About this issue
For this weekend, our special annual “Year in Review” issue replaces your regular edition of the Hudson Reporter newspaper in your town. This issue contains articles on the year in news, politics, development, sports, and more. “Letters to the editor” will return next week with our regular issues on Sunday, Jan. 4.
Our website is updated frequently with breaking news. Check hudsonreporter.com.
Letters can be sent to editorial@hudsonreporter.com. All letter writers receive a call within four business days of their letter coming in. If you did not receive a call, please contact us again.
Happy holidays!
Reporter holiday ad deadlines, office closings
The following advertising and editorial deadlines for the Hudson Reporter newspapers have changed.
The offices of the Hudson Reporter newspapers are closed Wednesday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, 2015, in observance of New Year’s Day. The office will reopen Friday, Jan. 2, 2015. Regular editions of the newspapers will be published on Jan. 4, 2015.
The classified advertising editorial deadline for all Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 editions is Monday, Dec. 29 at 12 noon. The display advertising and editorial deadlines for the Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 editions of the Secaucus Reporter, North Bergen Reporter, Union City Reporter, West New York Reporter, , and Weehawken Reporter are Monday, Dec. 29 at 12 noon. The display advertising and editorial deadlines for the Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 editions of the Hoboken Reporter and Jersey City Reporter are Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 12 noon.
Keep up with breaking news at www.hudsonreporter.com. Happy new year!
Slain NYPD officers honored at Hoboken police promotion ceremony
The targeted killing of two police officers in Brooklyn on Dec. 20 lent a somber air to an otherwise celebratory moment, the promotion of three supervisors in the Hoboken Police Department this past Monday. In a well-attended ceremony at City Hall, Charles Campbell was promoted to Captain and Brian Brereton and Danilo Cabrera became lieutenants.
“After what happened in New York City this weekend,” Mayor Dawn Zimmer said to the officers assembled, “we understand that when you put on that uniform, you become a target of crazy people who think they will become a hero by hurting you.”
“On behalf of the people of Hoboken, we appreciate the work that you do for us every day,” she added.
“Sometimes the greatest moments happen during the toughest times,” remarked police chief Ken Ferrante, noting trying times when each of the men had been at their best. For Campbell, said Ferrante, that moment came on Sept. 11, 2001, when he led a group of Hoboken police officers dispatched to New York to help.
No Hoboken police officer has been shot in the line of duty since 2003, but this past July, a Jersey City patrolman was shot and killed while responding to reports of a robbery at a Walgreens on Communipaw Avenue. That incident also appears to have been a targeted killing.
Ferrante said all of his officers would be on heightened alert and operate in two-man units until the funerals of the slain NYPD officers were over and protests inspired by the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown had subsided. Those protests have yet to find their way to Hoboken.
Hoboken police already receive active shooter training multiple times a year, but Ferrante said he was considering holding the program in diverse locations like hospitals and the Stevens Institute of Technology campus.
Jersey City responds to cop murders
Jersey City Director of Public Safety James Shea described the murder of two New York City cops as a cowardly act. He said the killings, which strongly resembled a similar incident in Jersey City last summer, would not deter the police from doing their duty.
Police Officer Melvin Santiago (posthumously promoted to detective) was ambushed in Jersey City in July, in a foreshadowing of the murder to two cops in Brooklyn last weekend.
“Police officers are vulnerable to situations like this,” Shea said. “There is no way to completely protect our officers. When someone calls for help, we will respond.”
The best defense is to train and properly equip officers for situations, which Jersey City has done.
“At the end of the day, it is a dangerous job,” Shea said.
In wake of the shooting in Brooklyn, Shea said top police brass have given field supervisors to use their discretion when it comes to patrols, expanding one officer patrols to two if they feel it is warranted.
Shea said such decisions can’t be dictated from the top and must be left to those closest to the actual patrols, which are the field supervisors.
“They know their officers and know the field moment to moment,” Shea said.
As after the tragic murder of Santiago, top police officials have talked to all officers and union members to put them on alert to possible danger.
Shea said the officers who respond to situations are fully trained to deal with various situations.
“This is an excellent department and the officers do a great job,” Shea said.
The killer of the cops in New York claimed to be responding to some of the racial conflicts over the deaths of men as a result of police action in both Staten Island and Ferguson, Mo.
Although protests occurred in Jersey City, none turned violent as in other places, and Shea credited the professionalism of the police as well as the administration.
“The mayor set the tone,” Shea said.
While Mayor Steve Fulop expected professionalism from the department, he also offered unswerving support for law enforcement officials tasked with keeping the peace.
Shea said protestors and police had a positive relationship and met before the protests to talk about what would transpire, working out locations and other issues ahead of time.
“This not an `us and them’ situation,” Shea said. “Everybody, protestors and police understand that we are all Jersey City, and we recognized each other’s humanity. This helped keep everything civil.”
Kids ride the ferry free for the holidays
There’s nothing like the holidays in New York City and NY Waterway makes it easy and fun and a little more affordable by letting “Kids Ride Free” for the holidays. Experience all New York has to offer – the holiday displays, the kid-friendly shows and attractions, and all that shopping.
Children 12 and under can ride free at the following terminals: Port Imperial, Lincoln Harbor, Hoboken/14th St., Edgewater, and Belford. There is a two-child limit with each paying adult fare. No physical ticket is required for a child.
This promotion is valid through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015.
Bill to revise tax sharing and combine state agencies goes to Christie
A bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to consolidate the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority was approved by the Assembly and Senate this month. The bill would also reestablish the Hackensack Meadowlands Transportation Planning District and revise regional tax sharing.
The end result is that it may save money for taxpayers in North Bergen and Secaucus.
Tax sharing was established in the region in 1972. Fourteen Meadowlands area towns either pay into the fund or get money from it based on whether they’re able to develop in their town. The program has been criticized for years as being outdated and unfair, with eight municipalities paying annually into the fund, including Secaucus and North Bergen, and six receiving.
The proposed bill would eliminate the current system and replace it with a 3 percent tax on all hotel accommodations across the region. This would allow the recipient municipalities to continue receiving funds each year without requiring the other municipalities to pay.
The Meadowlands Commission was established in 1968 as the zoning and planning agency for the 30.4-square-mile Meadowlands region spanning Bergen and Hudson counties. The Sports and Exposition Authority was established in 1971 to build and operate the Meadowlands Sports Complex, including the original Giants Stadium and Meadowlands Racetrack. The Izod Center and other entertainment destinations throughout the state, including Atlantic City, were later added under its purview.
Prieto says the bill would boost economic growth and property tax savings in the Meadowlands region.
The bill goes to Gov. Christie next for signature. Although Christie has stated he is opposed to raising taxes of any kind, he is reportedly in favor of the legislation.