12. The Amboy Guardian *April 6, 2022Happy Easter!
April 6, 2022 * The Amboy Guardian .13Crossing toStaten IslandThe Port Authority is consideringwidening the OuterbridgeCrossing between Perth Amboyand Staten Island. This soundslike a mistake to me.CongestionPrice TollingNew York MetropolitanTransportation Authority ChairmanJanno Lieber announcedthat Congestion Price Tollingshould begin by December2023. In coming months, therewill be another round of publichearings prior to implementation.NJ residents will be payinga portion of revenues generatedby these new fees. The MTAestimates it will generate $1 billionannually. These revenueswill be used to leverage another$2 billion annually via bonding.This is supposed to raise $15Would a 90-year-old structurebe able to support the addedweight and load of extra traffic?Would the roads in PerthAmboy be able to handle the increasedtraffic without becominga bottleneck?Maybe the better solutionTHE COMMUNITY VOICEwould be a new bridge northof the Outerbridge Crossingwith new roads as needed. Thiswould not create any problemswith construction to the existingbridge.Ronald A. Sobierajbillion that which will help payfor the MTA $51 billion 2020- 2025 Five Year Capital Plan.Both NJ Transit and the PortAuthority have similar multiyearCapital Plans. New Jerseyresidents should consider askingfor a fair share of revenuesgenerated by these new tollsthat they will be paying.Some of these dollars couldgo toward the NJ share for the$12 billion Gateway Tunnel(two new tunnels plus rehab ofexisting tunnels) or full build$33 billion version, $10 billionPort Authority 42nd Street BusTerminal, NJ Transit and PATHcapital programs or other transportationimprovements thatwould benefit NJ residents. Afterall, fair is fair.Sincerely,Larry Penner(Larry Penner is a transportationadvocate, historian andwriter who previously workedfor the Federal Transit AdministrationRegion 2 New YorkOffice. This included the development,review, approval andoversight for billions in capitalprojects and programs for NJTransit, NY MTA, NYC Transit,Long Island and Metro NorthRail Roads along with 30 othertransit agencies in NY & NJ).WiFi on NJTransit BussesOne of the most exciting proposalscoming out of the currentDemocratic-majority legislatureis the prospect of everyNew Jersey Transit bus beingequipped with fast, complimentaryWi-Fi access.As a Central New Jersey educator,I find this idea to be exceptionallyoverdue. While itmight be true that ubiquitousLTE/5G access exists in theGarden State, for many studentsthe cost of an ‘unlimited’plan remains out of reach. Mostmonthly plans hover around$50 a month per line.With fast Wi-Fi coverage, studentswill now be able to getwork done during their typicallylong commutes and othertravels on public transportation.Whether attending a virtualclass, downloading a requireddocumentary, or engaging ingroup study via team software,hundreds of thousands of learnerswill now be more empoweredand connected.I want to personally thank AssemblymanDan Benson andAssemblywoman Yvonne Lopezfor strongly supporting thisinitiative. These Democratic officeholdersare getting the jobdone for all our residents engagedin self-improvement.Sincerely,Daniel B. Kurz, M.A.*Continued from Page 10Court, District of New JerseyCase No. 2-19-cv-19336-SDW/ESK in an amount not to exceed$75,000.Rose Morales, Joel Pabon, MiladyTejeda, B.J. Torres voted,“Yes,” Bill Petrick Abstained.Public Portion:Ken Balut spoke first in person.“I could not make it to theState of the City yesterday. Didthey mention anything about theRecovery Act Funds? We normallyget a copy of the speech.Right now, I still get calls aboutillegal housing and Code Enforcementsays I call in the complaints.Code Enforcement isdysfunctional. They should beseen. They drive around. Nothingever happens when it comesto improper behavior. Somethingis wrong here with someof these lawsuits The interest oftaxpayers is lacking. There areserious problems here. Nobodyis protecting the taxpayer. Thishas to stop.Sharon Hubberman said, “Iread the entire context in theprogram. Look at section 4.0.9.I am correct. Look at the legaljargon as a whole. The municipaloperating cost and schools –they need more detail and clarity.Does the council know of anearby power plant in Keasbeywith pollutants? Our air qualityhas deteriorated. What have wedone regarding our air quality?There is no phone number tocall to report these problems. Iwould appreciate if the counciland B.A. will look into this matter.This will cause respiratoryproblems and maybe will beharmful to our children. Our airquality is not good.”Petrick stated that maybe theDEP should come out and samplethe air quality. Green statedthat he wrote down the problemsthat Hubberman spokeabout.Petrick stated, “It depends onWe Value Your Opinion! Please Send Us A Response!PILOTS and Addressing Behavioral Issues in the School District3/30/22 Council Meetingthe way the wind blows. I don’tknow where the bad air comesfrom.”City Clerk Victoria Kupschstated, “It’s Keasbey.”Acting Police Chief Larry Cattanospoke via Zoom. “Therewas a plant located in Keasbeywhich was handled by the MiddlesexCounty Health Department.They used to have petroleumproducts burned there, butthat plant is no longer there.”Maria Garcia spoke next. “Iam very disappointed on howthe Council voted on the PI-LOTS. I hope I am wrong,and taxes will not go up for 25years. If I am right, it will beon the taxpayers. I don’t understandhow Milady Tejedacan vote because she is on theDominican Festival Committee.When Peter Jimenez was on thecouncil, he did not vote on thePuerto Rican Festival. He abstained.”Bill Petrick then answered, “Ibelieve we have 5 PILOTS.”Garcia said, “Our propertyvalues are low, and our taxes arehigh. In other areas, the propertyvalues are high, and the taxesare low.”Milady Tejeda responded toMaria Garcia, “This is not aboutthe Dominican Festival and Iwas advised by our lawyer. Itis nonprofit and I do not get apenny.”Resident Maria Peralta cameup in person. She spoke inSpanish and Councilman Pabontranslated. “I have nothingagainst Tejeda. You never votedfor the festival before and youhave created controversy withthe festival. I am not against theDominican Festival, but I haveconcerns about the pandemic.The day of the flag raising, wewere disrespected. There shouldnot be speakers from any othergroups to speak at our flag raising.It was disrespectful for themayor not being there. Manythings have been done to me. Iwas removed from the festivalcommittee because I took downnames of vendors, but this wasto help the community.”Council Comments:Rose Morales said, “I want tothank all the people last nightwho came to the State of theCity and see all the accomplishments.Congratulations to themayor, the administrators, andthe progress made to help thecity move forward.Joel Pabon said, “I’ve hadthings stolen from my back yardand mattresses thrown in myback yard. It happens to all ofus. As for Rudyk Park, until adjustmentsare made down there,I just can’t see both the PuertoRican and Dominican Festivalsbeing down there and they arenot getting smaller. If we doimprovements to Rudyk Park,it will be bigger. And will thefestivals get bigger? More thanhalf of the people who cometo the festivals are from out oftown. Even when sports are beingplayed at Rudyk Park, parkingis hard. There are 3 deadendstreets, and we need to talkto the festival organizers. Whatarea of Sadowski Parkway aredesignated for festivals?"Larry Cattano answered, “BetweenMadison Avenue and thepromenade at the end of HighStreet.”Pabon turned his attention tothe topic of bullying in the PerthAmboy Schools. “This is outof control. I’ve seen 5 of thesevideos (of kids being attackedby other kids). In one video,there was a kid that was kindof husky on the floor and beingbeaten on. That is unacceptable.One lady intervened to tryto cover the boy. The school isresponsible for school to homeand home to school. At anothertime, the lady got the student inher car (to protect him). Othercars drove by but ignored theproblem. This broke my heart.There was an incident at ShullSchool. I said talk to me. I encouragethe 9 members of theSchool Board to address whythis behavior is happening.Something has to be done. Theyare our kids. We cannot wait untila kid is seriously hurt, dies,or commits suicide to bring attentionto this problem.”Milady Tejeda said, “CouncilmanPabon, I feel the same way.It’s time to do something. Whenwe live in a community, the waywe are, we need to respect ourselves.When the Mayor’s Aidcame to our flag raising, that’sacceptable. One of the mainthings are kids respecting oneanother. Each ethnicity in thetown needs to live, play, in thistown. We need to respect eachother.”B.J. Torres said, “I echo off ofwhat Councilman Pabon says.There has been an increase inviolence. After 2 years of Covidand lockdown. One video is ofa kid being assaulted by otherkids. That video was shared byadults. The issues in our schoolare nothing new. Our teachershave been working without acontract for a year. We are losingteachers left and right. Parentshave to wait hours at BoardMeetings to speak while theBoard goes into closed session.These parents work and don’thave time to wait this long tobe heard. These are our childrenand are the responsibility of theentire community. These kidsneed help. They don’t need tobe sent home.”Bill Petrick mentioned that atthe April 11th and 13th Meetingsthat some of the DepartmentHeads come in and presenttheir budgets. City ClerkKupsch stated that there is supposedto be a public hearing onthe budget on April 13 th . Petrickrequested that remaining departmentscome on April 25 thand 27 th to present their budgets.Petrick then stated, “I saw thevideo of the students in ShullSchool being beaten and thereshould be changes. The schoolsystem is only responsible foractions on school property andnot the public streets. Thereshould be criminal charges.Things are happening on publicstreets. They need to keep thepublic schools safe.”B.A. Green said that therewere arrests made.Petrick then said, “Consequencesneed to be made for juvenilecrimes. Criminal behavioris criminal behavior. Therehas to be repercussions. Theyare going to grow up and thinkthere are no consequences. Idon’t remember issues like thiswhen I went to school. Howcan you have learning goingon when you have children attackingchildren? Things needto be addressed by the SchoolAdministration and the PublicAdministration. Things need tochange. People need to considerthe feelings of the victims andnot the criminals.”B.J. Torres stated, “They arechildren, not criminals. Theyneed intervention.”Pabon then said, “I don’t wantto hear Covid as an excuse anymore.The School Board hasmoney to rectify the situation.”Petrick said, “They are supposedto be an institute of learning.Children should not feargoing to school. Those childrenwith issues in school should beplaced in a different environment.”Petrick then thanked theMarines and Police who conductedthe services for his fatherwho recently passed away.“Good night, be well, and hopewe see changes soon.”The meeting adjourned at 9:03p.m.Ads Sell!Call Carolyn!732-896-4446
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