The Jersey City Council heard a public outcry over the prolonged Pershing Field ice rink closure, with residents making good on their commitment to make their voices heard at the meeting.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano thanked Ward E Councilman James Solomon
and Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh for joining him in a meeting with Parks, Recreation & Youth Development Lucinda McLaughlin to discuss the issues with the ice skating rink.
“We support the community’s and (the department of) recreation’s request that a new ice rink be installed. We should partner with Hudson County and Hudson County should get involved and help with the cost of this new rink,” Boggiano stated.
“New Jersey Devils has already partnered with us at Lowes. They’re getting quite a bit of money from us. They should partner with us on our ice rink. How can we have the New Jersey Devils in a city with no ice rink?”
He added state Senator Angela McKnight (D-31) secured a $1 million grant to help with the repairs.
“Can we have a dedicated city agency or person the city can work with?” Boggiano asked.
“This hasn’t been an administration versus recreation versus council issue,” Business Administrator John Metro argued.
“Director McLaughlin had presented to us that there are significant issues at the ice rink that were beyond repair or we could decide to dump potentially millions of dollars into a repair that does not have the longevity worth the investment.The discussion was it needs a soup-to-nuts reinforcement and reconstruction.”
Metro said they are considering a feasibility study on the merits of spending $5 million on a new ice rink, a figure they have been working with since last fall.
“That’s absolutely something we’re engaged in and reviewing,” he declared.
Metro said that they plan to seek council approval next month to spend money on the project, also noting that they are working with the Devils to see if any grant or funding opportunities exist.
Upon further questioning, Metro indicated that McLaughlin and Parks and Infrastructure Director Barkha Patel would take the reigns on consulting with an ice rink expert since the city does not have one on staff.
“As far as the Devils go, I believe we’re giving them $30 million. I believe they should be very heavily involved,” Boggiano said to applause from the crowd, which was dominated by parents and children who were there to push for the rink to reopen.
“We definitely would like to meet with you, John Metro, the mayor, and Barkha, Director Patel to move forward with using a portion of the $1 million towards getting a feasibility study as to how to repair the ice rink,” Saleh declared.
He added they want to have regular updates for the community.
Saleh continued that they plan to enlist the help of state Senators Brian Stack (D-33), McKnight (D-31), Raj Mukherji (D-32), Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, and County Commissioner Yraida Aponte-Lipski (D-4) to work on funding and rebuilding the ice rink.
Public portion was then predictably dominated by remarks from concerns parents and children.
“I hope you realize how important and influential this rink is to so many people’s lives and the distress and anger over the closure for over a year. We understand the situation is complex. But the lack of communication or cooperation … is completely unacceptable. So far, we’ve been fed sound bites with vague or inconsistent details,” William Looker declared.
He said the rink was supposed to be open by now and also questioned the initial projected cost.
“Where is the mayor in all this? The issues have been well known for some time. I appreciate his priority may now be running for governor. But it doesn’t give me much confidence that he can run a state if he can’t even keep a rink open,” he declared to big applause, to the dismay of Council President Joyce Watterman.
“When they clap, we can’t hear what they’re saying,” she said.
Jackie Cox approached the podium with about two dozen young hockey players, several of which whom joined the council on the dais as she spoke.
“These children must have access to a rink. A rink that Jersey City has willingly let delay for the last year with no public comment on a reopen date nor a plan for what’s required. This team, the local hockey team, is left to scramble,” she said.
“How shameful! How utterly shameful! The lack of communication on this matter is unacceptable. The desire to fix the Pershing Field ice rink has been displayed. The need goes unmet. How much longer? When will this community see a concrete plan? $5 million? Where did this number come from? Google? It’s time for actions and answers. Until you do that, the fate of Pershing Field remains on thin ice!” she exclaimed to loud applause.
Eight-year-old Marty Cox expressed the detriment this has caused for him and his friends.
“Some kids had to quit hockey because our rink is closed. We don’t have a home rink. I would like you to fix our rink,” he said to great applause.
He was not the only young student athlete who addressed the governing body last night.
“My name is Phillip, and I’m 7 years old. Hockey means a lot to me. I dream of playing in the NHL. But I can’t do that if I don’t have anywhere to play on. We don’t want the team to break up,” Philip Orozovich said.
And of course several adults felt the same way and weren’t shy in saying such.
“The Jersey City rec program was partnering with Hockey NJ. They bring in volunteers to teach the kids how to skate. They bring in the equipment. It’s hockey for everybody,” Karin Vanoppen said.
“The group is as diverse as the city we are in. We don’t have that in Jersey City anymore. It’s really discouraging to see taxes go up, and what you get back for it is less and less.”
Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore called the rink “extremely essential for kids” and said it was telling what the city can find money for.
Councilman-at-Large Daniel Rivera, who was the one who invited the children to join them at the dais, said he was part of running a little league team for 25 years and recalled attending these meetings as a child.
“I was at the podium for 25 years… yelling at the politicians up here. And the politicians did didly squat. You need to as a unit, as a community, get together. We marched 1,200 kids from 6th Street to City Hall,” he recalled.
“We need to make sure that we put our money with our mouth is and give these kids 100 percent support. I am going to commit to a $1,000 for that ice skating rink. There was a lot of politicians on that podium who couldn’t stand my ass because I knew they weren’t doing anything.”
The council took no formal action on any matters related to the ice rink.
