N.J. mayor claims arm-twisting

Sandy aid withheld over land project, Hoboken leader says

TRENTON, N.J. - The administration of Gov. Chris Christie withheld millions of dollars in Hurricane Sandy recovery grants from a New Jersey city because its mayor refused to sign off on a politically connected commercial development, the mayor said Saturday.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said Christie’s lieutenant governor and a top community-development official told her recovery funds would flow to her city if she allowed the project to move forward.

Zimmer said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno pulled her aside at an event in May and told her Sandy aid was tied to the project - a proposal from the New York City-based Rockefeller Group aimed at prime real estate in the densely populated city across the river from New York City.

The mayor said the administration officials wanted Rockefeller’s plans for the property approved, while Zimmer said she preferred to go through normal channels and hear from all involved parties, including the public and owners of adjacent property. The Rockefeller Group owns about three blocks of the 19-block area.

“I was directly told by the lieutenant governor - she made it very clear - that the Rockefeller project needed to move forward or they wouldn’t be able to help me,” Zimmer said.

Christie’s office denied Zimmer’s claims, calling her statements politically motivated. Spokesman Colin Reed said the administration has been helping Hoboken secure assistance since Sandy struck.

Hoboken is hiring a planner to rehabilitate the area, and the Rockefeller Group will have an opportunity to offer input along with others who have an interest in development of the property, said Juan Melli, a spokesman for Zimmer.

A state website that tracks the distribution of Sandy aid shows that Hoboken received a $200,000 post-storm planning grant in October out of a $1.8 billion pot of money controlled by the state. Hoboken also received a $142,000 state energy resilience grant.

Besides state money, Hoboken has received $70 million in recovery funds distributed by the federal government, according to the Christie administration. Zimmer said she has applied for $100 million to implement a comprehensive plan to help insulate her city from future floods.

Christie is already embroiled in another scandal involving traffic jams apparently manufactured to settle a political score. At a recent news conference to discuss the lane closures near the George Washington Bridge, Christie brushed aside questions about his aggressive governing style. “I am who I am,” Christie said, “I am not a bully.”

But Zimmer said Guadagno and Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable, a member of Christie’s Cabinet, both delivered messages about Sandy aid in no uncertain terms.

Zimmer, who first spoke with MSNBC on Saturday, said that at another event in May, Constable said “the money would start flowing to you” if she backed the project.

The Rockefeller Group did not immediately return a phone message. In a statement to MSNBC, a spokesman said it had no knowledge of any information related to Zimmer’s claims.

The Sandy aid matter is the second time in recent weeks Christie’s administration has been accused of exacting retribution for political reasons.

Christie’s chief of staff, chief counsel, chief political strategist and two-time campaign manager have all been subpoenaed for documents related to the September closing of approach lanes near the George Washington Bridge, which led to traffic chaos in the town of Fort Lee across the river from New York City.

The agency that runs the bridge, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is headed by David Samson, whose law firm, Wolff & Samson, represented the developer in the Hoboken matter, according to Zimmer. A phone message left at the firm’s office was not returned Saturday.

Christie’s former community-affairs commissioner, Lori Grifa, was a lobbyist promoting the Rockefeller Group’s plans for the Hoboken project, according to MSNBC.

Twenty new subpoenas issued in that case Friday reach deep into the Christie administration and his re-election campaign, but spare the governor himself.

The U.S. attorney’s office is reviewing the lane closings and a legislative panel is investigating who authorized the apparent plot and why.

Zimmer said she is telling her story in hopes that Hoboken gets much-needed assistance in the second wave of relief funding yet to be approved by the federal government for distribution by the state.

Information for this article was contributed by Bruce Shipkowski of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/19/2014

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