If you didn't know it, a massive 13-story, 161 residential unit development was approved at Jersey City's Zoning board; the hearing was held on November 1, 2018. Would you be surprised to hear that Hoboken's 1st ward Councilman, Mike DeFusco, trekked out to this Jersey City hearing to speak in favor of the project? Well, he did-- the same week he skipped out on a Hoboken Planning Board meeting.
Note, this project isn't even located within Hoboken; it's on a lot that straddles both Jersey City's Ward C and Hoboken's Fourth Ward (4-1), but 100% of the proposed building is on the Jersey City side.
Clearly, a project of this size and density on our border will impact Hoboken residents. And not all are happy about it, either. One Fourth ward resident who attended the ZBA hearing wrote this on Facebook:
Note, this project isn't even located within Hoboken; it's on a lot that straddles both Jersey City's Ward C and Hoboken's Fourth Ward (4-1), but 100% of the proposed building is on the Jersey City side.
Clearly, a project of this size and density on our border will impact Hoboken residents. And not all are happy about it, either. One Fourth ward resident who attended the ZBA hearing wrote this on Facebook:
So then, if this project is at best controversial for many Hoboken residents concerned about the building's size and density and negative impacts on Hoboken traffic and infrastructure, why did Hoboken Councilman Mike DeFusco go to the Jersey City Zoning Board meeting and shill for this high-rise development?
Ask yourself: why would any Hoboken Councilman show up at a neighboring city's Zoning Board to shill for a massive project that will certainly have negative impacts on Hoboken residents?
Did he ask Fourth ward residents how they felt about the project before shilling for it? Does Mike DeFusco care about how Hoboken residents feel about this behemoth straddling the Fourth ward? Perhaps if he'd bothered to ask them, he could have brought their concerns to the Jersey City hearing, instead of bloviating about himself :
MR. DEFUSCO: "Ladies and gentlemen of the Board, I thank you for a late night. I myself am a city councilman, so I'm accustomed to many late nights in Hoboken. I myself sat on the Zoning Board in Hoboken for five years, so I'm certainly accustomed to a number of the issues that you're considering tonight. I chair the Hoboken Southwest Redevelopment Committee. I also chair the Hoboken Zoning Committee. So I thank you for your questioning. I thank you for your attention to this issue."
Really, don't you want to know how Councilman DeFusco found time to attend a Jersey City Zoning Board meeting the same week he skipped out on a Hoboken Planning Board meeting?
There's got to be more to this story. Witnesses at the hearing told GA that the Councilman was sitting with Hoboken developer Gregory Dell'Aquila.
The Applicant is an LLC called "2 Hoboken Avenue LLC." Who are they?
Anyone else find the Councilman's conduct concerning?
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ReplyDeleteFrankly I don't care about Hoboken - Jersey City ZBA Chairwoman.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that this thirteen story building approved by Jersey City along with thousands of additional residential units already approved along Hoboken's southern border will dramatically increase the existing very difficult traffic problems for anyone traveling between the two cities . What needs to happen now is Mayor Bhalla and the City Council find ways to protect the residents of Hoboken from the seemingly unchecked high rise development growth of Mayor Fulop's Jersey City.
Dellaquilla is close personal friends w JC mayor Steve Fulop and his wife, anti-Fulop councilman James Solomon's ally is Defusco...
ReplyDeleteDell'Aquilla isn't wealthy enough to pull off a project that large on his own. Find out who the other investors are in this LLC, and make DeFusco recuse himself every time one of them has business before the planning board or city council.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like an office building in Englewood Cliffs. What's in it for Mikey? An apartment at a favorable price? Real estate listings for his friend? More campaign contributions from the developer?
Wait until Santora sees the traffic from this project. Can't wait to read how he's going to blame Bhalla for it.
To your point, the applicant has to reveal the investors of this LLC who kicked in 10% or more to create it. If Dellaquilla didn't do that, the hearing and any decisions the Jersey City Zoning board might not be legal, and they'd have to start over.
DeleteHere's the thing though, any piece of JC that is north of the train lines is essentially in Hoboken.
ReplyDeleteYou can't tell me they won't be using the Southwest Park on block away as a selling point for these condos "in Jersey City."
There are two other large lots "in Jersey City" adjacent to this one and you know they will be next for development.
The path DuFusco refers to is not poorly maintained and strewn with trash. That was a bald faced lie. I walk my dog there pretty much every day and its well maintained.
ReplyDeleteBottom line - there are NO benefits to either Hoboken or JC arising from the huge increase in the scale of this project. And the negative impact on traffic is obvious to anybody with a brain.
The guy who should be speaking out against this is Rubin. Dell'Aquilla is with DeFusco anyway and there are plenty of votes available in the next election for the elected official who stands up for Southwest and Southcentral Hoboken.
Many of our elected officials are of the opinion that nobody really cares what goes on the southern side of Observer Highway. They think that's not really Hoboken so we can dump development there that would be completely unacceptable anywhere else in the City.
I think come 2021, those who think that will have a rude awakening.
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DeleteJust had to look on Google Maps satellite view to confirm what/where this project is. Essentially, the idea is to take the fairly large parking lot of the Hoboken Business Center and convert it to a 13 story building, which I'm guessing would have a parking garage on the bottom sufficient for both the HBC and have at least one spot for every apartment- so probably at least two levels of parking.
ReplyDeleteI had to drive back into Hoboken that way for years after work during rush hour. It's already a traffic nightmare going up Jersey Avenue to make the left on Jackson Street. From looking at the map, I think it's impossible for this building to have an entrance for cars on Jersey Ave/Newark St.- the NJT "park" blocks it, and in any case it's impossible to safely make left turns into the building from Jersey Avenue during rush hour unless this building's entrance got its own traffic lights. So the entrance would have to be on Harrison Street. That means that any building residents who are car commuters and who drive south every morning to get to work will have to come back home by going on Jersey Avenue, making the left on Jackson Street (already highly congested, and in Hoboken), making the next left onto Observer Highway (in Hoboken), and then another left onto Harrison. Anybody driving in from the west/JC Heights will have to come down on New York Ave/Observer, which is always congested during rush hour.
Note that this project will make traffic worse for anybody who is coming into Hoboken from the south during evening rush hour. Even people who normally drive up on Marin/Henderson and Grove Street, because the south entrances are all substitutes for one another. (I used to go up different ways depending on the traffic at the moment.) And I'm very doubtful that there is any sort of remotely realistic traffic engineering that can fix this problem. The roads can only hold so many cars.
I'd be somewhat more comfortable with development (not that I'd really want it anyway) if it didn't have any parking for its residents- if the garage was restricted to Hoboken Business Center customers. If the new residents were all mass transit commuters it wouldn't add to car traffic, and since it's in JC it wouldn't impact the Hoboken schools. But the prevalent attitude of developers and zoning regs is that it's good to add and require more parking, ignoring the fact that the roads can only hold so many cars.
Oh yes, I experienced "the roads can only hold so many cars" several times this week in my travels to the DC area, LA and SF. LA and DC were horrific. Even short 2-3 mile trips took 10 minutes b/c of traffic and longer trips took over an hour. One of my cab rides took 2 hours. They easily need twice as many lanes of traffic for all the cars on those roads in those 2 cities. Cities need to stop encouraging development when road infrastructure is known to be deficient for current residents much less new residents in new development.
DeleteThe hotel and the rail yard projects will just add to the nightmare we will be living with. Look at what 6" of snow did to us Thursday night with just the current residents and commuters.
DeleteAll three of these projects are in DeFusco's and Ramos's wards. It's important for Hoboken's future that they be unseated in 2019.
@Anon- Absolutely. Recall DeFusco and Fisher's FAILED Ordinance B-40, amending our Zoning ordinance to remove backyard stairs from lot coverage-- which effectively increased permitted building footprints inside the "donut hole." Once this developer favor got some sunlight, both council sponsors backed off. But, you see how anxious MDF was to change the law for his developer friends against the interest of Hoboken residents, who benefit from the light and air inside unobstructed block interiors. He doesn't attend Hoboken's Planning Board meetings but runs to Jersey City to pimp a developer-pal's project once more against the interest of Hoboken residents, and the 4th ward neighborhood impacted by this behemoth. And where was Ruben to speak for his constituents about this?
DeleteAs noted above, certain of our elected officials think of southern Hoboken as a convenient dumping ground for over-development. They think the uotown and midtown voters who they care about don't care about south Hoboken, especially south of Observer Highway.
DeleteThey will fight to the death over a couple of "tear downs" in the "brownstone neighborhoods" but will give developers free reign if they can get away with it along the southern border.
My prediction - no candidate who throws southern Hoboken under the development bus will be our mayor on January 1 2022 - especially with a runoff in which angry voters are more likely to turn out to vote than happy ones.
I hope you are wrong. We do not need a mayor who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the developer lobby.
DeleteBasic rule - actions speak louder than words. Watch what they do - not just what they say. And if their actions don't match their words, it's their actions that define who they are.
DeleteGiven the traffic issues that were pretty apparent to anybody going in or hour of SW Hoboken today, anybody who tries to dump large-scale development on Observer Highway or Newark street should be tossed out of office at the first opportunity.
DeFusco clearly has thrown the City he represents under the bus and he should be tossed. As should every other elected official who tries to dump excess development in the SW that they wouldn't accept in the northeast.
The plans for the approved building clearly show the only vehicular entrance or exit to the building is on Harrison Street very close to the corner of Newark/Jersey Avenue.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this year Hoboken gave a variance to double the size of the Hoboken Business Center from three stories to six stories. Block 4 which is also adjacent to the HBC parking lot but not shown in any of the renderings, could be built out to include 40+ residential units to the area.
Ravi's car. Ravi wants to be president. Antifa. Good government council.
ReplyDelete10 minutes to Wapner.
Ravi terror flyer. Soprano state. Antifa. K-mart underwear.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Mike sure does not make any attempt to hide the fact that he is the development community's puppet. Whorish, is the word that comes to mind when I think about the fact that he is the council designate on the Planning Board. I recall that one of the reasons that Jim was bounced by the Council as the council designee was the allegation that he didn't "report back" sufficiently to the council with regard to the planning board. Now they have Mike, who has an attendance problem and I have never heard word one from him about the planning board, despite his tendency to drone on about trivial matters. Speaking about trivial matters, the doofus Horse Faced Jack Ass has a story up about the Mayor's alleged pimp mobile, but the moron doesn't even now what "spinning rims" are. A birdie told me that Defusco was spotted taking pics of the Mayor's ride right before pictures went up on the Feces Filled Barn site. Maybe that is why there is a curious lack of coverage of Defusco's antics and conflicts (such as this story), since Tedious Tiff has entered into a deal with the devil with Mike in her blind hatred of the "unqualified" Mayor. The more shit that they fling, the more that shit boomerangs on them. Nasty people. Can't wait for the next election. Not sure that Tedious Tiff realizes that she has become the turd in the punch bowl of Hoboken politics.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the vehicle that the Horse's Ass seems to be obsessed with was actually acquired months ago with approval by the council for use by Police Chief Ferrante. Also the "chauffeur" is Ravi's security guard, which hire became necessary because of the death threats that the Mayor has received. I am not saying that the threats emanated from the the foul smelling habitat of the Horse's Ass, but words do matter and there are certainly hoof prints all over the over the odious on line rhetoric coming from that dung heap. Perhaps if he spent a little bit of time and effort outside of his hate filled and conspiracy laden bubble, he might be able to write coherently about something of real importance.
DeleteBOOM!
DeleteAs to the idiot Defusco, reading that transcript made me dizzy. If Gary Holtzman was guilty of an ethical lapse and needed to be tossed off the Planning Board, then what in the fucking hell is up with that idiot DeFusco? He appears before the Jersey City ZB touting his political credentials, giving the blatant impression that he is speaking in his official capacity as a council member/official of the City of Hoboken and not as a private citizen (who does not even live in the 4th Ward). The clear impression he made is that his words have additional weight because of his position as a council member. I was unaware that he was authorized to speak and express an official position with regard to the project. What a self important pompous dick. Did the council , let alone the mayor, ever give him the authority to speak on behalf of either? Did the residents of Hoboken ever have the chance to discuss the project with him before he went off and dribbled crap about how this was an opportunity for Hoboken and JC to work together and to clean up the pathway to the Second Street station? I agree with the comment above that the pathway is not in bad shape. Maybe if he actually lived in the 4th ward and used the path at least once in his life he would know that and not tell such blatant lies which are so easily disproved. Seems to me that he needs to be kicked off the Planning Board ASAP, on top of his conflict problems and his lack of attendance which makes him the poster child for ethical problems. But then again, his new bff and that web site which won't ever been named will never utter a peep about this mess. The hypocritical irony is mind bending.
DeleteRavi's car, antifa, boys of summer, Jen surge.
Delete10 minutes to Wapner.
DeFusco is trying to influence the Jersey City ZBA when he mentions his being on the Hoboken City Council, the Hoboken Planning Board, chairing a sub-committee of same, and his past experience on the Hoboken ZBA, as well as mentioning his friend who has business in both cities. He fails to mention what anyone who Googles him will find out: he was and is awful at all of those appointed and elected positions, has violated ELEC law, and is now implicated in an FBI investigation. And yet, he thinks he's a good choice as a future mayor.
DeleteBy referring to these "credentials", he is asking to be perceived as some kind of expert, and he's subverting and compromising the Hoboken Planning board's procedures and any engagement the City of Hoboken might have had with Jersey City over this project.
All to reward another developer and potential future campaign contributor.
No accident this odd-shaped building on an odd-shaped lot split between Hoboken and JC is 100% in jersey city.
ReplyDelete"Frankly I don't care about Hoboken - Jersey City ZBA Chairwoman."
Neither does Councilman DeFusco.
So we get all of the traffic problems, including what will occur during construction, and none of the tax revenue from the "improvements" to the land, i.e. the condos.
DeleteRavibots, terror flyer, 32%, Kmart underwear.
ReplyDeleteTalking about the mayor's car while ignoring Defusco's duplicity and hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, it really IS a sign of the times. It's a sign that says Look Elsewhere for Important Information and Integrity.
A couple of times a year out of curiosity, I contemplate breaking my vow to never read that blog, in order to see what commenters here are talking about.
ReplyDeleteand then, invariably, I say "ummm...nah."
First Ward land owners adjacent to the recently approved waterfront Hilton Hotel tower have filed suit to void the agreement.
ReplyDeleteOooh, interesting. Where- NJ District court? Details please, if you've got 'em
DeleteHudson County Superior Court.
DeleteCouncilman DeFusco's term on the Hoboken Planning Board ends 12/31/2018.
ReplyDeleteThere are two meetings scheduled in December.
Will the City Council reappoint him ?