Hoboken Church Begins Fixing Stained Glass Windows Shattered By Storms

HOBOKEN, NJ — A church in the center of Hoboken is addressing $10,000 in damage to its stained glass windows after thunderstorms blew through North Jersey on Friday.

Father Alex Santora of Our Lady of Grace Church said on Tuesday that he met with a contractor who plans to start work to fix the iconic colorful windows.

As previously reported, the first of two damaging storms on July 4 weekend knocked down trees all over the mile-square city.

Our Lady of Grace Church, which is celebrating 175 years, overlooks Church Square Park, where trees and branches were blown down on the weekend.

Because of the potential for glass shards to fall, parts of the area were cordoned off, Santora said.

"We are concerned that some of the loose glass in the broken windows can blow off," Santora told Patch. "We and the police have cordoned off the area. Ideally we'd like to have it completed this week."

Hoboken public safety spokeswoman Marci Rubin said that there have been no reports so far about broken glass. She said a section of the park remains closed due to fallen trees.

"The playground for children ages 5 to 12, located at the southeast corner of Church Square Park, remains closed until further notice for repairs to playground equipment, surfacing, and fencing, all damaged by falling trees inside the park," she said. "The rest of the park is open to the public."

Santora said that it will take a few days to install scaffolding to have the glass fixed, because the windows are 100 feet high.

Was It A Microburst?

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service told Patch on Monday that despite heavy damage caused by the weekend's storms, there was no evidence of a tornado or microburst in North Jersey.

However, the Paramus area likely had a downburst, he said. Read more about that here.