HOBOKEN – In a brief Saturday morning meeting, the City Council voted by a 5-1-3 margin to introduce an ordinance that authorizes the city to enter into a 99-year parking access agreement with the potential new owners of Hoboken
University Medical Center (HUMC), HUMC Holdco, an ownership group from Bayonne Medical Center.
The agreement to provide parking spaces in at least one city garage, if it is approved at a later council meeting, would remain in effect even if the facility is no longer operated as a hospital, according to the agreement. As part of the sale contract of the city-owned HUMC, the hospital will remain an acute care facility for at least seven years.
Council members Beth Mason, Michael Russo, and Theresa Castellano were absent from the meeting. Councilman Tim Occhipinti was the lone dissenting vote, saying that he had unanswered questions about the agreement.
Before the vote, Corporation Counsel Mark Tabakin outlined the terms of the parking agreement. The city-owned hospital currently allows for 1,000 employees to park in the city garage next to the hospital for a rate of $65 per month.
During the sale process and bankruptcy proceedings of the hospital’s operator, the nurses union asked for a reduction in parking for $45 per month under the new owners, Tabakin said.
Under the proposed agreement, which the council must vote for again before it becomes effective, there will be 400 spots for hospital employees at the midtown garage next to the hospital, 300 spots at the garage located at 315 Hudson St., and, if necessary, 300 spots at the garage at 215 Hudson St.
According to the agreement, the rate will be $45 per month for the first three years, and then $65 per month after that. The rates will also change if there are increases to other Hoboken Parking Utility customers, according to the agreement. – Ray Smith