Pit bull attacks; shot dead by cop
Police shot and killed a pit bull around midnight on Thursday after it severely injured three victims, including its owner, police said in a statement Friday.
The incident happened at a luxury building in uptown Hoboken after the first victim, a 42-year-old male resident, called police and alleged that he was bitten by a roommate’s pit bull named “Giant.”
When police arrived, the victim was being treated outside the building by emergency medical technicians for severe bites to his right ankle. The victim told police that he had been bitten by the same pit bull last week.
Police saw another pit bull unleashed in the lobby of the building, they said. Moments later, “Giant” also appeared in the lobby with blood on its face and body, police said.
Police attempted to secure the lobby, which was difficult due to motion-sensor doors at either end. At one point both dogs activated the doors, police said, but then fled back into the lobby and then back into the apartment.
The dog’s owner, a 26-year-old female Hoboken resident, appeared near the lobby. Despite repeated warnings by police not to enter the lobby or the apartment, the female owner entered her apartment, police said. She was then bitten and mauled repeatedly in her lower extremities by “Giant,” causing massive trauma and blood loss, police said.
Hoboken police, assisted by the Port Authority Police Emergency Service Unit, then entered the apartment by a window to rescue the female victim. She was carried out the window into an awaiting ambulance, where she was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) for treatment.
Police managed to barricade and beat off the violent pit bull and barricade it with furniture in the apartment. While the dog was partly secured by police, a third victim, a 41-year-old female Hoboken resident, attempted to enter the apartment after being repeatedly warned not to enter by police who were inside the apartment securing the pit bull.
The female victim screamed, and the pit bull became loose and immediately mauled her, causing serious bodily injury to her legs, police said.
Police again beat the pit bull off of the victim. The third victim was also rushed to JCMC, requiring emergency surgery for her injuries.
Based on the circumstances and the immediate danger to officers and the public, Sgt. Edmund Drishti drew his weapon and shot and killed the pit bull with a single bullet to the head, police said.
The Humane Society of Newark, N.J., removed the dog. The second pit bull, which apparently did not injure or bite anyone, was snared and tranquilized by the Port Authority Police. This dog later expired and the owner is unknown at this point, according to the Humane Society.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office was notified, standard protocol when a law enforcement officer discharges his weapon, but no criminal charges are expected.
The Hoboken Board of Health was also notified about the incident and will conduct a separate investigation to determine if any health ordinances were violated by the dog’s owner, including proper registration of the dog.
Neither dogs wore Hoboken dog tags, only dog collars, police said.
The female owner told police that “Giant” had bitten another dog in a Hoboken dog park several weeks ago, police said.
Police Chief Anthony Falco commended Drishti and all of the officers. “There was no other alternative available but to terminate this violent pit bull,” he said.
Former 4th Ward Councilman Andrew Amato passes away
Andrew Amato, a former two-time Hoboken councilman and mayoral candidate, died Thursday night from cardiac arrest at the age of 78.
Amato was a colorful character who often loudly championed issues in his sometimes forgotten ward in the 1990s, along with his wife, Flo. More recently, he was often courted by modern politicians to bring in votes from that ward.
He was taken from his home at Marion Towers around 11 p.m. Thursday by the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Hoboken University Medical Center and was pronounced dead within minutes, according to a city official.
Class action lawsuit may lead to rent control changes
Lawyers for a group of Hoboken landlords filed a class action lawsuit against the city, claiming officials enforced an “inconsistent and manifestly unjust” rent control ordinance that is leaving the property owners liable for millions of dollars in rent adjustment paybacks.
The suit is part of an ongoing battle between landlords who believe they are being held to unfair standards by the city and rent control advocates who believe the landlords should be held accountable for alleged rent gouging.
City Councilwoman Beth Mason recently completed a series of exploratory sessions with the two sides, and her subcommittee will most likely recommend changes to the rent control law to the council as a whole in the coming weeks.
The city ordinance may not have been properly followed in past years, which is leading to serious issues for landlords now, especially since there is no statute of limitations on rent calculations.
City Attorney Michael Kates was not immediately available to respond to the lawsuit, but lawyers for the landlords claim the damages sought could be hundreds of millions of dollars.
Appeal of Stevens garage approval before council
For the first time in nearly a decade, the City Council will hear a zoning appeal for the large garage Stevens Institute of Technology is planning to build on Sinatra Drive. This is the first of three such appeals on the City Council’s docket.
The council will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to hear an appeal on the 19 variances that the Zoning Board already approved for the large Stevens building, which will also include some classroom space. Part of their plan is also to re-route Fifth Street where it meets Sinatra Drive.
The local waterfront development watchdog group, Fund For a Better Waterfront, is challenging the Zoning Board’s approval. The group played an important role in fighting overdevelopment on the waterfront and securing a continuous public walkway along the Hudson River from Bayonne to Ft. Lee.
Stevens is planning to use the garage for student and employees, but has promised to allow some sports groups who use Sinatra Field to also have access at certain times.
Play encore to benefit Haiti
On Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., the Hoboken High School Drama Club will stage an encore performance of Anna Deavere Smith’s play “Fires in the Mirror.” A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to benefit the Haitian earthquake victims and their families.
The performance will be in the Hoboken High School Auditorium, Clinton Street between Eight and Ninth streets, and is scheduled for the first weekend of Black History Month.
Tickets are priced: general admission, $10; college students with ID, $7; K-12 students, $5; and senior citizens, $2.
The play deals with the community turmoil sparked by the death of a seven-year-old black boy in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and the subsequent death of a 29-year-old Jewish scholar from Australia.
New campus for All Saints
All Saints Episcopal Day School is announce the opening of their new campus, 527 Clinton St., at a blessing and dedication ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Members of the school and the parish attended for a celebration of the restoration of one of Hoboken’s historic buildings and the return to its original use as a school house.
The ceremony included the re-naming of the facility the St. Nicholas Center, an expansion of the school’s main campus, 707 Washington St. The new location will house the school’s nursery, pre-K, and kindergarten classes.
School officials said enrollment has nearly doubled in the past five years and last year the school successfully launched its middle school program. The school began was started in 1985, and its first eighth grade class is scheduled to graduate in 2012.
For more information, see the school’s website at www.allsaintsdayschool.org.
New parents invited to open house
The Hoboken Public Schools invites parents of incoming 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers to come to an Early Childhood Program open house presentation at Brandt School, 215 Ninth St., on Thursday, Feb. 18 from 8:45 to 9:30 p.m.
Classroom visitations will follow, but the district is also inviting parents to visit classrooms during the school day from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at several district schools.
For more information, visit www.hoboken.k12.nj.us or call Nellie Moyeno, Community and Parent Involvement Specialist, at (201) 356-3617.
Registration for new preschool, kindergarten, or first grade students for the 2010-11 school year will begin on Monday, Feb. 22.