HHA Generator Mystery

"Install us, Assemblyman Garcia!"

Does anyone know what February 14, 2014 is?

No, not Valentine's Day.  It's the one-year anniversary of Hoboken Fire Chief Blohm's appearance at an HHA meeting to deliver the findings of a January 30, 2013 fire safety inspection of the HHA: 6 buildings lacked properly functioning generators:

Chef Blohm's report to Mayor Dawn Zimmer

Here's a recap:

On Friday, February 1, 2013 Blohm received a call from the Acting Director of the NJ Division of Fire Safety, William Kramer. Kramer told him that inspectors had been at the HHA the previous day, and:

"Mr. Kramer went on to say that there were several buildings that had no backup generator power, that fire pumps had been removed from various buildings and that fire alarm panels had their "guts" removed and he was not sure that permits had been taken out to do so. He specifically said to me that if it were not for the volume of residents that would be displaced he would deem all of those buildings as imminent hazards." 

 Kramer told Blohm to apprise the mayor immediately, which he did. Then Blohm dispatched Fire Marshall Captain Dave Buoncuore to the HHA. That Sunday, February 3, 2013 Blohm reported to the administration that "the HHA was up and running" and fire watches were ended. On February 5, 2013 HHA ED Carmelo Garcia was slapped with a Notice of Violation citing that he had "failed obtain the proper Building Permits for all the City of Hoboken housing buildings that were damaged by the Super Storm Sandy: electrical wiring, panels, switch gear, motors, motor controls, fire system and fire panels, fire pumps and any building structures"

Then on February 14, 2013 Chief Blohm appeared at the HHA to deliver his findings to the HHA Commissioners. There the public learned the stunning news: 6 HHA buildings were without properly functioning generators.

HHA Fire Inspection Report-February 2013

Oh yeah,  one of the buildings where the generator "failed to work at all" , 510 Marshall, was the site of a meth lab.  The meth lab was discovered several months later in April 2013. 

Why does GA bring all this up?

Because there are 5 new generators- still in packing materials- that have been sitting in an HHA parking lot since October 2013.

Generators are not ordered like pizzas. There must have been a need for them. One may assume they were bought to replace malfunctioning equipment.  If that is the case, why have they been sitting in a parking lot for months?

Perhaps the Fire Marshall needs to be called back for a re-inspection. One would think the installation of these generators should be of the highest priority to Executive Director and Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia and the HHA Board.

And no, this is not about politics, it is about protecting the lives of residents of the HHA.

Left out in the cold.