After NJ Governor Chris Christie held reporters, TV networks and the public hostage for nearly two hours during his nearly two hour apology/"it wasn't me" blamefest, he headed over the Fort Lee to apologize to Mayor Mark Sokolich and residents for not realizing a deputy chief of staff had ordered nightmarish gridlock for days. Unfortunately, his presence caused some... traffic problems.
Star-Ledger photographer John O'Boyle Tweeted, "Police divert traffic on Main Street in Fort Lee so Gov. Chris Christie can apologize for diverting traffic," with a link to his photos. The NY Times reports:
The governor’s pilgrimage caused a stir in the borough — and, inevitably, caused another tie-up of traffic on its downtown streets. Two women trying to catch a bus home in front of the borough hall took turns cursing the governor for leaving them standing in the near-freezing cold while traffic on Main Street was diverted.
“I find it ironic that the governor chose the height of rush hour to do this,” said Sam Gronner, a Fort Lee resident, who said it had taken an extra 15 minutes to go to the nearby A.&P. supermarket to buy plums for a brisket he planned to cook.
Christie wasn't even wanted in Fort Lee, with Sokolich saying in the morning that Christie shouldn't come since there was still an investigation in the lane closures to the George Washington Bridge. But "I am not a bully" Christie still came—according to Sokolich, Christie "respectfully insisted" and the mayor was pleased with the visit. Sokolich accepted Christie's apology, saying, "He said he wasn't involved. And you know what, we accept that."
On September 9, two of Fort Lee's three lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed, causing awful delays for school children, commuters and emergency responders alike until the closures were ended on September 13—when Port Authority executive director Patrick Foye, an appointee of NY Governor Cuomo, stepped in. Sokolich, a Democrat, had contended that the bridge gridlock was a payback against him because he refused to endorse Christie for re-election, because Christie was hoping for resounding bi-partisan support in his reelection.
The Port Authority is controlled by both NY and NJ, and Christie appointees Bill Baroni and David Wildstein claimed there was a traffic study (though usually these kind of closures are announced months, if not a year in advance, and this kind of study could be done by computer modeling). On Wednesday it was revealed that Wildstein received an email from top Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly in August that read: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Before the smoking email was made public, Christie kept denying that there was any political payback or that his staff was involved. He even joked that he was "working the cones" at the closed lane. The governor addressed his sarcasm at yesterday's presser, telling reporters, "I would never have come out here four or five weeks ago and made a joke about these lane closures if I had ever had an inkling that anyone on my staff would have been so stupid but to be involved and then so deceitful as to just -- just to not disclose the information of their involvement to me when directly asked by their superior. And those questions were not asked, by the way, just once; they were asked repeatedly."
Yesterday, Sokolich said, "We are appreciative of his appearance here and we’re appreciative of the fact that he’s taken, we believe, to be a big step in regaining the trust of our community, and quite frankly, this region."
