I hope my fellow residents can help me. Mayor Adam Schneider and the municipal council of the city of Long Branch are going to take my house from me and give it to private developers. My heart, my memories, my love, and my life are all as much a part of my house as the wood frame is.
My boy, Joe La Rosa, was born in this house on my mother’s bed, which is still in my bedroom. My father bought this house in my brother Joe’s name after he died in World War II. Joe had come home on leave from the Army Air Corps in September 1943. My uncle told him to go look at this house as it was for sale. He did and immediately fell in love with it. In every letter he wrote home from the war after that, he said, "Dad, buy that house!" Three months to the day after he saw the house, my brother’s plane crashed and he was killed. My father told the owner the story and the owner took my father’s hand and told him, "Mr. [Fred] Torrisi, the house is yours no matter what kind of bid I get." My brother’s name was engraved on the gate.
Our young men and women in Iraq are fighting for freedom and justice, just like my brother Joe did in WWII. He gave his life for it. But, there is no justice in the city taking my home. In a free country, this should not happen. The city says it needs to cure blight. But my house and my neighborhood are not blighted. We are far from where the blight was. The city inspector and fire department have rated my house in good condition and my neighbor’s houses are in good condition, too. They’re taking much more than just the blighted area because greedy developers want to make more and more money. Since my property is an oceanfront neighborhood, it is attractive to developers.
I am 77 years old, and I just want to keep my house. I don’t want any amount of money for it, no matter how much they offer me. I want to keep my home. Can you please help me by speaking out against this?
Rose La Rosa
Long Branch