Month: December 2010

News

City: Help cleanup by getting cars off streets, Stevens aids offering 200 spots

STEVENS PROVIDES 200 ADDITIONAL FREE OFF-STREET PARKING SPACES FOR RESIDENTS

As crews continue to clear snow from parking lanes, the process will be significantly easier if residents move their vehicles off-street and into garages or private lots, if possible. To facilitate this process, the City has coordinated with various entities to make additional off-street parking available to residents.

Stevens Institute has agreed to make 200 parking spaces available for free to Hoboken residents to park at the Babbio Center and to the west of the Griffith facility (not to the north) located at 600 Sinatra Drive. Residents may park at these locations from 5 pm on Thursday, December 30 through 8 am on Monday, January 3rd. Read More...

News

City: remember the rules on local taxi service

AS NEW YEAR’S APPROACHES, RESIDENTS ARE REMINDED OF TAXI RULES

Hoboken residents are reminded that the local fare is $5.00 for all yellow cabs and limousines and $6.00 for Indian Way car service regardless of weather or shortage of drivers.

In the past, it has been common for residents and visitors to be grossly overcharged by taxi drivers during inclement weather or high demand.

The City has reminded taxi drivers and owners of this rule and will be strictly enforcing this and other taxi rules and regulations, especially during the busy holiday season. Residents who are overcharged should report the incident to the Division of Taxi & Limousine by emailing taxi@hobokennj.org or calling 201-216-1090 and providing the date and time of the incident, a description of what happened, and the taxi number which is on the car door. The City will take action against all violators. Read More...

News

Mayor Zimmer: End of year summary update

Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I wish you and your family and friends
all the very best in 2011.

Thanks for the many compliments on my last update, and my apologies

if some of you felt overloaded by all the information that I packed into it.
Next year, I’ll try to do more updates so I can keep them briefer. 

I was surprised that some folks complimented “the writing of the person

that wrote the update….” Just so you all know, that writer is me, often
at 4:30 in the morning, and I take full responsibility for the content of
these updates. 

Learning from the Blizzard
First, in case you missed my official statement from City Hall, I want to

make sure that everyone knows that our City workers including
Environmental Services, the Police and Fire Dept., the Parking Utility and
Emergency Management, have been working extremely hard under very
difficult circumstances to clean up our city, and they are continuing to
work through the nights to improve the cleanup of our city streets.   

Yes, I recognize that there are definitely things that went right and things

that went wrong.  As with everything I do, I always believe that things
can be done better with reflection and evaluation, and that’s what my
Administration is doing with this storm.
I welcome your suggestions and any information you may have that
can help me to fully evaluate all that happened during this storm so
that my Administration can serve Hoboken residents much better the
next time around.

While there are many people working hard, there are unfortunately people

out there that will do anything they can to undermine my Administration
for political reasons.  My job, no matter the challenges, is to plow ahead
through all the “naysayers” and stay focused on the job at hand.

The reality is that this was one of the worst storms in the history of Hoboken.  

The bigger the storm the bigger the task of digging out and those who say
that Hoboken has experienced many such storms in the past are wrong. 
There have only been two larger snow storms in the last 100 years, so this
was truly a “big one” that needs a name…As you all know, our wonderful
urban environment is exactly that – a small space with essentially no room
for two feet of snow. 

Our biggest snow challenges: 
Where do we put all this snow? With all the packed cars, and parking such a

challenge, how do I convince an entire town to move their cars off the street
and enable us to fully clean up? And how do I prevent people from trying to
move their cars in the middle of a storm, and then leaving them abandoned
when they figure out their mistake in trying to drive?  (I am not making
excuses, but it is important for you to know that all of the abandoned cars
in the middle of the streets throughout our City made the clean up
excruciatingly difficult for our City employees.  Next time we will be much
more prepared for dealing with the abundance of abandoned cars that
resulted from this storm). 

During the storm we had to bring in a towing company with larger equipment

that could remove the cars in such high levels of snow.  I am currently
working on negotiating a new emergency contract that can boost our existing
outsourcing.  In addition, we are re-evaluating the best locations to dump snow.
(FYI – it is illegal to dump snow into the Hudson, and the issue presents
challenges to negotiating with private property owners for dumping snow on undeveloped property). 

To Tow or Not to Tow — That is the Question:
With each storm, I have tried to be sensitive to the challenges of finding

parking and refrain from towing if at all possible.  We always run license
plates and call car owners before we tow.  All of this takes a great deal of
manpower and time. 

Going forward, I believe I’ve got to be stricter with towing.  As I reflect on

this storm, my Administration waited too long to begin the towing, and we
ended up with emergency routes that were not cleared quickly enough and
could not be navigated by our emergency vehicles.  While I feel for those
that may be towed, it is my job to look out for the welfare of everyone in
Hoboken.  I want to keep everyone safe, and if we have a situation that
prevents a fire truck from getting to a fire, or an ambulance from reaching
the hospital, then I will have failed in my job to protect all Hoboken residents. 
(For safety reasons Chief Blohm, Chief Falco and I decided yesterday that it
was necessary to tow on Willow Avenue to improve access to the hospital).  

For everyone’s protection in Hoboken, please spread the word that the mayor

is going to be tow-tough during the next storm and will be towing from
emergency routes. Since storms are unpredictable this means that with
20/20 hindsight the towing may sometimes appear to be unnecessary, but I’d
rather inconvenience a few people than lose a life.  (During each storm
we announce our emergency routes again and again.  Please heed these
announcements and know that it includes both sides of Washington Street,
and the west side of Willow Avenue for access to the hospital, among other locations). 

Free Parking: 

Yes, it’s an uphill battle, but I am working very hard to secure as much free
off-street parking as I can.  I want to thank Superintendent Carter and School
Board President Rose Markle for agreeing for the city to use the Connors school
parking lot at 201 Monroe as a free parking location through Sunday at noon
on a first come first serve basis.  Thank you to CVS as well for permitting
residents to park overnight last night for free. 

We are working on some other options, so check the City’s site for more

information at hobokennj.org.  The more cars we get off the streets, the
more we can clean up the streets!  For the next storm, I hope to be more
prepared with back up off-street parking locations.   

In addition, given these extenuating circumstances, residents can park

in Garage  B and D for $5.00 until Monday at 8:00 am.   

Helping with the snow cleanup:  Please try to remove your car from the

street, and as you do it, please try to pile the snow next to the road and
refrain from throwing it back into the street.  And, please, please do not
throw snow on the fire hydrants.

The Mayor on Vacation?  It’s funny to think that I was feeling like a bit of a work-a-holic as I had the last light on at City Hall on Thursday night before Christmas. (I let employees leave at 2:30).  

I love my job, but it is hard to get away from

our great City! I am glad to say that I had a
wonderful Christmas with my family in NH.
I was thrilled to go for an exhilarating hike to
an icy waterfall on Sunday with my parents,
and my brothers and their families. (Ice is so cool!) I had planned to take
only one day off and drive back on Monday morning, but the storm made it impossible, and so I was on the road with what seemed like everyone else
on the east coast driving back from NH on Tuesday.

My time in NH was great, but it was filled with many calls with my

business administrator, Arch Liston.  One time he called and my mom
answered and said, “I wish we had all the snow that Hoboken has….” 
As you can imagine, he quickly agreed! Read More...

News

Councilman Cunningham: Reflections on the Blizzard

Happy Holidays and New Year to all… This is a brief note to thank you all…for what you did, or could do within reason…to help your neighbor, a friend or a complete stranger these last couple of days.  While I will not go so far to use a famous Paine quote that these were “the times that try men’s souls” we came pretty close.  I have been around the Fifth Ward since Monday morning and would agree that there were things we did well, however other things which need further evaluation. I am happy for the compliments as well as the criticisms placed not only on me, but the administration as well.  If constructive, it only serves to straighten, and improve the process; and I am thankful to all that have reached out on-line, or who I have seen in the streets.  However, I know our job is not done. I have heard from some of you that there still may be areas that need attention, so please call me ASAP. On another note, I expect to send out a recap before year end, and have set up a Twitter account to afford another media for sharing information.  There’s a lot going on in Hoboken, and my gut tells me we could be in for a long winter.  Enjoy the balmy 40 degree weather the next couple of days and again have a Happy New Year.  And as always, please forward along, call or write with any issues or concerns. Peter cunninghamforhoboken@gmail.com =&0=& =&0=& =&0=& =&0=& =&0=& =&0=& =&0=& =&0=&=&8=& Per MSV policy, communications from any elected official may be published in its entirety without editorial comment.  Elected officials are invited to email correspondence to smartyjones@me.com.
News

Mike Russo goes Politrickin

With the news of the State rejecting the Hoboken Board of Education’s proposed Superintendent salary of $175,000 per year revealed earlier, questions arise concerning some dubious statements made at the end of the December 1st City Council meeting by Councilman Mike Russo on the subject of the salary.

Here is Mike Russo in all his politrickin glory throwing chum out to the “budget hawks,” as he describes himself.  There’s only one problem – none of it is true. I hate when that happens. Happy New Politrickin Year Mike Russo!  We’re sure this is only the beginning of what is in store for Hoboken with your ally Beth Mason set to seize the crown of Council President.

Politrickin, it’s all politrickin friends as Mike Russo would say.

News

Hospital Board meeting rescheduled to January 4th in the new year

The HMHA announces:

=&0=& =&1=& Hoboken, New Jersey – The Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority (“HMHA”) has rescheduled its meeting that was previously planned for Thursday, December 30, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. The new date for the meeting is Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Hoboken University Medical Center (“Hospital”) in Assumption Hall. Public notice advertisements were submitted to the Star-Ledger and the Jersey Journal by the appropriate deadlines to have public notice published 48 hours prior to the December 30, 2010 meeting date, and the public notice did successfully run in the Star-Ledger. A public notice did not appear in the Jersey Journal as scheduled, due to logistical issues potentially resulting from the snowstorm. The HMHA decided to postpone the meeting to ensure all interested parties receive proper public notice and to ensure the widest participation in the HMHA’s ongoing process to privatize the Hospital. Accordingly, the HMHA elected to reschedule the meeting for Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
News

Towing operation on Willow St. – residents advised to move vehicles

City of Hoboken announces:

=&0=& Residents are advised that towing to remove vehicles parked along Willow Avenue between 4th Street and 11th Street will begin at 6:30pm on Wednesday, December 29th. The decision to tow vehicles was made jointly between Police Chief Falco, Fire Chief Blohm, and Mayor Zimmer to ensure that the emergency route leading to the Hoboken University Medical Center is clear. The City will be looking up the license plates of all parked vehicles and attempting to contact all affected residents.

In addition to providing discounted garage parking in Municipal Garages B & D, Mayor Dawn Zimmer has been working to arrange other parking options to permit residents to park off-street in order to facilitate the removal of snow along parking lanes. Read More...

News

Mayor Zimmer: Blizzard talk

City of Hoboken announces:

=&0=&

I am incredibly thankful to all the City employees who worked so hard to get our City moving again after we were hit by one of the worst storms in 100 years. For days on end they’ve been working long shifts and overnight hours, and for that I especially want to thank Environmental Services, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Parking Utility, and the Office of Emergency Management. I also want to thank our residents — all the Good Samaritans who helped a neighbor dig out, who helped push a stranger’s car, or who directed traffic when other cars got stuck in the road. This may have been one of the worst storms in recent Hoboken history, but it brought out the very best in our community. Read More...

News

Guest of the Stable: The Jolly Green Giant on the Blizzard

With all the pixels spilled on the blizzard’s impact on Hoboken, MSV decided to hijack the points posted in the comments here by the Jolly Green Giant – Kurt Gardiner of the Hoboken Journal as he methodically balances out first hand accounts with additional background.

In fact, MSV doesn’t know anyone who invested as much time out on the streets as THJ and it shows with the excellent photo essay he posted yesterday.  When not taking pictures, the giant was working with other Hoboken residents pushing out dozens of cars stuck in all points of town.  A City Hall source indicated dozens of vehicles were stuck all over town and creating a logjam of problems for the plows to clear the streets.  THJ noted one problem of a vehicle on upper Park in his pictorial as well with Councilman Peter Cunningham working to get it removed. Read More...

News

NJ rejects Hoboken BoE Superintendent contract

After weeks of catch-22 wrangling, the State rejected the Superintendent contract proposed between the Hoboken Board of Education and Dr. Mark Toback.

New regulations come into place in February but the Hoboken Board of Education attempted to sign Dr. Toback to a maximum length contract of more than four years beyond the established guideline of $155,000.  For more than a month a cat and mouse game with legal maneuvering took place with the State not providing a clear answer of any kind on the contract extended to fill the Hoboken Superintendent position. Read More...