The following Letter to the Editor was received by Hudson TV from North Bergen resident Robert Walden:
The community should support North Bergen’s (NB) attempt to provide full-day preschool for 3 and 4 year-olds, but not at the expense of Hudson County’s Braddock Park, nor the well-being of preschool students and teachers.
NB submitted schematics/plans to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the building of a 2-story North Bergen Preschool in Braddock Park which did not meet State educational safety regulations.
Recently, NB submitted new schematics/plans which seemingly also don’t meet regulations.
NB has not provided NJ DEP with a document from the NJ Department of Education (DOE) showing that NJ DOE approved NB’s preschool plans.
NB’s 24 year-old illegal diversion of Braddock Park mocks NB’s fiduciary and legal responsibilities at the expense of Hudson County taxpayers.
Millions of taxpayer dollars have been squandered.
A preschool will bring more people, vehicles, accidents, pollution, garbage, artificial surfaces, flooding, noise and emergencies to Braddock Park on a daily basis.
Parks should be places to play and find solitude in.
Building a preschool in Braddock Park will not solve NB’s dilemma…that’s because Superintendent of Schools Solter stated that North Bergen needs to provide classrooms for 960 three and four year-old preschoolers.
NB has plans for placing 360 preschoolers in elementary schools and 60 in Head Start classrooms (which may cease to exist under Trump).
This leaves a classroom deficiency for 520 preschoolers.
The preschool NB proposes for Braddock Park can accommodate 204 at the maximum.
Obviously NB cannot continue to say that it won’t use condemnation or eminent domain or that it won’t buy additional space in the community to build a preschool.
It’s been 24+ years since Nick Sacco/North Bergen promised to remove the NB Preschool from Braddock Park.
On February 29, 2024 NJ DEP wrote North Bergen it had 180 days* to complete its diversion application – it’s now been 450+ days.
It’s well past time for NJ DEP to enforce regulations and make good on Nick Sacco’s promise, by terminating NB’s application.
*As per N.J.A.C. 7:36-26.11(a)
NB should give Hudson County residents back the recreational land it illegally removed in Braddock Park and NB should build a preschool in the community – the sooner, the better.
The candidates for Assembly representing the 33rd District Assembly should speak to this issue.
Robert Walden North Bergen