News

City: ‘Ravi Bhalla admits City Council got more money for Hoboken’

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Behind the scenes, reliable sources say Mayor Ravi Bhalla is less than pleased the City Council improved the proposed Hotel Hilton community givebacks for another $350,000.

While admitting that political reality, the City spokesman tried to put the best face on the additional 350K showing up minutes after word of the deal hit the street.

Clearly, money was left on the table and sources close to the discussion revealed obtaining the initial $300,000 for the three charter schools took mere “minutes.” Read More...

News

BREAKING: City Council obtains additional $350,000 in Hotel Hilton givebacks!

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading
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The City Council subcommittee responsible for evaluating the proposed Hilton hotel is announcing that late Wednesday night it received a verbal commitment from KMS, the developer of the hotel, to increase the total community benefits by $350,000 to $4.85 million.  This increase will provide further investment in education and infrastructure in surrounding neighborhoods.  With this increase, the subcommittee supports the improved plan, trusts that Mayor Bhalla will see these expanded contributions as beneficial to more Hoboken residents, and recommends that the City Council vote 9-0 on Wednesday, October 17th in support of this revised plan.   Read More...

News

Councilman Mike DeFusco: “What’s happening at Hoboken’s future Hilton?”

by SmartyJones10 Min Reading

Official release:
With fall well underway in Hoboken, I wanted to quickly reach out an updated you with what’s going on in and around town…

MOVING HOBOKEN’S HILTON HOTEL FORWARD


I have long advocated for a balanced hotel development in the parking lot behind the post office at 89 River Street, squarely within my home district, the first ward. This project’s ability to bring substantial yearly tax revenue (1.7mm) for the city, county and school district (400k), create jobs, support economic development, and add vibrancy to a downtrodden portion of the southern waterfront have long fueled my advocacy. 
Last week, the mayor presented the City Council Development Committee, which I co-Chair, with a revised plan to increase the size of the project to nearly 350 guest rooms.  To put this in perspective, that’s larger than the redevelopment plan the City Council approved in 2017 which then Councilman-Bhalla said was “out of scale” and voted against.  In exchange for this larger building, the mayor negotiated $3 million from the developer in the form of upfront capital for the City. Instead of using those funds to fund public projects, the mayor proposed donating the full amount to two local non-profits:  the former uptown YMCA as well as HPEF – a group of parents supportive of our local district schools.

I support those organization, but $3 million in developer givebacks simply wasn’t enough to justify the impacts of the overall project.

So, I along with Council members Giattino, Fisher and Cunningham, as well as community advocates from affordable housing and public charters schools, got to work and pushed for additional financial givebacks to benefit a wider portion of the city.  This resulted in the developer increasing their contribution an additional 50% to $4.5 million which funds $1 million for neighborhood infrastructure, 300k donation to our public charter schools and $200k for affordable housing. 

I am further pleased that just last night, the Council Commitee was able to secure a verbal commitment of an additional $350k — $184k for public charter schools and $166k for the first ward, to deal with the needs of the immediate neighborhood.

This Council proposal would raise the overall potential giveback is $1.85mm over the mayor’s original agreement and provide parity to the public charter school donation while also further supporting the neighborhood being impacted.  The mayor is aware of this updated proposal and we trust that he will be supportive.

The biggest problem though is that the mayor missed a key opportunity to honestly invest in Hoboken’s infrastructure as part of this project. It is difficult to square this decision with his heated rhetoric about our failing water mains, just a few short weeks ago.  Though I’m pleased with the potential $1.16 million in infrastructure for the neighborhood, that amount doesn’t come close to mitigating the overall impacts of nearly 350 new rooms on 1/2 a city block.   At a time when our city’s failing infrastructure regularly make front page news, it’s critical that development deals like this one adequately support day-to-day quality of life for all Hoboken residents, like fixing our crumbling roads, replacing aging water-mains and modernizing parking and pedestrian safety. 

Lastly, in response to the public outcry from residents who felt this process wasn’t transparent, fair or in the case of our public charter schools, proportionate — I agree. These funds were never publicly notified as being available, there was no process for applying and no way of fairly weighing their merits in a committee. The full Council will act to ensure that any future allocation of public funds for private purposes receive a significantly more thorough process.

So long as the mayor agrees to the updated terms proposed by the Council, I am in support of moving this project forward on Wednesday. 
PRESERVING COURT STREET
Court Street is one of the City’s oldest streets,  long in disrepair, but there’s something about it’s rough and faded glory that has always captured my imagination.  When I first ran for Council, I started a conversation to invest in a historically sensitive rehabilitation of the lane and I’ve continued on that promise. After budgeting for it in 2017 and it getting voted down, I re-budgeted in 2018 and am excited that plans are moving forward.  Just last month, the City hired an engineer to undertake a site survey and create a concept plan for the street’s historic rehabilitation  and I had the pleasure of walking the street with them to discuss my potential vision.   There will be two upcoming community meetings to get input and feedback,  I will certainly make sure everyone is aware of scheduling.
Lucy approves of the new sidewalk aprons and looks forward to seeing the upcoming concept plan to historically upgrade Court Street!
I’m also pleased to report that within the 2018 budget I allocated adequate funding to replace the 12 sidewalks where 1st – 7th Streets intersect with Court Street. These overdue pedestrian additions were installed over the summer and now create a safer and more visually appealing walkway, for all. 
WHAT’S HAPPENING ON WASHINGTON STREET? 
Don’t shoot the messenger but the Washington Street project was supposed to be completed at the end of August, but is now delayed until next summer.  To add insult to injury, the project is now $1,000,000 over budget and it’s barely half done. The contractor is pointing at the mayor saying the full scope of the project was never communicated, the mayor is pointing at the engineering firm, and the engineers are saying they told the City about issues with the contractor before the project even broke ground.  This kind of mismanagement could have been avoided and Hoboken deserves leadership that takes accountability and doesn’t point fingers.
I recently voted on City Council to terminate the engineering firm because in spite of the obvious engineering errors, this is actually the same firm whose executive pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, just last year.    Cost overruns and delays only line the pockets of politicians and lawyers as residents and businesses suffer.  I will continue to monitor the situation, but at this point my recommendation is to hold course and finish the project as quickly as possible.  Any litigation will simply add more cost to an already exorbitantly expensive and mismanaged project. 
STANDING UP AGAINST PREDATORY PARKING ENFORCEMENT
Over the past three City Council sessions, we have held back an attempt by the mayor to raise parking ticket prices anywhere from 25% – 50% as well as price hikes in City garages and at meters.  Hoboken Parking Utility generated $18.5 million last year and $4.1 million of that was used to pad the municipal budget for non-transportation related purposes. Instead of using parking revenue to modernize our transportation infrastructure, the City seems to be using parking enforcement to fill budget gaps.
To safeguard residents and visitors from predatory enforcement, I passed two recent ordinances, to:
  • Eliminate the questionably legal practice of booting cars in Hoboken; after all, intentionally incapacitating vehicles and forcing them to remain illegally parked for hours, or even days, is archaic
  • Prohibit the city from ticketing cars within two minutes of a meter expiring — an unfair practice that has been going on for too long.
I will continue to stand up to a mayor who uses parking enforcement to fill gaps in the city budget while continuing a push to modernize our parking and transportation infrastructure, fairly.  I cannot support any parking rate hikes without first seeing immediate upgrades to help motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians get around town. I’m not okay asking residents to pay more to park until we use technology and open sourced data to help ease the parking crunch. I look forward to working with the mayor to fund overdue transportation upgrades before passing parking rate hikes along to residents.
FIGHTING FOR PATH AND FERRY RIDERS
Like many of my neighbors I rely on the PATH train to get to and from work and know just how frustrating the service can be during rush hour and over the weekends. That’s exactly why I sponsored, with unanimous support from the City Council, a resolution urging PATH to:
???? Increase rush hour schedules
???? Separate weekend service from Jersey City
???? Install WiFi on all trains
I’m not under the impression that the Hoboken City Council can unilaterally instruct an independent inter-state agency on how to operate, but we’re trying and need your help! Please sign the petition to help push PATH forward and lend your voice to help improve the system, for everyone.
Similarly, NY Waterway recently combined Hoboken downtown ferry route with Jersey City, crowding the service and reducing frequency for both cities. This is the first service downgrade for Hoboken since the City began proceedings to purchase Union Dry Dock for a public park. Speaking for my frustrated neighbors, the City Council passed a resolution I sponsored which addresses this overcrowding issue. The resolution also proposes long overdue improvements to ferry service to make it more accessible for everyone, including:

⛴ Utilizing small and mid-size passenger vans on established, publicly posted routes to transport ferry passengers from the West side of Hoboken to both ferry terminals in Hoboken.
⛴ Eliminating the fee for bikes to encourage bike ridership to the ferry.
⛴ Standardizing the cost of the Hoboken North and Hoboken South ferries
NJ vs RAVI BHALLA  

Recently, I wrote to you about how Hoboken taxpayers unknowingly spent nearly $20,000 to fund the defense of the mayor’s ethics violation, a case where he was reprimanded for voting on a business partner’s contract while a member of the City Council.  In response, the City Council voted 7-2 to terminate the contract with the law firm retained by the administration to stop the taxpayer ripoff.   However, by the time we found out and passed the resolution, the state had issued a settlement, saying that it remains firm in their belief that our mayor violated state ethics law.  Specifically, “in the view of of the LFB (Local Finance Board), the conduct underlying is a violation of LGEL (Local Government Ethics Law)” however, due to the passage of time, the board moved to take no further action.  So for the mayor to clear a $100 fine, he spent 20k in taxpayer funds but still wasn’t able to change the State’s opinion that he violated ethics law.  

HUMBLED AND HONORED  
Finally, I was humbled to recently be named to Insider NJ’s list of influential millennials in NJ, as well as the publication’s list of top LGBTQ leaders in the state.  In a twist of fate, I was ranked 16 in both…
When I was first appointed to the zoning board at 28, I wouldn’t have imagined that I’d unseat a 21-year incumbent to join the City Council. If you told me that I would then run for mayor and lose by 400 votes against an entrenched politician, even under the most suspicious of circumstances, I would’ve said that’s the stuff of political thrillers. I am energized as ever to continue the fight for new energy and new ideas in Hoboken and ensuring that everyone has a voice!
Your Councilman,
Mike DeFusco
Hoboken City Councilman

P.S. I’m happy to have worked to support 1st Street small businesses and bring the first ever “FIRST STREET BLOCK PARTY” to the first ward.  This is the first step in bringing more activity and attention to my ward’s commercial district and I hope you’ll join us on Saturday October 20th, from 11a-4p and enjoy a terrific fall afternoon! 
News

How Ravi astroturfed Hoboken

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Back in April 2017, the proposed Hilton Hotel in downtown Hoboken, years in the making with a very public process came before the City Council and eventually saw passage short of two votes.

The two council members voting against the years-long drawn-out affair? Ravi Bhalla and Jim Doyle, with the former telling members of the public, the hotel was too large a footprint and too large a scale for downtown.

What changed leading to the Ravi Bhalla flip-flop?

Political ambition, campaign coffer registers and special interests all adding up to the loss of Hoboken sovereignty. Read More...

News

City: Mayor Bhalla Announces $4.5 Million in Community Givebacks From Hotel Developer

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Official release:

Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla announced on Tuesday an agreement with the City of Hoboken and KMS Development Partners regarding plans to develop a hotel in Hoboken.

As part of the agreement, KMS Development Partners will make $4.5 million investments into the Hoboken community and have committed to various pro-Hoboken staffing and operational priorities.

“These community give-backs are real progress for our City,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “It is my intention that this agreement shall serve as a model for all future deals. I am putting developers on notice: if you want the opportunity to do business in our City, we expect union labor and we expect generous community give-backs.” Read More...

News

Scramble for transparency: Hoboken non-profits brawl after being left out of Hilton Hotel expansion

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Today’s announcement outside the former Y on upper Washington St. is being celebrated by those who were part of the original plan to directly benefit from a $3 million giveback in exchange for a bigger and denser Hoboken Hilton downtown.

Over the last few days, word of the three million proposed allocations left many angered for being ignored altogether in the non-transparent process and or scrambling to be included.

The initial restructured $3 million in community givebacks, two toward a revamped community center and another million for the Hoboken school district set off a firestorm among Mile Square non-profits and others. Details of how these seven-figure funds will be utilized are unclear at the moment. There doesn’t appear to be any business plan or model detailing how the monies will be utilized. Read More...

News

Councilman DeFusco Pleased with New Hotel Giveback Agreement, Disappointed in Overall Investment to Infrastructure

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading

Official release:

Councilman DeFusco Pleased with New Hotel Giveback Agreement, Disappointed in Overall Investment to Infrastructure
DeFusco: Advocacy by Residents, City Council Leads to Improved Outcome for Hoboken

Councilman Mike DeFusco is releasing the following statement on a new agreement announced today between the City of Hoboken and KMS Development, the firm building the new Hilton hotel on River Street. The giveback agreement now includes $1,000,000 for infrastructure improvements for the local neighborhood, a priority that Councilman DeFusco led the charge for, as well as funding for affordable housing and charter schools. Councilman DeFusco is the Co-chair of the Council Development Subcommittee as well as the ward representative of the district where the hotel will be built. Read More...

News

City announces revised Hotel Hilton deal, 3 stories higher, 20% more density and $4 million to non-profits

by SmartyJones1 Min Reading
Mayor Ravi Bhalla announced a larger downtown hotel with $4 million for local non-profits in exchange for three additional stories and 20% more density. The details were not fully announced as Mayor Bhalla apologized at the end and the full details are forthcoming.

Freeholder Anthony Romano (not pictured) attended along with City Council Vice President Jen Giattino, council members Tiffanie Fisher, Emily Jabbour and BoE trustees Sheillah Dallara, Chetali Khanna and BoE President Tom Kleupfel.

Oddly, no one spoke from the construction unions as in the previous announcement on the downtown hotel.
News

Councilwoman Jen Giattino: Proposed amendments to Hilton Hotel (Post Office Hotel)

by SmartyJones2 Min Reading

Official release:

    Dear friends and neighbors, I want to start with all the positives about this project: revenue, jobs and the completion of the Southern Waterfront. The total amount of taxes collected in Year 1 is nearly $1.8 million. By Year 5 that number grows to $2.2 million. The hotel pays full taxes (not piloted) and they are not putting the added pressures on our infrastructure that residential development does. Additionally,170 permanent jobs will be created.   My concerns are with the design and aesthetics of the building. We deserve a world class building to complete the Southern Waterfront. I fought for this under Mayor Zimmer and although she did not agree with the majority of the subcommittee she was willing to take a step back and allow the subcommittee to take the lead on something that was important to us. Mayor Bhalla has negotiated a $3 million developer giveback which he unilaterally decided to give to two outstanding non-profits, Hoboken Community Center (the former Y) and Hoboken Public Education Foundation. Unfortunately this approach has created a divide between many of the worthy non-profits in Hoboken. This sets a bad precedent for Hoboken, creating division should never be our approach.    Today I reached out to the developer of the hotel and quickly came to realize that they were open to giving additional monies to the Charter Schools and the Affordable Housing Trust (to be used for the Community Land Trust) after I expressed how important this is to our community based on input from residents. This is why we need a discussion on how future givebacks are negotiated and how important community involvementis and why a cooperative process is critical to get a positive outcome. The proposed amendment adds three stories to the building and increases the bulk from 170,000 sqft. to 205,000 sqft. This was exactly the kind of building the subcommittee as a whole was trying to avoid. I am in favor of the height with proper setbacks which this plan is lacking.   -Jen
News

Update on the Proposed New Hilton Hotel Downtown

by SmartyJones4 Min Reading

Official release:

    Dear friends and neighbors:   Please click here or see below for the joint statement the City Council subcommittee for the proposed hotel, that I co-chair, issued earlier today concerning plans for the proposed new Hilton Hotel for Downtown Hoboken.  Here is some additional background and color about what has transpired over the past 18 months leading up to today.   In April 2017 I sent you an email asking for your input on the proposed new Hotel being considered on the site of the parking lot behind the Post Office downtown (let me know if you want me to resend).  Of the approximate 60 people who responded, half were definite ‘yes’s’, 10% were definite ‘no’s’, and the rest were cautious yes’s that expressed concerns about shadows, parking and congestion.  Given your feedback (as I was on the fence due to height concerns), I was among the 7 yes votes for the original plan (2 dissenting votes including Councilmen Doyle and then Bhalla).   In April 2018, the plan was effectively revised when Mayor Bhalla was elected to reduce the look and feel of the project to something he felt was more in line with the character of Hoboken, so the project reduced from 23 stories to 17 which he announced in April of this year and the City Council supported 8-1 (I was a yes given my personal height concerns).  Same overall square footage, just shorter and fatter. Now.  After months of being told by the administration that the City Council would not be involved in negotiations, a week and a half ago, the administration briefed the City Council subcommittee for the Hotel (that I co-chair) about what they have negotiated with KMS, the developer, for the Hotel development.  And the City Council is expected to have to vote up or down, on the 17th.  

  • The good news – as part of the agreement with the developer, the developer has agreed to contribute $3M to Hoboken as a give back that will be paid over three years beginning 6 months after the Hotel opens.  
  • The less good news (to me) – but in exchange, the mayor has agreed to allow the hotel to be 20% bigger.  Taller – up three stories to 20 – and even fatter as the new proposal removes many of the setbacks that were a key feature in the plans to create an architecturally appealing building, and to support view corridors.  
  • And what I will characterize as both good and mixed news – is how the $3M is being allocated.  If it were me and only me deciding, given the scale of the project and the demands it will have on our infrastructure (think 300+ toilets and showers being used daily..) – combined with the significant infrastructure issues and capital investment the city is facing that total in the area of $70-100M (water mains, NW Park, Washington Street and more), I would have wanted to see the bulk of this money put into the city’s capital fund and directed specifically to help offset / fund these types of investment. But it is currently being earmarked as follows:  $1 million to the Hoboken Public Education Foundation, a non-profit that provides private, complementary funding for our public schools and $2 million to the non-profit who is in the beginning planning phase of restoring the former YMCA.  I 100% support both of these noble and great causes who do and plan to deliver benefits to many within our community.  But given the current challenges the city faces and the size of the give back – cant we spread the funds around?  Shouldn’t our charter schools who are also public schools receive some of the money if we are going to use these funds for educational purposes? Should we wait until the restoration of the YMCA is further along before we make such a large commitment?  Shouldn’t more – or any at all for that matter – be used for our infrastructure needs?  What about our affordable housing trust that has been depleted and not replenished over the years?  
    • Read More...