A City Founded by Alexander Hamilton Sets the Stage for Its Next Act

Paterson’s has it all, crime, drugs, gangs .....and a few terrorists. A hotel and park won’t fix it. Targeted policing worked for NYC. It might work for Paterson.

Yes, Paterson has more opportunity for revival than any other city in N.J. Get her done

Much labor history in Paterson, including the 1913 Silk Strike led by the IWW. Learn about it at the Botto House/American Labor Museum in Haledon, NJ, just north of Paterson, where the sik strikers had rallies after being denied the right of assembly in Paterson.

I agree with Captain Z. I have recently lived in New Jersey and although the television show The Sopranos may have entertained a large part of the population, it does not stand as the prototype for the state any more than The Jersey Shore does. Why isn't Paterson, the epic poem by William Carlos Williams and Jim Jarmusch’s film, Paterson, an anthem to a city that not only produced Allen Ginsberg and the comedian Lou Costello mentioned?

I grew up a few miles from Paterson during the 50's and early 60's. It is a place of fond memories; high school track meets run on a 1/3 of a mile cinder track just above the Great Falls, family cook-outs in Garrett Mountain Reservation, watching the Fourth of July fireworks from a location in Garrett Mountain Reservation similar to that shown in the article. I often visited a college classmate who lived in a seemingly well-maintained working class neighborhood in Paterson. I will the city well.

I don't get that its strength is its diversity. Sounds like a bunch of made up jargon to me. Ill bet you have little neighborhoods within the neighborhood where like minded and like culture people live. I ain't buying this diversity drivel. People may like to visit other cultures but they like to live amongst those who are similar to them. And that transcends all walks of life. Human nature, Cannot change it

The story of the redevelopment of what used to be called "South Paterson" (until NJ Transit took away the train station that served this area) is an absolute miracle that is virtually unknown outside of the immediate area. Back in the late 1970s that area was essentially dying. The infusion of economic support by the Arab-American community is nothing short of a miracle. Today that area is clean, relatively safe, and filled with a wonderful and thriving community. But let's not fool ourselves: this development occurred IN SPITE of a string of corrupt or inept city administrations, not because of them. The new mayor and the city council would be wise to keep out of economic development and focus on the nuts-and-bolts of running a city: clean streets, decent schools, etc. Let's see, which mayor was it that wanted to re-develop the area around the Great Falls? I think it was Mayor Kramer. No, I think it was Mayor Graves. No, wait. it was Mayor Pascrell. I forgot, it was Mayor Barnes....uh, no, it was Mayor Torres. So now it will be Mayor Sayegh? Have they learned nothing from history?

There used to be two high end furniture stores on Main St, Paterson. Destination stores, pre Crate and Barrel. I remember after having my order written up by the latest generation of owners asking why he was there, rather than in Paramus, the nearby mall hub. He said first that furniture displays need lots of room and the space was cheep. Second, which was a surprise, he said on yr way to the parking lot notice how beautiful the buildings are. Like a small European city. Paramus is tacky in comparison. It’s too bad we don’t sufficiently appreciate such things.

If there was a direct train line to Manhattan real estate in Paterson would become invaluable.

An interesting article about the current state of Paterson and the aspirations of the new Mayor and city’s residents for improvement. But starting a paragraph with a reference to political corruption and gang violence then connecting it with a scene from a fictional TV show seems a bit weak to me.

Paterson NJ is my hometown and for decades I have seen and heard one elected official after another say they have the answer to solve the city's problems and all of them have pointed to The Great Falls as the key to their plan, but that is the problem. The idea of bringing a hotel to the Great Falls is old news and has resulted in time and money being lost on concepts that may look good on paper but cannot work in a city that has no master plan for development and maintenance of such development. An example is the Paterson Museum, instead of being a beautifully maintained structure, it is in disrepair and is down on the list of priorities for the city, but is usually the second place people go, after they see the falls. The Great Falls should be a focus point of a master plan but it cannot be the main point. It has been tried for decades and it has failed every time. Instead I recommend the new mayor look to Union City and how they maintain the city streets clean everyday or the City of Camden and how they mapped out the entire city and generated interest in investment in Camden which now has a lack of available lots for investment because most have already been purchased. Putting the nonsense aside of political vendettas, this new mayor needs to consider a new way to address the cities problems because using an old idea for an old city will not result in any resurgence, just a lot of poster boards with great pictures.

Come on Rick Rojas: Mentioning Paterson without noting Lou Costello, its most celebrated native.

Well! the NYT finally noticed the large landmass across the river, aka New Jersey. I've been screaming in comments for years about the paper's condescending parochialism toward the region that forms a huge part of its readership base (and thus signs your paychecks). If it hadn't been for the entertainingly outsize persona of Chris Christie, the NYT wouldn't have even acknowledged NJ's existence over the past several years. When the Times wanted the story on lead in the drinking water of poor black kids, they could have gone to Paterson (a 10-minute drive from me, not all that much more from the NYT), but no, they went to Flint, MI and did a me-too (not the sex assault hashtag) story. If they wanted a story about minority communities trying to deal with gun violence on the streets, they could have looked at Paterson, but no, they're covering Chicago, maybe because it's Obama's home territory and the NYT is as infatuated with Obama as Trump is with Putin. Thank you for transcending your blind spot and Manhattan snobbery every now and then. Hope now that you have found Paterson, well, don't be a stranger.

Back in the 80s, Paterson was renovating the Phoenix & Essex Mill into artist's housing. I was living in Passaic at the time and put my name on the list. Just before the renovation was complete the city council decided that instead of artist's housing, the renovated mill would be slated for low income housing. With that decision Paterson's revitalization stopped, and only now is beginning again.

Paterson is a gem. Gorgeous buildings, fantastic neighborhoods, lovely people. And the Falls are incredible.

Greenville, South Carolina was a former mill town down at the heels. It too has a falls in the downtown from the Reedy River. They have had a phenomenal comeback. . Perhaps the mayor of Patterson and his council would benefit from a visit. Be sure to have lunch at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and dinner at Tupelo Honey. You will not regret the visit but you may regret the extra pounds that you will put on. Good luck to the people of Patterson.

I've had family in Paterson for over a century, and moved here in 1989. I have wonderful, diverse neighbors here in Eastside Park. With André Sayegh now in office, we face the future with both knowledge of our problems and hope for the future.