Arts and music festival
The Hoboken Fall Arts and Music Festival takes place on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
It features over 300 artists, sculptors, photographers and craftspeople from all around the tri-state area. The vendors line Washington Street from the southernmost tip of the street to Seventh Street.
The 16th annual festival offers live music, fine art, great food, and much more.
Leon Russell will be the headlining musical act for this year’s fall festival.
The Reporter is a co-sponsor of the event. Check the Entertainment section of this weekend’s paper for the schedule.
Death of man who fell from 19th floor ruled a suicide
The death of a Secaucus man who fell from the 19th floor of Harmon Cove Towers was ruled a suicide by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office on Monday.
Although the death was initially thought to be a suicide, Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Corcoran said that in cases where a suspicious death cannot be definitively ruled as a suicide, the Hudson County Prosecutor will take and investigate the case.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said, “The body was taken to the state regional medical examiner’s office. A complete forensic autopsy was not performed on the victim. The ruling is that it does appear to be a suicide.”
The 58-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, jumped the evening of Sept. 7. He had lived in Harmon Cove for several years with an unidentified woman, according to other residents of the condo development.
Zimmer’s nominating petitions challenged
Kimberly Glatt, one of the eight candidates in Hoboken’s November mayoral race, filed a court challenge on Monday to candidate (and current Acting Mayor) Dawn Zimmer’s nominating petitions. Each candidate running for city office has to get a certain number of signatures on a petition in order to be nominated.
The deadline for filing the challenge was 5 p.m. Monday.
However, if there is a slight irregularity with the signatures or petitions, the courts often give a candidate time to “correct” the problem.
Glatt has served as Hoboken’s municipal court judge since the mid 1990s. However, she resigned two weeks ago in order to run for mayor.
Glatt did not challenge the petitions of any other candidate.
The election will be held Nov. 3.
Jersey City’s abatements criticized
Naomi Bressler, an analyst with the policy thinktank New Jersey Policy Perspective, gave a presentation at Monday’s Jersey City City Council caucus. Her presentation was about Jersey City’s abatement policy.
Bressler along with Hudson County resident Carolyn Topp had authored a report, “All That Glitters Isn’t Gold – Tax Abatements in Jersey City.” It outlined the shortcomings of tax abatements granted in Jersey City for development along the city’s waterfront (aka the “Gold Coast”).
The report said that for one thing, abatements create a situation in which owners of non-abated properties in Jersey City have to pay property taxes that are distributed between the city, county and school district, while abated properties are excluded from paying school taxes and only pay a fraction of county taxes.
However, Bressler was questioned by officials such as Assistant City Corporation Counsel Joanne Monahan and City Business Administrator Brian O’ Reilly over alleged inaccuracies in the report. They challenged her on her knowledge of abatement policy, which a feisty Bressler tried to deflect by explaining that she was looking for questions on the “substance of the report.”
City Council Michael Sottolano had a spirited back-and-forth with Bressler about how abatements helped stabilized the city’s tax rate.
As questioning wound down, O’Reilly offered a 29-page rebuttal to the NJPP report that was formed first in July, as reported first by the Jersey City Reporter. In the rebuttal report, it says that the city has already considered some of NJPP’s suggestions by implementing policies such as opening tax abatement committee meetings to the public.
In a related matter, Mayor Jerramiah Healy on Monday sent a letter to the City Council stating that he does not support an amendment to the 20-year abatement for the $250 million 77 Hudson St. project that would extend term for the abatement 10 more years and a lower service charge. Healy said he reviewed the application himself and found that there 77 Hudson Street should not have an amended abatement because it is “nearly fully developed.” – RK