Dear Editor:

As local business owners on Bergenline Avenue in North Bergen, we look forward to Memorial Day weekend because of the additional people and business it brings to the entire area. With this many pedestrians and cars it’s important to have an effective police presence. Although our local police always do a fine job, unfortunately Hudson County Sheriff Juan Perez and his department absolutely dropped the ball.

Instead of patrolling a very busy North Hudson Park and protecting park users, Perez’s officers spent their time operating a “Click-It or Ticket” campaign outside the park. They blocked off numerous parking spaces and created near gridlock by stopping so many cars. Businesses all along the avenue were harmed by the traffic conditions, and many motorists were inconvenienced and delayed. Meanwhile, there was no police presence inside the county park, where many people from outside the area were drinking alcohol, playing loud music and littering, breaking several laws. With no sheriff’s officers in sight, things could have gotten much worse.

Sheriff Perez needs to rethink his priorities. Instead of having sheriff’s officers waste resources on random traffic stops and hurting our businesses, the sheriff should just do his job and patrol the county park. There was a serious failure in leadership by Perez on Memorial Day weekend and as business owners we are very unhappy about this.



Sincerely,

Tapas de Espana Restaurant

Jagged Edge Salon and Spa

Grasshopper Salon

James Vincent Bicycles

And nine other businesses