There’s a great Times article on how the Christie administration tried to strong arm the lady mayor into backing the Rockefeller Group development in Hoboken. There’s more and more evidence coming out:
So she (Dawn Zimmer) dashed off a letter to Gov. Chris Christie, imploring him to help with Hoboken’s “ongoing flooding emergency,” and attached photos of cars in water up to their hoods. She was due to meet the next day with officials of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, when she hoped to talk about protecting Hoboken from the next catastrophic deluge to come.
But according to newly obtained emails sent among the participants, the first topic of discussion on the agenda was “review of concepts for flood control measures at Rockefeller property,” a reference to a billion-dollar office complex proposed at the north end of town. The developer, the Rockefeller Group, which had long been trying to gain approval from local officials, sent two executives, two lobbyists and an engineer to the meeting.
Ben Cisco
Drip, drip, drip.
Fitting fate for a drip such as the Outlaw Joisey Whale. Whatta maroon!
Ash Can
These fuckers can’t be indicted soon enough.
geg6
Put a fork in him. Christie is done, done, done. No 2016 for him. Hell, I’m wondering if he even serves out his second term. And I don’t think the Lt. Gov will be there to follow either.
Who’s next in line?
scav
I’m liking this about as much as watching the “who, little ol, me? I was a homespun David innocently grassroots campaigning for my song!” excuse used by an Academy Awards official fall slightly flat. Guard. Poor downtrodden oppressed saint, entirely unable to exploit his rolodex and personal manna to get a worldly bauble. Poor Rockefellers with Sticks Made for Walking unable to get their uniquely rebuildable 3 blocks future flooding issues dealt with before all the actual people already actually flooded issues.
Ben Cisco
Sorry to go OT, but Morrie Turner has died: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/01/28/267866929/morrie-turner-1923-2014-drawing-gentle-lessons-in-tolerance?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=npratc&utm_source=allthingsconsidered&utm_medium=twitter
He was really good at showing us as we should be.
Bobby Thomson
The lady mayor? What is it, 1953?
Amir Khalid
@Bobby Thomson:
It was Chris Christie, if I recall correctly, who called Dawn Zimmer that.
Gin & Tonic
@Bobby Thomson: He’s quoting Haley Barbour, IIRC.
Amir Khalid
@Amir Khalid:
Or maybe Haley Barbour.
ruemara
I smell a conviction. Or this gym.
Ash Can
@Bobby Thomson: Reference to Haley Barbour’s remarks.
Higgs Boson's Mate
So, you have real people who are already flooded out and who need help as soon as they can get it. You also have a lucrative but as yet unbuilt development. By all means, let’s make sure that the development gets approved and that its problems are solved first. The peasants are already soaked, what’s a few more hours or days to them anyway?
geg6
@Bobby Thomson:
Well, in Haley Barbour’s head it is.
OzarkHillbilly
Good read, good overall picture with a timeline. Thanx Doug.
Villago Delenda Est
@geg6:
Complete with “whites only” water fountains. and fully segregated “separate but equal” public education.
I wonder if Morning Joe can smell the burning crusts from his studio?
raven
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: It’s funny, I’m reading a book about the development of the Gulf Coast from Perdido to Panama City and Hurricane Isabel opened the door when it wiped out the small timers and the big boys swooped in.
raven
@raven: Fredrick not Isabel.
Fuzzy
The best part is that Christie thinks he has bullied all the right people so he is untouchable but his minions left a paper trail. Politics were so much easier before computers. Now you have to soooo careful.
Bobby Thomson
Ah, that explains it. Thank you.
Villago Delenda Est
@Fuzzy:
The lesson learned from Watergate by such slime as the Dark Lord and Feldmarschal von Rumsfailed. What they learned was not “don’t do the crime” but “don’t get caught”. Christie is in the process of being caught.
LAC
BENGAZI !!!
Get a cup of tea for the fat lady. She needs to get her voice ready
kindness
The development project for Hoboken may be good but it has to go through all the civic steps. Christi was strong arming it through to help a patron. Christi is the one who is dirty. The Rockefeller Group….well not lily white clean either.
OzarkHillbilly
@Villago Delenda Est: What Christie needs is a good Lewis Libby.
Villago Delenda Est
@OzarkHillbilly:
He’s already gotten rid of his fall guys…and Wildstein is ready to sing like a canary.
OzarkHillbilly
@kindness:
Just business as usual.
OzarkHillbilly
@Villago Delenda Est: Proof that Dick Cheney really is the Dark Lord.
mai naem(mobile)
I think Samson and Christie end up being cellmates. The stupid part of this is that zimmer wasn`t even refusing. She just wanted it to go through the process. And then the study finding only the Rockefeller properties getting the special designation and not one single one of the others. They were going to make a bundle whether they had the designation or not. Its all about greed. Reminds me of the current SAC insider trading case. It wasn’t even enough that they avoided making a loss, nope, they had to short the stock so they could make an absolute killing.
Steeplejack (phone)
@raven:
What book? I used to go to Perdido Key a lot back in the day.
feebog
@mai naem(mobile):
This. In the form of tax breaks for up to 30 years. It was all about how much profit margin they could make.
raven
@Steeplejack (phone): The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera: An Insider’s History of the Florida-Alabama Coast
Repack Rider
I say it will be over when the Fat Man’s Deputy Chief of Staff sings.