NBC News correspondent Natalie Morales alleged the Mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer and NJ officials were parties in a "kickback scheme at the highest levels" in a comment she wrote on a Change.org petition. Morales is a Hoboken resident.
The petition, "SAY NO TO OPTION A: Stop Hoboken from Building a Wall that Doesn't Protect All Residents," was started by "Concerned Citizens of Hoboken" last week and has grown to 662 signatures.
In fact, the petition title is a misnomer; there is no "Option A." There is "Concept A,"
Concept A is one of five flooding mitigation concept plans provided to the municipalities of Hoboken, Jersey City and Weehawken by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection engineers for resident feedback. Each of the Concept Plans is labeled, "DRAFT IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY."
The preamble of the Change.org petition pits residents against the Mayor of Hoboken: "the mayor now wants to spend that money on A WALL ON GARDEN STREET from Weehawken Cove as far as 12th Street, destroying a historic residential neighborhood..."
The petition also claims that Hoboken residents have had "virtually no notice, no vote, no representation from public officials, and no due process in which the affected residents have any meaningful voice." In fact, the Rebuild By Design Citizen Advisory Group has been holding public events and meetings for months, all of which have been publicly noticed and meeting materials and presentation boards are online at http://www.nj.gov/dep/floodhazard/rbd-hudsonriver.htm.
 |
| Comment on Change.org Petition: SAY NO TO OPTION A: Stop Hoboken from Building a Wall that Doesn't Protect All Residents |
NBC's Morales has not provided proof of her allegations of "corruption at its finest" nor "kickback scheme at the highest level."
The comments on the petition are of course filled with lies and slams against the mayor.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ms. Morales, she might want to be careful as "journalist" spreading misinformation online
I heard she is up for the Brian Williams Journalism Award.
DeleteMisinformation, she's making criminal allegations against the mayor on one of her most important stands against corruption.
DeleteWow, is this on air talent dumb as a rock!
And, she did it using her NBC email.
DeleteShe is an idiot.
DeleteSorry GA, but you're losing fans with this attack on SOS and Morales.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you are too bitter to accept that Zimmer was wrong on this and the residents of upper Garden were simply voicing their initial and early reactions.
Your block went Ape shit over an ACME neon sign and rightfully so. Neighborhoods watch out for themselves first
Zimmer KNEW ALL ALONG ABOUT OPTION A and she HAD NO PROBLEM WITH IT.
Lots of intentionally false information and ape shit being thrown all over Garden Street to get exposure. Sad but somewhat understandable.
Delete"Losing fans?" What a dumb shit remark. Most of the people who read this site are not likely "fans"- like you.
DeleteAs for as sitting on your caps key to proclaim "Zimmer knew all along..." is another dumb shit remark- and that's a compliment.
Folks are desperate to turn "Concept Plan A" into a Hoboken political scandal... what else is new. 7-2, feelin' blue?
More misinformation
DeleteHey MSTA/SOS political operative, aka Anon@3:50. Nice try to deflect attention away from the stupidity of news diva Morales's remarks by slamming GA. There really is no debate - NM's remarks were uniformed, the allegations stupid, and she delivered them with a smug self righteousness which displayed her shallowness for all to see. She has no one to blame but her own stupidity in making her ridiculous statements and she deserves every brickbat thrown her way, until she apologizes for her remarks about the mayor being corrupt and engages in some sensible conversation about how to address the flooding issue. Until then, she is as useful and relevant a journalist as Lane Bajardi is to any discussion of current events in Hoboken.
DeleteIf Morales is part of SOS and they are one and the same making dumb as shit allegations about corruption against Mayor Zimmer (on consorting with big time developers of all things), then it's not the mayor who has the problem but Morales and those anonys.
DeleteOf course the mayor knew about the five plans. She doesn't get to control them anymore than any other local official. This is a federal driven project and Hoboken like Jersey City and Weehawken has to get on board and try to work with the Feds.
Of course you want to twist this into an assault on the mayor. Shocker!
Guess what, she still won't get behind your big time developer schemes.
Wow, a Free speech website upset someone is voicing free speech? What Next Natalie putting Zimmer in a birdcage "singing"?
ReplyDeleteNo, Morales didn't receive stolen email from the mayor so she doesn't belong in a birdcage. She also didn't file a SLAPP suit claiming $2 milllion in damages. In fact, she appears to be an upstanding law-abiding citizen, not a duplicitous political operative who ghost-writes smears attacking Hoboken residents, then suing them later for speaking the truth.
DeleteHowever, she did level charges of "corruption" and "kickbacks" at Hoboken officials including the mayor, and she is an NBC news correspondent. So, doesn't she have an obligation to produce proof?
You know. I'm not an "NBC news correspondent" and I had to produce PROOF of the statements that were alleged to be defamatory.
It's disappointing that Ms. Morales would take the bait of those who don't care about flood mitigation efforts, only the seat in a certain office at the corner of 1st and Washington, the rest of us be damned. Did she really associate Mayor Zimmer with corruption? Well, Zimmer may not be the savviest politician at times, but she is not dishonest or corrupt. For that, see: EVERY other mayor Hoboken has had in the recent past, and many city council members.
ReplyDeleteMs. Morales is uniquely positioned amongst uptown residents to use her celebrity to help this process. Instead, her comments lend credibility to those who see an opportunity to denigrate the Mayor's efforts by scaring the hell out of the low-information resident who has not engaged in this process until they were shown something no one wants. Morales and her husband seem to belong to both of those camps.
For everyone else, it isn't enough to reject out of hand that which you don't understand and a democracy doesn't work unless you participate. Well, in order to avert another major crisis, participation is called for and we must all bring our highest thinking powers to the proverbial table. Petitions, Facebook, email rants and even this blog, are not going to amount to anything unless the people of Hoboken engage through the proper process so that our voices will be heard.
Every Hoboken citizen is entitled to their opinion and people can disagree with those opinions as well. Personally I feel Miss Morales is wrong about the mayor being involved with developers. I would have to think the developers listed in her post have Zimmer's pic on their dartboards.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that Miss Morales is involved in town issues but I would have hoped she would question this group that is spreading a lot of completely wrong info.
It sounds like Morales had some serious smoke blown up her ass. like someone spun her pretty hard. Wanna guess who?
DeleteSmoke blown up Natalie Morales' ass? She lives in Hoboken and knows that little about the big developers and their antagonism for Mayor Zimmer?
DeleteReally? She's that clueless?
Apparently so. She just made a fool out of herself. I am not sure that I will be able to watch her on TV without laughing.
DeleteDrunk tweeting, perhaps:
DeleteCould said ass-smoke blower possibly be Hoboken's Assemblyman?
DeleteBut Brian Williams was her mentor.......
ReplyDeleteThis is red meat for NBC competitors. Morales ought to apologize to Zimmer and call it a day.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most ironic thing about her misguided (at best) comment is that Concept A, the one being rallied against, actually does the LEAST to protect the uptown areas owned by Applied, Toll Bros, etc. Look at the concept plans! I would have expected her to at least have read and tried to understand the plans before making such accusations. Perhaps I'm missing the real point of her accusation - is the mayor conspiring with Toll Bros, applied, etc to try to collect massive flood insurance payments if there is another flood event like Sandy because their properties would be left unprotected? Her comment really makes no sense whatsoever and quite honestly I'm disappointed in her.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it really doesn't make sense- to me. I would like to hear on what she bases her claims of corruption and kickbacks. Even the mayor's worst enemies would concede the point she does NOT play ball with developers.
DeleteBerlin wall? Huh?
ReplyDeleteFact, FWIW: Natalie is very close to Carmelo Garcia.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read the dumber Morales seems.
ReplyDeleteNatalie Morales -Rhodes lives on Garden Street with her family and has a right be concerned but has also has an obligation to be informed and factual as do we all before making public statements. Her TV exposure only makes that even more important.
ReplyDeleteNatalie should talk to a news reporter who saw 50% of Hoboken flooded.
ReplyDeletehttp://nbclatino.com/2012/10/31/today-shows-natalie-morales-views-hurricane-sandy-damage-to-her-own-n-j-neighborhood-from-above/
Natalie like every other Hoboken Citizen has a right to opine against Concept A and voice their concerns. Her statements about the Mayor participating in developer corruption are unfounded and quite unprofessional. Natalie may have the looks to be a morning show anchor but apparently lacks the ethics and brains to be taken seriously as a journalist.
ReplyDeleteAs "Archie Bunker" would say .... Dingbat....
Wonder when that Masonista defiled group FBW Fund for a Bether Waterfront will join in and slam the Mayor for winning a $220 million dollar grant. SOS is stealing their anti-Zimmer thunder.
With Natalie's comments I thought I would never say it but she has out Bajardied Lane Bajardi. Can I get a unibrow?
People need to calm down but stay vigilant with their very real concerns on this important and transformational project. If done properly it could benefit all Hoboken residents for years to come.
Oh trust me, everyone should scream and yell against the idea of walls on residential streets. I don't understand how that translates to kickbacks and corruption. I believe the developers cited hate Zimmers guts. I don't get it, and wonder if Morales has been fed misinformation. You know, by a "friend."
DeleteMaybe she was in the chopper with fellow NBC bs'er Brian Williams when it got hit by the RPG. She got all rattled ducking for cover and accidentally wrote down that Rockefeller and Applied love Zimmer instead of hating her.
DeleteHey, it happens. I'm just glad she's safe after the near-miss.
What a twit. If the mayor wanted to make a buck off those developers, she'd have approved all those projects that have been stuck in purgatory for the last several years.
ReplyDeleteI smell a rat. Morales' charges were too specific for someone too busy to follow local politics (obviously she doesn't). Some rat's been whispering in her ear. Between happy meals?
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when tv stations hire based on looks, tits and ass -- we get empty airheads with nothing between the ears. I hope Natalie and NBC get sued and lose.
ReplyDeleteThe SOS (Shit On a Shingle) site has been rendered a waste of time and a likely political smear effort after bogus posts remain on it.
ReplyDeleteHobokeners have seen this sort of thing before and have a pretty good idea who is behind this operation.
Serious legitimate discussion is welcome and needed to come up with a plan for Hoboken.
This is the dumbest part of her post, that concept doesn't do shipyard any favors. She is probably posting those things personally and not as a journalist but she should use common sense. That said didn't one of the blogs in town continually post that a certain council woman no longer in office was being investigated by the feds when there was no real evidence except gossip? If what she did was wrong, so was that. You may not like a concept or someones politics but that does not mean you make unfair claims of corruption/criminality. Morales shouldn't do it and nor should anyone who claims to speak the truth. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
ReplyDeleteYour analogy fails. You are comparing a local Hoboken blogger with a celebrity NBC news correspondent on national TV, the NBC correspondent accused the mayor of a serious crime- taking kickbacks. Being investigated by the FBI is not a crime, like taking kickbacks. The blogger had more than "gossip" to sustain his/her belief that a "certain councilwoman" was as he/she wrote, I understand that uncovered in the SLAPP suit (and presented at the trial) were the mayors stolen email sent to the councilwoman's political strategist/operative. Remember WHO was copying the mayor's email and archiving it in a folder on his hard drive? Same guy who was indicted by the FBI.
DeleteGoose and gander? Not exactly.
Mrs. Matt Lauer must be a happy woman over the announcement that her husband's Today show co-anchor Natalie Morales is being transferred to LA.
ReplyDelete