newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

At one point, it was considered to be one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world covering 329 acres. The Hunts Point Market, situated on the southern peninsula of the South Bronx, was often referred to as the "Red Light District" for its crime and prostitution that kept police at the 41st Precinct busy at night.

In 2005, Hunts Point became the site for New York City's new Fulton Fish Market, which replaced the 180 year old fish market that was formerly located on the Lower East Side in Downtown Manhattan.

More than 800 industrial businesses, employing over 25,000 workers, are located on the peninsula. A large concentration of food wholesalers, distributors, and food processing businesses are in the industrial business zoned park.

New Jersey has been eyeing the site for some time, intent on luring Hunts Point away to the Garden State to attract new businesses and to pump up its own economy.

New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno hopes the state will be able to attract companies and jobs from the Bronx. However, such a move raises the question of predatory regional takeover, and whether it is desirable to have neighboring states take businesses away from one another.

In a WNYC radio interview last May, Guadagno defended the policy saying, “Competition is good for everybody, I think. Hunts Point is in the Bronx, there are 3,200 jobs, and we're fighting very hard to attract them to New Jersey. The 3,200 people who can move to New Jersey from New York are going to be very happy, because we're going to save them a lot of money when they come here. If Hunts Point moves to New Jersey, it will save, from one of the companies talking about coming here, $300 per truckload because they're on this side of the river.”

Since taking office, Governor Christie has made it a priority to attract businesses to the state and to keep them. One particular example is the expansion of the Business Retention and Relocation Assistance grant program.

The program has grown to provide $2,250 annually for six years for every job retained in New Jersey, compared to $1,500 for just one year in the past.

Guadagno pointed to Panasonic, which was ready to leave Secaucus and, likely, the entire state until the incentive program came along.

“The bottom line is that Panasonic was leaving the building they were in and they were going someplace else. If they weren't going to stay in New Jersey, then it would be a total loss of upwards of 1,000 jobs to the people of New Jersey. I'm not going to choose between my favorite son, I'm just going to go out and market the soon-to-be empty building in Secaucus as much as I market the one in Newark. Legislation has seven cities entitled to these types of preferential treatment: urban areas that need updated infrastructure. That's legislation that existed well before Chris Christie was elected.”, according to that same WNYC radio interview last year.