Hoboken's Year In Review: Scooters, Elections, And Viral Photos

HOBOKEN, NJ — The word on the tip of everyone’s tongue in Hoboken this past year was scooters. Some residents believed the city’s new scooter sharing program, introduced in May, was a new, efficient way to get around a densely populated mile-square city, while others found it a safety hazard or thought the program needed tweaking. But there was lots of other big news, with elections and development hot topics as always.

Here are some of the biggest stories in Hoboken in the past year:

• Elections: In November, six out of the city’s nine City Council seats were up for election – just the seats representing the individual geographic wards (the three at-large seats will be up for a vote during the mayoral election in November, 2021). The incumbents won in each case: Michael DeFusco in the 1st Ward, Tiffanie Fisher in the 2nd, Michael Russo in the 3rd, Ruben Ramos Jr. in the 4th, and Jen Giattino in the 6th. In the 5th Ward, incumbent Peter Cunningham chose not to run again, and was succeeded by Hoboken Democratic Committee Chairperson Phil Cohen, endorsed by the mayor. The mayor’s candidates in other wards were unsuccessful.
• Investigations: Meanwhile, the ghosts of elections past continued to haunt the mile-square city. Developer and past Councilman Frank "Pupie" Raia was sentenced to three years in prison in a voter bribery scheme from 2013 that also resulted in indictments of lesser operatives. Some believe there may be more indictments to come, perhaps from subsequent elections. Despite the short sentence, federal prosecutors didn’t mince words when referring to Raia: "He did so by deploying his loyal foot soldiers to buy votes from people who he thought were in need of money, and then creating a phony cover story to conceal his tracks. Fortunately, neither federal law enforcement nor the jury was fooled."

• Scooter Shuffle: In May, the city rolled out a pilot scooter sharing pilot program with on-street scooters from two companies: Lime and Ojo. The internet became filled with complaints: People were riding on sidewalks, kids used them even though signing up required a driver’s license, and riders weren’t sure whether helmets were mandatory. Lime began publicizing its regulations, including posting some rules on the sidewalks. But they couldn’t combat the increasing negative publicity, which reached a crescendo when an Ojo scooter rider slammed into a mother and her 3-month-old baby.

The day after that crash, Mayor Bhalla canceled the city’s contract with Ojo. When the pilot program ended in November, the City Council declined to renew it, although some said they might revisit it later. The day after it expired, on Nov. 21, a teenage boy riding a Lime scooter in Elizabeth died in a crash with a tow truck, and Elizabeth canceled its own short-lived pilot program. Hoboken released the results of a survey revealed what community members thought of the devices. A majority of the respondents supported the idea of scooters in town.

• Development: Development is always a watchword in the bustling mile-square city. Several development controversies continued from the year before. A comprehensive plan for Hoboken Yard, the area around the Hoboken train terminal, was the subject of public hearings and discourse through the end of the year. The development includes a 300-foot office building, a 330-foot-story residential building, and a flood wall. Also this year, the city approved eminent domain proceedings to try to obtain waterfront land owned by NY Waterway, so the city can keep it for recreation rather than as a ferry maintenance facility. In October the city made a new offer to buy the land, the former location of the Union Dry Dock ship repair company. This and other development debates will likely continue full steam into 2020.

• Hoboken On Social Media: On a sadder note, Hoboken made the news this year when someone using Google Maps spotted a photo of a man falling down his front steps in Hoboken. The story went viral, with some assuming the man was another young partying Hoboken resident. In fact, when reporter Brian Donohue of News 12 knocked on the door, he found out that the man had been terminally ill and having a hard day, although he did survive the fall. He passed away six months later, but had apparently led a full life as a musician, husband, father, and painter.

Do you have a news tip or idea that Hoboken Patch should cover in the new year? Email caren.lissner@patch.com.