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Residents press Hackensack leaders over snow response, parking and YMCA demolition
Summary
Residents at the March 3 council meeting criticized the city's snow response, asked for expanded resident parking and decried loss of the local YMCA; council members and the city manager responded with status updates and plans to follow up.
Multiple Hackensack residents used the March 3 council meeting to press officials about the citys response to recent blizzards, requests for resident-only parking, and the demolition or future plans for the YMCA.
Business owner Danny Ferretti told the council his company has extensive snow-removal capacity and offered assistance; he said the storm was "historic" and suggested the city could call local contractors to help. Resident Rich Serbo criticized past vendor practices and said he had trouble getting out of his driveway for days, while several callers asked about street repairs and crosswalks.
Colin De Libro requested clarification on the process and timeline for adding his building (403 Prospect Avenue) to the residential parking permit program; the city manager said staff reviewed the building and found it has 40 units and 53 on-site parking spots, and therefore did not recommend adding the building under current standards. The manager suggested available monthly lots and encouraged residents to pursue management-company options to free on-site parking.
Multiple residents asked what the city planned to do about the YMCA site; the mayor replied the council did not tear down the YMCA and said staff would provide more details as plans proceed.
Council members repeatedly thanked public works, police and fire personnel for their work during the storm and acknowledged shortcomings in equipment and capacity. "Storm response on that scale tests any municipality," Deputy Mayor Toomey said; Mayor Gaines added, "Hackensack fell short...But it's just falling short. It's not failure. We'll do better next time." The council said it will prioritize equipment upgrades and improved communication with residents about parking and emergency alerts.
Next steps: the city manager said he will follow up on offers of contractor assistance, examine parking-permit requests further and that crosswalk improvements are included in funded streetscape plans; enforcement and rollout details for recently passed resident-only parking on certain streets will follow once signage and decals are ready.
