By David Cruz
Correspondent
Residents in Jersey City’s Greenville Section — where there’s hope for a neighborhood resurgence — felt as if Mayor Steve Fulop had let them down when he offered last week to drop the city’s long-standing opposition to a trash transfer station in the nearby Greenville Yards. That’s an industrial area of the city largely owned by the Port Authority. In exchange, the city would get a $10 million payment for a new park in another part of the city and $250,000 a year after that from the transfer station operator.
“We felt something was shady, like we felt betrayed, so we just wanted to know is this going to be for the good of the community,” said long-time resident Kathy Quirk. “Yes, Jersey City $10 million but not at the expense of us, like not to throw Greenville under the tracks to get that $10 million.”
But late yesterday, Port Authority Chairman John Degnan announced that the PA had no plans to go forward with a transfer station, adding, “We will require assurances that adequate consultations with local public officials and concerned citizens have occurred.”
That was an obvious dig at Fulop, who is in litigation with the Port Authority on other matters. Then, early this morning, Fulop did an about face, sending an email to community members that he would no longer support the transfer station.
“My initial thought process was that the community would be split on it and understand some of the benefits on it and there would be a conversation about it,” said the mayor. “The community was pretty unified against it and, you know, part of leadership is recognizing when you’re wrong and in this situation I was wrong. It’s a little embarrassing but I’m OK with admitting that we made a mistake and we’re correcting it.”
That was music to Bess Morrison’s ears. “We were thrilled, shocked, all of the above,” said the 18-year resident of the nearby Port Liberté development. “I don’t think anyone expected it to happen this fast. There were all sorts of plans moving forward as to what we could do to fight it. Unfortunately, though, we don’t believe that this is the end of the fight; this is just the beginning because the real issue now is whether the Port Authority chooses to go forward with the project without the support of the city.”
The Port Authority has been trying to get a transfer station here for years. They bought property in the area to build it but have faced opposition from the city every time. Fulop’s proposal would have represented a change. And the $10 million would have gone a long way into turning this former municipal reservoir into a fully-functioning park in the middle of the city. Fulop says the bad guy in this story is the Port Authority.
“If the Port Authority tries to move forward on it, we’re going to be in litigation with them. We’re going to have to dig in,” added Fulop. “The community sentiment is that they don’t want it and, ultimately, that’s who I work for. That’s my boss. Today is Boss’ Day and I work for them.”
Everything this mayor does is seen in the context of a man with potential statewide political ambitions. By changing his mind, the mayor wants to be seen as a man who listens but he also wants to dispel any notion that he might’ve just tried to pull a fast one.