In a letter to the editor, the Katyn monument petitioner committee is urging the Jersey City Council to keep the statue where it is after their successful petition.
Dear Editor,
It is unfortunate that for the first time in recent history residents of Jersey City were forced to collect thousands of signatures in order for the voice of the community to be heard.
On Wednesday, September 12, the City Council has to make a choice to either listen to the Jersey City residents who joined our effort or follow the city administration and their political benefactors.
The Committee of Petitioners are long-term Jersey City residents, most of whom are parents who all agree that our city can benefit from additional green space, however, it is obvious by the thousands of signatures collected in such a short period of time the residents are vehemently opposed to moving the memorial commemorating the Katyn Forest Massacre.
The battle over moving the Katyn Massacre Memorial has been a needless one that no one has asked for and was avoidable.
The petitioning committee did not ask for it; the City Council members did not ask for it and the Polish-American community did not ask for it. Perhaps most notably, the citizens of Jersey City did not ask for it.
In fact, no one from the administration inquired as to residents’ thoughts or opinions, yet here the administration is wasting valuable city assets and resources.
Our immigrant history is the fabric of what makes us diverse and great as a city. If we ignore that and let every special interest dictate the future of our public spaces, it is an insult to democracy and to the residents’ intelligence.
Let’s bring permanent closure to this issue, listen to the voice of the residents and leave the memorial where it is in perpetuity.
We thank all the elected officials from the State, County and City who have been supportive of our efforts and most of all the residents who have spoken loud and clear.
We implore the City Council to hear their voices – Keep the memorial where it is.
Katyn Memorial Petitioner Committee
Mayor Fulop will always give the monied developers of Jersey City what they want. Elections are expensive.
That monument shouldn’t be touched let alone moved. Fulop sure does hate the Polish people. That’s not a good enough to move that monument.
Is this really the moment in history to move this statue from a place of prominence and visibility?
When Russia is actively hacking American elections?
When Russia is actively hacking American elected officials?
When Russia is filling social media with fake news to sway voters?
When Russia is caught red-handed carrying out assassinations on foreign soil – and going out of their way to get identify themselves by using nerve agent to send a message that they can get you wherever you are?
When the current administration appears bent and pretending none of this is all that important? (Has Fulop thought about what a pro-Trump “move along, nothing to see here” move this is?
Is this the time to move a statue about a previous Russian Empire’s naked aggression? All that has changed are the references to Lenin and Marx. Otherwise it is still will to power at all costs.