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Mayor Ravi Bhalla delivers his first "State of the City" address center stage on DeBaun Auditorium. Photo by Matthew Cunningham.

Mayor Ravi Bhalla delivers his first “State of the City” Address

Hoboken residents, students, councilpersons, and public servants shuffled into DeBaun Auditorium at Stevens Institute of Technology to see the city’s 39th mayor, Ravi Bhalla, give his first State of the City Address on Wednesday, January 30.

Following an opening ceremony that included remarks from Councilwoman Emily Jabbour and performances by the Hoboken High School’s Select Chorus and Thespians Club, Mayor Bhalla took the stage. In his half-hour speech, he thanked several community members for their work, including Stevens President Nariman Farvardin, spoke about Hoboken’s schools and police department, and outlined his administration’s main accomplishments and goals. These goals included a Vision Zero traffic safety plan, major water main upgrades through a renegotiated contract with SUEZ, and a Climate Action Plan to make Hoboken carbon neutral by 2035.

Following the footsteps of former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Bhalla opened his State of the City address with a report on Hoboken’s public schools. Under the leadership of superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson and the Board of Education, said Bhalla, “the public schools have grown by leaps and bounds in the past several years,” thanks to after-school and STEM programs. He further reported that in 2018, 94% of Hoboken High School seniors were accepted to college, bringing in nearly $14 million in scholarships.

Again following Zimmer’s lead, Mayor Bhalla told the story of a young Hobokenite struck by illness. Satya Singh was diagnosed with cancer at age one, and, having survived, inspired over $500,000 in donations towards childhood cancer research. The Mayor offered his sincere thanks and recognition.

Mayor Bhalla moved on to voice his commitment to making every resident of Hoboken feel “welcome, safe, and cared for.” Under his administration, Bhalla reported, all city workers have been secured parental leave, a new task force has provided job training and housing vouchers to the homeless, and over 500 residents have received help from Hoboken’s Office of Constituent Affairs, which reopened last year. He added that in 2018, Hoboken was one of only two cities in New Jersey awarded a perfect score by the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization that focuses on LGBTQ issues.

The Mayor intends to make the city just as welcoming to small businesses and announced plans to create a Special Improvement District. Within Special Improvement Districts, property and business owners often pay an additional tax, or assessment, to provide services to the area beyond what the city alone can offer. In this case, Mayor Bhalla said the District will “make investments and create marketing opportunities on behalf of our small business community,” which he believes will be a “game-changer.”

Helping businesses also involves boosting Hoboken’s reputation as a destination city, according to Bhalla, “Yes, for the food, the walkability, and the proximity to New York City, but also as a hub for the arts and culture community.” He hopes to achieve this with the installation of new art projects and murals, to be made possible in part by an executive order signed in June of last year, which requires that up to 1% of the city’s future bond ordinances go towards funding public art.

Additionally, the Mayor said he will continue to fight efforts by NY Waterway to turn the Union Dry Dock property into a ferry maintenance and refueling station. In December of last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the necessary permit to NY Waterway, but the Bhalla administration remains hopeful. According to Bhalla, “this property should be utilized as publicly accessible waterfront space, and not for the purpose of lining the pockets of a corporation.”

Mayor Bhalla also highlighted some quality of life improvements under his administration. Most recently, he signed into law a plastic bag ban, thanks to the advocacy of students and teachers at the All Saints Episcopal Day School. The students approached Bhalla, then a councilman, with the idea to reduce plastic waste. They are now, in Bhalla’s words, “living proof that by speaking up and making your voices heard, you can accomplish anything, no matter what your age.”

Another major goal, he said, is to upgrade old parks and construct new ones, including a Special Needs and Inclusive park. Many of these improvements will be part of the city’s so-called “Parks as Defense Strategy,” which aims to incorporate flood prevention measures into all new park designs. Such designs, according to Bhalla, will be used in an expansion of Hoboken’s Southwest Park. And a fully new six-acre Northwest Resiliency Park is set to open this year, which he imagines will be like “Hoboken’s own Central Park.”

Flood protection will be further advanced as the administration moves forward on the $230 million Rebuild by Design project, whose Citizens Advisory Group is chaired by former Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The project seeks to provide protection to the city while avoiding, in Bhalla’s words, “big, ugly seawalls.” To give input on the design, residents are invited to attend two Design Zone Workshops — one on Monday, February 4 at 7 p.m. at the Hoboken Multi-Service Center and the other on Thursday, February 7 at 7 p.m. at Elysian Charter School.

These development efforts will complement major renovations to the old YMCA in uptown Hoboken, made possible by a $5 million public benefits deal with KMS Development Partners. Two of the five million dollars will go to the YMCA renovation project, to create a community pool, classroom space, and a new library branch. All of this, Mayor Bhalla emphasizes, “at zero taxpayer expense.”

Also included in the deal is $1 million towards infrastructure, $1 million to the Hoboken Public Education Foundation, and $400,000 to charter schools. Additionally, Vanessa Falco, councilwoman and Assistant Director of Pre-College Programs at Stevens, secured $200,000 for Hoboken’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Mayor Bhalla thanked her and others for their advocacy.

Reminding residents of his pledge to be “Hoboken’s infrastructure Mayor,” Bhalla offered an update on the ongoing Washington Street Project: expect it to be completed “in just a few months.” Other projects, such as major water main renovations stemming from a renegotiated contract with SUEZ, are hopefully forthcoming. If finalized, the new contract will contain $1.5 million designated each year for proactive water main replacements. Separately, the administration plans to spend $10 million over the next two years replacing antique water mains — cast iron pipes laid as early as 1880, according to Hoboken Business Administrator Stephen Marks. Water main investments will total $33 million over the next 15 years if approved by the City Council.

Above ground, Hoboken’s Vision Zero campaign, one of Mayor Bhalla’s “most important priorities of 2019,” aims to have zero traffic deaths and injuries in Hoboken by 2030 via smarter road and crosswalk designs. The initiative has been adopted by nearly 20 cities in the United States so far.

Public safety has already improved in other ways. According to Bhalla, crime in Hoboken dropped by 18% in 2018, and emergency response times have decreased. The Mayor thanked Police Chief Ken Ferrante and Fire Chief Brian Crimmins for making Hoboken “a much safer place to live than in years past.” He also congratulated Dana Mulvaney on becoming Hoboken’s first female fire inspector.

Finally, Mayor Bhalla addressed the issue of climate change — “Despite what you hear from the White House, climate change poses an enormous threat to our future.” The U.S. Green Building Council named Hoboken a LEED Gold City, a first among New Jersey cities. “But it’s clear we can do more, and we must do more,” he said. The Mayor announced the Hoboken Climate Action Plan, which will promote energy efficiency in buildings and transportation. “Our Climate Action Plan aims for Hoboken municipal operations to be net zero by 2025 and carbon neutral by 2035, and for the City as a whole to be net zero by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050, which are standards that exceed the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement.”

“Ladies and gentleman, the state of our city is very strong and our future is very bright.”

Before leaving the podium, he reminded the audience, “My door is always open. My phone is always on.”

While some were disappointed by Mayor Bhalla’s decision to leave out the work and accomplishments of several city councilpersons, others were pleased by speech. Following the address, Vanessa Falco said she was happy to receive a “shoutout” from the mayor and to hear him bring attention to some of the more important things that are going on in the city.

Beth McGrath, Vice President for Government and Community Relations and Chief of Staff at Stevens, said “the State of the City Address provided an excellent report of progress in Hoboken over the last year.” She noted that pedestrian and traffic safety improvements, water infrastructure improvements, and reduced crime rates have “a direct and positive impact on the Stevens community.”

When asked about potential collaborations between Stevens and the city on upcoming engineering projects, she responded, “there have been preliminary discussions with members of the Bhalla administration with Prof. Jon Miller regarding collaborations on a living shoreline in Weehawken Cove.”

On behalf of Stevens, McGrath added, “We were pleased that Mayor Bhalla thanked Stevens for hosting the event and acknowledged President Farvardin’s leadership during his remarks.”

A full video of the 2019 State of the City Address can be found on the @Hoboken Facebook page.

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