This was originally going to be a longer newsletter with multiple updates, but Monday night's initial City Council vote on the proposed Garage B redevelopment raised the topic of urban planning—or more accurately, the lack of it—and demanded its own focus.
Hoboken is at a breaking point, and the consequences of poor planning decisions will cost taxpayers greatly while ignoring the real needs of our community.
Because of this, this newsletter is going to only include the following:
- Garage B – An infeasible project that could become another costly taxpayer-funded mistake, ignoring what our community actually needs.
- Urban Planning Survey – A chance to confirm what we already know: our land-use priorities must meet the long term needs of our community, not just political agendas.
I’ll cover the rest of the updates in a separate newsletter, but for now, let’s focus on what’s at stake if we don’t take control of how Hoboken grows.
GARAGE B – GOOD PLANNING OR BAD POLITICS?
At Monday’s City Council meeting, we will be asked to approve a redevelopment plan for a 25+ story, 100% affordable/workforce housing building over a new municipal parking garage on the site of Hoboken's Garage B municipal garage (Hudson between 1st & 2nd).
While I fully support adding more affordable housing, I will be voting NO on this proposal because:
- It’s not financially viable. Even if the city gives the land away for free, the project still isn’t feasible without a massive tax abatement that shifts costs onto other taxpayers.
- The city doesn’t control the air rights. The air rights over Garage B belong to the adjacent property (MarineView 5 office building), and they haven’t even been engaged in discussions about this plan.
- It’s out of scale with the neighborhood. At 25+ stories, it would be four times taller than the neighboring buildings and almost twice the height of the Waterfront Corporate Center office buildings one block east.
- It ignores broader city needs. The city owns multiple properties in the area, and this was proposed in isolation, without considering other priorities like upgrading the police station.
- It violates urban planning best practices. Large, 100% affordable housing towers are widely discouraged because they concentrate lower income neighbors, rather than integrate affordable housing within market-rate developments.
We are not voting on a comprehensive plan for the surrounding area—just this one city-owned property, where the city doesn’t even own the air rights.
THIS IS ABOUT POLITICS, NOT PLANNING
While this project makes for great headlines for Mayor Bhalla, CW Jabbour, and CM Russo, who are all pushing it - “Supporting the Middle Class” and “Making Hoboken Affordable Again” - it instead reveals their lack of understanding of urban planning, development economics, and how feasible projects get built. As a resident pointed out at last week’s City Council meeting, this plan “makes this building affordable, while shifting the cost burden to the rest of the taxpayers and making it less affordable for them.”
A SMARTER PATH FORWARD
This project is on our own timeline, and we have a better alternative:
- Invest $1.7 million to repair Garage B (per a city report) and extend its life by 10 years, rather than commit to an unworkable plan that needs significant taxpayer subsidies.
- Prioritize the 700 affordable units already in the pipeline. Instead of rushing an unviable project, we should focus on getting these projects built.
- Complete the redevelopment plan for the entire area which includes four, city owned properties and two adjacent privately owned properties. Instead of a piecemeal approach.
- Negotiate a better plan. The adjacent property owner controls the air rights—we should be discussing a more comprehensive redevelopment of the entire block including Marine View 5.
- Address the parking crisis. Garage B serves 800 cars—where will they go for two years during construction? With multiple municipal garages already out of service or at reduced capacity, this will worsen an already serious parking problem.
- Look at the big picture. The city owns multiple properties in this area and has other pressing needs, such as upgrading the police station. We should plan holistically, not piecemeal.
AND IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH … CONSIDER HOBOKEN'S FINANCIAL REALITY
Hoboken’s debt has doubled to over $400 million since 2018—and that doesn’t even include the expected hundreds of millions needed for:
- Fixing the waterfront ($30M)
- Building Maritime Park ($75M est)
- Repairing the Midtown Garage ($35M)
- Repairing the 916 Garden Garage ($)
- Upgrading the Hoboken Police Department ($$)
- Building much-needed community centers ($$$)
Why would we give away a $20 million city-owned property without any analysis when we haven’t even figured out how to fund these priorities?
SO WHY IS THE GARAGE B REDEVELOPMENT PLAN BEING PUSHED FORWARD?
Maybe because it’s a Hoboken Mayoral and NJ State Assembly election year? Let me know if you can think of any other reasons...
Hoboken deserves better. Like so many others, we need to Run the City Better—and that starts by saying NO to bad decisions and YES to real, long-term planning that puts the needs of our entire community first.
RUNNING OUT OF SPACE: A RESULT OF POOR PLANNING
Hoboken is running out of space. With 6,300 new residential units approved, including over 700 affordable / workforce housing, nearly 13,000 more people will be calling our city home in the coming years. Because the administration has taken more of a headline grabbing, developer-friendly, piecemeal approach to development—rather than focusing on urban planning—this growth now forces us to make tough decisions to ensure our community’s needs are met:
- Do we have the resources to support this growth and/or a place to put them?
- What should we prioritize? Schools? Recreation? Housing?
- Should we pause large-scale development until we figure things out?
Your input matters. Take a few minutes to share your thoughts on how we Run the City Better and plan for Hoboken's future space needs—before it’s too late.
TAKE THE 6 QUESTION SURVEY HERE
If you’ve been following my updates, you know I’m planning to soon announce my run for mayor. The overwhelming feedback I’ve received? Hoboken residents see me as the leader who will know how to actually run the city better. Not with slogans or vague promises, but by managing the details, making the tough calls, and putting residents first.
I ran my first campaign in 2015 on the belief that when it comes to Hoboken’s future, the public should never be the underdog. This was the first mailer I ever sent (notice there are much fewer words...
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That belief still holds true today. We must demand responsible urban planning, transparent decision-making, and policies that serve our community—not political and special interests.
As always, please share this with everyone you know who may be interested and reach out any time on any issue important to you: 201-208-1674 or [email protected].
Tiffanie Fisher
Hoboken City Councilwoman
Engage. Inform. Advocate.
“More Voices are Better”
If interested in helping me explore running to be your Hoboken Mayor:
- join Team Tiffanie
- donate to Team Tiffanie via website or paypal
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Learn more: www.Hoboken2ndWard.com
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