State of the City address

On Monday, Jan. 30, Mayor Dawn Zimmer gave her seventh State of the City address to the people of Hoboken. The event kicked off with opening remarks from assemblywoman Anette Chaparro and a performance by the Garden Street School of Performing Arts. After their performance, Stevens’ new provost, Dr. Christophe Pierre, gave some additional remarks. Assemblywoman Chaparro then took the stage again to introduce Mayor Zimmer. Zimmer covered all of Hoboken’s latest achievements and her vision for a better Hoboken, mainly focused on more green space and an improved water detention system.

The evening began by Chaparro calling for the presentation of the colors by the Hoboken police and fire departments. During the presentation of the colors, a high school senior from Hoboken High School performed the national anthem. Next, Monsignor Myers led the assembly in prayer. Assemblywoman Chaparro then welcomed the audience and thanked many people in the room, including many of the members of the Hoboken City Council, members of the local and state government, and the veterans in the audience. Chaparro then introduced the members of the Garden Street School of Performing Arts for a performance that included singing and dancing. The school, specifically the young boy who sang, received a standing ovation from the audience.

Provost Pierre then took the stage welcoming the members of the city to Stevens. Pierre told the audience about his background, joking that he previously came from Illinois even though he has a French accent. He noted how he is new to Stevens and Hoboken, and was happily surprised when he first came here. He believes that Stevens is poised to play a significant role now and in the future. He then moved on to Hoboken and its numerous triumphs in the past years, as well as the challenges Hoboken is currently working on. He ended by saying that he is “looking forward to hearing about the progress and the plans for what is his new hometown.”

Chaparro took the stage one final time to share her experiences with Mayor Zimmer. She started off by directly mentioning that she had not voted for Mayor Zimmer during her first run in 2009. However, she reached out to the mayor and saw how welcoming she was. She complimented the Mayor on her ability to assemble an effective team, and even reach out to those who once opposed her. Chaparro noted that she was even asked by the Mayor to run to represent New Jersey’s 33rd district and was thankful to the mayor for that opportunity. She ended her speech by reintroducing Mayor Zimmer.

Mayor Zimmer began with a welcome message to the audience, specifically Stevens students, President Farvardin, the students of the Garden Street School of Performing Arts, and all who participated in the opening ceremonies. Zimmer began by mentioning the progress of Hoboken’s schools. The schools have begun two major programs to help make learning more fun and engaging for students. 90% of Hoboken High School’s students have applied to college and in total have received over seven million dollars in scholarship money. Zimmer then moved to the restoration of the Hoboken Library and the great improvement it will bring to the community.

Next, Zimmer talked about to the individual members of the Hoboken community. She began by telling the unfortunate story of the Cohen family, who lost their daughter due to a congenital heart defect after only two months. They now work to support those with their daughter’s specific issue. Zimmer then moved to Charles Boyd Senior and his impact on the young people of the community. A building was recently named in his honor for the work he had done for the community. Zimmer talked about the veterans and their dedication to the community, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Finally, Zimmer mentioned the passing of Sada Fritz, who was an advocate for public parks and against the overdevelopment of the waterfront.

Zimmer thanked her husband and two sons and then moved on to the improvements in the city. She began by discussing the new flood pump and how it has helped the city. When news crews arrived to take footage of a flooded Hoboken, they found nothing but wet pavement thanks to the new pump. She then discussed water not only coming from rain but also coastal flooding due to major storms. In order to help with the infrastructure necessary to prevent coastal flooding, the city is working to clear the last hurdles to acquire a $230 million grant. She wants Hoboken to be an example for the country on how to successfully combat the threat of severe flooding.

Afterward, Zimmer discussed upgrades to the old water mains throughout the city. Once the water mains are replaced, the repaving of Washington Street will begin. Zimmer is currently in negotiations to acquire one million dollars per year to continually improve the water main system.

One of the problems currently facing Hoboken is the limited green space in the western portion of the city. Soon, Hoboken will add eight acres of park land to western Hoboken. There are other projects in the work to construct new parks and community spaces, with infrastructure in mind. The new parks will be able to detain over 1.5 million gallons of storm water. There will also be a new municipal parking garage added to alleviate parking issues. The city is also moving to a pay-by-app system to pay for parking and adding meters to other places in Hoboken. These will help to generate funds for the city to contribute to these new projects.

Washington Street will soon see renovations as well as over 150 blocks within Hoboken. Also, as part of city infrastructure, Hoboken has built up its bike share program and bus program. The bike share program is one of the few self-funding in the world, and it will be expanding. The energy infrastructure will also be seeing an upgrade with the improvement of electrical substations to improve their function and keep them safe from floods. Also on the energy front, natural gas power generators have been installed in key places such as the police station and the four fire stations in Hoboken.

The city’s recreational programs are continually growing in popularity and this has sparked the creation of a new flag football team. In addition to this, a rock climbing gym, called Gravity Vault, will be coming to Hoboken in the near future. There are new businesses opening across Hoboken, most notably a Trader Joe’s on 14th street. To help keep the city clean and functioning for these new businesses, as well as the citizens, the city has purchased two sidewalk sweepers, a hot asphalt machine, and a snow melter.

The mayor proposed to limit residential development at the entrances of Hoboken and instead promote commercial development to reduce the number of cars in the city. The city will work to implement a new traffic circulation plan to help improve the flow of cars and safety of pedestrians. The city has also implemented a new ten percent rule in terms of housing construction to help add low-income housing and keep Hoboken economically diverse. These low-income housing units will also received funding for new elevators to help senior citizens and the homeless shelter has also received funding to help upgrade internal infrastructure and take care of those who need assistance.

The mayor congratulated all of the city’s first responders and the improvements they have made. She also thanked them for their work during the train crash in September. Violent crime is down 16% and robberies are down 35% thanks to the Hoboken Police Department. Hoboken also implemented an emergency services unit to help combat any type of situation, particularly terrorism, and expanded the investigation unit to allow 24/7 investigations.

The mayor closed by noting that taxes will remain stable and that the bond status of the city has gone from junk to AA+. The mayor closed with her first memories of Hoboken and how her view of the city has changed over time.