The following letter was sent the to the Hoboken Reporter: 

To the Editor:

It was disconcerting to read (Reporter, 11-9-08) that yetanother of Hoboken’s old factory buildings – Wonder Bread at Eighth  and Willow - is in danger of closingshop for its arts and industry tenants for residential conversion.  If approved by the Zoning Board, itwill be the latest victim of the development tsunami - the monotonous march ofcondos - which has virtually cleaned these uses out of town.  At least in this case the plan is tosave the building.  As thearchitect, Dean Marchetto, says, “a good architect should always try to save abuilding when it can be saved”.

Unfortunately, Marchetto does not apply the same logic tothe historic Neumann Leather complex for which he has been hired by itsdeveloper as its architect.  Thereason, he says, is that Neumann has “contamination issues.”  The developer, Trammel CroweResidential (TCR), contracted Langan Engineering & Environmental Servicesto carry out a study which it claims supports the position that the complex ofNeumann buildings cannot be saved. The truth is that the Langan Report falls far short of this and servesanother purpose.

Nineteen samples of concrete and wood were collected bydrilling holes in the floors and walls of various buildings, and the pulverizedmaterial was removed and sampled for various metals and other chemicals.  Like almost any building, never mind anold former industrial building, contaminants were found, including low-leveltraces of mercury. However, when pressed in cross examination, Langan’s expertwitness conceded that there was no imminent hazard either to workers in thebuilding or to the immediate neighbors. When asked to compare Neumann to the infamous Grand St. General Electric“mercury” building (which did need demolishing) he agreed there was “nocomparison.”

Without testing air samples it is impossible to truly assessthe meaning of any of  thistestimony.  In fact, Langan’sreport is more notable for what it doesn’t conclude than for what it does.  Enough data are collected to raise “concern”,but not enough to be conclusive. At this point the Langan report represents merely a scare tactic, not adefensible scientific argument. 

There will undoubtedly be remediation measures needed incertain areas.  Much has been madeof the fact that leather was once tanned here.  In fact, these activities were confined to a small area, andwhat’s more, nothing in the expert testimony had any tannery-specificreference. Many Old tanneries have been rehabbed. The contamination underportions of the buildings can readily be addressed without tearing them down. A“hotspot” in one location doesn’t mean you have to tear down the wholecomplex.  Unless, of course, thatis your intent going into the process. 

Dean Marchetto should stick to being a good architect andleave propaganda to the non-professionals.

Tom Newman, Neumann Leather Tenants Association 201-963-9108