Dear Editor:
Last week Hoboken hosted Mumford & Sons and 15,000 guests for an outdoor concert on Pier A. I want to thank all of the city employees who worked so hard to make the concert a fantastic event with no major incidents. This event was about improving our community’s quality of life by providing an exciting and unique entertainment option right in our backyard, and I was glad that more than 3,000 of our residents took advantage of the opportunity. In addition, 12,000 visitors also packed our local establishments and gave a small boost to our local economy on an otherwise slow Wednesday night.
With the guidance of landscape experts, we are closely monitoring the lawn on Pier A, and in particular the area of the stage. If necessary, we have a $20,000 deposit from the band to make any needed repairs to the grass.
Finally, I want to remind everyone that during the next council meeting on August 15, there will be an important bond vote to plan improvements to Washington Street that would include repaving the road, installing new modern traffic lights with pedestrian crossing signals, making our crosswalks ADA-compliant, and updating the streetscape with better lighting, benches and more. It would also pay to finally design our central waterfront – Sinatra Drive between 4th and 11th Streets – so that we have a continuous, pedestrian and bicycle friendly promenade like the ones we all enjoy in the southern and northern ends of Hoboken. With these shovel-ready plans in place, Hoboken will be in a strong position to apply for federal grants so we can make these needed improvements while minimizing the cost to our taxpayers. I hope all council members will support these efforts to improve our community.
Thank you,
Dawn Zimmer