7 Reasons for Hope: Revisiting MLK Park

Newly planted redbud; AME Baptist Church

On this bitterly cold Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I visited two green holly bushes, and five bare redbud and weeping cherry trees in an otherwise vacant lot in Paterson, NJ.

It gave me seven reasons for hope.

Across the street -- long known as "Auburn Street" but officially designated as "Freedom Boulevard" in 2013 -- stands the AME Baptist Church.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had memorably spoken at this small church for 20 minutes on March 27, 1968.

As reported in The Record, thousands of people had jammed the sidewalks where I stood to catch a glimpse of him that night. He spoke to raise awareness of the Poor People's Campaign, and afterward left New Jersey to travel to Memphis, where he delivered his prophetic "mountaintop" speech on April 3.

He was assassinated on April 4.

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Five years ago, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2014, Paterson's municipal leaders unveiled plans for a park on this lot.

Nothing happened.

When I visited in March 2018, a lone sign stated that a park in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s name was "coming soon," while the lot remained dormant and undeveloped.

This worried me, and I contacted several people about this. Councilwoman Ruby Cotton was kind enough to reply, saying that efforts were under way to revive the plans.

True to her word, on Nov. 30, 2018 -- with the help of community groups like City Green, the United Way of Passaic County, Paterson Habitat for Humanity, St. Paul's Community Development Corp. and The Bronze Heat firefighters -- Mayor Andre Sayegh broke ground to plant one of the weeping cherry trees. (See The Record's photo gallery.)

Coulcilwoman Cotton and Mayor Sayegh help plant a tree. Photo: Bob Karp  

Thank you to all. This is a sign of hope in what The Record describes as "one of Paterson's most drug-plagued thoroughfares."

In early November, just three weeks earlier and just three blocks from the site of the ground-breaking, more than 80 people had been arrested in an operation targeting drug buyers. Police seized more than 300 heroin bricks, semi-automatic handguns and hollow-point bullets.

The location of the park was once an eyesore, said Passaic County Freeholder TJ Best in a Paterson Times report. He lived two blocks away a half-decade ago. The new park is on two lots – one 47×56 and another 30×53. A house that stood in one of those lots had been notorious haven for drug addicts. It caught on fire and had to be demolished years ago.

Rendering (without trees) vs. current state

The new park will feature a rain garden, a walkway and a pathway with quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (also in Braille for the visually impaired).

A little library, an iron fence, gate, wall mural and two lamp posts will be installed as well, said Veronica Rogers of Habitat for Humanity, project manager for the park.

It's now scheduled to open in April 2019.

Mayor Sayegh spoke of creating a legacy: "We're taking back the neighborhood for good."

Those trees may not look like much now, but I think they're beautiful.

I'm looking forward to returning to take photos of the redbuds in bloom. Maybe, by summer, some kids will be playing underneath.

Amen to that.

And, just as the great civil rights leader said to end his speech in Memphis, I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything.