Full Notification

Below is an update from Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla on COVID-19:

We continue to receive an outpouring of support from those who want to help distribute food to our first responders and those in need. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the owners of Rajbhog Foods, and Dr. Vrinda Deva for delivering approximately 2,000 meals of Indian food for our first responders and pledging to deliver another 2,000 meals for our seniors and vulnerable populations with the Hoboken Food Pantry this upcoming week. To all those who continue to support those on our front lines and our senior populations with meals – I can’t thank you enough.
 
COVID-19 in Hoboken
 
We unfortunately lost two additional seniors today to COVID-19, as a male in his mid 60s and a female in her late 70s. I keep them and all 15 community members we lost in my thoughts and prayers. We also had another nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, with an overall total of 278 cases. I appreciate the continued work of the Hoboken Health Department for their continued outreach to all those who were in close contact with those in order to self-quarantine.
 
The good news is that of the 278 cases, nearly 100 residents have fully recovered. The age group with the most amount of confirmed cases is between the ages of 31-40, while 144 of the total cases are female and 134 are male. Notably, two of the confirmed cases are children below 16 years of age, which underscores the need for parents to take precautions to keep their children safe. When outside, I ask parents to please keep children within arm’s length at all times, to ensure they don’t accidentally bump into other people who may have the virus, or act as a carrier if too close to others.
 
We’ve included end of week statistics through graphs which gives more insight into the impact of COVID-19 in Hoboken, which we will continue to do at the end of each week going forward.
 
Meal distributions for our seniors and ask for volunteers
 
We began the process of bagging additional meals today for our senior populations thanks to our extra allocation of Community Development Block Grant funding. With a team of volunteers, over 3,400 meals were packed for almost 600 seniors in five senior buildings. These meals will help keep our seniors indoors and save them trips to the supermarket. I’m appreciative to everyone who helped pack and deliver the meals today, including Director Leo Pellegrini, Sgt. William Montanez, Fire Captain Audra Carter, Councilmembers Jim Doyle, Mike Russo, Ruben Ramos and Phil Cohen, Jason Freeman, Housing Authority Director Marc Recko, the Community Emergency Response Team, Office of Emergency Management, and Hoboken Housing Authority members.
 
If you have time to assist with packing and distributing meals for our senior populations in senior buildings, we could use a hand. Volunteers are requested to help at senior buildings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from approximately 9:30 am until 11:00 am. We’ll be providing face masks and gloves, and strict social distancing requirements will be practiced at each site.
 
If you’re interested, please email Caroline Caulfield at [email protected] with the subject line “Packing Volunteer”. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help assist.
 
Easter Bunny in Hoboken on Saturday!
 
Hoboken’s young population will be pleased to know that the Easter Bunny will be in Hoboken on Saturday! This will be a great way to bring back a fun tradition while practicing social distancing. Please be sure to wave to the bunny from the window or stoop, and to not congregate outside of your home.
 
Starting at 2:00 pm, the Easter Bunny will be leaving the Hoboken Police Department Headquarters and begin going up north on Washington Street, then make away around the Tea Building and Shipyard area before heading south down Hudson Street, then down River Street around Sinatra Drive South. The bunny will then hop on over to Bloomfield Street to go north, then south down Garden, etc. and crisscross the City on north/south streets.
 
For the bunny’s real time location, follow along live on Saturday at Councilwoman Emily Jabbour’s social media feeds (Twitter: @hobokenemily and Facebook: facebook.com/HobokenEmily). Thanks to the Councilwoman, the Hoboken Police Department, and to residents Diane Sanches Branco and Darby Vinciguerra for putting this event together!
 
FLAG (Front Line Appreciation Group) of Hoboken to host FUNdraiser on Saturday
 
FLAG of Hoboken, which raises money to feed first responders, medical professionals and front-line workers through local businesses, is hosting a FUNdraising auction on Saturday. Over 95 businesses have donated items, and the lineup of fun is as follows:
 
6-7 pm: Kids hour with The Inner Athlete and Raakhee Mirchandani Singh (Facebook live on FLAG of Hbkn and JC)
 
7 pm: Virtual Dance Party with DJ Cam hosted by Hoboken Girl (@hobokengirl, Instagram live)
 
7-10 pm: Live “virtual” auction (FLAG facebook group)
 
For more information and find ways to get involved, join the FLAG of Hbkn and JC on Facebook and follow on Instagram.
 
Please be aware if driving in Hoboken
 
If you happen to be driving for an essential need, I respectfully ask all drivers to recognize that our streets may have additional pedestrians from time to time as we practice social distancing. Please exercise additional caution when driving on our shared streets.
 
Acquiring health insurance if you lost your job
 
If you lost your job due to COVID-19, you may be eligible through the federal healthcare exchange to purchase health insurance if you need it. According to the State, if you’ve experienced a life-changing event, which includes losing your job or health coverage, you could be eligible to enroll in health coverage through the Special Enrollment Period. Those that could qualify are those who lost their health coverage in the past 60 days or expects to lose healthcare coverage in the next 60 days. For more information, visit www.getcovered.nj.gov or go directly to www.healthcare.gov purchase a plan.
 
Virtual public meeting for New Jersey Transit Records building
 
We are co-hosting a virtual public meeting with New Jersey Transit on the future of the New Jersey Transit Records building on April 16 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm via the WebEx online platform. This meeting replaces the March 17 public meeting that was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. For more information on the records building, including an online survey and instructions on how to join the virtual meeting on April 16, please visit https://www.hobokennj.gov/resources/lackawanna-records-building.
 
Finally, to all those celebrating, I wish you and your family a blessed Good Friday.
 
Stay safe,

Ravi S. Bhalla
Mayor