Hoboken Waterfront Reconstruction Project is now underway

News 12 caught up with RJ Theofield, the Hoboken deputy director for climate action & innovation. He says in June 2024, the city discovered a sinkhole near Sybil's Cave on Sinatra Drive. They then worked with engineers to do a comprehensive investigation of the waterfront.

"Through that process, we engaged scuba divers, ground penetrating radar, to really understand kind of the cause of that sinkhole," said Theofield. "And through that process, we identified that underneath the seawall along this area there’s a loss of historic fill that effectively caused a sinkhole.”

That’s where the Waterfront Reconstruction Project comes in along Sinatra Drive from Fifth to Ninth Streets. The project will replace the existing seawall in three phases.

“The first one's really kind of removing the surface area that you're seeing behind us today," said Theofield. "The second is removing the old seawall, and then the third will be installing the new seawall."

Once through reconstruction, this will allow the foundation to start the Sinatra Drive Redesign Project and Maritime Project. Theofield went over the Sinatra Drive vision.

“It’s really about pedestrian, bicyclist safety, and so it’s creating a cycle track that bicyclists will be able to move north/south on Sinatra separated from vehicular traffic," he said.

But in the meantime, pedestrians will have to take Hudson Street except for Sinatra Summer Streets - Sundays between 8 a.m. and noon - allowing pedestrian traffic. Sinatra will be only northbound during reconstruction.

“I definitely think it'll be frustrating to have to walk," said Lauren Catena, a Hoboken resident. "A lot of the stuff around here is uphill, which sounds silly, but like it's not only do we have to walk a block, it's like you have to walk a block uphill."

"We want to acknowledge that there are disruptions to residents through this process, and we're doing our best to minimize those disruptions," said Theofield.