Milling done on River St. in Hoboken – paving set to begin

Asphalt paving is the next step for the River Street resurfacing project downtown. It is supposed to start on Monday – but with the chance for some rain, we’ll see how that affects the timing. Either way, this project is hopefully coming to an end soon. Why Washington Street constantly gets over-looked is mind numbing.

Thank God the asinine jackhammering in the middle of the night quickly got shut down (credit that ear-rattling video a 411 reader sent in!)

Technorati Tags: Hoboken, Jack Hammering, jackhammering, May 2012, New Jersey, NJ, Paving, resurfacing, River Street

Hoboken’s “main drag” Washington St. should be top priority

Imagine coming to Hoboken for the first time, to visit one of the popular destinations on Washington Street.

Naturally, not knowing first hand how crazy the city gets on weekends, you’ll most likely be driving around and around searching for parking. And during your spins around the block – you might possibly suffer from kidney damage as your vehicle takes blow after blow from the horrid pavement conditions that pepper our most highly traveled thoroughfare.

Some intersections in Hoboken are so bad – that when large trucks drive through – the earth shakes.

It must have some long-term effect on properties as well. Not good. Take this spot at 10th & Washington which was spot-filled earlier this week. The result? Even worse than before!

Drivers AND pedestrians are at risk on Washington Street

Of course, after tinkering with the ridiculous parking meters and walking 8 blocks to the restaurant you’ll also have to be sharp and avoid stepping into the divots in the road as well – as this poor woman learned the hard way during a recent Hoboken Baby Parade.

She was a tough cookie, and was OK – but wow, what a blow to the skull!

Solutions for bettering Washington St. in Hoboken

As you can see – a first time visitor to Hoboken will take some rather negative memories back home with them, and may be reluctant to come back anytime soon. We don’t want that now, do we?

• If I were Mayor – I’d make it my top priority to get this street smooth as a baby’s bottom as soon as possible. Before bike lanes, before parks, before giving pay raises to my friends and hiring more lawyers.
• Additionally – those ridiculous brick pavers that our cross-walks are comprised of HAVE TO GO. They’re part of the reason keeping the “Avenue” smooth is more complicated than necessary. Sell the bricks to some contractor to re-coup some of the expenditures. Instead – make ALL of Washington Street ASPHALT. They have new “faux brick” methods that stencil the hot asphalt and apply a dyed epoxy coloring to give in the appearance of expensive brick – but at a fraction of the cost. They’re already doing this in Jersey City near Grove Street. You can read how the Jersey City stamped crosswalks survived the blizzard of 2010 – without a single scratch. Hoboken? I think you know the answer.
  
• If the street needs to be torn up for something other than an emergency like a water main break (which we have a lot of anyway because of the crumbling infrastructure that lies beneath), get the contractor or property owner to at least contribute some reasonable fee towards an escrow account which can be applied towards future paving costs.

No matter what – something needs to be done – and quickly.

Washington Street is the “poster child” of Hoboken, and is in the absolute WORST CONDITION EVER!

Zimmer calls for council to approve “dog death contract” in Hoboken, NJ

Earlier today, Councilman Tim Occhipinti alerted constituents about a frightening agenda item for tonight’s City Council meeting.

It’s a proposed $43,000 annual contract with Liberty Humane Society to manage stray and lost pets. However, part of the contract specifies rather harsh penalties for any animals that are caught:

“When specifically notified by the Municipality, LHS shall attempt to impound any stray or licensed dog or cat running at large on the streets of the Municipality for the purpose of issuing summonses to the owners thereof where possible and appropriate. When such impoundment occurs, the dog or cat shall be put up for adoption or humanely disposed of, after the seven (7) day waiting period.”

Wow, that’s crazy! Who would support that?

Technorati Tags: 7 days, city council, Dawn Zimmer, dogs, Euthanize, Hoboken, Liberty Humane Society, New Jersey, NJ, Tim Occhipinti

Latest developments for a SW Park in Hoboken

So on today’s Hoboken City Council Agenda – is resolution regarding a park in the SW section of town (often referred to as SW6). This is a small section on Block 12 (less than 2 acres).

Up at stake is a $3 million dollar grant from Hudson County tied to SW Hoboken which was “re-programmed” to the city NINE months ago. Originally back in the summer of 2008 – this funding was meant for the contaminated Henkel Cognos site uptown (which BASF now owns), but that option is now off the table. The grant was only available for three years, but the city got a one-year extension and the funds were re-allocated for use in the 4th Ward of Hoboken.

4th Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti called Mayor Dawn Zimmer out on this, and she was forced to “play along,” otherwise the foundation of her campaign promises would have been called into question.

While the city says the grant funding is exclusively for Block 12, Hudson County Officials have unofficially said this funding available for any legitimate use in SW Hoboken.

Giattino vote can make or break Eminent Domain option

Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Director Brandy Forbes have dragged their feet on this so long – and now the city may be in jeopardy of losing the funding if a use is not found for the funds. Zimmer has claimed that “negotiations have fallen short” with the property owner, Ponti, who owns the parking lot that occupies the majority of the land in question. In reality, Zimmer’s back is “against the wall,” and this eminent domain option is the only “easy way out.”

Hoboken411 has learned that is not the case. What has happened is, the “negotiations” are so-called “falling short” because Zimmer and Forbes “don’t negotiate” with property owners.

Zimmer wants to low-ball Ponti for around $2.4 million, and refused any further conversations with them.

The property was said to be assessed at close to $8 million back in 2008. The Mayor wants it to appear that the property owner is the one that is to blame, even though she’s offering an extremely under-priced offer for the property.

It’s estimated that Ponti may earn over half a million dollars a year in parking revenue for this spot. Even if the City Council gets the needed votes to start with Eminent Domain proceedings – this will most certainly be appealed by the property owner, and the case will be hung up in litigation for an unknown length of time, further jeopardizing any city acquisition of said property before grant funding expires.

Translation? You probably won’t see a new park in this area of SW Hoboken this decade. Rather than attempt a fair free-market deal, the Mayor is essentially saying: “You better accept my low-ball offer, or we’ll just steal your property from you anyway.”

6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino has generally been against Eminent Domain, and would rather the Hudson County funds go to “her ward.” She normally votes lock-step with whatever the council majority and mayoral administration (i.e., shadow Mayor Stan Grossbard) wishes.

We’ll see tonight if she “changes her tune” due to immense pressure from the “powers that be.” Odds-makers in Hoboken currently have even odds that Giattino will “suddenly have change of heart” to allow the Mayoral Mafia continue their psychopathic power trip.

Hoboken411 Talking Point: Did you know there are some other good options the city can consider rather than going after Block 12?

We have a horrific “slum lord” property owner (Zaklama) who owns the site at the 1st & Jackson St. fire last year (Nardine’s), as well as four parcels across the street (see diagram above). This would make an almost similarly-sized recreational area for SW Hoboken residents. You could have a kiddie area on one side, and a passive recreation (i.e., dog run) on the other side. Not only could this property be attained for less than $3 million – the leftover funds can be used for the development of said parks.

Maybe if the city got their heads out of their asses, we’d make some sensible progress!

Click to read earlier 411 articles about the SW park…

Technorati Tags: 4th Ward, Block 14, construction, Dawn Zimmer, downtown, Downtown Pub, Hoboken, Hoboken Southwest Parks Coalition, Lies, New Jersey, NJ, parks, politics, steakhouse, SW6

Hoboken City Council Meeting of May 16, 2012

Below are the meeting documents for tonight’s city council meeting. Insane the spending this city is engaging in… we have a $100 million dollar budget as it stands, and close to $20m in new bond ordinances this week above and beyond. Something is quite wrong with the way this city is being run.

Click here at 7pm to watch live video stream.

• AGENDA
• RESOLUTION PACK and SECOND READINGS

Technorati Tags: 2012, agenda, budget, city council, Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken, Lawyers, live stream, May 16, Meeting, New Jersey, NJ, Parking, Resolutions, video

River Street Paving keeps Hoboken residents wide awake

We all know the roads in Hoboken are likely the worst in New Jersey. They all need re-paving (and proper maintenance).

However, Hoboken411 reader Casey thinks that the skull-rattling jackhammering shouldn’t be happening in the wee hours of the night. When you see the video he submitted below – you’d probably ask the same question: “Why can’t this be done during the day when people are awake?”

Technorati Tags: Disturbing the peace, Hoboken, jackhammering, Loud, New Jersey, NJ, Noises, Paving, River Street, video