Results tagged “hoboken”

Peter Cammarano, who resigned as mayor of Hoboken due to accusations that he took $25,000 in bribes during his 21-and-a-half days in office, got a nifty payout from the city: According to the Jersey Journal, "Cammarano received $12,904.04 for his one month as Hoboken mayor, according to city payroll records. Of that $12,904, $4,254.46 of it was paid to Cammarano for his unused vacation days... He was inaugurated on July 1, 2009 and his resignation was effective at noon on Friday, July 31. On his last day in office, Cammarano was paid for half a day. Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer was sworn in later that day." You know how many unused vacation days? Twelve—he got all of them, they weren't pro-rated or anything! That's super generous of Hoboken.

Peter Cammarano, the 32-year-old recently elected to mayor of Hoboken and even more recently accused of taking a $25,000 bribe by the feds, has finally resigned, just days after saying he'd stay in office. Protests, not to mention some prodding from NJ Governor Corzine, apparently wore him down; Cammarano issued a resignation letter today, "I apologize to the residents of Hoboken for the disruption and disappointment this case has caused...Regrettably, it has turned out that the controversy surrounding the charges against me has become a distraction to me and an impediment to the functioning of Hoboken government. I would like to reiterate that I am innocent of any criminal charges and I intend to fight the allegations against me." City Council President Dawn Zimmer succeeds Cammarano.

Dennis Elwell, mayor of Secaucus, NJ, announced that he will resign today, after being charged with corruption—he allegedly took a $10,000 bribe from a government informant— in the massive federal probe that netted 44 arrests last week. His lawyer issued a statement, "Effective today, July 28, 2009, Dennis Elwell will resign his position as mayor of the town of Secaucus. After careful deliberation, Dennis determined this action is in the best interest of both his family and the People of Secaucus. Those who perceive this action to be an admission of culpability as to the pending criminal allegations are gravely mistaken." Elwell had been mayor since 1999. Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, who was also arrested and accused of taking $25,000 in bribes, and Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Saurez, arrested and accused of taking $10,000, have refused to resign, in spite of outcry.

About 100 protesters stood outside the home of Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano yesterday and called for his resignation, joining a public plea the day before from NJ Governor Jon Corzine. Despite being arrested as part of the massive corruption bust Thursday, the mayor has insisted he will stay in office continuing "business as usual." Corzine said if Cammarano and other officials refuse to step down, he will seek measures to force them out of office, adding, "If they want to get back into politics once they are proven innocent, I think that's fine." Cammarano was busted for taking $25,000 in bribes and his ambitious climb to become Hoboken's youngest mayor last month lead many to believe he will not go down lightly. A longtime NJ legislator said of him, "Some kids grow up and want to be the center fielder for the Mets. Some grow up and want to be mayor of their town. That was him. He was reveling in it." Meanwhile one spot getting a boost from the scandal—Hoboken's Malibu Diner, the scene of the crime. A manager told the News, “It’s not the kind of publicity we want, but business has picked up."

       

Yesterday, federal agents arrested dozens of individuals, many of them NJ politicians and lawmakers as well as prominent religious figures in NJ and NY, in a probe that began as a money laundering investigation but then turned into a political corruption bust as well. The Star-Ledger reports, "The bribes went down in diners, living rooms and parking lots. New Jersey Assemblymen took them, mayors took them, and so did dozens of others. Orthodox rabbis, acting more like crime bosses than religious leaders, laundered millions through synagogues and yeshivas in Deal, one of the state's wealthiest towns. And a Realtor tried to sell an informant a black market kidney for $160,000."

       

The feds' raids and arrests this morning didn't just capture the NJ mayors and officials (past and present)—there are rabbis, relatives and apparently an organ dealer! A total of 44 people were arrested in a "broad-ranging corruption and international money laundering investigation."

It's Perp Walk Thursday for a number of NJ elected officials: The feds have arrested Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano and Secaucus Mayor Denis Elwell, as well as Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Baldini, Jersey City Council President Mario Vega and many others (such as rabbis and community leaders) in a money laundering and corruption (political bid-rigging) sweep. The Star-Ledger reports, "Nearly 20 people, including Cammarano, Elwell, and Vega, have already been led into the FBI building in Newark to face the charges." NBC New York, which has a photo of newly elected Hoboken Mayor Cammarano being hauled in, adds, "Arrests and searches are underway across Jersey City, Secaucus and numerous Hudson and Bergen county locations." The arrests are expected to take place until noon—stay tuned!

With the Macy's July 4 fireworks extravaganza on the Hudson River this year (to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage down the Hudson River), crowds will be lining up on both the New York and New Jersey sides of the river to catch a glimpse of the display. And while NY is used to the security and preparations required, NJ towns aren't: The NY Times reports, "The new location has left town officials in Hoboken, Weehawken, North Bergen and other waterfront communities confronting something they do not often have to deal with — the 100,000 or more spectators they expect to descend on the Hudson’s west bank." Local police and fire departments have warned about grilling regulations and some apartment buildings limited tenants' guests or said only tenants with ID will be allowed in (forget those parties!). There are also driving restrictions in Jersey City plus a zero-tolerance policy—"Open containers, public urination, public nuisance and destruction of property are all subject to a $1,000 fine per infraction," according to Hoboken Now, thanks to the rowdy St. Patrick's Parade behavior (which probably means having sex in public is "public nuisance" and pooping in the hallway is "destruction of property").

In what appears to be another strike in the ongoing silent war between New York and New Jersey, someone in Hoboken played Pied Piper with some of NYC's bravest: the unemployed. While voters were going to the polls in a mayoral runoff election yesterday, Hoboken police had to be called in because job seekers from the Big Apple showed up in response to an ad for campaign workers placed around the LES that turned out to be a fake. The flyers offered $200 to anyone wiling to take the PATH out and work for mayoral candidate Peter Cammarano. But when respondents arrived, they were sent down the block to the headquarters of Dawn Zimmer, Cammarano's opponent. (Neither had any actual jobs.) Both sides pointed the finger, but neither admitted responsibility for the hoax. As the confused New Yorkers wandered down Washington Street, one man sadly told a reporter, "We were just looking for work," finding himself aimless once again in the town known for having "a bar on every corner."

Earlier this week, Hoboken's public safety official lamented what happened during this past Saturday's St. Patrick's Day parade (Hoboken hold their parade early)—an affair that included public urination from rooftops, a couple having sex in public view, and a lot of drunkenness—and suggested the parade wasn't worth the trouble. Other residents might agree, like this person who put up a notice in his/her apartment building, The Summit, to question the chaos a neighbor's house party had brought. NJ.com has a photo of the notice, via "Duffy's bartender Chris Halleron in his "Derelict of the Week" newsletter (he did not post the letter himself; he just sent out the photo of it on his newsletter)." Read the rest of the letter here.

Hoboken Public Safety Director Bill Bergin is so fed up with the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade that he wants to cancel next year's parade. He described the chaos on Saturday to Hoboken Now, "On Washingtion Street, bottles were thrown onto the people below. A girl and a guy were performing sex in a window when the parade was going by. One person spit in the face of a fireman. There were young, young girls that were blind drunk standing in the middle of the streets, so drunk that they didn't know where they were." And don't forget people were also urinating from rooftops—apparently most of disturbances were not bars but from "house parties." Hoboken mayor David Roberts and other officials will be discussing the parade and its future. Bergin said, "People talk about how much money the city makes from the parade. But if four or five people go falling off one of these roofs, there's no way to make up for this with fines."

So, Moby just happened to Google Alert himself run across this music blog that wrote a (video) post asking him to play their anniversary party since their headliner had canceled (headlining was The Teeth, who broke up...and broke stuff at our CMJ show last year). The video message, which offered $1,000 to play the show, also went out to Win Butler, Kate Nash and Ben Gibbard. Moby responded "yes" (aww). And Hoboken ladies: he's ready for an after-party:

so, as i spend way too much time on the aforementioned internet and i have free time on april 10th and i love to play if there's an audience and/or beer involved, saw his request and i emailed him and said, 'i'd be happy to play at your party'. then he wrote back and, to paraphrase, said, 'great'. so i'm playing at his party.

Continue reading "Moby Discovers Show Opportunity Online"

Hoboken disbanded its SWAT team this week after another scandal rocked the police department of the tiny New Jersey town across the river. A number of minority officers recently filed a lawsuit accusing a high-ranking co-worker of behaving like a white supremacist, regularly deriding minorities. Now the SWAT team has been disbanded days after photos became public showing the unit's commander and other cops cavorting with waitresses at a Hooters restaurant in Alabama. The Mile...