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. |