Hoboken Farmers' Market Will Restart In June, And Other Updates

HOBOKEN, NJ — Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in his nightly coronavirus update on Tuesday that the city will restart its Hoboken Farmers' Market on June 2, on Garden Street between Fourth and Fifth streets, alongside Church Square Park. It will run Tuesdays.

However, the group that runs the Saturday market at 14th and Garden streets, often with entertainment and kids' activities, "has decided to cancel their farmers market for the rest of 2020," Bhalla reported.

When the Garden Street market reopens, it will include added precautions to protect residents and vendors from the spread of coronavirus.

"I believe it’s important for residents to continue to have access to fresh produce and products in order to stay healthy," Bhalla said. "The vendors and staff have agreed to additional social distancing regulations including increasing the space between each vendor by operating on both sides of the block, a requirement of all staff, vendors and customers to wear glove and face masks, and each side of the street operating in one direction with pedestrian traffic. I ask residents to please take extra precautions when heading to the farmers’ market. "

Some other North Jersey towns, like Westfield and Summit, have already restarted their weekly markets, with restrictions such as banning dogs and mandating social distancing. Summit has an elaborate list of regulations.

No word has come yet on Hoboken's two other regular farmers' markets.

Bhalla also said Tuesday that the Hoboken Health Department confirmed an additional two confirmed cases of covid-19 in Hoboken, for a total of 540. Twenty-six residents have passed away due to the virus, including one case just reported.

"Sadly, the Health Department also provided information of an additional male in his early 80s who passed away in mid-April, which was recently reported by a hospital," Bhalla said.

New Jersey continues to see high rates of coronavirus cases and deaths. On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said the state had confirmed 898 new cases of the virus, and 198 more people had died since the day before. The state death toll is now 9,508.

The rate is lower than Thursday, April 30, when the state reached an all-time high death rate. That day, Murphy had said that 460 New Jerseyans had been lost to the virus in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes. The daily fatality rate has slowly come down since then.

Officials are reopening facilities in the state cautiously so as not to cause another spike in cases.

The governor said Tuesday that in order to start reopening, the state is planning to trace people who've had contact with patients, and institute other measures. READ MORE.

For more of the mayor's Tuesday update, click here.

Some other Hoboken coronavirus updates:

TESTING

• The city will make rapid, 10-minute coronavirus antibody testing available for residents starting Wednesday. The new tests can reveal a current or past infection. More details for signing up are here.
• Riverside Medical Group has conducted 1,529 tests on Hoboken residents, with 208 positive and 1,309 negative cases. Any resident, regardless of symptoms, can get a 15-minute rapid test at the Riverside site in uptown Hoboken by appointment by calling 201-420-5621 (Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) If you don’t have health insurance, the city will pay the cost.
• Bhalla said that people should call the Community Emergency Response Team hotline (above) for a rapid test, as opposed to calling Riverside Medical Group directly.
• There are other medical offices in Hoboken with tests; if in doubt about what to do, call your physician.

SCHOOLS

• Over the weekend, Gov. Murphy clamped down on in-public graduation ceremonies, saying they need to be held virtually. On Monday, he clarified and said that "wave parades" and other graduation and birthday celebrations are OK if they respect social distancing.
• Last week, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey schools will be closed for the rest of the year. After discussing with the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governor said that spring sports will not resume for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.

PARKS

• Most Hoboken parks reopened on Friday. READ MORE.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

• The city and Patch both have directories of businesses that are open and closed. Check it out or add your business easily. READ MORE.
• The city will be closing off certain blocks for businesses to expand and draw foot traffic. READ MORE.
• Here's what you need to know about applying for unemployment and other benefits during coronavirus. MORE.
• Read more about unemployment, small business, and other coronavirus regulations and benefits in New Jersey here.

NURSING HOMES

• New Jersey residents have become alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities, and have charged that the facilities are undercounting the numbers and not adequately protecting residents and staff. The state has faced questions for weeks from the press about how they will address the problems. They announced plans last week to increase testing at some long term care facilities and to bring in the National Guard to help make changes.
• The state has begun releasing death toll statistics for long-term care facilities like rehabs and nursing homes. See the list here.
• You can report problems with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct, here.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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