Mayor Anthony Russo (1946-2021)

Anthony J. Russo, Mayor of Hoboken, 74, passed away peacefully at home in Hoboken on April 19, 2021. He was born on December 22, 1946 in Hoboken to his parents Josephine (Ferrante) Russo and Nick Russo. 

Anthony Russo graduated from Hoboken High School in 1964. He then attended and graduated Murray State University. He returned to Hoboken and became a Special Education teacher with the Hoboken Public School District in 1970, soon thereafter he received his master's degree in Special Education.
He was Married to Michele DeStefano in March of 1971.

Anthony was preceded in death by his loving and devoted wife, Michele (DeStefano) Russo, his parents Nick and Josephine Russo and his 3 brothers, Anthony Russo, Michael ""Mikey"" Russo and Frank Russo. 

He is survived by 3 sons, Councilman Michael Russo, retired Hoboken Police Officer Nick Russo and Hoboken Police Sergeant Anthony Russo, his 11 grandchildren, Jenna, Eric (Camargo) Anthony, Lucien, Lia, Ava, Jack, Niccolo, Michele, Michael and Aliana and his sister Lucille Sacco and half-brother Ronnie Miller and numerous nieces and nephews.

Anthony Russo's interest in serving the residents of Hoboken resulted in an election victory in 1991 becoming Third Ward Councilman. Councilman Russo fought battles against budget spending, stood up for public waterfront access and campaigned against development that was not beneficial to Hoboken residents on the waterfront.

In a hard-fought election for Mayor in 1993, Councilman Anthony Russo was competing against many other contenders. His ability to speak to the people of Hoboken in a clear manner; projecting faith and determination to move the City forward, led to victory in a June Runoff election and being sworn in as Mayor on July 1, 1993.

Hoboken needed to heal following the election and Mayor Anthony Russo promoted Change with his slogan ""Turn the Tide"" and promoted Unity by having discussions with various activist groups and hiring several who campaigned for other mayoral candidates, setting a tone of inclusion in government.
The result: Hoboken was reborn as a Waterfront City! The long fought battle for public access to Hoboken's waterfront became a reality!

Mayor Anthony Russo went on to stream-line City government from nine departments to three, form the 1st public/private water utility agreement in the United States, attain the coveted ISO Insurance Rating through improvements in the Fire Department, modernize the Hoboken Police Department and produce stable City budgets year after year.

Mayor Anthony Russo brought Pride back to Hoboken in a very big way. It was evident to all that we would succeed – and Hoboken continued succeeding through a 2nd Term ending on June 30, 2001.

Mayor Anthony Russo was a beloved person in Hoboken. He walked the streets daily receiving and sharing greetings. His vision for Hoboken was broad enough that everyone shared in the excitement of a renewed spirit of community.
Now, upon this time of loss, we say goodbye to our Mayor. With love, continued devotion and eternal gratitude, we say goodbye to a beloved family man, a father, a grandfather, a senior citizen, a simple and good man.

Visitation will be held on Friday, April 23, 2021 from 2 to 8 p.m. at Failla Memorial Home, 533 Willow Avenue, Hoboken. Parking available in rear of memorial home off Sixth Street. Due to CDC Guidelines, visitors are asked to wear a face covering and practice social distancing. Funeral mass will be offered on Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Francis Church, Hoboken. For Live Streaming of his mass, please go to Saint Francis Church Hoboken YouTube. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations can be made to The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Madeline Fiadini LoRe Foundation for Cancer Prevention or St. Francis Church Memorial Fund in Anthony's memory.

No Enemies

By Charles Mackay

(English Chartist poet, 1814–1889)

YOU have no enemies, you say?   Alas! my friend, the boast is poor; He who has mingled in the fray   Of duty, that the brave endure, Must have made foes! If you have none,         5 Small is the work that you have done. You’ve hit no traitor on the hip, You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip, You’ve never turned the wrong to right, You’ve been a coward in the fight.

April 2021 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting: 27 Minutes Long Including 25 Minutes of Student Recognition and Praise, No Board Discussion on 54 Page Meeting Agenda, No Committee Reports

The Hoboken Board of Education met on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 online. The meeting, as well as the agenda, can be viewed below.

The April 2021 HBOE meeting lasted roughly 27 minutes of which 25 minutes were spent recognizing students by their principals and administrators. Lots of wonderful things said about the individual students. 

In the remaining part of the meeting, which amounted to 2 minutes, there was no discussion on any item of the 54 page Agenda (see below) other than an omnibus "consent" agenda vote. There were no committee reports, no public updates on the budget for 2021-22, no public updates on curriculum, no public updates on instruction, no discussion of summer school plans, no discussion of plans for next year, and no comments by the public. 

Apparently, in the Hoboken School District, everything is Va tutti bene! 

HBOE April 13, 2021 Meeting by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd

Hoboken Sends the Lowest Percentage of Students Qualifying for Free or Reduced Lunch to Prestigious High Tech HS in Hudson County...why?

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High Tech High School is a school for ALL students of Hudson County, NJ. It is a full-time public magnet high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Secaucus, Hudson County, New Jersey operating as part of the Hudson County Schools of Technology. Since its establishment in 1991, High Tech High School has been named a Top Ten High School, a Governor's School of Excellence, a New Jersey Star School (twice) and has been cited by New Jersey Monthly magazine as one of the state's great public high schools. 

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County which sends students to High Tech High School. According to the 2010 Census, about 9.6% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 24.4% of those age 65 or over.

So, in a city where over 1 in 5 students is below the poverty line, why are only 6% attending one of the best high schools in Hudson County? Especially in a district where around 50% of the students qualify as free or reduced lunch? 

Has High Tech HS become an option for a certain demographic of Hoboken but not for other demographics? How does this impact the low performing Hoboken High School? 

Are students of color and poverty being discouraged from applying to High Tech High School? 

Is information and support for applying to High Tech High School being shared among only a privileged few?

Full Data Set for High Tech HS 

How Hoboken Has Eliminated Traffic Deaths

Hoboken, a New Jersey city of about 54,000 souls directly across the Hudson from New York City, shows what can be accomplished when a municipality really focuses on the zero of Vision Zero — the “Mile Square City” has recorded no traffic fatalities for three straight years.

The city’s Vision Zero program two years ago and got to work quickly. The city expanded its bike-lane network 38 percent in 2019 and 2020, so that its total on-street network of 16.3 miles is now nearly half (47.3 percent) of the city’s 33 miles of streets. (Most of those lanes are not protected, however: The 1.04 miles of protected lanes comprise 6.4 percent of the on-street bike network.)

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Hudson County Still Last Among NJ Counties in Percentage of 1st and 2nd Vaccinations

For the 7th Week in a row, Hudson County remains in last place among NJ counties for percentage of adults given 1st and 2nd dose vaccinations for COVID-19. Hudson County has been given increasing Johnson & Johnson doses recently as the chart illustrates. 

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....and a little Hoboken History----

The 1895 corner stone from the foundation of the bridge that was never built The original site was in the backyard of 1200 Garden Street. 

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New Jersey COVID-19 Activity Level Report- March 27, 2021 HIGH RISK STATEWIDE