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Weehawken Reporter NINE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS SERVING HUDSON COUNTY • STORIES UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY AT WWW.HUDSONREPORTER.COM • A PUBLICATION OF THE HUDSON REPORTER
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 3 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2012
Come fly with me
UP, UP, AWAY! – Four-year-old Kelsea Nerich stumbled into Kite Night with mom Trista and brother Kyan. Fortunately fellow kite-fliers were in a sharing mood, as Kelsea seemed to have a lot to teach in the way of technique.
L
Weehawken hosts third annual Kite Night
By Gennarose Pope Reporter Staff Writer
MONKEYING AROUND WITH KITES – Breyanna Lopez, 15 months, enjoyed her first kite-flying experience during Weehawken Kite Night with her mother Any Lopez. Last year, she was in a carriage, but this year, she ventured out.
Keep jobs close to home
Unions press for local contracts on Weehawken development
I
ocal residents flocked to the Weehawken Waterfront Complex in front of a stunning Manhattan skyline to fly kites Monday night. It was the eve after a storm that would have had Benjamin Franklin envious, but didn’t discourage the new record turnout. Children young and old brought kites big and small, beautiful, and downright odd. The intermittent breezes caught and dropped the levitating amalgams of hollow sticks and colorful fabrics with a 2,800 year old history of flight.
see KITE
NIGHT
page 11
UP AND COMING – Weehawken is seeing a development boom and local unions want a piece of the action.
By Al Sullivan
Reporter staff writer
In its third year, Weehawken’s Kite Night united families and kite aficionados alike, with the sounds of giggling, giddy children and their parents punctuating the air as the sun set behind the Palisade cliffs. “It’s such a fantastic night for kites,” Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said, hair blown by the breezes that fueled the fun. “The community really rallies around this event, and it’s great to see everyone come together.”
n a move that he hoped would bring clout to his argument to encourage Hartz Mountain to use local union labor on three buildings going up along the Weehawken waterfront, Patrick Kelleher, president of the Hudson County Building & Construction Trades Council, presented his case before the Hudson County Freeholders at their Aug. 7 caucus meeting. Kelleher said local unions have put together a package of proposals to Hartz Mountain Industries that he hoped would encourage the developer to use local union labor rather than out of area non-union workers. The freeholders, who have almost no say in the matter because none of the three buildings requires county approvals, have been very pro-union, requir-
ing that project labor agreements for use of union labor be part of all county projects. “When projects like this go to out of state workers, the money the workers earn gets spent out of state, and does nothing to help the local economy,” Kelleher told the freeholders. “We would like to see these jobs stay here in Hudson County.” Hartz is involved in the development of three of six large new buildings proposed for construction on the Weehawken water front, said Mayor Richard Turner, who has been acting as a go between the unions and the developer.
see DEVELOPMENT page 7
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