PATH Cuts Update: Press Conference Monday, Hoboken City Council Vote Wednesday

Federal, state, and local officials, along with labor advocates, will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to call for cancellation of a proposal to cut overnight PATH train service. According to a media advisory issued Sunday night by the office of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, the press conference will be held at 2:00PM outside the Grove St. PATH Station, at the corner of Columbus and Newark Avenues in Jersey City. Elected officials expected to attend include Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, along with Congressman Albio Sires, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, and New Jersey Senators Sandra Cunningham, Nicholas Sacco, and Brian Stack (who also serves as mayor of Union City). Analilia Mejia, Director of NJ Working Families Alliance, and Ken McNamara, President of CWA Local 1037, are also expected to attend.

The Hoboken City Council is expected to vote Wednesday night on a resolution supporting Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s statement opposing the proposed cuts, and signaling the Council’s opposition to the recommendation by the Governors’ special panel to cut overnight service. The resolution was introduced by Council Members Ravi Bhalla and Peter Cunningham.

The controversial proposal to cut overnight service was included in a report released the evening of Saturday, December 27 by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with their veto of a reform bill that had been unanimously passed by the legislatures of both states. It has sparked widespread opposition on both sides of the Hudson from transit riders, the mayors of cities with PATH service, federal and state lawmakers, and the PATH Riders’ Council, a group of transit riders who formally advise the Port Authority:

The PATH Riders’ Council is strongly opposed to any reduction in PATH service that would adversely impact the communities it serves. We vigorously oppose the suggestion by the special panel convened by Governors Christie and Cuomo to eliminate weekday and weekend overnight service. The proposal itself comes at a time when PATH is experiencing record ridership numbers, when jobs and commuting patterns no longer follow the traditional 9-5pm, and when governments throughout the region and country are investing – not divesting – in transit. The $10M cost reduction – a tiny portion of the Port Authority’s $7.8B budget – would be devastating for communities on both sides of the Hudson, especially for hard-working New Yorkers and New Jerseyans in industries like construction, healthcare, and hospitality who rely on PATH to come home from an overnight job or commute to a job with an early morning start.