Enjoy: Palisade Magazine
When you open your Hoboken Reporter this week, you’ll find the summer issue of Palisade Magazine, the Hudson Reporter’s glossy lifestyle magazine that connects the communities of Edgewater, Guttenberg, Hoboken, Jersey City, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, and West New York.
If you don’t see a copy of Palisade Magazine in this newspaper, free copies are available at public libraries – in Jersey City the main branch – and at the Hudson Reporter, 1400 Washington St., Hoboken.
Palisade Magazine comes out quarterly. In September, look for the fall issue as an insert in your Hudson Reporter.
Ex-Hoboken Councilman Schaffer resigns from sewerage authority
The U.S. Attorney’s office announced Monday that former Hoboken Councilman Michael Schaffer admitted in court that he gave $25,000 in illicit cash campaign contributions to then-Hoboken mayoral candidate Peter Cammarano last year. The money was part of a scheme to obtain Cammarano’s official influence regarding an outside developer’s real estate projects.
This past Friday, the city of Hoboken announced that Schaffer will resign from the board of the North Hudson Sewerage Authority as of July 1, after the City Council passed a resolution on Wednesday asking him to do so.
Schaffer, 59, appeared on Monday before United States District Judge Jose Linares and pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal Information charging him with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. Judge Linares continued Schaffer’s release on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2010.
Schaffer admitted that, while Cammarano was an at-large councilman and candidate for the position of mayor, Schaffer accepted three unlawful cash campaign contributions totaling $15,000 from a cooperating witness who purported to be a real estate developer, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. The witness has been identified as real estate developer Solomon Dwek, who himself was in trouble with the FBI and helped supply the bait to ensnare many of the political figures who were caught in an FBI corruption sting last year.
Schaffer was working with Cammarano on Cammarano’s ultimately successful mayoral campaign. However, Cammarano ended up arrested three weeks after taking office, and resigned the following week after public pressure. He pleaded guilty this past April 20.
According to the release, Schaffer also admitted that on July 16, 2009, after Cammarano had been elected and sworn in as mayor, he accepted an additional $10,000 illicit cash campaign contribution from the witness.
Schaffer admitted that the $25,000 in cash payments were in exchange for Cammarano’s future official assistance, action, and influence in Hoboken government matters pertaining to Dwek’s anticipated real estate development projects. Schaffer also admitted that he wrote checks to Cammarano’s campaign fund in order to conceal the origin of the cash he received from Dwek.
Fishman stated: “Today Michael Schaffer admitted that he facilitated $25,000 in illegal payments to the mayor of Hoboken. Much is said about corrupt officials, but we cannot ignore those who conspire to enable that corruption. We and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those who betray the public accountable, and we won’t leave out the middle man.”
The charge to which Schaffer pleaded guilty carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Cammarano himself is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 3, 2010.
Got parking or transportation issues? Ask them at Hoboken forum
A forum scheduled in Hoboken to discuss transportation issues has been postponed from June 17 at the Multi-Service Center. Instead, it has been rescheduled for Wednesday, June 23 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Jubilee Center, 601 Jackson St.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs will host the meeting to discuss transportation-related issues and concerns with residents.
While the forum was initially timed to coincide with the city’s new car-sharing program in Hoboken, the program is not the focus of the forum, said a city spokesman. Thus, residents can come to talk about other parking and transportation issues as well.
Summer Concerts on the Hudson to begin on June 30
An eclectic program of summer concerts returns to the Weehawken waterfront as the Hudson Riverfront Performing Arts Center, Inc. (HRPAC) presents “Summer Concerts on the Hudson” beginning June 30 at 7 p.m.
This series of free evening concerts will feature top artists from diverse genres, including Latin, Soul, Alternative Rock, Dance, Folk-Rock, R&B and more.
This year’s concert schedule includes: The Bobby Sanabria Big Band (June 30), The Sensational Soul Cruisers (July 14), The Alternate Routes (July 28), RumbaTap (Aug. 11) and Danielia Cotton (Aug. 25).
All performances take place at Lincoln Harbor Park on the Weehawken waterfront and begin at 7 p.m. Rain dates, if necessary, will be the following night after each scheduled performance.
For more information, directions, and late breaking concert news and updates, visit www.hrpac.org or call (201) 716-4540.
The Hudson Riverfront Performing Arts Center, Inc. (HRPAC) is a New Jersey nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand the arts in North Hudson and to create and build a regional performing arts center on the Hudson River waterfront in Weehawken. The series is sponsored in part by the Hudson Reporter.