As of today, children and adult leagues will be able to play basketball at a brand new gymnasium at 7th and Jackson Streets, where Hoboken officials cut the ribbon earlier today.
The nearly 7,000-square-foot gym allows the city to add an additional division for girls in grades five through eight with three extra teams, as well as expanding the total amount of teams in grades three and four from 20 to 28.
During public remarks, Mayor Ravi Bhalla told the children and officials, including Councilmen Mike Russo, Ruben Ramos, and Phil Cohen, as well as Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour, and Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Romano (D-5), gathered at the presser that public/private partnerships is a phrase that they’ll hear more of as they age.
The partnership with Bijou Properties includes other amenities besides the newly 7,000-square-foot gym.
“That’s what makes this so special is that we’re able to have this gym built with private dollars, as well as a two-acre resiliency park, a playground and 42 units of affordable housing,” Bhalla said.
“For Hoboken, we’re bursting at the seams, especially with our younger children, providing adequate recreational facilities … this is a game changer from the standpoint of creating more space, creating additional teams for additional grades … so it’s great for the kids and it also provides time slots for adult recreation as well,” said Bhalla.
While not in attendance for the ribbon cutting, Bijou Partners’ Larry Bijou said in a statement that a new city-run gymnasium is long overdue.
“As a Hoboken-based company, we take a civic minded approach to every development project. That was certainly the case at the award-winning 7 Seventy House (the new private resident building developed by the company where a studio can run as high as over $2,500 per month) and the end-result was this state-of-the-art, nearly 7,000 square-foot gym.”
Additionally, the company’s director of development, Christopher Mazzola, attended the event.
“For me and Larry: Hoboken is home. We live here and we work here. And when we create new projects, we think about our commitment to community, we take it very seriously. It’s about creating great neighborhoods.”