Author: SmartyJones

News

It’s Jen, yet again!

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

In a surprising development, Councilwoman Jen Giattino was unanimously voted by her council colleagues to serve again as Council President.

Not only is the councilwoman serving in a back-to-back role again, it’s her fifth time selected by her council colleagues in her eight plus years on the City Council.
Councilwoman Jen Giattino being sworn-in last night for the fifth time as City Council President.
photo courtesy the Hudson County View

Councilwoman Vanessa Falco was unanimously voted to be Council Vice President. It’s a first for Hoboken as she’s the first African-American to serve in the council leadership.

Councilwoman Vanessa Falco takes the oath of office being sworn-in as City Council Vice President.

Councilman Jim Doyle was similarly selected by unanimous vote to sit on the hospital board of Hoboken University Medical Center. The City Council voted to approve a pending sale of the hospital to RWJ Barnabas Health. Read More...

News

Mayor’s office: Deploy the Patronage Protection!

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading
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As the new year slowly begins to unfold with Hoboken joining the flow, the City Council will recommence with its first meeting of the year tonight.

It promises to be a very challenging year.

The shakeout after last November’s council ward elections is taking shape which saw Mayor Ravi Bhalla lose almost every single council seat he vied for across the Mile Square. More bad news is coming.

With no one paying attention at the close of 2019, the mayor’s office announced the titles of Chief of Staff would be eliminated and see both its members: John Allen and Jason Freeman, dispersed with other duties and titles. Read More...

News

Jersey Journal highlights historic passage of memorial honoring victims of the Hoboken fires

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

From NJ.com and the Jersey Journal:

 Nearly four decades ago, dozens of residents were killed in what came to be known as “The Hoboken Fires.” Now, the city is remembering them.

The Hoboken City Council will honor the victims of the 1970s and 1980s fires, which were suspected arson, with a memorial plaque at Tom Olivieri Park. The decision passed unanimously Wednesday night after a nudge from The Hoboken Fire Victims Memorial Project. Read More...

News

Packed Room at Kickoff for Einstein For Hudson Republican Chairman

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Official release:

NJ GOP State Committeeman, Joshua Sotomayor Einstein, officially launched his campaign for Hudson County Republican Chairman on Monday, December 16that Mulligan’s Pub. The campaign kickoff, which began at 7pm and continued until after 10pm, was covered in the media prior to the event on Patch with onsite reporting by “The Pulse with Peter B.”, Hudson County’s premier county focused TV program. The evening of drinks, appetizers, and good conversation was attended by a packed room of supporters united, along with tens of thousands of Republicans in the county, in the desire to have a county GOP that is loud and proud. Supporters at the launch party came from Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, North Bergen, West New York, and elsewhere across the county. Read More...

News

City Council unanimously votes to honor the victims of the 1970s & 1980s Hoboken Fires

by SmartyJones2 Min Reading
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Last night, the City Council unanimously approved installation of a plaque at Tom Olivieri Park to honor the victims of the Hoboken Fires in the late 70s and early 80s.

A plaque will bear witness at the park remembering the dozens who perished and thousands displaced during the tumultuous times in the Mile Square City. Many among the hundreds of reported fires occurred due to arson.

The effort for the memorial is led by Rose Orozco, founder of the Hoboken Fire Victims Memorial Project.

Rose Orozco, Founder of the Hoboken Fire Victims Memorial Project speaking to the City Council last night.
City Council President Jen Giattino sponsored the resolution. =&1=& =&2=& =&1=& =&4=&the City of Hoboken suffered a series of devastating fires in the late 70s and early 80s and,
=&4=&Hoboken residents faced hundreds of fires, many suspected originating by arson with horrendous loss of life numbering in the dozens and,
=&4=&many thousands of Hoboken residents suffered displacement as highlighted by historian Dylan Gottlieb published in the September 1, 2019, Journal of American History article, “Hoboken is Burning: Yuppies, Arson, and Displacement in the Postindustrial City” and, =&1=& =&4=&the Washington Post featured a September 19th, 2019 article “How gentrification caused American cities to burn,” and highlighted the “Hoboken arson wave” from 1978 to 1983 and,
=&4=&the City of Hoboken wishes to further recognize the service of tenant activist Tom Oliveri, and honor the memory of Hoboken residents who perished in the Hoboken fires of the late 70s and 80s at the renamed Teofilio Olivieri Park at 13thSt. on Willow Avenue and,
=&4=&Rose Orozco, a member of the Hoboken Rent Leveling Board and resident who lived through the time of the Hoboken fires and is the founder of the Hoboken Fire Victims Memorial Project and,
=&4=&the City of Hoboken desires to honor all the victims of the Hoboken Fires in the late 70s and 80s.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council and the City of Hoboken, that a plaque honoring the memory of the dozens of Hoboken residents who died and the thousands displaced by the Hoboken Fires be installed at the Teofilio Olivieri Park as provided by the Hoboken Fire Victims Memorial Project. =&1=& =&14=& =&15=& =&16=&

Read More...

News

Officials call on Jersey City School Board member to resign amid ‘anti-Semitic’ remarks

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

News 12 reports:

News 12 video story available here.
Some New Jersey officials are calling on a Jersey City School Board member to resign after posting what they say are anti-Semitic remarks related to last week’s deadly shoot at a Jewish grocery store. Jersey City School Board of Education trustee Joan Terrell Paige made the comments on someone else’s Facebook page in response to an article about a meeting of faith and religious leaders pledging to do more to fight hate in Jersey City and to bring clashing cultures together. In the now-removed Facebook comment, Terrell Paige wrote that the Jewish community threatened, intimidated and harassed black homeowners into selling their homes and asks of the suspects in last week’s targeted attack “what is the message they were sending? “Are we brave enough to explore the answer to their message? Are we brave enough to stop the assault on the black communities of America.” The rest of the story is available at News 12.
News

Councilman Ruben Ramos: ‘Santa visiting downtown Hoboken’

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Official release:

    Please join Santa and me this Saturday at Hoboken Hothouse!         Please share with anyone you think would be interested in meeting Santa!  And as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have about this or any other issue that is important to you.     Happy Holidays!     Councilman Ruben Ramos Hoboken City Council, 4th Ward Real Leadership for a Better Hoboken
News

Horse Sense: Hoboken’s holiday gift, a reprieve from the massive NJ Transit Redevelopment

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

There will be some extra eggnog to enjoy in Hoboken this year. To all my friends!

Partly due to the results in the November election and back room special interest money scrambling, the efforts for total control over local government sought by Mayor Ravi Bhalla and passage for his massive NJ Transit Redevelopment in downtown Hoboken are stifled.

If only for the moment, efforts to begin turning Hoboken into Jersey City’s schizophrenic downtown skyline of skyscrapers will recommence in 2020.

Special interest big construction dreams for Hoboken are temporarily on hold as Ravi Bhalla’s NJ Transit Redevelopment
did not pass in 2019 and political warring for the special interest money temporarily took center stage.

Prior to the November council ward elections, Ravi Bhalla went full steam ahead without any public notification seeking to repay his big construction special interest pals backing the out-of-scale NJ Transit redevelopment in the downtown rail yards. More than a few eyebrows were raised by that scam on the public. Read More...