Have you received a call saying Hoboken’s hospital will become condos?
Mayor Dawn Zimmer said on Wednesday that she will soon be going around to speak with members of the community who have concerns about the impending sale of Hoboken University Medical Center to a group that also owns Bayonne Medical Center.
Apparently, a phone poll is falsely telling people that the hospital will be sold to make condos.
After a bidding period and four months of exclusive negotiations with the group from Bayonne known as HUMC Holdco, the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority Board announced in April that they were selling the hospital to the Bayonne group, which will keep it as a hospital.
“This [sale] is the opportunity we have to not only continue to provide [acute care] services but to also potentially expand services in the future,” Zimmer said on Wednesday.
Zimmer said her office has received calls from concerned seniors all throughout the county asking her about the claims.
The mayor said she will host a dinner and related community meeting on June 21 at 5 p.m. for seniors at Fox Hill Gardens, 311 13th St., and then a 7 p.m. meeting for the general public at a location to be announced.
On Wednesday, June 22, the mayor will hold a meeting at the Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St., at 6 p.m. (before Bingo) for seniors.
On Tuesday, June 28, there will be a meeting for seniors at 220 Adams St. at 5 p.m., and on Thursday, June 30, Housing Authority residents are invited to 221 Jackson St. at 5 p.m. for a meeting.
Man pulled from Hudson River pronounced dead on Thursday morning
An unidentified male was pronounced dead in the wee hours of Thursday morning after New Jersey Transit Police responded to a report of a man in the Hudson River near the downtown Hoboken Terminal, according to Courtney Carroll, a spokesperson for NJ Transit.
Shortly after midnight on Thursday, the Transit Police, along with the Hoboken Fire Department and Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps, responded to the scene and the adult male was pulled out of the Hudson River, according to Carroll.
The unidentified man was pronounced dead at Hoboken University Medical Center. The case is currently under investigation by the Transit police.
Britt to appear in municipal court after a downgrading of charges
Kenny Britt, the 22-year-old wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans who was arrested in Hoboken on June 8, had his charges of obstructing the administration of law, resisting arrest, and tampering with or fabricating evidence downgraded to disorderly persons offenses on Thursday at Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City, according to published reports.
Britt, originally from Bayonne, was arrested on June 8 at approximately 6 p.m. in an uptown Hoboken car wash after he allegedly crushed a hand-rolled cigar which police say is often used to smoke marijuana, after police told him to open his hand. Police say they smelled marijuana and saw Britt holding the cigar. After a struggle, two plainclothes officers eventually wrestled Britt to the ground, and handcuffed him, according to the Hoboken Police Department. Although police say they smelled marijuana near Britt, no drugs were recovered.
Britt is to appear in Hoboken municipal court on June 23 at 9 a.m.
Cryan elected as Hoboken Democratic Committee chair
Jamie Cryan was elected as the new chairman of the Hoboken Democratic Committee on Monday night in an annual reorganization meeting.
Cryan recently worked as the campaign manager for 4th Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti in November 2010 and May.
Cryan received 36 votes from committee members, as the nominee from the “Real Democrats of Hoboken.” That is the group that is allied with the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
Phil Cohen, the nominee from the “Democrats for Honest Government” – the group allied with Mayor Dawn Zimmer – received 32 votes.
Hoboken Councilman Ravi Bhalla, a Zimmer ally, was the chair of the committee prior to this meeting.
City hires new interim environmental services director
The city of Hoboken has hired Tom Atkins as the interim Environmental Services Director after it was announced that Jennifer Maier will no longer serve in her position, effective June 13.
City spokesperson Juan Melli would not comment on if Maier resigned or if she was asked to leave, saying the city does not comment on personnel matters.
Maier has only worked for the city since February of 2010.
Atkins’ first day of work began last Tuesday, Melli said.
He has previously served as the municipal manager of Scotch Plains from 1980 through 2008, and as borough administrator of Metuchen from 1975 to 1980, according to a release.
The release from the city also noted that a “full review of the Department of Environmental Services will be conducted to ensure efficient and cost-effective services are delivered to residents.”
Are you in the super secret Hoboken club that destroys expensive items?
Apparently, according to a report in the Daily Mail, based in the United Kingdom, there are “wealthy youngsters” in Hoboken who pay “big bucks” to join a club called the “Destruction Company” so they can smash expensive items for … stress relief? We guess?
It’s sort of like a version of “Fight Club,” only instead of punching each other, these young Hobokenites buy and then break expensive items.
According to the story: “Many of our clients are high earning city workers. A lot of the inquiries we get by email have addresses ending with names such as Morgan Stanley … People can only join if an existing member invites them and we have them in for a session, to get to know them before deciding whether they can become a member.”
The story says the group is not about violence, but rather “the art of destruction.”
The members of the group pay for something they want to destroy, according to the report. “They are then given a choice of weapon including baseball bats, golf clubs, battle axes, sledgehammers, lump hammers, swords, and chainsaws.”