Save our arts building
May 20, 2008 | 84 views | 0 
| 1 
| 
| 
| 1 | |
The Neumann Leathers Tenants Association[NLTA] is sponsoring the Neumann Leathers Open House and Studios on Sunday, May 18, 1-7p.m. Dozens of artists, photographers, musicians and artisans of all kinds will open their workspaces so Hoboken can see what will be lost if a current Doomsday plan succeeds. Videographer Mark Gasper will videotape visitor's opinions about Neumann Leathers in his studio. We are especially interested in taping the stories of former workers at the Neumann Leathers Company. For more information about the open studios go to www.neumanntenants.org.
In recent years rumors have abounded about the imminent demise of Neumann Leathers. Here are the facts. First, the bad news. A plan to evict all tenants and demolish all of these historic fully occupied buildings has been submitted to the Hoboken Planning Office. A large national developer has a contract to buy the three acre Neumann
Leathers site. As far as I know, their plan is to build five story luxury housing. They have included in its plan a 25 thousand square foot, five story "Arts" building. This is an inadequate "artwash". We tenants currently occupy 180,000 square feet. Also in this plan is a "pedestrian mall" that will continue Clinton Street through from Newark Street to Observer Highway, both of which are Hudson County roads. This opens the door for Hudson County to declare the "pedestrian mall" a through street as St. Mary Hospital is three blocks north on Clinton Street.
The good news, for those who value neighborhood diversity, historic preservation and arts and industry in Hoboken is that the NLTA is leading the fight against this destructive Doomsday plan. And we have found many friends. A team of experts, headed up by John Nastasi, an architect and Neumann tenant, is developing a plan to save and renovate most of the buildings for continued use by artists and the existing high-tech and artisanal businesses. A large public "Piazza" between the buildings would house retail space, exhibition space for artists, restaurants, performance space, etc. and be a gathering space for the surrounding community.
Besides the factory buildings, the Neumann site includes a large parking lot which could be used for residential development that would compliment the existing architecture. NLTA will reach out to its neighbors through the Observer Highway Redevelopment Advisory Committee [OHRAC] for input in planning any new development. We are confident that we can create an overall plan that will have economic feasibility, a fair return to the property owners and be welcomed by our neighbors as an asset to the community.
Hoboken has the opportunity at Neumann Leathers to do something that is far more than just another condo project. There is a diamond in the rough behind the rundown brick facade.
Tim Daly, artist and secretary of the NLTA
post a comment
comments (0)
no comments yet