This post has been updated.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (D) on Thursday said he accepted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s apology for any problems the George Washington Bridge lane closures caused for the mayor and town residents.
“I accepted his apology,” Sokolich said after a meeting with the governor. “We believe we’re content at the moment, and an investigation will tell us the balance of what needs to be told.”
Even though Sokolich said that he did not want Christie to come to Fort Lee for an apology, Christie insisted and Sokolich said he was glad the governor stopped by.
“I’m glad he came,” Sokolich said. “I indicated maybe it wouldn’t be productive to come up now. It wasn’t to be disrespectful. It was just, would it make more sense to do it when the investigation is completed? The governor insisted, and we would certainly welcome our governor with open arms, as we did.”
Christie said he had “a very warm, very productive meeting” with Sokolich.
“I look forward to working with him in the future,” Christie said while leaving the meeting.
Sokolich said that he believes Christie’s claims that he did not know about his aides’ plans to shut down lanes on the bridge.
“I take him for his word, which is, he didn’t have anything to do with it,” Sokolich said.
The Fort Lee mayor joked that he conducted a traffic study before Christie’s arrival when asked about a lane of traffic that was shut down in town Thursday for the governor.
“That was a safety plan, and we had conducted a couple of studies before he arrived,” Sokolich said.
