Category Archives: Bayonne News

Murphy Administration Awards Bayonne $133,677 State Recycling Grant

City of Bayonne Logo

            The Murphy Administration is awarding nearly $16.2 million in grants to communities across the state to help them enhance waste reduction and recycling programs, the same amount as the previous year’s total, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette announced. The DEP is awarding Bayonne a recycling grant of $133,677, up from $115,257 in 2022.  Mayor Jimmy Davis said, “I would like to thank the residents and businesses in Bayonne for taking part in our recycling programs.  Their support for recycling helped generate this grant.”  Mayor Davis continued, “I would also like to thank Public Works Director Tom Cotter and Recycling Coordinator Mike Tassone for providing successful leadership of our recycling programs.  Their steady efforts have led to this 2023 state grant that will help maintain Bayonne’s recycling and waste collection efforts.”

            The Bayonne Department of Public Works will use the state grant to support its waste management and recycling programs.   The specific uses of the grant will be announced at a later date.

            The annual awards are based on 2020 recycling performance, the most recent year for which data is available.  Municipalities must use their funds for various recycling initiatives.  These may include sponsoring household hazardous waste collection events, providing recycling receptacles in public places, or maintaining leaf composting operations.

            Commissioner LaTourette said, “New Jersey has long set a national example for recycling, starting with being the first state to enact a recycling law in 1987.”  He continued, “This annual grant program provides incentive for communities to strengthen their municipal recycling initiatives, encourage children and adults to keep our environment clean, and provide assistance in helping to reduce the local tax burden while also improving quality of life.” The grants are awarded through the state’s Recycling Enhancement Act and are funded through a $3 per-ton surcharge on trash disposed statewide at solid waste facilities.  As required under the Recycling Enhancement Act, the DEP returns 60% of that money to municipalities based on how much recycling each community reports accomplishing during the calendar year.  The remaining funds are divided, with 30% going to counties, 5% to colleges and universities, and 5% for administrative costs.

            According to the DEP, “For calendar year 2020, New Jersey generated 20,997,099 tons of solid waste, which represents disposal (9,474,871 tons) and recycling (11,522,228 tons) reported by municipalities and, in limited instances, counties.”  The DEP continued, “The overall tonnage of materials reported as recycled and as disposed both decreased slightly in 2020 from 2019, leading to a slight decrease in the overall recycling rate, to 55% in 2020 from 56% in 2019. Solid waste includes municipal waste plus construction debris and other types of non-municipal waste.”

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Bayonne St. Patrick’s Parade Names Gabrielle Figueroa 2023 Grand Marshal, Plans Brunch Honoring Her on February 26

The Bayonne St. Patrick’s Parade Committee has announced Gabrielle Figueroa is its 2023 Grand Marshal.  The Bayonne parade will take place on Sunday, March 19.  Gaby is the daughter of Nuala and Andres (Chico) Figueroa, sister of Kathleen and Michael, and granddaughter of 1993 Grand Marshal Kathleen O’Keeffe. A lifelong Hudson County resident, Gabrielle is a proud alumna of Holy Family Academy.  She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the College of New Jersey in Sociology and School Counseling, and works as a school counselor at Roosevelt Elementary School in Kearny.

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Bayonne Holds Ceremony to Celebrate Federal Grant for Special Needs Ballfield 

            On Saturday, January 28, the City of Bayonne’s Recreation Division held a ceremony to celebrate the $1 million federal grant it will receive to construct a ballfield for the Buddy Baseball program at 11th Street and Avenue E.  Buddy Baseball, a popular activity for young people with special needs, was established in Bayonne seven years ago. 

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BAYONNE TO UNVEIL A SPECIAL 20th ANNIVERSARY SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL IN FRONT OF CITY HALL APRIL 6, 2022

Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that the City of Bayonne will hold an unveiling ceremony for its 20th anniversary September 11th Memorial on Wednesday, April 6, at 11:00 a.m.  The ceremony will take place in front of Bayonne City Hall, which is located at 630 Avenue C, between 27th and 28th Streets.

Mayor Davis said, “Bayonne played an important role in providing emergency response on September 11, 2001 and in the days that followed the attack on the World Trade Center.” He continued, “It is most appropriate that the new memorial will include a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.”  

The public is invited to attend the unveiling ceremony. Mayor Davis concluded, “We look forward to welcoming everyone to the memorial event on Wednesday, April 6.” 

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BAYONNE’S SAINT JOSEPH BELLS ON ROAD TRIP

Bells on a road trip: The bells from the former St Joseph’s Catholic Church of Bayonne are shown on a truck that left the city recently to go to Cincinnati, Ohio.  That’s where the bells will be polished and prepared for their new home in the soon-to-be- constructed bell tower in Fitzpatrick Park.  That park is located on Avenue C between 26th and 27th Streets, across the street from City Hall.  The park is named after former Mayor Francis G. Fitzpatrick. Mayor Jimmy Davis’s Administration saved the bells, so that they would be preserved for future generations in their new home.  St. Joseph’s Church served Bayonne’s Slovak Catholic community.  

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Outdoor Dining Permits Available in Bayonne

          In order to support the local economy, Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Bayonne City Council have announced that, beginning April 1, 2022, local food and/or beverage establishments may be able to establish temporary outdoor seating with the issuance of a temporary use permit. These permits may allow food and/or beverage establishments to expand the areas available for seating on a case-by-case basis.  These temporary use permits were approved for most establishments for the past two years through an active mercantile license from the City of Bayonne.  If a food and/or beverage establishment received approval in 2020 or 2021 for temporary outdoor dining, a new application is not required if the proposed use remains the same.  However, proof of 2022 insurance must be provided. If the business proposal has changed, a new application will be required. 

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Major Bayonne Paving Program to Begin on Avenue A and Several Side Streets

Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that a major street-paving program is starting in Bayonne on or about Monday, March 28.

Preliminary work on handicap ramps and concrete will take place on several streets in the coming days. Milling and paving will come next in late April or early May, weather permitting.

Milling involves grinding up and removing the old street surface, so that new paving can begin. Signs will be posted on the appropriate streets to advise residents of the construction activity.

The $1,854,136.25 paving contract was awarded to the 4 Clean-Up contracting firm. The work is funded in part by a grant of $802,443 from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). The rest of the funding comes from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank (I-Bank).

Mayor Davis said, “The City of Bayonne appreciates the state funding that will help us resurface streets throughout the community.” Mayor Davis continued, “Each year, the Department of Public Works prepares a list of streets that need to be resurfaced and then seeks to match those streets with available state or federal funds. We ask for the public’s patience with the paving process and look forward to its successful completion.”

The streets that will be resurfaced include Avenue A from North Street to 20th Street and from 26th Street to the avenue’s terminus at 36th Street; Prospect Avenue from 21st Street to 25th Street; 4th Street from Avenue C to Kennedy Boulevard; 9th Street from Broadway to Avenue C and from Kennedy Boulevard to Avenue A; 11th Street from Kennedy Boulevard to Avenue A; 18th Street from Avenue E to Broadway; 25th Street from Kennedy Boulevard to Avenue C; 38th Street from Broadway to Avenue C; and 39th Street from Broadway to Avenue C.

Additional street-paving work is being planned and will be announced in the near future for additional streets in 2022 and 2023.

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Bayonne Residents Need to Wrap Mattresses for Curbside Pick-Up

hearing on block grant

Bayonne Mayor Davis advised Bayonne residents to wrap mattresses that they want to be picked up by sanitation crews. The mattresses can be wrapped either in plastic or in mattress covers. Mayor Davis said,

“Due to current health concerns, the mattresses must be wrapped for the protection of the sanitation workers.” The Bayonne Department of Public Works estimates that Bayonne residents dispose of five to twelve mattresses per week.

This issue has arisen recently, because some sanitation workers have bypassed unwrapped mattresses. City officials want to make sure that residents set out wrapped mattresses for curbside pick-up, so that they will be picked up and not become eyesores on local streets.

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BAYONNE READS MAY 30

BAYONNE READS: One Book, One Community

A community reading initiative created to celebrate literacy, by encouraging everyone in the community to read and discuss the same book.
Bayonne, please come out and join us on May 30th at 7:00PM in the Gallery at the Bayonne Public Library to help launch Bayonne Reads: One Book, One Community, a city-wide discussion of the book “The Things They Carried”, written by author and Vietnam Veteran Tim O’Brien. Considered to be one of the best works of fiction ever written about war,

The Things They Carried is a collection of stories about the Vietnam War.
BCB, a sponsor of Bayonne Reads, has generously purchased books that will be made available free-of-charge. Books are available on a first come, first serve basis at the May 30th launch event.
In addition, Vietnam Veteran, Tony Goodson, and Vietnam Era Veteran, Glen Flora, are the featured guest speakers. Objects from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Museum in Holmdel will also be on display in the Library.
Given Bayonne’s proud military history, ‘The Things They Carried” is a great book with which to begin our collective literary journey.
See you there!

BAYONNE READS COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Councilman Neil Carroll
Sandra Dear
Matt Klimansky
J.P. Porcaro, Head Librarian, Bayonne Public Library
Caroline Ulivella
Dan Ward
Gene Woods 

JP Porcaro, MLIS
Director, Free Public Library & Cultural Center of Bayonne
697 Avenue C, Bayonne NJ, 07002. Office: 201.858.6972
American Library Association Presidential Candidate, 2016-2017
EveryLibrary Senior Advisor

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