Save Carteret Avenue

07/03/2025

The 4th of July is about a lot more than barbecues and beaches. It is about our independence from tyranny and the right to self government. Let's celebrate the freedoms we have and never stop fighting for them

06/18/2025

Kind of wondering, has anyone heard about the mammoth 2 Carteret Avenue project that was supposed to go before the planning board in late March? The high density housing development, with not enough parking? The project that was masked by the secretive CBP- The Carteret Business Partnership....

06/06/2025

D-Day 81 years ago: Never forget the price to be paid to defeat tyranny

05/24/2025

Let's take time this weekend to honor those who gave their lives for America and remember their sacrifice, which allows us to enjoy the freedoms we now have in America. And let's keep fighting to protect and preserve the freedoms earned by those who died to protect them - or we will lose them to tyrants.

05/17/2025

Some Carteret Tax information

Many of you have asked for more transparency from town hall. And since getting information out of borough hall can often be difficult, we researched some available data of Carteret budget figures that you may be interested in.

According to he 2024 budget available on line ( the 2025 budget is not yet available) the total amount to be raised by taxes for municipal purposes was $39,282,839 which includes $780, 395 for the municipal open space tax and 1,265,108 for the library tax

The Middlesex County tax is $12.80 million and the school tax is $30.40 million
The debt service, the amount we pay annually to pay off the borrowed funds in $5.07 million
The total spending plan is $68.25 million

https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=23531&repo=r-e165aebc

Looking back to 2020 the actual spending was $29. 96 million for the municipal tax level, plus $903,505 for the library tax and $734,044 for the open space tax
School taxes in 2020 $28.50 million
The Middlesex County tax was $9.20 million
The county open space tax was $800,000

SALARY HIKE

Interestingly the salaries of the mayor and council in 2020 were $180,000 and increase and $171,000 in 2019

According to the 2024 budget the salaries for the mayor and council are $312,000 – that is a sizable increase in 4 years

04/30/2025

The shadow government of the Borough of Carteret

By now we all realize that Mayor Reiman runs a very secretive ship -- failing to disclose what he is up to unless forced to do so.
He operates through shadowy organizations such as the Carteret Business Partnership, which is, or was, the owner of 2 Carteret Avenue, at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue. It is this site, across the street from the Columbus School where the CBP is proposing the development of a massive apartment complex that will impact the entire neighborhood.

Reiman appointed himself Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Carteret Business Partnership – a secretive organization that apparently has few public meetings and reports nothing it does to the residents – and it apparently does a lot without anyone knowing about it.
Overview on Carteret Business Partnership
Carteret Business Partnership Inc is a tax-exempt organization since August. 2008 EIN: 32-0145183
It is Designated as a 501(c)3 Organizations for any of the following purposes:
Category: Community Improvement, Capacity Building / Economic Development
According to the latest IRS 990 charity reporting form for 2023 -- available on Nonprofit Explorer:
• The CBP had $9.94 million in revenue in 2023, and;
• $8.3 million in expenses
• Total liabilities of $2.26 million
• Total assets of $64. 4 million
• And a payroll in 2023 of $396,622

Those 2023 figures show startling increase from 10 years earlier.

The 2014 990 report shows the organization had:
• Income of $1.36 million
• Expenses of $1.11 million
• Net assets of $1.94 million
That’s an incredible growth of more than $62 million in assets – none of which are disclosed to the public.
CBP and 2 Carteret Avenue

Through a search of property records we were able to ascertain that 2 Carteret Avenue – a rental unit - was purchased by Carteret Business Partnership on February 13, 2019 for $1,250,00 from Virk Apartments LLC. Virk bought the building on 11/25/13 for $850,000 from Roger Mark Daniels, who lives or lived at 8 Locus Street, Carteret. Virk’s sale of the property realized a $400,000 gain in just 5.5 years.

The lender that financed the 2 Carteret Avenue purchase by CBP was United Roosevelt Savings - according to state records
Not surprisingly, the mayor has influence over the bank. He is a board member.
Board of Directors URS
Kenneth R. Totten, Chairman of the Board
Patrick J DeBlasio
John Kwasnik
Daniel J Reiman
Timothy D. Touhey
Garry G. Yee, D.D.S

The bank also made a $1 million donation to Reinman’s pet project: The Arts Center;
In 2021 United Roosevelt Savings donated $1 million to the Carteret performing Arts Center. https://www.roi-nj.com/2021/11/24/lifestyle/united-roosevelt-savings-bank-donates-1m-to-the-carteret-performing-arts-events-center/

No one in the neighborhood or parents at the Columbus School knew of the CBP purchase of the 2 Carteret Avenue property or what the CBP intended to do with the property until property owners were given the mandatory notice that the Planning Board is about to approve a 326-unit apartment complex with inadequate parking.

It’s time we started demanding more transparency from our town’s government and ask that the mayor fully disclose the interests and intentions of his secretive organizations such as the CBP and the Carteret Port Authority. If we cannot get the questions from town hall, perhaps a state or federal prosecutor should take a look at what is going on in our once peaceful town. What do you think?

04/21/2025

IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO PUT A COMMUTER HIGHWAY THROUGH A RESIDENTIAL PARKING LOT?
For those who still think it is good public policy for Mayor Reiman to spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money to take private property and build a commuter road through the parking lot of Meridian Terrace on the left and townhouses and apartments at the Lexington on the right -- please take a good look at the photo below.
Imagine you live there, or in the neighborhood. The parking lot is gone – and so are the parking spaces -- replaced by a road - the extension of Carteret Avenue - going to the waterfront. Every day there is high volume of cars and trucks passing by the Columbus School; the out- of-town drivers speeding down Carteret Avenue to get to the ferry on their morning commute and going back, just as fast, during their evening commute. Add to that the number of cars and SUV’s using Carteret Avenue to get to the bars and restaurants that the mayor is encouraging to be built in the neighborhood (so the town can get its hands on 20% of the liquor sales ). How many of those drivers may be too impaired to drive safely?
Imagine that traffic every morning, afternoon and evening – passing withing a few feet of your home. Imagine living with the noise, the exhaust pollution and the danger posed by the mayor’s reckless plan to build a road through a parking lot. If the mayor gets away with this in our neighborhood, what will do to your neighborhood?
Why would any responsible public official believe that the plan to extend a commuter road through a parking lot is a good idea? Why would the state Dept. of Transportation approve such a plan?

Save Carteret Avenue. Save the Neighborhood. Go to a council meeting and tell the mayor, this is a bad idea.
Carteret council meetings are at 61 Cooke Avenue Room 204 at 6 p.m. Remote call in Number 732 447 9901/ access code 920718
https://www.carteret.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/BOC-2025-Council-and-Agenda-Meetings.pdf

04/17/2025

GO TO THE MEETINGS
There has been no notice given the property owners surrounding the proposed high density, 326-unit development at 2 Carteret Avenue at Roosevelt Avenue known as Roosevelt Lofts Urban Renewal LLC.
You may recall that the special Planning Board meeting on March 12 was postponed because the developer failed to provide a traffic study. It was presumed the applicant would appear in April to explain why his massive project would not be a safety threat to neighborhood – and in particular to the students at the Columbus School.
There is no special meeting planned and the only agenda item for the regular Planning Board’s April 23 meeting ( at 6 pm) is for a redevelopment project on Washington Avenue. Interestingly last month’s special meeting for 2 Carteret Avenue was held at the most inconvenient time of 10 am. Why couldn’t the special meeting for Roosevelt Lofts Urban Renewal LLC, be held at 6 p.m.? Too controversial? Too much opposition?
For those opposed to the over-redevelopment of our area and the mayor’s attempt to extend of Carteret Avenue through the Meridian Terrace parking lot by forcibly taking private property from the complex owner, there is another avenue to confront the people who run this town. The next council meeting is April 24 at 6 p.m. and another on May 22.
We urge all those concerned about the future of Carteret, our quality of life, the safety of our neighborhood – and how the town’s redevelopment schemes work – to go to the council meetings and ask the tough question the mayor does not want to answer. Demand accountability. Demand transparency. How does the Carteret Business Partnership really work? Why is the CBT so secretive? Why is the town getting a 20 % of liquor sales? What is the impact of all the traffic in the neighborhood on the safety of our children?
Anyone who lives in or near this side of town or who has children attending the Columbus School has to believe that making Carteret Avenue a busy commuter road - and building high density development across the street from a school is a BAD IDEA. Only the Reiman cabal of insiders who are on the payroll can possibly believe this is a wise move or a safe way to develop the neighborhood.
Go to the town meetings. Demand answers. Expose the deal making.
Thank you
Quiz: Who is a member of the Board of Directors United Roosevelt Savings – and why does it matter?

04/06/2025

April 6, 2025 post

Here’s some more information on how the mysterous Carteret Business Partnership is working for the Friends of the Mayor.

The CBP runs a façade program– financed from the borough’s Special Improvement District tax. Documents obtained under OPRA from 2018 through August 2024 – showed that over that time they issued 6 checks for the façade program – 4 of them went to sign companies – which were most likely paid to make signs for other businesses. Of the $274,750 the CBP spent on the façade program during that time - $250,000 went to one property owners JLJ Associates LLC is at 801 ROOSEVELT AVE Carteret, NJ . Leonard Sitar is listed as the president.

Sitar is reportedly the uncle of Leonard D’Orsi who some have reported is the brother of Hank D’Orsi, a member of the CBP and a former real estate partner with Mayor Reiman. A commenter says the D'Orsi's are not brothers.
(If any of you have more information on the relationship, let us know.) The point however is that the CBP gave by far its largest grant award to one business owner, offering no transparency about the award.

According to published reports, the Sitar family opened a Shop Rite in 1958 on Washington Avenue. In 2018 the Shop Rite was extensively renovated. That’s when the CBP bestowed on the Sitar family a $250,000 façade grant – by far the biggest grant in the CBP’s history - that we know of.
The only other CBP façade grant that did not go to a sign company was $8,000 that went to Eugene Mangyik in March 2019. Mangyik owned Stars Liquors at 1297 Roosevelt Ave, Carteret. Mangyik died in November 2019.
The conflict of interest between Hank D’Orsi, as a member of the CBP -- giving by he largest grant ever from the CBP to a business run by his family members is obvious. The actions of the CBP are shrouded in secrecy – there is no disclosure how the group operates and how the SID tax on businesses is being used. Why is there no state investigation of how this group operates? As with the borough and CBP getting a 20 percent share of alcohol sales in the borough’s redevelopment zones, the façade program looks questionable – and if not for political protection by Middlesex County Democrat political leaders, would be investigated. Why is there no investigation? Isn’t it time we asked the state to do its job and look into Carteret’s government.

Third-generation executive Jonathan D’Orsi’s move from Wall Street to family business brings new Food Service Department, including a café

03/29/2025

Some people have asked about the Carteret Business Partnership and who runs it and what it does. We know the CBT bought 2 Carteret Avenue several years ago and removed all the tenants and proceeded to undertake the high-density development project across the Street from the Columbus School, and along Roosevelt Avenue without any public input.
We have some information to share on the CBP
The Carteret Business Partnership Inc - a tax-exempt organization since August 2008 EIN: 32-0145183 .It is Designated as a 501(c)(3) Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. (According to non-profit explorer)
Mayor Reiman serves as Chairman of the board of directors of the Carteret Business Partnership. The board of directors are all - not surprisingly – close to the mayor.
• Mark Hruska, Executive Director was the fire chief in town until January. He is paid $45,000 a year in 2023 up from $39,000 in 2022. He is every hard to reach. And he, not the borough custodian of records, is responsible for answering OPRA requests – and he does it poorly – if at all.
• Diana St. John, Deputy Director & director of Community Development
• Joseph Wutkowski, Treasurer – an accountant with his own business
• Hank D’Orsi, Member, Business Owner was in real estate partnership with Reiman.
• A.J. Johal, Member, Business Owner, also a councilman
• Peter Visceglia, Member, Business Owner
According to the group’s 2023 non-profit IRS filing; the organization has
Revenue of $9.94M (2023)
Expenses $8.3M (2023)
Total Assets $64.4M (2023)
Total Liabilities $2.26M (2023)
***
The CBP 2022 IRS filing showed
Revenue of $5,882,291
Expenses - $5,170,919
Net Income - $711,372
Net Assets -$60,544,302
So, there was a sizable $4 million increase in net assets between 2022 and 2023.

Don’t bother looking for the CBT’s meeting minutes or schedule of meeting on the borough website. You won’t find it.

Why is this group that controls $64 million in assets so secretive? You can ask the mayor and council

We will look into the groups donors and real estate holding and report back to you.

03/21/2025

Newly disclosed information on the proposed high density housing projectg on the corner of Carteret Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue shows that the proposed project requires 570 parking spaces for the 326 units; but the developer -- Roosevelt Lofts Urban Renewal LLC -- is asking the town for relief from the parking requirement and wants to create only 396 parking spaces – that is 174 short of the number required by Borough’s development law. Much of the parking for the complex will be offsite – but where? On Roosevelt Avenue or Carteret Avenue? Or at a yet undisclosed parking garage? Complicating matters a bit is that the project includes 5,000 square feet of commercial retail space on the ground floor. What could that be used for? A pizzeria restaurant, a dry cleaner? Where will the patrons park? What will happen to our once quiet neighborhood?

03/16/2025

A Carteret Borough spokesman said he was unaware of criticism of the high- density housing project on the corner of Carteret Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. (Yes, he said that!)
A resident responded saying: borough officials should monitor social media and regular media, where (they) will find without a shadow of doubt that (many) people want to be informed about this and other projects before they are approved, not afterward.”
Carteret Online Hearing for 326 New Apartments Fizzled; Questions Remain | Woodbridge/Carteret, NJ News TAPinto | TAPinto

CARTERET, NJ — People who went online to watch last Wednesday morning’s “virtual” hearing for 326 new luxury apartments got a surprise: There was nothing to see.What happened? Well, that’s up for...