NJ Gov Chris Christie nixes state money for an important public works project - the rail tunnel.....

[marmar]

......but he wants New Jersey taxpayers to bail out this multibillion dollar white elephant shopping mall project.





from the New York Times:


It wasn’t a pretty view on the 13-minute train ride Sunday from Secaucus to New Meadowlands Stadium — old landfills, mud flats, the garish bulk of the stalled Xanadu project. But it might as well have been paved with money.

....(snip)....

None of it happened. Instead, the developers made a series of missteps, ran out of money and, in 2008, filed for bankruptcy. All that remain are lawsuits, investigations and questions about where the money went and who will do the needed cleanup. State and local bodies sank hundreds of millions of dollars into the project; much has been repaid, but officials say some of it never will be.

....(snip)....

On the train, Mike Von Ohlen of New Brunswick, who works at a truck company, turned to look at the sprawling, multicolored Xanadu. Or, as he called it, “the biggest boondoggle there is.”

Xanadu, now just called The Meadowlands, is the largest retail and entertainment complex in the country. After more than $2 billion spent, it is years behind schedule, and the owners say they need $875 million to complete it. It sits on state-owned land; the state has paid for transportation improvements to reach it; and Gov. Chris Christie wants the state to invest money to help finish it.

At the sports complex, owned by the state’s Sports and Exposition Authority, the train passes the money-losing Izod Center. Never a fan favorite, it has been losing business — including its two biggest tenants, the Nets and the Devils — to the newer Prudential Center in Newark. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/nyregion/22train.html?_r=2&em

[ladjf]

1. Christie is among the worst of the worst in the Republican camp.

If people like him continue to acquire more power it will show how serious the power shift has become.

[the redcoat]

2. Here's the difference between these 2 projects:

The rail tunnel would bring massive business to Manhattan. New Jersey would essentially be paying so that people could more easily spend they money in NYC. I still firmly believe the tunnel should be built, but that NYC should be footing the bill, not NJ.

This Meadowlands project will bring business into NJ...business it desperately needs.

So if you want to blame a Republican for this, blame Bloomberg, not Christie.