It has been quite the week of headlines — from protests to new business openings to denied vetoes — in Hoboken + Jersey City.
Ready to catch up on local headlines? Before scrolling through some of the top headlines of the week, be sure to deep dive into the mysterious sunken boats of Weehawken Cove and the Little Island NYC updates. All caught up now? Here’s what else you missed this week in Hudson County:
The Search for Hudson County’s Cutest Dad 2020 Begins
For the last four years on Father’s Day, we’ve crowned the winner of our cutest dad contest in Hoboken — and 2020 is no different. We’re looking for the cutest dad in Hudson County to don with some local gifts and legacy. Email your nominations to hello@hobokengirl.com — complete with pictures and a description of why the dad you’ve nominated is the absolute best. We’ll be announcing semi-finalists and voting soon! Click here and here for past nominations, and email hello@hobokengirl.com to submit your nomination this year!
New Jobs Added to Hoboken Girl‘s Recently Launched Job Board Platform
ICYMI, Hoboken Girl has launched a new job board resource, with new job openings being added every day. We know a lot of readers have been scouring the internet for work opportunities listed online, and now that things are starting to open up, employers are looking for employees, and job seekers are looking for work — as well as potentially wanting to offer their services freelance.
To make your search easier and to help connect our community on both sides to opportunities, we’ve created a job board for all of our readers and business owners to get all the latest local jobs listings — complete with jobs available by businesses in NJ, NY, and of course — across Hudson County. Applying to any and all jobs is free of charge, and there are also opportunities to sponsor/feature your resume on the site. Click here to see more and start applying.
Jersey City Announces New Affordable Housing Project, 100-Acre Bayfront Development
Mayor Steven Fulop and Jersey City have announced the next affordable housing project earlier this week. According to Hudson County View, the 100-acre property located alongside the Hackensack River is called the Bayfront Development and will undergo approval next week by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
“We made a $100 million bet on affordable housing and it looks like this will pay off huge both economically for current taxpayers and future residents,” Mayor Fulop said.
For years, the site was a major chemical plant and the revitalization of the site has proved to be difficult. In 2008, Jersey City and Honeywell — the landowner — reached a deal to clean up the chromium contamination from the former plant. It was officially marked as completed a decade later in 2018.
Bayfront Development Partners LLC and BRP Development Group will reportedly pay Jersey City $26 million to prep the first phase of construction of the site, which would make BRP responsible for adding 552 units on two lots, 193 of which will be affordable housing, and Pennrose/Omni responsible for adding 540 units, 189 of which will be affordable housing.
Restaurants Will Reopen Outdoor Patio Spaces on June 15th
{Photo credit: @lathamhousejc}
Now that the Hoboken City Council has approved the Business Recovery Plan, Hoboken restaurants are gearing up to reopen their outdoor spaces. According to the Recovery Plan, small business restaurants are allowed to expand their outdoor spaces out onto the sidewalks, as long as they leave six feet of sidewalk width open.
The Plan also allows daily outdoor sidewalk cafés to extend their hours by one hour on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and to expand their outdoor cafés to adjacent properties so long as they have the owner of the neighboring property’s consent. As part of the sidewalk café expansion, tables must be six feet apart from the backs of opposite chairs.
The plan was first introduced to the Council by Council President Jen Giattino and First Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco.
“Hoboken will continue to fight for our businesses, and the ordinance we passed today will expand outdoor capacity and lift up our small business owners,” Giattino said. “During this national pandemic, we are doing everything we can to keep our businesses successful and keep our customers safe.”
The plan also introduces “streatery,” a new outdoor shared spaces concept. According to this part of the plan:
- — Daily outdoor, shared public space that temporarily converts curbside parking spaces for outdoor dining where take-away food and beverages can be consumed
- — Dining space separated from adjacent parking and travel lane using moveable safety barriers such as barricades, planters, bollards, or similar structures
- — Tables in streatery must be six feet apart measured from backs of opposite chairs to promote social distancing
“The Hoboken Business Alliance has been working with the city and business owners to find ways to support the reopening of our businesses,” HBA president Gregory Dell’Aquilla said. “We urge business owners and commercial property owners to go to our website and register with us. Let’s continue to build our partnership so we can be more responsive and supportive of your needs during the reopening and beyond.”
The plan also introduces parklets, an outdoor shared space concept that allows a seasonal public seating platform that temporarily converts parking into a mini-park, extending off the sidewalk; parklets must also be enclosed from adjacent parking spaces and must keep six feet between each of the tables in the parklet, just like the streatery; parklets must also make use of built-in safe barriers such as planters, benches, walls, railings, and bollards.
There’s more information on the application process for bar and restaurant owners at Hobokennj.gov.
Hoboken Girl Apparel Shop Donating 100% of Net Proceeds to Loveland Foundation June 6th and 7th
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to treat yo’self to some Hoboken or JC merch, this weekend’s the time; our team at Hoboken Girl is donating 100% of our net proceeds from our shop to the Loveland Foundation this weekend, through Sunday at 11:59PM. The Loveland Foundation is an organization that financially helps black women and girls with financial assistance for therapy, as well as empowerment, residencies, and more. Learn more here, and shop here.
Hoboken Protest Drew Thousands to The Mile Square Friday
A peaceful protest in the wake of George Floyd’s recent murder by police in Minneapolis took place Friday, June 5th in the Mile Square. As of Thursday, June 4th, all four former police officers responsible for Floyd’s deaths were charged and Derek Chauvin, the former officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes and was previously charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, was charged with second-degree murder.
The protest, organized by the group Allies4Justice, drew in over 10,000 people who marched throughout the day. Read more here.
Owners of Grind Coffee Opening General Store
{Photo credit: @grindgeneral}
Coming soon to 293 Sundyam Avenue on the corner of Communipaw Avenue is The Grind General, The Grind Coffee‘s second business venture. The Grind General Store, inspired by the charm of general stores in Upstate New York, hopes to open come July 2020.
“Shane and I have always been fans of the charming general stores sprinkled throughout Upstate,” Grind co-owner Mike tells Hoboken Girl in an email. “From the highly curated specialty food items to cute random knick-knacks that you didn’t think you needed. We wanted to bring a similar retail concept to Jersey City.”
Luckily, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t stopped The Grind from opening a second outpost.
“It’s been a challenge and like so many other businesses, we had to quickly pivot,” Mike says. “Thankfully, we had been developing our own custom coffee blend, which we now offer for retail. It has helped keep our business alive and allows our customers to now be able to safely make our coffee at home. Grind General has been in the works for some time now and in some way, COVID has allowed us to refocus our efforts on opening this summer.”
Welcome to JC, The Grind General!
Black Lives Matter Protests in Jersey City Remain Peaceful
City hall downtown, jersey city. pic.twitter.com/gKb82Yrgq9
— Castor Troy (@kingkaifist31) June 2, 2020
Protests in Jersey City have remained peaceful as more than 1,000 protestors gathered in the streets to protest the senseless murder of George Floyd, police brutality, and to demand the arrest of all four officers involved in Floyd’s murder. On Thursday, all four former officers involved in Floyd’s death were charged; it was also announced on Thursday that the initial charge against Derek Chauvin, the former officer who pinned Floyd to the ground, kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes, was changed to a more serious charge, second-degree murder.
Patch.com reported earlier this week that while the protests remained peaceful, protestors did call out on police officers standing on the steps of City Hall to “take a knee” in the honor of Floyd. Protestors also knelt on the ground for eight minutes, then challenged officers standing in front of City Hall to do the same. While many stayed standing, some officers did kneel.
Hoboken Bar Issues Apology After ‘Insensitive’ Social Media Posts
After a multitude of racially-charged postings in the midst of the Hoboken and Jersey City protests of the murder of George Floyd, the owner of the Ferryman on 1st Sean Hession has issued an apology on behalf of his co-owner, Cormac Gallagher.
While the Instagram posts have since been deleted, one IG post of the 1st Street Hoboken bar was a repost of a white fist tattooed with various countries’ flags and the words, “All Lives Matter” towering over a black fist entitled “USA,” wearing the words “Black Lives Matter” as a bracelet. Another one of the posts featured a Guinness beer with the words, “Open the pubs/Black Pints Matter” overlayed. Residents in the Hoboken Girl Facebook group shared their reactions, and shortly thereafter, these photos and others {as well as video of the protests}, have been deleted from Instagram and have been replaced with an apology.
It reads:
“It has been brought to my attention about some recent posts made on Instagram and Facebook. I would personally like to take this time to apologize to anyone that may have been offended. The FerryMan and Willie McBride’s do not condone any forms of racism and I am completely appalled and disappointed. Although these images were posted by one of my managers, I, Sean Hession, take full responsibility of this matter. I will do my due diligence moving forward to be more aware of what is being advertised on my forums. Again I apologize to all who have been offended. We love our town and customers and hope you will accept our deepest apologies.”
The posts were also visible on Cormac’s personal Facebook page. Read more via Hoboken Patch.
Developer Behind American Dream Mall Misses Two Mortgage Payments for Mall of America Collateral Property
Triple Five is the developer behind the recently opened American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Also the owner of the Mall of America — AKA the Minnesota-based mall known as the largest mall in the U.S. — Triple Five is making headlines for missing two of Mall of America’s mortgage payments: April and May. Because Triple Five put Mall of America up for collateral in order to qualify for their American Dream loan, both malls could potentially be in financial danger.
The same month of the first missed payment, co-CEO Don Ghermezian expressed concern that tenants might not pay the rent, due to the coronavirus pandemic. He told CNBC, “If tenants don’t want to pay rent, my response is: ‘I have got to pay a mortgage. I borrowed money. I have got to pay back my lenders.'”
The Mall of America in Minnesota closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and though it was slated to reopen on June 1st, was forced to postpone the reopening due to its central location in relation to Minneapolis, which has been a hub for protests of racial injustice since George Floyd was murdered there by police.
Mall of America does not qualify for federal assistance and has reported an 85% drop in revenue, saying this is the reason those two mortgage payments were missed.
In a statement, reps of the Mall of America said, “Facing significantly reduced revenue, and the realization that it will take many months to return to pre-COVID operating levels, we have not met our full mortgage payment obligations. This is not unique to Mall of America and is in fact a struggle facing countless businesses nationwide.”
Jersey City City Council Introducing Resolution to Create New Police Review Board
After two days of peaceful protests in Jersey City, the JC City Council President Joyce E. Watterman has announced the introduction of a resolution that would create a new police review board.
“Due to the situation at hand, both the violence that occurred and the protests that have emerged from it, I believed this would be a good opportunity for us to examine how our police department handles various situation and make changes where needed,” President Watterman said. “This is a time for Jersey City to examine its police procedures and have open dialogue with the community to bring reform.”
According to NJ.com, members of the committee would be comprised of between nine and 12 community members from all six wards, clergy members, educators, a retired police officer or judge, and at minimum, three sitting Council members.
If you are interested in applying for the committee, you can email a resume to your ward’s council member. All applications are due by June 19th. For more info, call the Council office at 201-547-5134.
Mayor Fulop and Mayor Bhalla Sign Obama’s Pledge — Announcing Changes to Use of Force in Police Department
As Jersey City awaits a decision from City Council on a new police review board, Mayor Fulop announced that he has signed President Obama’s pledge and plans to unveil changes to use of force in the JC Police Department. In Hoboken, Mayor Bhalla has announced he has done the same.
Today, I answered @BarackObama’s call for Mayors to sign a pledge to review their city’s use of force policies in partnership with the community. We remain committed to translating the grief over George Floyd’s unconscionable death into action.https://t.co/uOPwAXf8lD
— Ravinder S. Bhalla (@RaviBhalla) June 5, 2020
Mayor Fulop said, “I took the pledge last night when President Obama asked mayors to step up and we are starting on Day 1 with changes and clarification where needed. We have the best police department anywhere in the country and when it is possible to be even better, we will take steps to get there.”
Fulop’s announcement comes on the heels of #8CantWait trending on Twitter. 8 Can’t Wait is an initiative from Campaign Zero with the goal of implementing new “use of force” policies that have the potential to decrease police brutality by 72%.
In Hoboken, Chief Ken Ferrante tweeted this week in response to a question from a follower regarding the #8CantWait policies. He shared that Hoboken has 7 of the #8CantWait policies already in action.
We already have 7 of 8 in place, have the most certified Crisis Intervention Officers in Hudson County and in the past 30 years, had one officer get shot and Hoboken PD has not shot anyone. Facts! https://t.co/1eHZBNcxLQ
— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante) June 3, 2020
Such policies include the banning of shooting at moving vehicles, supervisor responding to use of force scenes, the addition of the use of force continuum to police’s de-escalation techniques, and the banning of all chokeholds.
Renovated Dog Parks at Church Square and Stevens Parks Reopen
Two recently renovated dog parks in Hoboken have now reopened. The dog parks at Church Square Park and Stevens Park are now covered in K9 turf surfaces, marking Hoboken’s third dog park to be renovated from gravel to dog-friendly turf. A grant from Hudson County paid for the construction costs of these renovations.
As the City slowly begins to lift COVID-19 social distancing restrictions — or at least, lessen the intensity of such restrictions — the Church Square Park is now open for a 20-person max capacity and 10-person max capacity for smaller dogs. At Stevens Park, there is a 15-person max capacity being enforced. At both dog parks, humans must wear face masks.
Little Island Park Taking Shape Across Hudson River as NYC’s Newest Green Space
{Photo credit: @littleislandnyc}
Little Island Park is finally coming to fruition after half a decade of delays. The two-acre “floating” park, located across the Hudson River at Manhattan’s Pier 55, is nearly finished, as developers behind the project have almost completed most of the island’s plantings.
Time Out reports that when finished, Little Island Park will be home to 35 species of trees, 65 species of shrubs, and 270 varieties of grasses, perennial flowers, vines, and bulbs.
You may recall that the idea to create one such green space in urban NYC came during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg were originally behind Little Island and started working on the project as far back as 2013. The park’s unique design of individual concrete pods of greenery that appear to float on the Hudson was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The space will also have an amphitheater.
It looks like Little Island Park could open as early as 2021. Read more here.
Flatbread Grill Receives Grant From Bumble
{Photo credit: @bumble}
Mediterranean bakery and grill the Flatbread Grill has been awarded a grant from Bumble’s Community Grant Program. As part of the dating platform’s grant program, which was developed in order to support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 180 businesses in 11 countries were chosen to receive up to $5K in financial support.
Located at 517 Washington Street in Hoboken, Flatbread Grill was one of the many international businesses that received a grant as part of the program.
In addition to Bumble’s Community Grant Program, the women-first social networking platform donated $100,000 to the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Fund and $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Image Renderings Released for 27-Story Tower on Van Reipen Avenue
{Image rendering by C3D Architecture via Jersey Digs}
New image renderings by C3D Architecture reveal Namdar Group’s plans for a 27-story tower in Journal Square. The Long Island-based developer also made headlines last week for releasing an image rendering of one of three of Namdar’s proposed Jersey City towers.
A block away from the 223-foot building at Summit Avenue and John F. Kennedy Boulevard {revealed last week} will be the 27-story tower pictured above on Van Reipen Avenue. The third building in the trio, which will be linked by a pedestrian walkway called the Homestead Walkway, will be located at 35 Cottage Street.
Hoboken Raises the LGBTQ+ Flag to Commemorate Pride Month
After being given a perfect 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index for the past two years in a row, the City of Hoboken commemorated Pride Month by raising the LGBTQ+ flag at the beginning of June.
Councilman Mike DeFusco, Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, and community advocate Laura Knittel were present for the ceremony outside of City Hall, along with Mayor Bhalla.
Hoboken is one of only three New Jersey municipalities to receive a perfect 100 from the HRC’s MEI. In 2018, Mayor Bhalla signed an executive order that required all public and private single-occupancy restrooms to be classified gender-neutral, becoming the first NJ city to pass such an order. Read more about Hudson Pride, a local organization dedicated to LGBTQ youth, here.
New Restaurant Called Emma’s Soft Opens in Former PJ Ryan’s Spot
{Photo credit: @lathamhousejc}
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, a new comfort food restaurant called Emma’s has officially soft-opened, offering delivery and takeout. Formerly the spot of PJ Ryan’s Squared. Jersey Digs reports that Emma’s will offer everything from breakfast, lunch, supper, and weekend brunch once it can fully open its dining room.
Emma’s might just be run by a familiar face, as Emma Latham, daughter of Latham House owners Kris and Dan, is calling the shots over at 4 Path Plaza.
While Emma’s does not appear to have its own website or social media up and running, you can look for updates on Latham House’s Instagram page.
City Council Votes to Override Mayor’s Veto to Not Eliminate Office of Constituent Affairs
This week, a 6-3 City Council vote resulted in an override of Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla’s veto of the original ordinance to eliminate Hoboken’s Office of Constituent Affairs.
In late May, the Hoboken City Council voted in favor of eliminating the Office of Constituents which was reestablished in 2018. Shortly after, however, Mayor Bhalla announced that he planned to exercise his right to veto the decision to eliminate the office.
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