Russo-Castellano-Occhipinti Won't Pay the HFD

The crumbling ruins of 300 Washington Street loom over it's neighbor, Steven's Cooperative School at 301 Bloomfield Street, which houses programs for 2 year-olds.

The blaze did it's worst visible damage to the portion of the building which abuts the school. In fact, GA witnessed bits of the adjacent facade falling to the street last Monday morning.

The efforts of the HFD to protect the fire from spreading to the school and other adjacent structures were heroic.  The firemen worked through the night and into the next day to control and minimize the roaring blaze.

And they succeeded to spare Stevens and other surrounding structures. But still, the compromised structural integrity of the damaged building is being evaluated and it may have to be demolished.  If it is in imminent danger of collapse, the school and it's children are in harm's way.

The question is, will our City Council minority- Russo, Castellano and Occhipinti condemn the building, or condemn the SCHOOL since they WON'T let the City pay for the Jackson Street building demolition.

So If these rogue City Council members refuse to pay for the demolition of ONE structurally unstable fire-damaged building- on Jackson Street- why should we expect them to pay for the demolition- if needed- on Washington Street?

Severe damage on 3rd Street facade, adjacent to the school (credit: Joe Shine/The Jersey Journal) 

See for yourself, in Patch:

For the second week in a row, the city council failed to approve roughly $750,000 in temporary emergency appropriations on Wednesday night, during a special meeting that was called by the mayor last week.

On Wednesday the resolution—which needed six votes—failed in a 5-3 vote, with councilmembers, and mayoral critics, Theresa Castellano, Michael Russo and Tim Occhipinti voting "no." Councilwoman Beth Mason was absent.

The more than $750,000 in appropriations proposed by the city, includes about $200,000 in legal fees and overtime to fire fighters. It also includes $95,000 to potentially tear down the building on the corner of First and Jackson, which was destroyed in a Dec. 18 fire. Without passing the appropriations, that can't be done.

Timmy's OK with an structurally-unsound burnt-out building standing in the 4th Ward- the ward he represents?

I wonder what his constituents think about that?


Maybe Timmy owes them a letter of explanation...

So, it these bitter City Council politicians won't pay for the demolition of  a burned-out building on Jackson Street, why would they pay for demolition (if required) to the building on Washington Street?

That's Terry Castellano's Ward.

And if they wouldn't pay for the Jackson Street tear-down, would you expect Russo, Castellano and Occhipinti to PAY our firefighters overtime for working through the night to put out the blaze at 300 Washington Street?

"Tonight the City Council minority refused to fund to fight the Monarch project, defend the City against litigation, and pay our firefighters for overtime due to the recent fire," Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a statement after the meeting. "This refusal is an irresponsible breach of their fiduciary duty to the City of Hoboken."

There's your answer.

Russo-Castellano-Occhipinti won't pay their overtime

Well folks, I've omitted Mason from today's roll-call because she was 'out-of-town' for the meeting.  (Funny, how she always misses 'problematic' votes.) 

But if she wanted to be there she could have. College tours can be scheduled on the weekend; a friend of mine is taking his kid to visit 2 out-of-town colleges this weekend.  Because of his responsibilities at work.  Mason's responsibility is to an entire City.  So save the excuses, Councilwoman.

Let's hear WHY these clowns turned their back on the HFD, why they won't pay for the City to demolish a burned out building, and what their intentions are to appropriate funds for 300 Washington if it needs to be demolished.