As you can see from the pics, the shoreline of Hoboken spans the entire eastern part of town and is utilized by the city for public space. On Sinatra Drive downtown there is a gorgeous public park at Pier A and walkway for
several blocks, with Pier C being built now, all for public use. Uptown, the new Toll Brothers complex, at 11th and Hudson, has a public shore/ park area across the street from another public park at 10th and Hudson, Elysian. The Toll Brothers complex and Elysian Park both have beautiful views of the river and Manhattan skyline. The site of the former Maxwell factory, now called Maxwell Place, up by 14th Street also has gorgeous views. (See pic.)
The short version of it all is that back in the 1990s the city
began spending more than tax revenues brought
in, and dealt with the gap by selling municipal
lots to developers. The problem is doing things
like that don't work forever. The city's payrolls
are so bloated that this year Hoboken had to be
taken over by a lady from the state of NJ
due to these financial problems that currently include an $11 million shortfall. (See links at bottom of post.) Last FY the financial matters were never settled politically before the end, and this year's budget has a huge gap that will have to be spread out over 5 years. In short, property taxes are going to raise a whopping 47% over the next quarters. The problem is largely political: the city council is more concerned with making themselves rich in my opinion along with the mayor, so instead of working these problems out they name call and finger point. I read in the
Reporter that one of the council members lives in a subsidized unit for $800/month, taking advantage of some loophole in the current law. He isn't living there because its all he can afford, he is living there because the policies in the city are ripe for being taken advantage of by those smart enough to know how. The city is under pressure from the State to get its act together, and one way the city is currently trying to increase revenue is writing summons. I have heard of many unjustified traffic summons in which people driving down roads in town in the same way they have for a decade are suddenly getting tickets by cops sitting there with radar guns looking for reasons to issue summons. Personally, with the $90 permit to park in Hoboken along with a $5/day garage cost, people who have to drive here for work are already taken advantage of enough in my opinion, they don't need to be bothered with additional matters like unnecessary traffic summons. The last time I checked, the purpose of writing traffic summons was to protect other motorists and pedestrians from careless drivers- not to solve political problems of budgetary shortfalls and an overall tradition of corruption.
Tonight, I got my own taste of this kind of unfairness. In Hoboken, residents are encouraged to have pets as many, many buildings permit them. Dogs don't just need shelter, they also need to be walked. In the suburbs, grass is plentiful: most people have access to a yard, and those that don't can go to the park. However, in Hoboken, the parks are highly coveted open space: for use by children, not dogs. Dogs are relegated to a small gravel enclosed area where they are permitted to run freely with other dogs. Aside from said "dog park," the city mandates that dogs wear an issued registration tag (costing $10 annually) and not go on public grass. The ticket for the dog setting foot on public grass is $250 - even if the dog doesn't go to the bathroom. The ticket for not cleaning up dog poo, the actual health hazard- $25. Finally, there is also a fine for not having the dog registered/failing to display the registration tag, but I don't know details.
I have several problems with this: why is public space focused towards parents with children? Oh yeah, they are the taxpayers. Don't children have areas, like school playgrounds, where they can play? Oh, and don't the parks have a specific playground areas where dogs aren't allowed at all? Isn't this enough "open
space" for children? Aren't the parks big enough where one strip of grass can be "dog grass" and children can be banned from playing there, for their own good? Dogs instinctively want to go on grass so they don't step in their own pee. Perhaps puppies raised in urban areas can be taught differently. Country stays, like the dog I have, have been going on grass their whole lives and at this point, are too old to learn new habits. Why can there be any area on public grass for dogs to play on, pee on, whatever? Dog parks only work for social dogs, and it shouldn't be the only option. Finally, if the city doesn't want dogs on public grass, stop allowing many buildings to allow residents to have pets.
Tonight, I took my dog across the street to the park for her nightly walk. When we got into the park, there was another lady with a dog on the grass. Two minutes into the walk, we saw a cop car parked in the back of the park. I immediately got my dog off of the grass and fled. It wasn't worth the risk of a $250 ticket, which given the state of affairs with the budget, could become a reality. I was very lucky in the spring when a rep from the city health department set up shop in the park at 8am weekdays to scold the dog walkers from letting their dogs on the grass. I had to pick up my dog and flee the guy a few times, but by July, he wasn't there anymore.
Hoboken is out of control. While the town is a great place to live, the cost of living now rivals nice neighborhoods in Manhattan. Real estate is outrageous, and hasn't come down much with the housing/credit crisis. Politically, many of the people in municipal gov't have used their positions to advance the goals of their wallets first, and residents second (not all, but most). The fact that the city is spending $150k on a rep from the state to deal with the budget matter tells me that they couldn't resolve the matter internally: all I need to know about how seriously these people take their jobs. For the mayor, again, to allow a 47% tax hike under his watch tells me all I need to know about him. He can point his finger at the city council, but he is the mayor, and I believe has the authority to stop the wastefull spending. (Example- in Hoboken, painting a white line to mark the crosswalk area on Hudson Place in front of the train station is a 5 person job: 1 person the do the painting, 1 to drive the truck with the supplies and idle while the work is done to avoid a parking ticket, 1 person to move and arrange the cones marking the wet paint, and 2 more to stand there and watch, doing something useful here or there. Payrolls are bloated, and someone need to act like an adult and do something useful. Residents deserve better than the possibility of $250 tickets for letting dogs walk on public grass, and property owners deserve better than 47% hikes in their tax bills.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/new-jersey/21hobokennj.html?ref=new-jerseyhttp://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2008/11/letter_hobokens_tax_hike_was_y.htmlhttp://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2008/10/mayor_roberts_tax_hikes_arent.html
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