Welcome to Wanookie.
A long time ago when the New York Giants won the Superbowl, a reporter asked then New York City Mayor Koch if he was going to throw a parade for the team in downtown NYC. To which he said something to the effect of, "they can have their parade in Wanaque." Just a Jersey rookie when I read about the incident, I read the line as a parade in wä-nä-kē -- which sounded like a lot of fun to me. Wanakie eventually evolved into wä-nōō-kē so as to compliment Jay's line "schnookie nookie!" in Clerks . Hence, Fridays (fun) = Wanookie. Now you know. Someday perhaps I'll tell you all about the Extremely Raritan Bridge and Say You, Say Me, Sayreville... Naturally.
Hey somebody's gotta have some fun 'round here. Sure as hell ain't no fun at Borough Hall. We gots ourselves a battle royale. And it's only August. The November Council election is still 74 days away but somebody tell Mean Gene Okerlund to git his monkey suit on and git on down here to start the show. In addition to the Borough Attorney circus there's another carnival in town called the McConnell Property. And like always, it's a game of he said, she said, leaving residents like me scratching their heads.
Councilman Jack Archibald (who is gearing up for his November campaign) supports the redevelopment of the McConnell Property by K. Hovnanian. Archibald's latest Body Politic column in the Atlantic Highlands Herald is entitled McCONNELL PROPERTY SHOULD BE CLEANED UP BEFORE SALE TO HOVNANIAN (fait accompli, no?). Archibald believes if the borough forced New Jersey Natural Gas to clean up the site then Hovnanian would only need to build single-family homes and not multi-family units to subsidize the cost of the environmental clean-up. And who gets the blame for not forcing a cleanup of the property - the Donoghue Administration of course, who according to Archibald, have "neglected the issue for the past year."
However, Councilwoman Stephanie Ladiana writes, "for the last 9 years he [Archibald] seems to have intentionally ignored this property. Now that it’s convenient for him to take a position on it, he does. The only problem he’s constantly contradicting himself."
Looks to me like Archibald is on the developer's side on this one. He worked to designate the area for residential development, left the area off of the Borough's Open Space and Recreation Plan and as such does not agree with a majority of residents.
So, enquiring minds want to know - clean or dirty? Development or green space? Oh and there's this whole thing about a lawsuit about Atlantic Highlands not providing affordable housing units which could somehow provide a loophole for Hovnanian to get in. I hope the Democratic candidates spell out a clear point-of-view on this issue and I hope that view is that this property should become waterfront green space for all residents to enjoy.
Dynamobuzz pointed me to this article from the Wall Street Journal that takes another look at how the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Kelo vs. City of New London could affect homeowners in Long Branch who continue to fight to keep their homes from being dozed for luxury condos.
And since it's Wanookie let's have some fun:
- Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New "Intelligent Falling" Theory
- Mary Had a Little Lamb. It Was Delicious: Klingon Fairy Tales
- Dictatorship's Secret: The Mall's Banana Republics for the New Millennium
- Stop smearing us!
