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The vacant storefront proposed in the Horizons complex. |
Whether or not Assemblyman Green is brave and trying to do a good thing doesn't matter.
Whether immigrant laborers are suspicious and feel a center may be used to entrap them doesn't matter.
Whether or not a trustworthy and credible manager can be found doesn't matter.
Whether or not haters might follow the laborers to their work or homes to harass or harm them doesn't matter.
Whether ICE agents might target the contractors and other employers doesn't matter.
Why?
Because LOGISITICS is the silent killer of this proposal, whatever its merits or demerits.
Anyone who has observed the daylaborer transaction will recognize at once that it is composed of a few discrete parts --
- the contractor pulls up at the curb or in a lot,
- potential workers crowd around,
- a brief negotiation ensues over how many workers are needed and what pay will be offered,
- the chosen few are picked and the contractor takes off with his 'crew'.
Needed? A place to pull over and execute the above sequence.
Now, look at the map above closely. The red outline is the 'vacant' storefront space in the Horizons complex.
It is in front of a NJ Transit bus stop. There is no parking or standing. There is no parking or standing on Somerset Street in the block before the traffic light. In fact, there is no parking or standing on any of the four corners of this, perhaps the busiest intersection in the city of Plainfield.
The metered parking further down West Front is constantly filled with customers for the Dunkin' Donuts and the restaurants in that block as well as the taxi company housed there.
The lot adjacent to the laundromat is reserved for the laundromat and Horizons residents. The lot further back is for Horizons residents.
Contractors would have to park a considerable distance from the proposed center, leaving their vehicles (and tools and equipment) unguarded.
An insurmountable logistical obstacle is my guess.
Dead on arrival.
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