Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla has invited New York Waterway officials to publicly discuss their plans to turn Union Dry Dock into their ferry maintenance and refueling station.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I believe it is critical to be as open and transparent with the public as possible. As I communicated to you via email, I applaud Council President Jen Giattino’s decision to deny your request to present your proposed renderings of a refueling station at a closed session of the City Council, without any members of the public permitted to attend,” Bhalla wrote in a letter today addressed to NY Waterway President Arthur Imperatore and NYW Chair Armand Pohan.
“Previously, I understand you presented your proposed renderings at another closed door, private meeting with undisclosed participants – yet another attempt to shut out the public.”
As Hudson County View first reported, NY Waterway first presented their Union Dry Dock at the Elks Club on April 17th.
They made a pitch to make a similar presentation to Wednesday’s council meeting on May 1st, but as Bhalla noted, Giattino rejected it based on the fact it would be during closed session and would therefore involve no public input.
Instead, the mayor is calling for a community Town Hall meeting to address this subject head on next week.
“In the interests of transparency, I am willing to host a town hall meeting in Hoboken for New York Waterway, where you can present your renderings and plans to the public so residents are given an opportunity to offer you feedback,” he continued.
“My office would be glad to assist and offer a third party to moderate the forum. Please let me know if you can join the Hoboken community the evening of Thursday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. We also extend this invitation to members of the Governor’s staff should they wish to join.”
A spokesman for NY Waterway did not immediately return an email on Friday.