Dear Neighbors,
I write to share with you my greetings for this holiday season and send warm wishes for your health and good spirits, as we weather these days of COVID-19 self-isolation together. I urge all of you to continue to stay vigilant and stay safe to protect yourselves and your loved ones through this unprecedented public health crisis.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter!
As we enter the Spring holiday season of Passover and Easter, I want to wish you and your family warm holiday greetings. We had a “Zoom Seder” on Wednesday evening, with my family in Florida, NYC, Livingston, Woodstock, Ithaca, and Connecticut virtually joining our festive Hoboken dinner. Madeline and Anna took over my mom’s traditional role and baked our family Passover favorite, a chaum torte, and it tasted even better than it looks!
Staying Connected With You During Our Period of Self-Isolation
Councilman Cohen’s Newsletter, Facebook
and Twitter
I am doing my best to stay connected during our prolonged period of self-isolation. I am continuing to send this newsletter out twice a month. If you know someone you think would like to receive my newsletter, please send me their contact information at HobokenPhil@gmail.com, and I will add them to my distribution.
I am also active on Twitter at @philiphcohen and on Facebook at @Philcohenforcouncil, where I typically post several community updates a day. Please feel free to follow me there. Many of the items included in this newsletter are reflected in my daily postings on social media.
Coffee with Cohen . . .
the home edition
To practice social distancing, rather than eliminate our monthly Coffee with Cohen constituent events, I hosted my first Coffee with Cohen through Facebook Live. On Monday, I explained the City’s proactive measures being taken to respond to the threat of COVID-19 and answered many questions emailed in before the event began. During the event, I offered practical information and resources available to you related to COVID-19. The event was taped and hosted on my Facebook page @Philcohenforcouncil. As of yesterday, it has been viewed over 750 times. Feel free to check it out here.
As long as we have this state of emergency, I plan to host this event twice a month -- so stay tuned for the next announcement, and I hope you will join me!
COVID-19 Incidence Update and Heartbreaking Losses
As of Thursday, 269 Hoboken residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
It is heartbreaking whenever someone passes away in our community. These are not numbers, but cherished family members, for whom each loss weighs heavily on our friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, to date, 13 Hoboken residents have died due to COVID-19. I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to each Hoboken family that has endured this unimaginable pain at what is already an extraordinarily difficult time. Please know that you have the full support of your neighbors and our entire Hoboken community. We are with you. Together, we send you our prayers and extend to you our wishes for your comfort, healing and peace.
7 pm Celebrations
One example of how our community comes together is the daily 7 pm tributes that have sprung up. I want to thank everyone who has participated, lifting the spirits of our first responders and our hardworking healthcare workers. Every night at 7, as healthcare workers change shifts, people have been opening their windows to applaud them, as well as all our first responders, for their extraordinary, selfless work on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.
The two boys who live across the street on 11th Street inspire me every night. Without fail, they emerge at 7 with mom and dad, pots and pans in hand, to let our heroes know how much they mean to us. I think we can get even louder tonight! Let’s let every health care worker and first responder know how much they mean to us all tonight and every night at 7!
We are Hoboken Strong. ❤️ 💪
Updated Supermarket Hours and Improved Exclusive Hours for Seniors and Customers Who Need Shopping Assistance
ShopRite is now open from 7 am to 8 pm daily with the pharmacy open from 9 am to 6 pm. The first hour from 7 am to 8 am is reserved for Seniors and high-risk shoppers. The deli counter is closed to increase social distancing.
Trader Joe’s is open EXCLUSIVELY for Seniors (60+) and customers with disabilities who may need assistance shopping from 8 am to 9 am. To help prevent crowding in the store TJ’s has limits of 50 customer occupancy and is leaving only half the registers open, to create space between the registers. TJ’s is also providing hand sanitizer at the store’s entrance and exit.
ACME’s Senior hours are from 7 am to 9 am.
King’s Senior hour is from 7 am to 8 am.
Please wear face covers in supermarkets and when you visit any other essential business.
Our essential workers (cashiers, food sellers, pharmacists) continue working in close contact with you so you can get the supplies you need. To help keep them safe, as well as yourself, please send a single family member to the store, and do not shop as a family.
Also, please wear a face cover and maintain social distancing of 6 feet from others at all times when in stores, as in all other places on those rare occasions when you must leave your home. I have a ski “gaiter” that I wear over my mouth and nose (Councilman Doyle calls it a neck warmer). Rebecca looks more stylish (as always) with her scarf cover, and I don’t look as good as this guy👇🏻, but my gaiter works for me.
COVID-19 Local Test Location
The Riverside Medical Center COVID-19 test site is open to all symptomatic Hoboken residents, even if you are not a Riverside patient. To get tested for COVID-19, residents with COVID-19 symptoms must schedule an appointment. Call 201-420-5621 Monday through Saturday, from 9 am to 5 pm to make your appointment. Proof of Hoboken residency is required (driver’s license or utility bill). The center is located on 14th street between Jefferson and Madison. The tests are free for all Hoboken residents!
Donating Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Hoboken University Medical Center
In response to the need for PPE for our healthcare workers, I was grateful to accept 10,000 surgical masks for HUMC + 2,000 surgical masks for Hoboken’s first responders from the HongKongers4US organization which has stepped up to help us in the NYC metropolitan area. Special thanks to the Jill Biggs Group for helping secure these much-needed supplies and transporting them to Hoboken.
HUMC and Hoboken’s OEM still need PPE (personal protective equipment). If you, or someone you know, have PPE that can be donated, please contact Brian O’Nieal from our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at bonieal@hobokencert.org as we are collecting donations at City Hall.
Besides PPE, Hoboken needs volunteer public health nurses and epidemiologists to assist with managing COVID-19 data issues. If you can help out, please email Director Pellegrini at lpellegrini@hobokennj.gov with the subject line “public health nurse & epidemiologist.” Every person that can help lessens the burden and helps our healthcare workers tremendously.
Help for Hoboken’s Small Businesses and Unemployed Hobokenites
In these tough times, our local businesses are struggling. Hoboken has been working diligently to come up with ways in which to help relieve some of the burdens. Available resources for small businesses in Hoboken can be found at the Hoboken Business Alliance’s website here.
State resources for businesses & employees impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak:
COVID-19 Business Info Hub: http://cv.business.nj.gov The Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant application is now available on the COVID-19 Business Information Hub here.
As a resident, you can help support Hoboken’s local businesses by buying gift cards at your favorite restaurants here.
Responding to the Census is Critical!
Despite the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoboken’s 2020 Census participation rate has been impressive, and as of April 7th, we are up to 48.9% participation citywide, tops in Hudson County! However, this means half our residents still haven’t responded, and our response rate has begun to plateau, so we still have a ways to go.
I encourage all residents to respond online (www.my2020census.gov), over the phone, or by mail (residents who have yet to respond should receive a paper questionnaire sometime between April 8th and April 16th). To read more on how to participate go here. While the self-response period has been extended through August 14th, we want you to respond ASAP to avoid the need for in-person follow-up from the Census Bureau, scheduled to begin in late May.
In order to be eligible for critical funding for our schools, roads, housing initiatives, non-profits, and so much more, it is critical that all Hoboken residents complete the 2020 Census. It takes less than ten minutes to fill out the questionnaire online, but your response makes a big impact on our community. In order to get the funding we need from our state and federal government in response to COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare and more, we must be counted. You can learn more about the importance of completing the Census here. Here’s the Census letter that came to my home. 👇🏻
If you want to reach out, or 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 on my website,
