The Perth Amboy City Council has unanimously supported the motion of Councilman BJ Torres to table the $220 million Kushner project with a 35-year pilot. The motion was second by Councilwoman Hailey Cruz. 

Councilman Torres asked why union labor was not part of the deal and why there was no input from the council in the pilot deal. The 5-hour meeting heard from Councilman Torres, labor representatives, historic preservation leaders, and community leaders and former elected officials about problems with the Kushner project. Councilwoman Cruz said she heard the public and agreed that there had to be more consideration of the publics concerns and opportunity for participation.

In the cryptic agenda, no public member would know that this project was up for a vote and multiple community leaders spoke about the lack of transparency from the administration and redevelopment.   The community had not been given a public presentation of the project, unlike other projects such as Eddie Trujillo’s, who personally gave a presentation in advance of a vote.

During the Council Meeting, the City Attorney William Opel said a presentation of the project could be given at the meeting, even though the presentation was not on the agenda and no public notice of the presentation was given. A presentation of the Kushner project was given by Tashi Vazquez, Director of the Redevelopment Agency.  The presentation was for 625 luxury rental units to be built in the area of waterfront on High St/Fayette and the surrounding areas. She said this development will remove the blight on the corner of High St and Fayette. 

The rentals from $1700-$2300 will get a 35-year pilot, and the up-front money from the developer will go to $1 million in an affordable housing fund that will help current residents with legal fees in their landlord battles over rent increases in the city. Also the money will go to fund HUD projects rehabbing housing. The project only predicted 18 students being added to the school district.

The financials of the deal were then discussed and Councilman Torres asked if any estimates were made to include union labor and the response was no that no consideration of using union labor had been made.

The Council chambers had union members and leaders from Laborers International and Iron Workers speaking about Kushner’s use of contractors that had a history of substandard work. They spoke about how jobs from the project were not going to go to their members from Perth Amboy since no union labor was involved. They spoke about how Kushner had used cement contractors that had substandard work and that Kushner had been sued. They talked about wage issues with contractors used on Kushner projects.

The length of the 35-year pilot was discussed, and Councilman Torres said that the council only had heard 20-25 year pilots previously. Council President Milady Tejeda agreed that there had been limits on the length of pilots the council had previously considered.

Residents spoke at the meeting and said the increase in housing costs and the increase in expenses for the city will only drive out the current community. Councilman Torres said that current residents cannot afford these units but they will be built on their backs.

Resident William Illas spoke at the meeting and said the Perth Amboy he knew has slipped away, the quality of life has deteriorated with increased traffic. He said these development decisions will have a lasting impact on the cost of living in Perth Amboy which would make it hard for his children to live here.

Residents spoke about how the Kushner development that already exists has never had any of the promised amenities and how retail space for shops and restaurants on the waterfront has been left unrented for years. They spoke about how poor-quality construction had resulted in resident lawsuits against Kushner.

Resident Vickiana Ortega spoke about inconsistencies in the number of parking spots and said the deal was being rushed through by PARA .

Former Perth Amboy Judge and Councilman Ken Gonzalez spoke at the meeting and asked isn’t there the possibility of another imagined use, instead of high-density units and why were we rushing into something that would have a high impact on the community?

The Kushner project is at the corner of High St and Fayette, tearing down the old police headquarters and fire station. A portion of the project proposes the city give away the city owned property to Kushner to build units on and then the city buy a new property across the street and build a new firehouse to accommodate the new development.

Members of the Historic Preservation Commission spoke at the meeting about preserving the Police Headquarters, with imagined uses such as a museum or community center. They asked questions about why doesn’t Historic Preservation has more teeth, protecting the property where Thomas Mundy Peterson had lived on Commerce St. In the past the Creative Placemaking project had discussed the opportunity for an arts or community center at the site of the old police headquarters.

At the meeting the council voted 3-2 to give away the old police headquarters and fire station to Kushner. Councilman Torres and Councilwoman Crus voted no.

The Council liaison to the redevelopment authority is Councilwoman Rose Morales.

Mayor Caba did not attend the meeting.

Joel Rosa, Chair of the Redevelopment Agency, told the council that Kushner has made good and that the residents of the Landings want the development to be built.