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Some Jersey City residents not putting chips down for North Jersey casinos plan

While some are ready to test their luck in a Jersey City casino, many fear the city's infrastructure cannot accommodate the venue and fear the city will be negatively impacted by its presence.

Casino gambling is currently limited to Atlantic City, but a trio of lawmakers have proposed a bill that would allow casinos to be built in Hudson, Bergen, and Essex Counties.

The plan, which is being sponsored by Assembly members Ralph Caputo, D-Belleville, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, and Raj Mukherji, D-Jersey City, does not specify where the casinos would be located. However, plans have been floated for the Meadowlands and near Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City as potential locations.

But not everyone in Jersey City is on board with the plan.

"There's no plan in place to make sure there isn't garbage on the street, how are we going to handle a casino?" said Jessica Silver, 46, of Downtown Jersey City.

As a proud resident since 1999, Silver said she supports development in general but does not believe the low-paying jobs a casino would create would make a big enough impact.

"There was no benefit to Atlantic City except maybe some low paying jobs," Silver said. "It doesn't raise a community out of poverty."

Last week, Mukherji estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 new jobs being created as a result of the north Jersey casinos. But Fletcher Gensamer, a Downtown Jersey City resident, said those numbers are inflated, pointing to the 2011 construction of Revel Casino in Atlantic City, which he said only created 2,100 construction jobs and about 3,000 jobs in the casino.

"The numbers don't add up," said Gensamer, 44.

With the recent crime in Jersey City some residents are concerned building a casino would shift city officials' attention away from existing issues in the community.

Gensamer, who is mulling a run for city council in 2017, said building a casino in Greenville would inflate existing problems in that section of the city.

"It's like a magnet for even more violence," Gensamer said.

"We already got enough crime," added Jeanette Caceres, 50, a Greenville resident. "It's just gonna be another tax break like all of Downtown Jersey City."

Caceres said she fears an increase in crime and drugs will affect the quality of life for the city as a whole.

"It's a no brainer," Caceres said. "What is this casino going to do for anyone? It's gonna bring so many problems."

Gensamer is also concerned about tax abatements for a new casino and that a potential increase in crime would require the city to expand its police force.

"There are a lot of issues that need to be studied" he said.

However, a recent NJ.com poll, which earned nearly 1,500 votes, showed that just over half of those who participated were in favor of New Jersey legalizing gambling outside of Atlantic City.

A number of Jersey City residents surveyed in different parts of town last week were also in favor of bringing a casino to Hudson County. Hudson politicians have also expressed their support of bringing casinos to North Jersey.

While Silver said she was not sure whether putting a casino in another location other than Jersey City would be more ideal, Gensamer said a better location would be the Meadowlands since there is already infrastructure in place there.

For Caceres, however, casinos should be flat out left to Atlantic City.

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http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2..._effect_q.html