Dear Neighbors,
Tonight, the City Council will vote on the proposed settlement of the Monarch litigation. I plan to vote yes for the settlement because I believe the settlement is in the best interest of the Fifth Ward and Hoboken. Let me share with you my reasons for supporting the settlement.
1. When I ran for office, I pledged to work for an open, public Hoboken waterfront. One of the major obstacles to that goal was Applied’s Monarch project, which included two 11-story condominium towers on the 15th Street Pier, over the Hudson. Mayor Zimmer initiated litigation to stop this project and Mayor Bhalla continued it. But the City has received several adverse court rulings and the threat of two 11-story condominium towers on our piers is real.
2. With this Settlement, the pier will be deeded to the City, Applied will provide $1 million towards its restoration, and abandon the Monarch development.
3. Applied also will deed to the City its property at 800-822 Monroe Street, which is expected to become a new public park near the 5th Ward, replacing what would have been another large Applied residential development.
4. The City, in exchange, will deed to Applied its property at Observer and Newark Streets, the location of the Department of Public Works (DPW) garage. The City will then relocate the DPW garage to the North End of the City on one of the currently undeveloped lots.
5. In order to finalize the Settlement, the City is required to identify an immediately accessible alternate location for the DPW parking garage for when Applied’s construction commences on the Observer Drive and Newark Street property. This temporary location is a City-owned lot at 13th and Jefferson (the “North Lot”). The Settlement provides that the City can rent the DPW garage from Applied at the garage’s current location at Observer and Newark for $1/month until such time that the location becomes unavailable. The City intends to remain at the DPW garage site, as a tenant, for the short term.
6. I have heard concerns from residents in the area of 13th and Jefferson about temporarily housing the DPW garage at this location. Let me try to address those concerns:
A. The temporary garage location at the North Lot is the location of the future home of Hoboken’s Community Center, across the street from the City’s Northwest Resiliency Park (currently under construction) which may well include -- at long last -- our community pool. It is not in my interest, or the City’s, to house the DPW garage at this temporary location longer than necessary, and certainly not in a way that will delay for a moment the home of our new Community Center.
B. Yesterday, I had discussions with members of the North End Community Development Committee and with members of Mayor Bhalla’s administration assuring me that alternate locations for the temporary DPW are actively being scouted; and that nothing in the Settlement Agreement prevents the City from identifying alternate locations for the temporary DPW garage -- including sites in the North End Redevelopment Zone, the planned location for the permanent home for the DPW garage.
C. While the City rents the DPW garage from Applied at $1/month at Observer and Newark, Mayor Bhalla’s administration will continue looking for alternate locations to the North Lot. But, critically, having identified a site for the temporary garage location at 13th and Jefferson, the Monarch Settlement can proceed.
D. Remember, while it is certainly possible that the DPW garage may be temporarily at 13th and Jefferson (the site of a current parking lot, across from the active construction site of the Northwest Park), this temporary inconvenience needs to be weighed against the benefit of open, public piers that we will permanently enjoy; the new, large public space at 8th and Monroe, and our enhanced commercial district which will include commercial retail at the corner of Observer and Newark, improving our central business district and activating that corner of the City.
E. Finally, please know that despite COVID’s profound impact on our community, construction and progress has continued unabated on the future centerpiece of the neighborhood, our state-of-the-art, 6-acre Northwest Resiliency Park — which will be our City’s biggest — with active and passive recreation areas — incorporating engineering innovations that will collect, store, and then slowly discharge, almost 2 million of gallons of rainwater. I am a huge supporter of this major effort and know we all eagerly await that park’s re-opening anticipated in the Fall of 2022.
I hope this information is helpful and, as always, if you would like additional information, please feel free to email me at HobokenPhil@gmail.com.
Phil Cohen
5th Ward Councilman
City of Hoboken, New Jersey
(862) 234-9053
P.S. You can learn more about me and my ideas for Hoboken (as well as read this newsletter and my prior newsletters) on my website philcohen.org.
