Hoboken Mayor Announces Ambitious Anti-Flooding Plan

The thing that makes Hoboken so desirable — its proximity to the water — is the very thing that makes living here a real crap shoot sometimes.

Today’s a good example of a picture-perfect day in Hoboken, bright sunshine and clear skies. The river is mostly calm. It’s a great spot to take a jog or a stroll. But late last year, Hobokenites got a taste of the river’s dark side.

Sandy smashed into Hoboken with high winds and a storm surge that flooded almost 80 percent of the city. Residents in high rises and row houses were stranded without power, water or food. The National Guard was called in and the city became the urban face of Sandy’s fury.

“At that time, you know, I was just concerned with keeping our community safe, and making sure that everyone was OK,” recalled Mayor Dawn Zimmer this week.

Once the situation in the city was stabilized, the Zimmer administration began to work on ways to avoid this from happening again when the next Sandy strikes. At her recent state of the city address, she began to outline some of that plan.

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