Proposed development plan for 800 Jackson Street superimposed on photograph of site, showing view of Palisades cliffs completely blocked for the building's 300 foot length. Mayor Roberts is sponsoring projects on west side that will benefit developers who are among his largest campaign donors (February 2005) Last spring, scores of demonstrators picketed Hoboken City Hall [...]
'Political fund-raising and the peoples business all happen in the same meetings over the same table.' -- Gov. James McGreevey. (October 2004) On July 28, State Senator Bernard Kenny sent out an invitation to a reception at the Mayfair Farms in West Orange, New Jersey honoring Hoboken Mayor David Roberts. This event, benefiting the Hoboken [...]
(October 2004) For the past three years, the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW), a local advocacy group, has locked horns with Stevens Institute of Technology over its waterfront development proposals and excavation of asbestos-containing rock on the campus. The conflict continued last week as FBW appealed the Hoboken Zoning Board's approval of a massive [...]
A parking garage, part of the Newport development, directly facing the Jersey City waterfront and Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.(August 20, 2004) The new Goldman Sachs tower on the Jersey City waterfront designed by Cesar Pelli caught the attention of architecture critic Paul Goldberger. In a July 30, 2004 The New Yorker article, Goldberger writes that [...]
Excavation site in April 2002, where 35,000 tons of serpentine rock containing asbestos was blasted and carted away by Stevens.First Amendment right to engage in public debate upheld; but one count "of last resort" remainsJuly 21, 2004 Yesterday, Judge Camille Kenny of New Jersey Superior Court dismissed the defamation count in a lawsuit brought by [...]
Excavation site in April 2002, where 35,000 tons of serpentine rock containing asbestos was blasted and carted away by Stevens. (July 2004) On June 30, Judge Camille Kenny of New Jersey Superior Court heard oral arguments regarding a series of alleged defamatory statements in the case of Stevens Institute v. Hine. After 18 months of [...]
JERSEY JOURNAL -- by Michaelangelo Conte (June 23, 2004) HOBOKEN - Fund for a Better Waterfront officials are backing a city zoning official's decision to "shut down" construction of a Stevens Institute of Technology construction project. "It is our position that zoning officer Joel Mestre's determination was correct, and should be sustained," stated the letter [...]
(March 2004) For the past two years, the City of Hoboken, the Planning Board, the planning firm of Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates and numerous consultants have engaged the community at large in an intensive effort to rewrite the City's Master Plan. Hundreds of Hoboken residents attended a series of open public meetings to [...]
Land use attorney Michael Garofalo has represented the Fund for a Better Waterfront in Stevens garage application before the Hoboken Zoning Board. (February 2004) In a January 30th news story, George Crimmins told the Jersey Journal that his year-long consulting job with Stevens Institute included work on the university's 725-car waterfront parking garage. George Crimmins, [...]
Since March 11, daily blasting has created a massive hole at Castle Point to make way for unapproved 800-car parking garage.April 9, 2002 -- For the past four weeks, a contractor for Stevens Institute of Technology has blasted and excavated the serpentine rock that comprises part of Castle Point at Hoboken's waterfront. A recent test [...]
(February 26, 2004) From the beginning and with the knowledge that serpentine rock may contain trace elements of asbestos Stevens took the proper actions. April 15, 2002 e-mail from Roger T. Cole, Vice President of Facilities and Support Services for Stevens Institute of Technology. Fact: For the past three months, Stevens has known about the [...]
The Multinational Monitor The following are excerpts from an interview with Barry Castleman that appeared in the September 2000 issue of Multinational Monitor. Mr. Castleman is the author of Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects, which is the standard reference for understanding the history of asbestos-caused diseases. (April 2002) MM: What are the health effects of [...]
Serpentine rock at excavation site south of Castle Point at the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology. April 22, 2002 (Earth Day) -- Stevens Institute of Technology created a company that removes arsenic from drinking water in Bangladesh. They have initiated a study that explores the relationship between UV radiation and skin cancer. After the [...]
Serpentine rock carted from Stevens Institute in Hoboken at the foot of Washington Avenue in Carlstadt, New Jersey. New Jersey Meadowlands Commission issues cease and desist order to Carlstadt property owner Empire, Lmt. (April 2002) On April 24, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission ordered Empire, Lmt. to stop dumping and remove asbestos-containing rock at their [...]
Experts who examined samples from the excavation site at Stevens Institute found high levels of asbestos in the serpentine rock and in the dust resulting from drilling and blasting. (February 2004) On January 15, 2003, Stevens Institute filed a defamation lawsuit against the Fund for a Better Waterfront. The university has described this litigation as [...]
The Sky Club, another Sandford Weiss project, under construction. This 17-story building is exceeding zoning height limits by 11 stories. Photo Credit: Ira Landgarten. (February 2004) PoliticsNJ.com has put Kay LiCausi, President of KL Strategies, on a list of elite political consultants entitled, "New Jersey's Best Hired Guns." "Kay LiCausi hasn't just survived the rough-and-tumble [...]
(March 2000) What began as two 24 story towers dropped to 22 then 18 and now 8 stories. Area residents packed two meetings regarding 1600 Park Avenue in January, first a developer-sponsored presentation on January 10 and then a Zoning Board hearing on January 18. The Mayor of Hoboken, Anthony Russo took notice and by [...]
Massive, exposed parking garages on Hudson Street serve to deaden the streetscape and contradict Hoboken's scale and character. (January 2004) On October 28th, the Hoboken Zoning Board heard, for the first time, testimony presented on behalf of Stevens Institute of Technology in its application for a massive 725-car parking garage at Hoboken's waterfront. At the [...]
Rendering of four-story, 386-foot long garage proposed by Stevens Institute for Hoboken's waterfront. (October 2003) Stevens Institute of Technology presented its plans for a massive waterfront parking garage to the Hoboken Zoning Board on Tuesday evening, October 28. Before a standing room only crowd, the Zoning Board heard two expert witnesses testify for Stevens, an [...]
Mayor David Roberts who ran two years ago on a reform platform now relies heavily on contributions from real estate developers to fuel his political campaigns. (May 2003) On election day May 8, 2001, City Councilman David Roberts ousted Mayor Anthony Russo from office by promising to reform City Hall. A major theme of the [...]
