Jersey City residents will be able to park their vehicles in all public school parking lots during the city’s COVID-19-related state of emergency, officials said.
By Corey McDonald/Hudson County View
The school district will open its 33 parking lots “throughout each corridor of the city” for residents to park their vehicles while the city remains under a state of emergency, city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said in a statement.
“There are so many people who are usually going to work or taking their children to school, but now they are staying home due to the emergency but there aren’t enough parking spaces,” Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker added.
“By opening up the lots around the city, we can at least ease those anxieties somewhat and share what we have to be a part of the process in helping the community get through this challenging time.”
The fast-spreading coronavirus has upended daily life for residents: school districts have closed, workers have been asked to stay home, and state and local governments are urging their residents to practice “social distancing” and self quarantining in order to keep the virus’ transmission at bay and to try and ease the pressure on local health care facilities.
While Gov. Phil Murphy (D) ordered all state schools, both public and private, to shutdown indefinitely, the Jersey City Public Schools have already extended their cancellations into next week out of an abundance of caution as coronavirus cases rise.
Mayor Steven Fulop on Tuesday declared the state of emergency yesterday, which closed most commercial businesses.
“This is a tremendous gesture and a smart move by the School District to alleviate overburdened parking resources in the city with so many people sensibly staying home to avoid transmission of this highly contagious disease,” Fulop stated.
“This new availability of the lots illustrates how we are all pulling together to not only keep our residents safe, but to also ease the transition into to the emergency procedures we must follow to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.”
As of this report, there are currently 25 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Hudson County, the New Jersey Department of Health announced this afternoon.
Thus far, 14 cases have been announced publicly: five in Jersey City, five in Hoboken, two in West New York, and two in North Bergen.
Follow Corey McDonald on Twitter @cwmcdonald_
