Message From 2nd Ward Council Woman Fisher - We need a crowd to Stop NJ Transit Purchase of Hoboken Union Dry Dock Tomorrow 9AM

Here is a special note from 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher regarding a crucial NJ Transit meeting at 9 am tomorrow on Martin Luther King Day during Chris Christie's last day in office before new Governor Elect Phil Murphy is sworn in on Tuesday....

Update:

A small bus with limited seating for 20 will be available and leaving from 1025 Maxwell Lane at 8:00am.  If you are interested please RSVP to me at hoboken2nd@gmail.com, it will be on a first come first serve basis. Please arrive at the bus at 7:45 am.  We expect the meeting to go until about 11:00am and the bus will bring people back to Hoboken.  Mayor Bhalla is expected to join residents on the bus.

Original Post:

We need a crowd at the NJ Transit Ad Hoc Board meeting tomorrow (Monday January 15) at 9am! Mayor Ravi Bhalla has informed us that he believes a large crowd of Hoboken stakeholders will make the difference in the outcome of the meeting.

Hoboken Union Dry Dock - Stop the sale to NJ Transit say Hoboken residents and politicians.

Please join us and let me/us know that you are going by emailing me and or by RSVP'ing "Going" to the Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront FB Event (for those on Facebook). At this time I am aware that I will at least be joined by Mayor Bhalla, Council President Ramos, Council Vice President Giattino, leaders of Fund for a Better Waterfront​, members of Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront​ and several other neighbors and community leaders.

I have not yet confirmed with other council members but am hopeful more will attend. Mayor Bhalla sent an "all hands on deck" request to all of us on the City Council. There are politics behind this meeting and this vote with pressure from our outgoing Governor to pass. But that by no means guarantees that it will. Opposing politics from our incoming Governor contributed to twice rescheduling the meeting due to sudden lack of quorum.

Here are a couple of articles on this -  NJ.COM and APNEWS. What a further delay or a “No” vote gets us is more time. More time to respond. More time to get in a room with all stakeholders. More time to defend our waterfront. And more time to try to work out a solution that allows us to complete our waterfront park plan that has been underway for three decades and at the same time supports further expansion of critical ferry service.

It is reprehensible that we have to consider attending on a day we should be celebrating MLK especially in the current political environment. Thank you Governor Chris Christie! ​NJT headquarters are located in downtown Newark's One Penn Plaza and is easy to get to. If you are driving - I would plan up to 30 minutes but it will probably will take 20 tomorrow. There are two parking lots across and next to the building. If you are taking the PATH, Newark Penn Station is across the street. Please call me (201-208-1674) or email me at hoboken2nd@gmail.com  if you have any questions or to let us know you will be attending.

Thank you, Tiffanie Fisher Hoboken City Council, 2nd Ward

Engage. Inform. Advocate. “More Voices are Better”

Important Update from Mayor Bhalla on NJ Transit Plans to Aquire Union Dry Dock For Ferry Maintenance Facility

From the Mayor's Office via interim communication person Juan Melli on behalf of Ravi Bhalla...

Important Update from Mayor Bhalla on NJ Transit Plans to
Aquire Union Dry Dock For Ferry Maintenance Facility

Hoboken Union Dry Dock Site

Today the NJ Transit Board of Directors was scheduled to vote on purchasing the Union Dry Dock property and leasing the property back to NY Waterway for use as a ferry maintenance and refueling facility. The meeting was abruptly cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Following the cancelled meeting, NJ Transit issued a notice for a rescheduled board meeting at 10am on Friday, January 12, 2018.

 “Today was a tremendous victory for Hoboken, and more importantly, for good government,” said Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla. “Hitting the pause button on this rushed and ill-conceived plan provides NJ Transit the opportunity, under the leadership of the incoming Murphy Administration, to begin a deliberative and transparent planning process that considers input from all stakeholders, including the public. Any further attempts to subvert this process will be met with fierce resistance from me, and I pledge to use every resource at my disposal to protect Hoboken’s interests.

Thank you to Governor-elect Murphy, who understood the need for local voices to be heard on this matter. Thank you to Senator Menendez and Senator Booker for their advocacy. And a big thank you to Senator Stack, Assemblywoman Chaparro, Assemblyman Mukherji, the Hoboken City Council Members, and all of the advocates and residents who have been united on this issue.”

My Editorial Comment:

I have four basic points on this issue in response to this press release and here they are....

1) If it is affordable to do so Hoboken should  try to buy the property and continue the idea of completing the contiguous waterfront. Mayor Zimmer had 8 years to do so but it was never a high priority for her. Ahead of it on her priority list was HUMC, SW Park, NW Park, Washington Street and many other projects. You can't do them all as they say. On this I see eye to eye along with Tiffanie Fisher, Jen Giattino, Peter Cunningham and now new Mayor Ravi Bhalla to at least give this approach to take a shot and see if we can block NY Waterway's proposal.

2) Is the Union Dry Dock affordable with NJ Transit threatening to use eminent domain and relocation costs? It might be that the City of Hoboken can't afford the potential steep price tag. In that case I would support some sort of right of way compromise and limitation of bus parking.

3) How is a delay in a meeting only pushed back a major victory? Let us not count our chickens before they are hatched. Only the end result is what matters.

Old adage: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

4) 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher should have at least been mentioned by name. She has been out front on this issue and even went to Trenton last week with Ravi to advocate on behalf of Hoboken residents. Same goes for Councilwoman Jen Giattino who did not attend but has been very active in her advocacy as well. Why they were left out by name is bad form if you want to be considered a uniter.

To Pool or Not to Pool - Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher advocates for your input on NW Resiliency Park

Here is a note that went out to Hoboken residents regarding whether or not we should have a pool at the NW Resiliency Park or not from Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. The City of Hoboken has a website where residents can provide input as to the features they want at the new park.

Dear friends and neighbors -

Do you want a pool in Hoboken (or not)?

If the your answer is Yes, then please fill out the survey in the link below by 11/30 for the NW Resiliency park and select "swimming pool" as your answer to the question about which features you want to see (answers are listed alphabetically so you will find it towards the bottom of the list).

If your answer is No or you don't care about a pool, please fill out the survey anyway and tell us what you would like to see in the park.

Click on the link: http://nwpark-cityofhoboken.opendata.arcgis.com/ to learn about the park, and then click the red "Take Survey Now" button. Also, please plan to come to the public meeting on 11/30 at Wallace from 7-9pm to learn more and share your thoughts.

When I campaigned in 2015, I added "advocating for a pool" to my platform not because it was important to me (I am not really a swimmer), but because so many people I met said it was important to them.

Since then I have raised this issue at just about every conversation we have had concerning the new NW Park on the 6 acre former BASF site (4 of which are now the pop-up park). There are also many other features to consider as well for this park. I am currently on the subcommittee for the park and helped interview and select the planning and engineering group that will design the new park.

I have to say, what we saw in their presentations was pretty amazing with ideas for undulating terrain, trees, hills, and plenty of active space. All on a few city blocks in our urban village. So please be part of the process. And part of the vision. The survey takes less than a minute to fill out. Let me know if you have any questions.

TiffanieFisher
2nd Ward Councilwoman

Jen Giattino and Tiffanie Fischer Advocate for Union Drock Dock Site- Urge Citizens to reach out to NJDEP

This is from 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino who teamed up with Tiffanie Fisher to send out this message to Hoboken residents. Both Tiffanie and Jen voted for the right for Mayor Zimmer to use emminient domain as a tool to potentially acquire Union Dry Dock while Mayor elect Ravi Bhalla voted present in the same vote. If you should ever question advocacy look to this vote to see who supported this vote and who was potentially conflicted out.

From 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino:

Since 2011, I have been advocating to complete waterfront public park in Hoboken with the acquisition of the Union Dry Dock property. Most recently, I co-sponsored the resolution to add UDD to Hoboken's Open Space Plan, and then supported giving the administration the ability to use eminent domain as a tool to help facilitate the acquisition of the site.

Like many of you, I was surprised and dismayed to see that NY Waterway have been negotiating for months with UDD culminating in their indication of having recently acquired the site with the intent to move their fleet operations to the site. These operations will include storage of 20 ferries, refueling and maintenance for their entire fleet of 34 ferries, and potential for maintenance for their bus fleet which will bring increased traffic and environmental risks to an area that is surrounded by residential and recreational use.

I wholly support an expansion of ferry service for Hoboken and other NJ residents. But I feel that NY Waterways operations should be located elsewhere and that there should be a public process involving stakeholders to determine this. If you agree, then please help me advocate for this by sending a letter today (via mail) to the Department of Environmental Protection and tell them this. NY Waterway (along with UDD and NJ Transit) submitted an application on 11/14 for a provisional waterfront permit that will allow them to quickly set up operations as they exit their facilities in Weehawken.

To make it easier, below is a template you can use and edit before sending. Letters should be sent no later than today (11/28) if possible. I have also attached shown below a letter that 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher and I will be jointly submitting to the DEP urging them to deny the application. The UDD site sits in the 6th ward and the residents of the 2nd ward include many that are most directly effected every day. Tiffanie has been advocating for our public waterfront for several years and when she was elected in 2015 joined me in meeting with local residents and Fund for Better waterfront to continue advocacy for UDD.

Please consider sending a letter. If you would like to send, but do not have a printer, envelope or stamp, please let me know. We will offer to bring a letter to you tonight or pick one up from you with a plan to put a bundle together and send out tomorrow. Thank you for your advocacy on this important issue. Please let me know if you have questions or would like to see the entire DEP application - it is large so will need to be sent separately.

Sample Letter to NJDEP regarding Union Dry Dock: 

November 26, 2017
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Division of Land Use Regulation
P.O. Box 420, Mail Code 501-02A
501 East State Street
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Attn: Hudson County Section Chief

RE: NJDEP Waterfront Development Permit Application by Port Imperial Ferry Corp. d/b/a NY Waterway for Block 259, Lot 1; 901 Sinatra Drive, City of Hoboken, Hudson County

Dear Hudson County Section Chief:

As a resident of Hoboken and someone who enjoys Maxwell Park, the Castle Point Skate Park, the Hoboken Cove Boathouse and uses the public access adjacent to Union Dry Dock, I urge NJDEP to reject the above referenced waterfront development permit application. This request from NY Waterway in partnership with NJ Transit is disingenuous, intentionally disregarding a 2012 agreement made by NJ Transit to not pursue the Union Dry Dock property for this use case. In 2012 NJ Transit clearly stated they “look forward to continuing to work with you [Hoboken Mayor Zimmer] as we continue to advance efficient, environmentally sound transit options for your residents and all the citizens of NJ.”

This proposal is anything but environmentally sound creating new environmental risks and quality of life issues for Hoboken. For more than 25 years residents, public officials and nonprofit organizations have invested tens of millions in public and private funds to redevelop the Hoboken waterfront. The city is extremely close to completing the vision of a contiguous public park along the Hudson River’s edge. This application jeopardizes all the progress the city has made to date and is grossly incompatible with the new development taking place along Hoboken’s waterfront. The proposed use is prohibited by local zoning laws and is in violation of the State’s Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Regulations.

In consideration of this, I ask that you please:

1. Deny this irresponsible application and hold an open public process to collect information from all stakeholders and discuss additional locations for NY Waterway to house their ferry maintenance, storage and refueling facility. The ferry system is an integral part of our mass transit system. We request a thorough examination of alternate sites and transparency in the process. It is our understanding Bayonne’s industrial waterfront has actively sought NY Waterway for years and in addition there are other locations owned by NJ Transit that are more appropriate and affordable.

2. Respect the current uses of the Hoboken Waterfront in vicinity of the Union Dry Dock site. Enjoyed by both residents and visitors there is currently a popular fishing pier, a skateboard park actively used by children of all ages, kids playground and swings, large grass lawn and a boat house including a natural sand beach to allow for free activities including kayaking. It’s an understatement to say a ferry refueling, repair and storage operation for 20 -34 ferries would be environmentally unsound and could destroy the opportunity for visitors and residents to fish, kayak or enjoy the public waterfront. In addition 20-34 ferries coming and going (using tier 1 diesel engines) and storage of large amounts of fuel would be a vastly different use case than Union Dry Dock currently operates creating new environmental hazards.

3. Uphold the state’s commitment to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. CZM regulations (N.J.A.C 7:7 last amended Sept. 2017 – sections 9.46 Hudson River Waterfront Area and 16.9 Public Access) require public access be provided to the waterfront and the construction of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway for the 18 mile stretch between the Bayonne and George Washington Bridges. In Hoboken, this state-mandated public walkway has been nearly completed for the entire 1.5 mile length of its waterfront. The only piece missing is the 8 acre Union Dry Dock site. Approval of this permit destroys the opportunity to complete the vision.

4. Honor the 2012 NJ Transit decision to not pursue this proposal. New Jersey Transit Executive Director James Weinstein soundly rejected NY Waterway’s 2012 proposal in writing to Hoboken Mayor Zimmer “this is to confirm that New Jersey Transit is no longer exploring the acquisition of the Union Dry Dock property nor does the agency anticipate doing so in the future.” Thank you so much for your consideration,

Name:
Address:

Jen Giattino anfd Tiffanie Fisher letter to NJDEP re: Union Dry Dock from Hoboken Resistance

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.