Dear Neighbors,
As a sweltering month of July nears its end, I plan to take some time off in August. But first, I want to update you on the latest affecting our community.
COVID-19 Updates, Self-Quarantine News, and a Major Milestone for Our Hospital
As of Thursday, 656 Hoboken residents have tested positive for COVID-19. The rate of positive tests has bumped up significantly, after being flat around 590 cases for a number of weeks. Many of our positive tests are trending younger, with many of the most recent positive cases coming from people who are under the age of 35 as well as folks returning from 34 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia with rising COVID-19 rates. Governor Murphy’s latest list of States and Regions from which returning residents should quarantine upon return for a full 14 days is here.
Thankfully, Hoboken has had no new COVID-19-related fatalities. Since March 30th, 29 Hoboken residents have died from COVID-19. For those of you who have endured such a difficult loss at this extraordinary time, please know that you continue to have the full support of 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.
In other COVID-19 news, on July 23rd Hoboken University Medical Center reported 0 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Let’s take a moment to thank the professionals at Hoboken University Medical Center for the difficult and extraordinary service that they have provided to our community. Thank you for the lives you have saved, the families you have served, and the truly essential work you have done in extraordinary circumstances, placing yourselves and your families at risk as you selflessly helped others in our community suffering directly and indirectly from this dread disease. This milestone in our fight against COVID-19 reflects the progress we have made in Hoboken flattening the curve and the work our front line workers have done -- and continue to do -- every single day.
Mask Enforcement Legislation
On July 8th, Governor Phil Murphy announced the state’s regulations on wearing masks in public. Executive Order No. 163 requires individuals to wear face covers in outdoor public spaces when it is not possible to socially distance and keep six feet from others. Exceptions for public mask-wearing include the following:
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While consuming food or beverage during outdoor dining
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Children under 2 years of age
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Exercising outdoors while remaining socially distant. If those exercising are unable to social distance, a face mask is required
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Health issues preventing the wearing of a face mask
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Children playing in sprinkler areas and water spray areas in parks, as the CDC mentions that cloth face coverings can be difficult to breathe through when wet
Many of you have reached out to me to express concern about Hobokenites and visitors failing to properly wear and use face covers. The City has been monitoring mask usage in public spaces around Hoboken and has the same concerns. Although more people have been wearing face covers in public since Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 163, unfortunately, compliance in our densely-populated Mile Square City is not what we hope for, expect, or need.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the City Council voted unanimously, on first reading, in support of a new ordinance to support enforcement of proper use of face covers in public. The City Council will vote on the final passage for this ordinance on August 19 permitting fines of $250 for violating these regulations. You can read the ordinance here starting on page 726. I welcome your thoughts at HobokenPhil@gmail.com about this and any other City Council ordinances or resolutions. I plan to support this ordinance to give the City all available tools to minimize the risk of transmission of COVID-19 while we work to restore some sense of normalcy in these unprecedented times. I ask you all to be considerate neighbors, whether walking, jogging, scooting, or biking in town. We’re all in this together. Wear a mask, save a life.
The Amazing All Saints Episcopal Day School Class of 2020
In my role as Co-Chair of the Hoboken Relief Fund, last week I got to meet members of All Saints Episcopal Day School Class of 2020. As you may know, the Hoboken Relief Fund is the 501(c)(3) entity established earlier this year at the request of Mayor Bhalla to provide financial assistance to small businesses and individuals who have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. You can read about the Hoboken Relief Fund (and make your own donation) here.
Back to the graduating 8th graders at All Saints Episcopal Day School . . . .
8th-grade students at All Saints Episcopal Day School eagerly look forward to their exchange program with students from Ecuador as the big highlight of their years at All Saints. Ecuadorian students come to America and stay with the 8th graders, and then the All Saints students travel to Ecuador and stay with their peers and their families. During the trip, they attend school and take part in different service projects to help the community. The class of 2020 had been fund-raising for the big trip since 4th Grade. Unfortunately, COVID-19 canceled the program. So, these 8th Graders discussed what to do with the funds they raised, did their research, and donated $10,000.00 to the Hoboken Relief Fund.
The trustees of the Hoboken Relief Fund were humbled to receive this donation and Councilwoman Jen Giattino, the Co-Chair of the Hoboken Relief Fund, and I were honored to receive their check. Congratulations to Head of School, Jill Singleton, Upper School Head Amanda Dillon, and most of all to the graduates of the Class of 2020. You can read about these thoughtful future community leaders here and watch News12’s coverage of this wonderful story, including interviews with the students here.
$1.9 Million in CARES Act Grant Funds Available for Hoboken Businesses
Working closely with Mayor Bhalla’s Administration, Hoboken’s Federal representatives -- Senator Booker, Senator Menendez, and Congressman Sires -- working with our Hudson County leadership, led by County Executive Tom DeGise -- secured $1.9 million in federal grant money from the CARES Act for Hoboken’s business community.
Any business which has been affected by COVID-19 should apply for funding at http://www.hobokennj.gov/smallbusinessgrants. The deadline for Hoboken’s CARES Act applications is August 14. Over 200 business applicants have already filed applications with the City. I hope all Hoboken businesses take advantage of this important grant opportunity with a maximum award of $20,000 per business. In addition to the more than $400,000 to be distributed by the Hoboken Relief Fund, these CARES Act funds will help our local businesses — the backbone of our community — get through these difficult economic challenges and make it to the other side.
Creating More Safe Spaces For Our Residents and Businesses on Our City Streets
To help residents safely enjoy the summer outdoors, Hoboken has opened more safe spaces for pedestrians on our city streets. One example is the Slow Streets program which allows us to enjoy some fresh air, or our kids to ride a bike or scoot on a quiet block — even if we can’t have our beloved Hoboken block parties this summer.
Innovative partnerships between the City Council and the Mayor’s Office include restaurant strEATeries and parklets which opened June 15th all over town, allowing socially distant outdoor dining in converted parking spots and other public spaces.
A new Summer Streets initiative assists local businesses and provides more safe, spacious environments for residents and visitors to shop and dine. Summer Streets is a City partnership with the Hoboken Business Alliance that launched last week. This project restricts vehicular traffic to pedestrians for selected streets, allowing maximum space for social distancing as well as furnishing more room for Hoboken businesses’ customers. News12 New Jersey dedicated a feature story to Summer Streets and interviewed me about how we are working to help our local businesses through these tough times. You can see the story here.
Upcoming Summer Streets scheduled for Thursdays and Sundays through at least October and include:
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Downtown: Sunday, August 2 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Newark Street from Washington Street to River Street, Hudson Place from Hudson Street to the PATH, and both River Street and Hudson Street from Hudson Place to Newark Street will be open to pedestrians only.
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Uptown on 14th Street: Sunday, August 2, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 14th Street will be open to pedestrians only from Bloomfield Street to Hudson Street.
Along with “Summer Streets,” Mayor Bhalla, with the support of the City Council, is pedestrianizing Sinatra Drive between Newark and 4th Streets to facilitate outdoor dining and create open streets during designated hours. Additionally, every Saturday and Sunday beginning August 1, Hoboken will open 1st Street from Washington Street to Garden Street to pedestrians.
Flooding
In the past three weeks, Hoboken has experienced two major flood events - Tropical Storm Fay on July 10th, and a second intense storm on July 22nd. The storms were the most significant rains Hoboken has measured since our second flood pump came online in 2016, with two inches of rain falling in under two and a half hours. Throughout the storm, Hoboken’s two flood pumps were in operation pumping over 15 million gallons of water. However, the rate of rain was far greater than the sewer’s capacity flowing to the pumps, resulting in the back-up of rain flooding the streets.
Due to rising global temperatures and climate change, these so-called “50-year” storms are becoming much more frequent. Fully combatting Hoboken’s flooding issues would include a complete overhaul of Hoboken’s combined rainwater and sewer system estimated at costing upwards of $3 billion dollars. As that is not realistic, Hoboken has been planning and executing a number of long-term resiliency projects to protect Hoboken for the long-term and to combat flooding.
The largest flood mitigation project that is underway is the Rebuild by Design project. This project is part of a $230 million federal grant which Mayor Zimmer secured for Hoboken in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The project, when built, will work through resist, delay, store, and discharge components to address flooding from high tides and storm surges of the Hudson, as well as heavy rainfall. You can read more about the project here.
Our Northwest Resiliency Park, when complete, will be our City’s largest park and is under construction now. This 5th Ward park will include a water detention system that holds over a million gallons of water (part of the delay, store and discharge elements of the Rebuild by Design project), greatly reducing the amount of flooding in one of the most flood-prone neighborhoods in the 5th Ward. You can read more about the park here.
Two recently opened parks -- the Southwest Park and the 7th and Jackson Park -- include green infrastructure and underground detention systems holding over 650,000 gallons of rainwater.
Further, Hoboken has installed two flood pumps in the last decade: one near the New Jersey Transit railyard and one near Maxwell Place Park to help reduce stagnant water flooding and to clear overwhelmed sewerage systems. A third flood pump will be installed as part of the design of the Northwest Resiliency Park, which is presently under construction.
Besides the major resiliency projects, the City has implemented the use of rain gardens, cisterns, and has integrated different flood infrastructure into a number of other City projects including, but not limited to, projects routinely approved by the Hoboken Zoning Board (on which I served as Commissioner for 8 years). You can view Hoboken’s Strategies for Urban Stormwater Management and Flood Risk Mitigation here.
Budget Hearing Meeting Dates
The City Council is reviewing the Bhalla Administration's submitted budget, which, as submitted, translates to an overall 1.4 percent tax increase on the tax bill for the Hoboken taxpayer. I shared with you detailed information about the Administration’s submitted budget in my Special Budget Newsletter that I issued earlier this month which you can review here. The City Council will make revisions to the proposed budget before voting on final budget approval. As part of this process, the City’s Budget and Finance Committee has begun hosting department presentations. The presentations are available for viewing on Hoboken’s Facebook page here with different departments presenting on different days. On July 27 we heard presentations from the Clerk’s Office, the Mayor’s Office, and the Corporation Counsel’s Office. You can watch those hearings here and information about how to participate at these hearings is found on the City website here.
Here is the remaining schedule for public budget hearings:
MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 – to commence at 6:00 PM
Department of Public Safety, Police Division | 6-7 PM
Department of Public Safety, Fire Division | 7-8 PM
Department of Transportation and Parking | 8-9 PM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020 – to commence at 6:00 PM
Department of Community Development | 6-7 PM
Department of Health and Human Services | 7-8 PM
MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2020 – to commence at 6:00 PM
Department of Environmental Services | 6-7 PM
Water Utility Presentation | 7-8 PM
Critical Census Filing
Despite the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hoboken’s 2020 Census participation rate has been impressive, and as of July 2nd, we are at 63.8% participation citywide! However, we still have a way to go and are falling behind NJ’s response rate of 64.6%.
I strongly encourage all residents to respond online at www.my2020census.gov, over the phone, or by mail. While the self-response period has been extended, we need you to respond ASAP to avoid the need for in-person follow-up from the Census Bureau.
In order to be eligible for critical funding for our schools, roads, housing initiatives, non-profits, Medicaid, Medicare, 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. You can learn more about the importance of completing the Census here and here.
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 Monday, July 27th, I hosted my latest Coffee with Cohen Livestream event. I enjoyed updating you on what’s going on with COVID-19, All Saints Episcopal Day School 8th grade class donation to the Hoboken Relief Fund, major flooding in Hoboken, the upcoming vote on Police Chief Ken Ferrante’s contract (which you can read about here), secure bicycle parking in Hoboken and other helpful information for our residents. If you tuned in, you also learned the results of my latest poll in which I asked whether you were planning on taking a vacation, and if so, where? Over 220 people have viewed Monday’s event, and if you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here. My favorite part of Coffee with Cohen is answering your questions, which you can submit to HobokenPhil@gmail.com, and participate, as I try to answer each question. The event is hosted on my Facebook page @Philcohenforcouncil and you can watch it here.
As long as we have this state of emergency, I plan to continue hosting the event twice a month. The next Coffee with Cohen ... the home edition will be at noon on Monday, August 17th and I hope to see you there.
You can like my City Councilman Facebook page and follow my regular Facebook posts of interest to the community here. You can also follow me on Twitter here, or Instagram here.
As always, if you’d like to reach out with any questions or concerns at any time, or if I can be of any assistance to you or to your family, 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. I will be on vacation during the first two weeks of August. If you need assistance while I am away, my Legislative Assistant, Emma Pizzuti, will monitor my emails and is happy to help you.
