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2-minute read

PATERSON — Councilwoman Maritza Davila is demanding that city officials find a new location for the RealFix program, which provides medication to people addicted to opioids.

Davila said she has received numerous complaints about the behavior of RealFix clients from city employees who work in the Ellison Street office building where the program operates.

The councilwoman said that on Monday she witnessed one of the clients roll a marijuana cigarette while standing outside the building and then proceed to smoke it. She said she took video of the incident.

Davila issued her demand at the end of this week's City Council meeting. In an interview Thursday, Davila said she previously asked Mayor Andre Sayegh's administration to move the program.

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"At this point now, it's a demand," Davila asserted. "They need to move."

Sayegh on Thursday said he was taking Davila's concerns "very seriously" and is considering moving RealFix elsewhere.

Sayegh frequently points to RealFix — which provides Suboxone to addicts to curb their urges and aid withdrawal — as an important part of his administration's response to Paterson's drug problem.

The mayor says more than 600 people have received treatment through RealFix.

Wandering into other city offices

Edward Boze, the city official in charge of the program, said he is not sure the person Davila saw smoking marijuana was a RealFix client because he has not seen the councilwoman's video. Boze said he would not be opposed to moving the program "to a suitable location."

Davila said she has no doubt the man she saw was a client of RealFix because he was talking to a staff member.

The councilwoman said she's very sensitive to the needs of people in treatment because her father had a substance abuse problem.

"I want them to get the help they need," she said.

But she said she has heard from employees who say the clients wander into other parts of the building, including the fourth floor, where the planning and zoning offices are located.

"RealFix should not be up there," she said. "They are not developers."

2-minute read

PATERSON — Facing staunch opposition to a preliminary $302 million operating budget containing a 5.6% city property tax increase, Mayor Andre Sayegh decided to delay asking the City Council for approval.

In simple terms, Sayegh couldn’t count to five — the number of votes needed for the budget introduction to pass.

At least two-thirds of the council’s nine members have made public comments expressing their lack of support for a budget with a tax increase of that magnitude. Some council members said the mayor tried lobbying them in recent days to vote for the budget but was unsuccessful.

So the Sayegh administration asked for the budget vote to be pulled off Tuesday night’s council agenda.

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The mayor and his staff have said the tax increase will drop to about 2% once the state approves Paterson’s request to raise the city’s transitional aid by $6 million, to $33 million, for 2025. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs won’t make its transitional aid decision until sometime in the summer, officials said.

But council members said they are not so confident about getting the extra state funding.

“It cannot depend just on hope. It has to depend on strategy,” said Councilman Md Forid Uddin.

Reduced city reliance on state aid in past

During his first years in office, Sayegh was able to reduce Paterson’s reliance on transitional aid — which is supposed to help financially distressed cities balance their budgets. But recently, he has been asking for state aid increases, and $33 million would match the largest amount Paterson has gotten during his two terms as mayor.

“There’s going to be a time when the state is going to say no,” said City Council President Alex Mendez. “You can’t depend on the state to bail you out every year.”

Paterson has had more than $1 billion in development projects since Sayegh became mayor. But the vast majority of those projects received abatements that let the developers avoid paying full property tax rates for 20 to 30 years.

Council members cited the cumulative effect of the proposed city tax increase, which they say is compounded by a possible 4% hike in city school taxes, an 8% rise in Passaic County taxes, and a proposed 2% increase in sewer use fees.

Velez outspoken against 5.6% property tax hike

Councilman Luis Velez, who intends to run against Sayegh in next year’s mayoral election, has been particularly outspoken against the proposed 5.6% city tax hike. “I don’t have any faith that it’s going to go down,” he said.

Paterson Press asked Sayegh when he would ask the council to approve the preliminary budget and whether he would make changes in the spending plan before doing so.

“We need to address the misinformation being disseminated by Councilman Luis Velez,” Sayegh said. “In fact, we are hosting a virtual town hall meeting on April 29 to inform the public that a tax increase in the final budget will be closer to 2%.”

When asked if his 2% prediction was based on Paterson's getting the extra $33 million from the state, or on additional spending cuts, Sayegh simply said, “It means that taxes are not going up by 5.6%.”

3-minute read

PATERSON — Councilman Luis Velez erupted with anger at Tuesday night’s City Hall meeting when his longtime adversary, Councilman Michael Jackson, derided the $10,000 city promotion given to Velez’s wife and then said she didn’t speak English.

“Will you stop him? Or I stop him!” Velez shouted, asking the council’s president to intervene.

During the dispute, someone in the audience yelled out a vulgar insult to Velez, prompting him to make an inflamed comment that he said has been misconstrued.

“I’m not afraid,” Velez barked.

The closed captioning on the city’s official recording of the council meeting provides the following rendering of the rest of Velez’s statement, as he spoke to the audience member and then pointed back at Jackson: “I’m holding my [expletive] gun for you — and this guy over here.”

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After that outburst, Jackson and Velez got up from their seats and stood yelling at each other, prompting the council to take a recess so things could calm down.

Paterson Press called Velez on Wednesday morning about the dispute. The first words from Velez when he answered his phone were: “I didn’t say 'gun.'”

What did he say?

“I said, ‘I’m holding my guts for you,’” Velez responded, claiming his detractors on social media were twisting his statement to try to make him look bad. “I didn’t use the word ‘gun.’”

Velez — acknowledging his tendency for malapropism — said he was referring to the emotions he was feeling about what he called an attack on his wife when he said he was “holding my guts for you” to the audience member and Jackson.

Jackson scoffed at that explanation.

“Just proves he’s a pathological liar,” Jackson said. “Everyone including the video heard different.”

Did Velez say 'guts' — or 'gun'?

Paterson Press sent text messages asking the other seven council member whether they thought Velez said “gun” or “guts.” Council President Alex Mendez and Councilman Md Forid Uddin were the only ones who responded, with both stating they heard Velez say “guts.”

The uproar over the alleged “gun” comment overshadowed Jackson’s revelation about the raise given to Velez’s wife.

Mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration hired Natacha Batista as a $35,000 keyboarding clerk in the city’s Health and Human Services Department in June 2023, at a time when she was engaged to Velez.

The councilman used a Paterson firetruck and firefighter gear when he made his marriage proposal, posting a video on social media. They were married several months after Batista joined the city payroll.

Velez over the years has flipped back and forth as a Sayegh supporter and critic. In recent months, Velez has been attacking Sayegh as the councilman prepares to run for mayor in 2026.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Jackson revealed that Velez’s wife got a new job with a $10,000 raise, asserting that another applicant was more qualified for the position. In an interview on Wednesday, Jackson said Velez’s wife started work in her new position of community service worker in the health division, making $45,000.

Velez confirmed the basic details of Jackson’s description of the promotion. But he took issue with the use of the word “raise” to describe her $10,000 boost in salary.

“It’s not a raise. It’s something that came with her new position,” Velez said.

Paterson Press sent Sayegh an email asking for details about Batista’s promotion. But he did not respond.

In the crossfire at the council meeting, Velez told Jackson he wished United States Attorney Alina Habba would arrest his rival for "all the stuff that you deal.”

“Dealing what?” Jackson retorted. “Dealing what?”

Velez didn’t answer during the meeting. On Wednesday, Velez said he was referring to all of Jackson’s legal problems, including the five-year-pending election fraud case as well as the Municipal Court charges Velez has filed against Jackson as a result of previous City Council meeting confrontations between them.

Jackson said he is now considering filing his own charges against Velez after Tuesday night’s comments. So is Joel Keys Jr., the man in the meeting audience who ended up involved in the confrontation between Jackson and Velez.

“What I heard was a threat,” Keys said of Velez’s words to him.

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3-minute read

Paterson is not a dumping ground. It is a historic city with the potential to be a top-notch tourist destination in the world. However, achieving international attraction status requires unprecedented diligence and unwavering dedication to keep our city clean.

We are taking a multi-pronged approach entitled, “Paterson is picking up” to emphasize how serious we are about cleanliness in our city. In an effort to enhance our aforementioned endeavor, we are partnering with a leading national nonprofit organization, Keep America Beautiful.

Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides expertise, programs and resources to help people end littering, increase recycling, beautify our country’s public spaces and restore and support resilient communities. Moreover, the organization inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve their environment.

Two months ago, members of my administration and I went on a fact-finding mission to Camden to learn more about the proven practices their municipality implemented to keep their city clean. Mayor Vic Carstarphen and his team inspired us to take the following actions.

We are launching weekly community cleanups to engage and empower our residents. Our additional efforts will include cleaning our entrance corridors and removing graffiti. Moreover, we plan to recruit students to help us beautify our city and to instill pride in Paterson.

Enforcement is an important aspect of our ongoing efforts. We are aggressively cracking down on illegal dumping through “Operation Clean Sweep.”

At the onset of the aforementioned operation, we used surveillance and public input to issue 12 tickets to violators whom we dubbed, “The Dirty Dozen.” In one court session alone, over $15,000 in fines were assessed for illegal dumping.

We have towed abandoned boats and jet skis. In one of our effective operations, we apprehended a malefactor attempting to dump 16 bags of construction debris and seized his vehicle. In a separate incident, we identified two women who were caught on camera engaging in the unlawful disposal of their garbage.

My administration has also coordinated with the New Jersey Department of Transportation to clean up properties owned by the state, and the NJDOT even installed a barrier to prevent further dumping at one of its sites. Additionally, a railroad company erected a wall to deter dumping on the train tracks.

We reached out to New Jersey Transit to either replace or renovate their bus shelters. Internally, we are purchasing additional trucks for our Department of Public Works to collect bulk trash. Moreover, we are installing more cameras to address illegal dumping.

Through our Urban Enterprise Zone, we are expanding our clean commercial corridor program to beautify our business districts. Furthermore, we are ordering additional solar-powered trash receptacles to enhance our efforts to keep our community clean.

Keeping any community clean is not a spectator sport. In fact, in Paterson everyone needs to get in the game and the key elements to our success are education, engagement and enforcement.

In our efforts to be a clean community champion, we are looking for internal and external team players to help Paterson pick up, literally and figuratively.

If you would like to join our “Keep Paterson Clean” campaign, please contact my office at 973-321-1600.

Andre Sayegh is the mayor of Paterson.

Ben Pawson/NPR

PATERSON, N.J. — The Jersey Shore Wave is one of three new teams to join the Women's National Football Conference this year. Now entering its sixth season, the WNFC is a semi-professional tackle football league. Players suit up in pads and helmets, and the women are here to win. They travel to play teams in their division and compete to win the IX Cup — named in honor of Title IX — in June at the end of the season. The season kicks off Saturday, March 29.

At practice, Wave quarterback Karen Mulligan snaps her helmet into place. She adjusts her pads and jogs onto the middle of the field. Mulligan, aka Mully, lines up across from a group of eager receivers. It's time for some fast-paced drills.

"We're doing settle and noose." Mully shouts to be heard over the wind, "move up to the hash."

Everyone in earshot shifts their position. Mully settles into her stance. "Ready? GO!" She cocks her arm back and releases the football.

Down the field, wide receiver Shayla Thevenin sprints across the artificial turf, making it to the ball in time to scoop it against her body. "This is crazy," Thevenin laughs. "I'm over here winded, and it's only warm up."

The tunnel inside Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, N. J., is buzzing. Women dressed in pads and bright teal uniforms — fresh out of their packaging — laugh and catch up.

The Wave roster has over 50 players from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and some outliers like New Hampshire and Ohio. Earning a place on the team took repeated tryouts.

"We did a couple of combine stations, and it was pretty fun," says linebacker Brittany Howard, who learned about the team tryouts on social media. She added, "we had to run a 40-yard dash and do the jump, sit-ups and push-ups."

Howard's teammate and offensive lineman, Infinity Brooks, from Asbury Park, N.J., adds: " They wanted to see if you wouldn't quit. Even if you didn't know what you were doing, would you quit? And I didn't quit. I'm not even the best right now, but I'm still not going to quit."

Brooks had so much fun at tryouts that she kept returning, even though she'd already secured her spot. "Everybody was so welcoming and joyful. I just kept going. It was fun. Everybody had great spirits. Everybody was beautiful. Everybody's got good energy."

Ben Pawson/NPR

Being able to suit up to play tackle football wasn't a given. Many of the Jersey Shore Wave confronted naysayers from the family and friends who said variations of: "it's not a sport for girls" or "you can be a cheerleader."

The whole experience began to feel real for Vianca Borrero when she put on her pads for the first time. " I actually got bigger pads because I wanted to be super protected." The defensive lineman added, "I looked kind of like a turtle in a shell because it didn't really fit. Then I got these pads, and it feels like it's all coming together."

Brooke Avery is a rookie outside linebacker and member of the defensive line who grew up in a New England Patriots-obsessed family. Her dad wanted to name her after Drew Bledsoe, a former Patriots quarterback. Avery played hockey competitively and was looking for a new challenge and sport when she heard from a friend who played for the Florida Avengers that a team was coming to New Jersey. She decided to try it, and thus far, she's loving it and is ready for the challenge of the first season.

" We have a name to make for ourselves. This league has been around for quite some time, and being a new team, there's a lot of expectation, especially in this area… So, you know, we have a big, a big expectation to uphold."

Health care executive and New Jersey Wave Owner Dawn Sherman believes in her coaches and players. She has her sights set on going all the way to the IX Cup in June.

" My goal: win the championship, of course. So I mean, why set your sights low, right? When you can go all the way," she says emphatically. " I think the team's super motivated, coming together really nicely. And we have a lot of enthusiasm, and we're going to win some games."

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh is an enthusiastic supporter of the Wave. He braved the cold, windy morning to watch the team perform some drills.

" I am a big-time football fan. I'm a New York Giants fan, just in full disclosure. And I've never actually seen a women's tackle football game," says Sayegh. "When we were first approached. I thought, forgive me, I thought it was flag football."

This is a common misconception. Vianca Borrero thought she was being recruited for a flag football team when she was approached to try out for the team.

Monae Clancy is a native Patersonian. So when she runs onto the field at the first home game on April 5, she'll be cheered on by a hometown crowd. The Wave have gelled as a team, and many players used the word sisterhood to describe the camaraderie.

" Everyone supports each other. Everyone pushes each other to their goal," says Clancy. " Even though we proved to ourselves already that we can play, we already know that there's a bigger goal. We have to prove to the world that we can play."