Muster zone expected to open Oct. 16
BY LARRY HLAVENKA JR.
Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD - The oft-discussed muster zone for day laborers in the Lakewood Industrial Park on Swarth-more Avenue is expected to open Oct. 16.

It is still anyone's guess if the muster zone concept will work as planned and remove the hiring of day laborers from the downtown area along Clifton Avenue.

Municipal officials have expressed hope that once the muster zone is open, people who need to seek employment on a daily basis and businessmen who need daily employees will go to that site to make their connections.

The township hosted a seminar on Sept. 27 to provide information about the industrial park area to the day laborers. Carlos Cedeno and attorney Samuel Z. Brown led the proceedings.

Mayor Meir Lichtenstein, a proponent of the muster zone initiative, also attended.

Lakewood Police Capt. Charles Smith advised those in attendance that the township will take a zero-tolerance approach to those who try to solicit day laborers in the downtown area from 6-10 a.m.

The policies were reinforced during a Township Committee meeting held Sept. 28 at the Leisure Village East adult community.

Resident Alice Kelsey discussed the muster zone and expressed concern for the safety of day laborers.

"The danger is going to occur when the muster zone opens," Kelsey said. "Nothing has been done to ensure the [day laborers'] safety. The time for me to mention it is now so we know this is an accident waiting to happen. We are talking about many people."

Kelsey referred to County Route 528 (Cedar Bridge Avenue), which is in the vicinity of the soon-to-open muster zone, as a busy road.

It is the hope of muster zone supporters that day laborers who live in the downtown area will make their way to the industrial park each day to seek employment.

Some opponents of the muster zone have said they do not believe day laborers will travel several miles out of downtown to make use of the new site.

Lichtenstein has said the day laborers can use the township's Job Link Bus, bicycles or other means to get to the muster zone.

The presence of the day laborers in the downtown area has been a source of concern for merchants and public officials over the past few years.

Merchants indicated that the presence of large groups of men on the street in front of their businesses was intimidating to some customers.

Lakewood officials expressed concern about the day laborers running into the street to negotiate with potential em-ployers as those employers drive through town looking for employees.