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The Latest on Neumann, 3-19-08 |
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 |
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TCR is continuing to show their 5-story, total eviction, total demolition plan to local condo meetings, city officials and council people, and has now sent their plan to the Hoboken Zoning Board with the likely outcome that the Board will not hear the application as Neumann is too large a project to move forward with only a zoning change and variances. There is recent legal precedent for this.
In the midst of this, TCR informed the NLTA that they had found a "local artist's group" to manage the "temporary" relocation of Neumann tenants off-site to empty the Neumann buildings in preparation for demolition. This group, named FABA (For Artists By Artists) was mentioned in TCR's plan, along with other information useful to NLTA.TCR couldn't or wouldn't at that time give us a name or phone number for this group but some steering committee members managed to ferret out FABA’s contact info. Tom Newman made contact with a principal of FABA, and once NLTA's presence and work at Neumann was made clear, FABA withdrew from their dealings with TCR.
Back to the process, we are sure that Hoboken's Neumann Site
Redevelopment Study will recommend redevelopment and the Planning Board
will send it to the City Council who will be the redevelopment
authority and vote on what will be done at Neumann.
Architect and NLTA Steerer John Nastasi continues work on his Piazza
Plan for Neumann Leathers. This ambitious plan would save most existing
buildings and continue current uses while creating one of the largest
and most attractive public spaces in Hoboken and allow for enough
market rate housing to make it all possible. This plan meets and
exceeds historical preservation and Hoboken Master Plan recommendations.
It would maintain the vibrant and irreplaceable Neumann community of
tenants. An ex-developer friend of NLTA has looked at it and said it
can work. With this plan, the NLTA presents the ideal for our future in
practical and buildable form in a powerfully visual way. This is
something NLTA can sell to the OHRAC and the City Council as guidelines
for any future developer of the Neumann site. We hope to unveil it with
fanfare sometime in the near future.
This is why our efforts must be essentially political. This spring's
public relations campaign is our main tool to raise awareness. This
process is moving along now. We don't have much time. We need to form
an artists committee and a musicians committee to state in detail what
we need and want in the future.
The enthusiastic participation of every tenant in some way is
essential. Visual artists, please prepare for the Open Studio to happen
this spring and kindly donate something to benefit NLTA efforts.
Musicians, we need to hear from you, too. We want to run a benefit
performance evening. We can find a venue or get something together
yourself and we'll back your event. If you do nothing else, show up for
future meetings and events.
This website, www.neumanntenants.org, has been updated and will be the place to go for future information. Tenants, use it to publicize your work and events.
NLTA has an unbroken record of successful efforts. We need to plan for success while taking the steps necessary to achieve it.
A general meeting is called for Wednesday, March 26 at 6:30 pm at Maggie’s Place (El Quarto Bar) at 87 Jefferson St. between Newark and First Streets. More details soon.
Tim Daly , secretary, NLTA
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