While we're hardly against refurbishing and re-doing Journal Square and a couple square block area in any direction, a plan that adds nine new zones and runs until 2060 is a prime candidate for graft. #1 this IS Hudson County. #2 This IS Jersey City. When you add #1 and #2 you tend to get slush funds, back room deals and sleazy individuals making a lot of taxpayer money they probably shouldn't have.
In all the excitement over the 50 year giant sized 60+ story building renaissance we failed to hear one important word that anybody from Jersey City should recognize, OVERSIGHT. If you don't like oversight call it accountability and right now we've heard no plans for that. We've heard about the nine new zones, the 57 acres of redevelopment, the jobs that will be created but nothing for this 50 years about stopping the sleazebags who have their hands out all over this fair county. From city council to the window contractor the potential of a lot of this money being misused is great.
Luckily we have a city council in Jersey City ready to stand up to graft and agents of graft. They will have to vote on this plan we're certain they'll make sure to ask about the points Johnny just made. Who are we fooling, they're moving boxes in their basements right now to make room for cash deliveries for special building favors. We've seen it for decades so why would this project be any different?
Johnny won't be alive to see this even completed. He hopes there are good paying jobs in construction to help the unemployment rate. He hope the Journal Square PATH station is a shining beacon. He would like to see 2 or 3 tall buildings of condos and apartments with businesses in the bottom floors. He would like to see some of the buildings reused and reclaimed like the Loew's Theater. He'd also like to know that if Jersey City residents pay for this they don't get robbed blind trying to do the right thing. Sadly, with today's Jersey City council and their cronies, that can't be counted on.
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