In this climate of social restrictions, you cannot do fundraising for council or any event. Everyone knows Rich, so it helps the mayor and it helps Boggiano. Because running cost money.

Boggiano has never run directly against Fulop. He won as an independent both times and while he has opposed the mayor on several issues he's never been part of the "anti-Fulop" contingent.

Given that he won relatively comfortably in 2017, when the Mayor's slate otherwise won in a rout, I'm skeptical that he NEEDED to do this for electoral survival. But I think on balance, the plusses of him joining the ticket far outweigh the minuses for him.

For Fulop, it's a good get. I think to beat Fulop in 2021, any challenger (Robert Menendez?) would have to assemble a pretty diverse group of opponents who don't all agree with each other.

You have the progressives who backed Solomon and who have been leading protests. But not all of them want Fulop out and see themselves (and James) as a check on the Mayor.

You have some in the African-American community who see the Mayor as not caring about their neighborhoods.

You have the remnants of the Healy supporters, as well as county politicos who don't like him and still haven't forgiven him for trying to install Brian Stack as HCDO chair to oust Tom DeGise. That backfired spectacularly, but the question is how much they want to invest in trying to oust him, which would be a huge devotion of resources. And some aren't on board. There has even been some talk of putting Amy DeGise on the mayor's slate.

Then you have similar people who aren't as politically connected but who have a similar view of the Mayor still being an outsider concerned with future political runs rather than "taking care of our own."

Boggiano sort of falls into that last group, and was one of the few people who had enough support from his neighborhood groups to win a seat. Taking him out of the equation makes putting together any such fragile and discordant coalition that much more difficult.

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My guess is the November election result spooked the hell out of him. Between a Fulop appointee winning outright in Ward D and the demographic changes that occurred in Ward C (thousands of new, younger voters coming from the Journal Squared towers and other recent developments).

I suppose he calculated he was going to have a very steep climb as an opposition candidate. Being that Fulop will handily win again with 80+% of the vote with his well-received response to Covid and the fact the best the opposition can do is to dig up Matsikoudis, it's actually a wise political move and probably the best chance to save his own skin.

This is terrible news for the NIMBYs and NAs. Most likely this is the end of all R1 zoning and the Bayonne Box throughout the city and we will see greater upzoning in the future.

?I?ve never met another public official who is as tenacious a defender of his neighborhood and what makes it special than Rich Boggiano, and I?m excited to have him officially join our team and strengthen our ticket heading into next year?s election,? Fulop said. ?By working together instead of opposing each other, Rich and I can do much more to move Ward C forward, like making major improvements to Pershing Field, partnering with the County of Hudson to build a new Journal Square park, and working with neighborhood advocates to build a world-class performing arts space at the landmark Loews Theater. I?m glad that we were both able to put the past behind us and move forward together.?

Awesome!!! This is what the people want to see. You other pols take note.

I disagree with Boggiano on many issues, but he does deeply care about Jersey City. I'm happy to see he's joined Fulop's slate and hopefully his leadership will see continued improvements in the Journal Square area and surrounding community.

On a side matter, I had high admiration for Lavarro and would have supported him as a future mayor, but he's gone renegade as of late. Hope he too sees the light rather than just complain.

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Is that all you do is think about me all day? Do I have to get a restraining order?

https://hudsonreporter.com/2020/12/21/ ... oggiano-joins-team-fulop/

Bwa ha ha ha, a humiliating loss for Yvonne and the NIMBYs.