On December 23, 2011, embattled Hoboken Construction Code official ALFRED AREZZO filed a CEPA lawsuit in the Law-Civil Part division of the Hudson County Superior Court Docket # L 006490 "AREZZO VS THE CITY OF HOBOKEN NEW JERSEY ET AL".

A ST. PATRICK'S Day parade has been a tradition in Hoboken for a quarter of a century. The tradition ends this year, and it is a loss to all in North Jersey.

New Jersey is often overshadowed by New York. The St. Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan is bigger. Unfortunately, the people pouring out of bars and parties in Hoboken on the day of its parade are drunker or at least less controlled. The Hoboken St. Patrick's Parade Committee's decision last week to cancel the parade traditionally held on the first Saturday in March is an admission that Hoboken cannot guarantee the safety of the spectators who come from far and wide to celebrate.

Sadly, the Hoboken St. Patrick's Parade Committee announced that the much anticipated annual parade would be cancelled due to the "City of Hoboken's inability to protect our spectators, bands and participants."

The event is a Hoboken tradition held on the first Saturday of March and attracted hundreds of thousands of celebrants over the past 25 years.   

This year’s event, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 3, 2012, would have marked the parade’s 26th anniversary! 

On Nov 9, 2011, Mayor Zimmer testified in William Campbell v. City of Hoboken.  After three hours of testimony, Mayor Zimmer advised the Court that the FBI was at Hoboken City Hall and she needed to return to Hoboken.   The case was adjourned and rescheduled for continuation on January 3, 2012.  Attached is the 77 page Court transcript of Mayor Zimmer’s Nov 9th testimony.

Senator Weinberg and members of the Senate Health and Senior Services Committee, thank you for the opportunity to address you today about the conversion of non-profit hospitals to ‘for profit’. JNESO, District Council 1 represents over 5000 nurses, techs and other health care related employees in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 322 of which are employed at Hoboken University Medical Center.
 
We are not opposed to the sale of this institution. We understand that the sale of this hospital to a well intentioned, ethical entity is vital to the survival of HUMC.  Quality health care should not be jeopardized for sake of profit or politics.   In light of recent news articles, that certainly does not seem to be the case.  In fact, JNESO collected over 3000 postcards from citizens concerned about the lack of transparency of this transaction.  It seems as if the instincts of the many thousands of concerned residents were correct. 

A Hoboken resident is one of Thirteen New Jersey doctors and a nurse practitioner charged in a cash-for tests referral scheme for allegedly taking illegal kickback payments to refer patients to an Orange, N.J., medical testing facility, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Special Agent in Charge Tom O’Donnell announced.

This morning, more than 65 federal and local agents and officers led by HHS-OIG arrested the 14 health care practitioners, to whom radiology and diagnostic facility Orange Community MRI (“OCM”) allegedly paid monthly cash kickback payments in exchange for their referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients to OCM for testing services.

The defendants arrested this morning are scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court. OCM’s executive director, Chirag Patel, 36, of Warren, N.J., was arrested on Dec. 8, 2011, in connection with the scheme. He appeared that day before Judge Arleo and was released on a $750,000 bond.

The Sergeant’s exam must be postponed indefinitely, due to the ongoing negotiations between the State of New Jersey and the United States Department of Justice regarding an acceptable revised test plan under the proposed Consent Decree. A new Orientation Guide outlining any changes to the testing process will be issued approximately 6 to 8 weeks before a new test date.

On December 7, 2011, the United States Bankruptcy Court District of New Jersey signed an order granting the first interim allowance to the law firm representing HUDSON HEALTHCARE, INC. “HHI”, the bankrupt non-profit private corporation “manager” of Hoboken University Medical Center. 

HHI’s bankruptcy counsel TRENK, DiPASQUALE, WEBSTER, DELLA FERA & SODONO, P.C. was awarded $1,083,941.77 representing fees and expenses for the “First Interim Fee Application for the Period August 1, 2011 through October 31, 2011.”

During the bankruptcy process, newspapers and political blogs have reported allegations of bankruptcy fraud with respect to HHI and the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority. 

JNESO, District Council 1, IUOE, AFL-CIO (“JNESO”) , the union representing nurses at Hoboken University Medical Center, filed an Objection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to the two (2) Motions filed by the Debtor,  Hudson Healthcare, Inc. (the “Hudson”)

The Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority has requested a $2.5 million loan from the Authority to fund the continued operations of the Hoboken University Medical Center (“HUMC”), which is currently owned by HMHA, until the planned sale of HUMC to a company known as HUMC Holdco can be completed. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of September 2011. The loan will be secured by a subordinated pledge of the Revenues of HMHA, including an $11 million State appropriation to HMHA, which will not be available to HMHA until the sale is closed. The loan will be made from the Authority’s fund balance, which is currently over $4 million.