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From the desk of Councilman Ravi Bhalla:

Dear Friends and Neighbors, I hope you enjoyed your Fourth of July holiday with family and friends. I am happy to provide several pieces of very good news for Hoboken. The City broke ground on our long-awaited Southwest Park, our second flood pump is slated to be operational in the fall, and there is a new resiliency park and gymnasium up for consideration at tonight’s Council meeting. Ground-Breaking for Southwest Park: I was proud to join Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Councilman Dave Mello and many others in breaking ground on our long-awaited Southwest Park, located at the intersection of Jackson Street and Observer Highway. This new park has been hailed by state officials as a national model for innovative environmental park design, and will not only provide needed open space, but it will help us reduce flooding.   At the groundbreaking ceremony, David Zimmer from the NJ DEP described this park as a first-of-its-kind for innovative environmental design: “The technology isn’t new, but the way your Mayor, City Council and engineers designed it is really cutting edge. It is a model in an urban area of how to do things correctly.”  Second Flood Pump to Be Operational in the Fall A second pump to alleviate flooding on our City’s west side, which is under construction along 11th Street, is nearing completion and is slated to be operational this fall. This pump will provide major relief from flooding for the Northwest Section of the City, particularly benefiting the hard hit area from 8th to 11th Streets (west of Clinton Street).  The first pumping station, completed in 2011, has been a tremendous success in virtually eliminating flooding in the City’s southwest neighborhood. Photo Credit: TheBokenOnline I strongly support the installation of the flood pumps as an essential component of our comprehensive plan to combat flooding.
Jackson Street Park on Tonight’s Council Agenda Tonight, the City Council will be considering a plan to move forward with a new two-acre resiliency park at 7th and Jackson Streets.  As part of this project, the developer will construct a 1-acre public park with an open grass area, public seating, and a children’s play area along with another 1-acre public plaza with step seating, passive lawn area, restrooms, and a large plaza area designed to accommodate vendors and seasonal markets. There will be more than 250,000 gallons of underground stormwater detention within the park and plaza to help address flooding issues in the area.  In addition, the developer will construct a 6,835 square foot multi-use public gymnasium that will accommodate the growing demand for recreation programs including basketball, soccer, yoga, and other fitness activities. Nearly 800 children on more than 50 basketball teams must currently share the gymnasium in the Multi-Service Center. Finally, the project will include 42 on-site affordable housing units to be deed restricted for a minimum of 40 years. For the first time in any redevelopment agreement, the City is making sure that significant community benefits are provided before the development is finished by requiring that the public park and gymnasium be built first. If I can ever be of any assistance, please feel free to contact me at councilmanbhalla@gmail.com. Sincerely, Ravi S. Bhalla Councilman-at-Large

By now everyone knows and somewhere Billy the Bomber Ayers is laughing as people gloat about his infamous line in getting over after multiple bombings with the phrase, “Guilty as hell, free as a bird.”

Yesterday, a federal careerist, the FBI Director Jame Comey explained in serious tones the numerous transgressions going outside the entire federal system set up to encrypt and protect American secrets from the prying eyes of foreign intel agencies in any exchange of electronic documents. Read More...

From the Facebook page of Second Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher:

Hoboken friends….Painful post holiday reminder…. PARK AVE BRIDGE CLOSED NORTHBOUND. If possible, leave early, take an alternate path, or just extend the holiday weekend thru September. YOUR INPUT IS CRITICAL TO MAKE ANY POTENTIAL CHANGES.  So share your experiences via email and social media so we can continue to advocate for whatever changes might be necessary. – County Executive Tom DeGiese in care of his assistant, Victoria Parks at vparks@hcnj.us

– County Freeholder Anthony L Romano at – aromano@hcnj.us
– Mayor Dawn Zimmer at dzimmer@hobokennj.gov and vchaudhuri@hobokennj.gov and me, here, and via my council email, hoboken2nd@gmail.com.  ‪#‎ourhoboken‬ ‪#‎2ndforhoboken‬‪#‎parkavebridgegate‬ Read More...

Independence Day is no coincidence of natural events and the American experiment tested those Founders who paid mightily for a declaration from an English sovereign. Reflections on those monumental July days in Philadelphia. =&0=& 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.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Talking Ed Note: Nowhere does the concept of a foreign ideology appear we as citizens of the American republic “belong” to the government, an inverted bastardization of those principles.

Despotism, unilateral tyrannical abuses are a theme the signers frequently warned and pointed “when a long train of abuses and usurpations” lead to same decreed “it is their duty, to throw off such Government.”

Many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence paid for these words of liberty with their homes, their livelihoods and the cost in their own lives.  Read More...

The following video report comes courtesy of Jeannette Josue of the Hudson County View:

Mayor Dawn Zimmer, other Hoboken officials, as well as officials from the NJ Environmental Infrastructure (NJEIT), were joined by residents for the ground breaking of the first phase of the Southwest Resiliency Park, a one-acre green infrastructure resiliency park on Jackson Street and Observer Highway.

For more on this story, please see the Hudson County View:
http://hudsoncountyview.com/hoboken-officials-break-ground-southwest-resiliency-park/ Read More...

City of Hoboken announces:

Mayor Dawn Zimmer joined other Hoboken officials, dignitaries, and members of the public for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Southwest Park – a one acre park in southwest Hoboken designed to hold 200,000 gallons of stormwater runoff that will also serve as a model for green infrastructure resiliency parks in New Jersey. The property is currently a surface parking lot and is the first phase for a larger Southwest Park.

“The Southwest Park project will transform a parking lot into a green oasis for this thriving neighborhood and will be a model for building resiliency parks that help mitigate flooding,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “This park has been a goal of mine since 10 years ago when I was a stay-at-home mom advocating with my neighbors, and it is the reason why I got involved in government. I am thankful to all of the community advocates, the City Council, Hudson County, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust for their strong support of this project.” Read More...

City of Hoboken announces:

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Hudson County will begin the rehabilitation of the Park Avenue bridge between Hoboken and Weehawken on July 5^th. An announcement from the County regarding the project, including traffic impacts, is included below.    Read More...

City of Hoboken announces:

Hoboken to consider project to create new 2-acre resiliency park, public gymnasium & affordable housing=&1=&

City of Hoboken announces:

All members of the Hoboken community are invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Southwest Park – a one acre property designed with integrated flood resiliency features. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 11:00am at the site of the future Southwest Park, located at the corner of Jackson Street and Observer Highway.  “The creation of the Southwest Park is the reason I first ran for office, so this is an especially meaningful milestone for me, and I invite everyone to join us to celebrate,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “This park will not only provide much-needed green space for the southwest neighborhood, but it will also serve as a first-of-its-kind model in the state for integrating green infrastructure into parks to reduce flooding. I want to thank Councilman Mello and all of my Southwest neighbors who played a crucial role since 2006 to bring the first phase of this park to reality.” The park will feature passive recreational space, green infrastructure (rain gardens, shade tree pits, porous pavers, a cistern for rainwater harvesting and reuse) and an underground detention system to reduce stormwater run-off and localized flooding. It will also include a dog run, moveable cafe tables, a pop-up market zone, restrooms, multi-level seating for small performances, free public Wi-Fi, and a lawn with child-friendly interactive park features.