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Fort Lee lane closure scandal

2013 crimes in New Jersey2013 in American politics2013 scandals2014 in American politics2014 in New Jersey
2014 scandalsAll pages needing cleanupChris ChristieCover-upsFort Lee, New JerseyInterstate 95Political scandals in New JerseyPolitical scandals in the United StatesPort Authority of New York and New JerseyTransportation in Bergen County, New JerseyUse American English from January 2014Use mdy dates from January 2014Wikipedia introduction cleanup from May 2020
GWB Bridgegate entrance Sept 2016
GWB Bridgegate entrance Sept 2016

The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, was a political scandal involving a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.The problems began on Monday, September 9, 2013, when two of three toll lanes for a local street entrance were closed during morning rush hour. Local officials, emergency services, and the public were not notified of the lane closures, which Fort Lee declared a threat to public safety. The resulting back-ups and gridlock on local streets ended only when the two lanes were reopened on Friday, September 13, 2013, by an order from Port Authority Executive Director and Democrat from New York, Patrick Foye. He said that the "hasty and ill-informed decision" could have endangered lives and violated federal and state laws.It was later suggested that the lanes had been closed intentionally to cause the massive traffic problem for political reasons, and especially theorized that they were a retributive attack against Fort Lee's Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who had not supported Christie as a candidate in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election. The ensuing investigations centered on several of Christie's appointees and staff, including David Wildstein, who ordered the lanes closed, and Bill Baroni, who had told the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee that the closures were for a traffic study.The United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman launched a federal investigation, resulting in a nine-count indictment against Bridget Anne Kelly, the deputy chief of staff, Baroni and Wildstein. Wildstein entered a guilty plea, and testified against Baroni and Kelly, who were found guilty on all counts in November 2016. David Samson pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy in July 2016, for acts unrelated to the lane closures but unearthed by the federal Bridgegate investigation.Christie's political standing was badly damaged by the scandal, and his approval ratings from the scandal onward only continued to fall. Once considered a leading contender for the 2016 Republican nomination for President, Christie dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary. The scandal was widely cited as a major factor in the early demise of Christie's 2016 presidential ambitions. Christie called Bridgegate "a factor" in why he was bypassed by Donald Trump as the vice presidential nominee. In September 2016, both the prosecution and the defense in the trial of two of Christie's former aides argued that Christie knew of his close associates' involvement in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening, and that the closings were to punish Sokolich for declining to support Christie's reelection bid. This was the first time Christie had been officially accused of contemporaneous knowledge of the plot.The defendants in the case appealed their convictions. In June 2019, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard the case (known as Kelly v. United States) in January 2020. One defendant, Bill Baroni, having already begun serving his federal prison term, asked for immediate release. On May 7, 2020 the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions, judging that the defendants could not have violated the fraud statutes they were charged under since they had not obtained "money or property".

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Fort Lee lane closure scandal
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GWB Bridgegate entrance Sept 2016
GWB Bridgegate entrance Sept 2016
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The Modern (building complex)
The Modern (building complex)

The Modern is a residential skyscraper complex in Fort Lee, New Jersey near George Washington Bridge Plaza at the western end of the George Washington Bridge (GWB) on the Hudson Waterfront. Situated atop the Hudson Palisades, the twin towers provide panoramic views of the New York City skyline, the Hudson River, the GWB, and surrounding suburbs. The architectural firm of Elkus Manfredi Architects designed the buildings, one of the world's tallest twin-tower projects. Construction began in 2014 and was completed in 2018. The towers are 496 ft (151 m) and 47 stories tall. It received a 2018 New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award and an honorable mention in the 2019 Architecture MasterPrize.The towers are part of a larger urban renewal project for the long vacant parcel, where film studios were located when Fort Lee was the home America's first motion picture industry. An adjacent project called Hudson Lights includes retail, hotel and office space, including a three-screen movie theater. The 16-acre (6.5 ha) site on which the Modern (east parcel) and Hudson Lights (west parcel) are built had been undeveloped for close to 47 years. Civic leaders in Ft. Lee had sought to develop the vacant, 16-acre site since the 1970s, two attempts to put together a project failed in between 1970 and 1980, and in 2008, a $1 billion development project by Centuria Corp., which then owned the site, fell through.There was a controversy in which developers had tried to bribe Fort Lee's mayor via an organized crime representative. The mayor reported the incident, wore a wire, and exposed the attempt, as documented in the 1976 book The Bribe. William Zeckendorf acquired the site, but construction plans never materialized. Harry B. Helmsley later owned the parcels, but the intended project was not constructed. Town and Country Developers bought the tract from his estate in 2005. Eventually, SJP and Tucker Development acquired the two sites. In 2016 an agreement was made with the town that The Modern and Hudson Lights would make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT). Developers of the project, SJP Properties, are funding the construction of new sewer lines to the town to accommodate the new residents created by the development. An approximately 2-acre (0.81 ha) area between the buildings was deeded back to the borough for use as public park. It does not include units which contribute to the boroughs affordable state required housing stock. The borough also anticipated traffic issues and a larger school population due to the new residents.The project contains 75,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities: an infinity pool, barbecue stations, basketball and volleyball courts, a lawn with an outdoor jumbotron, a screening room, a residents lounge, a business center, a spa/sauna, a fitness center, indoor and outdoor children's play areas, a covered dog walk and pet spa, a golf simulation room and a karaoke/gaming room.