Former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer asked the city council to put up a resolution urging the state to obtain easements for Rebuild by Design in Jersey City and two council members have obliged her request.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I am writing to urge you to advocate clearly, strongly and in writing, for the State to use all means legally at its disposal to obtain the outstanding Rebuild by Design easements in Jersey City as quickly as possible, so that the final impediments to the completion of this critical project are resolved,” she wrote in Wednesday in a letter that also went to Mayor Ravi Bhalla.
” … I was quite surprised when I recently learned that the Jersey City easements had still not been obtained. I was further surprised to learn that Mayor Fulop, who to my knowledge had never before raised any reservations about the project in the 9 years since the grant was awarded, was now opposing it unless his demands relating to a proposed new light rail station on 18th Street in Jersey City were met.”
Last week, the New York Times published a story about Hoboken’s trials and tribulations related to Rebuild by Design, indicating that Fulop “has yet to sign off on several required easements,” citing a potential conflict with pre-existing plans for a new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station (though Gov. Phil Murphy’s office said no conflict exists and the state would cover the added costs).
After that story was published, Zimmer tweeted at Bhalla asking him to join her in advocating for the Jersey City easement portion of the project to be completed.
That led to some political jousting between her and the city, with the former mayor exclaiming that Fulop is holding the project “hostage” with Bhalla complicit for future political gain, as only HCV reported.
She referenced that story as well, expressed concern that Hoboken didn’t not push back on Jersey City’s position in the matter.
“My additional statement to HCV was provided only after I was informed of the extremely concerning content of Hoboken’s statement. Hoboken’s statement appeared to actually support Mayor Fulop’s withholding of the easements, despite the obvious enormous negative ramifications for Hoboken residents,” she also said in Wednesday’s letter.
“In addition, Jersey City’s statement to HCV inaccurately claimed that RBD would ‘increase flood risks to Jersey City.’ Rather than refute this factually incorrect claim, Hoboken’s statement seemed to reinforce it. The extensive modeling done in connection with the design of the project, which Caleb Stratton, Hoboken’s Chief Resiliency Officer, is well versed in, clearly establishes that flood risk to Jersey City (including vital JCMUA infrastructure) would be reduced.”
A Jersey City spokeswoman did not return an email seeking comment, but Stratton indicated that the $297.6 million Rebuild by Design project, which broke ground at the end of October, said in response that the project is on schedule.
“After working so closely with Mayor Zimmer and being intentional about how we operated in a collaborative way to get Rebuild by Design approved, I am disappointed in her characterization of the status of the project,” he began.
“As Chief Resiliency Officer for the City of Hoboken who was hired by Mayor Zimmer to manage the Rebuild by Design project, I appreciate her continued advocacy however, some of the opinions expressed by Mayor Zimmer are just that, opinions. As the person who has sat at the right hand of Mayor Bhalla in meetings with the Governor’s office, the DEP, and Mayor Fulop and his staff in Jersey City, I am confident that the project is moving forward on schedule, and the DEP will have the easements in 2024.”
Zimmer questioned how Stratton could possibly know when the easements will be completed.
“Caleb Stratton has looked into his crystal ball and predicted that the easements will somehow be obtained sometime in 2024. But it is fact, not opinion, that Jersey City has publicly acknowledged that it continues to withhold the easements until its demands are met. Caleb has no way of knowing if or when these issues will be resolved,” she stated.
“As a former member of my RBD team, Caleb knows better than anyone in the Bhalla Administration that clear written advocacy has been essential to keep the project on track through many challenging twists and turns. I urge Mayor Bhalla and the City Council not to continue to remain silent on this critical issue, but to advocate clearly and strongly in writing to Governor Murphy and NJDEP Commissioner LaTourette.”
At Monday’s council meeting, the governing body will vote on a resolution urging the state to obtain the Jersey City easements via “all of the legal tools at the State’s disposal, including its power of eminent domain if necessary …”
The resolution is sponsored by 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos and 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino.
Hopefully the City Council will pass the resolution 9-0. That would send a strong message to the State that getting this done is really important for Hoboken and move the ball forward. It would also probably put the public debate about the issue into the rear view mirror.
Yep definitely Stan Ur help is so appreciated
The resolution will def move the needle so glad dawn did this
Now can u go back to hiking and not living in Hoboken. No one misses u
And you can crawl back under your rock.
SW residents are glad Stan and Dawn still care!
That would be nice to see however, Ravi’s rubber stamps on the council say no.
Remember when Jim Doyle used to be considered a reform councilman? Now, he’s sold out for a council paycheck, a can of Bud and Ravi’s henchmen telling him how to vote.
Emily Jabbour thinks the job is selling BS to the public and acts angry if they are disobedient and voice disagreement to Ravi’s personal political objectives/career.
Ravi Bhalla needs Fulop’s support if he has any chance at all to move up into a County seat.
Caleb Stratton again proves will do or say whatever Bhalla tells him to say.
Dawn Zimmer no longer has any reason to cover up for either Bhalla or Fulop.
Find out who owns the property and you will find out your answers
Nice gesture but …
There is little expectation that Mayor Fulop will ever side with Hoboken and do the right thing over his very generous developers and his own personal agenda.
The ultimate decision maker is the State of NJ not Mayor Fulop. The point of the exercise is not to persuade Mayor Fulop. It is to persuade the State to use the authority it has to get this done.
If the State (and Mayor Bhalla) just defaults to Mayor Fulop rather than stepping in and making the right decision for the health and safety of the region, then RBD is dead.
Zimmer is right
“ Caleb “ the bro doesn’t live here
Nor does Ryan or Jennifer
The whole woke directorship live far from our city – they done come to town often to come to work
Why should they Ravi hardly does
Too busy on his podcasts
I’ll ignore stunning immaturity reflected in your post and answer your sarcastic claim about whether the resolution will “move the needle.”
Effective advocacy is cumulative. The resolution wouldn’t be decisive by itself. But as Mayor Zimmer wrote in her letter, it would help reinforce the advocacy directly to the governor that she has already done. It would also help repair the damage caused by the clearly counterproductive messaging in Hoboken’s recent public statements on this issue.
Oddly, the sarcasm in your post makes it seem like you don’t want the resolution to move the needle forward. That would be a really troubling perspective from any Hoboken resident. I certainly hope it is not the perspective of anybody whose salary is paid by Hoboken taxpayers.
This was meant as an answer to “Go away Stan and Dawn” above.
If the State of NJ is charged with action here, why isn’t Murphy acting?
Does he have another BLM protest to attend or something?