My recent visit to Freehold Borough

[kari]

I was in Freehold Borough last week to visit a friend for a few days. After numerous visits to your town I have come to love the vibrant downtown area with it's many shops, restaurants and the lovely Hampton House Bed and Breakfast.
Friday morning I went to CVS to have some film developed. I parked on Main Street and was instantly confronted with two men that knocked on my window asking me something in Spanish which I didn't understand. I sat in my car a minute, trying to determine if it was OK to get out or not. I tried to tell the men through body language that what ever they were selling or pitching I wasn't interested and they moved back. I waited for a few other shoppers to get close to my car before i got out to enter CVS.
It wasn't until later that I was told that these were probably day laborers inquiring whether I was there to hire them or not. Either way it was a very uncomfortable experience for me Friday morning. In all my previous visits to Freehold I've never felt unsafe, or worrisome about walking downtown.
As my visit in Freehold went on for a few days longer I was more and more aware of the presence of the many groups of men apparently looking for work scattered about town. The town of Freehold Borough looks and feels different than it has during my past visits. How very sad for your wonderful community.
This was an unfortunate experience and one that has changed the flavor of your quaint town in my eyes.

[bergsteiger]

Kari,

Sorry to hear about your bad/scary experience. While they’re probable harmless and just exhibiting the normal behavior of someone who is uneducated and raised in a tacky backwards culture, beware of strangers from a foreign land. Only about 1 percent of the Illegal Aliens are violent criminals so at most there are only 40 of them in the borough that you have to watch out for.

[admin]

bergsteiger said:

Kari,

Sorry to hear about your bad/scary experience. While they’re probable harmless and just exhibiting the normal behavior of someone who is uneducated and raised in a tacky backwards culture, beware of strangers from a foreign land. Only about 1 percent of the Illegal Aliens are violent criminals so at most there are only 40 of them in the borough that you have to watch out for.

Bergstieger,

Your post is out if charachter for you. Did you forget to take your cranky pills this morning?

[admin]

Kari,

I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. I am also glad to hear that you have much good to say about our town.

I hope that you called the police about this incident. They should be made aware, even if they are to do nothing in this particular case. As Bergsteiger rightfully mentioned, those day laborers were likely harmless. Either way, it is inappropriate behavior on their part, even if they did have good intentions. This is not the first time that things like this have happened.

If the police are made aware, they can justify a presence to intervene in these unfortunate misunderstandings.

IMO, this is a safe town to walk through and I hope you do not stay away from us. Freehold Borough is a good place to live and visit.

Just do not tell the papers about this, we don't need any more bad press.

Brian

[kari]

Brian, Yes I filed a report with your local PD at the urging of my host. I'm not convinced it wasn't a wasted effort but did it anyway.

[admin]

kari said:

Brian, Yes I filed a report with your local PD at the urging of my host. I'm not convinced it wasn't a wasted effort but did it anyway.

Keri,

Filing that report was not a wasted effort. A crime may not have even been committed, and nothing may come of your incident, but the police can not do anything if they are not aware.

This can give them a justification to at least make a better presence, or reach out to advocacy group to step in and assist.

In the past the police have been questioned about their presence around the day laborers. This gives them reason and they will have an easier time of defending against charges of profiling from race baiter's.

You did the right thing

Brian

[bergsteiger]

Brian

You spelled my name wrong, E before the I. No, I wasn’t cranky just having a little fun but watch out tomorrow because I’m up past my bedtime tonight.

Kari

My wife read your post and she is jealous! She took quite a few self-defense classes and she is waiting for an opportunity to drop someone like a bad habit. She said you should do the same. Then when that happens you will feel more secure. It’s good exercise also. ;D

[kitty]

Being a "newcomer" I hate to disagree with your statement that these men are "harmless." Harmless is being able to walk into any Freehold store without fear of assault. I realize it may be a harsh word but it is just that. We have as much right to expect not to be approached by this group as they sued for the right to loiter.

[bergsteiger]

Kitty

I don’t know who you were responding too but let me respond by saying read my posts again. I said “probably harmless” and “beware of strangers from a foreign land”. I know you are not going to find comfort in this but their right to loiter in a foreign country trumps your right to feel safe in your country. I don’t agree but it’s not going to change anytime soon.

As I said in my next post about my wife taking self-defense courses, although she does not always feel safe, she said it sure does help. I really do pity the poor dumb bastard that messes with her. I suggest you take a self-defense course and also exercise your second amendment right so when you’re in your home, an intruder will not have a chance. Besides going to a shooting range is a lot of fun. My wife shoots pistols and rifles and enjoys it.

[guest]

kitty said:

Being a "newcomer" I hate to disagree with your statement that these men are "harmless." Harmless is being able to walk into any Freehold store without fear of assault. I realize it may be a harsh word but it is just that. We have as much right to expect not to be approached by this group as they sued for the right to loiter.

"without fear of assault"

Please lets be accurate here, no one is being "ASSAULTED", be approached is accurate, accosted may also be used to describe your concerns, but no one is being "ASSAULTED"!

Please lets not cause inaccurate hysteria.

Thats not helping anyone!

[bergsteiger]

“Assault is often defined to include not only violence, but any physical contact with another person without their consent.”

Guest,

Sounds like you’re a male. Kitty and Kari have every right to have a “FEAR” of assault and quite frankly that FEAR may very well keep them safe.

My wife has been harassed more then once by Latino males feeling “macho”. Whistling, cat calling, foul language and so forth(verbal assault) . “Hey chicey momma” is not what she wants to hear walking into the CVS.

You don’t know how Kitty, Kari or my wife feels having to put up with that BS because it does not happen to you.

[Zeus]

bergsteiger, the behavior exhibited by the Latino men that is described here is not unique to this particular ethnic group. Men are pigs no matter what ethnic group they belong to.

Just remember one thing, men spend 9 months trying to get out, and the rest of their lives trying to get back in…. ;D

I do have to agree with both your wife and the other females that posted their concerns here, but your assessment that they were probably harmless is most likely accurate.

Welcome back.

bergsteiger said:

“Assault is often defined to include not only violence, but any physical contact with another person without their consent.”

Guest,

Sounds like you’re a male. Kitty and Kari have every right to have a “FEAR” of assault and quite frankly that FEAR may very well keep them safe.

My wife has been harassed more then once by Latino males feeling “macho”. Whistling, cat calling, foul language and so forth(verbal assault) . “Hey chicey momma” is not what she wants to hear walking into the CVS.

You don’t know how Kitty, Kari or my wife feels having to put up with that BS because it does not happen to you.

[Freehold Resident]

I'd rather invite day laborer strangers into my house than those hateful bible thumpers at my door on a Sunday morning when they are trying to shove their hijacked religion (*product*) down my throat. The day laborers are usually very nice and not scary at all. I remember years ago when I used to work at a supermarket, 90% of the customers who would help bag were of Mexican descent.

Hell, I'd rather talk with them than those nasty women who seem to all work in the Monmouth County Clerk's Office. I've never seen someone be so condescending and rude, with such a fend-for-yourself attitude, to someone starting their own business who has the potential to bring in revenue for the county...

FR

[fiberisgoodforyou]

bergsteiger said:

“Assault is often defined to include not only violence, but any physical contact with another person without their consent.”

Guest,

Sounds like you’re a male. Kitty and Kari have every right to have a “FEAR” of assault and quite frankly that FEAR may very well keep them safe.

My wife has been harassed more then once by Latino males feeling “macho”. Whistling, cat calling, foul language and so forth(verbal assault) . “Hey chicey momma” is not what she wants to hear walking into the CVS.

You don’t know how Kitty, Kari or my wife feels having to put up with that BS because it does not happen to you.

Assault is a crime of violence against another person. In some jurisdictions, including Australia and New Zealand assault refers to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, while in other jurisdictions, such as the United States, England and Wales, assault refers only to the threat of violence caused by an immediate show of force. The actual violence is battery, though this charge doesn't exist in all states and provinces. Simple assaults that do not involve any aggravation such as use of a deadly weapon are distinguished from aggravated assaults.

Assault is often defined to include not only violence, but any physical contact with another person without their consent. When assault is defined like this, exceptions are provided to cover such things as normal social behavior (for example, patting someone on the back).

English law makes distinctions based on the degree of injury, between:

common assault (which includes even the most minor assault)
assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
assault occasioning grievous bodily harm (GBH)
In most jurisdictions, an assault occasioning grievous bodily harm (or its equivalent) may amount to murder in certain circumstances.

[normanbellis]

Bad behavior on the part of men is not a latino or italian or american thing. boorish behavior cuts across all boundaries. i see a lot of it in younger men, so maybe it's generational.
NORMAN

[bergsteiger]

Dogs of all breeds bite people but Pit Bulls bite at a higher percentage then Golden Labradors. Most Black bears are harmless but you don't try to get to close to them.

[LS]

normanbellis said:

Bad behavior on the part of men is not a latino or italian or american thing. boorish behavior cuts across all boundaries. i see a lot of it in younger men, so maybe it's generational.
NORMAN

Quite correct (politically). Of course, there are no cultural differences between people of different nations. Unless, of course, we want to praise one.

If machismo is courage, then it is a matter of cultural pride. Yes, there are differences that are to be exalted and admired unless those pesky differences are deemed to be negative then we are all the same. Pay no heed to that darned machismo cultural practice of beating women.

[bergsteiger]

LS said:

normanbellis said:

Bad behavior on the part of men is not a latino or italian or american thing. boorish behavior cuts across all boundaries. i see a lot of it in younger men, so maybe it's generational.
NORMAN

Quite correct (politically). Of course, there are no cultural differences between people of different nations. Unless, of course, we want to praise one.

If machismo is courage, then it is a matter of cultural pride. Yes, there are differences that are to be exalted and admired unless those pesky differences are deemed to be negative then we are all the same. Pay no heed to that darned machismo cultural practice of beating women.

You hit the nail on the head

[Jupiter]

...what has improved from three years ago?

Published in the Asbury Park Press 3/23/04
By DAVID P. WILLIS and NINA RIZZO
STAFF WRITERS
FREEHOLD -- Atanasio "Chachi" Munoz used to sell produce and Mexican products, such as tortillas, out of the back of a small van, when one of his friends suggested he check out Freehold.

"I came over here and saw a lot of Spanish people," Munoz says.

He also saw a need, and in December 1999 opened LaPalma Grocery, a store filled with Mexican food, in Borough Plaza on Broad Street.

"I know what Mexican people want, what they love," says Munoz, 31, a Freehold resident who came to the United States at age 15.

In 2000, Munoz opened Restaurante Y Taqueria Munoz, a Mexican restaurant, next door to his grocery. Last year, Munoz opened Munoz Bakery, which sells Mexican breads, cakes and pastries.

He figures that 95 percent of his business comes from Freehold's Latino community, as well as from the workers who travel each day to Freehold's muster zone. If they were gone, he says, "it would hurt me really bad."

It's a trend that occurs whenever an immigrant population moves in to an area, experts say. New businesses, such as grocers, restaurants and travel agencies, sprout up to service residents and workers.

But the recent wave of Latino immigrants to Freehold, Monmouth County's seat of government, has brought stresses to this small borough of 11,000 residents, along with willing workers and entrepreneurs.

Residents complain of quality-of-life issues such as rental overcrowding, noise and littering. Schools are reaching capacity as teachers meet the challenge of educating children who are not fluent in English. And crime has increased, although most Latinos are charged with committing crimes against other Latinos.

The nexus of the Latino issue in Freehold has been the muster zone, a strip of land along Throckmorton Street, where day laborers gather to be picked up for work. When the borough attempted to close down the zone on Jan. 1, a coalition of immigrants' rights groups and day laborers challenged the closing in court.

Earlier this month the borough and the immigrants' rights groups reached an agreement in court. But borough officials now say they didn't agree to re-open the zone, and they now intend to crack down on employers picking up the day laborers.

Tensions in town are increasing -- so much so that the Freehold Clergy Association is hosting a community forum on Sunday in an effort to foster constructive dialogue. The event is scheduled to be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 118 W. Main St.

The main reason so many undocumented workers have come to Freehold is that there are plenty of jobs available for them. Latinos bus tables and wash dishes in area restaurants, muck out stalls in neighboring horse farms, landscape the yards of surrounding suburbia and clean countless local houses and offices. And though most business owners will not admit om the record to employing undocumented Latinos, many businesses would collapse without the affordable and available labor these Latinos provide.

"There are certain jobs, such as dishwashing and prep, you will not find anyone else to do it," says Freehold Township resident Robert Cash, who owns Metropolitan Cafe on Main Street. "The average American kid wants to be a waiter. He won't start out as a bus boy."

Cash's restaurant has 20 employees, including three Latinos, who work as dishwasher, bus boy and waiter. Cash requires that workers have documents.

What would happen if undocumented workers left Freehold?

"It would be a major stress on the entire industry," Cash says.

Freehold has long history with immigrants looking for work, and over generations, has accepted new and different people into its community.

The migrant potato farmers who followed the planting season north of Freehold in the first half of the 20th century were African-Americans from Southern states.

In the 1920s, Eastern Europeans arrived to work in the now-defunct rug mill. In the 1950s, Puerto Ricans arrived to work in the potato fields.

About one out of seven people now living in Freehold entered the United States from 1990 through March 2000, and four out of five foreign-born residents here are from Latin America. Freehold now has the highest proportion of foreign-born residents of any town in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Freehold's Latino wave has made an impact on the borough's downtown. New stores, such as Discolandia, a music store, and travel agencies have opened. There are new restaurants and even a Spanish-language newspaper, Nostoros.

"The economy becomes more vibrant," says Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey in New Brunswick. "The Latinos are becoming an integral part of the social economic fabric of the borough. It is an irreversible process."

In the last six years alone, about eight new businesses have been started, says Jayne Carr, executive director of the Freehold Center Partnership, which runs the downtown's special-improvement district.

Business owners realized they can make money by serving the Latino population, Carr says.

"Businesses catering to Latinos are doing very well," she says.

Munoz says his bakery and grocery store give people a taste of home.

"I know what Mexican people want, what they like," Munoz says.

When he opened his store in 1999, suppliers sold him $18,000 in goods on credit. He paid it back in about a month, he says. "Thank God, I did good. I did great."

George Clavijo opened Costamar Travel on Throckmorton Street about 12 years ago.

"Day by day, the community was growing and growing. They had no place to go," Clavijo says. "We opened it (the agency) to serve them."

The company specializes in travel to Latin America. Six years ago, the company expanded and started to offer electronic money transfers and translation services to keep up with demand.

"We try to help the community," Clavijo says.

Now the Freehold Partnership is trying to integrate Latino businesses. With the help of Cecilia Reynolds, publisher of Nostoros, Carr says, she is trying to overcome a language barrier.

"Our hope is to build that bridge to be able to communicate to the businesses that are already here," Carr says.

The partnership has sponsorships and marketing opportunities as well as ways to help pay for exterior improvements to businesses, she says.

"There are opportunities here," Carr says. "Language has always been the problem."

The Latino community has helped fuel business in other parts of the downtown area, Clavijo says. "You can see more businesses, more restaurants, more people buying things."

Millstone resident Sherry Bailey is owner of Bailey Printing on Throckmorton Street, directly across from the old muster zone. She figures about 10 percent of her walk-in traffic doesn't speak English. Until recently, she had an employee who could translate.

People order invitations for get-togethers, business cards for a new small business or make copies on the photocopier.

"They are spending money here," Bailey says.

Freehold Township resident Robert Cash, who owns Metropolitan Cafe on Main Street, says Latinos do not come to the restaurant. They frequent ethnic restaurants such as Cinco de Mayo and others, Cash says.

"They haven't taken over a bar yet. I'm not sure they feel comfortable yet mixing in completely," says Cash, who is chairman of the Freehold Center Partnership's restaurant committee.

The Latino community also gives Freehold businesses something else: a pool of workers.

There's no data to determine how many Latinos work in Freehold. But typically, these workers are often paid low wages or even under the table in businesses such as restaurants, landscaping or construction, says Richard Cunningham, executive director of New Labor, a New Brunswick-based nonprofit organization of primarily immigrant workers.

"People are migrating to the suburbs following these jobs," he says.

And customers may benefit from labor performed by a low-paid or undocumented worker through lower prices for a meal or service such as landscaping, says Barrie A. Peterson, associate director of the Seton Hall University Institute on Work.

"The family that goes to have a nice meal is benefiting by having a cheaper price and better service," Peterson says. "Many people are benefiting from this low wage labor."

Ultimately other businesses -- those that try to provide higher wages or offer health insurance -- suffer, Peterson says.

"That employer is penalized by the employer who takes a short cut," he says.

Ricky Bailey, owner of Bailey's Square Janitorial Service, doesn't need to look for workers. They come to his South Street storefront, with documentation in hand.

Bailey, of Jackson, has 20 employees and about three-quarters of them are Latino. They work in sales and maintenance positions. They started at $8 an hour, but now all his workers are paid $12 to 13 an hour, and some get benefits, he says.

Bailey has sponsored eight workers for citizenship, who were longtime employees, in the past four years.

"They're good people. We need them there. It keeps everything flowing," Bailey says.

Cash, the restaurant owner, requires all workers to have papers along with a tax form from the Internal Revenue Service. For those who don't have a Social Security number, he tells them to get an IRS taxpayer identification number so the employer can withhold payroll taxes, Cash says.

But sometimes the documents are false, Cash says. Still, taxes, such as federal and state income tax, comes out of paychecks.

In a 2000 study, Peterson and co-author Kusum W. Ketkar, an economics professor at the Stillman School of Business, found that half of the undocumented workers in New Jersey were on the tax rolls.

"Those individuals will never benefit from the taxes (Social Security) that they paid," Peterson says.