This Is My New Jersey

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know I am a proud New Jerseyan. Despite all the craziness that is the Garden State, there is no where else I would rather live.

This week, however, I heard two news stories that made me truly sad. The potential demolition of two historic locations that may be victims of the wrecking ball in short order.

Irvine-Cozzarelli Memorial Home

The first building is in my beloved hometown of Belleville. The Irvine-Cozzarelli funeral parlor has been part of the community for generations. The funeral service was founded in the late 1800s. When owner James J. Cozzarelli Jr. took over the business in 1972, he meticulously renovated the interior to what can only be described as a work of art.

Growing up, different families would go to the same funeral parlor decade after decade. For my family, it was Michael Megaro. For many of my friends, it was James Cozzarelli. I had only been in the funeral parlor a few times, but I do remember it vividly. It was an amazing collection of rooms. Mr. Cozzarelli had classic sense of design and the ability to create a marbled look with paint.

According to Belleville’s Planning Board, the area has been voted as “an area in need of improvement.” Now, I lived in Belleville for just shy of 30 years and I’ve heard that term before. Trust me, the type of “improvement” the Planning Board has in mind is not what I would call progress.

The current Belleville Mayor, Michael Melham, who is also a member of the Planning Board, thinks the request for preservation from the Belleville Historical Society is due to the funeral parlor playing a staring role in the Jersey Mafia show, The Sopranos.

Yup, it’s that funeral parlor.

According to the Mayor, he believes the push back is due to its filming history.

“These are the same people against every single development project in Belleville,” Mayor Melham said in an NJ.com article. “This time, they happen to think they have a better angle and sadly, because ‘The Sopranos’ were filmed there, they have gotten some traction… “Filming a TV show in a building doesn’t make it historic.”

Mr. Mayor, I hate to break it to you, but it has nothing to do with the television show. You have a structure dating back to the late 1800s. It is a lovely building that was restored by the late Mr. Cozzarelli. It is deserving of preservation.

Not long ago I wrote about my love for my hometown. And I also realize that things change, even if I don’t want them to change.

Every time I drive through Belleville, it looks totally different. There are cold block-like buildings going up at a surprising rate. It feels like my little hometown is breaking open at the seams.

It seems like every time they want to put up another ugly square-box building, they just label the area “in need of redevelopment.”

Yeah, not buying it.

Holy Spirit Catholic Church

The second building on the potential chopping block is the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Asbury Park.

I first learned about the sad history of eminent domain in Asbury Park in the documentary, Greetings from Asbury Park. The 2009 documentary tells the story of 91-year-old Angie, who fought against the city to keep her home she lived in for over 50 years. Her home was eyed under eminent domain for redevelopment for luxury condos. Due to health reasons, she had to give up her fight in 2014 and ultimately sold her home to the city in 2014. She died a year later at the age of 97.

She should’ve been able to pass away peacefully in her home of a half-century. Instead, this Greek immigrant who came to find her American Dream learned how the government can take the home you made together with your husband of 46 years.

Her adorable little home is gone and an ugly multi-unit big-box dwelling is in its place. And now they want to do it again.

Holy Spirit Catholic Church is a Gothic-revival Catholic church that opened in 1879. At its height, it had a bustling flock, along with a rectory, a convent, and a K-8 school behind the church. It is a beautiful work of art with stained-glass windows, marble interior, and carved statues for the Stations of the Cross.

And now it might be torn down.

The Trenton Archdiocese closed the church in 2021 and sold the property to developers for… luxury condos and townhomes.

It was a shock to community members to learn it was never placed on any state or national registers of historic places. Even more shocking, Asbury Park has no specific ordinances related to the protection of historic properties and has not created a Historic Preservation Commission to review changes to historic buildings.

Another famous building that had a date kept with the wrecking ball was the Palace Amusement Building, a historic structure that housed an indoor amusement park and was the home of the famous Tillie mural. It was demolished in 2004.

So it seems Asbury Park never learned their lesson. Or they prefer eminent domain in an attempt to attract wealthy property owners that may use these units as either second homes in the summer or rental properties.

I’ll tell you what, if I was working on this plan to tear down a church, I would want off the project immediately. Whether I was a heavy equipment operator, or an architect, or a consultant. I would want zero part of a plan to bulldoze a church.

The Future of New Jersey

I believe we are at a crossroads here in New Jersey. Are we going to continue to allow our most important spaces be flattened in lieu of luxury condos, warehouses, or storage facilities? Or are we going to keep that Jersey chip on our shoulder and say with a collective voice, “not having it.”

In the 80s, we saw the rise of the mall. It was both a source of enjoyment and frustration. It gave teenagers like me a place to hang out, employed thousands, and leveled acres of land. Now many of them sit empty, leaving property owners wondering what is next.

In 50 years will our children look back and say “God, what were they thinking?”

I hope not, but I seriously wonder if we have the juice to put a stop to it. But you can make a difference. Start attending your town’s planning meetings. I’ve started to attend my town’s meetings to make sure my voice is heard on the project for the now defunct Hercules site. The proposed plan is for a 2.5 million square-foot warehouse.

So, it’s not a very happy blog post today. But there is hope. We can have our voices heard. Respond like our future depends on it. Because in reality, it does.