Hospital sale hearing scheduled for July 21
The New Jersey State Planning Board has scheduled a hearing for the pending sale of Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC) to a group that also owns Bayonne Medical Center, known as HUMC Holdco, LLC.
The public is invited to comment on the sale on July 21 at OLG Parish Hall, 422 Willow Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Comments will be limited to three minutes per person, although written comments may also be submitted at the same time.
For coverage of the issue, visit www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/hoboken.
Famous alleged art thief had more art in Hoboken apartment, police say
Alleged art thief Mark Lugo allegedly stole more than just one Picasso painting, according to the Hoboken Police Department.
Lugo is the Hoboken resident who was arrested in San Francisco on July 6 and is charged with stealing a $200,000 Picasso sketch drawing.
According to the Hoboken police, they were contacted by detectives from the New York Police Department’s Major Case Squad on Tuesday regarding the theft of a Picasso painting from a hotel in Manhattan.
Police executed a search warrant at Lugo’s Washington Street apartment at about 2:20 a.m. on July 12, according to police.
Hoboken detectives responded to the residence upon obtaining the search warrant and were joined by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and the NYPD. Inside the apartment, which was unoccupied – as Lugo is incarcerated in San Francisco – police found the allegedly stolen Picasso painting from a Manhattan hotel, as well as other stolen artwork, police said.
The paintings in the Washington Street apartment, valued at approximately $500,000, were hanging on the walls and around the apartment, police said.
All items of evidence were seized by either the NYPD or the HCPO, and those agencies will file the appropriate charges and prosecute in their respective jurisdictions, police said.
Rent control petitioners take to the streets once again
The City Clerk’s office once again rejected petitions for referendum from tenant advocates that would have suspended three recent changes to the city’s rent control law and then placed them on the ballot for the public to vote on.
Now, the tenants hope to amend their petition within a 10-day ‘cure’ period.
The City Council had unanimously approved three changes to the rent control ordinance on March 2 after almost two years of council subcommittee meetings.
One change limits the back rent tenants can collect if a landlord is found guilty of overcharging them. Previously, tenants could be awarded money for the duration of the violation, times three. The new changes limit payments to a maximum of two years. A second change eases document requirements for landlords who wish to apply for a rent increase by way of vacancy decontrol (a 25 percent increase once every three years if a tenant vacates willingly). A third change requires landlords to inform tenants of their rights, and to show proof the information was supplied.
In order for an ordinance to be placed on the ballot for referendum, petitioners must submit signatures of registered voters totaling 15 percent of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last general assembly election within 20 days of when the law is signed by the mayor. In the Nov. 3, 2009 election, 14,593 voters cast their ballots, meaning the petitioners needed 2,189 signatures, according to a memo from the clerk’s office to the petitioners.
In March, the issue became complicated when, according to the petitioners, the county clerk told the group they needed to collect a number less than what the city clerk advised. When the petitioners followed the advice of the county clerk, they were rejected by the city. The issue then went to court.
A Hudson County Superior Court judge ordered the Hoboken City Clerk’s office to look over the petition once again, because the office did not go through a certification process of the petitions.
In a July 7 memo from the clerk’s office to the petitioners, City Clerk James Farina wrote that of the 2,314 signatures submitted from the original gathering and an amendment period, only 1,573 were valid signatures of registered Hoboken voters. The petitioners need to submit 2,189.
“Accordingly, my office cannot certify these submissions as a valid petition for referendum and Ordinance Z-88 is not suspended by the petitions submitted and there is no requirement for Ordinance Z-88 to go to referendum,” Farina wrote to the petitioners.
Now, the tenant advocates will try to utilize a 10-day correction period once again to collect more than 600 signatures. In a release, the petitioners note than in the recent court ruling “the judge ordered the clerk to certify all 2,314 signatures submitted and, if insufficient, to initiate a 10-day amendment period in order to rectify the signatures insufficiency.”
A request for comment from the city attorney’s office was not returned.
However, those on the side of the property owners — who want the changes to remain — say that the petitioners should not receive another 10-day period to acquire more signatures because they already used a 10-day period before the case went to court.
State education aid increasing in Hudson County
Hudson County public school districts will receive some extra aid from Trenton for the 2011-2012 academic year after it was cut last year, according to figures released by Gov. Chris Christie’s office on Tuesday.
Hudson County will receive $878.4 million in education aid this year from the state, an increase of $87.4 million from the 2010-2011 year.
Bayonne will receive $50 million in aid, which is an increase of $2.2 million from last year.
Guttenberg is slated to receive $4.3 million, almost $300,000 more than what was received in 2010-2011.
Hoboken’s schools will receive $9.4 million, an increase of $2.4 million from last year.
Jersey City will receive $417 million this year, which is up $26.8 million from last year.
North Bergen will receive $53 million in 2011-2012, an increase of $2 million from 2010-2011.
Secaucus will receive $664,000 in state aid.
Union City’s schools received the largest county increase, pulling in $174.4 million this year in state education aid, up almost $29 million from 2010-2011.
Union City also received the most money in Hudson County from the state in May when the state Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Abbott Districts (mostly urban education districts) were underfunded and the Christie administration was forced to fund them with more money. Union City received $32.8 million in May. Sen. Brian Stack (D – Union City) is the mayor of Union City and is often viewed as a Democratic ally of the Republican governor.
Weehawken will receive $2.5 million this year, and West New York will receive $89.9 million. West New York will receive $14.8 million more than last year.
Hoboken bar owner receives four years in prison for fatal crash
Hoboken bar owner and Jersey City resident Nicholas Bergantino was sentenced to four years in state prison on Tuesday after he plead guilty to a reduced charge of assault by auto stemming from a 2008 incident in which he was the driver in a crash that killed his best friend, according to media reports.
Bergantino was originally charged with death by auto and driving while intoxicated, and was later indicted on charges of death by auto and aggravated manslaughter, according to a report on NJ.com. His charges have since been downgraded.
The crash occurred on Dec. 2, 2008 on Route 1&9 near Sip Avenue when Bergantino’s BMW collided with a tractor trailer truck.
Bergantino suffered only minor injuries. His friend, Robert Rosario, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mayor and councilwoman to hold meeting to discuss noise concerns
Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Councilwoman Theresa Castellano will host a community meeting with Hoboken Police Chief Anthony Falco and Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs to discuss noise concerns related to bars and restaurants.
The meeting will take place on July 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the basement floor conference room of City Hall, located at 94 Washington St. The meeting will focus on issues of particular concern to 1st Ward residents, however all residents city-wide with concerns about noise from bars and restaurants are invited to attend, according to a city release.