Hoboken Election 2025

It was a Friday night before an upcoming election on Tuesday, and unclaimed midnight flyers made an odd, uncharacteristic appearance nowhere near the dead of night in Hoboken.  The drop came with the sun barely down during prime-time dinner hour in Hoboken. It was cynical, intentional, and it cravenly pointed a misdirection arrow at one campaign and a councilman who worked furiously as a mayoral candidate during the 2017 mayoral election. If you talk to some people, they will get quite agitated when you even bring it up. It served its purpose; no one involved in the plot was caught, but evidence surfaced in  Edison, NJ, where a very similar incident occurred . Ties to Hoboken abound .  Councilman Mike DeFusco, who had a very good voting record in the City Council, was anticipating a strong performance in the election. Then he was ruthlessly targeted. It was slimy and outrageous. Even if you didn't support him in that election, you knew he had nothing to do with it. But ...

 The closing days of the Hoboken municipal election were always going to be a dramatic, tense affair.  With five major campaigns, the push-pull, not to mention the mountains of special interests/Big Developer loot, the guarantee of mistakes big and small is baked in. So too with the signage. Previously noted here, there's been a schizophrenic bit of activity at Ironstate's Applied buildings. First, the Russo signs were put up, backing the 100K investment, then oddly, Ruben Ramos signs began to appear, seen often right next to Russo signs. Until they didn't.  This Ruben Ramos campaign sign appeared on Upper Hudson only a week ago.  It then quietly joined numerous others disappearing.  All is, however, not lost. The epidemic of disappearing Ramos campaign signs on Applied buildings is not complete. Some are bravely forging on. A reader submitted a photo of one Ramos campaign sign that had withstood the "Russo Only" purge.  "I live," says this Ramos campaig...

Councilwoman Emily Jabbour sought the closure of Hoboken's Elysian Charter School As a member of the City Council, Emily Jabbour sent a 2020 letter to the NJ Department of Education commissioner, Dr. Lamont Repoilet, in an effort to block the expansion of the Elysian Charter School. Based on her ideological definition of "equity," Jabbour also sought to have the Elysian Charter School closed and " rejoin " the Hoboken public school district. The Elysian Charter School is the oldest charter school in Hoboken, founded in 1997 by a group called Mile Square Families, a collection of local parents who wanted to improve public education in the Mile Square City. It opened its doors later in 1997, seeking to establish a progressive, hands-on, and child-centric model of learning.  In recent years, Hoboken school board members and city officials have clamored for space in the lower education ages with population growth. That growth could see accommodation with offers from...

Michael Russo, the Hoboken councilman with legendary corruption seen on an FBI undercover video getting busy with his illicit big developer Solomon Dwek, adds typical family fare via the Hoboken Housing Authority in this exclusive investigative report. Following last week's revelation of Councilwoman Emily Jabbour's receipt of $1,000 from the head of the CLEAR automatic ticketing program  came to light, coinciding almost to the minute with her vote approving the controversial pilot program, a new revelation from a council colleague and mayoral candidate.  As Russo might say to Emily, "Hold my beer." Michael Russo, as seen in this edited campaign clue card, has been getting busy with it at the HHA. After completing his $2,000,000 bankruptcy case in late 2023, he's wasted no time in Soprano State style pay-to-play. When Russo was handed a seat on the Hoboken Housing Authority in mid-June 2021, eyebrows were immediately raised. Why would the City Council do such a th...

Here's former councilman Dave Mello addressing an issue that is major not only in Hoboken but all of New Jersey. You don't hear too much about it and why it matters, but it does reflect on his earlier years of service on the Hoboken City Council.  That service, consistent, reliable, and verifiable, matters a great deal among a sea of unknowns. View this post on Instagram A post shared by David Mello (@melloforhoboken)

The insightful admission by Emily Jabbour - higher taxes are "our politics."   An interesting video clip from a recent Hoboken City Council meeting, where the subject of taxation is discussed.   Courtesy of the Dini Ajmani campaign, the clip points to Councilwoman Emily Jabbour caught in a revealing truth about her continuous support for higher taxes: past, present, and apparently future.  At least, Councilman Paul Presinzano heard it and made a point of vigorously highlighting it. To put this into context, mayoral candidate Ajmani contributed $500 to Emily Jabbour only last year. So, there's that.   View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dini Ajmani (@diniforhoboken) The admission by Emily Jabbour is that higher taxes are "our politics."   That's what you might call in the legal world an admission against interest. It's not a policy prescription, it's "our politics."  Emily Jabbour is being testy but forthright...

Dear Editor: From 2007 through 2019, I had the honor of representing Hoboken’s 5 th  Ward on City Council. Having lived through many challenging times in Hoboken during my tenure, I’ve  worked with most of the current mayoral candidates. In recent years, I’ve spoken out against our local government’s direction under Mayor Ravi  Bhalla and his council allies, taking Hoboken backwards to those darker days of zero  transparency, political self-interest, poor developer driven projects, and fiscal  irresponsibility. With the election next month, however, I’m looking forward with optimism  to those who can bring proven experience and integrity to guide Hoboken, taking on the  challenges to our quality of life: from financial, infrastructure, and affordability.  There is only one candidate for Hoboken mayor who has the proven record of experience,  integrity, service, and capability to tackle these problems head on – and that’s  Councilwoman Ti...

  While two-decade councilman Michael Russo continues to roll in the money, at least one major benefactor is hedging their 100K bet. The boys of Ironstate who also hold the Applied building properties had their local maintenance crews erect Russo signs across their significant holdings in the Mile Square City. Then last week, new contradictory campaign signs appeared. Suddenly, and in schizophrenic fashion, Ruben Ramos signs began appearing, often right next to the Russo signs as seen in this uptown photo. The Barry Brothers are businessmen. They know something and have decide to hedge their big bet on Russo and open the door to Councilman Ruben Ramos. It's a Sign of the Times. 

At least the Third Ward sitting councilman, Michael Russo, Candidate King of Big Developers did.  The Russo campaign responded on the Hudson County View after the takedown by council and mayoral candidate rival, Tiffanie Fisher fired a shotgun blast of Russo's greatest corruption hits. Russo declared all such revelations a "lie." Well, someone is lying. Who can it be? Here's an example. This original story appeared in real time about the oddity of hundreds of "campaign workers" appearing on a Russo campaign election report for 2015. All the campaign workers came from the fourth and fifth wards. Why they were hired to work on Russo's third ward campaign where he face no opposition is one of those Hoboken Festivus miracles.  Back then, this editor's annual investigative stories on election fraud were swept under the rug. Michael Russo would brag in a City Council meeting there had been no convictions for election fraud and those saying otherwise wer...

 The Hoboken hills are alive with the sound of what isn't music.  That's the sound where the Emily Jabbour campaign finds itself in a controversy weeks before Hoboken's mayoral election.   The mayoral candidate is allegedly seen in her campaign contribution report as accepting $1,000 from the head of the CLEAR company engaged in the Washington St. automated parking ticketing program. The issue exploded on X yesterday with a post connecting Emily Jabbour accepting a $1,000 campaign contribution from the CLEAR vendor president. The vendor is used by the Ravi Bhalla administration to surveil Washington Street with an automated camera ticketing system, an operation some City Council members and Hoboken residents deem illicit and never approved. If true, the illicit contribution puts Emily Jabbour in the unique position of receiving a four-figure political contribution from the vendor in the controversial policy. None of her mayoral opponents appear to have acted sim...

The fanfare around a mayoral HQ opening has come and gone and for one Hoboken mayoral campaign, already a distant memory. For the Emily Jabbour campaign, announcement of a grand opening on 326 Washington Street was short-lived. It opened and one source close on the scene noted Joe Quintero among other Ravibots were hanging around the previous week but no longer. Emily Jabbour HQ has been shuttered. Worse news, the Jabbour campaign will not be reopening at the prominent Washington Street location? So what happened? Some believe it was due to City Hall requirements unmet and then reported by a rival campaign who ratted out the Jabbour campaign leading to its closure. Why Mikie, why? 😢 Government regulation found Emily Jabbour and government won. Emily Jabbour is not available for comment.  It's a Sign of the Times.  Correction : No Halloween pop up store is scheduled at 326 Washington St. 

 The new and improved, happy-go-lucky Councilman Michael Russo is about to go full neanderthal on Councilwoman Fisher.   Her deconstruction op-ed letter on why Russo should not be mayor of Hoboken appeared on the Hudson County View  and will generate more buzz not a day following the exclusive story here of the long time Third Ward Councilman's secret dinner with Mayor Ravi Bhalla.  The scattershot blast of greatest hits in Russo's checkered Hoboken political career highlighted: The questionable 100K backing of big development company, Ironstate, and subsidiary Applied, the largest landlord in Hoboken  Russo's infamous FBI undercover video selling out Hoboken to a federal informant posing as a developer for the low price of $5,000 now and $5,000 later Russo's suspect 2015 council campaign where he paid nearly 250 Housing Authority residents approximately $18,000 outside his ward but from the fourth and fifth wards as "campaign workers"  Russo's Chapter 7 b...

  MILE SQUARE CITY NEWS EXCLUSIVE Ravi Bhalla and Michael Russo hold secret dinner over possible endorsement. Outgoing Hoboken mayor and pending NJ Assemblyman Ravi Bhalla come November's elections isn't done extracting everything of value he can from Hoboken yet. A secret dinner with Councilman Michael Russo was the venue for a pow wow over a possible Bhalla mayoral endorsement.  The recent fiasco with a controversial automated parking ticketing device led to the mayor's office retreating with an announcement they will limit ticketing frequency of downtown Hoboken businesses. They, like all of Hoboken, saw nothing by way of input or notification. The recent controversy is not connected to the Ravi-Russo dinner.  The Hoboken Nixle system never mentioned to the public the implementation of the suspect parking ticketing system and the City Council attempted to freeze the enforcement at its last meeting.  A resolution to put a halt to the operation, sponsored by Counci...

 

In an action harkening back to the impact of The Jersey Sting , an explosion occurred in Hudson County with North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco officially announcing his endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli. Back in 2009, the New Jersey gubernatorial election saw the incumbent Jon Corzine upended with a series of high-profile statewide arrests for corruption snaring dozens of politicians statewide with Jersey City and Hoboken featured in the mix.  The impact in the 2025 NJ race for governor may be similar with divisions in Hudson County delivering a similar statewide electoral impact as the trend of Hispanic voters voting for Republicans to counter the affordability problems with high taxes and utility bills.  Ciattareli has promised to undo the actions that led New Jersey to becoming an importer not exporter of energy. Rebecca "Mikie" Sherrill has offered to hold the line at the existing exploded price as some have questioned if that is legally possible.  Th...

The State of the Mile Square City is bad. We can thank Ravi Bhalla, the never-ending self-promoting mayor who didn't care a whit about Hoboken other than using it for chits, whips, and back door deals promoting out-of-scale big development deals and his piggy bank. Years ago, prior to his consideration for running for mayor, a question on a local issue was presented. Ravi's response was insightful. "Who cares, we won't be around then," he quipped. Never expecting to be on the Hoboken City Council long, Ravi attempted to escape Hoboken and immediately ran for NJ Assembly in a doomed bid. The mentality about getting out of dodge spoke volumes. Telling.  Who has learned most about how to feign cynical Ravi-style Hoboken governance as a result? Emily Jabbour, Ravi's erstwhile rubber-stamp who combines the same duplicity with her campaign about nothing (other than her growing list of pet projects with more major tax increases and bicycle lanes).  Emily Jabbour, ers...

 The second Hoboken City Council forum took place last night. Here is the complete Q&A hosted by John Heinis, the publisher and editor of the Hudson County View .

A one-on-one interview with Councilman Michael Russo attempting the biggest grift in recent Hoboken history with Fernando Uribe offers some stellar comedy.  Here's Russo attempting to deflect that he's the six-figure Big Developer candidate. His roundabout defense of taking huge amounts of developer loot is convoluted and sounds like something out of a mob movie. You can almost hear the voice sounding like Billy Battts from Goodfellas when he cries about having mouths to feed.  It's painful but one thing is clear. Russo is nervous as word is getting around about his deep, historical ties to developers and how easily selling out Hoboken goes down.    Real Talk With Fernando Uribe-October 6, 2025-Discussing Election 2025 https://t.co/VJdBQL1Ng0 — 🇨🇴🇨🇺✭Fernando Uribe✭🇨🇺🇨🇴 (@theamazinguribe) October 6, 2025 Here's the real Michael Russo with a big developer on undercover FBI video who happened to be an FBI informant, Solomon Dwek. The $5,000 bagged via a middle ...

On Friday, someone sent an Instagram posted by the Dini Ajmani campaign. Even though it wasn't a new post, I added some "color" there how Dini has NEVER criticized Ravi Bhalla in the last eight years he was financially wrecking Hoboken. Adding that the Ajmani family has donated thousands of dollars to Bhalla and his Ravibots team including $500 to mayoral candidate Emily Jabbour as recent as last year . Was later informed that my comments among others which did not glorify the mayoral candidate have been summarily removed. That's a big no-no, as in illegal, even for campaign postings in the "public square" discussing policy where even the less than rigorous utterances typical on Instagram. Very bad, very bad, Dini.  I'd sooner expect that from someone like Emily Jabbour who has been accused of doxxing someone anonymously that publicly posted criticism but that's unconfirmed so that episode of Mean Girls won't go to air.  Mayoral candidate Michae...

Once again, we delve deep (and unauthorized) into the Emily Jabbour campaign. They're not taking questions and we stopped asking. The campaign is looking beyond its soft-sell campaign about nothing to a December runoff.  Reliable sources point to a cocky, self-assured campaign eyeing a runoff with a prayerful plea. The Emily Jabbour campaign wants to take on Councilman Michael Russo in a runoff but dreads facing off against Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. More to come for members later today. 

MILE SQUARE CITY EXCLUSIVE Hoboken mayoral candidate Dini Ajmani's contribution to Hoboken: Big $$$ for Ravibots Blasts City Council policies while contributing $500 to Emily Jabbour only last year!       Dini Ajmani, the self-funded mayoral candidate who parachuted over City Hall declaring her readiness to take over the job of chief executive has some explaining to do. Ajmani who has built her campaign criticizing Hoboken's financial condition and pointing only to the City Council as culpable has quite a singular record in Hoboken.  It's not related to any financial or local issue but money lavishly contributed to the very people who have dominated Hoboken governance leading it into the ditch the past eight years.  In this exclusive Mile Square City report, public source documents reveal the mayoral candidate blasting the City Council for detrimental financial policies while making thousands of dollars in contributions to the Hoboken officials most respons...

The Hoboken election is now in overdrive. With it, the issue of automated parking cameras issuing tickets unofficially starts revving its engines on downtown Washington Street.  The lame duck Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla took an initial study and is applying it to the controversial application of issuing vehicle tickets using robotic cameras without the City Council's approval starting today. An ordinance banning the practice is slated for introduction, sponsored by Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher and Councilman Paul Presinzano promising more attention to the controversy. Councilman Ruben Ramos who originally was a sole vote against the original plan issued a statement earlier announcing, "I was the only candidate for Mayor who voted NO on this plan when it was introduced... (I) share the concerns raised by residents and small businesses that (this) automated parking enforcement without the discretion of humans beings will just become a cash grab that unfairly penalizes residents....