City seeks input for Western Edge Redevelopment Area
Hobokenites concerned with the future of the city’s northwestern neighborhood have yet another chance to make their opinions known. The city of Hoboken will hold a public meeting next month to seek input on the creation of a new redevelopment plan for the Western Edge.
The Western Edge is a formerly industrial and long underutilized area south of the Fourteenth Street Viaduct. Some new buildings have been allowed in the area since it was identified as being in need of redevelopment, but others have been rejected due to the area’s industrial zoning, including one that would have brought a climbing wall and bowling alley to the city.
On May 21, the city hired Maser Consulting to create a new plan for the Western Edge, which could alter the area’s zoning or allow the city to condemn and take over properties.
In 2008, a draft plan for the Western Edge Redevelopment Area was tabled by the City Council after meeting significant public resistance. In 2010, another draft plan for the Western Edge was similarly tabled and never approved. The city has not approved a new redevelopment plan since 1997.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 20 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm in the conference room of the Multi-Service Center, located at 124 Grand St.
Hoboken residents warned to be vigilant after string of burglaries
The Hoboken Police Department is asking residents to take precautions in light of a rash of burglaries in residences in southwest Hoboken. According to Detective Steven Kranz, the thefts have occurred in an area bounded by Newark Street in the south, Willow Avenue in the east, Third Street in the north, and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tracks in the west.
The burglaries began roughly three weeks to a month ago, according to Kranz. He added that they usually occur between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. while most residents are at work.
Kranz advised people living in the affected area to be more aware of their surroundings and double-lock their doors.
An officer in the detective bureau told NJ.com that “even if they see someone looking like they are doing maintenance on the building, [residents] should contact the police, not their landlord.”
Kranz emphasized that engaging a deadbolt lock was a quick and easy way to decrease one’s likelihood of being burglarized.
Hoboken school board selects interim superintendent
The Hoboken Board of Education has appointed Dr. Richard J. Brockel to serve as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement is found. Brockel will serve on a consultant basis until Aug. 11, when outgoing superintendent Mark Toback officially leaves to take over as head of the Wayne public school district.
Brockel has 44 years of prior experience in school administration in New Jersey and New York. He has previously served as a superintendent in Ridgefield, Greenwood Lake, Park Ridge, and Wood-Ridge. He has also served as assistant superintendent in Greenwood Lake and Fort Lee, principal in Springfield and assistant principal in Ridgefield. Brockel’s doctoral research was honored by American Association of School Administrators in 1991.
Board chair Leon Gold said he was very excited about the selection of Brockel. Gold said the board considered around 20 candidates and had three days of interviews. He added that the search for a permanent superintendent is already underway.
Brockel said he is excited by the “unique challenges” faced by Hoboken’s public schools, as well as the easy train commute to the city from his home in Wycoff.
Brockel will serve for the duration of the longer and more intensive process of finding a permanent superintendent, which involves hiring a search firm. He said he expects the process to take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.
Brockel said he would not be putting his name in for the permanent superintendent position.
Hoboken High School pool now open to residents
The Hoboken High School pool started its summer hours last week. The pool is open to Hoboken residents from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. It will be open through Aug. 15.
Juan Melli, a spokesman for Mayor Dawn Zimmer, said the pool’s summer availability for residents is provided by the City Recreation Division. He said he did not know why the High School pool did not open until the end of July.
The school is located at 800 Clinton St.
NYPD called in to save woman and two men from Hudson River
The New York Police Department had to deploy its Harbor Charlie team to aid Hoboken police in rescuing a woman and two men from the Hudson River last Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to Sgt. Falco of the Hoboken Police Department, a 38-year-old woman said she jumped into the river to save her teddy bear after a homeless man threw it in.
Two men on the Hoboken waterfront saw the woman in the water and jumped in after her, reports say, keeping her afloat until police could arrive to throw a rope to the soaked trio. According to the Associated Press, all three were taken to the Hoboken University Hospital and survived.
The undercurrents in the river are very strong, and it is often difficult to save a person who has gone in. Earlier this year, two young men from Newark drowned in Hoboken after one jumped in and the other went in to save him. Also, jogger Andrew Jarzyk was found dead in the river a month after he went jogging there on a rainy night. It was never determined how or why he ended up in the water.
Orders almost due for Hoboken Spaghetti Dinner Block Party
Residents have until Aug. 1 to pay by check for tickets to the Hoboken Spaghetti Dinner Block Party. The feast will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28. The original Spaghetti Dinner Block Party took place on Washington Street in 1955 in honor of the City’s 100th Anniversary. When Hoboken celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2005, it brought back the party and has kept it every year since, though its new home is on the waterfront between First and Second Streets.
This year’s menu includes four kinds of pasta, meatballs, sausage, eggplant, salad, bread & dessert. Wine, beer, water, soda, will also be available at additional cost and sold to raise funds for the Hoboken Ambulance Corp.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under, $12 for seniors. Reserving a table of 10 costs $200. They can be purchased in person at City Hall on the 2nd floor in the Cultural Affairs Office at 94 Washington Street.
Tickets can be purchased by mail with cash, money orders, or a check made out to the City of Hoboken. Mail payment along with a piece of paper with your name, address & phone number and how many tickets you would like to purchase to the Hoboken Division of Cultural Affairs, 94 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. After August 1st, only cash or money orders will be accepted.
For more information, call 201-420-2207 or gfallo@hobokennj.org