ACT NOW TO SAVE BRADDOCK PARK WITH THESE EASY STEPS:
Join the Zoom Scoping & Public Hearing on Tuesday, AUGUST 11, 2020 - 6:00 - 9:00 PM EST
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88105645624 PASSWORD: 608149 OR, PHONE IN: (929) 205-6099 Meeting ID: 881 0564 5624
Please also email the following State Officials and Advisors before August 25, 2020 (new and different contacts from prior petition updates): Melissa.Abatemarco@dep.nj.gov, Jane.Cohen@nj.gov, Lisa.Almeida@nj.gov, aantun@hcnj.us, buildingsandgrounds@northbergen.org
"I strongly oppose the land diversion from Braddock Park by North Bergen Officials and the placement of any school or potential new construction within this park"
Background:
In 2001, Mayor/State Senator/Assistant Schools Superintendent Sacco ILLEGALLY moved 17 trailers to serve as a preschool into Braddock Park "temporarily" and promised to remove them in 2002 when a preschool annex to the Lincoln School was completed. Mayor Sacco didn't keep his promise then, and he has broken his promise several times since...
In 2017, North Bergen assured the public and NJDEP Green Acres that the $65 Million acquisition of Hi-Tech HS/realignment of the North Bergen school system would enable the preschool to leave Braddock Park by Aug. 31, 2021. Voters approved a $60M bond based on that promise and that promise has once again been broken.
North Bergen is now trying to build a preschool in Braddock Park and keep it there PERMANENTLY. North Bergen-Hudson County claim they will build 3X as much new park land to justify taking away part of Braddock Park - Don't believe it!
North Bergen and Hudson County are REQUIRED by the State to provide 3X-5X as much new (replacement) park land as the preschool illegally diverted (replaced) in Braddock Park, whether or not the preschool remains in Braddock Park! This replacement park land is North Bergen-Hudson County's penalty for illegally moving the preschool into Braddock Park in 2001 - Braddock Park was protected for recreational (not school) use then and we must insist it continue to be protected for recreation. The replacement park lands North Bergen-Hudson County have proposed are tiny pocket parks, composed of mainly synthetic surfaces and they are miles away!
According to Hudson County's Master Plan*, Hudson County has 716 acres of parks (including Braddock Park), and a shortage of 1172 acres of park land.
If we don't act now, a precedent will be set - what's next, North Bergen's City Hall or the Hudson County Jail in Braddock Park?
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO STOP THIS 20 YEAR OLD BETRAYAL OF THE PUBLIC'S TRUST AND THE HIJACKING OF BRADDOCK PARK