Developers of prime waterfront real estate along the Hudson River have exerted their political influence to bring in huge subsidies from the government. The "gold coast" takes on a new meaning with the millions of dollars in federal and state money going to benefit private owners building on some of the most valuable land in New Jersey.
In November of 1998, Mack-Cali, the owner of Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City, was awarded $2 million as an Economic Development Initiative grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to subsidize the interest on $8 million in HUD loans. U.S. Representative Robert Menendez announced this federal support to build a proposed 260-room hotel in the Hudson River. This pier project in all likelihood violates the Public Trust Doctrine by building a non-water dependent use in the Hudson River. The size of this hotel will also likely violate the Clean Water Act due to the extensive pilings required to support this immense structure.
The federal government is providing a $12 million grant for Arthur Imperatore’s New York Waterways toward the construction of a ferry terminal on the Weehawken waterfront. The terminal which will be moved from its present location 400 yards further north is critical to the Imperatore-Roseland proposal to build a massive 3.9 million square foot residential and commercial project at the waterfront. New York Waterways also has received $6.1 million in federal loan guarantees for a new ferry and to refinance four existing ones. The New Jersey State Department of Transportation has provided a $1 million grant and is expected to also provide a low-interest loans for the construction of the new ferry terminal.
Joe Barry, who has built his real estate empire primarily through the development of federally subsidized Section 8 housing, has raked in a series of government grants for his luxury residential Shipyard project at Hoboken’s north waterfront. The Shipyard developer was able to convince local governments to channel state Department of Transportation funds to build all of the public streets throughout his site, at a total bill of about one million. In addition, U.S. Representative Robert Menendez announced in September of 1998 a $6.69 million federal Section 108 loan for the Shipyard project. Although private developers are obligated to build their portion of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, as part of their agreement with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Barry, in a highly unusual move, was able to convince the County government to build the walkway on this site through a $986,000 federal ISTEA grant.
All of these waterfront projects will also require huge government outlays of tax monies to pay for road improvements and support additional mass transit needs. The excessive densities being permitted in downtown Jersey City will necessitate a $300 million roadway through the Bergen Arches to divert local traffic from the serious traffic back-ups now occurring at the Holland Tunnel. These projects will also directly benefit from the publicly supported $1.2 billion Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System which will run along this high-priced waterfront from Bayonne, through Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken, up to Ridgefield Park.
These same waterfront developers have been more than generous when politicians are seeking campaign contributions. In the past three years, Arthur Imperatore Jr. and Sr. have contributed $42,500 to U.S. Senate and Congressional Campaigns, both democrat and republican. In this same time period, Joseph Barry, his father, mother, two sons and several employees contributed $37,750 to various Congressional and Senate candidates. Brant Cali of Mack-Cali and two of his partners contributed $7,000 to the Senate Campaigns of Lautenberg, Torricelli and D’Amato and $1,000 to Menendez since 1997.
Carl Goldberg of Roseland Properties was the campaign finance chairman for Robert Menendez’s last run for reelection. He helped the Congressman solicit contributions from nearly every major Hudson River waterfront developer, including $7,250 from Joseph Barry, his family and partners. Goldberg and his partner, Marshall Tycher, contributed $5,000. These were generous contributions considering the fact that the democrat Menendez has never faced serious opposition running in Hudson County, where republicans comprise a mere 10% of the registered voters, and he was easily reelected with 80% of the vote in the 1998 race.
In Jersey City, where waterfront builders frequently get abatements on their property taxes, developers were also major contributors to Mayor Bret Schundler’s last reelection campaign in 1997. Joseph Barry and his family gave $13,000, Sam LeFrak’s Newport Development Corporation and associated companies contributed $11,500 and Hartz Mountain Industries kicked in $10,500.
More Information:
Federal Election Commission (click on "site index" and then click on "Search the Disclosure Data Base for Selected Contributions.")
New Jersey Political Corruption Probe Investigates Federal Grant Awards New Jersey Law Journal