HudCoRadio

Hudson County Executive Craig Guy’s new Vision Zero Task Force hit the ground running this Summer.

Conducting a wide range of community outreach efforts, developing a Federally-funded Road Safety Action Plan, and this week, carrying out it’s first-ever demonstration project at a busy intersection in Jersey City—all in the name of making County roads safer for everyone who uses them.

To better understand how Hudson County will travel the road  toward a Vision Zero future for the thoroughfares it operates, HCR spoke with a range of folks involved in the process. You can learn more about Hudson County's Vision Zero efforts on our website: www.hcnj.us. 

The Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development has grown steadily thanks to encouragement from County Executive Craig Guy and the leadership of its Director, Gina Hulings.  It has taken on new projects that now include The Strides for Safety 5K Road Race, Hudson's first-ever Celebration of Fleet Week, and groundbreaking educational programing in schools across Hudson County. We talked with Director Hulings about her Office's expanding role—the challenges, the rewards, and how her team is making a difference—especially in the lives of our youth.

Hudson County honored twelve outstanding local women at our Annual Women’s History Month Celebration and Awards Ceremony held at Brennan Court House March 29th. 

The event, in keeping with the National Women’s History Month theme this year, highlighted “Women who tell our stories.”

Among the honorees was Jennifer Casson Tripucka, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the popular hyper-local news and lifestyle blog, “Hoboken Girl.” Launched more than decade ago, “Hoboken Girl” is now just one part of Tripuka’s growing "Local Girl Media Group.”  

We caught up with her a few days after being honored to talk about what it meant, how Hoboken Girl got started and how she’s looking to build the “Local Girl Media” Brand.

You can learn more about all twelve 2023 Women’s History Month Honorees on our County website, www.hcnj.us. Each honoree was nominated by their county commissioner and selected for recognition by the County Women's History Month Committee. Here is the entire list:

Bayonne: Angélique Jackson-Belle, Guttenberg: JoAnn (Mott) Lazzari , Hoboken: Raakhee Mirchandani, Hoboken: Jennifer Tripucka, Jersey City: Tami Weaver-Henry,  Jersey City: Tisha Jackson, Jersey City: Rev. Dr. Bertha Reels, Secaucus: Patricia Guma, Weehawken: Francesca Amato, West New York: Elsa Jimenez, Lifetime Achievement: Mireya De La Cruz.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has a new Director, former New York City Department of Corrections Bureau Chief, Becky Scott. 

After 30 years on the job in New York, Director Scott comes to Hudson County with a wealth of experience and a unique perspective as an outsider—the first person to hold this post in three decades who did not come up through the ranks inside the facility. 

She took time from her demanding day to talk with us in her office in the Corrections & Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kearny.

"#Bidfest," Hudson County's flagship professional development seminar for small businesses owned and operated by women, minorities and veterans  seeking to compete for contracting opportunities with local government, will be held next week. The Hudson County Office of Business Opportunity (HCOBO), responsible for enforcing the County's set aside ordinance to support these kinds of small businesses through its vendor choices, conducts #Bidfest. We spoke with the HCOBO's Director, Markis Abraham, about the event and his vision for the agency's future. And with Denise "The Procurement Queen" Williams, an author and expert on local government contracting who will be speaking at #Bidfest. 

Hudson annually honors 12 veterans, one each from our 12 municipalities, as Hudson County’s “Veterans of the Year.” Today, on Veterans Day, we spoke to three of them: North Bergen's Frank Gargulio, Guttenberg's Jessica Reyes, and Secaucus's Patrick ‘Littlewolf’ Brooks. Three very different people but three proud veterans who share a common love for their country and a strong belief in the value of service.

Our 2022 Hudson County Veterans of the Year:

Bayonne – Owen Ballweg 

East Newark – Frank Acuna 

Guttenberg – Jessica Reyes 

Kearny – Michael J. Machado 

Harrison – Robert Gerris 

Hoboken – Sergeant Josue Velez

Jersey City – Randy Riotto 

North Bergen – Frank Gargiulo

Secaucus – Patrick Brooks 

Union City – Henry Kaden 

Weehawken – Erik O. Valentin

West New York – Sean McDonald 

Hudson County's long-running  "Live At Brennan's" music series wrapped up its fall season last week and HudCoRadio dropped in to chronicle it. A companion video will be up later this week on our YouTube Channel, HudCoTV, (https://www.youtube.com/user/hudcotv) showing the entire two and half hour concert. 

Learn more about next season's shows when the schedule is released and about past shows at: https://liveatbrennans.com 

This week, Hudson County hosted its, “Inclusive Employment Breakfast for Business Executives,” at the Liberty House Restaurant in Jersey City.

As the breakfast wrapped up, we spoke with the host of the event, the leader of its lively discussion panel, and a representative from an area business that came to listen and ask questions.

Afterward, we talked with a local resident with a disability—now flourishing thanks to this kind of employment assistance—about the value of educating business executives about hiring those they might not have considered adding to their workforce. 

We discuss the return of the Hudson County Senior Art Show to IRL after two years being virtual during the pandemic lockdown with the Show's Coordinator, Joann Northgrave. Then three senior artists talk about their work, what it means to them, and about being honored with awards by the State of New Jersey. (This year was one of the most successful ever for our senior artists at the state level.) 

A video about this year's Senior Art Show can be found on our YouTube channel, HudCoTV, here: https://www.youtube.com/user/hudcotv

HC Planning Chief Francesca Giarratana discusses her new role as President of the New Jersey County Planners Association (she's the first Hudson County member to serve as president in the NJCPA's 66-year history) and provides updates on: the progress of the Essex-Hudson Greenway, the latest County Open Space Trust-funded projects approaching completion, the upcoming County Smart Growth Awards, and how you can make your voice heard when it comes to local major-storm resiliency planning in our region.