Court: Hoboken unable to justify firing of city employee
The 2012 firing of Hoboken IT Office employee Jonathan Cummins in relation to a city email hacking scandal was not justified with credible evidence, according to a state appellate court ruling. On April 7, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division upheld a 2013 ruling by Administrative Law Judge Evelyn Marose that Cummins should be reinstated and awarded back pay.
According to city spokesman Juan Melli, Cummins was reinstated as a clerk five months ago, on Nov. 3, 2014, pursuant to an order of the Civil Service Commission pending the city’s appeal – which the city just lost.
The issue arose after city officials launched an investigation into the dissemination of confidential city emails to third parties in 2011. Cummins’ boss in the IT department, Patrick Riccardi, was apparently intercepting emails among Mayor Dawn Zimmer and other officials and keeping them in a file. He pleaded guilty to intercepting the e-mails in federal court in 2013 and was sentenced to five years of probation.
Hoboken claimed that Cummins confessed to collecting and disseminating the emails in a 2011 interview with city officials. Cummins denied having done so, and Marose stated that she found his testimony to be more plausible than the officials’.
Hoboken also cited the FBI criminal complaint against Ricciardi. The complaint alleged that Cummins had confessed to a federal agent, then recanted his confession, stating that he had made it in hopes of protecting his boss and friend, Ricciardi. But Cummins denied confessing or admitting to such a confession, and the city failed to present the FBI agent as a witness in the administrative hearing to refute Cummins.
Overall, Marose found that the city “presented no actual evidence that Cummins was responsible for the email leaks.”
The appellate court found nothing to suggest that Marose’s ruling was arbitrary or unreasonable, and thus saw no basis to overturn it.
Co-working space leases 40,000 square feet in Hoboken complex
Office space management company Regus Office Centers has signed a lease for 40,000 square feet in Waterfront Corporate Center III, the final stage of Hoboken’s South Waterfront Redevelopment Area, according to a press release from SJP Properties, the building’s developer.
Regus will operate the eighth floor of the 14-story Waterfront Corporate Center III as a large co-working space, in which individual businesses can rent out fully furnished suites and conference rooms on a monthly or even daily basis.
Regus joins a miniature renaissance for co-working in Hoboken. In January, Mission 50 Workspaces won a $556,000 state loan to expand its current 3,000-square-foot space in southwest Hoboken to a 13,000-square-foot facility closer mass transit.
“As a renowned provider of state-of-the-art collaborative workspaces, Regus’ presence at Waterfront Corporate Center III will offer a diverse range of businesses – whether they be established corporations, start-ups or entrepreneurs – with a unique opportunity to occupy flexible space in Hoboken’s most advanced office complex,” said Steven J. Pozycki, CEO of SJP Properties. “This lease further demonstrates Waterfront Corporate Center’s enormous appeal within one of the most highly sought-after live-play-work communities in the region, amplified by the complex’s top-of-the-line amenities.”
In Waterfront Corporate Center III, Regus will join such tenants as Crunch Fitness gym, the Wicked Wolf restaurant, Jos. A. Bank, and childcare learning center Kiddie Academy, which signed a lease for 13,600 square feet earlier this year.
Derek DeMartino of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Regus in the deal, according to the release. Peter Bronsnick, senior vice president of SJP Properties, represented SJP in-house. The dollar value of the lease was not disclosed.
New uptown gallery for local artists debuts Wednesday
On Wednesday, April 15, Bijou Properties will host an opening reception for the Gallery at Garden Street Lofts, a new showcase of local artists in its residential complex at 14th and Garden streets.
Bijou will spotlight a local artist on the walls of our lobby every four months. The first artist to be showcased is Ricardo Roig. He will be exhibiting his Hoboken series of limited edition hand cut paper stencil screen prints. The opening reception will take place on April 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. Wine will be provided by CORK and hors d’oeuvres provided by Hudson Table. Ricardo’s work will be on display until late August.
Bijou created the program in an effort to bring art into our home environment, support local artists and create events to bring our community together.
Hoboken joins amicus brief in favor of Obama’s immigration reforms
Hoboken and Jersey City are among 73 cities and counties nationwide to sign onto a friend of the court brief before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in support of President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, according to a Hoboken press release.
Obama’s unilateral reforms, announced in November 2014, would create a path to legal status for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, among other things.
In February, a Texas federal district court judge put the changes on hold while he considered a legal challenge filed by 26 states. In a follow-up ruling on Wednesday, April 8, District Judge Andrew Hanen upheld his injunction, pushing the issue up a rung to the circuit court.
The organization Hoboken and Jersey City joined, Cities United for Immigration Action, hopes to stand as a counterpoint to the 26 objecting states, calling for the immediate implementation of Obama’s executive action. Thirteen states have also signed onto a separate brief in support of Obama.
Organized by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Cities United for Immigration Action argues that “executive action will benefit cities and counties by providing work authorization to millions, increasing local tax revenue, stimulating local economies, facilitating the civic engagement of immigrants, keeping families together, and improving public safety by strengthening our neighborhoods and communities,” according to the press release.
“We must do better to honor our country’s proud immigration tradition,” said Zimmer in a prepared statement. “Too many immigrants live in fear, afraid to become members of our society, while Congress fails to take any meaningful action to fix a broken immigration system. Their inaction has real consequences for our communities, which is why I fully support President Obama’s leadership and common sense executive actions. I thank Mayor de Blasio for initiating this brief and building this important coalition of leaders.”
The mayors of Denver, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Newark, and San Francisco also joined the amicus brief.