Yojimbo did you read the first post?:
" I have lived in the apt for 4 years and am on my 3rd roommate. We are both on the lease... "

If one of the roommates will not be on the "new" lease, the landlord has no obligation to renew the lease. The landlord has the right to perform due diligence on the new person (credit check, etc) added to the lease. The new roommate must be on the lease - at least on every lease agreement I've seen.

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We need a video produced like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnPT1qH8qE

to help brand Jersey City. It did wonders for Milwaukee.

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Should have had Samson instead of Stepien. But VERY funny. And sad.

http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index.ss ... stadium.html#incart_river

9/11 truther: How I sneaked into Super Bowl XLVIII -- and hijacked the postgame show

Matthew Mills, left in an interview with former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, was arrested after he snuck into a Super Bowl postgame news conference on Sunday.
Print By A.J. Perez/NJ.com
on February 03, 2014 at 4:02 AM, updated February 03, 2014 at 6:07 PM


EAST RUTHERFORD -- The Brooklyn man arrested after he interrupted Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith's postgame news conference didn't start Sunday looking to make it onto national TV and, ultimately, into handcuffs.

UPDATE: Private security workers at fault for letting 9/11 truther crash game, news conference.

Matthew Mills, an 30-year-old independent journalist from Brooklyn, told NJ.com his aim was just to get close to MetLife Stadium -- which had layers of security in what's supposed to be the most secure sporting event in the United States -- so he could conduct some fan interviews.

Then the self-described 9/11 truther saw an employee bus at Secaucus Junction and hopped aboard.

Around Mills' neck was an old credential from a festival he covered, a rectangular badge that, at quick glance, didn't look too dissimilar from the ones issued to media members, team employees and others who worked the Super Bowl.

He also used a common refrain whenever hassled by security, which is supposed to verify each credential or ticket with a barcode along with putting attendees through other security screenings.

"I just said I was running late for work and I had to get in there," Mills said. "It was that simple."

Mills said he got through multiple layers of security using that bogus story.

"I didn't think that I'd get that far," Mill said. "I just kept getting closer and closer. Once I got past the final gate and into the stadium, I was dumbfounded."

Once I got past the final gate and into the stadium, I was dumbfounded." - Matthew Mills, who crashed a Super Bowl news conference
After the game concluded, Mills walked into the media tent, where players and coaches were brought for interviews.

"I just saw my opportunity to get my word out there and I took it," Mills said.

Mills grabbed the microphone as Smith began to talk to reporters and said the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington were "perpetrated by people in our own government."

"Check his press pass," Smith said with a smirk after the initial shock wore off.

He didn't have one. Mills didn't even have a ticket. Still, he was able to get his message out to a national audience as ESPN and other outlets showed the presser live.

Mills was quickly ushered off the dais by a public relations representative and eventually arrested. Mills left the area without a struggle and was charged with trespassing. He was released a couple hours later on his own recognizance.

But Mills' gate-crashing leaves people wondering: With all of the millions spent on security, how safe is the Super Bowl anyway?

An NFL spokesman has referred all questions to the New Jersey State Police, the law enforcement agency that oversees the Meadowlands.

An NJ State Police spokesman gave NJ.com Mills' name, but didn't immediately return a message inquiring about how Mills was able to get into MetLife.

Mills is affiliated with WeAreChange, an organization whose aim is "confronting prominent and powerful people with the tough questions the mainstream media doesn't want to ask."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyr ... e.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

He knew. (Drudge Report headline. Not mine)

Why will Christie be resigning within 60 days? It's the coverup, stupid. Where's Martha Stewart when Christie needed her?


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I think we get it. Misogynist Monroe is projecting his anger at WOMEN!

-Zimmer
-Weinberg
and last but not least...
Hillary (Benghazi!!!!!!)

Christie has only himself to blame in the end. Stop blaming strong women!

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Only in looneyland could Big Boy have gotten away with it for so long. The question is what the toll will be on the Republican Party?

Can anyone with more than a few posts provide evidence? Could easily all be BS.

The political battle continues in Hoboken. I think this has nothing to do with Christie. There's enough bad blood between Garcia/HCDO and Zimmer:


http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... _allies.html#incart_river

Christie scandal: New allegations emerge from Zimmer lawsuit

Print By David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger
on January 29, 2014 at 8:32 PM, updated January 29, 2014 at 9:52 PM

Christie scandal: New allegations emerge from Zimmer lawsuit

HOBOKEN ? Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer threatened to fire Carmelo Garcia, director of the local housing authority, unless he agreed to hire politically connected contractors, a recently filed lawsuit claims.

Zimmer?s lawyer says the claims are baseless and suggested they are retaliation engineered by Christie allies.

The strong-arm tactics alleged by Garcia, who is also a Democratic assemblyman, come two weeks after Zimmer, also a Democrat, claimed in a nationally televised interview that the Christie administration threatened to withhold Hurricane Sandy recover money for Hoboken unless she agreed to fast-track a development project the governor backed.

In the lawsuit filed last week in Superior Court in Jersey City, Garcia claims Zimmer pressured him to award contracts to her political allies. When he resisted, Zimmer and her husband, Stanley Grossbard, ?began to subject Director Garcia to an unlawful pattern of harassment, threats, intimidation and extortion,? the suit claims.

According to the lawsuit, Zimmer?s allies on the housing authority board proposed a resolution to terminate Garcia. The motion failed, the lawsuit states.

Housing authorities are federally funded agencies but their boards are generally appointed by mayors and municipal councils. The directors usually have the authority to hire and fire staff but must obtain approval from a board of commissioners to award contracts.

After taking over as mayor in 2009, Zimmer, like most other mayors, tried to appoint allies to the board. Garcia has been housing director since 2010.

According to court documents, Garcia called a lunch meeting with Grossbard in January 2013, during which they had a long conversation about Garcia?s actions as director of the housing authority and Zimmer?s plans for city development. Unbeknownst to Grossbard, Garcia was recording the meeting, documents state.

?I can tell you that Dawn is not sitting there saying this is dead in the water,? Grossbard told Garcia, according to a transcript of the conversation included in the lawsuit. ?If there is a plan that is moving forward, it has to be with her understanding and input and not that Carmelo Garcia wants to do it.?

Grossbard was referring to a proposal to build more than 1,000 low-income and market-rate units in Hoboken over the next 10 years, court documents state.

Gerald Krovatin, a lawyer for Zimmer, said there was nothing untoward about the meeting.

?Garcia attempted to bait Mr. Grossbard by offering to support Mayor Zimmer in the upcoming mayoral election in exchange for job security and greater autonomy in running the Hoboken Housing Authority in Garcia?s position as its executive director,? Krovatin said in a statement. ?Mr. Grossbard rejected any such overtures and repeatedly told Mr. Garcia that, while he did not speak for the mayor, Garcia should follow the law and all proper procedures for conducting the business of the Housing Authority.?

In a deposition taken seven months later for another lawsuit, Zimmer testified that her husband doesn?t play an active role in her administration.

?Has (Grossbard) ever engaged on your behalf speaking with lawyers and ... board members of agencies that are located in Hoboken for which he advocated your position as mayor?? attorney Louis Zayas asked Zimmer in the deposition.

?No, he hasn?t,? she replied.

Grossbard, who could not be reached for comment today, was active in Hoboken civic life before his wife was elected to public office.

The lawsuit, first reported by NJTV, was filed by Zayas, the same attorney who last week claimed Zimmer lied about keeping a diary. A similar suit was filed in August but was dismissed.

Zayas said today he believes Zimmer was also lying about her husband?s role in her administration. In September, he filed a motion in Superior Court to hold her in contempt for committing perjury, but the motion was rejected.

?She definitely tried to mislead me in suggesting her husband did not play a role in her administration,? Zayas said. Garcia did not respond to requests for comment.

Krovatin questioned why the tapes were released now.

?There was a suggestion in the NJTV report that Mr. Garcia may have released the secret tape at this time as part of an effort by him and Sen. Brian Stack, a strong supporter of Governor Christie, to retaliate against Mayor Zimmer for coming forward,? Krovatin said.

?If that is true, this is a particularly disturbing development in this case and it should be investigated by the appropriate authorities.?

A spokesman for Christie declined to comment.

NEWS ALERT - Benghazi!!!!!!




never-mind. nothing for Monroe today.

Our rotten prick of a governor back in the news again.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... ed_hi.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Christie used Sandy funds for senior complex in town where mayor endorsed him

Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger By Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 28, 2014 at 4:43 PM, updated January 28, 2014 at 4:57 PM

TRENTON ? Gov. Chris Christie helped channel $6 million in federal Sandy recovery dollars to a project conceived years before the storm struck, in an Essex County town that was not particularly hard hit .

The funding, pushed for personally by the Republican governor, was announced less than two weeks before the town?s Democratic mayor formally endorsed him for reelection.

The development is an $18 million senior center and housing complex in Belleville called Franklin Manor. One third of the cost ? $6 million ? is being paid for by a $1.8 billion pot of federally funded Community Development Block Grants to help the state recover from Sandy.

Christie administration officials say the project will help those displaced from the storm from other towns, and was approved partly because it was already planned and would quickly fill that need. But statements from the governor and officials from Essex County and Belleville at the project?s unveiling barely mentioned storm recovery, focusing almost exclusively on how the 137-unit housing project would help keep Belleville?s seniors in town.

Now ? With the George Washington Bridge scandal raging and the mayor of Hoboken claiming top Christie administration officials blackmailed her by threatening to withhold Sandy funds ? an affordable housing advocate and a prominent Democrat are questioning whether the Christie administration is fairly distributing federal Sandy aid.

"We don?t know the whole story of what happened here yet. But Governor Christie should not be ordering Sandy funds directed to pet projects," said Adam Gordon, a staff attorney for the Fair Share Housing Center.

"What it points to is the need for further inquiry into how Sandy funds were part and parcel of the governor?s campaign for reelection," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). "And how they were misused for political purposes rather than going to those who really in need."

The project, which had been in the works for years, was jump-started in the spring. In late April, Belleville Mayor Raymond Kimble had a breakfast meeting with Christie and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo at McLoone?s Boathouse in West Orange. It was the same restaurant where the two men, along with many other Essex County Democrats, would endorse Christie on June 11.

On May 1, when The Star-Ledger asked about the breakfast meeting, Kimble said he planned to endorse Christie and "I think the governor is going to help the town of Belleville with certain projects we need."

On May 29, Christie was in Belleville for the ceremonial ground breaking of the complex that included Kimble, DiVincenzo and others .

Kimble praised the governor at the event. "Because of Gov. Christie?s commitment, senior citizens will be able to remain in their hometown, where they belong," Kimble said.

Christie then described his direct involvement.

"When Joe and the mayor and the council came to the state, came to Commissioner Constable, came to the HMFA and said ?can we help?? This project was so worthy and to be honest so overdue that I felt like there was no time to wait," Christie said. "...I start calling (Department of Community Affairs Commissioner) Rich Constable and (New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director) Anthony Marchetta every day and we get on them and things get done, and I think that?s what people expect of government now," Christie said.

During 20 minutes of remarks, there was only one passing reference to Hurricane Sandy, made by Essex County Joseph DiVincenzo. And it had nothing to do with the senior center. Instead, speakers talked about how Belleville had long been in need of a place for its seniors.

"This is where many of you have raised your families, where you?ve lived your lives," Christie said. "And you shouldn?t have to leave the place where you raised your children and lived your lives in order to be able to have affordable housing for yourself as you get older."

Before the state could get the federal funds for Sandy recovery, it had to develop an "action plan" for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it submitted in March.

Part of the grants would go toward creating affordable rental housing for displaced residents in the nine counties hurt the most by the storm, which included Essex. And, according to the state?s action plan, "priority will be given to projects serving communities most impacted within these counties."

While Belleville suffered some flooding, downed trees and week-long power outages for some residents, Kimble in a phone interview said he did not know of any residents who were displaced. "Not to my knowledge," he said.

A May 29 press release from Essex County did mention, deep down, that "since the project is located in one of the nine counties most impacted by Sandy, the project may assist senior citizens affected by the storm." And DiVincenzo told a local publication that "the priority is going to be for [accepting] Belleville seniors," but that "when you take money from various levels of government, you can?t stop people outside Belleville from coming in and using the facility."

Despite the low emphasis on Sandy victims, Christie administration officials said it was appropriate to channel recovery money into the project, and that it would help seniors whose homes were wrecked by the super storm.

"The (Community Development Block Grant) funding was gap financing that helped 35 projects get off the ground," Anthony Marchetta, the executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, said in a phone interview. "We use criteria issued by the agency and the action plan to determine which projects got funded. This project met those criteria."

Marchetta said the project would be marketed to those displaced by Sandy. And he said it?s common for projects that were planned long before Sandy hit to get help from state government to create more affordable housing. "These types of projects take a long time to get to the point where you can actually fund and go forward and approve," he said. "It takes a lot of lead time."

Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor?s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, noted that Essex County was determined by the federal government to be one of the hardest-hit counties by Sandy and that the new housing in Belleville will free up space for displaced residents, whether or not it?s taken up by Sandy victims.

"There?s a certain rental population out there, and if the Belleville stock is depleted, that population has to go somewhere else. And that puts a strain on rental costs. So it is all inter-connected," he said.

Ferzan said that about 20 projects were approved along with Belleville's, and that it?s important to create rental housing near residents who were hurt by Sandy: "You?ve got to find shovel ready opportunities in the individual counties that can be built in real time, because otherwise these folks are twisting in the wind."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which supplied the funds, declined to comment.

Gordon, of the Fair Share Housing Center, said he sees nothing wrong with the project itself. But Christie?s involvement in securing the funds, as well as the project?s vague connection to Sandy recovery, raises red flags, he said.

"When the governor makes these kinds of demands, it undermines the public?s faith in the fairness and openness of Sandy recovery. The governor needs to allocate critical Sandy aid based on objective criteria," Gordon said.

The state judged projects that applied for the fund on several criteria, including whether it was in one of the nine most affected counties by Sandy, rent affordability, local support and readiness to proceed. Franklin Manor scored a 70 out of 105, according to documents provided by DCA. The minimum score was 55.

Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Disaster Accountability Project, said such issues always arise with large infusions of recovery funds.

"Does this reek of politics? Sure. But so does everything else," Smilowitz said. "Anyone looking at this can see what?s going on here. But is it within the governor?s powers? Probably."

Kimble emphasized that the developer, not the town, applied for the money and that his endorsement of Christie "had nothing to do with him releasing those funds." He also noted that Belleville did not get other Sandy recovery funds that many towns received.

"If you look at that list, you can see Belleville received nothing. We deserved some funds," he said.

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And I love this comment from the above:

"Homepage blurb on the NYTimes story: "Dawn Zimmer, the Hoboken mayor who accused aides to Gov. Chris Christie of making political threats, drifted into politics without a plan only to be vaulted to national attention.

" This is one of the things that absolutely KILLS the dark side. They spend every waking hour of the day and hundreds of thousands of dollars playing dirty politics and working the machine, and here is a Lady Mayor who rises to the top not through scheming and scamming and dessert reception events but through honesty and an unwavering belief in good government. They HATE that. But thankfully, voters love it."

Zimmer is far from perfect. As mayor she's had her share of screwups - still learning, but she is extremely credible. From the blog Hoboken Horse. The author is a fervent Zimmer supporter, and also a Republican afaik.

http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2014/01/r ... immer-does-not-stand.html

Report: Mayor Zimmer does not stand alone with her knowledge on SandyGate
One of the chief talking points assailing Mayor Zimmer's claim decrying Sandy aid being held hostage to a potential billion dollar development in Hoboken has fallen with a national investigative report revealing at least five people in the Mile Square City are witnesses.

The news comes from a national investigative report by NBC confirming the US Attorney's Office and FBI interviewed others in Hoboken on MLK last Monday.

Federal agents have asked each to preserve all evidence including emails verifying details of the allegations Hoboken was being held hostage by Christie Administration officials in SandyGate.


Dan Bryan, Chief of Staff to Mayor Zimmer is
reportedly in the know on SandyGate and is
cooperating with the Feds.
Among those on the in-the-know list: Dan Bryan, the mayor's Chief of Staff, Juan Melli who holds the unsworn position running the City's communications and reform Councilman Dave Mello.

Zimmer's aides won't speak on the matter as they've been directed otherwise by the Feds who are actively investigating but Mello is quoted in the story confirming he knew of Zimmer's allegations about the Christie administration linking Sandy aid to approving the Rockefeller Group development.

From the NBC report, Mello recalls speaking to the mayor about it last summer saying:
"I distinctly remember [Zimmer] saying that the lieutenant governor said, 'If this came out, she would deny it,'" he said.
"I thought it was absurd and outrageous," said Mello, adding that he pressed Zimmer whether she would speak out publicly about what she said took place. "She told me, 'It was a done deal that [Christie] was going to be re-elected" and she did not want to jeopardize further funding for the city, he said...

Will never happen with Christie is governor.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... a_program_expansions.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/all-c ... 11980306?ocid=msnhp&pos=1

All-cash offers crushing first-time homebuyers


Diana Olick, CNBC

1 hour ago

Out of reach for first-time buyers? All-cash investors are shouldering first-time buyers out of the housing market.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Out of reach for first-time buyers? All-cash investors are shouldering first-time buyers out of the housing market.

Insatiable demand from hedge funds, private equity investors and foreign buyers, all armed with ready cash, are elbowing first-time buyers out of the housing market.

First-time buyers tend to purchase lower-priced homes, but all-cash investors have cornered the market on those, leaving little behind. All-cash purchases accounted for 42.1 percent of all U.S. residential sales in December, up from 38.1 percent in November, and up from 18.0 percent in December 2012, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.

The phenomenon is putting up another roadblock for young Americans already assailed by high student loan debt, poor wage growth and less-than-pristine credit.

First-time homebuyers, historically about 40 percent of the market, accounted for just 27 percent of sales nationally in December, the lowest since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this cohort in 2008.

The investors are largely hedge funds and private equity, as well as international buyers, such as upper middle class Chinese buying in California ? all part of the new single-family rental trade.

While the Realtors show a smaller share of all-cash buyers, 32 percent, they don't capture sales of homes outside their "multiple listing services," which would include sales of homes at auctions or by banks. In any case, the share is a, "phenomenal, very, very high percentage," according to the Realtors' chief economist, Lawrence Yun.

That leaves out would-be buyers such as Morgan and Tyler Brasfield, who are "dying" to buy a home, especially since the birth of their second child six months ago.

Unfortunately they just don't have the cash to compete in today's San Francisco housing market, so they continue to rent.

"People are coming in with full-cash offers that are significantly higher than asking," said Morgan, as she corralled her 2-year-old on the playground. "So if you find a home for a little over a million, which would be a fixer-upper here, you can expect to pay two to three hundred thousand more than asking."

But even if they were looking in a less pricey, less competitive area, Morgan admits they would still have trouble coming up with the down payment; Tyler, who is now working in finance, just graduated from business school a year ago.

"We need to focus on the student loans right now," said Morgan.

Distressed properties made up just over 16 percent of all U.S. home sales in 2013, up from 14.5 percent in 2012, according to RealtyTrac. These homes tend to be priced under $100,000, a sweet spot for first-time buyers. Sales of homes in that price category fell 11.5 percent in December from a year ago, according to the Realtors, while sales of homes priced above $250,000 jumped over 14 percent.

Tough credit
Tough credit is also hitting younger buyers hardest. Today's mortgage lenders require higher down payments, and while first-time buyers used to get help from their parents, that well has dried up for some, as older Americans lost much of their savings in the recent financial crisis.


First-time buyers often turn to FHA loans, the government mortgage insurer, but premiums and fees there have gone up dramatically in the past year, and FHA's share of the market has dropped accordingly.

On the brighter side, another report from Inside Mortgage Finance shows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac easing the doors open a bit more to first-time buyers. The share of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac financing for first-time homebuyers hit 19.5 percent in December. That compared with 14.1 percent a year earlier.

Credit aside, there is still the simple fact that house prices shot up like a rocket in 2013, well into the double digits nationally.

"Below the surface of last year's market, a number of unsettling trends started to emerge as a result of rapid and ultimately unsustainable appreciation, setting up a bit of a mixed bag for 2014," said Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries.

"Affordability issues will help put the brakes on many markets that saw huge appreciation rates, like California and the Southwest, creating volatility that could potentially cause whiplash for homebuyers and sellers."

?By CNBC's Diana Olick. Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick.

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That may be true, but we know for certain that Christie is a rotten prick.

Another pawn taking the fall...deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly FIRED

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... working.html#incart_river

Political Insider: Dems working hard to widen that chink in Christie's armor
Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal

on January 09, 2014 at 6:01 AM, updated January 09, 2014 at 6:18 AM

The past 72 hours have exploded with political hot news in the state and to some extent Jersey City. With national significance, the media blitz gives the Democratic Party about 90 percent on the joy meter.
Democrats feel they have found a big chink in Republican Gov. Chris Christie?s armor. And for those who are just starting to thaw, the following is what you missed.
So-called private (and heavily redacted for the media) emails between a Christie deputy chief of staff and a political appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reveal (surprise) that the governor?s gang knew of a plot to close several lanes at the George Washington Bridge in September to flood Fort Lee streets with traffic. It is ostensibly revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich ? who was referred to as ?idiot? in one email ? for failing to endorse Christie?s re-election.
Christie came out with a statement in which he threw his not-for-long deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, under the usual bus. The governor said he was misled which is hard to believe that anyone could mislead him -- except perhaps when state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler "misled" him over a presentation in Washington, D.C. that led to Schundler's firing.
Now I expect the Dems to out-Christie the governor.
Former Assemblyman Louis Manzo, who was indicted in the Operation Bid Rig III FBI sting and saw all charges dismissed by a federal judge, wrote a book that is expected to hit the shelves in the near future. TYhe draft I saw has more about Christie than about Manzo's own ordeal and it has an eye-opening long history of Christie?s prosecutions that paint the governor as an opportunist ? and yes, a bully.
Manzo?s book is tentatively called ?Big Boy, Christie?s Appetite for Power.? The term ?Big Boy? was Karl Rove?s nickname for Christie. In the book, the future governor was being asked by the media ? after media leaks announced an investigation of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who was preparing for the 2006 general election ? about possible partisanship. Christie responded: ?I just stand by my record. I don?t worry about that. I don?t get involved in politics, the silly season ? that?s for politicians, not for prosecutors.?
With Christie seen as a threat to any Democratic nominee for president of the USA, he should expect the ?Christie? treatment and the GWB lane closures appear to be the best vehicle available to make his life miserable.
One scenario presented to me is that because the P.A. is a bi-state agency, we could see Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a close pal of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, asked to throw everything against the wall to make something stick against Christie?s staff member and hopefully the governor. Christie should understand that even if nothing comes of any possible investigation, as those who are never convicted after an indictment can attest, the damage is already done once there are headlines.
Understand that we?re only talking scenarios and no one is being accused of anything like interfering with interstate commerce or other possible federal charges.
Let?s be honest here. Christie doesn?t have the official power to make anyone in the Port Authority do anything. The betting here is that the real problem is the PANYNJ charter, which probably does a bad job of saying who?s in charge.
We?ll be learning much about these issues for months to come. In the meantime, don?t be shocked if some officials turn up the heat by using the word ?impeach? and others calling Christie?s run for president over ? something that would make Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney cry.
Here in Jersey City, we got excited because Fulop was mentioned when the Port Authority hack wrote that Sokolich?s phone calls are ignored by the P.A. and that is second on the ?radio silence? list behind the Jersey City mayor. It means that Fulop, who has threatened to sue the bi-state agency over under taxed property it owns in Jersey City, is number one on the enemies list. By association, it is presumed that Christie has Fulop, who never endorsed Christie, high on his get-even list.
Yesterday, my sources tell me that Fulop was swamped by nationwide media calls from, from Diane Sawyer to, all right, me. The mayor has been so tight-lipped that he failed to even tweet once and he has tweeted at least once every day for as long as I can recall.
POLITICAL INSIDER

Press conference at 11AM this morning. Watch Christie's response morph from sarcasm to indignation.

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Definitely not going to the Whitehouse! Where will Christie go when his term is over? Fox News, most likely. And Jeb Bush is dancing a jig in FL.

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http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/20 ... o-bridge-controversy?lite

Emails tie Christie administration to bridge controversy

By Mark Murray and Michael O'Brien, NBC News

Explosive emails released Wednesday are casting a potential cloud over New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie?s presidential prospects for 2016.

The revealing conversations between state officials suggest for the first time that politics -- from the highest levels of Christie's administration -- may have played a role in last fall's controversial closure of local access lanes to the congested George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, N.J. in the midst of Christie?s re-election campaign.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reacts to a speech by 11th-grader, Diana Paneque, during a gathering at Colin Powell elementary school in heavily Hispanic Union City, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.

Democrats have charged the closures were an attempt at political retribution for Ft. Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who declined to endorse Christie's re-election effort last year and whose city sits in the shadow of the bridge.

But the emails threaten to undercut the governor's strong denial that politics played any role in the closure.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Christie Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly wrote to Christie Port Authority aide David Wildstein on Aug. 13, weeks before the lane closures that snarled traffic on the first day of school in New Jersey last fall.

Wildstein replied, "Got it."

In one of the more revealing exchanges, an unidentified person sent this text message about delayed school buses to Wildstein on Sept. 10, the second day of the lane closures:

"Is it wrong that I am smiling?"


NBC's Mark Murray and MSNBC's Steve Kornacki discuss the latest developments on the Chris Christie "Bridgegate."

Wildstein: "No."

Person: "I feel badly about the kids. I guess."

Wildstein: "They are the children of Buono voters."

Buono is the Democrat whom Christie defeated in last year's gubernatorial race.

Christie has denied involvement with the lane closures, and "absolutely, unequivocally" denied that the closures were politically motivated after accepting the resignation of a top port authority official in December.

Ahead of his reelection last fall, Christie was seeking endorsements from North Jersey Democrats to promote his ability to forge bipartisanship. Christie and his team did attract several endorsements from North Jersey Democrats, but there were some holdouts, including the Mayor of Fort Lee, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

One day last September, two bridge access lanes to the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee were cut off ? a bridge that is the busiest in the world, according to the Port Authority.

New Jersey Port Authority officials said it was for a traffic study. But the mayor of Fort Lee charged that it was political retribution for not endorsing Christie, something thought to be a far-flung charge. That is until a hearing looking into the matter in December seemed to give some credence to that theory.

A New York Port Authority official testified that he was unaware of any such study. Two Christie appointees wound up resigning.

Now these emails, released to state investigators by subpoena, reveal the greater depth to which Christie aides sought payback against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, derided by one Christie aide in the released emails as a ?little Serbian? and threatening that ?it will be a tough November? for him.

NBC New York and other news outlets report that Wildstein supplied the exchanges in response to a subpoena by state lawmakers investigating the lane closures. Wildstein, the former port authority's director of interstate capital projects, resigned in December shortly before Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority, also resigned.

NBC News has reached out to Christie's office for comment, but has yet to hear back.

NBC News' Michael O'Brien contributed.

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http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... l_shows.html#incart_river

Fulop not popular with Christie ally at the Port Authority, per email on GWB closures

Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

on January 08, 2014 at 11:18 AM, updated January 08, 2014 at 1:09 PM


An ally of Gov. Chris Christie at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane closing flap doesn't think too much of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, according to an email obtained by the Star-Ledger.
Former Port Authority official David Wildstein, who resigned in December after being implicated in the scandal, responded on Sept. 9 to an email from a member of Christie?s senior staff who asked Wildstein whether the Port Authority had responded to the Fort Lee mayor?s complaints about the lane closures, according to The Record.
?Radio silence,? Wildstein wrote. ?His name comes right after Mayor Fulop.?
Fulop was persona non grata for Christie?s office, the mayor says, because he declined to endorse the Republican governor?s reelection bid last year. Fulop told The Record this week that after he told Christie?s political team that he wouldn?t endorse him, the governor?s office canceled a host of meetings the new mayor had scheduled.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich has accused Christie?s allies of closing three local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge because Sokolich wouldn?t endorse Christie, a charge Christie has denied. The September lane closings led to days of traffic nightmares in the Bergen County borough.
In a statement, Fulop said the emails "shed an unfortunate light on Trenton politics."
In November, Fulop said he planned to file a $400 million lawsuit against the Port Authority, further angering officials at the bi-state agency. The Port Authority owes the money in back taxes, fines and other fees, according to Fulop.

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What's significant - this scandal will mark the end of Christie's presidential aspirations.

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You may be interested to know that Christie cancelled all public appearances today.

So keep up your nonsensical talk about IRS/NSA/Benghazi /etc...

[Note to Webmaster - there is a poster on this thread that continually takes the discussion off topic. Perhaps he is suffering from ADD? Can we stay on topic - and keep it local? ]

Christie has been caught red handed!

An email message to the central figure in the fray surrounding the closure of traffic lanes to the George Washington Bridge links a top aide to Governor Chris Christie to the growing scandal. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," the aide to Christie, Bridget Ann Kelly wrote to David Wildstein. A minute later, Wildstein replied "got it."

In GWB Hearing, "Abberant" and "Illegal" Behavior by Christie Aides
Meet the 9 People Entangled in the GWB Scandal
The email was sent on August 13 from Kelly's private yahoo account, a month before Wildstein, a top Christie appointee in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey abruptly ordered the lane closures, which caused a work week's worth of traffic jams in Fort Lee. The Mayor of Fort Lee, did not endorse Chris Christie for re-election, and it's been widely speculated that the non-endorsement was the cause of the closures, a charge Christie has denied.

But according to sworn testimony, the closures were "at variance" with normal procedure and were done abruptly the first week of September, without knowledge of the Mayor of Fort Lee or of Pat Foye, the Port Authority Executive Director, an appointee of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who jointly controls the bi-state authority with Christie.

Kelly is Christie's deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs -- making her directly in charge of handling relationships with local officials, like Mayor Mark Sokolich.

Christie had assured reporters that he'd spoken to everybody in his senior staff and that they'd assured him they were not involved in the lane closures. Christie also said that his campaign manager, Bill Sepian, also knew nothing about them - though the emails contain extensive commentary to the contrary.

Kelly had taken over for Sepian, who left the administration to manage the Christie re-election campaign. Two weeks ago, Sepian was appointed to the Republican Governor's Association, which Christie heads. Just yesterday, Sepian became the head of the Republican Party in New Jersey.

Right after the closures, the emails show, Sepian called Mayor Sokolich "an idiot," and Fort Lee is described as "Serbia" -- an outlier.

"It will be a tough November for this little Serbian,"Wildstein wrote.

The emails were obtained by WNYC a day before Wildstein is to testify before the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee.

An unknown texter said to Wildstein "is it wrong that I'm smiling?" "No," Wildstein replied. "I feel badly about the kids, I guess," the texter wrote, referring to the fact that the traffic jams came on the first day of school, catching school buses in their web. Wildstein responds "they are the children of Buono voters," referring to Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate who was running against Christie.

Wildstein was Christie's former high school buddy who went on to be his point man at the Port Authority. Wildstein resigned in December, calling the bridge scandal a distraction. Bill Baroni, Christie's top Port Authority appointee, also resigned.

The email chain is below. ...
http://www.wnyc.org/story/email-links ... istie-aide-bridge-fracas/

The investigation is continuing to pick up steam.

There's a clear track record demonstrating that Christie is a bully. Not presidential material by a longshot.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/nyr ... 88E7F9B277A167FFD&gwt=pay

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Welcome to the USA, Atushi. In this country many people of all ethnicities enjoy hot baths! Try a low tech solution. On your stove boil water in large pots and perhaps use an electric tea kettle. Fill the tub with hot tap water, until the hot water is used up, then add the hot water from the stove/electric water kettle to the tub. Fill the rest with lukewarm water. Boil more water as needed.

Perhaps if you can increase the frequency of your baths, thus exhausting the limited supply of hot water in your building, your neighbors will eventually share your pain and upgrade the central hot water heater. I suggest you take the hot baths early in the morning during peak use - 7AM.

Getting a tankless heater to supplement the building's hot water is not practical or advisable.

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I just tried using Chrome browser...had to wait a 3 minutes while it refreshed every few seconds. Then I got this screen:

"Create a Marketplace account"

So in answer to your question - try it again.

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You have to go to trader Joe's to get the good stuff (unrefined) for a decent price - or Amazon as previously suggested.

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jcdd's assumption is that most buyers in Jersey City opt for new construction - shiny new condos. I don't believe this is true.