough playgrounds, including one a couple of blocks away, she said. The total cost of the marina and ferry project is estimated at between $14 million and $17 million. The Port Authority has promised to reimburse $8 million to Edgewater. The borough also hopes to receive about $2 million from the state's Green Acres program.
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Not All Smooth Sailing Over Ferry Grant Friday, January 20, 2006 EDGEWATER - The borough should receive a $2 million grant from the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund for the ferry and marina project after all, but some council members were jarred by the way the welcome news emerged. The county's Open Space Trust Fund Public Advisory Committee has decided to go along with a recommendation by County Counsel Esther Suarez, who said Edgewater should get the $2 million as planned. The county freeholders, who would have final say over the grant, don't have any plans to reconsider the issue, Chairwoman Bernadette McPherson said this week. There had been some question about the grant, since borough officials added the ferry to the project only after the grant was approved, after saying there would be no ferry there. Several Democratic council members from Edgewater attended the advisory committee's Jan. 9 meeting, ready to argue Edgewater should still receive the grant money. To mark the decision, Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney presented a ceremonial check to Mayor Nancy Merse and a number of Democratic council people last Friday at Grand Cove Marina, the site of the ferry project. "This is good news for the taxpayers of Edgewater, and it's going to give us a beautiful park and a usable public marina," Councilwoman Neda Rose said. The three independents on the Borough Council had a slightly different take. While happy about the grant coming through, the independents were upset that they weren't told about either the Open Space Trust Fund committee meeting or about the photo opportunity with the county executive. "I'm just so furious about how they have chosen to exclude us," Councilwoman Valory Bardinas said. "If this is a portent of things to come - if this is the way we're going to be treated, there's going to be problems, obviously," echoed Councilman Denis Gallagher. Councilwoman Beatrice Robbio said she was outraged at the way the issue had been handled. She and Gallagher joined Bardinas on the council this month. "Here's the thing," she said. "It was the Independent Coalition for a Better Edgewater that led the fight to save the marina," she said, referring to a candlelight vigil in 1999 led by the group. "I'm thrilled after all this time we're getting this money, but you can imagine how my happiness is dampened somewhat by the local Democrats purposely keeping us out of the loop," Robbio added. Borough Administrator Harvey Weber and Merse said the county committee meeting was open to the public and that the photo op with the county executive was thrown together at the last minute. Weber said the only people who knew about it were those who had attended a check-presenting event in Edgewater for an affordable housing project the day before. "It wasn't planned," Weber said. "Yes, it would have been nice to get good publicity, but it was spur of the moment." Robert Abbatomarco, executive director of the county's Open Space Trust Fund, said the money should be released to Edgewater after the borough submits all of the required documentation, most likely within the next two to three months. Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, who also serves on the Open Space Trust Fund Committee, was disappointed the county will be awarding the money despite the change of plans. "They came to the committee seeking money or an open space and recreation project and turned it into a transportation infrastructure project," Sheehan said. "I felt and I feel that that's a violation of the public trust." The borough is still waiting to hear from the state's Green Acres program whether it will receive another $2 million promised toward the marina project. The borough is scheduled to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the project at Grand Cove Marina at 9 a.m. today. E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
From The Bergen Record, November 10, 2005 EDGEWATER COALITION NOW A MAJOR FORCE By ADRIENNE LU EDGEWATER - A watchdog group that started as a kaffeeklatsch less than a decade ago won its biggest victory in Tuesday's election, tripling its numbers on the Borough Council and establishing itself once and for all as a heavyweight in town politics. The wins mark a watershed moment for the Independent Coalition for a Better Edgewater, an eclectic group that includes Democrats, Republicans and independents, newcomers and residents whose families have lived in town for generations. The Independent Coalition has been a prominent voice of opposition in Edgewater over the years, fighting for more openness and accountability in government, criticizing what it characterizes as the borough's overdevelopment and attacking "pay-to-play," the practice of awarding lucrative government contracts to campaign contributors. Most of the coalition's members have worked as government outsiders over the years, with little real power inside Edgewater's Democrat-controlled political establishment. Valory Bardinas, a former hair salon owner, was the first coalition-backed candidate elected to the council, winning her seat in the fall of 1999. The group had had as many as two members on the council at once, although after the election last fall, only Bardinas remained. When Denis Gallagher, a retired airline pilot, and Beatrice Robbio, a director of marketing and communications for a non-profit organization, join Bardinas on the council in January, however, it will represent the first time Democrats have lost the majority on the council in at least 16 years. The three will be balanced by Democrats Neda Rose, Dave Jordan and Maureen Holtje. Mayor Nancy Merse, who would vote in case of a tie, is also a Democrat. "I hope there will be a little balance of power here and that they'll understand that a larger majority of voters who voted yesterday in Edgewater shared our views," Bardinas said Wednesday. "It was no easy task for [voters] to jump over to the third line. The fact that they did it showed they share our views and that they agree with us on how Edgewater should be going toward the future." "The Independent Coalition is a grass-roots organization," Robbio said. "We went back to those roots and communicated directly with those people as residents." The Independent Coalition also benefited when the two Republicans in the race dropped out, citing personal reasons. Gallagher, Robbio and Bardinas said their first priority will be to ensure the people appointed to the zoning and planning boards will uphold the borough's master plan for development. "I think that in the course of this election, talking to people, it became evident that there's a great deal of concern about overdevelopment and its effect on our quality of life," Gallagher said. Coalition members have often said that the Democrats have allowed developers too much leeway. But Lois Fein, who lost Tuesday along with Jim Moriarty, said she didn't see another option. "Should we leave the factories, the old railroad tracks?" she asked. The Independent Coalition overcame a significant financial deficit against the Democrats. All candidates backed by the coalition must pledge not to accept campaign contributions from developers or professionals who do business with the borough. According to campaign finance reports filed with the state as of Election Day, Robbio and Gallagher raised $18,793 for their campaign, most of which came in donations of under $300. The Democrats raised $67,463, including $38,263 transferred from a prior campaign. Among the biggest contributors to the Democrats were several companies that do business with the borough. Fein said Wednesday that she didn't think the charges of pay-to-play were fair, arguing that she and her fellow Democrats abide by campaign finance rules. The three independents said Wednesday that they hoped to work together with the Democrats for the benefit of the entire town. "We are incredibly happy [to have] this incredible responsibility that Edgewater residents have bestowed upon us," Robbio said. E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Edgewater Holds Off on Ferry Contract Friday, September 16, 2005 EDGEWATER - More than six months after NY Waterway submitted the only bid to operate a proposed ferry from Edgewater to midtown Manhattan, the borough has yet to award a contract. A council member said borough professionals are still gathering information from the company in an effort to ensure that it is financially sound. Another member, Valory Bardinas, the lone independent on the Democrat-controlled council, said she is frustrated because borough professionals and fellow council members have denied her information. For example, Bardinas said she has requested the names of the people in a group said to be evaluating NY Waterway's finances, to no avail. She said she first requested the names about two months ago. Bardinas has also requested the most recent audit for NY Waterway, which she also has not received, she said. "I'm so aggravated that I have to do this to make them be honest," she said. In May, Borough Administrator Harvey Weber told The Record that a team was "evaluating the finances of NY Waterway." At the time, he declined to identify the members, saying the process was considered confidential. Weber did not return calls for comment Wednesday or Thursday. But Councilman David Jordan said in an interview Thursday that an evaluation committee once created for that purpose had long been inactive. He said a steering committee for the ferry, created more recently by Mayor Nancy Merse, has requested financial information from NY Waterway. Jordan said borough professionals were in the process of reviewing the information NY Waterway submitted in response. Merse could not be reached for comment. Edward J. Boccher, who represents the borough on redevelopment issues, said, "They have to decide how they're going to review the ferry proposal and then move forward. If they decide to have an evaluation committee, the membership is not to be disclosed to the public under state law." He declined to elaborate, saying, "The council's going to discuss and address all this on Monday," at a regularly scheduled mayor and council meeting. NY Waterway was in dire financial straits last year before a New York attorney relieved the company of $19.1 million in debt and took over a number of ferry boats and routes. NY Waterway has said it is in better shape now and is confident it can operate the Edgewater route successfully. Council members declined to say what the borough would do if it eventually decides not to award the route to NY Waterway. "Why don't we wait until that point?" Council President Lois Fein said. She added that she wanted to "wait until we get all the information about their financials. Then we can make an educated decision." This was Edgewater's second round of bids for a ferry operator. The borough chose NY Waterway after the first round last year, but later withdrew the offer, citing concerns about the company's financial situation. The only other bidder in that round was disqualified. Fein said the project is moving along nicely, with or without a ferry operator. The borough has received permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and is awaiting permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, she said. After the borough receives the go-ahead from the corps, it can issue a request for proposals for the construction of the ferry landing, which could take place through the winter, if weather permits. "I can assure you we're all smart people and we're working real hard in an effort to make sure there will be ferry service," Fein said. E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Edgewater Looks into Relocating Borough Hall to Developer Site Wednesday, August 3, 2005 EDGEWATER - The Borough Council is interested in moving all of Borough Hall to the Unilever site, not just the police station and Municipal Court. The council voted, 3-1, on Tuesday night to give architect Anthony Iovino an additional $7,500 to look into the idea, with Councilwomen Lois Fein, Neda Rose and Maureen Holtje voting in favor and Councilwoman Valory Bardinas opposing the resolution. The council has already authorized paying Iovino $30,000 to determine the feasibility of relocating the police station and Municipal Court to a building on the 24-acre Unilever site, on the Hudson River. The borough would then use the current Borough Hall for other purposes, Iovino said. National RE/sources of Greenwich, Conn., is seeking to build homes, restaurants, offices and stores on the Unilever site. To sweeten the deal, the company offered the possibility of converting a building there into a police station if the borough would pay the cost of conversion. The cost of converting the building would be considerably less than the cost of building a new police station from scratch. Joe Cotter, the president of National RE/sources, has estimated it would cost $1.5 million to $1.7 million to retrofit the building for a police station. The last round of construction bids to build a police station from scratch, in February, ranged from $5.1 million to $5.7 million. Borough officials had hoped to keep construction costs under $4 million and the entire project under $5 million. The Police Department occupies cramped and outdated quarters in the basement of Borough Hall. National RE/sources specializes in redeveloping industrial and corporate properties. E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Artful Proposal for Apartment Tower Friday, July 29, 2005 EDGEWATER - The quirky little neighborhood of Shadyside, long known for its artists, bohemians and other free spirits, could soon be home to an eight-story apartment complex and a gallery featuring the works of pop artist Peter Max. Expert testimony before the zoning board concluded Wednesday, and the panel is tentatively scheduled to vote on the project in August. The applicant, a group called One Development of Edgewater, opted to postpone a vote Wednesday because only five of the seven zoning board members were present. By law, an applicant can postpone a decision until at least seven zoning board members or alternates are present. One Development is proposing an eight-story residential building with 34 units, most likely condominiums, along with a gallery and other retail uses, according to Conrad Roncati, the architect and one of the principals in the project. Roncati said he was in discussions with Peter Max, whom he characterized as an acquaintance. In addition to the gallery, Max is considering working with One Development to design the interiors of the condominiums, Roncati said. The endeavor would be a new one for the artist, best known for his brilliantly colored, 1960s pop paintings and his multihued renderings of the Statue of Liberty. "We're all very excited about the possibility," Roncati said. He said Max was in Italy and unavailable for comment. The gallery would be at 280 Old River Road, in the heart of Shadyside, and the residential building would be about 200 feet west of Old River Road. One Development would rehabilitate the existing building at 280 Old River Road to accommodate the gallery, a retail store and perhaps a cafe. One Development also would widen and expand Thompson Lane and add sidewalks. Some say the building would overpower the rest of Shadyside, which consists mainly of three- and four-story buildings, including restaurants, boutiques and an art gallery. The maximum height allowed by borough zoning for the area is 45 feet, or about five stories, which means the project would require a height variance. Roncati emphasized that the project had been downsized from 40 residential units and that he planned it to fit into the neighborhood. Antonia Vene, owner of Noni's Bistro, adjacent to 280 Old River Road, said she supports the project and expects it would improve business. "The plans that I saw are really beautifully done," she said. Many of Shadyside's businesses have struggled since the new River Road was laid down about a decade ago, cutting off Shadyside from the main strip through town. Vene was concerned, however, about the potential for flooding in the area. While that problem seems to have been resolved, some worry that more development could unleash floodwaters. Vene wants the developers to post a bond to be used if residents and business owners are affected again by flooding. "If we have a big storm and they start digging away, [the rain] is going to go somewhere and we're going to get hit," she said. "I want to see the development go on, but I want to be protected."
2005 Letters to Editors Your Views 6/30/05 "Edgewater pushes for ferry service" (Page L-1, June 22) neglected to describe discussions that preceded the vote and to provide enough background. One of those discussions involved "best efforts." This is a new and undefined concept that contradicts previous assurances from the Port Authority. One of the council members questioned why it wasn't defined, and the meeting then devolved into the non-trivial semantic differences between "term of art" and "term of law." It would have been helpful if this gotcha term had been brought to light earlier. But since nearly all meaningful deliberation on the ferry had been done in closed sessions, this wasn't possible. Indeed, it required a motion to allow the public to speak before the vote was taken. The result is the taxpayers are now potentially on the hook for $8 million. Although the council has been rushing ahead with the project, buying buses for instance, there is still no ferry operator. NY Waterway was the only company that submitted a bid, and the borough has presumably just thrown away any leverage it had negotiating with it. There has been speculation that other companies shied away because they don't consider the ferry viable - the marina part of the project is said to have poor prospects. But without numbers from the borough this remains speculation. The other important contract provision allows Edgewater to manage construction. I am uncomfortable with this. Not only do these projects tend to take longer and cost more than anticipated, there have been disconcerting instances where council members were unaware of important facets of a project's design, i.e., using electric heat to cut construction costs at the expense of higher operating costs. As a taxpayer, I would have preferred the Port Authority's deliberate and experienced project management to the Edgewater Council's stewardship. Michael Trachtenberg Letters to the Editor 3/29/05 Regarding "Edgewater mulls offer of police building" (Page L-1, March 27): Why is it that Edgewater - the new "gold coast" - is once again forced to be the beggar of Bergen County by kowtowing to some developer to give taxpayers what we already deserve: a real police station? Councilwoman Maureen Holtje states: "I think it's great for the taxpayers." Really? I would ask Holtje and other officials why do we have to keep "protecting" the taxpayers by abdicating our responsibility to plan our community according to our newly minted and approved master plan, which clearly states that the Unilever site is to remain zoned for office and research? How is it that, after all this development and diminution of our quality of life, we cannot afford our own police station? Why not provide the taxpayers and police force what we deserve - and have been promised - without having to negotiate from a permanently disadvantaged position? Time and again Edgewater government has given in to developers who say they'll take away a problem if they can build a high-rise, if they can put 300 units where 175 should go, if they can ignore the steep-slope ordinance, or if they can get a residential variance on the Unilever property. It's all about planning and strategy and management and fiscal responsibility, and Edgewater has none of it. How many more broken promises must we endure? Beatrice M. Robbio Your Views 2/23/05 The Edgewater Borough Council has repealed regulations designating handicapped parking spaces. In a recent posting on the borough Web site, Councilwoman Neda Rose stated that people could appeal this change to the council. My question is where are handicapped people going to park if all the handicapped spots have been eliminated? And will the council limit each of those who appear to five minutes to express their views? Maybe our elected officials should take the time to listen to the public. If they did, perhaps they would actually make more-informed decisions that are truly representative of the needs and desires of the people. John R. Brophy
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES A Shadowy Web of State Agencies and Developers July 24, 2005 THROUGH a confusing maze of independent authorities and government commissions, the state offers millions of dollars each year to real estate developers in the form of low-interest loans, expedited permits and, most lucrative of all, choice sites and contracts - amounts that make some government departments look like candy-store operations. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, for example, has a budget of $263 million and $1 billion in assets. The Economic Development Authority provided $310 million in low-interest financing for urban development last year. And the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which has $92 million in real estate holdings alone, distributed nearly $40 million for renewal projects. Over the years an emerging pattern has fed the already-strong impression that New Jersey's ethics are built on shifting sand: the boards of many independent agencies are populated largely by real estate developers, building contractors and representatives of engineering and architecture firms and of energy and utility companies. And as private money intertwines more and more with ambitious redevelopment projects, government watchdog groups are growing increasingly suspicious and see the appointment process as forging connections between state government and private enterprise. "We put developers on boards who take care of other developers who sit on other boards who then take care of them," said Jeff Tittel, the director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, who clashes regularly with builders and government agencies. In the view of most state officials, taxpayers are receiving invaluable - and free - service from people who are for the most part meticulous about any appearance of conflict of interest. After all, development is, in part, what public authorities are for: to make construction and economic growth happen, and to bring expertise and efficiency that ordinary government agencies are notoriously lacking. Bernard Spigner, a spokesman for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said that when the agency negotiates with private developers, "on the other side of the table is a real estate professional with his phalanx of attorneys. On our side, I would hope we'd have a real estate professional." Still, no one denies that these days, developers' participation in public business is a delicate issue in a state with a crucial shortage of land, a boom in urban redevelopment and a tradition of pay-to-play politics. "New Jersey's political culture has created a lot of opportunities," said Michael N. Danielson, an expert in urban politics and development at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. "We don't have a very clear notion in New Jersey of conflict of interest." And the problem appears larger now, even if public officials' ethics are no worse than ever, "because the price of land goes up, the size of deals goes up, the bond issues are bigger, the government stake is bigger," Mr. Danielson said. Consider the startling rise and fall of Charles Kushner, the billionaire developer and Democratic campaign donor. Mr. Kushner gave $1.5 million to James E. McGreevey's gubernatorial campaign and won appointment to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from Mr. McGreevey in 2002. He then lobbied vigorously, and successfully, to be nominated as chairman. Only after he came under investigation did Mr. Kushner relinquish the nomination as well as his board membership. He is now in prison for tax fraud, campaign finance violations and a bizarre scheme using a prostitute to blackmail his brother-in-law. Some developers who work in other states agree with Mr. Danielson that New Jersey is different. The business climate here "is just a quagmire, a morass of politics," said an executive at a commercial development company with properties around the nation. 'Open to Conflicts' "You're certainly open to conflicts when people who are actively developing are making the rules," said the executive, who asked that he and his company not be identified because they do work here. "This state is just fraught with all those connections." Environmental advocates say that even if the potential for conflicts and self-dealing could magically disappear, the agencies that make policy would still be in the grip of interested parties. "This is New Jersey," said David Pringle, the campaign director of the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "We have a sewage discharger in charge of the Clean Water Council, a lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce in charge of the Clean Air Council. We have a developer in charge of the state plan." New Jersey does have a conflict-of-interest law, and last month Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey issued an executive order that required training in ethics rules for members of boards and authorities, most of whom are appointed by the governor and subject to Senate approval. Yet questioning and public comment are practically unheard of at that stage. In Mr. Kushner's case, for example, he steadfastly refused to appear before the senators, who confirmed him anyway without debate. Board members at the biggest agencies must file annual financial statements. But Common Cause New Jersey, among others, says that is not enough. In a recent report, the organization recommended that appointees be required to disclose, in addition to their property holdings, their interests in any contracts, options or negotiations involving real estate. At the least, the report said, such a rule should apply to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Sports and Exposition Authority, the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, the Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, which are "all involved in key development decisions that influence billions of dollars of private financing." To be sure, most of the more than 400 state authorities and commissions have nothing to do with real estate or even public spending. But the biggest agencies account for most of the $14 billion a year that flows through the state's shadow government of boards and authorities, much of which goes toward development projects. One of these, the Sports and Exposition Authority, has recently drawn attention for a spate of huge real estate transactions - and so has its chairman, Carl J. Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg is also the managing partner in the Roseland Property Company in Short Hills, which develops apartment buildings and expensive town houses in older industrial cities that are being gentrified, including Weehawken, West New York, Bayonne and Harrison. No one has accused Mr. Goldberg - who was appointed by Gov. James E. McGreevey - of any wrongdoing, but his real estate interests have prompted questions about potential conflicts in his dual role. And indeed, his situation reflects the delicate balance that many gubernatorial appointees have to strike. In 2003, the sports authority designated a new tenant for the Meadowlands sports complex, the $1.3 billion Xanadu shopping and entertainment center now rising around the Continental Airlines Arena. The authority is giving land to the New York Giants to replace their stadium, and it is relocating the MetroStars soccer team, which currently plays there. The authority's plan to build the new soccer stadium in Harrison has led to questions about Mr. Goldberg's role, since the site is only blocks from where Roseland plans to build townhouses and retail stores - part of an ambitious project to revitalize 275 acres of riverfront. Mr. Goldberg said in an interview that he was not participating in talks involving the soccer stadium, which most agree will enhance the property values in the area, although he also said he would not rule out voting on the matter. "Nothing pertinent to a stadium deal has ever come before the board," he said. When it does, he said, he would confer with the authority's lawyers about whether to recuse himself. "But that's premature," he said. Criticized Over Rail Line Mr. Goldberg has also supported a $1 billion extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Line to the Meadowlands complex and Xanadu - a matter that critics say Mr. Goldberg should avoid since the rail line serves Roseland's huge Port Imperial project on the Weehawken waterfront. And this spring, Mr. Goldberg joined a real estate partnership that had already been chosen to develop a 102-acre project in Bayonne to be called Harbor Station, the first stage of a multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the Military Ocean Terminal, a former Navy base, which will also be served by the light rail line. Mr. Goldberg said he and the authority's lawyers saw no conflict in his joining the board's unanimous vote in April to authorize a $300,000 study of the Meadowlands rail extension. Rose Heck, a former assemblywoman from Bergen County who has campaigned to extend the light rail line north first, said Mr. Goldberg, given his real-estate interests, should have recused himself. "In Government 101, the first thing you learn is the appearance of conflict is just as important as the conflict," Ms. Heck said. But Mr. Goldberg said that the rail line was "a regional transportation issue" and that "as chair of the sports authority, I see my obligation to ensure varied transportation alternatives." Moreover, he said the future route of the rail line would have no effect on Roseland's properties, where service to PATH and ferry connections to Manhattan are already the established selling point. "No one would make a decision on where they live so they could get to a football game easier," he said. Mr. Goldberg did encounter a separate problem, however, in joining the two original developers, Marc Berson and Steven Kalafer, in the Bayonne project: Mr. Kalafer was doing business with the sports authority as the owner of a minor league baseball team, the Bergen Cliff Hawks, which will have a ballpark at the Meadowlands complex. So Mr. Goldberg has recused himself from any sports authority business involving the ballpark. "I just find it offensive that we have state agencies in the development business, taking care of their friends," said Mr. Tittel of the Sierra Club. For his part, Mr. Pringle of the environmental federation said the same potential conflicts of interest could be found in state financing authorities. He cited the Environmental Infrastructure Trust, which finances environmental cleanups and is providing a low-interest loan of more than $100 million to a golf course project in Lyndhurst. The chairman of the trust, Robert A. Briant Sr., is also the head of a contractors trade association. At the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, which finances urban projects, board members include a real estate developer, a real estate executive from the Lowe's home improvement chain and the chairman of a lumber company. A spokesman for the authority, E. J. Miranda, said "it is not unusual" for board members to recuse themselves in votes, although there is no formal record of recusals. One former board member - by coincidence, Mr. Berson, a partner of Mr. Goldberg in Bayonne - said he thought it was wiser simply to resign. One Developer Avoided Risk Rather than risk any entanglement with the redevelopment authority's possible involvement in the proposed professional ice hockey arena in Newark, Mr. Berson - who has other valuable real estate holdings in the city - left the agency two years ago. "It wasn't worth someone thinking ill of me or the agency," Mr. Berson said. Many legal and real estate experts insist that potential conflicts are rare. Moreover, Robert S. Goldsmith, a lawyer who has represented many municipalities and teaches at the Rutgers law school in Newark, said that with the surge in urban and brownfields projects, "it would be a terrible disservice" to exclude the most experienced practitioners from the state's involvement in redevelopment. John Weingart of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers and a former chairman of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, said that "developers have become the easy enemy." "They have an interest and a point of view," Mr. Weingart said, "but they have a lot of on-the-ground information." When he was an official at the Department of Environmental Protection, Mr. Weingart said, "I found input from developers more useful, specific and informed than comments I received from the other side." Influence Over Land-Use Policy A less optimistic view comes from Jim Gilbert, a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch and a former chairman of the State Planning Commission, who helped write legislation that established the commission as well as the State Development and Redevelopment Plan. In designating "centers" where high-density development is allowed, or marking off land too environmentally fragile for building, the commission - whose current chairwoman, Christiana Foglio, is the president of a development company and the wife of Trenton's mayor, Douglas Palmer - heavily influences land-use policy. Mr. Gilbert said that development and construction interests had got increasing representation on the commission in recent years. "The economic interests that are directly affected by this legislation make it their business to co-opt it," he said. "I'm not ascribing bad motives to people in the development industry, but the bottom line is what counts for them is their pocketbook." George Hawkins, the director of New Jersey Future, a statewide planning organization, said he was more concerned about local deal-making than state policy-making. "You never get far away in New Jersey from the pay-to-play situation," Mr. Hawkins said. "If these people are on a board, the decisions are on the record. I'm more worried about pay-to-play decisions happening behind the scenes." Mr. Danielson at Princeton would ban developers from authorities and boards that do real estate business. "Hire somebody," he said. "Hire a consultant." But Mr. Goldberg, who estimated that he spends half his working hours on sports authority business, dismissed Mr. Danielson's suggestion, saying: "That's nice to say when you're spending the taxpayers¹ money. If someone like myself was being compensated as a consultant that would be a fairly expensive obligation."
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES Officials Pleaded Guilty, but Town Was Changed Forever July 11, 2005 MARLBORO TOWNSHIP, N.J., July 6 - The price of corruption in this New Jersey town may best be seen in the many rooflines that snake down Woodcliff Boulevard at a uniform 25-foot setback from the curb. Or perhaps in the postmodern stylings of the luxury five- and six-bedroom homes in the planned community of Lexington Estates. Maybe another way to view it is in the population increase, 100 percent in 15 years, to 40,000 today from 20,000 in 1990. Or some say it can be summed up in one word: sprawl. In the last decade, this Monmouth County suburb was transformed from a town that was open and airy to one that is condensed and clustered with new development bordering new development - but where housing for blue-collar families and others of moderate income is in short supply. Local, state and federal officials say the rapid growth is not an accident but the consequence of development that went largely unchecked because of complicity between builders and local officials. A federal inquiry into corruption in this town led to the arrests of a former mayor, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges this spring; a former utility authority commissioner and Democratic leader, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to extortion and bribery charges; and a local developer, who is charged with bribery. At the same time, a flood of subpoenas have been served on current and former town planning and zoning officials. The arrests and subpoenas are part of a broader sweep of Monmouth County that has led to 19 arrests or indictments of elected and appointed officials or contractors and three guilty pleas this year, with the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the office of United States Attorney Christopher J. Christie continuing. Investigators and current local officials say they have identified a pattern in which some developers received zoning variances to build sprawling, high-profit housing subdivisions on land that had been set aside for commercial development. In many cases, they were able to build these subdivisions at higher densities than would ordinarily have been allowed. Often, developers, as well as local officials, justified the rezoning and higher densities of the subdivisions by citing the town's need to meet state goals for building so-called affordable housing. But what actually happened in most cases, said lawyers for the town and current town officials, was a shell game of land swaps in which units of low- and moderate-income housing that were included in early drafts of plans fell by the wayside, and the resulting developments were solely market-rate housing at the higher density anyway. From 1995 to 2005, 3,388 new homes were built in this 33-square-mile town, much of which was made up of horse farms and cornfields as recently as 20 years ago. Of that number, only 184 homes that meet the state's definition of affordable for moderate-income families were built, far short of the 1,019 units that the state's Council on Affordable Housing required to be built by July 2004. As a result, the township, which officials say has already been strained by the surge in development, is still required by the state to immediately build additional units for low- and moderate-income residents. Mayor Robert Kleinberg, who was a local gadfly until he was elected in 2003 after the investigation of the developers and the former mayor, has appealed to the state to back off its requirement. "We have argued that because a lot of the land-use actions were criminal and the subject of ongoing investigations, that we should be allowed to put it off for a time," Mr. Kleinberg said." We haven't met our goals because of all the manipulation and wheeling and dealing by town officials and developers." Mr. Kleinberg and other officials say that the last thing the town needs right now is more housing. In addition to a glut of four- and five-bedroom homes, the town is suffering from schools swelled to bursting, congested local roads, and flooding and drainage problems. He and other officials have said they will build lower-price housing, but would like to put it off until the federal inquiry is complete, and so they can mix it with more taxable commercial properties that will help ease burdens on residents. (The town carries enormous debt because the previous administration chose to borrow rather than raise taxes, Mr. Kleinberg said.) Kathleen Cali, a resident for decades, asked: "What will affordable housing do now but just increase the number of people in a smaller area, kids in the school and traffic on the roads?" She added, "Sometimes I can't even get out of my development because of the traffic. It seems that we are going to suffer because of those wrong decisions made by officials in the past." Charles Richman, the acting commissioner of the state's Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the Council on Affordable Housing, said the town's request for a delay was pending, and might be considered by the council in September. The impasse is the latest chapter in the state's long history of requiring suburbs to build low- and moderately priced housing or apartments - the result of the landmark 1975 Mount Laurel case. While many towns have sought to delay or challenge the housing requirements set by the state, according to Peter O'Connor, the lawyer who argued the case, Marlboro's approach is novel. "It's usually fairly standard, with towns arguing that they lack the infrastructure to meet their requirement, or lack the land or have environmental concerns," said Mr. O'Connor, who is executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, a public interest law firm promoting low- and moderate-income housing efforts. "But no one has ever made the argument that they are making." Perhaps few other towns could. Matthew V. Scannapieco, 54, who was mayor of Marlboro from 1992 to 2003, pleaded guilty in April to accepting $245,000 in bribes from a local developer in exchange for supporting his development plans. In May, Anthony Spalliero, 64, a developer, was arrested on four federal charges of offering bribes in Marlboro, Manalapan and the Monmouth County seat of Freehold, said Mr. Christie, the United States attorney. The properties in Mr. Spalliero's bribery indictment are the same properties for which Mr. Scannapieco pleaded guilty to accepting bribes. On Tuesday, the town's former Democratic chairman and municipal utility authority commissioner, Richard Vuola, 74, pleaded guilty to extorting money from several developers and carrying out one of the bribery schemes that Mr. Spalliero is accused of originating. "Richard Vuola joins the rogues gallery of public officials in Monmouth County who used their positions of authority to harm rather than help their communities," Mr. Christie said at the time of the guilty plea. "Marlboro Township was particularly vulnerable and under intense development pressure, something Vuola and others capitalized on from their elected and appointed positions." In addition, a former member of the town's planning board, Stanley Young, 71, pleaded guilty on June 20 to accepting bribes. According to Mayor Kleinberg, F.B.I. agents regularly attend meetings of the town's council, planning and zoning boards. During the last week of June, federal agents served two members of planning and zoning boards with subpoenas during one of the public sessions. "I look at it as if I am a man in a burning building and the F.B.I. are the firemen coming in to rescue me," Mr. Kleinberg said. Andrew Bayer, the town's lawyer, said that Marlboro's housing problems could be traced back to deals like one in 1993 involving Mr. Spalliero. In that deal, Mr. Spalliero had a contract to buy a parcel of land on the condition that it be rezoned as residential from commercial and be included in the town's low- and moderate-income housing plan, which allowed higher density than is typical. He would have been able to build 1,019 housing units, with at least 233 set aside for moderate-income families. The land was rezoned and was included in the town's housing plan, thus receiving the higher density allowance, but Mr. Spalliero never bought it. Two years later, however, the town gave him permission to transfer the special density allowance to three other parcels in the town, though they totaled fewer acres than the original parcel. By 1998, after having submitted a third amendment to the plan, Mr. Spalliero gained permission to build 323 units on a number of scattered sites, including one gated community of homes on 20,000-square-foot lots. But according to Mr. Bayer, he did not build any low- or moderate-income housing on those sites. "It is readily apparent that there were a significant number of market units built in Marlboro under the guise of satisfying the town's affordable-housing requirement," Mr. Bayer said. "The result was that we didn't get any affordable housing out of those deals." Michael Critchley, Mr. Spalliero's lawyer, did not respond to several messages. Meanwhile, questions have emerged about the 184 moderate-income housing units that actually were built, Mr. Bayer said. Those condominiums and townhouses, none of which are rentals, might have recently been resold at prices high enough to violate the state requirement that such housing remain accessible to moderate-income residents for 30 years. Mr. Bayer said the town has sued those who sold the units. Mayor Kleinberg said, "We're going to be paying for the corrupt acts of the former officials for a long time to come, and even if they are convicted, it doesn't unbuild the homes, uncrowd the schools or decongest the roads." The town, which has found its services, and therefore its budget, stretched to the limit, has called for Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey and the State Legislature to consider awarding some sort of emergency fiscal status and aid to communities like Marlboro Township. Mr. Kleinberg is proposing a municipal version of the crime victims compensation fund, arguing that "victims of corruption" are as deserving of state attention as victims of crime. So far, few lawmakers have responded to the call. One homeowner, Ms. Cali, who grew up in Brooklyn, said that the swirl of events that led to the overbuilding had been confusing and wearying, but she that had never thought she lived in a corrupt town. "I thought that that was just the way things were done in the suburbs," she said.
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Edgewater Ferry Stuck in Red-tape Sea Sunday, May 29, 2005 EDGEWATER - Plans to bring ferry service to Grand Cove Marina are moving sluggishly, slowed by a thicket of red tape. A couple of years ago, ferry supporters said service could begin as early as the fall of 2004. Five months ago, borough officials said they were confident the project would remain on schedule - meaning, they said, construction on the ferry landing would begin by early this summer. However, even that timetable looks unlikely now, as borough leaders consider taking over the reins of the project from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. That shift could delay the project even further, although some council members hope it will speed things up. The Borough Council tabled a vote on the issue at its last meeting and expects to reconsider it at its next one. Councilwoman Lois Fein, one of the ferry's strongest supporters, said the borough has done a lot of work, despite the delays. "You can't see it, but we have accomplished a lot," said Fein, who campaigned for council on a platform of bringing ferry service to Edgewater three years ago and is up for reelection this fall. Fein said that because so many different government entities and professionals have had to work together, "it's no wonder it's taken us this long." But Councilwoman Valory Bardinas had a different take. "Things aren't progressing as smoothly as I was told and as I hoped they would have," Bardinas said. "I don't think this project is proceeding on schedule. I think we're facing a lot of roadblocks." Among them is the question of who should operate the ferry. Borough leaders are still trying to decide whether NY Waterway, the cash-strapped ferry company that was bailed out this year by a Manhattan lawyer, is in good enough financial shape to be trusted with the Edgewater route. The lawyer, William Wachtel, took over 16 NY Waterway boats and the company's routes from Jersey City to the Hoboken Train Terminal and relieved the company of $19.1 million in debt. Borough Administrator Harvey Weber said a team is "evaluating the finances of NY Waterway." He said the members of the team could not be identified because the process is considered confidential. In the first round of bidding for a ferry operator, last year, the borough received only two bids, one from NY Waterway and the other from New York Water Taxi, whose bid was deemed incomplete. The council decided to award the contract to NY Waterway, but then in December, changed its mind and withdrew the offer, citing concerns about NY Waterway's financial straits. The borough rebid the contract, but the second time around, NY Waterway was the only bidder. "I'm afraid that possibly, other companies don't want to come here because they don't see it as a viable operation," Bardinas said. "I'm concerned that we've advertised for this as extensively as we possibly could and we still only got one party interested." Donald Liloia, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of NY Waterway, said he is confident the company could take on the Edgewater route and operate it successfully. The company projects about 1,000 passengers would ride the ferry into Manhattan each morning, Liloia said. Liloia said the business is in a better position now than in the past. "We continue to struggle, but we're confident that we've righted our condition here," he said. "We're in the right direction." Fein said the council had not discussed the borough's options in case NY Waterway doesn't work out. On the issue of whether Edgewater should take over control of the project, Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said, "It's my understanding this is something the borough wants to do." Some council members, however, said they believe the change was requested by the agency. Coleman also said it is not unusual for the Port Authority to give the lead of a project to another agency, citing the example of the Hoboken ferry terminal, although in that case, NJ Transit is supervising the project. Mayor Nancy Merse issued a written statement saying that the borough and the Port Authority are negotiating an agreement covering the remainder of the project and that since it has not been finalized, she could not discuss its details. Financing for the ferry/marina project will come from several sources. The Port Authority agreed to give the borough $7.5 million. In addition, the borough expects $3 million in grants from Bergen County and the state; Edgewater taxpayers approved spending $2.3 million in a referendum on open space.
Edgewater Mulls Offer of Police Building Sunday, March 27, 2005 EDGEWATER - For months, borough officials have been wringing their hands over the price of building a new police station. Now, the company that plans to redevelop the Unilever property - about 24 acres of prime real estate on the Hudson River - has proposed turning a building there into a police station, with the borough covering the cost of conversion. National RE/sources of Greenwich, Conn., said the plan would eliminate the need to build a station from scratch. The developer would also ask the borough's permission to build homes, restaurants, offices and stores on the property, which is zoned for offices and research. National RE/sources pitched the idea last week. "I think it's a unique opportunity to reconnect Edgewater to some of its waterfront," said Joe Cotter, president of National RE/sources. "There's also an exciting opportunity to revitalize some of the original Unilever buildings." Cotter said the company is still working out what to build on the site. No plans have been submitted to the borough. Cotter estimated it would cost $1.5 million to $1.7 million to retrofit the building. The latest round of bids for a new police station ranged from $5.1 million to $5.7 million. The council had hoped to keep construction costs under $4 million. Paul Kaufman, a lawyer for the developer, said the company had no plans to sell the building or the land under it to the borough. Cotter said the company would consider leasing the space to the borough, possibly at no cost. A preliminary analysis indicated the building could easily be adapted to suit the needs of the police, Kaufman said. It was built in 1999 and totals 15,904 square feet, which means it is slightly larger than the three-story police headquarters the borough is considering building across the street from Borough Hall. Mayor Nancy Merse has appointed a committee to look into the feasibility of the proposal. She did not return calls for comment. Councilwoman Maureen Holtje, who will serve on the committee, toured the building last week with several other officials and some police officers. "It was great," Holtje said. "It's really a beautiful building. It's got a lot of potential. I think if everything could work out, it's going to be great for the taxpayers." Councilman David Jordan was also enthusiastic. "It was very well-received by the police, Planning Board and other people," he said. "It could save the taxpayers an enormous [amount of money]." Police Chief Donald Martin, who has long advocated a new home for the department, currently housed in cramped quarters in the basement of Borough Hall, was cautiously optimistic. "Basically, it's a nice-looking building, and it seems to be in a viable location," Martin said. "The ingredients are there, but I think we're very early on in the whole transformation process." Still, he hastened to add, "anything is better than here." However, Mary Hogan, a borough resident and former councilwoman, wondered what the developer would seek in return. "I would like to have seen the plans for the rest of it first," Hogan said. If the borough purchases the completed police station from National RE/sources, she said, it would bypass the bidding process. She also was concerned that the borough would again be adding more residential development at the cost of other types of growth, harming the tax base. National RE/sources specializes in redeveloping industrial and corporate properties. It has worked on projects in Lake Success, Tarrytown and Yonkers, N.Y., and in Norwalk, Conn. In August, I Park Edgewater, an affiliate of National RE/sources, purchased the Unilever property for $23 million. A spokeswoman for Unilever said the company plans to vacate the campus - which gave birth to such products as Wisk laundry detergent and Imperial margarine - by May.
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Borough to Rebid Ferry Deal Wednesday, December 15, 2004 EDGEWATER - Plans to bring ferry service here are moving full speed ahead, borough leaders say, despite the council's decision Monday to withdraw acontract for NY Waterway to operate the service. Council members voted unanimously to withdraw the contract after recent reports of the company's financial problems. On Tuesday, borough leaders said they intend to rebid the contract. Several said they remain confident that ferry service will come to Edgewater onschedule, which would mean construction on the ferry landing would begin next spring or early summer. Edward J. Boccher of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Cole & Wisler, Edgewater's special counsel for redevelopment matters, said he expects a new contract would be awarded no later than March. That would allow the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to proceed on schedule with the ferry landing, Boccher said. Far from being a problem, council President Lois Fein said, the exit of NY Waterway could be a boon to Edgewater. "I think that there may be a chance for other companies at this moment, or backers of potential ferry service, to come forward," said Fein, one of the first proponents of ferry service in Edgewater. "I think there are other ferry companies in the area, and perhaps they'll step up to the plate next time." In the first round of bids, only NY Waterway and New York Water Taxi submitted proposals. New York Water Taxi's bid was deemed incomplete because it failed to provide a $175,000 security deposit, according to a former attorney for the borough. On Tuesday, Stacey Sherman, who handles public relations for New York Water Taxi, disputed that account, saying the company withdrew its bid after it decided it would not be able to meet the requirements set by the borough. She said the company would be very interested in reviewing a new request for proposals. The Port Authority, which has agreed to give Edgewater $7.5 million to bring ferry service to town, also downplayed the significance of NY Waterway's exit from the plan. "We are not concerned. The Port Authority strongly believes that ferry service is an integral part of the region's transportation network," said Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the authority. Councilwoman Valory Bardinas was among the few to express any doubts. "I'm concerned about the costs. I'm concerned with the delay. Every time that we delay something, we have to pay our professionals more money - our attorneys, the engineers," Bardinas said. Beyond the costs, Bardinas wondered if the borough could even find someone to take over the routes, given NY Waterway's difficulties. "I'm a little apprehensive now," she said. "I think if we can get a ferry provider in there who is going to provide the service that we're looking for, that would be great, but I just think if one of the largest providers of ferry service can't do it, what's the outlook for small services?" Last year, 60 percent of borough voters approved a ballot proposal to bring ferry service to Edgewater. In addition to the Port Authority, the borough is counting on grant money from Bergen County and the state's Green Acres program to help pay the cost of acquiring Grand Cove Marina, at the junction of Route 5 and River Road. Charlene Pilson, a senior saleswoman with the Chen Agency, which she said is the top real estate company in Edgewater in terms of sales, said her office had a meeting Monday about how to handle the issue of the ferry when talking with clients. "The conclusion was that ... it won't affect Edgewater," Pilson said. She said the Edgewater real estate market is very hot now, ferry or not. "We've been saying you know what, we can't promise you a ferry. Don't buy here because of the ferry," Pilson said. "But they buy anyway." E-mail: lu@northjersey.com
Time Running Out for NY Waterway Sunday, December 5, 2004 It was a "perfect storm" that swamped NY Waterway, company President Arthur Imperatore Jr. says. It was mismanagement, government officials say. Hudson River ferry service needs taxpayer subsidies, Imperatore says. A private operator can make money, government officials say. It will be "wonderful" if the family can keep the business, Imperatore says. Unlikely, government officials say. About all the parties can agree on is that NY Waterway will not survive in its current form - more than $53 million in debt with almost no operating capital. "We have run out of time and money," Imperatore said during a 90-minute interview last week. "It's a marginal business in the best of times. In the worst of times, you can lose an awful lot of money quickly." A Waterway bankruptcy could force tens of thousands of commuters onto buses and PATH trains. It could devalue land from Atlantic Highlands to the North Jersey Gold Coast. And it could call into question public investment in new ferry terminals. The result has been a scramble by government agencies to find a solution. The most promising idea so far is for a collection of Hudson County waterfront towns to borrow as much as $37 million, take over the service and slash the number of routes. But even that idea has been tough to sell to county freeholders, who will take another look at it this week. That has left it to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has shown little interest in running the boats or bailing out the Imperatores. The agency said Friday it may study the issue. Imperatore called the Port Authority's reticence "puzzling." "I think the Port Authority has an important role to play here," he said. "Its central mission is to enhance trans-Hudson transportation." One Port Authority official, who asked not to be identified, said service will continue - but without Imperatores at the helm. "There is a general feeling that the Imperatore company grew too quickly," the official said. "It doesn't mean there won't be continued ferry service, just that there will be some type of restructuring. They go out of business, and other companies will come in and service a significant number of the routes - ones that are essential." Imperatore said that the Sept. 11 attacks were the turning point for the company. With the PATH system in tatters after the attack, ferries were the only direct way to reach lower Manhattan. Before the attacks, Waterway was handling 32,000 passenger trips - or one-way rides - each day. After the attacks, that number doubled. Waterway chartered dozens of boats, paying as much as $5,000 a day, to handle the load, Imperatore said. The company then made a decision to buy five boats at $2 million each, taking on $10 million in additional debt. "It's a business risk we took," Imperatore said. "In retrospect, it was probably not the thing to do." Other factors combined to generate Imperatore's "perfect storm," which he said has destroyed the company. Among them:
"If we do not secure some kind of takeout from our current condition, we could stop operating by mid-January," Imperatore said. The company is already preparing for the worst. Capstone Corporate Recovery, which specializes in helping distressed companies, has been hired as NY Waterway's financial adviser. And the law firm Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman and Leonard of Hackensack has been hired to review the company's options, including a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. NY Waterway owes $33 million on its vessels, including $10 million to its main creditor JP Morgan Chase, Imperatore said. Another $8.5 million is owed to Chase on a revolving credit line. About $7 million is owed in trade debt and about $5 million on buses and barges. The company did not always carry such a large debt burden. In 1999, its debt was $14.7 million according to documents reviewed by The Record. In 2000, that rose to $21.7 million. And there has been government help. Nearly $100 million is being spent to build ferry terminals on both sides of the Hudson, a move acknowledged by Imperatore. But he insisted that government operating subsidies will be needed to keep ferries afloat. "Policymakers in this region have to come to grips with that," he said. "The transportation sector of the economy is in crisis. [Ferry service] may not be the role of private industry anymore." That's a switch from Imperatore's attitude in September 2002, when he told The Record: "The real legacy of the ferry system will probably be seen 20 to 25 years from now, at which point I expect private ferry services to be carrying a quarter-million people a day." Now, he's hoping that the Hudson County Improvement Authority will get approval to buy out the service and save NY Waterway from bankruptcy court. But key approvals are needed for such a move, including OKs from the Hudson County freeholders, the towns of Hoboken and Weehawken, and the state's Local Finance Board, which approves bond issues. Several key votes are scheduled for this week, but Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise wasn't overly confident that the measure would pass. I'm not real optimistic it's going to happen," he said Friday, noting that Jersey City officials weren't terribly keen on the deal. "But I haven't given up on it yet." State officials say the Hudson County buyout is the best option at this point. If that happens, a separate authority comprised of Weehawken and Hoboken officials will be created to run the system. And the number of ferry routes would be slashed, with profitable routes, such as those that service the Hudson Valley and Monmouth County, sold. Unprofitable or marginally profitable routes would be scrapped. Such a reconstituted ferry system could cover expenses, pay the debt and generate a yearly surplus of $1.5 million, according to an analysis done for the Improvement Authority by the NW Financial Group. "If this deal does not happen, then we could see the end of ferry service," Imperatore said. That is unlikely. Without a Hudson County deal, the Port Authority would likely put routes out to private bidders, an agency official said. Bus service would be provided by NJ Transit and New York City on each side of the river, in that case, the official said. Private companies, such as NY Water Taxi and Academy Bus, have expressed interest in running ferry routes, the official said. Such a system could result in a number of different companies running boats in the Hudson. "I don't think having one ferry operator is an option, as demonstrated by what has happened," said Deborah Jack, founder of advocacy group Ferry Friends. "The Port Authority being the gatekeeper is imperative. There are not enough ferry riders to fill the business needs of a lot of different operators." Ferry Friends has lobbied lawmakers and planning groups for months to hold a ferry symposium to figure out the best way to keep boats plying the Hudson. "The long-term goal is a regional ferry system serving New York and New Jersey," Jack said. That lobbying may be having an effect.The Regional Plan Association has asked the Port Authority, NJ Transit and the Metropolitan Transit Authority to help fund a regional study of ferries. "The Port Authority is considering a multiagency review of ferry service throughout the region," spokesman Steve Coleman said. Ferries have a rich history on the Hudson, serving as the only way across the river to Manhattan before bridges and tunnels were built in the early 1900s. But privately operated ferries stopped running in the 1960s. It wasn't until 1986, when Arthur Imperatore Sr. decided to use boats to feed waterfront residential development - on land he owned in Weehawken. - that service returned to the Hudson. By 1993, four routes were being run across the Hudson, with 12 boats carrying 11,000 passengers a day. In 2002, after PATH service was disabled, that number rose to 65,000. When PATH returned to lower Manhattan last year, ridership plummeted to 32,000 a day, leaving NY Waterway with a mound of debt and not enough revenue to service it. PATH trains charge $1.50 per ride. The average waterway fare is slightly more than $5 per trip. In an effort to stem the tide, Waterway has increased fares twice in the last 15 months, but that has resulted in a 4 percent to 5 percent drop in riders and only marginally increased revenue. In addition to declining ridership, other events have swirled around NY Waterway during the past several years. The company has faced obligations created by sister company APA Transport, a defunct trucking firm. At least six pension funds, most involving the Teamsters union, have filed suit against APA since it shut down in February 2002. Under federal law, the pension funds can pursue affiliates, such as NY Waterway, for their money. Although some cases have been resolved, with plaintiffs receiving payments, others have not. The total obligation, according to court records reviewed by The Record, tops $8.2 million. The sale of the 30-plus acres on 88th Street in North Bergen, where APA had its truck yard, is expected to be final by year's end, NY Waterway officials said Friday. The proceeds are expected to be used to cover the pension debt. NY Waterway also faces a federal investigation into possible overcharges to the federal government for services provided after Sept. 11 and alleged anti-competitive activities, according to some parties interviewed by investigators. Company officials have denied any wrongdoing and said they have fully cooperated with any federal requests for information. Imperatore said none of that matters. The only thing of concern is survival of ferries on the Hudson. "This is not about the Imperatore family anymore," he said. "I would like to see the ferries continue, no matter who runs them. We wrote the book. The book may be coming to an end." E-mail: sforza@northjersey.com
FROM THE BERGEN RECORD Ferry Failure Could Tarnish Allure of the Gold Coast Sunday, December 5, 2004 Commuters aren't the only ones who would lose if NY Waterway were to shut down or drastically reduce its services. Ferries have become a way of life for residents along the "Gold Coast" - the thriving waterfront communities of Bergen and Hudson counties - and in Monmouth County, where many enjoy access to ferry service that carry them to the World Financial Center across Raritan Bay, the Narrows and New York Harbor. "I think it would affect the value of rents in my development," said Fred Daibes, chairman and chief executive of Daibes Enterprises, who has had a hand in more than $500 million in construction along the Edgewater waterfront. "We like the ability to tell people you can get on the ferry and get into the city." Edgewater Councilman Dale Ludwig agreed. He has been one of the leaders of the borough's drive to convert a private marina into a ferry terminal. "There's no question about it," Ludwig said. "Wherever ferry services come into a town, it has a positive impact on property taxes." In 1999, Edgewater voters approved an annual tax levy of 3 cents per $100 of assessed real estate value to acquire the Grand Cove marina for preservation and recreational purposes. Last year, 60 percent of the borough's voters approved a proposal to bring ferry service. Construction will cost an estimated $5.69 million in addition to an estimated $6 million for the land. About $7.5 million of the total funding will come from the Port Authority, and additional grants are expected from Bergen County and the state's Green Acres program. "It's going to have a real positive impact on the town in terms of property values," Ludwig said. "It really makes traveling to the city civilized. It's a quality-of-life issue." The ferry service developed by the Imperatore family and its company, NY Waterway, was one of the key reasons why Roseland Property Co. jumped in to develop the Riverwalk at Port Imperial, a residential project in West New York, nearly a decade ago. Roseland acquired the 100-acre site north of the Port Imperial ferry terminal when Arthur Imperatore Sr. lost it to foreclosure, owing $8 million on a $50 million note. In Monmouth County, ferry service has been a big selling point at such upscale communities as K. Hovnanian's Dunes at Shoal Harbor in the Port Monmouth. section of Middletown. Town houses there are going for $420,000 to $465,000. On the Realtor's Web site, the first amenity mentioned, even before such attractions as the clubhouse and pool, is the ferry. The Dunes is on Sandy Hook Bay, "just a stone's throw away from convenient ferry service to New York City," Hovnanian boasts. The Web promotion offers residents "a convenient location, gorgeous views and a quick and easy commute to the Big Apple!" The alternative, of course, is a mind-numbing bumper-to-bumper crawl up the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. "The ferry is certainly a factor," said Doug Fenichel, a spokesman for Red Bank-based Hovnanian. Kara Homes, which is building single-family homes in Middletown at $600,000 plus, and in Sea Bright, for $3 million and more, takes a similar view. "Only a 35-minute ferry ride to NYC," the company proclaims, in boldface type, in its description of its Tradewinds at Sea Bright development. "It does have an effect," said Bill Buhrman, a Kara senior vice president. "We do use it [as] a selling tool." Ferry service is also part of the appeal at Droyers Point, a Hovnanian town house development in Jersey City, where town houses sell for $375,000 to $470,000, and at Grandview at Riverwalk in West New York, where condominiums are selling for more than $900,000, Fenichel said. "I think people purchasing homes in [these] communities are buying a lifestyle," Fenichel said. "We are seeing more and more of this, with less dependency on the automobile. The ferry is the icing on the cake." In Jersey City and southern Hoboken, commuters have an alternative in the PATH trains, but many others would be forced to use cars or buses if ferry service is cut back. The developments don't need ferry service to thrive, but losing it could make them less attractive, developers say. "It's not going to close us down, but it definitely would have an effect," Buhrman said. |
