Melting Pot Simmers Over Taxes
Saturday, January 20, 2007
By ALEXANDER MacINNES
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON – South Paterson's Main Street is lined with Middle
Eastern restaurants, Turkish bakeries and grocery stores
offering regional delicacies.
Tucked in with the halal butcher shops and Palestinian hair
salons are travel agents offering trips to Colombia and
restaurants serving Hispanic food.
The area residents reflect that diversity, but during the first
meeting of the 6th Ward Neighborhood Association Thursday
night, many of their complaints struck a similar chord.
"The taxes are astronomical for the services (provided)," said
Jackie Stevens, a 26-year resident of the Lakeview section.
"And, I have a small home and a small piece of property. They're
way too high. If something doesn't happen, I don't know what to
do. I can barely afford it now."
Almost 100 residents mobilized Thursday night at School 25 to
define the core issues the association will try to tackle -- taxes,
quality of life complaints and police presence. Many who
addressed the crowd in the school's basement gymnasium said
they worried the city's ongoing revaluation will mean a heavier
tax burden.
The 6th Ward encompasses the Lakeview neighborhood on the
western edge, People's Park just north of Interstate 80, and
South Paterson from below St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center
to Crooks Avenue. Historically white, the neighborhood has
grown increasingly diverse with Hispanic, Middle Eastern and
blackfamilies moving in, according to 6th Ward Councilman
Thomas Rooney.
"(The complaints) had nothing to do with ethnic boundaries,"
Rooney said Friday. "People who were here for decades and
decades have the same complaints as the comparative
newcomers, those who have come here in the last 15 years."
Rooney's ward has about 26,000 residents who, as a whole, earn
slightly more money than the city's median income -- $34,094
compared with $32,778, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The
percentage of white residents in the 6th Ward is also higher than
Paterson's total population, 45 percent to 31 percent,respectively.
More residents in the ward own homes, compared to the rest of
the city.
Those numbers include the Alexander Hamilton housing
development, which sits just outside the 6th Ward.
The formation of the neighborhood association comes on the
heels of the Hillcrest Neighborhood Association's first meeting
late last year. The only other active group in the city is the
Eastside Neighborhood Association.
Tabatha and Harold Pridgen, who attended Thursday's meeting,
have lived in the area for nine years. Tabatha works for the city's
Board of Health and Harold is a banker in Newark. They say the
taxes they pay do not correlate to the city services provided.
"The only thing we ask for is consistent police patrol, which we
don't see," Harold said during the meeting.
Others complained of noise, illegal fireworks, litter, illegal
apartments and parking violators.
Andre Sayegh,a lifetime Paterson resident who led Thursday's
meeting, urged residents to continue speaking out in one voice to
address their problems.
"There's strength in numbers," Sayegh said.
Staff writer Tom Meagher contributed to this report.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
By ALEXANDER MacINNES
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON – South Paterson's Main Street is lined with Middle
Eastern restaurants, Turkish bakeries and grocery stores
offering regional delicacies.
Tucked in with the halal butcher shops and Palestinian hair
salons are travel agents offering trips to Colombia and
restaurants serving Hispanic food.
The area residents reflect that diversity, but during the first
meeting of the 6th Ward Neighborhood Association Thursday
night, many of their complaints struck a similar chord.
"The taxes are astronomical for the services (provided)," said
Jackie Stevens, a 26-year resident of the Lakeview section.
"And, I have a small home and a small piece of property. They're
way too high. If something doesn't happen, I don't know what to
do. I can barely afford it now."
Almost 100 residents mobilized Thursday night at School 25 to
define the core issues the association will try to tackle -- taxes,
quality of life complaints and police presence. Many who
addressed the crowd in the school's basement gymnasium said
they worried the city's ongoing revaluation will mean a heavier
tax burden.
The 6th Ward encompasses the Lakeview neighborhood on the
western edge, People's Park just north of Interstate 80, and
South Paterson from below St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center
to Crooks Avenue. Historically white, the neighborhood has
grown increasingly diverse with Hispanic, Middle Eastern and
blackfamilies moving in, according to 6th Ward Councilman
Thomas Rooney.
"(The complaints) had nothing to do with ethnic boundaries,"
Rooney said Friday. "People who were here for decades and
decades have the same complaints as the comparative
newcomers, those who have come here in the last 15 years."
Rooney's ward has about 26,000 residents who, as a whole, earn
slightly more money than the city's median income -- $34,094
compared with $32,778, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The
percentage of white residents in the 6th Ward is also higher than
Paterson's total population, 45 percent to 31 percent,respectively.
More residents in the ward own homes, compared to the rest of
the city.
Those numbers include the Alexander Hamilton housing
development, which sits just outside the 6th Ward.
The formation of the neighborhood association comes on the
heels of the Hillcrest Neighborhood Association's first meeting
late last year. The only other active group in the city is the
Eastside Neighborhood Association.
Tabatha and Harold Pridgen, who attended Thursday's meeting,
have lived in the area for nine years. Tabatha works for the city's
Board of Health and Harold is a banker in Newark. They say the
taxes they pay do not correlate to the city services provided.
"The only thing we ask for is consistent police patrol, which we
don't see," Harold said during the meeting.
Others complained of noise, illegal fireworks, litter, illegal
apartments and parking violators.
Andre Sayegh,a lifetime Paterson resident who led Thursday's
meeting, urged residents to continue speaking out in one voice to
address their problems.
"There's strength in numbers," Sayegh said.
Staff writer Tom Meagher contributed to this report.
IN THE NEWS . . .
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ONE PEOPLE.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
Sayegh For The Sixth
Bringing Neighbors Together