The business section of today’s New York Times has an article about our fight to preserve the vital regional economic resource that is Providence’s working waterfront, from glitzy condos that would shut off the true economic potential of the Port of Providence :

. . . A band of business owners, who feel threatened by the mixed-use vision that Mr. Conley espouses, have come together to fight the developer. Their position is that Providence needs a traditional working waterfront — not more condominiums . . .

They predict it will only be a matter of time before they are driven out of business on Allens Avenue, a situation they believe will have disastrous economic implications for Providence — though city officials don’t seem to agree — and for the entire region .

“Providence is just thinking of Providence,” said David A. Cohen, president of the Promet Marine Services Corporation, a shipyard located on eight acres next to Mr. Conley’s renovated conference center.

Noting that home heating oil shipped into Providence’s deep water port is sent as far away as Worcester and Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Mr. Cohen said the waterfront’s traditional industrial base is more important economically than new commercial and residential uses. “Allens Avenue is important to the whole region,” Mr. Cohen said.