Tiffanie Fisher Hoboken City Councilwoman Advocates for Open Space at Union Dry Dock Facility

Below is a useful list of contacts for those so inclined to advocate for the Union Dry Dock property to be allowed to become a park instead of a facility for NY Waterway. Open space advocates for years have stated the goal of of having end to end continuous access in Hoboken and this site is viewed as the last piece of the puzzle.

Union Dry Dock Hoboken - recent photo

Below is an email from Tiffanie Fisher Hoboken City Councilwoman 2nd Ward to a number of Hoboken residents to get the word out to your representatives. That is what citizen advocacy is all about.

Dear friends and neighbors –

As a follow up to my prior email [concerning the Union Dry Dock Property acquisition by NY Waterway], I wanted to provide some additional contact information for you.  I have spoken directly with both Assembly Members Chapparo and Mukherji, Senator Gordon and John Leon from NJ Transit.  All are receiving your emails so keep them coming.  At the bottom is a copy and paste version for different groups and a few suggestions on what you can say for each.  Feel free to use / not use or add whatever information you feel is most helpful.

I assure you that more voices are better.  So please reach out to as many as you can.  This is a great contact list so definitely keep for your records for future concerns.  

- Tiffanie Fisher Hoboken City Council, 2nd Ward

Another photo of Union Dry Dock Hoboken - recently taken

Administration:

• Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken Mayor – dzimmer@hobokennj.gov or call (201) 420-2013
• Steven Marks, Business Administrator – smarks@hobokennj.gov or call  (201) 420-2059
• Ravi Bhalla, Mayor Elect – rbhalla@hobokennj.gov or call (201) 420-2000

City Council:

• Jen Giattino, Council President - jengiattino6@gmail.com or call (201) 780-6779
• Peter Cunningham, Council VP - cunninghamforhoboken@gmail.com or call (201) 562-7071
• Mike Defusco, Councilman – mdefusco@hobokennj.gov or call (646) 372-4341
• Jim Doyle, Councilman -  jimdoylehoboken@gmail.com or call (201) 792-9319
• Tiffanie Fisher, Councilwoman – hoboken2nd@gmail.com or call (201) 208-1674
• Ruben Ramos, Councilman – councilmanramos4@gmail.com or call (201) 401-7947
• Michael Russo, Councilman - councilmanrusso@gmail.com or call (201) 401-9687

Hudson County:

• Thomas De Gise, Hudson County Executive – tdegise@hcnj.us or call 201-795-6000
• Craig Guy, De Gise’s Chief of Staff – cguy@hcnj.us or call 201-795-6000
• Anthony L Romano, Hudson County Freeholder – aromano@hcnj.us or call 201-795-6001

State Level Representatives:

• Governor Chris Christie - http://nj.gov/governor/contact/ or call 609-292-6000
• Amy Cradic, Christie Chief of Staff – amy.cradic@nj.gov
• John Spinello, Dir. Of Authorities unit of Counsel – john.spinello@nj.gov
• Governor Elect Phil Murphy - https://go.murphy4nj.com/page/s/contact
• Pete Cammarano (different one), Murphy Chief of Staff – pcamm@optonline.net or pete@cammaranolayton.com
• Matt Platkin, Murphy Counsel – mplatkin@gmail.com
• Brian Stack, State Senator and Union City Mayor - senstack@njleg.org or call (201) 376-1942
• Annette Chaparro, Assemblywoman – chaparrofornj33@gmail.com or call (201) 683-7917
• Raj Mukherji, Assemblyman - AsmMukherji@njleg.org or call (201) 626-4000
• Bob Gordon, State Senator and Vice Chair of Transportation Subcommittee – SenGordon@njleg.org or call (201) 703-9779

Federal Level Representatives:

• Frank Schultz, Deputy State Director for Sen. Bob Menendez - frank_schultz@menendez.senate.gov or call (202) 224-4744
• George Helmy, State Director for Sen. Cory Booker – george_helmy@booker.senate.gov
• Gene Matorony, Chief of Staff to Rep. Albio Sires - gene.martorony@mail.house.gov or call (202) 225-7919

New Jersey Transit/NY Waterway:

• NJ Transit Board - njtboard@njtransit.com
• Paul Wyckoff, Deputy Executive Director NJ Transit – pwyckoff@njtransit.com
• Eric Daleo, Assist ED of Capital Projects – edaleo@njtransit.com
• John Leon, Government Relations NJ Transit – jleon@njtransit.com
• Steven Santoro, Executive Director NJ Transit – ssantoro@njtransit.com
• Richard Hammer, Commissioner NJ DOT - rick.hammer@dot.nj.gov
• Armand Pohan, Chairman NY Waterway – pohan@nywaterway.com

Neighboring Cities:

• Gio Ahmad, Town of Weehawken Business Administrator – gahmad@tow-nj.net
• James Davis, Mayor of Bayonne - mayors.office@baynj.org
• Steve Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City - fulops@jcnj.org

Copy and Paste version with suggested questions:

Hoboken Administration and City Council:

What are you doing to protect our waterfront now that NY Waterway have announced they are moving in? What are you doing to ensure NY Waterway (or their successor NJ Transit) find a permanent home for their maintenance facilities?

dzimmer@hobokennj.gov; smarks@hobokennj.gov; rbhalla@hobokennj.gov; jengiattino6@gmail.com; cunninghamforhoboken@gmail.com;mdefusco@hobokennj.gov; jimdoylehoboken@gmail.com; hoboken2nd@gmail.com; councilmanramos4@gmail.com; councilmanrusso@gmail.com;

Hudson County and Neighboring Cities:

What can be done within the Hudson County waterfront cities to provide a better, permanent home for NY Waterway in a location that is more industrial in use than residential?  Please consider locations in and around Hoboken’s Lackawana Terminal or sites in Jersey City or Bayonne for the permanent location.  Can the lease with Lennar in Weehawken be extended to accommodate discussions for a permanent location?

tdegise@hcnj.us; cguy@hcnj.us; aromano@hcnj.us; asantos@hcnj.us; gahmad@tow-nj.net; mayors.office@baynj.org; fulops@jcnj.org

Governor Elect:

Please say no to NJ Transit’s potential acquisition of NY Waterway site in Hoboken and/or their future acquisition of NY Waterway.  Please have NJ Transit locate any of its operations and future expansion NOT at the UDD site, but rather another location outside of Hoboken or via expansion of the existing sites at the north and south end of Hoboken.

info@murphy4nj.com; pcamm@optonline.net; pete@cammaranolayton.com; mplatkin@gmail.com;

State Representatives:

Please advocate for NJ Transit / NY Waterway to not locate their operations in the center of Hoboken’s waterfront.  Hoboken residents have fought for decades to have an end to end park in Hoboken.  Please consider moving ferry maintenance to Lackawana terminal or to locations outside of Hoboken including Bayonne.  Please work with the Hoboken administration to determine the best alternative for Hoboken and existing and future waterway passengers.

senstack@njleg.org; chaparrofornj33@gmail.com; AsmMukherji@njleg.org; SenGordon@njleg.org;

Federal Level Representatives:

Please advocate for NJ Transit / NY Waterway to not locate their operations in the center of Hoboken’s waterfront.  Hoboken residents have fought for decades, along with Senator Menendez, to ensure that Hoboken’s waterfront would be a public park for its residents and visitors.  Please consider ways you can support moving ferry maintenance to Lackawana terminal or to locations outside of Hoboken including Bayonne.  Please work with the State and Hoboken representatives to determine the best alternative for Hoboken residents and visitors and existing and future waterway passengers.

frank_schultz@menendez.senate.gov; george_helmy@booker.senate.gov; gene.martorony@mail.house.gov;

New Jersey Transit/NY Waterway:

What can be done to provide a better, permanent home for NY Waterway in a location that is more industrial in use than residential?  Please consider locations in and around Hoboken’s Lackawana Terminal or sites in Jersey City or Bayonne for the permanent location.  Can the lease with Lennar in Weehawken be extended to accommodate discussions for a permanent location? Hoboken residents have been fighting for an end to end public park in Hoboken for decades.  Please work with the State and Hoboken representatives to determine the best alternative for Hoboken residents and visitors and existing and future waterway passengers.

njtboard@njtransit.com; pwyckoff@njtransit.com; edaleo@njtransit.com; jleon@njtransit.com; ssantoro@njtransit.com; rick.hammer@dot.nj.gov;pohan@nywaterway.com

Editor's Note:

It way end up being the path of least resistance that wins out in the end. Fighting NJ Transit should they decide to purchase the property from NY Waterway would be a big legal hurdle due to their power of eminent domain trumping Hoboken's. Perhaps settling for easements and givebacks could be the easiest way to go while allowing NY Waterway to use property as envisioned. There is already a cleanup initiative underway. Should NY Waterway eventually give up its plans to use this site then perhaps the City of Hoboken could buy it down the line. I am not saying that is the best option but could be the only one viable one from a legal and/or financial position.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.