Hoboken/North Hudson YMCA finally announces plans to renovate, eventually reopen
After closing suddenly more than a year ago, the Hoboken/North Hudson YMCA on upper Washington Street said last week that they finally received financing to renovate the facility and eventually reopen to the public.
According to a press release, “On Nov. 7, after years of intense planning and perseverance, the Hoboken North Hudson YMCA successfully completed a complex financing transaction resulting in grants from the State of New Jersey and Hudson County as well as Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits in excess of $14 million in the aggregate. The critical funds, extremely difficult to obtain given sharp declines in government revenue and the depressed economic environment, are being used to renovate and expand residential units at the Y’s historic 1927 building.”
The Y plans to renovate their existing 96 units of low-income housing. Right now, approximately 20 men are living in the units.
Paul Somerville, president of the board of directors, said that the other low-income units were never re-rented when the men left, so that they could be renovated.
The Y suddenly suspended most services in March of 2010 when they couldn’t get financing to keep it open. This set off criticism in the community because staff and patrons of the health club said they received no warning. Some did not know where to turn to get membership refunds.
Somerville said the facility is still functioning in one respect.
“While most people think we are closed, we never abandoned one of our core missions—that of providing housing to low-income men who continue to live there,” he said.
The first phase of work is to be completed by December 2012.
Somerville said that the facility hopes to raise more funds so they can return to providing recreational services.
“Through fundraising efforts, we intend to segue into the second phase of our renovation including the pool and fitness spaces so that this community center can be placed back in service for all of Hoboken and Hudson County,” said Suzy Walsh, CEO of the Hoboken-North Hudson YMCA.
Old ferry terminal opened on Wednesday
For the first time since 1967, the renovated historic Hoboken Ferry Terminal opened on Wednesday. It is part of the existing (and very busy) Erie Lackawanna train terminal, which also carries thousands of train passengers between New Jersey and New York each day.
According to the Associated Press, the ferry portion south of the train area “opened in 1907 and operated for 60 years until few commuters used ferries to get to and from work between New Jersey and New York City. Passengers have been using a barge with a tent on it since ferry service resumed in 1989.”
After $120 million in renovations, the piers were rebuilt, ramps to the boats were made accessible, and the original Tiffany stained glass ceiling was restored.
“Today isn’t just about celebrating our past,” Zimmer said on Wednesday. “The Hoboken Ferry Terminal restoration project is also paving the way for the future. This restored, enhanced facility will ensure that Hoboken Terminal remains a bustling transit hub that spurs economic development in our region for generations to come.”
HoLa Winter Coat Collection Drive began Nov. 21
The HoLa Charter School community and the First Grade have organized the HoLa Coat Drive to benefit the NJ Cares organization by asking residents to sort through their closets and collect any warm, clean, and gently used coats to donate through Dec. 15.
The donation box is at the entrance in the lobby of The Boys and Girls Club at 123 Jefferson St.
Children are encouraged to write a special note or draw a picture and hide it in the pocket of the coat they wish to donate for the “Note in a Coat” program.
Hoboken Family Alliance to hold Holiday Party
The Hoboken Family Alliance will hold their annual holiday party on Dec. 19 at Club H (110 Sinatra Dr.) from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The party will include a raffle, treats, goodie bags, and even a visit from Santa Claus.
The party is free for HFA members, and $5 for non-members. The HFA will also be collecting children’s pajamas and bedtime books to donate to Hudson County families.
Connors School holds Holiday Toy Drive to benefit HUMC Pediatric
A holiday Toy Drive at Connors School (201 Monroe St.) to benefit the Hoboken University Medical Center Pediatrics Unit will run until Dec. 19.
Unwrapped toys can be dropped off in the main lobby of the school.
City plans to appeal DEP approval of development on north waterfront
After the state Department of Environmental Protection granted approvals for the uptown proposed Monarch project earlier this month, Mayor Dawn Zimmer sent a letter to residents advising them that the city is pursuing an appeal of the decision.
Ironstate Development, which already built the Shipyard Development Project in that area, plans to build two new residential buildings along the waterfront on inland piers.
The project still needs local approvals, and a hearing in Hoboken is expected “during the first few months of 2012,” according to the letter. Because the proposed project is on a county road, it also requires approval of the county Planning Board.
The program has caused a bit of a stir because the city’s Master Plan calls for the area to be designated as open space. However, the Master Plan is a suggestion for the city to make zoning changes, which the city has not officially done as yet.
The property is privately owned. The proposal is for the area near Hudson and 15th streets.
“While the city is currently reviewing all of its options, it is important for residents to understand that if the project met DEP regulations, then the DEP could not simply say ‘no’ to the project,” Zimmer wrote in her letter. “I requested a letter explaining the basis of the DEP’s decision but was told it would not be possible to receive the letter.”
A group of residents of the luxury Tea Building complex who are opposed to the current project have also formed a group called “Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront.”
Hoboken police to crack down on drunk driving
Hoboken police will take part in the annual holiday season “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” nationwide anti-drunk driving campaign, which runs from Dec. 5 to Jan. 2, 2012. Police will be out to conduct “saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints” looking for motorists who may be driving while intoxicated.
Last year in New Jersey, 168 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related crashes, according to a city release. That number represents 30 percent of the 556 traffic fatalities reported in the state in 2010.
Officials are encouraging people to take mass transit, or spend a night where an event is being held, if they’ve been drinking.
People can also report impaired drivers to law enforcement. In New Jersey, drivers may dial #77 on their cell phones to report a drunk driver.
Former Hoboken Mayor Cammarano faces suit alleging ‘Ponzi Scheme’; plaintiffs look to city for damages
Two Hoboken residents and a former employee of former Mayor Peter Cammarano’s campaign claimed in a lawsuit provided to The Reporter on Tuesday that Cammarano’s election fund left them out to dry to the tune of thousands of dollars.
The three plaintiffs are represented by attorney Louis Zayas, based in North Bergen.
The lawsuit alleges that Cammarano needed money from the private sector during his 2009 mayoral campaign, and he “[allegedly] created a Ponzi scheme to sustain his electoral race for mayor.” A month after Cammarano took office in 2009, he was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for taking $25,000 in “illicit cash campaign contributions” from an undercover FBI informant. Cammarano has since been released to a halfway house.
“Using his official position as city councilman, Mayor Cammarano approached Plaintiff [Luis] Jimenez, who owned and operated a supermarket in Hoboken, to induce Mr. Jimenez to accept campaign checks issued by Mayor Cammarano’s Election Campaign to various vendors and cash them,” the complaint alleges. “Mayor Cammarano promised that as a ‘city councilman’ [which he was at the time], his checks would not bounce.”
The lawsuit alleges that approximately $35,000 in checks were deemed uncollectable because the campaign did not have sufficient funds to cover them.
A second plaintiff, Florence Amato, loaned Cammarano $20,000, and allegedly only received “$4,000 in part satisfaction of her $20,000 loan.” Amato is a longtime political player in Hoboken, whose late husband, Andrew Amato, served as 4th Ward councilman for many years.
Bryan Walensky, Cammarano’s former field director, was in charge of hiring people to work for the campaign.
“During [the campaign], [Cammarano] asked Walensky to pay the members of the team using [Walensky’s company’s] company checks, because Mayor Cammarano had run out of money and [said] that he will deposit money into [the company’s] account from the loan he received from Mrs. Amato,” according to the suit. The suit states that Walensky paid over $14,000 from his company’s account, but Cammarano allegedly didn’t deposit the money into the account, and $6,000 bounced, and Walensky was hit with return check fees.
The lawsuit states that Walensky went bankrupt, lost his company, and is still in debt.
The plaintiffs are now going after the city of Hoboken for compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fee and costs of suit, and “such other and further relief that the court deems equitable and just,” according to the suit. The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial.
The mayor’s office, which had not yet been served with the suit, had no comment.