Guttenberg Mayor Wayne Zitt and his council colleagues packed out the Waterside Restaurant for their semi-annual fundraiser on Thursday evening, with the mayor touting the redevelopment going on in town as signs of a successful 2019.
“Se have two events a year, this is our one to bring everybody together. We had all of our employees here tonight, also the community, outside dignitaries here to support us – they see the direction we’re going in with our ideas and everybody was here to celebrate,” Zitt said in an interview with HCV.
The popular North Hudson venue had at least 250 venture to the third floors to support the Guttenberg team, a testament to the success of the current administration, the mayor also noted.
When asked why 2019 has been a successful year in the densely populated town squeezed between West New York and North Bergen, Zitt said that redevelopment efforts have been moving along swiftly.
“We got a lot of redevelopment going on right now, which is helping us with our costs of infrastructure. It’s also helping with the overstock houses we have. We have about 14 projects right now, 600 apartments that are coming on board – with parking included – 85 percent one bedrooms, so for us to have this going on: it’s pretty exciting, it’s something new.”
Before the calendar turns over to 2020, Zitt continued that two parks will be renovated and that a water park on Madison Street is also in the works.
“We’re trying to renovate two parks, so we’re trying to purchase an open lane with open space money to make another pocket park. As you know, we’re pretty much landlocked in our resources and opportunities to open anything, it’s very limited,” he explained.
“But we found a piece of property that we can turn into a pocket park and hopefully by 2021 we’re also gonna open up a spray park on Madison Avenue.”
Other dignitaries in attendance included state Senator/North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco, Assembly members Angelica Jimenez and Pedro Mejia (all D-32), County Executive Tom DeGise, County Freeholder Chair Anthony Vainieri (D-8), Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Amy DeGise, Guttenberg Council members Monica Fundora, John Habermann, William Hokien, Richard Delafuente and Juana Malave, West New York Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez, West New York Commissioners Cosmo Cirillo, Margarita Guzman and Yoleisy Yanez, among many others.
Political operative Joey Muniz served as the emcee for the evening.
