“I’m going to stay right until the end”

From the Jersey Journal:

Mobile home owner s get eviction notices

Eleven-year-old Vivian Talavera cried when her mom told her their family will have to move from her home because the owners are selling the Manhattan Mobile Home Park where she lives.

Her father, Luis Talavera, speaking inside an extension he built on the side of the one-bedroom trailer at 4828 Tonnelle Ave., said he is devastated.

“I don’t know what we are going to do,” Luis Talavera said. “We are going to have make some big decisions for Vivian.”

Roughly 90 families received notices in mid-October telling them that they have until June 30, 2009 to remove their trailers from the park.

Rumors have been circulating for years that the land was up for sale, residents said. Some hoped it would be sold to another trailer park operator, while others have already upped stakes and left.

Since the Tonnelle station of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail system opened in February 2006, owners at the trailer park are parked on 5.2 acres of prime real estate. The former owner died recently and his heirs are selling the park.

The temporary administrator of the estate, Paul Kaufman, could not be reached for comment.

About 20 residents of the close-knit community gathered in the fall chill under oaks and sycamores to tell their story.
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Several people said they would be willing to leave if they were compensated for moving and for their trailers, which many say are too old to tow. Trailers are still being listed by an agent at $18,000 with a ground rent of $379.

Hector Rivera lives with his wife and two grandchildren and bought his trailer from the park owners six years ago.

“Now I am going to lose my trailer,” Rivera said. “Why did they sell it to me?”
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The land is currently zoned for residential, according to tax records, and has an assessed value of $2.9 million, but may now be worth much more.

NJ Transit acquired the nearby New York Trailer Park from the same owner through eminent domain and built a parking lot for the light rail station. About 10 owners were compensated under the Uniform Act, which applies only to eminent domain, between $10,000 and $11,500, NJ Transit officials said.