In your
editorial on the USS New Jersey, you failed to mention the battleship
was actually built in Philadelphia. To me, that is just as important
as just the namesake.
The main thing that a tourist attraction like
the New Jersey could bring to a city such as Camden or Gloucester
City would be dollars. The battleship could even top the yearly
attendance of the N.J. State Aquarium at 25 percent of the cost.
The amount of out-of-state attendance to the Waterfront would
increase dramatically. It is also quite possible some of the
work to make the New Jersey museum-ready could be done at the
Navy Yard.
To think that the USS New Jersey may end up
on the Hudson River instead of the Delaware (her birthplace)
is not only sad, it is also ironic. Sometimes I believe that
Trenton forgets that Southwestern New Jersey even exists (except
at tax time). The battle for the battleship will be all uphill
in a fight against the prima donnas of North Jersey.
GENE SMITH
Runnemede
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