Happy Martin Luther King Day, people!
Well, it seems that NJ Transit got Governor-Elect Murphy's message loud and clear.
When the Governor said that today's scheduled meeting to seal the deal with NY Waterway on the purchase of the Union Dry Dock property was "proof" that the agency needed an overhaul, well...
Who would NJ Transit listen to? The old boss or the new one?
Fantastic news for Hoboken. A tribute to the great friendship between fellow Democrats Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Governor-Elect Phil Murphy. Thank you, Annette Chaparro and all of the folks who advocated against pushing this deal through in the llth hour of the Christie administration.
It's not over by a long shot. But, we get to his the reset button.
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Original Post
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| Yesterday morning at Hoboken City Hall |
It's no secret that NJ Gov-elect Phil Murphy has a special place in his heart for Hoboken.
HISTORY
Back when Murphy was a dark horse challenger to presumptive gubernatorial candidates Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and NJ Senate President Stephen Sweeney, he got the quiet support of Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer. Last year, he appeared at fundraisers for both Dawn Zimmer and Ravi Bhalla, and the morning after his November election victory, where was the new Governor-Elect's first stop?
Hoboken! Hoboken Terminal, to be exact.
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| Murphy and Bhalla schmoozing with the people at Hoboken Terminal yesterday |
Make no mistake, this was also a message about Murphy's governing priorities. The Governor-Elect has got his cross-hairs on NJ Transit (see Murphy platform). Murphy has accused Governor Christie of "staffing NJ Transit with political cronies who lack the professional and technical expertise to manage such an essential agency. [Christie] drove top officials out of the agency, including a respected executive director who left NJ Transit to join the MTA."
Last month, the Governor-Elect called the agency a "national disgrace" and vowed to "knock it down" and "rebuild the ailing public transportation agency from the ground up. The announcement came just days after The Record and NorthJersey.com reported that NJ Transit had promoted and given pay increases to 10 allies of Gov. Chris Christie as the agency faltered."
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| Mayor Bhalla hosting City Hall meeting with Gov-elect Murphy, Assemblywoman Chaparro yesterday |
Guess what?
Last Tuesday, Murphy sent pink slips to "a number of senior NJ Transit employees", demanding their resignation letters no later than 4:30 PM last Thursday.
MURPHY: "THIS VOTE MUST BE POSTPONED"
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| http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/01/murphy_demands_nj_transit_postpone_mlk_day_vote_on.html |
Murphy, the agency's incoming boss, can make it rain pink slips at NJ Transit.
It's not rocket science. When the incoming Governor cites NJ Transit's deal to buy Hoboken's UDD site on Martin Luther King Day as "proof" that the agency needs an overhaul, the agency's board might imagine a pink slip tsunami is on its way.
Yes, it's a threat- and a promise.
Will the NJ Transit Board disobey their new boss?
Stay tuned.
PLEASE ATTEND TOMORROWS NJ TRANSIT BOARD MEETING (IF YOU CAN)
Time: 9 AM
Location: 1 Penn Plaza East, Newark, NJ 07105.
Click here for map and directions. Hoboken residents, if you can please attend. It's truly a disgrace, for a state agency to push this deal through on Martin Luther King Day.
We'll need some time to update our story that Unelectable is completely controlled by NJ Transit. But we see no reason to change it now. We're fully invested.
ReplyDeleteha! yeah, really, what happens to that convenient talking point? do the posts quietly disappear? lord knows he doesn't have the common sense or balls to fess up to being wrong (IN MY OPINION. for the record, i have no knowledge of or actual interest in his balls...)
DeleteWhile this was a needed step forward perhaps the biggest change that needs to occur is the reorganization of NJT to transform it from being an active predator to an active partner of Hoboken.
ReplyDeleteMoving beyond the Union Dry Dock acquisition, Hoboken and NJT need to work cooperatively to plan and build on the long delayed rail yards redevelopment area.
Yep, both true. The Governor-Elect vowed to "knock [NJ Transit] down" and "rebuild the ailing public transportation agency from the ground up. "
DeleteSadly, like a lot of the dead wood and incompetent officers and managers in our city hall, many NJ Transit employees have civil service protection and can't be fired very easily, if at all, no matter how bad they are at their jobs.
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