Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-08-17
A FOOLISH, NARROW POLICY

Showing how ridiculous it is for a city to &c
ahead creating zones and attempting city i'm
provement without any definite plan to proceed
by. we have a striking incident in the action
taken by the coming commission in creating a
residential district of all that section of the
city east Of Madison avenue and south of Cor
don street. In this hasty action, taken without
any forethought as to the future of the city or
what the needs will be fifty years hence, the
city is working at cross purposes.
A few years ago the city bought the Gregory
property expressly for a shipping terminal. This
property was put under the Jurisdiction of the
harbor board and can be used for no other pur-
pose than for waterfront development along the
line OF docks and steamship wharves. Whether
or not the waterfront from the railroad bridge
to the Bluff should be used for terminal or for
park purposes has been a much mooted ques-
ton. There is a wide difference of opinion. Ex-
cellent reasons can be advanced why the Greg
DRY property should be used for steamship ter
minals. That there must be some part of the
waterfront set aside for the use of the public for
bathing, however, is evident. What portion shall
1t be?
The point is, without considering this most i'm
portant matter at all the zoning commission has
GOjlo aht tcN"A~0
the city a residential section thereby prohibiting
the erection of any kind of an industrial or COM
mercial enterprise in that zone. OF what use,
then, is the Gregory property? At present 1t
cannot be used for anything else than TERMINAL
purposes and now the coming commission says
it cannot be used for that. Truly this is coop
GRAFTON with a vengeance.
Perth Amboy has reached a critical period
-. II Jox, % lar ynonla
and even her city officials may not yet realize
it, but 1t is a fact. This city has been included
in the port of New York and the development
here from now on comes under the jurisdiction
of the Port Of New York Authority. This au-
thority is to recommen to the legislatures of
the states of New York and New Jersey next
i winter a comprehensive plan for port develop
1ent. Once this plan is formally adopted 1t will
Nv rfollowed by the authority and it will take
years to complete IT. If Perth Amboy's water
, front is not included in this plan as then sub
mitted it may be many years before we can re-
ceive any consideration. New York would like
to devote all the time and money that the au-
thority can raise upon Jamaica bay, while in the
northern part Of New Jersey all interest is CEN
tered on the development of Newark bay. I'm
less Perth Amboy arouses herself she will find
that, with facilities unsurpassed, she is entirely
ignored.
An effort is being made to arouse the interest
of this section in the port development project
including the belt line and terminal facilities
But when the one important site that the city
possesses for terminal development has been
deliberately cut off for such purpose by a coming
commission that merely looks at the present and
sees a lot of residences in the southern end of the
city and therefore declares a residential zone re-
CARELESS of the great possibilities FOR future de-
velopment along commercial lines, how are we
to get rnywhere?
Suppose that, years ago, New York had set
sside for strictly residential purposes all that
section around the Battery in New York merely
because at that time it was used mainly for resi-
Dental purposes, what would be the situation