Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

Editor, found my letter from 8/22/2014 to NJ Transit. The situation is way more complicated than you have briefly explained, and you didn't mention at all the racism of shoppers. Folks from around Bergen County and higher-income parts of Hackensack were so racist that they no longer wanted to walk around downtown Hackensack, and that the malls were "whiter". Disgusting, and true. This was part of a national phenomena in which people were rejecting the cities as places to shop, live, or work, and they were fleeing to the suburbs. Now this trend has reversed, and a great many people, especially the younger generations, enjoy the ethnic and racial diversity that cities offer.

I also find it to be absolute nonsense that developers are turned off by the existing road circulation pattern. What will really turn them off is gridlock conditions. It was gridlock in the early 1970's, with far fewer cars on the roads than 2017, and much less development in the area. Change it back now, and it won't be like 1970, it will be a pure catastrophe. To do this now, and at the expense I've read, will become known as the greatest boondoggle in the history of Hackensack.

*****
Dear NJ Transit officials,

I was born and raised in Hackensack, and I am old enough to remember the gridlock traffic conditions in downtown Hackensack, especially Main Street, when the streets were two-way.  This was resolved in the early 1970’s, when Main and State Streets were re-dedicated as one-way streets. My understanding is that NJ Transit was active in pushing for the change to speed up buses on Main Street.

The City of Hackensack is now very actively working to restore two-way traffic to Main Street, with one lane north and one lane south. There are some very determined merchant leaders who are convinced that the conversion of Main & State Streets into one-way streets in the early 1970’s heralded a rapid decline in retail in Hackensack. That is incorrect. Here is what actually caused the decline in retail on Main Street, Hackensack:

1971 --- Bergen Mall becomes an enclosed mall         1.25 miles away
1971 --- The Arnold Constable Department store closes      @ Main & Passaic Streets   
1974 --- Paramus Park Mall opens               5 miles away
1975 --- Riverside Square Mall opens in Hackensack      0.75 miles away
1982 --- Garden State Plaza becomes an enclosed mall      1.5 miles away
1980’s --- mass conversion of storefronts into law firms
1991 (est.) --- parking meters reduced from 2 hours to a 1-hour limit
1985 – present --- the reaction of many customers to an increase in homeless persons and beggars
1950 – present --- the prejudices of many customers; their unwillingness to accept major
     demographic changes in Downtown Hackensack and surrounding neighborhoods

Further complicating the decision to revert to two-way streets is a major building boom in the downtown and vicinity. I fully support the building boom. However, all of this construction and future construction in coming decades will completely overwhelm the road network if Main and State Streets are changed from one-way to two-way traffic. These projects include:

-   222 units at State Street --- under construction
-   382 units at 150-170 Main St (14 stories) --- approved July 10, 2014
-   270 units at 210-214 Main Street by Heritage Capital --- final approval anticipated in Fall of 2014
-   Est. 350 units --- Camden street 100 feet east of Main street --- developers have purchased the Oritani Field Club
-   Hotel with 240-440 units; 4.2 acres on East Salem Street near River Street
-   Hotel, 500 residential units & retail on the currently vacant campus of The Record, 30 acres at Atlantic & River Streets
-   New Bergen County courthouse, Court Street near Main St --- under construction for $147,000,000 (largest public works project in the history of Bergen County), including rehab of the old courthouse for continued use
-   Other major projects planned.  For a complete listing of the properties being assembled and brokered, contact Alexander Anderson Real Estate Group, 14 Bergen Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601; 201-343-6640.

Note also that parcel delivery companies like UPS and FedEx were far less prevalent in the early 1970’s than today. Their trucks constantly stop on Main Street, blocking one lane of traffic. Right now it is possible to pass around them by switching lanes. It’s annoying, but the traffic flows. Once the streets become two-way, UPS and FedEx will cause much greater gridlock.

If Main and State Streets are reverted to two-way in Downtown Hackensack, traffic will come to a virtual standstill on Main Street, especially from Essex Street to Passaic Street.  NJ Transit Buses will be delayed an additional 15 minutes, at times. 

Over the years, the City of Hackensack has paid numerous consultants to study the traffic flow, hoping to find a way to make it work as two-way.  They all said “no”, until a new firm was recently hired under the explicit instructions that they must say “yes”.

The irony is that two-way traffic is not going to attract more retail customers.  As I drive north on Main Street, I can look for spots on BOTH SIDES of the street. My ability to find a spot will be cut in half when the street becomes two-way.  I am not looking forwards to that at all, or to dealing with gridlock traffic. I still come to Main Street to visit certain stores and restaurants. More importantly, I care about my hometown. The merchants who want this aren’t even helping themselves.  This is just the most awful and dead-wrong public policy decision being imposed upon everyone.

NJ Transit and the County of Bergen are the only entities with the power to stop this unmitigated disaster.  Please put the stop to this.

Sincerely,


Eric Martindale

Quite a few of those teachers were around into the early 1980's.

Hey, the rules have changed and big development is coming in.  Great reason for some fires, like the one last year a block or two north of The Green.

It's a quality store.  I saw none other than Halle Berry coming out of that store a number of years ago, with a bag and a pair of shoes.  They specialize in "scientific" shoe fitting for people with foot pain.

my old church.  Looks like they installed ¾" plywood, cut roundish holes, installed tyvek, and then mounted the windows.  Nice job. 

And you are right about non-compliance with OSHA reg's.  The worker is not visibly secured by any type of rope or harness.

Since the COUNTY (not the city) prosecuted Ken Zisa, and he was found not guilty for prosecutorial errors, shouldn't the $30 million lawsuit be against the County ?  Isn't the County alone responsible for that ?

I was one of the activists who helped the Zisa's win in 1989.  We had no clue what the real intentions of the Zisa family were.  People like Geneva Youngblood told me privately what the Zisa's were really about. Youngblood said, outright, that if Jack Zisa was elected, his brothers would pushed up through the ranks of the police and made into the top brass. And that other relatives would be given other positions, and all the activists would just get a "thank you" and be slowly pushed aside.  And that is exactly what happened. We didn't believe her. We didn't listen.  She was right.

They are digging way more pilings, and for much longer time than anyone wanted.  I wonder if they are able to hit solid bedrock to build this tower.  They might be hitting rock 150 or 200 feet down, but maybe it's loose stones and not real bedrock capable off supporting a high rise.

 I am starting to wonder if the entire project might be in jeopardy due to the geology.

I completely agree. 

With the exception of townhouses, defined as attached units with separate exterior unit entrances, wood-frame construction in multi-unit buildings should be outlawed.  And both townhouses and duplexes (side by side duplex) should be required to have cinderblock or poured cement walls between the units. Any stacked units, including "six over six" two family houses with one unit over the other, should have tremendous restrictions on the type of construction materials.