Dear Neighbors,
My family and I would like to wish you and your family a Happy New Year 🎉 🎉. As we turn the calendar and say farewell to a long and difficult 2020, we wish you and your families a happy, healthy holiday season!
Here is the latest on what’s happening in our Mile Square City.
COVID-19 Updates
The number of positive tests in our community has unfortunately substantially increased in the past two weeks. Likewise, New Jersey’s new daily positive cases have risen to levels not seen since May, which caused Governor Murphy to extend the State of Emergency for another 30 days.
Hoboken’s recent spike in positive cases includes 25 new cases on December 11th; 19 on December 12th; 16 on December 13th; 22 on December 16th; 21 on December 20th; and 29 on December 22nd. In July we celebrated the landmark of having no COVID patients at Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC). However, now we have 22 COVID-19 patients at HUMC, including 4 Hoboken residents. If you have any reason to believe you have been exposed to COVID-19, particularly if you spent time with folks outside your immediate family over the Christmas holiday, please quarantine and then schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 test at least 5-7 days after potential exposure. Please remember that wearing a face mask, practicing social distancing, and avoiding indoor gatherings beyond household members is the key to keeping our community healthy and safe.
Since March, 34 Hoboken residents have died due to COVID-19, including the recent death of a Hoboken resident in his 60’s, our second death this month. I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to each Hoboken family that has endured this unimaginable pain. 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.
Free Testing Available for Hoboken Residents: Riverside and Medicine Man
Riverside Medical (351 16th Street)
Dates: Monday (December 28), Tuesday (December 29), Wednesday (December 30), Thursday (December 31), Saturday (January 2)
Time: 8 am – 4 pm
Location: 351 16th Street (Bijou Properties location)
Type of testing: Rapid (Abbott ID Now), and PCR
Who: Hoboken residents only
(appointments typically released online for the following week on Wednesdays)
Note: 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.
Medicine Man Pharmacy (605 Jackson St.)
Dates: Monday (December 28), Wednesday (December 30)
Time: 8 am – 12:30 pm
Location: 605 Jackson Street
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents only
PromptMD (Jackson St. Gym, 605 Jackson St.)
Dates: Monday (December 28), Tuesday (December 29), Wednesday (December 30), Monday (January 4)
Time: 8 am - 3:00 pm
Location: 605 Jackson Street
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents
PromptMD offers PCR testing most days at the City’s 605 Jackson Street location from 8 am until 3 pm. To schedule an appointment - visit www.hobokennj.gov/promptmd. Results are typically provided through Prompt MD within 48-72 hours.
Free Testing for Hoboken Residents and Hoboken Business Employees:
ivee (at Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St.)
Dates: Tuesday (December 29)
Time: 8 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Multi-Service Center (124 Grand Street)
Type of testing: PCR
Who: Hoboken residents, Hoboken business employees
When signing up for testing through ivee, you will need to provide your information first and then a link will be sent to you to choose an appointment time. ivee’s PCR test results are emailed within 24-48 hours.
Local Private COVID Test Facilities
In addition to Hoboken’s four 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.
The COVID-19 Vaccine Arrives for Folks on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Battle, and in 2021 Will Be There for All of Us
A milestone in the fight against COVID-19 occurred on December 15 when the first New Jersey healthcare worker received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital in Newark. This week, on Tuesday, our ICU staff at HUMC received their first dose of the Moderna Vaccine, as pictured below.
On Wednesday, Hudson County opened the County’s first COVID-19 vaccination site at the USS Juneau Center at 110 Hackensack Avenue, Kearny. Presently, only the following categories of workers can be vaccinated, by appointment, at the County’s vaccination site: doctors and nurses with private practices, dentists and hygienists, funeral directors, paid and unpaid Emergency Medical Technicians, and those working in labs with infectious material. These individuals who are qualified to be vaccinated during Phase 1A are encouraged to contact the Hudson Regional Health Commission at 201-388-1097 or 646-862-1161 and schedule your vaccination. You can learn more about the vaccinations here.
Expect broader waves of vaccination distributions and local vaccination centers to come online in 2021. Stay tuned! When I am eligible, I look forward to receiving the vaccine and I encourage everyone and their families to do so. The successful rollout and distribution of the COVID vaccine is our best hope to return to our “pre-COVID” lives and normal social interactions.
Hoboken’s Spectacular 100% Rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index!
While 2020 has challenged our community in ways no one could have foreseen, Hoboken has remained true to its values. That’s why I am so proud to be an elected official in a community that received a perfect ranking of 100% from the Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equality Index (MEI) -- the third consecutive year under the Bhalla administration receiving a 100% MEI ranking. The MEI is a comprehensive assessment of various metrics, including important legislation and policies that promote LGBTQ+ equality, and is applied to over 500 jurisdictions across the United States. The MEI was designed by the HRC Foundation to help residents learn whether their city's laws and policies are inclusive for all residents. We are proud to be one of only three New Jersey municipalities, and one of 94 cities in America, to receive a 100% MEI ranking.
While we take pride in this important recognition from the Human Rights Campaign, we must not forget that important work remains to be done for our LGBTQ+ community. As Hoboken’s LGBTQ+ liaison Laura Knittel said upon learning of this important recognition, “let’s not forget this Holiday season how many LGBTQ+ teens and adults, here and around the world, who may be suffering, persecuted, and sometimes even killed for who they love, and how they identify. There is still much work to be done. And to all those reading, please know you are not alone, we're here for you.”
In addition to our city’s LGBTQ+ liaison, local resources for our LGBTQ+ community can be found at the Hudson Pride Center, offering advocacy and social services addressing the on-going health and social support needs of the LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS communities in Hoboken and Hudson County. You can find them here.
Congratulations to Mayor Bhalla, his Administration, and the hard-working employees of the City of Hoboken for your continuing commitment to being an exemplary model for inclusivity and equality in American municipal government, even while managing our extraordinary public health and fiscal challenges. You can read the HRC’s detailed assessment and Hoboken’s MEI ranking here.
Delivering Holiday Wishes, Candy Canes, and Masks to Fox Hill
Last Saturday, I was happy to share some holiday spirit, candy canes
and masks 
with all my friends at Fox Hill 
. This Fox Hill visit was a family affair as my wife Rebecca and our daughter Madeline helped pack the packages in the Fox Hill community room for a special delivery. Thanks to HHA Director Mark Recko, HHA Manager Danny Perez, HHA Commissioner Erica Seitzman, and Louis Quinones and the awesome teen volunteers from Community Lifestyle, for your help.
To all my friends at Fox Hill, I wish you Happy Holidays! 
Feliz Navidad! 
Merry Christmas! 
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. Already, over 700 people have viewed this event. This week I covered a number of topics including the milestone rollout of COVID vaccines, and Little City Books’ generous raffle of 3 signed copies of Barack Obama’s auto-biography raising over $8,000 for the Hoboken Shelter! My favorite part of Coffee with Cohen is answering your questions. This week you asked about the status of a proposed affordable housing project for seniors at the corner of 11th and Willow -- the present site of a 5th Ward municipal parking lot. If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here.
You can submit your questions for my next event to HobokenPhil@gmail.com. I try to answer each question you submit. 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 Coffee with Cohen twice a month online. My next event will welcome in the new year at noon on Monday, January 4th, and I hope to see you there.
In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter at @philiphcohen 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.
