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Mayor Dawn Zimmer announces:
Hi Smarty Jones & MSV readers,It has been a top priority for me to ensure that all Hoboken residents are a short walk to a park. We have just acquired six acres to build Hoboken’s largest park in Northwest Hoboken and reached an agreement for two acres of parkland at 7th and Jackson. Now I write to ask for the community’s help to ensure that Southwest Hoboken also has at least a two-acre park to enjoy like every other neighborhood.
The details are not altogether clear but a Hudson County jury has awarded the buildings at Maxwell Place approximately $5,000,000 in a civil lawsuit for the eminent domain action taken to have the North Hudson Sewerage Authority install the Mile Square City’s second water pump.
For the moment, it’s not clear if the award is against the City of Hoboken, the North Hudson Sewerage Authority or both.*
MSV reported first the second Hoboken water pump has been a resounding success in West Hoboken in the area of Shoprite. But now the cost for the implementation may skyrocket as legal action by Maxwell Place which opposed the pump’s nondescript installation underground between its buildings has seen a lofty sum in a jury award for:
It’s January and the Hoboken political class is chirping who will emerge to challenge Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s bid for a third term this November.
As all aspects of politics and particular to Hoboken are oft akin to a circular firing squad, there’s a commissioner’s seat up for a council selection.
Let the firing commence!
Frank “Pupie” Raia is an anachronism. He happens to be one of the most colorful characters in Hoboken Sopranos history and on occasion is the most entertaining interview no matter the subject matter. He does more than a modicum of good with local groups such as Hopes and his family acts similarly, often quietly in non-publicized, charitable activities.
A major Hoboken election year is full of skullduggery, posturing and occasionally bomb throwing. There’s millions of dollars at stake; a far cry from the trillions of federal dollars with the corresponding yelping but in Hoboken it’s the per capita griping which matters most.
No HudCo municipality goes faster and deeper into the sewage treatment than Hoboken when the mayoralty stakes are on the line. The rough and tough who fancy themselves such in Hudson County cringe then shy away from the Mile Square City during election season.
| Councilman Mike DeFusco is hosting a fundraiser next month to some raised eyebrows with questions swirling about a possible mayoral candidacy. Mayor Zimmer is pictured here at Arthur’s where she endorsed DeFusco and other council candidates in the 2015 Hoboken City Council races. |
A February fundraiser announced by Hoboken Councilman Mike DeFusco featuring Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop hit a speed bump with unconfirmed reports of a “big announcement” dovetailing with the appearance.
According to independent sources, Mayor Fulop will not be attending.
The story of Councilman DeFusco’s fundraiser, the Jersey Mayor’s special guest appearance and a “big announcement” came out over the weekend on Grafix Avenger.
City Hall sources say the Mayor and some City Council members had not received any invitation to date.
From the desk of Second Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher:
Happy New Year! I plan to send a broader note out soon with reflections on 2016 and plans for 2017. But I wanted to send this out to let you know about current discussions concerning a new Port Authority Bus Terminal. Don’t get your hopes up too high yet… if there are 100 steps that need to be taken to see it finished, we are just at step 7. But, still notable. It will take a lot of advocacy to get this moving, but it is starting now…I’ll let you know when it is your turn to get involved! So, if you wait in a long line for the bus, or see someone who does and sympathizes with them, then please read…Otherwise, no need! Today I attended the Port Authority of NY & NJ Special Board meeting to hear the presentation and introduction of their 10 year capital plan. As expected, the introduction of the $30 Billion plan was approved by an all to 1 vote. There will be two public hearings – on January 31st in NY and on February 6th in Jersey City – from 5-8 to get feedback from the public on the plan. I will plan to attend the one on the 6th and I hope you can join. http://www.nj.com/…/billions_for_path_extension_bus_termina… Of note, almost all of the commissioners, including Chairman Degnan, during their deliberations, spoke of their support for a new PABT. And in fact the 10 year capital plan includes $3.5 Billion earmarked for a new terminal. That being said, we do not know if this will be enough, or when it will be started. Our interests were well represented at the meeting by NJ State Senator Loretta Weinberg (Bergen County, Senate Majority Leader), NJ State Senator Bob Gordon(Bergen County, Majority Conference Leader), and NJ Assemblyman John Wisniewski (Middlesex County, Deputy Speaker) who all made strong positions about how critical a new Bus Terminal was to BOTH NJ and NY residents. The link below provides some color around what they said. I had the lucky opportunity as an elected official to sit amongst them and am looking forward to connecting more with them on this issue that is so important to our broader community. And, I actually testified just after they did. Although I did not have the same force as they, what I believe I was able to do was make a connection of the real impact of our current situation, at the ground level, at the resident level. Going forward, I am hoping to be just one of many voices making this appeal… (hint hint) More to come… #morevoices #engageinformadvocate #ourhoboken PS – The following were my remarks: “Happy New Year and thank you all for your service to the residents of NY and NJ. I am here as a 22 year resident and a recently elected official of Hoboken NJ. When I ran for election in the fall of 2015, I knocked on many doors and I asked people if there was an issue that would get them to come out to vote. And one of the top issues was expanded sources of reliable transportation. So that is what has prompted me to come today. To engage in your process and advocate for my community. And with that, I want to appeal to you to support a near term focus and adoption of a plan to replace or restore the Port Authority Bus Terminal with the goal of expanding its capacity. Hoboken, like many other communities in both NY and NJ that border Manhattan, is seeing significant population growth with no similar growth in capacity of our arterial transportation modes. As I am sure you are aware, we – Hoboken – compete with Jersey City for allocation of PATH trains, having lost one train per hour last year as Jersey City has seen even greater population growth than Hoboken. And this will continue. As I am sure you have heard from representatives from other towns reliant upon NJ Transit buses, in Hoboken, bus lines are long with commuters often waiting 30-45 minutes in line for availability. We are told we cannot increase the number of buses because there is no additional capacity at the Port Authority. And my guess, not unlike what has occurred with Jersey City and the PATH, that at some point we will also be competing for our current allocation at the Bus Terminal as communities around us continue to grow. Much of our population growth is driven by the increasingly lack of affordability for housing in Manhattan. And this trend will only continue and escalate as we see urbanization continue. People are being priced out and are flocking to the next best available alternative. Even Hoboken, like Brooklyn, is seeing significant rises in housing costs which has driven further development and population growth. Why this is all relevant – to me, and I hope to you – is it shows how connected our two states are and how really we are just one large community that share multi modes of transportation. NJ transit and the MTA are really just part of this large network that links via Port Authority assets. NY and NJ each rely on each others populations to support its businesses and infrastructure. I have heard that some may think the Bus Terminal is a NJ Project, because it mainly serves NJ residents. But these residents come to NY to work, to attend Broadway shows and other cultural events, to visit friends and family, to shop and most importantly to spend money in NY. And for the few non NJ residents who use the buses…. Well we welcome them to come spend money in NJ! Hoboken in particular… Thank you for the opportunity to speak. And I’m looking forward to continuing to engage in this process and bring more NJ voices into the discussion. Happy New Year.” http://www.nj.com/…/billions_for_path_extension_bus_termina…
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