Official release:

    Dear friends and neighbors,   I am excited to announce that I will be running run for a new term to continue representing the 6th Ward in November’s City Council election. Please join my family and me to help launch my campaign at Moran’s on Monday, July 22 at 6pm. Click here to RSVP or email me.    

I have strived to cultivate a reputation as an advocate for our neighborhood and pride myself on being accessible to my constituents for problem-solving while providing independent, responsible leadership on the City Council.  Serving the residents of Hoboken is something I take very seriously and our community deserves a true advocate who will always do whatever they can to deliver to residents. I also am someone who can make the tough decisions on what’s best for our city without bowing to political pressure. I look forward to walking door to door and connecting with friends and neighbors and building towards a victory in November. Read More...

The following story comes courtesy of the Hudson County View:

Seven years after suffering extensive damage from Superstorm Sandy, the Hoboken American Legion 107 cut the ribbon today to officially open a new building that will contain a community center and house homeless veterans in six apartment units. After the event, we spoke to Hoboken Council President Jen Giattino, and based on her remarks, there’s a good chance that the legion will be able to acquire the property from the city to build the additional units. “I can see no better use for that land to house homeless vets. For anyone serving this country to leave and then have to come back and be homeless is completely unacceptable, and we as a society have to do anything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Giattino said in an interview.

Talking Ed Note: Congratulations and thanks to American Legion Post 107 Commander John Carey and all the Hoboken veterans who worked so hard over so many years bringing this community benefit to American veterans.

Kind thanks also to Mayor Richard Turner of Weehawken for his town’s gracious and kind support.

Official release:

Council President Promises Continued Constituent Accessibility, =&1=&

City Council President Jen Giattino is announcing that she will run for a new term to continue representing the 6th Ward in November’s City Council election. A longtime public servant, Councilwoman Giattino has cultivated a reputation as an advocate for her neighborhood who prides herself on being accessible to her constituents for problem-solving while providing independent, responsible leadership on the City Council.  Read More...

Years in the making, there’s years more targets on the backs of politicos in the Mile Square City courtesy of the Boys of Summer, the Feds.

The shutout is over and the innings of zeroes endlessly following Hoboken elections with it. Having unraveled the 2013 election with a string of convictions elevating Frank Raia the poster child, the Feds are drilling into 2015, hitting paydirt and touching 2017.

Councilman Michael Russo may sing the praises of Mayor Ravi Bhalla in a council meeting again but he won’t be claiming voter fraud is a myth with zero convictions anymore. Read More...

Official release:

Council President Jen Giattino will join organizations around the world in sponsoring a Lights for Liberty vigil on July 12 to end human detention camps across the United States. Thousands of people are expected to participate in similar events in their communities and outside detention centers to call for an end to human detention. 

“The detention of immigrants, refugees and families is an inhumane practice that strips individuals of their basic rights,” Read More...

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” =&0=&

Official release:

=&0=& Opening a business in Hoboken has not always been easy but working with my council colleagues we’ve made it a lot easier to open a new business by expanding our Commercial Business District the entire length of First Street and the east side of Jackson Street between 3rd and 7th.  Allowing new permitted uses in these areas will help attract and diversify the types of businesses in our neighborhood.  For example, a florist or a cafe can now open without going through the sometimes grueling zoning permit process. Hopefully, in the very near future there will be new businesses sprouting up in our ward.  =&1=& As we all know traffic in Hoboken is not always easy to navigate.  Three years ago we commissioned a traffic study with the goal of opening new arteries and adding traffic signals to help the flow of traffic.  While that plan has had a positive impact on traffic it didn’t go far enough.  Our new traffic study will not only collect data on Hoboken streets but neighboring Hudson County and Jersey City roads as well.  The goal of this study is to have all three governments working towards the same goal of creating a more efficient traffic pattern and also connecting Jersey City Heights to Downtown Jersey City so drivers no longer use Hoboken roads as a pass through.    =&2=& We have reached the end of tree planting season and to date PSE&G has planted 37 new trees.  Persistent rain slowed the planting down and PSE&G fell 3 trees short of the original goal of 40 new trees planted.  However, they will continue to plant new trees once the fall planting season starts. =&3=& Every year the City of Hoboken awards Federal Funding to a variety of nonprofit agencies that service Hoboken residents.  The largest grant was given to the Hoboken Housing Authority for replacement of boilers throughout their properties.  This award will help the HHA dedicate more funding to other daily maintenance projects as opposed to constantly fixing boilers that are in severe cases of disrepair.   =&4=& The new resiliency park at 7th and Jackson streets opened on Saturday, June 29th.  The new park features playground equipment, one acre of open lawn space, a new gym with a basketball court and resiliency infrastructure to capture more than 450,000 gallons of rainwater to help reduce flooding primarily across the western side of Hoboken.  Additionally, the park will soon benefit from shade structures that are being re-deployed from the “Pop-up” park as preparations for the construction of the new Northwest Park on that site begin.  =&5=& As we all know the Zaklama property on 1st & Jackson has been an eyesore for a number of years.  In January the Hoboken City Council adopted a resolution to hire an engineering firm to inspect the property.  However, for the firm to gain access to the property we had to receive An Order To Show Cause from the courts which were granted on July 2, 2019.  If upon inspection the property is deemed unsafe we set aside funding in our municipal budget to demolish the remaining structure.  The City will be entitled to recoup any expenses on demolition once IRS and Zaklama Estate reach an agreement.  Thank you for patience this has been a long time coming and we will continue to work until the issue is resolved. =&6=& On July 1st, the city’s new water contract with Suez went into effect which includes a new water utility.  Last fall our relationship with Suez was fragile after multiple water main breaks and traffic nightmares triggered by Suez’s work in SW Hoboken.  I reached out to Suez and demanded that we all get in a room and figure out a better way forward for all parties.  And that is exactly what we did.  With the leadership of my colleagues on the City Council Infrastructure Subcommittee working closely with the Administration and specifically our director of Environmental Services Jennifer Gonzalez, we agreed a new contract that provides $33 million more in revenues to Hoboken for the needed upgrades to our water system which will reduce future disruptions and save taxpayers from having to pay for these repairs. Thank you for your continued input and advocacy.  Please share this with everyone you think might be interested in or affected by this information.  And don’t hesitate to reach out to me at any time to discuss this or any matter that is important to you.   Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!    Regards, Ruben Ramos Hoboken City Council, 4th Ward

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Closing out this Independence Day week, it’s actually last week’s “emergency” council meeting called by Mayor Ravi Bhalla for his now-failed non-binding November referendum on e-Scooters.

The bid barely saw quorum as the mayor’s office tried to jam the measure through entering one of the biggest vacation periods of the year. It was crushed in a 5-2 no vote by the City Council.

A boy barely handle-bars high illegally jets off at Maxwell Place Park on an e-Scooter. Hoboken Police would intercede minutes later and end the foray. The City Council will act shortly to further modify the six-month e-Scooter pilot. A proposed non-binding referendum on the pilot failed 5-2 last week in the council.

The desperate play to jam the November election with the non-binding re: meaningless measure, is a bid to generate turn out of low information voters in tandem with the six council ward races. Read More...

Official release:

Statement from Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher on Hoboken’s SUEZ Water Contract 

The new 15 year water contract between the City of Hoboken and Suez went into effect on Monday. Under this contract, Hoboken will receive $33 million more in revenues to make system-wide infrastructure upgrades and eliminate water main breaks that have long plagued the city, negatively impacting residents’ quality of life. The Infrastructure subcommittee of the City Council, chaired by Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, worked tirelessly with the city’s administration to negotiate this historic contract, which ensures that Hoboken receives its fair share of water revenues to fix its aging system. Read More...