Hackensack's downtown strategy failed elsewhere

Hackensack officials are giving a developer a 30-year tax break to construct a luxury apartment building on State Street, above, hoping the young professionals who live there will spark renewal of the depressed Main Street shopping district a block away.

Empty storefronts on Palisade Avenue in Englewood, above and below, show how not one but two luxury apartment buildings downtown failed to revive the fortunes of that city's faded shopping district.

Mayor Michael R. Melfi and other Hackensack officials are set to appear at a ceremonial groundbreaking on Thursday, claiming a new luxury apartment building will spark rejuvenation of the city's faded downtown.

Not far away in Englewood, two luxury apartment buildings downtown and two large luxury complexes  on Route 4 have failed to revive that city's depressed shopping district.

Melfi, other City Council members and Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono have insisted only a 30-year tax break could persuade a developer to build the 222-unit building on State and Warren streets, a block from Main Street.

And they aren't asking the developer to make any other improvements, such as turning empty lots into a park, in lieu of paying property taxes. 

The officials also haven't answered critics, who say the city needs more senior housing, not more luxury apartment buildings like the ones lining Prospect Avenue.

Today's paper

Governor Christie's confidence in winning a second term has been severely weakened by his insistence the state spend $24 million on a special October election to pick a successor for U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, who died Monday at 89 (A-1).

Democratic challenger Barbara Buono notes Christie killed early voting legislation, citing the extra expense, and now is trying to suppress the number of Democrats who will vote in the November election.

Where will Christie get $24 million in taxpayer money to run a primary and election for a U.S. senator?

If his past actions are any guide, he'll cut programs for women, poor schoolchildren and others.

More road errors

Errors continue to pile up in Staff Writer John Cichowski's Road Warrior columns, such as his May 31 piece on local bridge construction, according to a concerned reader.

See the reader's full e-mail to Editor Marty Gottlieb and management at the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:


A bridge too far