Protest Outside the Home of Mayor Cammarano

Above is a video of a proteste outside of Mayor Peter Cammarano's home. I copied it from Hoboken 411 the site that covers the protest with the same zest they cover everything: like a vacuous, pee brained Hobokenite. I have not seen this many people gathered in Hoboken since the bars let out Friday night at 2:00 AM. Maybe people in Hoboken really are fed up with their government and they really want a change. The video is a bit crazy and the voters/citizens take it out on a Cammarano supporter.

I knew Cammarano a little bit, I first met him when I helped out with the Menendez campaign and he was so "pumped" for the campaign I knew there was something wrong with him. I said to him: "Menendez?" "Why are you here then" He said. I said the same reason I always support the Democrats because I don't want Republicans to win." He looked at me funny. He asked me what I did. So, I told him I am a prisoner reentry attorney helping to ease prisoners back into society. He looked at me like I had three horns on my head (it is part of the reason I like saying that). The rest of the attorneys looked at me funny too. He wasn't alone.

From then on, however I knew he was just another politician like the rest. He certainly had talent and was smart enough. I saw him at political meetings/voter protection meetings and everyone knew he was gearing up to run for Mayor. He was usually full of shit and said things to just be part of the conversation. He never recognized me though we worked together several times and we had several conversations. But, he would act like he knew me. I usually said something snarky and he just ignored me. He supported Clinton and I was one of the big Hoboken Obama supporters. No one in Hoboken liked that until Obama won and then all of a sudden everyone was a big Obama supporter from the beginning.

A friend of mine always told me: "Wait. He is going to get his. The Guy has skeletons." Turns out he was right. I don't think there is any question he should resign. He is innocent until proven guilty, surely, but there is a difference between being found guilty of a federal crime and doing something morally repugnant. Unless the government is lying through their teeth this guy took bribes and acted like a complete asshole. Whether the government has enough is a question, but the people of Hoboken already have and have had enough.

“hid (IN) hoboken” at Eureka Market Art Gallery

“hid (IN) hoboken” at Eureka Market Art Gallery

The hob’art cooperative gallery has announced a new exhibition, “hid (IN) hoboken” opening on June 15th at the new Eureka Market Art Gallery, 259 First Street, Hoboken, which will showcase artwork by many members of the non-profit organization. The Eureka Market is sponsored by Traders of Babylon to encourage the arts and the artists in Hudson County. Liz Cohen, President of hob’art is curating this show.

There will be an opening reception on Friday, June 19th from 6 to 9 p.m. Ndaje, an African Drumming group will perform during the reception. On Monday, June 22nd, at 6 p.m., the Garden State Dance Project, a renowned dance troupe will perform modern interpretive, hip hop, and break dancing. There will be a small entry fee.

During the exhibition, the gallery will be open Monday thru Friday, 9 am to 7pm, on Saturdays, from 9 to 4 pm, and the show can be viewed on Sundays by appointment. The closing date for the exhibit is July 15th.

For additional information, please visit www.hob-art.org and www.romance art.biz. You may contact Liz Cohen at conchart@aol.com or 201-424-1275. The art gallery can be contacted through Traders of Babylon, 201-659-0802, babylon@pipeline.com.

hob'arts hoboken: art exhibit at historical museum

The Hoboken Historical Museum will host an exhibition of Hoboken images created by eight members of the hobʼart cooperative gallery from March 3 to April 12, 2009 entitled, “hobʼartʼs Hoboken.” The show was created by Roslyn Rose and juried by Robert Foster, Museum Director. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, March 1 from 2 to 5 pm in the Upper Gallery. On Sunday, March 29, at 4 pm there will be a panel discussion, “Art in a New Era.” Each of the panelists will explain how they have individually used both traditional and modern technology to capture a singular view of our much loved city of Hoboken.

The exhibiting artists include Elizabeth Cohen, who has been inspired to connect a cherished childhood doll with images of Hoboken. Roslyn Rose blends manipulated images of local scenes with old photographs to suggest moments that may have occurred. Andrea Milo photographs locations that are not typical images of the city. Tom Eganʼs pictures of the old piers at night were taken before they were incorporated into community parks. Virginia Parrottʼs recent images of Hoboken are a departure from the strictly documentary. Leona Seufert, not a Hoboken resident, is displaying digital collages of architectural aspects of our transit hub, which she views during her frequent visits. Femi Ford painted the scene from her apartment in the North East part of the city as a gift to a man who wanted to see Hoboken again before he died. Sissi Siska creates unique paintings on silk, including a view of the community that honors our memories of 9/11/01.

The Museum is located at 1301 Hudson Street, Hoboken. They can be contacted at 201-656-2240 or at the website: www.hobokenmuseum.org. Museum hours are Tuesday to Thursday, 2 to 7 pm, Fridays, 1 to 5 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 5 pm.

Contact: Roslyn Rose
Press Secretary
Roslynrosestudio@gmail.com
www.hob-art.com

hob'art exhibits!

and

Thur, Dec 5 - Feb 14: "Our Hoboken", Sovereign Bank, Hoboken, NJ
As seen on NJ.com online and offline in 'The Waterfront'

and

Mar 1 - Apr 12: "hob'art's Hoboken", Hoboken Historical Museum, Hoboken, NJ
Mar 1: Opening Reception
Mar 29: Panel discussion

A Moment of Empathy in Hoboken

I walked to my Dr.'s appointment today in Hoboken. I took the light rail, which is such a cool form of transportation. It feels like Europe and the views if you take it to Bayonne or over here to Paulus Hook are astounding. The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan, etc. It is beautiful. If you haven't taken it you should. Anyway. I digress. I went to my Dr. appointment and on the way back to the light rail I stopped at Dunkin Donuts.

As I was walking there I noticed a familiar face collecting change outside the Dunkin Donuts. She is a rough character, but deadpan honest if you speak to her. She reminds me (for some reason) of Ellen Page in Juno. But, she is weary, you can tell, standing in the freezing cold, probably 10 degrees with the wind chill and she is shabbily dressed. She looks exactly like what she is -homeless. Anyway, I give her the change in my pocket, say hello and walk in to Dunkin Donuts. I change my mind and thought I don't want this dreadful coffee (though I prefer it over Starbucks) so I washed my mug and left. No more coffee today.

As I departed I noticed she was still collecting outside the Dunkin Donuts and then I witnessed a moment in human interaction that I thought worth writing about. I noticed a woman, probably a stay at home mom, a yuppie, the privileged in Hoboken that altered this community forever. She left just before me out of Dunkin Donuts, but she was staring at her bagel and she stopped in front of me and turned back, clearly pensive and about to make a move. Her daughter in the baby carriage about two years old, covered by a plastic wrap probably warmer than the young homeless woman has been all day. She turned as I watched and she approached the young woman and said "do you want the other half of this bagel? I just bought it, but I know I won't finish it." The young woman stared at her for a moment in pause and said, "yes." Nothing else, but her eyes said it all, and then "thank you." And the woman turned to leave and said "good luck." You could tell the young woman hadn't felt that kindness in a while.

Wow, I thought, the human feeling of empathy. That is what is missing. A human soul on the street, begging for the necessities of life and what that is like. It is what is missing from the discussions in Gaza. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Mumbai and China. Our ability to see what it is like to live in someone else's shoes. If we ever lose this for good, we lose everything.

hoboken dance off

watch our local dancer on the sidewalks of hoboken get challenged to a dance off!

Our New First Family

I wondered what I could write about this morning, it is such an historic day and words are sometimes inexpressive enough to capture a moment. I feel that today. This morning and last night, however several people commented to me I thought I might share. My mom called me last night at about 11:02, shortly after my twin brother called me to congratulate my hard work and react to the idiots at his job who keep talking about assassination. I urged him not to pay attention to such hateful talk. My mom could hardly speak, she said: "I am speechless" as she sobbed into the phone. I thought I might cry as well. "And they just called Florida, honey." "I am so happy." R. Thelonius lamented about the problems with Georgia, "wtf is wrong down there?" "But, my wife has a new boss and she is happy."

This morning as La Francaise cursed the day because she had to get up and go to work, we walked in Hoboken. First, infemity's partner was at the coffee house we usually frequent and I said "hello." He commented he was tired because "I had to see the speech." I asked, as I knew he liked Ron Paul, "was he happy?" He said: "Well, I just hated John McCain and at least now we have a President that can pronounce "Nuclear." I smiled and it seems everyone is taking part in the history of the moment. I saw an African-American woman on television say: "I feel taller and stronger today."

I saw an older friend in Hoboken as I took the laundry to the laundromat. I helped her vote yesterday, or at least find the right district to vote in - in Hoboken. She said: "Did you stay there all day yesterday?" as I petted her new cute dog. I said: "Yes. it was tiring." She said, "well it was a great night." She is over 70 most likely, but in phenomenally good health. "I was sooo happy about Florida." "Thank you she said." after I told I just came back from there Monday night. "I am so upset about Georgia, though." Now the second person in 12 hours to say this to me. "I grew up in southwest Georgia." I always wondered where in the south she was from. "I hated segregation, it was awful and terrible for all of the people. Even today, they accept black people, but there is a line that cannot be crossed. I just cannot go back there anymore. But, last night was worth the wait. Maybe things really will change."

Maybe.

go left in hoboken!

thanks to john f.'s watchful eye in hoboken, here is a great photo...

a perfect message for election day!

art n' fashion -- jersey style

fall is here! time for the annual jersey city artists tour ... my personal favorite stop will be found object art at van vorst park to see the interaction of art and nature in deborah pohl's traffic cone #3: for the birds, see photo above.

note that for both days of the studio tour, the jersey city museum (gallery hours 12pm-5pm saturday and 12pm-8pm sunday) will offer free admission to all visitors.

fall is also the time to break out last year's gear (like i always do) or buy something new ... at rubee's closet ... run there this weekend for 15% off all sweaters and jackets!

hoboken's new spots -- d a m e s & s w e e t

update: sweet is now open for business! cupcakes and mini cupcakes, cookies, brownies, red velvet cake, ganache cake and more... as well as many hot/cold coffee drinks. sweet has a warm, friendly vibe & enjoyable "mom's kitchen" decor. there are some tables to sit at and enjoy your fresh from the oven treats.

___________________________________________________________________
oh also another new local goodie on the horizon, sweet, a bakery opening on garden and 4th streets (in the old rue de jardin spot)... we spoke to the owner, angela. her staff bakes everything on the premises.


at last, my prayers answered... just when my green tea habit really set in... no more running to joe the art of coffee on the weekend or missing the old mola vibe...

dames coffee espresso bar set up shop early in july on first (the street with no chain stores) near clinton street. finally had a chance to try their drinks. dames did not disappoint. we tried a frozen mocha and a vanilla latte (with simple yet elegant latte art). yum. better than joe since the baristas are not as rushed. i've had a few mediocre drinks and because of a crowd one time some dude swiped my drink from the bar.

dames has a serious, new & shiny la marzocco espresso machine. the decor is minimalist, black & white, with some small works of art on the brick walls, and a fancy chandelier adds a fancy touch. some limited counter space to sit and drink. too bad the space is not bigger for a few tables. dames serves counter culture fair trade, organic coffee. hopefully dames can counter the spread of starbucks in hoboken.

read more about dames on the road to epiphany and check out temp tamp!

hoboken still has a soul... help support these local businesses!

Reform und Drang: Part I

A special piece to the Subversive Garden regarding the victories, defeats and eventual schism of the Hoboken Reform movement from the artful and insider view by Hobogomil. A brilliant piece on the politics of the reform movement and why in general progressive politics cannot slay the dragon of either the evil Republicans or the corrupt (wink, wink), democrats of Hudson County. Ever its own tempest in a teapot, the Hoboken Reform movement boiled over boisterously this past year, making serious noises and big splashes all over town. By May, however, it had finally sizzled itself down to its last few wisps of hot air on the small but scalding surface of Hoboken politics. Perhaps feeling it had found a home on that range, it got - perhaps - overconfident after extending its reach into the wild west part of town with the 4th Ward successes. But it wasn't all flash and no substance - what strange brew left such a mess? And - hey, now - is that remaining hot air instead actually enough to raise a balloon to race around the world??

Whah hahppend??? Big, surprising victories over the Evil Machine in '07 school board, Democratic committee, and at least two city council races - capped with a 2-1 margin on a Machine-opposed open-space referendum - completely offset (and then some) an embarrassing Assembly-race thumping of erstwhile progressive icon, Carol Marsh, and heralded a Reform 'coming of age' in Hoboken. Pundits reeled, progressives cheered, and gob-smacked, gin-soaked Machine apparatchiki fell about the urine-drenched stoops of Washington Street like so many hopeless drunks. (Given the Hoboken likes of ex-State Senator Bernie Kenny, City Clerk Jimmy Farina and ex-City Business Administrator Dick England, there's actually no metaphor there.) The Machine trundled out all its cheapest tricks and heavily outspent Reform, but lost ground on almost all fronts anyway.

Okay, but -- whah hahppend??? 'Whah,whah,whah' happened. Wailing and whining about just desserts did them all dirty - first inside the Machine, then inside Reform. The County Democratic leadership, utterly convinced of its inalienable right to unmitigated feudal sovereignty, forgot entirely (and almost justifiably) about progressive dissent and opposition after a decade of beating it 90% to 10% in every race everywhere. Then little bosses got big ideas and civil war began to poke its hideous little face out from behind the relative calm and beauty of Union City white slavery and North Bergen thumb-breaking. "Why should these few old bosses (who made each of us) have all the spoils?" they bi-atched. Greed reared, complaints mounted, ranks broke, rancor followed - filtering down apace to the Machine lieutenants in Hoboken, aka New Pork City. Reform, ever staring glumly at the Machine's Great Wall, the political palisade always in front of them, quickly noted the opportunity in a crumbling Fortress Hudson and charged like newborn sea tortoises into the breach, snapping up minority representation for themselves all over town. Everywhere you looked, Reform was taking 40% of wards, district by district, most by a 51%/49% margin. Fiscal control and middle-class domination bobbed deliciously ahead in the next wave of '08 races.

Ah, but schism happens. Now, whereas the Hudson/Hoboken machine's ambition is dollar-denominated, the Hoboken reformer's ambition is ego-denominated and you can bet it didn't take more than a New York nanosecond for their morally-gifted, upper-middle-class selves to dive into an ethical pissing contest over who was most fitting as the next Yertle-on-Hudson. Some assumed it should be the one who had the most disposable income available for a political hobby. Green reared, complacency mounted...

Oh, come on -- whah really hahpennd??? In 2001, on the heels of state-of-the-art corruption under then-Mayor (and recent ex-con) Anthony Russo, current Mayor Dave Roberts - in a leap of political genius not seen anywhere since... late yesterday - lied unabashedly in claiming he'd end the regnant corruption and swept to victory over Russo with a council slate of three 'dyed-in-the-wool reformers'. Russo's machine methodology and gold-lust were so blatant Gollum and three syphilitic orcs could have beat him on character and charm alone. Somehow, though, the nascent Reform leadership of Marsh, Mike Lenz, Beth Mason and Tony Soares mistook this windfall changing of the terminally-corrupt guard as proof positive of personal political gifts - as some benediction of charmingly earnest grass-roots chaos turning coffee-klatsch into beer-hall putsch.

In actuality, Russo lieutenants jumped ship and exported Machine strategy and tactics to Roberts' covering brand, and then excised the honest if naive reform-minded progressives from the hustings. The new regime was not installed by Reform purity and spiritual eclat, but by old, thoroughly-organized cheats with a new, thoroughly-sterilized front. All ensuing (and myriad) election defeats for the dispossessed reformers were rationalized as due merely to a) lack of sufficient funding or b) vicious tandeming of assiduous back-stabbing by Roberts and a well-tapped parochiality of the born-n-raised polity. This, to be sure, would explain why slim victory might morph into narrow defeat above a citizenry supposedly hungry for Reform's college-bred, upper-middle-class sociopolitical decency- but not why they would lose election after election, by 20-30% or more. Reform leadership's surfing to initial victory on a zeitgeist of anti-corruption sentiment deftly managed by Machine retreads rather than their own organizing skills left them blind. And prone to castrating rationalizations about Reform's own vigor, charisma, skills and vision. Of course, Reform leadership proceeded to in-fight over just whose mayor-elect ego was owed coronation – rather than engage in any honest self-scrutiny.

Reform und Drang: Part II

Split happens. Mason and some arch-lieutenants (and we do mean 'arch') then splinter off in early '07 to form the revolutionary, new and improved, well-polished and all-around expialadocious Vote Hoboken political committee. [Oh, yes, folks we were there for it, the hot-air balloon having crashed right in our backyard on its way back to Kansas.] The Marsh/Lenz faction remained largely at the helm of Reform, but not by dint of any real leadership: it was squarely due to inertia - residual name-recognition, the defining voter-base apathy, and Vote Hoboken's utter inability to draw off much of a following at all. The ensuing bickering, posturing, and indignant outrage would fill a tetralogy of the cheapest of dime novels, (which - if you count hoboken 411, NJ.com's Hoboken forum, Hoboken Now and the Hoboken Reporter's Political column - it pretty much did). Suffice it to say, this dog had fleas, couldn't hunt, was all bark no bite and the incessant and feckless tail-chasing thoroughly eroded any burgeoning ascendancy Reform was evolving into. Early '07 victories intimating a potent Reform-oriented demographic turn and awakening amidst a (thereby-apocalyptic) Machine civil war were brutally reversed within a year as both County and municipal machines closed ranks, partly in response to Reform’s newfound bite.

The Last Days of Chez Fous The real, inbred craziness in the royal House of Reform was not simply the rift itself, but the protracted denial and toleration of its self-destructiveness as epitomized by the testosteronic rantings of the movement's tanists, Lenz, Jim Vance, Lane Bajardi and Tony Soares. High Priestesses Marsh and Mason stepped to the background somewhat as the feud revved up but kept the bitterness of the rivalry quite alive through the feistiness of the aforementioned publicists-cum-pugilists, who availed themselves of every forum and every opportunity to bash each other into tertiary relevance within Hoboken politics (behind the rival halves of the Machine presence).

This spawned confusion and demoralization among the core Reform polity just as the Reform gains of '07 begged for consolidation in advance of an inevitable and telegraphed Machine regrouping. By the time of this past April's school board elections, Reform was so childishly self-divided that the emblematic Kids First landslide the prior year got thoroughly reversed, spanked crudely by the most acrid dregs of Old Hoboken cronyism. This was quickly washed down with the lye of a Reform freeholder candidate's massacre several weeks later, all the more caustically as she came in third behind a divided Machine vote. The feud also spawned another pair of twins – hopefully to be separated at birth, permanently and with extreme, post-apocalyptic prejudice.

On the one (more dextrous if six-fingered) hand, a Neo-Reform leadership has emerged, questing for self-direction in the aftermath of the elder Reform leadership's abdications. Dawn Zimmer, Peter Cunningham and Theresa Minutillo retain clear leanings toward The Marsh/Lenz camp due to its greater proximity to the bulk of Reform vote and its more potent operational actors. But they have each also established an individualized independence, focused largely on the relevant school-board or city council portfolio. This lends focus to their efforts and coherence to their public profile even as it sacrifices the scope of leadership they can project. But that's okay – they limn a solid leadership profile for the necessary retooling of Hoboken Reform.

On the other (more sinister and sticky-fingered) hand, the internecinematics of the Reform movie have also allowed infancy to a pseudo-Reform counterinsurgency, a shallow co-optation led by the indelible smarm of otherwise eclipsed politicos, Peter Cammarano and Maurice Fitzgibbons. If responded to artlessly or even embraced as a lesser of evils, this new pseudointellectual goo could suck Reform/Neo-Reform down to a permanent bottom at the chill and murky depths of the Hudson political scene . Fortunately, these two soulless hacks most closely resemble those grotesquely feckless-but-fierce-looking micromonsters one sees out the bathysphere window, whose huge ugly maws have almost no impact on anything except even smaller more grotesque creatures. But those could be Reformers if the leadership doesn’t watch out.

Ah, but what is so rare as a day in June?? Despite all this, Reform hopes sprout feathers in the week following the June primaries. On a single day, complete fiscal meltdown of the city due to gross and obvious Old Guard incompetence and control of the municipal Democratic Party committee fall beneficently into Reform’s lap. Stay tuned – the ramifications of this are playing out frenetically as you read. More soon.

bike hoboken--join the livable streets group launched by a local resident

had enough of the cars taking over our narrow hoboken streets? tired of loud car alarms waking you up? fed up with cars speeding through intersections? take to the streets on your bike and let's create a critical mass of hoboken bikers!


this just in... join bike hoboken!


bike hoboken is a new group organizing the Hoboken community to make the city more bike-friendly.

bike hoboken will help to create:

• Convenient and secure bicycle parking at the PATH station
• Bike lanes and greenways.
• More bike racks around town.
• Pedestrian and bicycle-safe streets.
• Less traffic, noise, pollution and reduced demand for parking.

Attend the Hoboken bike path planning meeting: Wednesday, June 25th @ 7pm at City Hall.

hoboken's scandal-makers

update on another hoboken scandal-maker:


SWAT report slams LaBruno

by Charles Hack

Tuesday May 27, 2008, 10:59 PM

The internal investigation into the Hoboken Police Department slams Chief Carmen LaBruno for failing to control Lt. Angelo Andriani and even colluding with him to abuse his position as SWAT commander, according to a copy of the scathing report obtained today by Hoboken Now and The Jersey Journal.

The report goes beyond the Hooters photo scandal and alleges a cozy relationship between Andriani and LaBruno that led to Hoboken cops working at Andriani's Verona home and points out that the now much-maligned SWAT team served absolutely no purpose for the citizens of the Mile Square City.

Hoboken labor attorney's David Corrgian's report entitled "In the Matter of an Investigation of the Hoboken Police Department" is dated March 25 and was intended for internal use by the Hoboken administration to decide what disciplinary action to take following the scandal.

Some key findings of the report:

*"Andriani did whatever he wanted with respect to the administration and operation of the unit," which he was in charge of since 1991 when the newly appointed LaBruno granted permission to form the SWAT team."

*"The SWAT team rendered virtually no meaningful services to the city" and the services it did perform such as providing security during the World Cup and two trips to Louisiana "did not benefit any business, resident or taxpayer of the City of Hoboken."


*"The Hoboken SWAT unit was more than a waste of money and/or time. The unit's operations either directly or indirectly let (sic) to several acts of misconduct engaged in principally by Andriani."


*Chief Carmen LaBruno "permitted Andriani to keep the SWAT bus at his home in Verona, New Jersey and work from home," where police officers worked on Andriani's boat and SWAT bus while being paid by the city.

*"'Working outside of Hoboken gave Andriani a license to have the police officers engage in private work for Andriani while the were being paid by the city."


*Andriani and LaBruno entered into a "secret" and "illegal" verbal agreement in the guise of aiding the SWAT operation, where Andriani allowed the police department to use his boat. But the "contract was not submitted to the City Council as required by law. The city received not benefits whatsoever. LaBruno let Andriani use the City's dock, which cost $15,000 for Andriana's boating pleasure."

*LaBruno allowed Andriani to collect SWAT dues through members' paycheckd without exercising "any oversight" on how the funds were spent.


*La Bruno allowed Andriani to use the SWAT funds to pay for the chief's trip for the Maddi Gras trip in 2006, stopping off at Houston where his family was on vacation.


The report also details the circumstances of the two trips to Louisiana after Katrina in the fall of 2005 and for Mardi Gras in early 2006, which led to infamous pictures of Hooter's waitresses, handling SWAT weapons for the camera..


The report, while showing that La Bruno had intervened to prevent disciplinary action against Andriani, also criticizes four police officers for allowing Andriani's misconduct as a "racist, liar and cheat" to continue longer than it should by not reporting until it was reported to Internal Affairs in Oct. 15, 2007.

LaBruno , 59, will retire shortly with an estimated $147,555 annual pension, plus a one-time payment of between $275,000 and $375,000, as per his contract with the city. That includes compensation for 150 unused vacation days and $150,000 in termination pay

Historic Missteps for the Hoboken City Council: Almost 8 Million in Debt

Below is a letter from the newest City Council Woman Dawn Zimmer. I am posting the letter in its entirety. It is astounding at this city's ability to misspend and hide the true nature of the Hoboken budget and outright lie to the people that elected them. Can you say transparency? Open government? Not in Hoboken.

Dear Friends,

Over the past several weeks, my fellow City Council colleagues and I learned that the Administration has been misleading the City Council and the people of Hoboken about the state of our City's finances. We have spent millions of dollars more in this fiscal year than the Mayor disclosed in his budget. The City has been hiding its true spending by continually "sliding" payments into the next fiscal year. This practice is clearly irresponsible and very likely illegal.

The most egregious example is our health insurance. Last week, the City's health insurance was almost cancelled due to the fact that we had fallen at least 4 months behind in our bills. This was not a simple oversight. The City had under budgeted its health insurance by $3,600,000, and the Administration was trying to hide the information from its citizens. The City simply stopped paying its bills, planning to hide the true cost of this year's operations in next year's budget.

Had the City not received a termination notice from the insurer, we may never have discovered what was going on. We still don't know what other expenses may have been hidden in this way. There are 40 days left in the fiscal year, and the Administration is still unable or unwilling to provide a straight answer as to how much it cost to run the City this year.

As of today, we know that our budget deficit is at least $7,900,000. Once full information is known, it is likely that the number will be even higher. The City has exceeded the amount that it is legally permitted to spend by millions of dollars. As a result, it is likely that there will be a substantial increase in our 4th quarter tax bills. The responsibility for this situation lies squarely with our Mayor, and those public officials who knew what was going on and helped cover it up.

Last night, the Administration asked the City Council to approve an application for a "spending cap" waiver. In essence, this waiver application would ask the State to retroactively approve over-expenditures that have already been spent, at a time when the Administration has still not been forthcoming as to the full extent of our problem.

By a 5-4 vote, the Council refused to permit this. The likely result is that the State Department of Community Affairs will step in and oversee our budget process. We finally will have the opportunity to have our "books" fully examined, so that the people of Hoboken can learn the truth about how our City is being managed. The five votes were cast by me, Councilman Cunningham, Councilman Russo, Council President Castellano and Councilwoman Mason.

While resolving our current situation will be painful, we are finally on our way to righting our fiscal ship. Once that it is done, and our financial situation is finally transparent, we will be able to plan responsibly for the future, and make the investments in parks and infrastructure that our City so sorely needs. Next Wednesday, May 28, the City Council will hold an emergency meeting to address this crisis. If you can, I urge you all to attend. I will keep you posted as to events as they unfold.

Dawn

another one bites the dust...

ok my favorite cafe mola aka emack & bolio's is gone (converting to a eco-yogurt store?! huh?! and no more coffee), and guess what i see on washington street the other day???!!!!!!! another starbucks... but of course, now there are 3 in the mile square corporate city, along with a plethora of banks, nail salons and other lovely soulless chains. i'm so desperate i found myself thinking, hmm, maybe i can go to panera for a cafe feel... the soul of hoboken dies a little more... the days of independent stores rapidly decline.

nyc and new jersey local shopping cures a bad day!

on a recent visit to my favorite store in the west village, greenwich letterpress, to pick up birthday cards and mother's day cards, i indulged and bought a beautiful crafty necklace... it was a bad work week and i needed a pick me up... (see my friend sus shopping in this pix at greenwich.)after asking greenwich letterpress owner beth salvini about the necklace's creator, rebecca purcell, i checked out her bio and discovered that she makes clothes and has written books about "modern nostalgia" and "interior alchemy."

here are some necklace pix (mine is similar to this style).

and in light of recent independent store closings in hoboken (good kleen fun, wee beasties, mola, rue du jardin), more than ever we need to support local artists, designers, entrepreneurs and shop owners.

so take a stroll down christopher street to greenwich letterpress, tell beth i sent ya, and find your own local treasure. a sure remedy for any kind of bad day!

hob'art group exhibit at garden of eden

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to let you know that Hob’art, a cooperative gallery of Hoboken, NJ will be presenting a group art exhibit at Garden of Eden on Sunday afternoon, April 20 from 3pm-6pm. As a co-operative gallery comprised of membership from Hoboken and the surrounding areas, we exist primarily to serve the community by providing a showcase for fine art. For the first time, the Garden of Eden has opened its gates to our membership. From this point forward, Garden of Eden will not be just a venue for great food, but an appealing place of peace, of gathering, of open invitation to view contemporary works by members of hob-art. Come join us and invite your friends for an afternoon of good conversation, a display of outstanding art work and enjoyment.

Will the Circus Be Hoboken?

Pyethwacket corresponds once again:

Dearest Hobogomil,

Warm greetings from fair Trenton - you must visit again soon! The fine-particulate count and railyard lowings are quite tolerable this time of year...

I see your little hamlet on the Hudson there is - excuse the pun - creeping its politicians into the county news yet once more. Incumbent , and soon to be recumbent, Maurice Fitzgibbons comes up (inherently) lame in the Great Freeholder Race, shuffling off his mortal coil and succumbing to the slings and arrows of outrageous...Farina, who has pulled himself up on all six legs once again for another embarassing run at public office well above his skill level. That's Jimmy 'Knuckles' Farina, I mean, your City Clerk, school-board member - and reigning swelterweight champion since his huffing and puffing TKO of fellow roly-poly pork baron, Dave Roberts, in last spring's city-hall slugfest. The Ali/Frazier-esque "Wrath by the PATH", I believe you called it.

Well now, here's what's been circulating about this elsewhere. It seems Farina is throwing his hat in the freeholder ring just as Fitzgibbons is throwing in his towel. Well, sort of, anyway - on both counts. Fitzgibbons, attempting to think outside the pine-box, is trying to create a viable and vicarious 'protege' candidate out of Michael Passante, a young Harvard lawyer relocated to the Hoboken flood plain and aspiring perhaps, in an urban-fringy way, to be the white Cory Booker. (Fittingly enough, as that's whom he lawyers for.) Farina, on the other hand, may already seem a viable candidate (to anyone over 60 given to excessive drink), but his election-law and campaign-finance violations from last spring's school-board races are probably not nearly as swept under the carpet as he thinks.

Farina claims in the papers that the State's Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) hasn't notified him of any violations from his school-board run - hopefully leaving some readers to think there really aren't any. But he's apologizing for some anyway, very curiously claiming this somehow rectifies the situation. But what situation? Oh, that's right - the one created a month ago when it hit the local media that Farina and his running mates had an offical complaint filed against them with ELEC for filing absolutely nothing about their campaign-finance activities - which Farina also spins in the papers, pinning it on his treasurer underling who 'failed to file the proper paperwork for the school board run'. As if a good-faith attempt at proper filing had been made, but an unfortunate error intervened? As if Farina himself did nothing wrong? Sadly for his 'integrity' bid in the freeholder race, ELEC holds the candidate Farina, the campaign chair Romano, and the treasurer equally and individually responsible for election-finance violations. Farina isn't off any hook: he's just as responsible for the legal breach as his treasurer is - and certainly even more so. In his other job as Hoboken municipal clerk, Farina is responsible for the proper conduct of all municipal elections! Including his own school-board election last year, the one in question. ELEC is hardly so stupid as to believe a word of this weasely spin.

Odds bodkins, Hobogomil! How can you hold your head up? This freeholder race is truly epitomizing the political circus Hoboken has long been. Look at the parade of clowns! Just how many can climb out of that subway car? First there's the politically decrepit Fitzgibbons for freeholder pairing with mayor-hopeful Peter Cammarano, the election lawyer(!) who's under investigation by the State for his own serious election-law and campaign-finance violations (shades of Farina!) - but they're both dead in the water. Then there's Farina patching it up with Mayor Roberts as another axis of weevil. Michael Russo, 'Son of Scam' as he's known in Hoboken, really wants badly to follow right in daddy's beshackled footsteps - but he needs a freeholder. Frank 'Pupie' Raia's name is whispered - well, muttered under one's breath actually - but he recently got crushed in a council race....by Russo. Maybe the callow Passante mentioned above gets passing grades? No - what could be more discrediting, belittling or greater evidence of personal failure than being Fitzgibbons' protege? Most importantly, Russo's mom can't stand Fitz, so forget Passante right off. How 'bout...the redoubtable Michael Schaeffer, the campaign lawyer who's name is being mentioned prominently for freeholder? Nope - feel free to doubt him again: he too is under investigation by the State for serious election-law and finance violations; he was one of Cammarano's treasurers for that slew of alleged wrong-doings. There must be someone...

Whatever will you do for a freeholder, Hobogomil? It's getting late - very, very late - only a couple weeks til the filing deadline. "Freeholder Ines Garcia-Keim" to be financed by "Mayor Beth Mason"? Nah - been there, dunned that. (And came up short.) Union organizer and Russo-mom sidekick, Vince Addeo maybe? Certainly some talk about him. Hmmmmmm. We may have something there...yeah - lots of minor baggage. Something about spousal abuse a while back; that stand-in role for the convicted political boss Anthony Russo; Fitzgibbons subordinate on the Democratic Municipal Committee...not lookin' too good on second thought. 'Vince Adieu' is more like it.

But then...then you got a guy, a born-and-raised guy, a union kinda guy; yeah, maybe he's got a rough side, but then he's a really friendly kinda guy, too, if ya know what I mean - one who really knows how to talk to people, ya know, where they live; everyone knows he's a good soldier, an order-taker for the political boss...when you think about he really is Hoboken, ya know. (How youse say in Hoboken? He's really down there 'on the waterfront'. A real Hoboken guy.) So, yeah, that's yer ticket!! Addeo/Russo. Perfect. Perfectly acceptable to Russo, who's perfectly acceptable to the real boss here, Union City Mayor Brian Stack. You come full circle again to a new regime of Russo-fronted, outsider control of Hoboken. Absolutely perfect.

Very glad you got that taken care of, Hobogomil. I'll see you in the funny pages...


Pyethwacket

Shame, Blame and the Great Game (a la Hoboken)

With all politics being proverbially local, it’s little wonder horribly overpoliticized Hoboken parallels so much of the global geopolitical turmoil. Just take a quick, bug-eyed look around you:

Civil war spilling over into the Heights – no, not the Golan Heights via Lebanon or Palestine; that’s Jersey City (JC) Heights via Hoboken and Hudson County in general. The Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) led by JC Mayor Jerry Healy and the Other, Lesser Hudson County machine led by Union City Mayor Brian Stack have dragged preponderantly Democrat Hudson County through its own civil war for over a year now. The hot and pivotal battle at the moment is over who gets the JC Heights/Hoboken Freeholder seat in this June’s primary – and an inchoate truce hangs in the balance. But even though the viceroy Freeholder has yet to be named, one thing has been decided without getting a single Hoboken voter’s opinion: Hoboken will be slapped down like so much sauerbraten on Stack’s plate. The Great Game plays out above our heads.

Pre-emptive strike leads to dominoes falling throughout the region – no, that’s not the Roosevelt-idolatrous Bush 43, ‘fit as a bull moose in a china shop’, and the Ass-kiss of Evil, Donald Rumsfeld, swashbuckling their way across the Middle East. It’s current Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons and Hoboken Councilman Peter Cammarano crashing noisily through one political career after another. Stack will own the Freeholder: HCDO and Stack have to agree on which lifeless pawn he uses – BUT it can’t be born-idiot Maurice Fitzgibbons anymore, their erstwhile joint endorsee for Freeholder. Fitzgibbons has made several political gaffes lately, ones so excruciatingly quotidian and uninspired that the suitable words fail us until there has been time to invent them for the next column. This all along, and even more so in the immediate future, complicates the Hoboken mayoral race next year as Hoboken is three-quarters of the freeholder’s polity and 100% of the mayor’s. Potential Freeholder/Hoboken Mayor alliances abound; Ines Garcia-Keim/Beth Mason, Frank Raia/Michael Russo and the ‘indescribably malicious’ Fitzgibbons/Cammarano are all trying to get the jump on each other way in advance. Listen carefully as the latter pair bring down the house – of cards.

Social-conservative political leader caught in immorality play – no, that’s not Republicans on the take, on the make, without a break (yet again). That’s just Hoboken’s old-school political machine and its DINOs (Democrats In Name Only) arrogantly breaking every rule of law as if they had God-given right to. Start with the Old Hoboken mayoral/freeholder teams above. Cammarano, an election lawyer on the side, is now under investigation by the State for serious campaign-finance and election law violations; Fitzgibbons, the self-proclaimed Hoboken Uniter, has engendered total mutiny within the Hoboken Democratic Organization to the tune of having the Party in debt late in its fiscal year – with gross irregularities in the Party books to boot. Both show the distinct promise for other election finance violations in the near future as well as tenderizing the whole old-boy network for ruin. Fitzgibbons received kickbacks from the now-censured school-board member Carmelo Garcia, who’s running for school board again anyway. City Clerk Jimmy Farina and Anthony Romano leverage their own school-board seats and multiple hats into numerous election and fundraising violations that could have them censured as well or removed from office. And now the Hoboken Police Chief steps down after a raft of scandal washes by his desk: sex-tinged SWAT teams, departmental racism, money games of all kinds, even election law violations are alleged to the fore.

LaBruno, Cammarano, Farina and Romano – the sound of it is enough to curdle your mutz, not just one’s Italian blood. (Mine slogs through my turgid veins in fist-sized knots.) No wonder we hear of a "Hoboken Mafia" - the legendary network of low-brow political-finance gamesters who scud about like so many cockroaches fleeing our flooding cellars here. But why be surprised? None of this is truly new - and like any good salami, history repeats itself. We’ll hear much more of such shenanigans in the near future. The redeeming virtue of the coming stories is this time we’ll be hearing them in the media and from the authorities instead of just on the benches in front of City Hall.

Stay tuned here – the Great Game in all its Hudson Co. shame is about to become its own reality show. Mangia!


---Pyethwacket