It's amazing to me that property owners in this town aren't clamoring for full tax audits and investigations of all those charged in the Hudson Cty sting. Taxes are high for many reasons, one of which is all the abatements and other games played by now convicted politicians.

Do you seriously think these guys only took bribes just once? Vega is rather wealthy with his multiple homes in NJ, NY and abroad. Why there were no attempts to audit/clawback other ill gotten gains is beyond me.

Apathy is one thing the politicians seem to count on and regularly benefit from...

Perhaps someone can figure out how many relatives of city leaders live in such apartments.

Developer claims JC officials tried to extort apartments

Former Council Prez Vega, Mayor Healy, city agencies named in lawsuit


by E. Assata Wright
Reporter staff writer
09.18.11 - 12:05 am


A pending lawsuit filed in federal court could spell more trouble for former Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega, who is already serving time in federal prison after having been caught in a 2009 Federal Bureau of Investigation corruption sting.

In a lawsuit filed Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court, New York City-based residential developer Neil Sorrentino alleges that Vega conspired with various city agencies and officials, including Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, to take his property without just compensation. However, the city?s corporation counsel said last week the allegations are without merit and he expects Healy and the city to be vindicated.

Developer?s allegations

In June 2004, Sorrentino received approval from the Jersey City Zoning Board to build 311 Washington St., a mid-rise condo development in the city?s growing Powerhouse district. The development, known as Washington Commons, was to include 68 market-rate condo units and parking.

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?Washington Commons? claims are without merit.? ? William Matsikoudis

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According to city officials, Sorrentino had requested permission to build more units in Washington Commons than city law allows. Sorrentino requested, and was granted, a density variance that allowed him to construct additional units in the building.

The city granted this variance on the condition that Sorrentino include seven modestly-priced live/work units that would be set aside for artists, in accordance with the city?s vision for the Powerhouse Arts District. Sorrentino?s attorney and city officials all acknowledge that the two sides had agreed that the seven artists units would be sold back to the city after the building was completed.

Construction on 311 Washington began in 2004, and soon after, Sorrrentino applied for a 20-year tax abatement for the development.

The developer alleges that in early 2007 he was approached by an intermediary working with Vega ? allegedly a city police officer ? and told to attend a meeting at Jersey City?s Brownstone Diner. Sorrentino was allegedly told that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss his pending abatement application, according to the developer?s lawsuit.

At the time of this alleged meeting, Vega ? in addition to being City Council president ? also served as chairman of the Tax Abatement Committee.

Sorrentino alleges that when he showed up at the diner, Vega told him he had to turn the seven artists units over to the city for free ? far less than the $475,000 per unit price Sorrentino hoped to get.

The developer claims that Vega allegedly planned to set aside two of the artists units for family members of his and wanted to ensure that his relatives could live in these units at little or no cost.

When Sorrentino refused to go along, Vega allegedly threatened him, stating that future city approvals for Washington Commons wouldn?t be granted.

?The municipality stopped acting in good faith,? said Sorrentino?s attorney, John Schepisi. ?If they really wanted to obtain these units, why wouldn?t they negotiate a fair sale price? Instead, they tried to take the property to turn it over to somebody?s relative.?

The developer eventually withdrew his tax abatement application after allegedly being told by other city officials that it would not be approved by Vega?s committee.

Four condos, four bucks

Schepisi said that throughout the construction of Washington Commons, the developer repeatedly shot down alleged attempts by the city to acquire the seven units for free.

At the time of the original zoning approval in 2004, Schepisi said his client was told that the city would purchase the units for $475,000, each, or some other price that was mutually agreeable to the city and the developer.

City officials say this claim is baseless.

?Washington Commons? claims are without merit and were denied in court in numerous proceedings that all held that Washington Commons was given a density bonus in exchange for donating seven affordable artists units to the city,? Corporation Counsel William Matsikoudis said last week.

According to Matsikoudis, there was never a written agreement about the price of the units. ?The zoning board adopted a resolution that conditioned additional density requested by Sorrention in exchanged for the seven units at nominal consideration, and Sorrentino agreed,? he said.

Sorrentino?s suit states that the city allegedly later offered to buy the units for $200,000 apiece, an offer Sorrentino rejected.

The city upped their offer to $220,000, according to Schepisi, but that price was also unacceptable to Sorrentino.

Sorrentino alleges that in November 2007 the city Zoning Board approved a new sale price for the units: One dollar per unit.

?From the day my client refused [Vega?s alleged] extortion attempt, everything went downhill. The city did a full frontal attack and tried to take these units without paying any money,? said Schepisi.

Referring to the other defendants named in the lawsuit ? Mayor Healy, the Zoning Board, the Board of Adjustment, City Council, Department of Housing, Redevelopment Agency, and the Department of Economic Development ? Schepisi said, ?Either the mayor and the [various] city agencies knew about Vega?s scheme, or should have known about it, or they participated in it and tried to advance it.?

Construction on Washington Commons is now completed and according to Scheplisi all of the units in the building have been sold ? except for the seven artists units that are in dispute.

?My client is carrying the expenses for those units, paying their portion of the building?s maintenance fees, and so on,? he said.

?Desperate move??

Sorrentino has raised his allegations in two previous lawsuits that were filed in Hudson County Superior Court. Those cases were dismissed because judges ruled that the developer waited too long to file a case and the statute of limitations had run out. The court also ruled that he had not adequately exhausted non-legal channels to resolve the matter.

But Schepisi clearly hopes that having Vega ? an admitted accepter of bribes ? listed as a defendant in the case will boost Sorrentino?s claim.

?The things he [allegedly] did to my client, and the kinds of demands he made in the [FBI] case, are quite similar,? said Schepisi. ?It?s not hard to believe he would extort a developer in 2007 and then extort another one later on.?

The city doesn?t place much credence in the developer?s allegations.

?These new allegations that come after five years indicate a final desperate move by the plaintiff to obtain consideration in excess for what they bargained for,? Matsikoudis commented.

It was unclear last week whether Vega has retained legal representation in this matter.

In April, Vega was sentenced to 30 months behind bars after pleading guilty last year to accepting $20,000 from government informant Solomon Dwek. Vega met with Dwek, posing as a developer, in 2009 and agreed to help expedite city approvals for Dwek?s construction projects in exchange for money.

Vega is currently incarcerated in a federal prison.


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