Retro rifle maker gets move OK

Thursday, February 14, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In a reversal of recent trends, manufacturing jobs are coming to the Bayonne waterfront.

The Henry Repeating Arms Co., a rifle maker specializing in Civil War-era lever action guns, won unanimous approval Tuesday night from the Planning Board to move from Brooklyn to 59 East First St., off Lexington Avenue.

The company expects to keep about 50 employees and have 40 or 50 local workers fill skilled and unskilled jobs, said owner Anthony Imperato.

The rifles are made with steel from Ohio, castings from Pittsburgh and wood from Missouri, and exported to 40 countries, he said. "Hopefully someday they'll say 'Made in Bayonne' and be sold in Thailand, which I think is pretty cool," Imperato said.

That label will also be applied to special rifles made for the Boy Scouts' 100-year anniversary commemoration in 2010, he said.

HRA will renovate and occupy about two-thirds of the 100,000-square-foot building, and lease the rest to the current tenant, a liquor distributor. The company received a $345,000 state grant for bringing jobs to an urban area.

Imperato said he hopes to have a certificate of occupancy by June. The company will also look into extending Brady's Dock from an adjacent property, he said.

Planning Board members said they were satisfied that HRA would do everything necessary to maintain security - including armed guards at all off-hours.

Councilman Ted Connolly attended the meeting and suggested that the company work with neighboring businesses to route traffic away from the residential area around Lexington Avenue.

Retro rifle maker gets move OK

Thursday, February 14, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In a reversal of recent trends, manufacturing jobs are coming to the Bayonne waterfront.

The Henry Repeating Arms Co., a rifle maker specializing in Civil War-era lever action guns, won unanimous approval Tuesday night from the Planning Board to move from Brooklyn to 59 East First St., off Lexington Avenue.

The company expects to keep about 50 employees and have 40 or 50 local workers fill skilled and unskilled jobs, said owner Anthony Imperato.

The rifles are made with steel from Ohio, castings from Pittsburgh and wood from Missouri, and exported to 40 countries, he said. "Hopefully someday they'll say 'Made in Bayonne' and be sold in Thailand, which I think is pretty cool," Imperato said.

That label will also be applied to special rifles made for the Boy Scouts' 100-year anniversary commemoration in 2010, he said.

HRA will renovate and occupy about two-thirds of the 100,000-square-foot building, and lease the rest to the current tenant, a liquor distributor. The company received a $345,000 state grant for bringing jobs to an urban area.

Imperato said he hopes to have a certificate of occupancy by June. The company will also look into extending Brady's Dock from an adjacent property, he said.

Planning Board members said they were satisfied that HRA would do everything necessary to maintain security - including armed guards at all off-hours.

Councilman Ted Connolly attended the meeting and suggested that the company work with neighboring businesses to route traffic away from the residential area around Lexington Avenue.

Gun manufacturer seeks OK for move to Bayonne

Monday, February 11, 2008
By RONALD LEIR
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A longtime gun manufacturer is taking aim at Bayonne.

The Henry Repeating Arms Co. will ask the Bayonne Planning Board tomorrow for the OK to set up shop in a warehouse in the city's downtown section. The company is seeking site plan approval so it can shift its Brooklyn-based operations to 59 E. First St. off Lexington Avenue.

Since it announced plans to relocate to Bayonne, the company has been deluged with calls from job applicants, according to its Paramus attorney James Jaworski. Between 90 and 100 employees would work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

HPA plans to occupy about two-thirds of the 100,000-plus square foot warehouse and permit the single tenant, a liquor distributor, to stay in the remaining space, its application to the Planning Board says.

It proposes to invest heavily in renovations to the building to accommodate its rifle assembly and manufacturing, and in outdoor improvements including grading, drainage, lighting, and landscaping. It would provide 69 on-site parking spaces, with three reserved for disabled drivers.

And the company would install a "test fire facility with the proper equipment," Jaworski said. More details on the facility will be provided at Tuesday night's hearing, the attorney said.

The city wants the company to install a sanitary sewer lateral line to connect to an existing sewer and a drain to collect roof runoff to be discharged into the nearby Kill Van Kull.

The city Municipal Utilities Authority figures to collect a one-time utility connection fee of $21,000 from the project.

In other business, the board will get an update on development plans for the old Texaco property at the foot of West First Street from project director Jesse Ann Ransom of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.

Tuesday's board meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Dorothy E. Harrington City Council chambers at City Hall, 630 Avenue C.

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Quote:

Don't panic. Their rifles are little more than bb guns.

Entry at new home of rifle maker
Friday, November 30, 2007

A door to the new Bayonne location of Henry Repeating Arms, a rifle manufacturer, was forced open Wednesday night or yesterday morning, police said.

A contractor working at the East First Street building, which is being renovated, told police that a sliding garage door had been forced open by someone.

Police said the owners were unable to identify what was taken.

N. CLARK JUDD

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h002_survival.cfm