Christie-Aide-Turned-Lobbyist Pushed Hoboken Train Stop To NJ Transit
Her name is Lori Grifa, an attorney for Wolff & Samson – yes, that David Samson, who resigned as NY/NJ Port Authority boss – and, as they say, timing is everything!
A former Christie administration official lobbied NJ Transit to build a train station that would benefit a $1 billion office and residential complex being proposed for the Hoboken waterfront — the same complex the city’s mayor claimed she was pressured to fast-track or risk losing Sandy aid.
Records show that the lobbyist argued for the station within months of an agreement signed with NJ Transit to move forward on the rail project. That lobbying occurred in the spring of 2013 — the same time period that Mayor Dawn Zimmer said she was pressured by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. …
Samson is also a central figure in the crisis Governor Christie is confronting over the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge. Samson was appointed by Christie to be chairman of the Port Authority and met with Christie on the day The Record reported the now-infamous email, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” …
The Hoboken lobbying effort echoes Zimmer’s claims that there was a full-court press in the spring and summer of 2013 to get the massive project by The Rockefeller Group approved.
