A massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge is “beginning to look suspiciously connected” to one of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) political feuds, according to an editorial writer for the New York Times.
Editorial writer Eleanor Randolph published a blog post Tuesday on the what was dubbed the “New Jersey Traffic Conspiracy.” Randolph noted two of the three access lanes allowing drivers from Fort Lee, N.J. onto the bridge to New York were closed last summer shortly after the town’s Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, declined to endorse Christie’s re-election bid. Sokolich has indicated he believes his lack of support for Christie led to the traffic jam, which the column said temporarily turned his town into a “parking lot.”
At a hearing on Monday, the post said several witnesses indicated they share Sokolich’s suspicions, including Patrick Foye, who is the executive director of the agency Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which oversees the bridge. Foye was appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
Randolph’s post said bridge workers were told the lane closures were caused by a non-existent “traffic study” and Foye said it was ordered by David Wildstein, a Port Authority official and longtime Christie confidante. Wildstein announced on Friday he will resign from Port Authority effective Jan. 1. According to the post, Christie denied he played any role in the lane closures and called the theory politics played a role “crazy.”
Clarification: This post has been updated to clarify that the New York Times piece was a blog post from editorial writer Eleanor Randolph.
