For the last several months I have been requesting from the Administration of the City of Paterson that the residents and business owners of the 5th Ward receive the same benefits and attention as folks residing and doing business in other wards.  However, the administration has chosen to ignore my requests on behalf of our constituents.

One of my requests was to place planters on Market Street and Park Avenue. These planters – emblazoned with the words “Paterson UEZ” on them – were originally meant to be positioned on Main Street.  However, as a result of poor planning and little collaboration from Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) director Jan Northrop, after planters had been ordered and paid for, it was discovered that the planters could not be placed there due to hollow sidewalks on Main Street and therefore would not be able to sustain the weight of the large planters.  The planters could not be returned and were rotting away in the Department of Public Works’ lot.  This is when I requested that SOME, not all, of these planters be distributed throughout Market Street and Park Avenue in order to assist in the revitalization of those corridors and give a jolt to the merchants of that area.  Instead of complying with my request, the administration ignored my questions and at one point even lied as to why they would not place ANY planters in the Market Street and Park Avenue corridor.  According to Jan Northrop, the sidewalks in Park Avenue and Market Street were just not wide enough for the planters and therefore could not be placed there.  This was a blatant lie.

At this point, I decided to take matters into my own hands and take measurements of the sidewalks in the Market Street and Park Avenue corridor.  I discovered that there are more than TWENTY (20) locations where sidewalks meet the minimum size requirements and where planters CAN and SHOULD be placed. I provided this information to the administration in presentation form during the Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Public Meeting of the Paterson Municipal Council.  But once again nothing has been done.  I have proven that the planters can be placed in the Market Street and Park Avenue corridor and more importantly that the administration was deceitful as to their reasons for not including the 5th Ward in their plan to distribute planters throughout Paterson’s Urban Enterprise Zone.

Another one of my requests have been to collaborate on the design, development and implementation of a plan to eradicate prostitution and gang activity in the 5th Ward.  I think it is redundant for me to mention where the hot spots are located, since everybody in the 5th Ward knows where they are, but just in case the administration has forgotten, I’ll provide this information here.
Market Street (from Madison Avenue to East 31st St) as well as Van Houten Street and surrounding areas have become a haven for prostitution.  Neighbors complain – and rightly so – that vans with New York plates drop off women late at night and these women use their properties as a venue to conduct sexual activities.

Gang activity continues to increase in the City of Paterson, but with more intensity in the 5th Ward.  Places like 19th Street and 17th Avenue, Rosa Parks Blvd. and Pearl Street, Oak Street and Madison Street, East 22nd and Park Avenue, 17th Avenue and East 27th Street among others are being devastated.  Residents and business owners alike are being terrorized causing properties to be abandoned pushing these neighborhoods deeper into chaos and disarray.

My approach has been to collaborate with City of Paterson’s administration.  I have voted in favor of dozens, if not hundreds of resolutions that the current administration has brought in front of the Municipal Council.  I believe it is imperative that both the City Council and the administration work together to bring positive change to the City of Paterson.  However, this administration has ignored all comments and suggestions, provided me with false responses to real problems and continues to be biased towards the 5th Ward.

Sincerely,

Hon. Julio Tavarez, MPA
5th Ward Councilman