HOBOKEN — At a planning meeting Wednesday, Mayor Dawn Zimmer and other city officials continued discussions of Sandy recovery.
The city has a four-page list of buildings that have not restored power, which leaves close to 1,000 residents in the dark. This is largely, but not fully, due to internal building issues, officials said. However, some of the blocks still need the help of PSE&G.
“We are not through the crisis mode until all of these buildings are powered up,” said Mayor Zimmer.
The mayor said she may propose either a state or local requirement for senior buildings to have generators that are raised off the floor, in case of flooding.
Zimmer explained that some of these seniors have been without lighted hallways and exit signs and have suffered falls due to this.
Displaced seniors who were taking shelter at the Wallace school have been moved to Hoboken’s hospital due to the heating issues, while non-seniors were transported to a shelter in Union City.
Planet Fitness will be offering their showers to those displaced by the storm with a photo I.D. Efforts to involve other gyms will continue.
A FEMA representative reported that the snowfall of tonight’s storm is not expected to do any damage to Hoboken and that rains tomorrow should wipe out the snowfall. In the event that anyone still needs shelter or heat, the mayor will be working today to inquire if another shelter needs to be implemented in town.
The city has partnered with the Hoboken Rotary Club and others to start RebuildHoboken.org in order to gather donations for recovering from the storm.
The regularly scheduled City Council meeting is being postponed until next Tuesday both due to weather and also a resolution that needs to be passed by Tuesday in order to push the deadline for residents to pay taxes.
Also on Tuesday, emergency parking passes will be issued in order to allow state workers access to buildings.
For more details, watch hudsonreporter.com and check out this weekend’s print edition of the Reporter newspaper.