The Jersey Journal from Jersey City, New Jersey • 8

The Jersey Journal Monday April 17 2000 State leaders cheer light rail opening Continued from Page Al SO By Alberto Canal Journal staff writer Rep Robert Meoendez Union City "We sought a legal opinion as to whether or not it was permis sible and we were informed that it was a vinlatinn of church and $17 Lautenberg said is the first step in transit for the 21st The officials then boarded one of the 29 sleek white trains and rode south from the state park into Bayonne years ago people were ready to write off Hudson said Rep Robert Me nendez Union City will be the engine that will drive the economy of our If not the impetus the light rail is a welcome addition to a redevelopment effort in a sec tion of Jersey City that had en dured decades of economic de terioration according to the Rev Ralph Brower a leader in the African American community Under light pellets of rain the pastor of St Meth odist Church listed the stores that will soon fill empty com mercial spaces along a small mall built next to the Martin Lu ther King Drive Station wait until we get through with Brower said optimistically agency misinterpreted the irst Amendment which calls for a separation of church and state a stretch1 Journal photo by Joe Samo CONDUCTOR pulls'the light rail train out of Liberty State Park station The five year resident of the Downtown neighborhood that has been enveloped by residential and commercial development said the trains squeal as they ride alongtums Protesters assembled on Es sex Street alongside the Clermont Cove parking lot held signs demanding the trains only travel at 8 miles an hour and that Transit screeching sounds The use of loud horns which train operators are sup posed to use only to avoid acci dents were another gripe Ironically a light rail opera tor used the public ad dress system during the protest to announce the Essex Street sta tion a problem that NJT said had already been corrected problems can all be mitigated but the screeching of the trains Hales Tooke said think that with a multimillion dollar project they could have used some technology to avoid this type of Another demonstrator said he wants NJ Transit and the city to handle traffic problems he sees as Continued from Page Al waterfront markets in Jersey City and Hoboken said Hudson County Executive Robert Janis zewski It will cost about $15 million a year to operate the system which stretches along 75 miles of rail It is not expected to turn a profit for NJ Transit until 2010 according to Jeffrey War sh the executive direc tor A modem version of the old streetcars and trolleys preva lent in Hudson County until the mid 20th century the HBLRT has been credited at least in part for spurring the explosive developmentalong Jefsey waterfront you keep the city growing without giving people the ability to get said Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler In Bayonne property values have risen by 20 percent in the past two years and there are fewer than 100 homes for sale in a city of more than 60000 said Bayonne Mayor and state As semblyman Joseph Doria two years it will have 14000 riders daily and within 10 years 50000 riders Whitman said of the sys tem which NJ Transit hopes will have as many as 100000 dai ly riders when the light rail stretches to a Ridgefield park and ridelot unding has not yet been se cured for the second phase of the project estimated to cost $15 billion which will extend the line to 22nd Street in Bayonne and to Tonnelie Avenue in North Bergen with one station in Union City Retiring US Sen rank Lautenberg NJ received most of the praise from the two dozen public officials gathered at the opening ceremony Satur day since more than half of the funding came from fed eral grants awarded by the Sen ate Appropriations Committee which he chairs hard to believe this project started out in 1986 with a product of so much develop ment An agency spokesman who was addressing con cerns Saturday said the light rail is supposed to be the answer to automobile congestion Peter Courtney of the Essex Street Block Association said that with a projected 600 residen tial units being constructed and a proposed $450 million Goldman Sachs office tower that could bring 6000 employees to Jersey City something needs to be done now so much taking place in such a little neighborhood there needs to be some changes to en sure the safety of he said Officials have been working very closely with the community for a number of years during the design and construction of the light rail system NJT spokesman Ken Miller said done sound proofing of windows conducted noise and vibration he said has been constant dialogue with the community and there will continue to A priest says NJ Transit dis criminated against Catholics when his production group was yanked from the schedule of acts at the light opening Satur day Actors who are performing the Passion Play at the Park Per forming Arts Center in Union City through April 30 were scheduled to sing at a celebration of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail Transit grand opening On riday an apologetic head of marketing for NJ Transit called the center and said that because of the separation of church and state the agency could not allow the performance But during cele bration the Rev Kevin Ashe the director and producer of what he calls the oldest running folk art performance noted that another church group the Monumental Baptist Church singers of Jersey City per formed think they have a right to be there and perform gospel mu sic but so do Ashe said is the Ashe said the agency was not consistent with policy and were discriminating against Catho lics 4 But NJ Transit representa tives said not canceling the gos pel act was an oversight Journal photo by Ellie Markovitch JERSEY CITY resident Lindsay Dyett protests as the light rail passes in front of her Essex Street home Journal photo by Joe Samo BOBBIESAVAGE daughter Teresa Clemin and Steve McMaster of Jersey City read the light rail information guide and map at the Essex Street Station in Jersey City XL a viuxaixuxx ux uiuxui cuiu NJT spokesman Ken MillJgj er said of the Passion Play terms of the other performance it was simply an oversight on our part Had we been aware of the other performance we would have sought a legal opinion on that Rep Robert Menendez Union City who attended the cel ebration said the Park perform ance is primarily an artistic ex pression that has a religious con tent A former Union City mayor Menendez has been a strong sup porter of the center agency misinterpreted the irst Amendment which calls for a separation of church and Menendez said a Priest rips nixing of Passion Play Paulus Hook residents want quiet light rail intimal nhoto bv Ellie Markovitch JERSEY CITY Mayor Bret Schundler far right welcomes Gov Christie Whitman at Liberty State Park on the opening day of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail liBV Journal photo by Elizabeth Lara THE END of the line at Exchange Place Aft I ita cte 1 al Am Bawl fiAMtw'B BS jdMBHra SgSSJ fe dJ' '2 1 BBBj88SEH8SSSSSSSSfiSSSSS5SSmwBBiMBM xlBi "i JflBHEBBBp ft SKIP WWi Ejta oi i 7 a trnyfEr J'S I HHHh! 1 ITA S14SMRHL IaULUMU LuUU IU UlBVIMLAaWVi Vl.