Hoboken YMCA Event, Stevens U Events Postponed Due To Coronavirus

HOBOKEN, NJ — A large fundraiser for the renovated Hoboken YMCA, a building that shut down many of its activities over 10 years ago, has been postponed because it was going to be held in a building at the Stevens Institute of Technology Campus later this month — and the engineering school announced Thursday that it is "suspending gatherings that are discretionary in nature for internal and external groups."

The Stevens Institute of Technology is located on the Hoboken waterfront.

The university has made several announcements over the past week about how it will handle the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Monday, the school posted an advisory saying they are "moving all classes online as quickly as possible" due to the spread of the illness. They had suspended study abroad programs this past Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Hoboken YMCA "Taste of Hoboken" organizers said their postponement is out of an "abundance of caution."

The YMCA currently provides residences to some local homeless men and will continue to do so. But it will also reopen someday as the Hoboken Community Center, providing "opportunities for all residents to enjoy recreation, cultural arts, fitness programs and the return of the historic swimming pool!" according to its Facebook page.

Regarding the fundraiser, the event organizers wrote, "The HCC is working to reschedule the event for later in 2020, and an announcement with the new date will be made shortly. Guests are encouraged to keep their tickets for the rescheduled event, but those unable to attend on the new date may request a refund via the ticket website."

As of Monday afternoon, the state of New Jersey had announced a total of 11 cases of coronavirus, up from six the day before.

The city of Hoboken announced its own coronavirus task force on Sunday.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

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