A day of no water inspires a revelation
Lately I’ve noticed—well that is to say for the past year or so—that the movie ‘On the Waterfront’ has been enjoying a resurgence among long time residents of the Hoboken and Hudson County area. Since Hoboken’s been without water all day—thanks to a water main break in Jersey City—I figured what better time is there to dissect the phenomenon of this movie about our waterfront of old.
To be honest, there was not much dissection needed. As I’ve spoken to friends about this latest rediscovery of the Elia Kazan directed, Marlon Brando featured classic film, one very consistent fact kept popping up. Two of the most important locations of the film—namely the old Maxwell House factory and waterfront itself –are gone forever.
Though the site of that factory had shut down as a working facility back in the late 1980s, the building and historic coffee-cup sign remained a looming presence for nearly two decades longer. And the waterfront as depicted in the film has been a ghost for way longer. Still, over the past few years the area has been transformed into yet another unfortunate pile of high-cost bedrooms, modern kitchens and living rooms under the somewhat silly name of Maxwell Place.
It was this most recent transition that coincided with the upward popularity of the movie. The reason for this can be traced to how all of us who grew up knowing the sites used to look at the movie saying, “Hey that’s Hoboken,” with a certain sense of historic pride. Now we say, “Hey that used to be Hoboken,” with a certain sense of sad reminiscence. In a way, this development more than any other solidifies how the area will never be the same.
I understand the need for progress and the shifting of industries to better suit an area’s needs and economy. But what this death knell shouts about Hoboken is that there is less and less actual industry in the area every year. And no, real estate does not count. Real estate is an industry that depends heavily upon the existence of other industries.
Whether jobs are artistic or industrial or hospitality or whatever, a community needs places for people to actually work and not just sleep. I’m no economist, but I can see the how housing market is affected by the over saturation of empty homes. We’re in an economic crisis because there are too many houses and not enough people making the income needed to pay for them.
I’m not calling for Hoboken to be transformed back to the pollution and organized crime choked city it was at the time of ‘On the Waterfront’. What I am calling for is for this town to understand the need for industry … any industry. If we don’t want factories, then let’s bring back the arts, music and film. Let’s reminisce about 1954 while looking ahead at some new path.
