The National Park Service’s drive to commercially develop Sandy Hook under the guise of historic preservation has always been a terrible idea. (“ ‘Daunting’ Financial Gap Slows Fort Hancock’s Officers Row Rehabilitation”)
New Jersey’s coast is grotesquely over built and overcrowded. As an antidote, Sandy Hook should be a place to experience the natural world as deeply as possible, not a place for a NY developer to create 80+ luxury apartments for private use.
Not only is privatizing Officers’ Row terrible public policy, it is now clear that it’s terrible fiscal policy. A NPS spokeswoman has announced that the Stillman Group will need at least $100 million to convert the buildings of Officers’ Row to apartments, which they would lease for a profit. The Stillman Group is only willing to spend
$50 million, Apparently, the NPS thinks the U.S. taxpayers should pony up the missing $50+ million. The spokeswoman states, “We have to figure out how to get some more government investment here.”
I’m sure the Stillman Groups thinks that is a great idea.
Bob Hespe
Atlantic Highlands
This article originally appeared in the December 7 – 13, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
