JERSEY CITY – Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez appeared in state Superior Court on Monday to tesify in a lawsuit filed against her to vacate her seat.
However, a ruling on the case was not handed down immediately by Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli, who instead will issue a written opinion to be made public in days to come.
The lawsuit, originally filed by Jimmy King, her opponent in the May muncipal election where she won the Ward C council seat while he finished in a distant second, claimed Lopez’s primary residence is in Florida, and she had not paid New Jersey income taxes for several years while filing federal taxes in Florida. The lawsuit was then picked up by the third place opponent in the Ward C race, Norrice Raymaker, after Jimmy King pleaded guilty to taking bribes from government informant Solomon Dwek.
Lopez, under questioning from Raymaker’s attorney, Howard Myerowitz, about not paying income taxes in New Jersey from 2000 to 2008, gave answers such she “did not realize” she had to pay her income taxes to New Jersey. Lopez’s attorney, William Northgrave, presented numerous documents to the court to argue that she lives in Jersey City and not Florida. -RK