"He-said-she-said"? Um, NO

Here we go again, the mainstream media gives corruption another pass.

First The Hoboken Reporter 'reported' some mystery-HUD spokesman saying that 14 generators had been delivered to the HHA "in fall" so they could freeze their sprockets all winter long to impress the folks not paying attention as to how "powerful" they were!

 "In fact, HUD said, the generators were delivered in fall on purpose. At the time, HUD, Garcia and the vendor were aware that inclement weather might be looming, but the manufacturer wanted to prove that its new model generator, more powerful than previous iterations, could withstand the elements."

In fact Spring is here, and betcha those generators will sit out all Spring to show how... um, 'spring-y' they are, springier than previous iterations, so spring-y that they can withstand the tulips and cherry blossoms.

And when Summer comes?

Betcha those generators will sit out all summer "on purpose" to show how...um, summery they can be, more summery than previous iterations, so summery they can withstand Mr. Softee and the Top Ten Songs of Summer.

In other words, nobody in the mainstream press gives a shit whether the folks in public housing have working generators. Of course, they'll be on the scene when someone drops dead after a fire because they didn't have power to run the automatic sprinklers.   Good job, Assemblyman Garcia!

So, this latest episode of journalistic malpractice comes again, to the aid of Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia.   The first line tells you all you need to know about the rest of it:

 HOBOKEN — A year-long squabble between a Hoboken Housing Authority resident and the agency’s personnel boils down to a he-said-she-said narrative...  Coco has publicly spoken out against the project and believes that, as a result, her car has been vandalized, her home burglarized and her life threatened. She largely pins the alleged retaliation on HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia.

Well folks, if that one didn't make you spit out your cornflakes...

The first problem GA's got with framing the Coco story as "he-said-she-said" is that the 'SHE' and the 'HE' have a completely asymmetric power dynamic.

The "SHE" is a disabled woman, employed but living on a very limited income, living in public housing, there since 2002, and had no problems with HHA management UNTIL she spoke out against Vision 20/20.  After Ms. Coco spoke out, a catalog of abuses occurred to her property- she was served with an illegal eviction notice, was harassed at the polls on election day, has had her apartment entered and property stolen, her car was vandalized several times; all this has had an adverse effect on her health.

The "HE" is a powerful elected official, the 33rd District Assemblyman, Executive Director of the Hoboken Housing Authority- the 'landlord' of 'SHE'- and also receives a stipend as aide to Freeholder Romano- which brings his income well over $200K annually. 

The Jersey Journal got it all wrong.  The story was not "he-said-she-said," it is a story of how "she" with ALL the vulnerability of a powerless person dependent on public housing took on her powerful landlord, and suddenly, a lot of terrible things start happening to her. THAT WAS THE STORY. 

DUH.

GA will have more on this tomorrow.  The article was extremely unfair to Coco, published  an unverified 'smear', that she lives with someone (she does not), and gave  Garcia a 'pass' by putting him in an equivalent power-role to Coco.

He is NOT.   Ask any resident of the HHA who has the power to renew their lease or serve an eviction notice.

It's not Jessica Coco.