Dear Neighbors,
As we dig out from yet another storm ⛄️❄️❄️ ⛄️, I hope you are staying warm and safe, and I want to let you know the latest affecting our community.
COVID-19 Updates
The number of positive test cases in our community continues to substantially increase. In the past two weeks, Hoboken’s spike in positive cases includes 38 on February 7th, 20 on the 9th, and 30 on the 11th. Indeed, in the time since I issued my previous newsletter on February 5th, Hoboken has confirmed more than 280 new COVID cases. Remember, in July we celebrated the landmark of having no COVID patients at Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC). Now we have 15 COVID patients at HUMC, including 3 Hoboken residents. If you have any reason to believe you have been exposed to COVID, please quarantine and then schedule an appointment for a COVID test at least 5-7 days after potential exposure. Please remember that wearing a face mask (or a double-mask as recommended by the CDC), practicing social distancing, and avoiding indoor gatherings beyond household members is key to keeping our community healthy and safe.
COVID Testing
To get the City’s latest information on Hoboken’s testing click here.
Free Testing for Hoboken Residents Only: Riverside
Riverside Medical (351 16th Street)
Dates: Mondays - Saturdays
Time: 8 am – 3 pm
Location: 351 16th Street (Bijou Properties location)
Type of testing: Rapid 15 minute test (Abbott ID Now), and PCR
Who: Hoboken residents only
(appointments typically released online for the following week on Wednesdays)
Riverside Medical Group patients should call their Riverside primary care office to schedule a COVID-19 test and should not use the online sign-up form. Patients without a vehicle should enter the test facility on Clinton between 15th and 16th Streets. Those driving should enter on 16th street between Clinton and Grand.
Free Testing for Hoboken Residents:
PromptMD (Jackson St. Gym, 605 Jackson St.)
Dates: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
Time: 8 am - 3:00 pm
Location: 605 Jackson Street
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents
Results are typically provided through Prompt MD within 48-72 hours.
Free testing for Hoboken Residents and Hoboken Business Employees:
Medicine Man (605 Jackson Street)
Date: Wednesdays and Saturdays
Time: 2 - 7 pm (Wednesdays), 9 am - 1 pm (Saturdays)
Location: 605 Jackson Street (updated location)
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents, Hoboken business employees
Free testing for Hoboken Residents and Hoboken Business Employees:
ivee (at Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St.)
Dates: Every Wednesday
Time: 8 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Multi-Service Center (124 Grand Street)
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents, Hoboken business employees
ivee’s PCR test results are emailed within 48-72 hours. If results through ivee are not received within 72 hours, please call ivee's laboratory, Innovative Gx Laboratories, at 210-352-5175 (9:30 am - 6 pm, Monday - Saturday).
New Jersey Department of Health (221 Jackson Street)
Date: Friday (February 19)
Time: 1 pm – 7 pm
Location: 221 Jackson Street (Hoboken Housing Authority, Community Room)
Who: Hudson County residents, Hoboken business employees
Type of testing: PCR
No appointment needed, testing provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Local Private COVID Test Facilities.
In addition to Hoboken’s five free, public COVID-19 facilities, you can visit City MD at 231 Washington Street or PromptMD at 309 1st Street, and walk-in without an appointment to get your COVID-19 test at their private facilities. To be safe, you should call ahead to confirm test availability.
Vaccination Updates
Hoboken received 500 first-dose vaccines per week from the State at the beginning of the vaccination process, but after setting aside the 500 second-dose vaccines for our seniors who have gotten the first dose, we are now receiving about 300 first-dose vaccines per week. The City is hoping the State will increase the vaccine supply and allow the City to expand the vaccine operations in the weeks to come.
Additional vaccine appointments are periodically being made available at Hudson County's Kearny site for seniors and those with chronic medical conditions in phases 1A and 1B. Check for appointment availability and registration here.
For folks who are eligible for vaccines but have yet to be scheduled, we ask you to please stay patient. To get the City’s latest information on vaccinations, including how to pre-register for your vaccination, click here.
Hoboken Business Alliance Launches 40% Off Discount Gift Card Program
The HBA has launched its Share the Love Gift Card Program that allows residents and visitors to purchase $25 gift cards for $15 from many local businesses. More than 125 small businesses are participating! Through the program, shoppers can purchase up to two discount gift cards directly from the participating business.
In partnership with the Heal Hoboken Collective, to honor Hoboken’s healthcare heroes, healthcare providers can present their medical ID and buy up to four discount gift cards at each participating business.
Get your 40% off gift cards from Hoboken businesses NOW through February 24th.
New Parking Policies to Increase Turnover in Business Districts, Attract Shoppers With Discounted Meter Parking and Make City Garage Parking More Affordable for Employees
Changes to Meter Rates in Our Business Districts Are Coming
To help improve parking availability in our business districts, new on-street parking meter rates of $0.50 per 15 minutes go into effect on Friday, March 5. With this change, Hoboken’s meter rates will be on par with pricing in other New Jersey business districts like Atlantic City, New Brunswick, Asbury Park, Belmar, and Ocean City.
It is expected that the new rates will produce occupancy rates of 85%, equivalent to one parking space available per block. The availability of more on-street parking in business districts will also help reduce the number of double-parked vehicles that block our bike lanes.
The business districts where the new rates will take effect are Washington Street; 14th Street; 1st Street; River Street; Sinatra Drive; and the Hoboken Terminal area. Here is a map showing where $0.50/15 min. meters will be in effect. Meter rates outside the business districts remain unchanged at $0.25 per 15 minutes.
Further, ParkMobile is partnering with the City to provide Hoboken business customers with 50% discounts on business district metered parking. The promo code is valid for up to 50 uses per account through December 31, 2021. Shoppers can receive their promo code for 50% off metered parking at participating businesses.
Discount Parking Programs for Hoboken Business Customers and Hoboken Business Employees at City Garages
Hoboken businesses now can provide customers with free parking at municipal garages by using a parking validation program. Parking validations can be purchased, activated, and tracked online via the HPU’s new E-Validation system. Rather than having to purchase validation coupons in advance, business owners now can pay monthly based on the actual number of validations used.
Additional benefits of this program include:
- Easy management: Businesses that enroll with the program will be issued a Tiba Smartpark online account where they can e-validate parking for their customers online and make monthly payments.
- Discounted rates: Customers parking at Garage B, D, and the Midtown garage will receive free parking when local businesses validate their parking. Businesses enrolled in the program will receive a 50% discount on the standard garage rate when validating parking for their customers.
- License plate recognition: New license plate recognition cameras will scan a customer’s license plate at entry and exit, automatically applying the discount rate.
- No more validations to buy in advance at City Hall: The e-Validation system eliminates the need for merchant validation tickets. So business owners no longer need to visit City Hall and no longer need to manage paper validation coupons.
To enroll in the E-Validation Program, businesses must set up a business account in HPU Online. For assistance with enrollment, businesses can contact Parking Utility customer service by emailing parking@hobokennj.gov or calling 201-653-1919 M-F, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Hoboken employees can now park at lower rates thanks to the City’s new discount employee parking program. Workers at Hoboken-based businesses that lack available on-site, off-street parking are eligible for a discount parking rate of $5 for 12 hours in Garage B (28 2nd Street), Garage D (215 Hudson Street), and the Midtown Garage (371 4th Street). Employees can save 69% a day using this program instead of parking on-street and feeding the meter for eight hours. Employees are encouraged to apply for $5/day garage parking by contacting HPU customer service at parking@hobokennj.gov or call 201-653-1919 Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Special City Council Meeting next Wednesday on the Redevelopment of 931 Madison Street
At my request, the City Council scheduled a special meeting February 24th at 7 pm to address the redevelopment of 931 Madison Street (the Water Music Building). Members of the community are invited to provide input and comment after presentations from Hoboken Community Development Director Christopher Brown and project architect John Nastasi. The virtual meeting will take place on the City’s Facebook page. To participate, join here at 7 pm on Wednesday.
Architect’s rendering of proposed 931 Madison Street design
Congratulations to 5 Awesome Hoboken High School Students who Won Big in the New York Times Learning Network’s 8th Annual Vocabulary Video Contest!
The New York Times Learning Network staff judges an annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Challenge, in which students are challenged to define one of the Learning Network’s “Words of the Day” in a video less than 15 seconds long.
In a year when a record 1,500 teenagers applied, Hoboken High School’s Redwings rocked the competition! Congratulations to Miguel Cabelin and Enya Rodriguez and to Naomi Cooke, Riddhi Damani, and Kendall McDonough from Hoboken High School (the only school with two winners!) for taking top honors from the New York Times, representing 2 of the 14 winning teams!
Way to represent Hoboken Miguel, Enya Naomi, Riddhi, and Kendall! You can check out Miguel and Enya’s winning video definition of “levitate” here and Naomi, Riddhi, and Kendall’s winning video definition of “defame” here.
Computers 4 People Opens It’s Hoboken Office!
I was honored to attend the ribbon-cutting for Dylan Zajac’s wonderful not-for-profit Computers 4 People. Dylan is a 17-year-old high school student who had a great idea — incorporate a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit to accept donated, old computers, refurbish them, and donate them to folks in underserved communities so they can attend school or telecommute — helping folks who need computers while giving donors a charitable contribution.
Dylan’s great idea has been so successful that he outgrew his Smart Cube storage location and his proud parents’ rooms, and on February 5 he cut the ribbon on new office space at 51 Hudson Street.
If you’d like to donate a computer that is less than 10 years old, click here and check it out! Congratulations, Dylan, you are an inspiration and an example of a great Hoboken kid from the 5th Ward who is making a difference. You can read more about Computers 4 People here.
Checking out the new Computers 4 People Office with Dylan and Mayor Bhalla
Coffee with Cohen . . . the home edition
To practice social distancing, rather than eliminate my monthly Coffee with Cohen constituent events, I turned to the internet. On Tuesday, I hosted my most recent Coffee with Cohen Livestream event. Already, over 400 people have viewed this event. This week, special guest Hoboken Business Alliance (HBA) President, Greg Dell'Aquila joined me to discuss the HBA’s mission supporting Hoboken’s business community and the challenges and opportunities facing the HBA in the coming year. I also discussed the latest on COVID testing and vaccinations, and much, much more.
My favorite part of Coffee with Cohen is answering your questions. This week you asked about PSE&G’s transformers in the wake of a transformer fire that caused temporary power outages and the latest on the Monarch Settlement. You can check it out here.
Please submit your questions for my next event to HobokenPhil@gmail.com as I try to answer each one. The event is hosted on my Facebook page @Philcohenforcouncil and you can watch it here. My next Coffee with Cohen event will be on Monday, March 1st at noon and I hope to see you there.
You can also follow me on Twitter at @philiphcohen here or on Facebook here. As always, if you’d like to reach out with any questions or concerns, or if I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please do not hesitate to contact me at HobokenPhil@gmail.com.
Stay safe everyone!
Phil Cohen
5th Ward Councilman
City of Hoboken, New Jersey
HobokenPhil@gmail.com
(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.
