The Hoboken City Council debated two competing parklet ordinances, ultimately approving one on first reading after rejecting one up for second reading at last night’s meeting.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
During public comment, Nicole Magana said she walked her dog near the intersection of 3rd and Monroe Streets recently and it was not a pleasant experience.
“The parklets are really important, but the rats are everywhere. On the block of Monroe between 3rd and 4th, no parklets anywhere near it – couple blocks either way – and it was one of those windy nights, trash cans knock over, I’m walking my dog, there’s a bunch of rats, my dog literally goes to beeline to them,” she recalled.
“He must’ve body slammed a rat because a rat came flying in the air and landed it landed on my foot. As I’m walking, on my shoe, and I screamed, kicked my leg out, and the rat goes flying. It sounds funny, but it really wasn’t funny in the moment. I’m in support of the streets being cleaned, U support outdoor dining, I love it, but the rat problem really is a problem.”
Rosemarie Markle said she was glad there was movement on this, but asked who was doing the inspections and why there were two ordinances on the agenda.
“Two words you never want to see in the same sentence is rats and restaurants,” 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos noted.
He said he introduced one ordinance with 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo. Ramos explained their ordinance up for second reading would mandate removable decking for cleaning and maintenance, effective about a month from now.
“That process allows the restaurant to do their due diligence and gives the public piece of mind. We are pro-business. But having those two words in the same sentence isn’t going to help.”
“This issue in the city is paramount in our quality of life. It’s been ongoing for over a year, probably closer to two,” Russo added.
He argued the first reading ordinance on outdoor dining parklets, sponsored by 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher and Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour, maintains the status quo and nothing more.
“Vote for this tonight … Trying to push a watered-down version does a disservice to our residents,” Russo added.
Fisher said she discussed with a restaurant owner that lifting the floorboards on a regular basis is dangerous and that the city needs to focus on enforcement.
“No matter what they say about lifting the floorboards, it comes down to an enforcement issue,” she argued, indicating the cleaning ordinance did not get to the heart of the issue.
The first reading of her measure, co-sponsored by Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour, mandates the entire area underneath the parklet to be available for daily cleaning and/or inspection, effective as of April 1st.
“I voted no on this on first reading and I intend to vote no again today. I thought it was overkill,” Councilman-at-Large Joe Quintero stated.
He said it’s unfair to compliant restaurant owners and noted he preferred the alternative.
“The ordinance up for first reading is a little more targeted … in a way that’s more fair,” Quintero argued.
“Inspection in the city is always a difficult issue for us. We can pass all the laws we want, but if the administration doesn’t enforce it, we’re blowing smoke,” 1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano said.
He also said the two competing ordinances reflected dysfunction, as well as that two parklets were taken down due to violations and was curious about other enforcement ideas.
“I know it sounds crazy but I’m going vote yes on both,” Presinzano continued.
“I know it’s mayor season, but we have to get together and work on these things and show a unified front to the community. Otherwise, we’re blowing smoke.”
Jabbour said she and Fisher reached out to collaborate with Ramos and Russo (Jabbour has declared for mayor and the other three are expected to announce soon) and did not get a response.
“I don’t think this was a collaborative process across the entire community, let alone this body,” she asserted, indicating that she and Fisher worked with restaurant owners and the Hoboken Business Alliance to craft their legislation.
“All of us want to deal with this and solve this problem,” 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, who called into the meeting, said over the phone. He also indicated he would support the one up for first reading.
“We do other things to try to improve enforcement to make clear the responsibilities in the city for enforcement and to try and make sure this regime works better than it has been working.”
Russo took umbrage with the fact that he and Ramos didn’t reach out to restaurant owners.
“Every time Councilwoman Fisher speaks, she likes to speak to facts that she believes are true when they’re actually not. To say we didn’t reach out to the restaurants are absolutely false: You’re putting it on paper just to say you’re doing it,” he declared.
He added that he had no problem taking his name off of the ordinance up for second reading.
Ramos noted he spoke to several several restaurant owners, some of which who were in attendance at the meeting and confirmed that he did, as well as HBA board members.
“What I refused to do was kowtow … We stink at enforcement!” he exclaimed.
Fisher expressed frustration about not being able to respond and eventually Council President Jim Doyle allowed her to.
“This isn’t about whether your name is on it, at least to us. I know it was to you,” Fisher snapped at Russo.
She insisted the floorboards are too heavy to be removed to be cleaned by staff on a regular basis, as well as that it was unnecessary for restaurants that are currently compliant.
While Fisher admitted it is indeed mayoral election season, Ramos replied that it wasn’t 18 months ago, referring to the October 2023 parklet ban that was approved, but quickly vetoed by Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
Doyle said it was time to vote on the two ordinances: the second reading failed 5-3, with Ramos, Russo, and Presinzano voting yes.
“We picked up one since 18 months ago. Thanks Paul,” Russo joked after the vote.
“To those of you who voted no, thank you for letting the public know that 25 restaurants are more important than 65,000 residents,” Markle said after the vote.
The ordinance up for first reading eventually passed unanimously (8-0).
