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I wish there was a way to push on the Whitlock Cordage completion.

The abandoned housing program began in Newark and has been running a few years now. I'm glad to see they are utilizing it to clean things up.

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I totally agree with you about anchoring the area, when I drive by I often smh to why its empty. However this building is not an eyesore and there are no squatters living in them. The buildings that are causing problems are located mostly on Bergen, Ocean, and MLK Drive which are use to store drugs, guns, sometimes hookers and squatters.

The good news about Ocean ave its been hot now for a year with development but the further away from the rail station these buildings get no love. I often feel bad for folks who live in attached homes and the one next to them is burnt out or abandoned.

A terrific program! Can Fulop put some energy into getting Whitlock Cordage done as well, that would really anchor that neighborhood.

The Jersey Journal

Mayor Steven M. Fulop and the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) today announced an aggressive program to rehabilitate nearly two dozen of the city?s most problematic abandoned buildings.

The JCRA is seeking builders to rehabilitate 23 of the worst abandoned properties throughout the city to improve public safety, the quality of life for residents and stabilize neighborhoods, according to a press release from the city.

The program comes at no cost to the taxpayers as the builders will pay all acquisition and rehabilitation costs, the release said.

Since taking office, the Fulop administration has vigorously pursued the owners of vacant and abandoned buildings through code enforcement and registration actions. To date, Jersey City has collected more than $600,000 in registration fees and renewals, and through enforcement has collected more than $100,000 in fines, court costs and warrants, more than any other city in the state, according to the press release.

?These properties are destructive to the neighborhoods they are in, creating real public safety and quality of life issues for the entire community,? said Fulop. ?It is time to take these neighborhoods back and rehabilitate and elevate these communities so we can create real opportunities for future community development and investment.?

The administration?s plan to solicit builders to rehabilitate abandoned buildings is the next step in restoring neighborhoods and tackling the issue of abandoned buildings.

Fulop said an abandoned building on a block depreciates the value of nearby homes and severely impacts the quality of life for all residents and that vacant and abandoned buildings are a breeding ground for criminal activity as well as an eyesore and a menace to the community.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), more than 75 percent of the more than 12 million fires in abandoned properties across the nation were linked to suspicious causes. For example, the first fire of the New Year was a vacant building on Bidwell Avenue that had been vacant for two years.

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