Blizzard Closed Hoboken Borders 30 Years Ago: Residents Share Memories

HOBOKEN, NJ — As snow forecasts become more dire for the coming weekend, some Hoboken area residents remember a historic storm from 30 years ago this month — in which the mayor infamously shut the borders to the mile-square city and people skied down the main street.

How much snow will Hoboken get Sunday? See the new NWS accumulation map here.

Hoboken got more than two feet of snow in that mid-January storm, but what was most significant was a decision by Mayor Anthony Russo to forbid non-residents from driving through town.

"The snow turned politicians into field marshals," reported Time Magazine on Jan. 22, 1996. "New Jersey's Governor Christine Todd Whitman posed in a snowplow. Hoboken, New Jersey's mayor, Anthony Russo, closed city streets to all but city residents, conjuring the image of a medieval city with the drawbridges up."

Commentators had mixed feelings on Mayor Russo's "medieval" decision, something his oldest son, Councilman Michael Russo, remembered this week with a laugh.

"What I remember most," said Russo, who was 21 at the time, "I was walking to City Hall and I saw five people on their skis, cross-country skiing in the middle of Washington Street. You saw so many people out enjoying the snow."

Russo paid a visit to his father, who was trying to figure out how to keep residents safe, he said.

"They had the vehicles towed on Washington Street, and they were towed around the corner," he said. "My dad would have the snowplow pick up the snow, get rid of it, and bring the car right back to where it was, but it worked."

It was the decision to close the city's borders during the snowfall that earned the elder Russo a mix of praise and scorn.

"My dad would not allow [Weehawken Mayor] Richie Turner to let his [residents] come through Hoboken, and I think there was a bit of a standoff on the Willow Avenue Bridge," Russo laughed. "It was like the OK Corral there for a moment. It was a surreal time, and that's why he got that national recognition. Love it or hate it, everyone was trying to keep their own community safe."

Stopped At The Border

Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher was also in her twenties, and had vivid memories of being stopped at Hoboken's border after she and friends drove out of town to get groceries, then returned.

"I was living at Jackson and First streets, near Paterson Plank Road [near the border with Jersey City]," Fisher said. "We woke up to like three feet of snow in Hoboken. We couldn't get out the front door. We had to get out the side door, and had to dig our way out."

She noted, "Cars were covered, and you didn't know which car was yours. People had to know where they parked. They would shovel and then realize it was the wrong car."

Fisher said that several bars hung signs advising "special blizzard hours," and people were drinking in the morning.

When she and three friends left town to get food, then tried to come back, the driver couldn't prove he was a Hoboken resident because he'd moved there recently.

"Mayor Russo put a rule in place that you couldn't get into Hoboken unless your license said you lived in Hoboken," Fisher said. "I remember being in the back seat and saying I lived with [the driver]. There were a few of us showing our licenses to get back into Hoboken."

Money From Shoveling

Some of the younger residents made out well in the storm, remembered Sean Fallon.

"I was a senior at Hoboken High School," he said. "We were off school for a week. My friends and I walked around all day shoveling peoples cars out. We made enough money to cover the prom and our senior trip."

Krista Ciarletta was in her twenties. She said, "Stevens [University] was jammed with post-college crowd sledding with garage can tops. People were cross country skiing in the middle of Willow."

Jennifer Delgado said she hadn't moved to Hoboken yet, but that the storm gave her "some of my best memories from childhood" in her family's suburban New Jersey yard. "My sister and I had received ice skates for Christmas that year," she said, "so we put them on, and went ice skating in our back yard for hours."

Nora Martínez DeBenedetto was a teen at the time. She remembers her friend Jennie coming to visit her from Union City. "[She] came down the viaduct on a sled so we could hang at the Malibu Diner," DeBenedetto said. "We were seniors in high school. She was trapped in Hoboken for days."

And then there were the blizzard babies.

"My water broke on Jan. 8, 1996," said Claudia Ryan, a real estate agent. "I had to get to the hospital to deliver my daughter. We made the front page of the local paper! She just turned 30 and lives in Hoboken."

Looking Ahead

With another storm on the horizon, Councilwoman Fisher — who grew up in Rochester — advised residents to move their cars off emergency routes in advance, and to avoid driving if they're not used to driving in snow. (Hoboken often opens up the municipal garages for $5 per night for those who normally park on emergency routes.)

Russo said on Thursday, "I hope it's not as bad as predicted. I'm sure we can do what we can to make sure everyone is safe, and I also hope everyone can enjoy the snow."

On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for northeast New Jersey, New York City, and southern Connecticut. They also gave a snowfall prediction for the first time, saying 6-12 inches could fall in the area, with higher amounts in certain towns.

Come back to Hoboken Patch all weekend for updated storm coverage and local photos.