HOBOKEN — The Washington Times took a hard look Monday on grants for the state-mandated waterfront walkway project, noting that the work helped improve the facade of the Maxwell Place development. Sen.s Lautenberg and Menendez are quoted in the extensive report.
The story notes:
U.S. taxpayers doled out at least $8 million on a public walkway and park space in front of the Maxwell Place development here overlooking the New York City skyline — an amenity the development touts alongside its entertainment lounge, rooftop hot tub and theater screening room.
But the decision to use tax dollars to fund the walkway project was made after private developers had already agreed in 2003 to pay for it — indeed, it was a key condition for getting the project off the ground, according to public records and interviews.
Still, under the so-called earmarking process, by which Capitol Hill lawmakers slip requests for pet projects into larger spending bills, Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrats, later pushed for millions of dollars in federal funding for the project.
In the swamp of federal earmark funding, $8 million isn’t a lot. But critics say the project is emblematic of why the earmark process so enrages many taxpayers.
Mr. Lautenberg and Mr. Menendez combined have received approximately $100,000 in campaign donations from executives of past and current developers of the Hoboken project and their employees over the years, federal election records show.
You can read more of the story here.
So what do you think. Did theTimes uncover something shady, or is it okay to use federal money for a private development with public amenities? Or is the answer somewhere in the middle? Share your comments below!