In wake of Ida, Morristown pastor demands officials correct half century of broken promises to Black and brown residents

This story has been updated with a response from town hall.

The good news: Bethel A.M.E. Church didn’t flood. This time.

But nearby, Martin Luther King Avenue near the Manahan Village public housing was submerged until lunchtime on Thursday. Cauldwell Playground looked like a water park.

Enough, declared Pastor Sidney Williams Jr., as Morristown public works crews prepared to sop up mud deposited by the Whippany River and Tropical Storm Ida from the closed avenue.

Aftermath of Ida: Morristown’s Second Ward, Sept. 2, 2021. Video by Richard Modzeleski:

In a social media video, Williams urged the public to demand that elected officials correct a half century of broken promises and fix flooding in Morristown’s Second Ward, the historical home of the town’s African American community.

The Headquarters Plaza urban renewal project of the late 1960s destroyed Black homes and hastened gentrification, while promising $12 million to tame the river, he said.

“Fifty years later, no flood mitigation has been done, whatsoever,”  Williams said.

“This area was considered an urban redevelopment zone, affordable housing was supposed to be built here in this community, in this census tract. But now what’s happening is that the hard-fought fights of our ancestors, who fought for affordable housing, fought for floodwater mitigation, so they can raise their families here in this community–now, that’s being erased and now market rate housing is being built in this community.”

Insisting it’s an environmental justice issue, not a political one, the minister had sharp words for Mayor Tim Dougherty, who voted last month with the planning board to approve 15 units of mostly market-rate apartments on MLK — in a flood plain that lived up to the name after more than five inches of rain on Wednesday night.

“The disappointing part is, we’ve got a mayor who says he cares about all citizens of our community, and yet endorses market rate housing to be built on Martin Luther King Avenue, with no conversation– no conversation– about what we’re going to do about the flooding in this area,” Williams said.

Morristown Green reached out for a response from Dougherty, a Democrat who is running unopposed for a fourth term.

On Friday afternoon, town Administrator Jillian Barrick responded with this statement, citing “unprecedented amounts of rain and flash flooding” from the storm, and asserting Morristown should be grateful for escaping the tragedies experienced elsewhere.

“In many other communities in New Jersey, lives were tragically lost, and homes and property were destroyed by the floods and the aftermath.  Thankfully, Morristown did not experience any major damage or injury.

“While the delineated flood zone adjacent to the Whippany River did experience some flooding, it receded within hours and no occupied structure in the area was impacted.  That is a blessing that other communities around us did not receive and for which we should be grateful.

“Let’s not ignore the strides that have been made here that prevented more extensive damage and preserved the area properties and churches that were in harm’s way 10 years ago.  Our Police, Fire, and DPW did a yeoman’s job preparing for this storm and swiftly provided assistance to those residents that needed it.  We thank them for their efforts,” Barrick concluded.

Last week, Dougherty said the apartment project complied with environmental regulations; the planning board chairman said the state Department of Environmental Protection still must weigh in.

Within days of the board’s unanimous vote, that section of MLK experienced minor flooding after the remnants of Hurricane Henri rained on Morristown.  In 2011, the river filled Bethel AME with four feet of water after Tropical Storm Irene.

Citing decades of efforts by Black activists to bring affordable housing to the Second Ward, Williams vowed: “The fight’s not over. We will keep fighting.”

He gave a shoutout to Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th Dist.) for expressing support in the Congressional Record, and urged residents to apply pressure to local officials.

“Reach out to your planning board, reach out to your town council, let them know this flood water issue is a problem, we want it fixed. And we want the original plan that was put in place for urban redevelopment, to make sure … the black and brown people of this community will have a place to live, in the community where they have raised their children,” the pastor said.

Williams also took exception to an article here last week that mentioned his Republican campaign for council in 2015. He called the reference “full nonsense” that was “politicizing” matters.