(erielack) Hoboken Lunch Room

[Njricky2_@_aol.com]

Ed,
 
Your mention of the lunch room at Hoboken caught my eye. I've been with NYC 
Parks & Recreation for more than 15 years. In my former division, I was 
responsible for writing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to establish concessions 
on parkland. I currently work with movie and TV shoots, among other things.
 
I wrote RFPs to place cafes in Riverside Park and we received acceptable 
responses. That was in the 90s and today, we have three successful cafes that 
face the Hudson, looking across the river to NJ. The sunsets, of course, are 
great.
 
Our initial thought was to take what we considered to be "unused assets" 
and turn them into destination points. We never imagined how successful they 
would become. Riverside, historically, has a very low crime rate. By 
establishing cafes, we found that the crime rate remained extremely low simply 
because of the volume of people who frequent the cafes.
 
The cafes are located at West 70 St., the West 79 St. Boat Basin (marina) 
and at West 105 St., the last one being a bi-level cafe.
 
The concept is basically "burgers and booze", i.e., informal places where 
you can wear T-shirts and shorts and eat "picnic food". Our cafes are not 
fine dining as there is plenty of that throughout Manhattan. You can also bring 
the dog as water bowls are available for the pooches. The dog must be kept 
on a lead.
 
NJT should consider an RFP for the Hoboken lunch room. Proposers should 
offer an affordable, basic menu and people will come as they did in the past. 
"Basic and affordable" worked for us here in NYC.
 
Unlike Riverside, the terminal is both a departure and destination point, 
which could offer more than what we offer at Riverside in terms of food. 
Hoboken can offer a pick-up breakfast while waiting for the ferry, lunch, and 
appetizers with drinks before boarding the train on the way home.
 
We found that people enjoy a comfortable space within an urban environment 
and will patronize a good, clean, affordable place. In my opinion, Hoboken 
certainly fits the bill. I might add that a smart proposer would have the 
lunch room appear to be reminiscent of Erie Lackawanna, as everyone loves 
history.
 
If anyone wants to visit the Riverside cafes, you can get here by rail 
(subway). Take the No. 1 train uptown. For West 70, leave the train at West 72 
St., walk west toward the river, enter Riverside at the Eleanor Roosevelt 
statue, follow the path, go down the steps and make a left.
 
For the Boat Basin Cafe at West 79, take the No. 1 to West 79 St., walk 
towards NJ, under the Henry Hudson Pkwy. overpass, and down the steps. The 
burger aroma will take you in the right direction.
 
To get to the West 105 Cafe (commonly known as "Hudson Beach"), take the 
No. 1 to West 103 St. Walk west from Broadway, across West End Ave. to the 
Riverside Dr. service road. Walk across Joan of Arc Park (a small strip of 
green) to Riverside Dr. and enter either down the steps at West 103 St. or down 
the pathway at West 102 St. to the promenade and you're there.
 
Providing a new life to "unused assets" definitely worked for us. The lunch 
room at Hoboken can be equally successful, especially if a smart proposer 
does homework and offers an updated Erie Lackawanna menu and at the same time 
keeps the basics of the original menu intact. Everyone loves eating history.
 
Rick Sedlisky
New York, NY
 
 
 
 
 
 
**************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the 
grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)


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