City of Hoboken Plans on Moving Parking Utility Offices from City Hall to Residential Neighborhood
The mid-town garage offices are presently leased by the HUMC, providing services to the public and revenue to the City. The move, orchestrated by Director Sacs, who is supposed to be providing parking solutions, will force residents to compete with individuals doing business at the HPU. In addition, there is no public transportation in the area, causing significant inconveniences for residents and visitors needing access to the HPU.
In a meeting last week with Hoboken Business Administrator Arch Liston, 3rd Ward Councilman Michael Russo, asked him if he was aware that the relocation move was proceeding without any public input or notification. Liston, indicated he was aware of the move, but was surprised to hear that the HUMC leases the offices in questions and pays rent to the City. The offices at the mid-town garage were originally designed to lease spaces for doctors and businesses sch as a flower shop and other mixed-use retail that would not only server the hospital, but other area residents as well.
"Once again, the lack of transparency being displayed by this administration is extraordinary," indicated former Finance Committee Chairman Councilman Russo."The lack of respect being shown to residents of our city is unfortunate and I question whether appointed Councilman Lenz who is head of the Finance Committee is aware of this move and how much loss in revenue it will directly cause the taxpayers of Hoboken."
Note: Councilman Russo held a press conference at the mid-town garage located at 330 Clinton Street, at 11:00am on Tuesday October 5th to address the concerns of residents of the City of Hoboken regarding the issue.
Here is Dawn Zimmer's response sent to me from Juan Melli:
“It’s true that for decades – at least since the Police Department occupied the space currently used by the Parking Utility – City Hall’s basement has had a very serious, unaddressed termite problem. Employees have been known to put chewing gum into the wall to keep the termites out, and swarms of flying termites are not uncommon. These conditions are not fair to employees and sometimes cause them to leave work early, which is why my Administration has been looking for space to relocate the Parking Utility during repairs and renovations.
The Midtown Garage is a potential site being considered, but it is still very early in the process and no decisions have been made. Relocation of the Parking Utility to the unused space in the Midtown Garage has been contemplated since the garage was originally built, so exploring this idea is not new and certainly not news. If Councilman Russo would like to seriously discuss the issues, I’d be more than happy to have that conversation, but this is nothing more than an election year political stunt.” ◦
