Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla praised first responders and bar owners for pitching in to show a “clear improvement in quality of life” during this year’s annual Leprecon bar crawl.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“After receiving a final report from Police Chief Ferrante and based on my observations during the day, I am pleased that there was a clear improvement in quality of life and safety throughout the city,†Bhalla said in a statement.
“I thank the bar owners and hospitality industry for working to make this a dramatically safer event and look forward to a collaborative relationship moving forward.”
As Hudson County View reported yesterday, Hoboken police, assisted by a number of local departments, responded to 386 calls for service, down from 488 in 2017, 23 people were transported to hospital, as opposed to 28 last year, and only four arrests – 11 people were charged criminally last year.
Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante and the mayor’s office also noted that only three tavern reports were written on Saturday, comparing that to 24 tavern reports made during Santacon this past December.
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who remains at odds with Bhalla after supporting 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino’s mayoral candidacy, commended the current administration for the successful initiatives, but said she would like to see this trend continue without having to close bars.
On Saturday, Hoboken residents enjoyed having less reckless behavior on our streets and in our neighborhoods than in prior years. Especially when you compare it to SantaCon. I commend our Mayor and public safety officials for making our safety their priority,” Fisher said.
“Most, but not all, statistics improved around 20%, it seems. But I think it will be critical to understand the drivers of this as we look ahead. We had approximately 15% more officers/inspectors, 50% less revelers, 7 of the busiest / largest bars shut down on one of their biggest earning days and an extensive media campaign suggesting people think twice about coming to Hoboken. I would have thought the improvements would have been more.”
Fisher also says officials should work on building a better relationship with bar owners so that everyone can remain open next time around.
The Hoboken Alcoholic Beverage Control Board suspended five liquor licenses late last month, including 1Republik permanently losing their liquor license.
Additionally, Black Bear Bar & Grill and Tally Ho decided to close voluntarily.
Hoboken bar keeps had over a decade to clean up their act and didn’t.
1Republic gave Councilman DeFusco $2,600.00 the maximum they could under the law for his run for mayor.
Is it just me or does it seem like Councilwoman Fisher is twisting herself into a pretzel talking out of all sides of her mouth.
But at least give her credit for, through one side of her mouth, acknowledging Mayor Bhalla’s success in protecting the public. The “real men of Hoboken” couldn’t even “man up” to do that. Maybe it’s time to change their name to the “real not men of Hoboken.”
The leprecon decline has been continuous year to year. With this year, there were so much police the smaller numbers got lots of attention. Dawn Zimmer took the heat and gets credit for taking action. It’s a mop up action year to year since. Councilwoman fisher gave credit nevertheless. Real men who don’t kiss corrupt legal scheme ass don’t need to and won’t. When is Ravi giving up that law firm job? Crooked as the day is long!
Name-guessing is the province of a$$holes.
Don’t think that commenter was stating anything other than the truce busting queen of factoid-less information is well kooky Nancy. No one really cares about the insider Ravi Robots. They can’t even defend that scam contract he secretly did with a NJ law firm. Oooh that smell. The Stinkus. Blech.
Someone giving credit where she thinks it’s due isn’t “talking out of both sides.” She can criticize many things he is doing and still acknowledge something good. That shows actually thinking, something in short supply around here.
Stan, give it a rest, you have cost Hoboken enough.
Trying to out other posters is really manly. It is so manly that when attempted by less manly men it is considered an evil act to be met with both angry denials and empty litigation threats. Keep up the manly work. You are a beacon of light for real men everywhere.
Baseless statistics. What a conundrum, our Wayward Mayor wants to control reckless behavior.
Why do you folks keep straying from the story and insist on attacking each other? Please, use your blogs to go at each other and leave those who really want to read genuine comments out of your petty name calling.