Some Residents Worry About a FEMA Camp Being Set Up in Linden
Whatever it is, if you drive on Routes 1 & 9 north, you can't miss it.
A tent city that has sprung up on the old GM plant site in Linden.
Robert Lisiesky
Photos (6)
Photos
NORTH JERSEY -- Residents are wondering who built an enormous tent city, complete with guards, fencing, and gates, at an old General Motors plant site.
Anyone who travelled north on Routes 1 and 9 from Woodbridge to Linden remembers Linden Airport, and the GM plant right across the narrow lanes of the highway.
That plant was torn down in 2008 to make way for a building renaissance that so far hasn't happened. But in the past few days what has arisen aren't structures of steel and concrete, but an encampment comprised of wooden poles and white tent bunting.
In the tent city, there are water trucks, vehicles for taking showers, and what looks like a ton of raw materials for more building.
Trying to find out what it's for, though, is another story.
A nearby resident of the plant had spoken to several of the guards, who swore it was a project of FEMA - the acronym for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But FEMA spokesman Scott Sanders at first denied that his agency had anything to do with the white tent city.
"We might provide provisions, but we don't run shelters," Sanders said when asked if the tents were to be used for people displaced by Hurricane Sandy. Across the Arthur Kill from Woodbridge, Staten Island residents who were devastated by last week's hurricane and storm surge are still homeless.
Officials in Staten Island have been looking at several possible sites to house Sandy victims, including reopening an old prison facility, according to the Staten Island Advance.
Sanders pointed to the Red Cross as a source for finding out what the tent city is for; the Red Cross did not return repeated phone calls.
A spokesman in the office of Linden Mayor Richard Gerbounka said the tents were to be used for utility workers from out of state who had flooded New Jersey after the hurricane hit.
It is true that many utility workers were working in the central New Jersey area to restore power since last week. But in a conference call Friday, the last one of the Hurricane Sandy media updates, PSEG President Ralph LaRossa said that he expected the workers to begin leaving by Sunday or Monday.
The tent city was put up only in the past few days, so it wouldn't seem to be needed for out-of-state utility workers whose emergency work here was largely completed.
The Union County Office of Emergency Management also said the tents were to house utility workers, but they, too, had nothing to do with it, according to spokesman Sebastian D'elia. As of Friday, "ten percent of the county still doesn't have power," he said, so he wasn't anxious to see the utility workers leave before electrical service was restored.
The Linden spokesman insisted that the city had nothing to do with the tent encampment, and that it was a project of the New Jersey State Police and FEMA.
Sgt. Adam Grossman, NJ State Police spokesman, affirmed the tent city will house utility workers and recommended the Linden Police Department for more information.
Linden Police Officer Ted Miller confirmed that the tent city is, indeed, a FEMA project. He was reading a notice the agency gave to the police department.
The tent city is set up to house 500 people, he said. A recent story at mycentraljersey.com said that the encampment would hold up to 4,000 utility workers.
"FEMA is in charge of it," Miller said. "It's for utility workers. Where they are going, I can't tell you. What they are doing, I have no idea. They have been there for a couple of days."
In another phone call, Sanders was a bit more forthcoming. "We might pay for the shelter, but we don't track people who sign in, and we don't track people who sign out. We have no operational control. It could be a county, faith-based, volunteer, or city project."
The entity that set up the tent city, Sanders said, "contracts out to set up a tent city to house workers from all over the country. They bus them into tent camps, then bus them to their equipment in the morning. This is where they get some rest, eat, shower."
Some nearby residents who were keeping a close vigil on the tents were suspicious that it might be one of the FEMA camps of urban legend. That is, a camp set up to house rounded up mutinious American citizens in the event martial law was declared.
One person also claimed that they saw black helicopters flying around the site, which is near Linden Airport.
Sanders said the contention was absurd. "We have no control over [the camp]," he repeated.
Photos in this article, courtesy of Robert Lisiesky.
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damian armstrong
10:08 am on Sunday, November 11, 2012
I pass it everyday n it gets bigger n bigger each day always see cars n ppl by the gstes
Nancy
3:08 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Do any of you think all this is being done in preperation for 12-21-2012, maybe they know something we do not??? I have read stories this past year of places like this being put up, with all the confiscation of drugs and the food now under the government control, just seems like there is something bigger going on here??
Nancy
3:17 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Do you think maybe all this is in preperation for 12-21-2012??? Maybe they know something we do not, there are many of these places all over the country, and the government has been confiscating the drugs and now controls the food supplies, just seems like maybe they know something is going to happen and have not told any of us.......just saying
Scott Paul Thrasher
8:51 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
This would not be the first none "transparent camp" being set. A lot of camps have been set up across the US. All of them have the same thing in common. When questions are asked. No one has any answers to give. Seems kind of normal from what was suppose to be the most "Transparent Administration" in history.
BigJoeNJ
9:50 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
This is a piece of shit web site. How do I quit!
BigJoeNJ
11:35 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
SHIT, PISS,FUCK CUNT, COUCKSUCKER, MOTHERFUCKER, AND TITS
I JUST VIOLATED ALL YOUR TERM, CAN YOU PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM YOUR STUPID FUCKING, COCKSUCKING SITE
I have spoken
10:34 am on Sunday, November 11, 2012
The real shame is NOBODY should be in tents when they have hundreds (possibly thousands) of vacant apartments and baracks on Fort Monmouth. As for FEMA sending their trailers....Remember all the people from Katrina who get seriously sick because the trailers walls contained formaldahyde....Here we go again.
Thomas
1:19 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Welcome to Obamaa's "AMERIKA"
BigJoeNJ
9:50 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Epona
12:26 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
The top of the fencing leans in, not out. That is to prevent people from getting out. It would lean out to the street if it's purpose was to keep people from climbing fence to get in. HMMMMMM
August Jones
6:24 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
No one will be CLIMBING to get in; anyone trying to get out will be SHOT ON SIGHT!
mike
1:56 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Maybe the first of Der Fuhrers Odumbas reeducation camps?
Tazarinie
12:11 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
there's a place like that here in Indiana also. The barbed wire leans in like that too?? sounds fishy, don't you think??
BigJoeNJ
9:51 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Brandon stevenson
12:53 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
This situation needs to be watched like a hawk, in katrina the national guard conducted door to door gun confiscation, and basically got away with it. Keep in mind that in these pictures the barbed wire is facing in, not out. Built like a prison not a fort
BigJoeNJ
9:51 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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August Jones
6:23 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
These poor people who will be imprisoned in this maximum-security hell-hole will be scared for life, not from hurricane Sandy, but by the treatment in these prison camps....
BigJoeNJ
9:51 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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mike
11:22 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
WOW anyone of you doomtards do ANY research at all?? The fencing was there from jump street IDIOTS! So it wasnt purpouse built that way, google the GM plant and its address and look at old photos barbed wire has been up for decades at that site, LMAO!! I am in construction and YES this company who does the portable showers and the housing is for WORKERS in emergency situations!! LMAO!! You Guys are nuts!!
Anne M Hughes
1:18 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Thanks for bringing sanity to the otherwise insane postings Mike.
Fred
2:37 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Real information is always welcome, but you'll never reach the nuts, which is fine, too, free speech also serves to keep us informed of what they're "thinking" and saying to each other.
dC
3:53 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
The point being that every fema camp set up has razor wire facing in just like a prison. Unless you have gone to the fema camp locations and checked things out for yourself you shouldn't speak as an authority. I have one a few miles from my house and it is ran day in and day out without prisoners... If you try to visit the facilities you will be vehemently turned away by question dodging caretakers, unhappy police and at times black helicopters. Most of the facilities have rail way lines that have turn styles for processing individuals. They also have signs present stating that people visiting loved ones cannot have phones or outside contraband. If they were being used as prisons currently or in the past these things wouldn't be as alarming. Not to mention all the executive orders claiming rights over water, food, farms, rivers, lakes, and amassing billions of bullets deemed too deadly for combat per the geneva convention for DHS whose sole job at it's outset was foreign terrorists. Now the oppressor has turned inwards. Let us not forget in the past 4 years all the articles listing returning vets, constitution lovers, limited government advocates and freedom lovers as DOMESTIC TERRORISTS.. If you can't see the open society being closed on you I feel sorry for you. You might feel sorry for me for my crazy view but anything i Have said is easily searched on google and ultimately time will be the true judge.
Fred
11:19 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
" You Guys are nuts!!"
I think you are being too kind to them. lol
BigJoeNJ
9:51 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Mike F.
1:50 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
ii drove by there plenty of times and have not seen any utility workers in there .and if the emergency is over i guess they should take it down then right .Doesn't look like they will be taking it down anytime soon .Wake up ,your just another one of the countless sheeple
disgruntled resident
1:32 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Mike you sound like a smart guy .... go shill somewhere else. What's a jump street idiot? Wtf are you talking about? Anne you seem like an intellect too, just keep watching tv, its good for you.
Anne M Hughes
1:37 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Dear Disgruntled. Thanks for the compliment. (I take it as one.) Stop being such a crabby ass and realize that nobody is doing anything just to piss you off. Either be part of the solution or remain part of the problem.
Fred
2:43 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Why, is some exclusive site for Con shills? Sorry, but people have had enough of laying back and not responding when we see a con going on. We won't be conned.
BigJoeNJ
9:52 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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nononsense
1:36 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I live near by and passed it yesterday. Big deal, its white tents for either utility workers or people who have been displaced. The only people complaining or coming up with absurd conspiracy theories are those who are sitting in their nice warm houses. I'm sure if you didn't have a house, those tents would look inviting. How dare residents of linden and surrounding towns be so concerned. If you have shelter, and heat...mind your business and get on with your life. As fopr those "black helicopters" flying over the "tent city", there is an airport across the highway. Such drama!!! Doesn't surprise me coming from this area. Good luck to all those affected by the storm.
dC
3:59 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Have you not read the first hand accounts stating that is like "a prison camp"? Cops are unplugging their phones, being forced to remain silent, have routine surveillance checks, have to show I.D. at every entrance/exit, no heat/hands turning purple and on top of all that they are forcing their silence on these matters by taking away their phones when they threaten to allow the story to leak to the media since the media isn't allowed inside.
BigJoeNJ
9:52 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Veritas
1:55 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
This is how Dictators get rid of those whjo do not agree with them...First they are put in "holding camps"...then they are shipped somewhere else...and then???...
And this is only the begining...The beginging of the end for the Democratic Republic of the United States of America...and the begininh of the Socialist State of ObamaLand...
Thank You to all the Usefull Idiots who backed and re-elected Obama...You, too, will be swept away as his powers get stronger...You, too, will suffer...
Anne M Hughes
2:35 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Veritas is a perfect example of the problem I have with allowing people the right to cast a vote. Shouldn't there be some kind of "crazy clause" that keeps this from happening?
george hughes
4:50 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
couldnt have said it better
BigJoeNJ
9:52 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Sara
2:53 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
This thread is full of hilarity! Those showers may be secret nuclear baths that turn utility workers into super-soldiers. You know, so next time, they don't even have to wait until the storm's over to start repairs. They're impervious to wind, snow, rain, stupid people, etc.
Fred
2:59 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Really? As prevalent as they seem these days, I would have thought they were for the walking dead, except they never appear to shower.
BigJoeNJ
9:53 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Bill Smith
2:54 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
It's where the elderly and the too costly to be treated are going to be sent to die under Obamacare, no death panel just a death encampment
BigJoeNJ
9:53 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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M4RC
2:55 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
The Polish didn't believe in concentration camps either as they were being made... until it was too late.
Fred
3:02 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Y'all don't have to worry for four more years, the Cons didn't win.
BigJoeNJ
9:53 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Fred
3:28 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Nancy, if the Mayans were right, everything's much ado about nothing, nothing matters, because the world will end on 12/21, so don't sweat it, and please, go ahead and Christmas shop, and you might refrain from taking your cues from a culture that wasn't even able to save itself.
BigJoeNJ
9:54 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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ersatz
3:45 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I don't just instantly accept what fema states as fact...since their record shows,they have a heinous record of doling out toxic 'help' to victims,therefor victimizing them again:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/ns/us_news-life/t/cdc-tests-confirm-fema-trailers-are-toxic/#.UKEyc4dpfbh
and that isn't 'conspiracy theory'...it's clearly factual.
apparently fema will now be bringing in trailers to NJ to 'help' w/ sandy emergency evacuee housing as well.
BigJoeNJ
9:54 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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ersatz
3:46 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
nononsense , mike,anne -- so I take it the evacuees testimonials from there at the monmouth camps themselves were simply exaggerated in terms of how horrible and prison-like the conditions were while they're stuck there?..is that what you're saying?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/10/us-storm-sandy-tentcity-idUSBRE8A90BV20121110
BigJoeNJ
9:55 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Al Shumate
3:47 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
They have taken a lesson from FDR when he was dealing with Japanese in this country after Pearl Harbor except this time the lesson is from “1984”, all these fancy new voting machines tell them who voted for who and those they perceive as voting wrong will be sent to camps like this to learn the errors of their ways. So there you are.
BigJoeNJ
9:55 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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ersatz
3:48 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Lastly..as you already know, it WAS a GM plant that'd since been razed years ago...SO that lot itself is about as contaminated as hell,in terms of residual chemicals used for decades in car manufacturing/production...and is no way near safe and acceptable grounds to house anyone on for any length of time...so before you go on about not being so concerned..you all should really have WAY more concern for the well being of others who are in a vulnerable spot at the moment.
Gene Shumaker
4:02 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I worked there 15yrs made a good liveing .the only chemicals was paint .nothing else was used ..they feed a lot of people in the yrs they were there....
BigJoeNJ
8:15 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
WRONG! Tents are on the part of property close to the highway and NEEVER had any buildings on it. It was for excutive parking. True store here
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/4k_utlility_workers_from_acros.html
BigJoeNJ
9:55 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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ersatz
3:50 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
i happen to know the area very well and would ask why they'd use the funds to build tent camps..when 1&9 has plentiful amounts of hotels/motels they could've easily used instead for actual rooms for everyone involved.
FL Citizen against CROOKS
5:15 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
The tents are for temporary housing until suitable housing is found. I'm sure if you research it online, you'll find the details.
BigJoeNJ
9:55 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Gene Shumaker
3:58 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
this is for the ufo;s comeing soon and so they have houseing not to much rm at the w,h, lindens good.they only thing need is to bring in the food ..
BigJoeNJ
9:56 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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William Popp
4:36 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
It is an Expansion of District Nine for the overflow population of the original site. Do not let anyone fool you.
BigJoeNJ
9:56 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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fixit
5:09 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Well.....he did say he was gonna close Gitmo.....Gotta put 'em somewhere.
BigJoeNJ
9:56 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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FL Citizen against CROOKS
5:14 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Oh, good heavens, people. It's for storm victims. Why all the conspiracy theories?
Luis
5:38 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
One line in the story tells what this is. It says it is a project of the police and FEMA. My thinking is the police are using all that Homeland Security money they get for this. If they don't spend it they have to return it. Even if there is no need for this tent city they can at least show the Feds that the money was spent. Much homeland security money is used on things like this that is why every one stop town has helipcopters and street surveilance cameras and other un-needed equipment.
BigJoeNJ
9:57 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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ersatz
6:29 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
article from 2 days ago...contains angry interviews with evacuees in the monmouth tent city, 'camp freedom' ,before they were later moved indoors,probably due to outrage caused by the article.
'Bitter cold inside a disaster shelter'
http://www.app.com/viewart/20121109/NJNEWS/311090027/Oceanport-sandy-shelter
'People at Monmouth Park shelter will be moved indoors'
http://www.app.com/viewart/20121109/NJNEWS/311090076/People-Monmouth-Park-shelter-will-moved-indoors
BigJoeNJ
9:57 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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rfm
6:34 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
All I have to say, is that the nuts are out. What's gonna happen during a full moon?
BigJoeNJ
9:57 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Jen
6:52 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Has it occurred to anyone that the reason for the stringent security there is to prevent the awful things that happened to some of the Katrina victims at the SuperDome? Maybe they're hoping to prevent the sexual assaults and other crimes that were reported back then?
Anne M Hughes
6:56 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Thank you Jen for what seems like information that would be common sense to normal people. Obviously the nay-sayers and the misinformed have never been through a catastrophic life-changing event. And all steps and precautions that can be done to protect them in this very difficult time should be taken.
ersatz
7:19 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Jen,there should be no need for stringent security for a 'tent city' that didn't have to be built in the 1st place.This tent site is literally blocks away from hotels that I'm sure would make resources and rooms available to all evacuees and workers if fema arranged it.Its a Federal agency,they could arrange it.These people have been thru hell, lost their homes and are now being tossed into tents with porta johns outside...why is that acceptable conditions?
Jen
7:51 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Those hotels aren't going to provide long term rooms for the displaced. Obviously, that would be an ideal solution, but it's just not feasible. Hotels aren't going to give up the revenue for that many rooms on an ongoing basis, and the government can't afford to foot the bill for that.
There are no easy solutions when you're dealing with the level of devastation Sandy caused throughout the region. In a perfect world, there would absolutely be far better shelter provided for those displaced than a tent village with porta-johns, but this isn't a perfect world.
My overall point, however, was that this is not, no matter how much the conspiracy theorists and crackpots might want to insist it is, some form of concentration camp or anything of the sort. There's a reasonable explanation for the security measures that are in place.
Anne M Hughes
8:18 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
I was just told by a close friend and reliable source that Fort Monmouth is being opened up for displaced family. It is set to house 400 to 600 families. Good news.
ersatz
8:57 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Jen, I was talking mostly in regards to short term solutions,and those hotels are a very viable option that remain untapped.Do you think many of the fema reps are housed in hotels in the vicinity...or a tent?
I will tell you that tent cities are not feasible long term solutions either.Winter is coming and if the latest storm is a sign of things to come,then the tents are in for a long haul.
Anne,that's what they should've done in the 1st place... unfortunately it probably took all the public outrage about the inexcusable living conditions being spotlit to shame them into finding other options.Hopefully there's no new stories about the conditions in the new shelters they're being transferred to.These people just need a break right now.
Shammy2
7:39 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Jen "its not feasible for hotels....." The government pays more per person per day for emergency housing than a hotel could get if it booked the rooms to hotel/motel guests. Its like hitting the jackpot for a hotel to be emergency housing for the government.
BigJoeNJ
9:57 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Dusty754
7:13 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
"We might provide provisions, but we don't run shelters," Sanders said when asked if the tents were to be used for people displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
So what were those "FEMA" trailers for after Katrina? I believe they were to house the displaced.
BigJoeNJ
9:58 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Deborah Bell
8:20 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
To Big Joe: STOP the spam. Next step is being banned.
Enough already!
BigJoeNJ
9:58 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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pjnestor
10:53 pm on Monday, November 12, 2012
Lol, they are rounding up everyone who didn't vote for Obama so they can keep an eye on them!
BigJoeNJ
9:58 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Thomas
1:21 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Welcome to Obama's NEW THIRD WORLD SOCIALIST COUUNTRY "AMERIKA"! And remember YOU voted for him NOT ME!
BigJoeNJ
9:59 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Thomas
1:22 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
HAHAHAHAHHAHA!
BigJoeNJ
9:59 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Thomas
1:24 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Just remember people "YOU" voted for him and I DIDN'T!
BigJoeNJ
9:59 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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Colleen
6:56 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
oh please this is NJ. There needs to be razor wire... there are supplies and recovery that is going to go on for years. Sandy's damage is severe. It will take an army of engineers, utility workers and volunteers to get the job done. It is simply the best place for this FEMA facility to be put. Get a grip and let them restore the SHORE.
Equals123
9:59 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
As they say the internment camps have started!!!! Really now....just because Obama won doesn't mean the government is coming for your guns, children, or books.....
7 out
10:01 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Take the tin foil hats off people. These camps are for the clean up going to Staten island. The bridge is close by and there it is cheaper than hotels. Yes they have guards and fences. There will be tools and equipment to protect.
and15y
10:49 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
they are for the one that's to come
ersatz
11:40 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Keep in mind,all this speculation is fueled by non-answers,and contradictory information given by those involved who were interviewed.If you click on the hyperlink to anther patch article 'the encampment would hold up to 4,000 utility workers' in the article,that one : and it contains this statement: 'The tent city will not be used to house any residents displaced by the storm.' ok..but then why am I hearing otherwise in other articles that it will house both 4k in workers , as well as hundreds of displaced storm victims.
I'm told it was put up for the workers,but in the same article it's mentioned that they're leaving shortly according to the pseg rep's statement.
Then there's a FEMA spokesman initially denying the agencies involvement in the tent facility..then backtracking..basically saying, ok we provide the money but aren't directly involved...Linden police saying it is FEMA's project... I could keep goin on..but why bother..realistically,people accept evasive answers where there should be none...the ones that fully accept 'nothing to see here,move along' Yet,everyone has to admit there is no discernible line of command or person in charge that's making any attempt to quell any of this type of speculation.
Deborah Bell
11:47 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Ersatz wins the prize.
There are no definable answers. Everyone you talk to has a different story; I think in the case of the police and county officials, they're pretty much saying what they know. Once you get above that level, it all gets murky.
Deborah Bell
11:48 am on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
And let me add that does NOT mean I believe that the installation is the FEMA encampment of urban legend!!
Amelius Brown
12:54 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Clearly the author doesn't believe that this is a fema camp, but nevertheless chose to title the article after the concerns that some neighbors think this is a black helicopter type fema camp, despite the fact that it was explained that this is a station to serve utility workers.
Got it.
Deborah Bell
1:14 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
You're wrong, Armelius. I didn't write the headline; it was changed by AOL since they ran this nationwide. Don't be so paranoid!
ersatz
1:18 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Amelius,it's also quite apparent that you have no issues at all with the statements (some contradictory) given in the article..and no matter how ambiguous,and as Deborah said, 'murky', but you're positive everything is a well oiled machine and totally fine...and that's fine...but I'd just ask why even bother wasting your time simply citing how apparent it is?..and how crazy it is for even questioning why a tent city that has no discernible 'person in charge' answering direct questions directly.For such a major endeavor,with all these components I see no one claiming their role as lead. That's disfunctional...but,feel free to dispute that and prove otherwise thus far.
Amelius Brown
2:59 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Ersatz (remind me to look that word up), I don't recall saying everything was running like a well oiled machine. That is precisely my point - people are working in a hurry in response to an emergency, so it seems likely that you'll get different answers. They're likely dealing with a situation that is changing by the hour. I'm sure the person there with the most accurate and timely information would be glad to spend time with a reporter to dispel concerns that a concentration camp is being set up in suburban NJ.
I don't have issues with the statements in the article, other than the fact that the title was taken from the last couple of lines of the article which were based on the pure speculation of the people least informed.
Now the author is saying that she did not choose the title and that is was changed by AOL. Fair enough.
Amelius Brown
3:07 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
What did the headline originally read?
ersatz
12:01 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
That's the real problem here..is that there seems to be alot of compartmentalization goin on,and sectors that have no idea who's in charge or what the hell is happening...I personally find that disturbing and unacceptable if there's any type of issues that arise,especially when you're involved in people being housed and taken care of.The result is,you have a segment of the public that's thinking the worst and others that couldn't care less...unfortunately they descend into the comments section simply to ridicule others that may have legitimate questions..but whatever. Either way, Deborah,thanks for at least bringing this up into a discussion via the article in the 1st place.
katherine dillion
12:14 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A lot of paranoia, I hope over nothing.
katherine dillion
12:17 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Why would barbed-wire be necessary? Hmmm!
Amelius Brown
12:52 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Whoa, you mean among the thousands of workers involved you're getting different details from different people? That's impossible! Clearly they're setting up a concentration camp.
Something happened to my last comment. I'll repost it below, I must have clicked something wrong while submitting it:
So the article contains multiple sources, with names and positions possessing information that explain what the camp is about.
By the time one is almost done reading it one might think that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is setting up a camp to handle the emergency of getting electricity and natural gas lines back into the infrastructure, and the camp is used to keep utility workers present, organized, and rested.
Oh wait. At the bottom there are the anonymous quotes from nobody, with no information, citing concerns about unsubstantiated urban legends. I guess we know what the headline should be.
Deborah Bell
1:16 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
I don't know about "thousands of workers." I do know that finding out who is in charge, and getting clear answers, was and is somewhat problematic.
If you read the article, it's clear. But you'll have to put aside your preconceived notions, Amelius.
Amelius Brown
3:04 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
What is clear? What preconceived notions?
Mike F.
4:23 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
In the begining of the year as my wife drives to work she passes by Jersey City .Under the turnpike down by librerty state park they set up these big areas fenced in with big rounded barbed wire facing inward with nothing in them ,looks like a prison .So i went down to the turnpike authority to ask them about it and they told me dept. of homeland security put them up and when i asked them why .DHS told them it was to protect the columns of the turnpike from terrorist. I laughed as he rolled his eyes ,he didn't believe them either . I guess the terrorist don't have access to wire cutters. Then i saw an article from one of the south jersey papers about the fences going up in egg harbor and the people complaining about it ,also seen them in seacaucus from the train.Research it yourself or go see it .They are puttin them up all over the country,For all you people who think this is nuts all i can say is wake the f up sheeple
RD
2:54 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
I can't imagine a tent being a viable comfort against the cold for anyone (displaced, workers, prisoners, etc).
CG
11:27 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
What I know for a fact is that a group of people left their warm homes and loved ones to travel to the other side of the the United States in order to provide food, lodging, and showers to displaced residents or relief workers, whichever the case may be. The ridiculous comments I have read disappoint me as an American. Sometimes, we have emergencies too large to understand the scope of how to best deal with them. The "tent city" in Linden may be one of these cases, where the many "chiefs" are trying to get organized to handle something bigger than ever dealt with before. Look at the devastation created by this storm. If you were without a home, would you rather be on the street with your family, or in a heated facility with food, bedding, and the use of showers? And the same question can be posed to the relief workers that are there to restore power, etc. My son and the crew he works with traveled across the country for a job, yes, but also to be a help, not a hindrance to the people affected by this terrible storm. Think twice before you comment about how bad our system is...and remember that America still has people willing to give of themselves when called for. I'm here on this site, from across the United States to defend my son and the mobile catering business that traveled to Linden to be of help. Perhaps some of you should get out into the city and see how your efforts could be better used!
ersatz
12:06 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
yesterday,an incident w/ disgruntled fired worker w/ a 2x4:
'Union Beach man attacked in FEMA Tent City in Linden'
http://www.app.com/viewart/20121113/NJNEWS14/311130052/Union-Beach-man-attacked-FEMA-Tent-City-Linden
ersatz
12:10 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
...so now,besides the linden police being called..who in the chain of command is then notified about an incident like this?