Hudson TV received the following Letter to the Editor, entitled “North Bergen Misconduct,” from township resident Robert Walden. Mr. Walden also included a link to a NY Daily News article dated March 27, 2025 written by David Matthews, which Hudson TV has chosen not to include. Interested parties can scope out that article, “NJ Police Chief Accused of Pooping By Desks, Spiking Coffee with Viagra” for themselves:
Misconduct by officials in the Township of North Bergen, NJ is nothing new since Nicholas Sacco was first elected North Bergen Commissioner in 1985.
Convicted felons former US Senator Robert Menendez and developer Fred Daibes were also involved in North Bergen’s preschool misconduct. And Mr. Sacco himself sponsored a bill in the NJ Senate to reduce the penalties for official misconduct.
The preschool intersections lack traffic lights and stop signs. Sometimes they have crossing guards. The preschool roadway is not wide enough for 2-way traffic and there’s no sidewalk – it does not meet regulations.
One person has died, either directly or an indirectly as a result of the preschool being situated in the park – the Hudson County Sheriff’s accident report noted that the area of the accident had a high amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic due to the preschool’s presence. The woman pedestrian who was run over and killed was walking in the crosswalk, just a few feet from a parking lot that the North Bergen preschool utilizes.
North Bergen failed to report its illegal diversion of the preschool roadway and parking lots to NJ DEP and the State has ignored these violations despite public outcry.
North Bergen is supposed to provide compensatory (new) park land for its illegal diversions.
If NJ DEP allows North Bergen Preschool’s after-the-fact diversion, it will bring more cars, buses, accidents, pollution, garbage, artificial surfaces, flooding, noise and hundreds of people into Braddock Park on a daily basis.
The community does not want this.
The solution is for NJ DEP to not allow the North Bergen Preschool to remain in Braddock Park – this runs contrary to DEP regulations which say that diversions should be a last resort and they should not be granted if there are alternatives – there are viable alternatives and there have been, all along.
On 12-20-16 NJ DEP directed North Bergen to remove its preschool from the park no later than 08-31-21 and North Bergen agreed to do so.
NJ DOE was also onboard – it approved North Bergen’s Long Range Facilities/Realignment Plan and subsequently, in a special referendum, the public approved $65 million for the LRFP which was supposed to move all the preschoolers out of Braddock Park and into elementary schools.
Instead, North Bergen disregarded NJ DEP’s deadline and it is trying to keep its preschool in the park.
The public’s trust has been betrayed and $65 million is being misspent.
Preschoolers lives are jeopardized, not just by the dangerous preschool location, but also by North Bergen’s continued use of decrepit 24 year-old trailers (TCUs), whose use violates State regulations.
NJ State officials must put an end to the misconduct at the state and local levels.
Brian Stack has replaced Nick Sacco as State Senator and he and other Hudson County mayors are opposed to North Bergen’s diversion.
They, along with Senator Stack’s upcoming election “ticket” (Mikie Sherrill, Larry Wainstein and Gabe Rodriguez), should ensure that this issue is settled properly asap before anyone else dies or is injured.
Sincerely,
Robert Walden