Governor Tells Hoboken Mayor Not To Reopen Playgrounds Thursday

HOBOKEN, NJ — After Mayor Ravi Bhalla said on Facebook on Sunday evening that the mile-square city planned to reopen its playgrounds this Thursday, he was told on Monday by the governor's office that he must hold off.

This also means the city will hold off on reopening parks that largely consist of playgrounds, such as Pier C, which remains closed. Most other city parks reopened last month (here's a list).

"Given the progress we’ve made in Hoboken, low new infection rates and sanitizing procedures we put in place, we made the initial decision to open playgrounds this Thursday, which we announced on social media," Bhalla explained in a Nixle update Monday night. "After Governor Murphy’s office reached out today, the state has respectfully asked us to postpone playground re-openings until the governor gives the go ahead for this to occur for the entire state."

Bhalla added, "While we had no indication that this was not in our authority, out of respect to the governor’s phased approach, we have agreed to wait for the state to make this re-opening decision before re-opening playgrounds. "

A similar situation occurred in Brick Township last week, which opened playgrounds for one day, then had to close them.

Hoboken was one of the first cities to begin shutting down certain facilities and businesses to slow the spread of the virus, which has taken the lives of more than 12,000 New Jersey residents in three months. Playgrounds in Hoboken were shut down on March 14.

Thirty Hoboken residents have passed away from coronavirus in this city of 53,000 since early March, and numbers of new cases have been dwindling. The city is directly across the river from midtown Manhattan.

[For the most up-to-date Hoboken coronavirus numbers as of Tuesday, click here.]

Bhalla said Monday that there haven't been any new reported cases of coronavirus in the city the last four days, including among George Floyd protestors — something he partly credited to people wearing masks (read more here).

The CDC has guidance for visiting parks, and says crowded parks should be avoided. Their site notes, "Playgrounds can be hard to keep safe because: They are often crowded and could make social distancing difficult; It can be difficult to keep surfaces clean and disinfected; SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can spread when young children touch contaminated objects...." The site offers further guidance for kids and playgrounds.

Bhalla also said in his Nixle alert that other recreation opportunities for kids are gradually reopening.

"We continue to evaluate ways to resume recreation options for children in a socially distanced, non-contact manner," he wrote. "Last week, we resumed Little League baseball drills and practices that utilize safety precautions with no direct contact. Thank you to the organizers of the Little League for working with the city to organize this option."

Bhalla also said the school district will be holding fitness sessions for students, for which parents must be present. They can sign up on the district website. Many of the options filled up in less than 24 hours.

Superintendent of Schools Christine Johnson and the schools will also open the track behind Columbus Park at JFK Stadium for residents to jog and walk between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays from July 13 through July 31. Social distancing guidelines will be in effect and pets are not permitted on the track or turf field.

Starting this week, day cares were allowed to reopen statewide, as were restaurants for outdoor dining. For a story about the latter in Hoboken, click here.

As of last Monday, a total of 12,176 New Jersey residents had died from the virus in 12 weeks. More than 113,000 Americans have died of the virus in that same three-month period. For contrast, the CDC estimates that 61,000 Americans died of the flu during the entire 2017-2018 flu season.

On Thursday, April 30, the state reached an all-time high death rate. That day, Murphy said that 460 New Jerseyans had been lost to the virus in 24 hours, or one person every three minutes. The governor said reopening will occur in stages to avoid a new spike. READ MORE.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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