Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-03-30
prRrY AMBoY,s' WATER FRONT.

With the passage by the House of senate bill
No. 1s2 authorizing a commission to enter into
a compact or agreement with the state OF New
York the development of the waterfront OF
Perth Amboy for commercial purposes prac-
ticaily passes from the jurisdiction OF
the municipal authorities Perth Amboy
is oficially, although not actually, part
of the port of New York and is therefore
as much concerned In this agreement as is Jer-
sey City, Hoboken or Bayonne. which are sit
uated on the Upper New York bay-the only
section though of when the port of New York
10 mentioned.
The Joint commission which is to have full
jurisdiction over the port as provided"for In
this bill is to consist of three men from New
Jersey and three from New York. In 1917 a
similar commission was appointed to draw up
q tentative plan for the joint development of
the port and report back to the legislatures OF
the two states The three members from New
Jarsav were chosen from the northern part OF
the state where the interest is almost exclu-
sively centered in the development of the New
Jersey side OF New York harbor that har-
bor is generally considered. that is. the shores
up the upper bay facing Manhattan. These
same three men are named in the bill that has
manent agreement with New York for the de-
velopment of the port and there is good reason
TO believe that they will become New Jerseys
representatives on the joint body to- be known
as .sThe Port of New York Authority"
After a study of the situation for two years
during which most of the effort was concen-
trated in developing the shores of the upper bay
these men have submitted report which IS
fine for Manhattan and possibly Jersey CITY,
Hoboken and Bayonne. but Perth Amboy and
the Raritan bay section, as was to be expected
have received but scant consideration. With
these men on the port authority board It is
evident that all the money available and all
the time for the next decade at least. will be
concentrated on carrying out that feature OF
the report.
The EVENING NEWS has maintained that
n is unfair to this section TO have it included
In this port of New York scheme. Perth
Xfhboy and vicinity is part of the port OF
New York in name only. This is clearly shown
by the indifference and the failure on the part
NJ the commissioners to realize the possibilities
here. II the New Jersey section along Upper
New York bay want to unite with New York
in a Joint development scheme that is their al
fair but is seems unjust to include the Raritan
bay section which the New York and North
Jersey harbor enthusiasts have no intention
of improving for some time to come-not, at
.east until they have done everything possible
for their immediate section around Manhattan
in which they are most interested.
But Perth Amboy and all this section is In
eluded whether we like it or not and we will
have to await the will of the port authority be-
fore we can proceed with any commercial devei-
opment Of our waterfront This, at least. helps us
solve the problem to what to do with the land
the city owns along the river There has been
difference of opinion for some time as to
whether it should be devoted to terminal pur-
poses or should be used as park. 1t is now
apparent that park is the only thing that
promises any immediate use for the land.
Perth Amboy ought to hesitate no longer
The entire stretch of waterfront from the rail-