PATERSON -- Michael Garlasco, vice president of Princeton Laundry, sloshed his way through calf-deep, sludgy water in the dim natural light of an otherwise dark factory floor.
Instead, more than $1 million in massive, industrial laundry and pressing equipment sat in more than 2 feet of water and Garlasco's hopes for his family's new business venture in Paterson was on the verge of faltering.
The machines, including the flat-work ironers and towering clothes dryers, were not covered under the company's flood insurance, because they were not yet operational.
The flooding of the Passaic River on Tuesday that swamped the Bunker Hill Industrial Park, took out one of the city's most promising economic development stories before it could get started.
In January, city and county economic development officials heralded the news that Princeton Laundry -- a business that started 88 years ago by Garlasco's grandfather -- would move its operations from the Bronx to Paterson. The company, with the help of state and city grants and federal loans, bought the 93,000 square-foot factory that once was owned by Fairfield Textiles.
Two hundred jobs were coming to Paterson. Now, those jobs will stay in the Bronx for the foreseeable future as the Garlasco family assesses the damage, orders new equipment and calculates the losses.
By that afternoon, Deborah Hoffman, Passaic County director of economic development, arrived to see the damage, caused by a breach in the riverbank and exacerbated by an inadequate storm drain system.
"This is a horrible disaster for my companies of Bunker Hill," Hoffman said. "I think the city of Paterson has to do a total analysis of its sewer system to make sure it's operational."
The company received a $177,000 grant from the state Economic Development Authority, under the Business Employment Incentive Program to help with the move. The company also secured a $500,000 loan from Paterson's Urban Enterprise Zone loan program and $5.5 million in low-interest loans from Zion Bank of Pennsylvania and the federal Small Business Administration.
The Bronx-based commercial laundry cleans the linen and uniforms for up-market New York City hotels and Garlasco said Tuesday that the move to New Jersey would allow the company to tap into new markets in the area.
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