School Builders Drop Plan to Demolish Nearby Sex Theater and Hotel
By TINA KELLEY
PASSAIC, N.J., March 1 â€" When the Passaic school district chose a home for a new $37 million elementary school, plans included the purchase and demolition of two nearby buildings deemed unsuitable for a school zone: the Montauk Theater, which specializes in pornography, and the Hotel Passaic, the site of prostitution arrests.
But citing a lack of money, the Schools Construction Corporation, the embattled state agency charged with building schools primarily in New Jersey’s poorest districts, told the Passaic superintendent of schools recently that it could not buy and demolish the buildings, at an estimated cost of $5 million.
The decision has angered the superintendent, who accused the agency of reneging on a contract.
Three Democratic state legislators who represent Passaic are also protesting the decision by the corporation, which last year announced that its $8.6 billion budget would cover only half of its expected projects.
“If taxpayers are frustrated about money,” Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer said Wednesday, standing at the site of the school, “I guarantee they’ll be more frustrated if we spend $37 million for a school that absolutely everyone will refuse to send their children to. To have 4- and 5- and 10-year-olds going to school next to a theater that shows pornographic movies, that’s obscene.”
The financial problems at the agency have drawn widespread criticism from educators and politicians throughout New Jersey, and prompted an investigation by the state’s inspector general. In a report, the inspector general called the agency “vulnerable to mismanagement, fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest, and waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
Robert H. Holster, superintendent of the Passaic public schools, said that in a 3.1-square-mile city of 68,662, there are limited choices for school sites. Finding this one, on Henry Street at Main Avenue, took several years and much cooperation with the school construction agency, he said.
“Now, for them to make a 180-degree turn and go back on a contractual obligation is unacceptable,” he said, adding that the district would sue the agency if necessary.
“I’m not going to have children in a location where there are undesirables — it’s known as a prostitution and drug area,“ he said, noting that the theater had been closed on a number of occasions for its patrons' inappropriate behavior.
Kevin McElroy, the spokesman for the corporation, said its chief operating officer would meet on Thursday with the legislators who are protesting the agency’s decision. Besides Mr. Schaer, they are Senator Paul A. Sarlo and Assemblyman Frederick Scalera.
“We have decided against pursuing buying the theater and hotel, largely due to cost considerations,” Mr. McElroy said. “However, we’re going back and reviewing everything now. The bottom line is we don’t want to put kids in an unsafe situation.”
The site, on the main street of town, is near a 99-cents store, bargain clothes stores, a grocery and fast-food restaurants.
A sign on the hotel window warns that the area is under 24-hour surveillance. The theater, which has been shuttered during a court battle with the city, has plans to reopen.
Mr. Holster said about a third of the district’s 14,000 students are being taught under conditions that the state calls substandard, and the district has leased five buildings, including a bank and a church, to alleviate overcrowding. It plans to put 700 students in the new school.
“We are in dire need,” he said. “We’re under pressure to meet standards, academic standards, but the conditions for learning are not equitable.”
Mr. McElroy said the agency had already spent about $7 million to acquire land for the school. The theater and hotel would cost $5 million, he said, adding, “We can’t just buy that property and not use it for educational purposes.”
Mr. McElroy said the Henry Street school was one of seven planned for Passaic. “We are considering all possible alternatives” for the Henry Street site, he said.
Around the corner from the school site, Melvin Bermudez was waiting for a bus. He called the hotel “a bad one, with drugs.” Asked if he would send his children to a school next to the theater, he said, “I doubt it.”
New York Times
March 2, 2006
School Builders Drop Plan to Demolish Nearby Sex Theater and Hotel
By TINA KELLEY
PASSAIC, N.J., March 1 â€" When the Passaic school district chose a home for a new $37 million elementary school, plans included the purchase and demolition of two nearby buildings deemed unsuitable for a school zone: the Montauk Theater, which specializes in pornography, and the Hotel Passaic, the site of prostitution arrests.
But citing a lack of money, the Schools Construction Corporation, the embattled state agency charged with building schools primarily in New Jersey’s poorest districts, told the Passaic superintendent of schools recently that it could not buy and demolish the buildings, at an estimated cost of $5 million.
The decision has angered the superintendent, who accused the agency of reneging on a contract.
Three Democratic state legislators who represent Passaic are also protesting the decision by the corporation, which last year announced that its $8.6 billion budget would cover only half of its expected projects.
“If taxpayers are frustrated about money,” Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer said Wednesday, standing at the site of the school, “I guarantee they’ll be more frustrated if we spend $37 million for a school that absolutely everyone will refuse to send their children to. To have 4- and 5- and 10-year-olds going to school next to a theater that shows pornographic movies, that’s obscene.”
The financial problems at the agency have drawn widespread criticism from educators and politicians throughout New Jersey, and prompted an investigation by the state’s inspector general. In a report, the inspector general called the agency “vulnerable to mismanagement, fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest, and waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars.”
Robert H. Holster, superintendent of the Passaic public schools, said that in a 3.1-square-mile city of 68,662, there are limited choices for school sites. Finding this one, on Henry Street at Main Avenue, took several years and much cooperation with the school construction agency, he said.
“Now, for them to make a 180-degree turn and go back on a contractual obligation is unacceptable,” he said, adding that the district would sue the agency if necessary.
“I’m not going to have children in a location where there are undesirables — it’s known as a prostitution and drug area,“ he said, noting that the theater had been closed on a number of occasions for its patrons' inappropriate behavior.
Kevin McElroy, the spokesman for the corporation, said its chief operating officer would meet on Thursday with the legislators who are protesting the agency’s decision. Besides Mr. Schaer, they are Senator Paul A. Sarlo and Assemblyman Frederick Scalera.
“We have decided against pursuing buying the theater and hotel, largely due to cost considerations,” Mr. McElroy said. “However, we’re going back and reviewing everything now. The bottom line is we don’t want to put kids in an unsafe situation.”
The site, on the main street of town, is near a 99-cents store, bargain clothes stores, a grocery and fast-food restaurants.
A sign on the hotel window warns that the area is under 24-hour surveillance. The theater, which has been shuttered during a court battle with the city, has plans to reopen.
Mr. Holster said about a third of the district’s 14,000 students are being taught under conditions that the state calls substandard, and the district has leased five buildings, including a bank and a church, to alleviate overcrowding. It plans to put 700 students in the new school.
“We are in dire need,” he said. “We’re under pressure to meet standards, academic standards, but the conditions for learning are not equitable.”
Mr. McElroy said the agency had already spent about $7 million to acquire land for the school. The theater and hotel would cost $5 million, he said, adding, “We can’t just buy that property and not use it for educational purposes.”
Mr. McElroy said the Henry Street school was one of seven planned for Passaic. “We are considering all possible alternatives” for the Henry Street site, he said.
Around the corner from the school site, Melvin Bermudez was waiting for a bus. He called the hotel “a bad one, with drugs.” Asked if he would send his children to a school next to the theater, he said, “I doubt it.”