Today’s rant is brought to you by the makers of Hoboken411. Hoboken411 is one of - if not THE premiere website for all things Hoboken. Although I haven’t met the person(s) who run the site, I get the sense that he really cares about the community - or at least enough to make a living off of it by promoting the things that go on in it or are important to it. I normally scan the articles for anything major and stay away from the comments. But that’s changed recently and I’m actually sad to report that not all Hobokenites are who I thought they were. Many (but not all) of the commenters I find on 411 are, in my opinion, not the nicest of people - some, I feel, are downright racist and bigoted.

In the article on the new NJ Transit Bridge, someone called the Newport Center Mall area Hinduport - an obvious and (I’d say) derogatory reference to the Americans of Indian decent that live there. Forgetting the fact that ethnicity had nothing to do with the conversation at all, I found this to be done in more than just bad taste. Other people made references to the people who shopped at the Mall believing they bred homelessness which would spill into our “gentrified” town. I distinctly remember seeing a comment on how this new bridge would let people from Jersey City come to Hoboken and “rob us” more easily. And while cooler heads called many of these classless people out for their appalling comments, very few did. Even more troubling is how rudely people are treated in other conversations.

In the Russo endorses Obama article, the conversation easily led to hate speak posted in the comments; it became a race to see who was the first to say something politically incorrect. And when Hoboken was in the middle of its own election fiasco, all the wild, wild, wests came out and said some heated words that were rude (at best) and derogatory, disparaging, and (perhaps) defamatory (at worst). It was clear that the commentors were engaged in an all out war.

Regardless of one political officiation, it doesn’t take much to be polite to someone who you disagree with; its called respect for one’s opinions. And for as “monied” as Hoboken can be - with its 500k to 3m condos and luxury cars everywhere - there isn’t a lot of class in this town. There is just no reason why someone has to belittle an ethnicity or bigoted in any way in a an urban environment such as this. If you don’t like your neighbors’ heritage, I’d say you’re better off moving the segregated south of 40 years ago.

That kind of hate speak is something I don’t want in Hoboken and I hope that the comments left by a few classless individuals is not indicative of the population. But there is a reason the saying “One bad apple spoils the bunch” exists…

It’s true.

As you can see, the car is parked illegally. The spot is clearly marked with yellow paint denoting the space as one that is not for cars. I even think there were signs up saying ‘No Parking’ right next to where the car was placed. They obviously knew they weren’t supposed to park there because they had their hazard lights on blinking as if to say, “Its OK that I’m parking here, I’ll only be a few minutes.” You’ll notice that they are from out of state - Massachusetts (so you know they are a bad driver, too) - but had a parking permit on their dashboard; I’m sure that blocking emergency vehicles from responding to an alarm was not allowed when they paid the $5.

It says something, though, about our town where the parking is SO BAD that, to find a spot, you have to block intersections and prevent firefighters from saving lives. It also says something about our enforcement (or lack thereof) when people know they can get away with park illegally.I don’t know if there was a big fire that minute. But if there were, I know that the truck got their late because this arrogant jerk blocked the turning radius. Someone could have died because of a poor response time or the fire could have spread to adjacent buildings all because the rescue personnel couldn’t get there on time.It’s about time the city of Hoboken crack down on these illegal parkers. Fine them, ticket them, tow them. Do whatever it takes to get these cars off our streets so that people can live safer. And forget about the damage that could have been cause if the two vehicles hit! The guy is lucky his Pathfinder is in one piece. Other cars, haven’t been so lucky.

The guys are local to NYC and Hoboken, NJ. But they’ve played all around the city and have opened up for big name acts like INXS, Oasis, Seven Mary Three, and a few more. Like some other bands, they have a music video on YouTube which I think is really interesting, too. It might not be thought provoking but its enjoyable to watch.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, check out their MySpace page where you can listen to some of their songs. If you like them, stop by their next show or pick up their CD. I think they are great both live and on a professionally cut CD so either way, you’ll enjoy their sound.

Update: I just noticed they have their songs on the iTunes Music Store. Check out the album here.

1. There have been NO park space built according to the Master Plan. We are still waiting for this mythical Pier C that was supposed to have been under construction by now. Plus, the 1600 Park Ave “park” hasn’t even been started despite having funds alloted to it for at least a year. And the southwest section of Hoboken was promised a 6 acre park and, even though some groups are pushing hard for open space, they hardly can claim to get 1.5 acres of continuous space.
2. Over paid city employees like the fire and police commissioners. One board of education member is reported to get paid $180,000 a year.
3. Many of these city employees have a conflict of interest with the public good; they either own construction companies, consulting firms, law firms, or real estate - many of them landlords.
4. We have no parking solution. Thousands of condos are going up but little parking to accommodate them. It has become a safety issue as people are hurt left and right by hit and runs - possibly due to the poor visibility drivers face when navigating our streets. Plus, the one parking solution that could have worked was botched when the city prematurely and poorly executed the take over of the automated garage on Garden Street.
5. Despite the Freedom of Information Act, the Citizens for Open Government, and other safe guards, the city of Hoboken refuses to provide its tax payers with information requested regarding land deals, abatements, legal contracts, and other financial transactions. When a few documents were released, they blacked out most of the text making the act of releasing the document of waste of paper, ink, money, time, effort, etc. In effect, they deliberately withhold information to the public - even when asked to disclose it!!
6. Sewage problems. Letting the sewer system get this dilapidated is egregious! Hoboken has been fighting floods for YEARS! And with the uncontrolled construction - courtesy of this administration - it has made it worse. Moreover, there is no natural place for the water to go (i.e. parks) and the 80 to 120 year old system can’t handle it all. When the town floods, you drive through or walk in water contaminated with human feces; typhoid fever and bubonic plague are just a few infectious diseases that can be transmitted that way. I’m surprised the CDC hasn’t knocked on the Mayor’s door yet.
7. Complete and total financial mismanagement. We never have a balanced budget without some sort of “sneaky” deal to sell municipal property, back-door deals, or special tax shelters. There are always these abatements given to developers for “one time” tax payments that plug the shortfalls but that model assumes constant construction will happen; with the real estate market taking a hit, growth slows. In fact, there is at least one project that has stopped all together and now it looks like a total waste that attracts pests and other things. The government doesn’t cut spending either - especially to the highest paid people like the ones I mention above; we still have 4 arts festivals a year but we can’t balance the budget. Plus, there are inefficiencies in the way money is spent; has anyone thought of using mechanized street cleaning instead of paying someone to shovel it in a can? The cost of one machine is less than that of a person when you factor health plans, pension, and salaries. Also, the town doesn’t capitalize on revenue like it should; 10 or 12 dollars a year for parking is stupid when you can charge at least 50 a year and it might even cut down on the cars which helps solve the parking problem; have they even studied supply and demand? And one last point on the money mismanagement: total government shutdown. Remember that? Yeah… I do… what an embarrassment!

If I forgot anything, please let me know… it is a brief list, after all.

I believe Mayor Roberts should resign as mayor of Hoboken. It is obvious he does not represent the citizens of this town. Worse, he is negligent. I’d even say he’s incompetent.  If we want this town to move forward, repair the damage, and build a better future, we need anyone but our current mayor to lead the way.  Only by removing himself can Roberts better this town and let a real leader and manager move to undo the damage he caused.

If he will not resign, I’d move for a recall.

I’ve always respected the police for putting their lives in danger when they clear the streets of violent drug offenders, gangs, and double parkers and we should not forget that fact of their job.  But I’ve also feared the police as they have access to surveillance, intrusion, and investigatory techniques that can be misused; in our “scary” world where terrorists lurk around every corner just waiting to release a propaganda attack on our civilized society, we gave law enforcement unprecedented powers which, we now know, were belligerently misused. I ask my wife all the time, “Who will police the police? And who will police those people who police the police?”  She gives the cops the benefit of the doubt but she hasn’t been profiled by the police like I have.

My home town had more transparency and I could trust the police to generally do the right thing.  While I can’t say that everyone of them were saints, no one ever - to my knowledge - abused their powers or entered the gray area of ethical behavior.  Granted, the population when I grew up there was a little less than that of Hoboken - about 30,000 people to Hoboken’s 38,000 - but its not enough to make a difference in the complexity of the government and how it makes itself available to the people.

Anyway, all this long talk is because I was shocked at how abusive our police department seems to be.  I’m sure our leaders are as shocked as I am to hear this… or maybe they allow it to happen.  I know I don’t feel safe here anymore and I’ll be looking at the police with a closer eye in the future.  I hope that the mayor does something about this apparent problem because it makes me believe that by not removing the corrupt people from the city, he himself is endorsing it.

I’m getting word through the grapevine that the mayor is going to resubmit the Southwest Redevelopment Plan for approval soon - March 21st, actually. The last time I looked at this “plan” it was incomplete to say the least. There weren’t any impact studies done and not a single projection was in sight. I’d say it was the worst dog-and-pony show this town has ever seen.

I’m no business person so I can’t claim to be able to produce the things I’m about to demand I’m fortunate in that I’m a tax payer and can demand that of my employees (i.e. the mayor and the town council). But what I can lay claim to is the intelligence to know that the following is absolutely needed before any elected official can say yay or nay on the item.

First, there is no environmental study. We’d all be kidding ourselves if we thought Hoboken didn’t have caustic chemicals stewing underneath us. Remember, there were a lot of factories in town before the projects, row houses, and skyscrapers were built here. There are already some areas of town that can’t be developed or even walked on by order of the EPA. What makes anyone think the Southwest is going to be any different. Before we dig, someone has to look into the toxicity of the land.

Second, there is no mention of any study concerning traffic, pedestrian safety, parking, noise pollution, regular pollution, irrigation, or flooding in the area. If I remember correctly, Mr. Campos publicly declared the flooding problem a thing of the past at the last (or next to last) council meeting. I remember having to swim across first street to get to work that morning and I’m sure I’ll be doing swan dives from my apartment if the city passes their plan. But the flooding is only part of it. Traffic is bad enough and when I walk to the PATH station in the morning, I see cars lined up Monroe for what seems like three blocks - certainly past 2nd street - and all the way down to Observer Highway. And Observer Highway is more like a parking lot in every sense of the word; even on the weekends its hard to navigate around there by car. Forget about walking the area unless you are looking to die by hit and run.

Third and most important, there has been no financial analysis done. At the town council meeting where they tried to pass thing thing through the first time, the mayor claimed it could bring in 10 or 15 million a year in taxes. Besides wondering where he came up with that number (is it a real number or some pie-in-the-sky figure? did he make it up? did he strike a deal already with a developer for that much?), I wonder if all the alternatives have been looked at. For example, have they looked at the tax revenue compared by the offset from expenses; the trash can’t collect itself and the street doesn’t sweep the dog shit from the curb last I checked - the city does with my tax dollar and while the 15 million is nice, have they looked at what it costs to run those skyscrapers? Similarly, have they figured out the property taxes will go up as the property values go up when a park is built? What about the decrease in property values when the new towers add hundreds of units with all the waste and byproducts I mentioned earlier?

No… They haven’t.

They don’t even have a plan for a park or building or anything. They have nothing.

Now if I were mayor or on the town council, I’d expect to review such studies lest I be considered a fool. I’d think to myself that I couldn’t possibly serve the public’s best interests by rushing through an incomplete plan nor would I be able to justify my hypocritical actions if I said one thing and did another. I’d expect the following in my plan:

• A true environmental impact study with:
  • Toxicity & contamination study
  • Irrigation, sewer, & flooding impact study
  • Physical pollution (land & air) study
• A quality of life study which includes:
  • Traffic impact study
  • Pedestrian safety study
  • Noise pollution study
  • Parking study
• A financial impact statement that factors:
  • Infrastructure costs
  • Operating expenses (annual)
  • Offset income & expenses with park space
  • Property value study - with and without parks & skyscrapers
  • Long term financing options including bonding, abatements, PILOTs, and tax increases.
  • Park budget
• A park plan that includes:
  • Continuous green space
  • Baseball, soccer/football, & basketball courts
  • Dog runs
  • Trails (running/walking)
  • Playgrounds with equipment
  • Trees, plants, & vegetation
  • Safe entrances to facilities

Expecting at least three or four studies for each of the above items is not uncommon in the business world and we shouldn’t expect less from the city. No business would go and buy another company without first looking at their balance sheets or income projections. We shouldn’t allow that to happen either.

This plan was withdrawn at the last minute before and it should be done so again and again and again until the plan is complete with the proper investigation included. No matter what people want out of this city - park or otherwise - I hope that they want to make an informed decision when they decide how to invest their tax dollars.

I know I can’t make an informed decision on the Southwest Redevelopment Plan because its incomplete.  How can the council make the same uninformed decision?

By now, we all know Councilperson Chris Campos was arrested for DWI in NYC a few months ago. We might even know that the NYPD phoned in a possible get-out-of-jail-free card kickback shield of blue honor favor by calling the HPD to get advice on how to handle the situation. We know that HPD Sgt. Peck recommended the NYPD do the right thing and uphold the law (which is shocking in and of itself - because most cops do protect their own… so I hear, anyway). But even I was surprised at how much news the case has generated.

Check out the news and commentary here, here, here, here, here, and here.

There are more articles if you do a search for them.

Oh, and he rejected a deal… I, for one, would find it ironic if he’s found guilty if it ever gets to trial (and I hope it does).

Why is it that when Hoboken is in the news, its never a good thing?

The Mayor and his cronies are pushing an incomplete plan that doesn’t consider the concens of those who support our lacking green space. So far, the they can come up with is 4 acres - which is nothing. Plus, the land isn’t continuous meaning there is one acre here and another across the street.

Please stop by and tell the Mayor and the council that we want one large 7 acre park.

I hope that everyone enjoys it. I’ll be customizing the look and feel once I get more familer with Photoshop and all those fancy web tools.