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Housing Authority

Hoboken Housing Authority
400 Marshall Drive
Hoboken, NJ 07030

201-798-0370

Desperate people do desperate things, $65K bail for housing commish accused of wait list rigging

It was only eight months ago that Hoboken resident Hector Claveria, 36, was appointed to the seven-member volunteer board that oversees Hoboken’s housing projects, after several City Council people touted his financial expertise and said the board needed new blood.

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“File this under ‘desperate people do desperate things.’ ” – Perry Belfiore
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Soon after that, according to a source, Claveria happened to lose his job as director of finance at Rosemount Capital Management in New York City.

This past Tuesday, Claveria was arrested and charged with taking a bribe to move a tenant in the projects up on the wait list for a housing voucher.

“File this under ‘desperate people do desperate things,’ ” said fellow Hoboken Housing Authority commissioner Perry Belfiore last week. “I love Hector and I feel for his family. He’s not the first Housing Authority commissioner to get jammed up.”

Hot water shortage wreaking havoc on tenants' routines

Residents of the city's public housing complex have resorted to bathing in kitchen sinks, getting up at 4 a.m. to shower and using paper plates due to chronic hot water shortages that have lasted nearly three months.

Tenants of 311 Harrison St. and 310 Jackson St. said there is no hot water in the early morning when people are trying to shower for work and school. Hot water returns in the late morning and afternoon, but by 6 p.m. the water is ice cold after residents return and compete for the limited supplies.

Actions triple on Hoboken drugs, gangs

HOBOKEN - Outrage over the murder of a local teenager earlier this year combined with a recent massive drug raid has led city officials to ramp up their use of a controversial "one-strike" policy that allows them to kick suspected criminals out of city public housing.

"We are in the process of making Hoboken a safe, decent place to live. One way to combat the drug and gang activity is to make residents realize the seriousness of the crimes and understand that they are risking tenancy," Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director Bob DiVincent said.

Hoboken mom getting punished for son's crime?

HOBOKEN - Linda Grooms observed her son's 25th birthday last December by throwing him out of her $50-a-month public housing apartment, saying she was frustrated because he repeatedly failed to get a real job - and instead brashly flaunted his drug activity.

Weeks later Hoboken police arrested her son and charged him with possession of 99 bags of heroin. Police never linked Linda Grooms to her son's arrest, but since his name was still on the lease, Grooms was evicted from her apartment. She has a few more months to find a new home.

40 face eviction from the projects

40 face eviction from the projects

Improvements in safety measures and infrastructure for the city's low-income housing projects are coming along, just a year and a half after the Hoboken Housing Authority accepted a federal $10.3 million dollar loan.

But some stepped-up security measures are being debated, as the HHA recently stepped up the process of evicting families if one member of the household is convicted of an alleged drug infraction or other crime.

Former Accounting Manager of Hoboken Housing Authority Admits Embezzling More Than $111,000

08-16-06 -- Hurt, Eric D. -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Former Accounting Manager of Hoboken Housing Authority Admits Embezzling More Than $111,000

NEWARK:  The former accounting manager for the Hoboken Housing Authority pleaded guilty today to embezzling funds totaling $111,083 from the general operating fund by writing checks to himself, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Hello - Goodbye

New interim housing director lasts three days, then resigns

The instability of the leadership at the Hoboken Housing Authority continued last week after Interim Executive Director Robert Graham resigned after only three days on the job.

This is a major mess for the Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners. The HHA oversees the city's 1,383 federally subsidized housing units, including three senior buildings. Most of the projects are in the southwest part of town.

Experienced director hired to run Housing Authority, temporarily

So why hire an interim director to replace another interim director?

While DiVincent has been making progress in closing a million deficit left by the previous director, he also serves as the director of the West New York and Weehawken housing authorities.

HHA Commissioner Christopher Campos, who is also the City Council president, said that DiVincent did a good job, but that he was spread too thin between three housing authorities.

Political rumors

Before Thursday's meeting, there were rumors that the HHA board majority wanted to bring an ally of Mayor David Roberts into the executive director's position. Some suggested it might be the city's Human Services director, Carmelo Garcia, who also serves as the Board of Ed. president and hosts a local weekly cable TV show. Garcia's name was not mentioned Thursday night. 

Change at top for the HHA

Change at top for the HHA

One Robert is out and another is in after an emotional Hoboken Housing Authority meeting last night.

Robert DiVincent, the HHA's interim director, walked out of the meeting as two commissioners expressed disappointment with the commission's 4-to-2 vote to replace him with veteran public housing official Robert Graham.

Last month, the board of commissioners agreed to terminate its contract with DiVincent in order to appoint a full-time interim director, and last night the commissioners hired Graham, the former interim director of the Jersey City Housing Authority, on a 60-day contract.

A Mobile Police Unit Takes On Drug Trade

WHAT is 36 1/2 feet long, 8 feet wide and 12 feet high, weighs 20,000 pounds and moves on wheels? It is ORCA, the latest addition to Hoboken's police force.

ORCA, an acronym for Operation Remove Crack Attack, is the city's mobile police unit, a customized bus that the police have used since April to fight crime in the city's highest crime area.

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