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HA! I agree, I was walking down Ocean ave on Friday night and not one dealer in sight LOL the cops are out, I actually seen arrest being made for loitering wow. Our mayor is busy acting like he cares for once, but GV & BL thinks its a little too late for all that.

Sounds good, but I'm always astounded at how much government spends on the simplest things. I imagine if someone wanted to remodel their property in a similar manner, they'd pay a quarter of that cost. Kinda like the $30 million concrete walls over in LSP.

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"Mistakes were made."

If it weren't for election season, nothing would get done in this town.

Jersey City officials announced a roughly $440,000 renovation of a small city park off of Martin Luther King Drive today, saying the make-over will help boot drug dealers from the area and increase community pride.



The renovation is set to begin by the end of February and finish within six months. It will add some metal benches, security cameras, lighting and other passive-recreation features to Fulton Avenue Park, which encompasses just under one third of an acre and sits near the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, speaking today inside the Bethune Center, said the park has been neglected and allowed to deteriorate. The renovation, designed by a former intern with the city?s Department of Public Works, will be another in a series of park renovations undertaken by the city in recent years, Healy said.

?It?s up to us, the citizens, once we get them cleaned up to keep them that way,? he said, adding that city workers and city agencies ?can only do so much.?

Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis was among numerous city officials at today's press conference who called the park an ?eyesore.? Two City Council members, At-Large representative Viola Richardson and Diane Coleman of Ward F, said it?s not unusual to find drug dealers at the park.

?All the drinkers and the druggies? hang out there all day, Coleman said.

Police Chief Tom Comey said police will work with community groups to make sure the park is locked up at an appropriate time. Most city parks close at 10 p.m.

The renovation will be paid for using the $1 million that the city received from a 2009 legal settlement with PPG Industries, the owners of some chromium-contaminated sites throughout the city. The Fulton Avenue Park is not one of those sites.

Once the renovation is complete, the park will be a place for parents to sit and read while their children play, Richardson said today.

"I pray that park brings about the kind of joy we hope it will bring," she said.