Dear Neighbors,
Much is happening these days in the Mile Square City! Here’s my update on all things Hoboken.
Bearded irises in bloom on the 11th street islands
COVID-19 Updates
The rate of daily positive tests in Hoboken and New Jersey continues to slow as vaccinations have become readily available. As of May 26th, over 4 million New Jerseyans have been fully vaccinated.
With the dropping number of positive cases, the State is no longer issuing travel or quarantine advisories. New Jersey residents are no longer required to quarantine when traveling domestically outside of the State.
While the state is heading in a positive direction, the state of emergency remains in effect out of an abundance of caution.
As of May 22nd, Hoboken’s recent positive test results include 4 on May 15th, 5 on May 16th, 0 on May 17th, 0 on May 18th, 2 on May 20th, 1 on May 21st and just one case in the past four days, for a total of 5,008 cases confirmed to date. Two weeks ago there were 4,990 positive cases. Although the weather is warmer and more members of our community are being vaccinated, COVID-19 remains a real threat. Please remain vigilant, practice social distancing when necessary, wash your hands and be safe.
Last July we celebrated the landmark of having no COVID patients at Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC). We now have 6 COVID patients at HUMC with 1 Hoboken resident being treated.
If you have any reason to believe you have been exposed to COVID and have not been vaccinated, please quarantine and then schedule an appointment for a COVID test at least 5-7 days after potential exposure.
COVID Vaccination News
As of May 23rd, 95% of Hoboken seniors 65 years of age and up have been provided with at least a first dose, with 86% fully vaccinated.
62% of Hoboken residents 18 years of age and older have been provided with at least one dose, and 53% fully vaccinated.
54% of the entire Hoboken population, regardless of eligibility, has been provided with at least one dose, and 45% fully vaccinated.
About 650 Hoboken children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been provided with Pfizer vaccines through our partnership with Medicine Man Pharmacy. According to statistics provided by the State of New Jersey, Hoboken is in line with the vaccination rates of the rest of the State.
Medicine Man Pharmacy and Compounding, Hoboken Family Pharmacy, and Better Life Pharmacy are continuing to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to Hoboken residents and employees of Hoboken businesses in collaboration with Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla and the Hoboken Health Department.
Clinic times and locations:
Location: 221 Jackson Street (community room)
Who: Hoboken residents, Hoboken business employees
Day: Thursdays, through at least the end of June
Time: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Vaccine offered: Johnson & Johnson (one-dose) or Moderna (two-doses)
Ages: 18+
Administered By: Better Life Pharmacy and Hoboken Health Department
In addition to the clinic above, all three pharmacies are currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine at their Hoboken locations on a walk-in basis during regular business hours, while supplies last.
To get the City’s latest information on vaccinations and clinic schedules click here.
Eligible Hoboken residents can also seek vaccine appointments through Hudson County's Kearny site. You can check for appointment availability and register here.
CVS pharmacies Midtown and Uptown Hoboken locations are supplying the COVID-19 vaccine by appointment as well. To track CVS’s Hoboken vaccine supply click here.
COVID Testing Updates
To get the City’s latest information on Hoboken’s test appointments and hours click here.
Free Testing for Hoboken Residents and Business Employees:
Jackson St. Gym, 605 Jackson St. (Administered by PromptMD)
Dates: Mondays and Thursdays
Time: 8 am - 3 pm
Location: 605 Jackson Street
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents and Hoboken business employees
Jackson St. Gym, 605 Jackson Street (Administered by Medicine Man)
Date: Wednesdays
Time: 2 - 7 pm (Wednesdays)
Location: 605 Jackson Street (updated location)
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents, Hoboken business employees
221 Jackson Street, Community Room (Administered by New Jersey Department of Health)
Date: Fridays: June 4, and June 18
Time: 1 pm – 7 pm
Location: 221 Jackson Street (Hoboken Housing Authority, community room)
Who: Hoboken and Hudson County residents, Hoboken business employees
Type of testing: Saliva based
No appointment needed, testing provided on a first-come, first-serve basis
In addition to Hoboken’s 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. To be safe, you should call ahead to confirm test availability.
Thanks to Riverside Medical Group
Last Friday, Riverside Medical Group closed our public COVID-19 testing facility at 16th and Clinton and transferred its testing facilities to their three Hoboken offices. All Hoboken residents and Hoboken employees remain eligible for free COVID testing at Riverside’s offices.
Riverside conducted over 60,000 COVID-19 tests for our community through its public testing site since March 2020. Riverside’s test facility was the first public rapid testing site in New Jersey and one of the first in the tri-state area.
Thank you to Dr. Raj Brahmbhatt and the Riverside Medical Group team for their service to our residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. You provided us with critical early and ongoing testing since the outbreak of the pandemic. It is bittersweet to see the test center close, but it also means we are one step closer to returning to life pre-COVID.
Thank you also to the Hoboken CERT team, Office of Emergency Management, Hoboken Health Department, and Hoboken Police Department for playing critical roles in the test center’s operations. Thanks also to Bijou Properties for providing its property at no cost to Hoboken to accommodate indoor drive-thru and walk-in testing during the winter and spring months.
Riverside Medical Group also serves as one of Hoboken's primary vaccination partners, having provided vaccinations to over 4,300 members of our community including seniors, first responders, and healthcare workers.
To get your COVID-19 test through Riverside, Hoboken residents and employees can call the Riverside location where they would like to be tested:
- 232 Clinton Street: 201-876-3215,
- 609 Washington Street: 201-706-8490,
- 1111 Hudson Street: 201-942-9314
CERT Hotline — The End of an Era
Last Friday, the Hoboken CERT Team wrapped its final day as the city’s emergency COVID hotline.
CERT members volunteered over 8,000 hours over the past 62 weeks (more than 430 days), answering calls on the hotline, as well as operating our food pantry, distributing safety information and PPE, registering seniors door-to-door for vaccinations, expanding HUMC’s morgue with the Office of Emergency Management, training teen CERT members, and much, much more.
Without our incredible CERT team members’ dedication and selfless service to our community, Hoboken’s pandemic response could not have been the same. To each and every CERT member, I offer my thanks and the heartfelt appreciation of the people of Hoboken.
This winter, CERT team members and I registered Fox Hill residents for vaccines
Updated CDC and State Guidance on Using Face Masks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on May 13 that fully vaccinated people do not need masks in the large majority of indoor and outdoor settings.
However, vaccinated individuals should still wear masks on mass transportation, in hospitals, doctor’s offices, within transportation hubs and stations, congregate settings like homeless shelters, and certain other situations.
Starting today, Governor Murphy ordered New Jersey’s mask mandate and social distancing requirements lifted for indoor areas in Hoboken and throughout the Garden State. However, Hoboken establishments are permitted to require face masks for employees, customers, or guests.
Unvaccinated individuals remain strongly encouraged to wear face masks in these settings, especially when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Reopenings in New Jersey as of Today May 28th
Lifting the mask mandate in indoor public spaces:
- Indoor businesses and entities may still require masks for employees, customers, and/or guests.
- CDC guidelines state that masks remain required in health care settings, including long-term care facilities, office settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and on planes, buses, trains, and other public transportation, as well as transportation hubs such as airports and train stations.
- CDC guidelines note that child care centers and facilities, youth summer camps, public, private, and parochial preschool program premises, and elementary and secondary schools, including charter and Renaissance schools, are not affected by these new guidelines continue to meet existing requirements.
- Employers are required to follow existing health and safety protocols at indoor worksites that are not open to the public.
- Public-facing state offices, like the Motor Vehicle Commission, will continue to require masks.
Lifting prohibition on dance floors at bars and restaurants:
- The prohibition on ordering and eating/drinking while standing at bars and restaurants has been lifted.
Lifting the six-foot social distancing requirement:
- The requirement will be lifted in businesses, including retail stores, personal care services, gyms, recreational and entertainment businesses, and casinos, and indoor gatherings, including religious services, political activities, weddings, funerals, memorial services, commercial gatherings, catered events, sports competitions, and performances.
- Indoor businesses and entities may still require social distancing for employees, customers, and/or guests.
The following changes will go into effect Friday, June 4:
- Removing the general indoor gathering limit, currently 50 people.
- Removing the indoor gathering limit for political gatherings, weddings, funerals, memorial services, performances, and other catered and commercial events, currently 250 people.
- Removing 30 percent capacity limitation for indoor large venues with a fixed-seating capacity of over 1,000.
The Senior HOP Bus is Back — and Senior Activities at the Multi-Service Center return Tuesday
In big news for folks who missed the Senior HOP service — and so many of my friends at Fox Hill have asked me when it will return . . . the Senior HOP is BACK and doubling service, making a long-awaited return.
Also, starting Tuesday, June 1st, the Hoboken Senior Center at the Multi-Service Center will reopen for senior activities, including the return of Bingo every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
These services are important to our seniors and I’m thrilled that they will resume. Thanks to Director Leo Pellegrini, Tom Foley, and Cosmo Sancilio as well as our senior services staff for your hard work on making possible the return of these much-missed activities.
Congratulations and Thanks to Chief Ferrante
Last week, Police Chief Ken Ferrante announced his plans to retire this year on July 1st. As the newest member of the City Council, I learned a great deal from Chief Ferrante about public safety and public service.
I saw first-hand how hard the Chief worked — each and every day — to keep Hoboken’s residents safe. Of particular note was Chief Ferrante’s commitment to transparency and thoughtfully responding to countless numbers of constituents. That commitment serves as a model to me and to all elected officials.
On behalf of the grateful people I represent, I want to say “thank you Chief.” Thanks for your hard work and extraordinary service to the people of Hoboken. Here’s wishing you a long and well-deserved retirement.
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, I hosted my most recent Coffee with Cohen livestream event. This week I welcomed special guest Chris O’Connor, the Founder and Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre (MST). We discussed the anticipated return of live productions in Hoboken and Broadway, including an arts and theatre district in the North End, and how our community can support MST — our not-for-profit award-winning theatre. I also discussed the latest on COVID vaccinations and testing, and much, much more.
My favorite part of Coffee with Cohen is answering your questions. This week I addressed questions about replacing missing stanchions at 9th and Madison, replacing trees in Columbus Park, and much more. I also shared the results of my poll on your feelings about the return of live theatrical performances in 2021. Over 200 people have watched the event and you can check it out here.
Do you have questions you would like me to address at my next event? Please send them 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 is Monday, June 7th 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 have any questions or concerns, or if I can be of assistance to you or your family, please do not hesitate to contact me at HobokenPhil@gmail.com.
I hope you enjoy the Memorial Day holiday this weekend and honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
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.
