Inside the plan that led to a $9 million Port Authority grant for a park in Essex County, and the allegations of a political deal that cemented the agreement.
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NEWARK-- Every day, thousands of drivers pay staggering tolls -- as much as $15 for cars and more than $100 for large trucks -- to cross the George Washington Bridge.
It all provides a huge payday for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which brings in more than $5 billion a year in tolls, fares, landing fees, parking and other charges from its tunnels, bridges, shipping terminals and airports.
In turn, billions of dollars are funneled into building a transportation system for the 21st century.
And millions of it, curiously, went to help build a small park in the state's largest city.
Riverfront Park in Newark is tucked into a forgotten slice of land along the Passaic River. It is a place where people can picnic and play soccer, relax and work out far from the congested roadways that helped fund the oasis.
The park owes its birth to the strange bedfellows of New Jersey politics and public money. Its neatly-landscaped 12 green acres was seemingly willed into existence by a Republican governor who wanted to be president and a Democratic powerbroker who unexpectedly supported him for re-election.
No one has ever challenged the park's ultimate cost or its benefit to the community that surrounds it. But how it got over the finish line is a lesson involving millions in public funding, handed out behind the scenes, in what a former Port Authority insider at the center of the recent Bridgegate scandal called nothing less than a deliberate effort to nail down a critical endorsement for the governor.
Put another way: If you want to know how things really get done in New Jersey, let us tell you the story of Riverfront Park.
"We've had governors reward people for generations," said Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science at Montclair State University. "What is particularly disgusting is when you see the diversion of funds from their intended use to pet projects of political bosses."
A lesson in bipartisanship
Bounded by the Passaic River to the north, Riverfront Park stretches from Brill Street to Oxford Street in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood. Built atop a former industrial site, it has soccer and baseball fields with synthetic turf surfaces, tennis and basketball courts, walking paths, and two playgrounds.
Riverfront Park, connected to county's Riverbank Park in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood, was developed with the help of $9 million in funding from the Port Authority. (Frances Micklow | Star-Ledger file photo)
Public records show millions in funding from the Port Authority and the state were steered to the project.
The Port Authority paid the largest share with grants that grew to $9 million from $4 million, as property prices soared.
The Port's money came from a program used largely for conservation efforts and preserving wildlife habitats.
Nearly $3.9 million in separate New Jersey Green Acres grants were directed by Trenton to the project to help cover development costs.
The county's Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund, a fund created exclusively for parks through a voter referendum, was tapped for another $3 million. And $850,000 grant was contributed by the company that operates the Essex County resource recovery plant.
At the 2011 groundbreaking for the $16.7 million recreation facility, Gov. Chris Christie--a Republican already thinking about a presidential run--posed with a ceremonial shovel and said Washington politicians "could learn a thing or two" about bipartisanship from New Jersey.
He spoke warmly of his relationship with Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and other Democratic officials, which he called crucial to getting the long-planned project off the ground.
DiVincenzo embraced the governor as "a good friend" who understood the social and economic benefits the park would bring to Essex County. "With his guidance and leadership, the Port Authority and NJ Green Acres were brought to the table and provided the support to acquire and develop the property," DiVincenzo said.
Two years later, the Essex County Democrat surprisingly broke with his own party and endorsed Christie for a second term as governor.
In an interview earlier this year for this story, DiVincenzo said there was no connection between the grants and his support of the governor.
"I just went there and made the ask. Just like I do for everything else," he said. "That's my job as county exec. To try and go out there and get the funds so the county taxpayers don't have to pay for it."
The governor's office said there was no expectation of anything in return.
"The Riverfront Park was a worthwhile project in the Port district that both the PANYNJ and the governor's office advocated for to provide additional recreational opportunities for the children of Newark," said Christie spokesman Brian Murray in a statement. "It had absolutely nothing to do with any political endorsement."
But David Wildstein, a political appointee to the Port Authority and the prosecution's key witness during the Bridgegate scandal, testified during the trial it had everything to do with the endorsement.
"The purpose was to build on the relationship with the Essex County executive," Wildstein said.
The former Republican political operative spent eight days on the stand testifying against Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a one-time deputy chief of staff to the governor. Baroni and Kelly both were convicted of conspiracy and fraud in the high-profile corruption case that brought new levels of scrutiny on the Port Authority.
Wildstein said he and Baroni advocated for the Essex County funding for DiVincenzo.
"For what purpose?" persisted assistant U.S. attorney Lee Cortes Jr.
"For the purpose of securing his endorsement in the future," Wildstein replied.
Under cross-examination, Wildstein recalled that Kevin O'Dowd, the governor's chief of staff "screamed at Baroni for not getting Joe DiVincenzo the money fast enough."
A park on the Passaic
The park was a dream of Nancy Zak, a community organizer who coordinated the effort some 20 years ago that saved a century-old Newark park nearby that had been threatened with demolition by the proposed construction of a minor league baseball stadium.
"We were so starved for recreation space," she said, recalling that when kids would come out to go to soccer practice, everybody had to drive to another town to find a field where they could play.
At the same time, she said people in the community had been isolated from the Passaic River for decades. "There were kids growing up who didn't even know there was a river there because the view was cut off. Instead of seeing the river, the view was of stacked cargo containers," she said.
A young girl enjoys the water at the spray ground at Riverfront Park in Newark. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
After the proposed site for the stadium was relocated downtown, the existing park got a new lease on life.
But initial plans during the fight over where to place the stadium involved redeveloping an industrial parcel just a few thousand feet to the east. That led the Ironbound Community Corp. to start lobbying for a second park as well, the property that ultimately became Riverfront.
"It was time to think more expansively. How do we get more?" remembered Joseph Della Fave, executive director of the organization.
The property for the park that would become Riverfront had no trees, grass or fields. There was a tank farm and other industrial buildings at the edge of the river and ground contamination would need to be addressed through environmental abatement measures. The Ironbound Community Corp. was awarded an initial Green Acres grant to get the project started.
They then called to DiVincenzo to make it happen. He called the governor's office.
A public piggy bank
DiVincenzo had gotten money out of the Port Authority in the past, through his connections in Trenton. In 2003, after the new baseball stadium was built, he said he went to then-Gov. James E. McGreevey to get the Port Authority to help fund construction of a 365-space parking garage next to the stadium and near NJ Transit's Broad Street Station.
When the new park was put on the table, the county executive said he made a similar call to Gov. Jon Corzine.
Nearly 11 percent of the votes in the 2005 election that went to Corzine came out of Essex County, due in no small part to DiVincenzo's political organization. "I went down there and showed them the plans. I told them exactly what we wanted to do. They okayed it," DiVincenzo said.
The use of public funding to reward those in power has long been a staple of old-school politics in New Jersey. For years, the Legislature annually doled out millions in so-called "Christmas tree" grants--so named because they showed up like surprise holiday gifts under the tree.
Before the politically-controlled giveaway was abruptly ended with the election of Corzine, legislators in both parties would use state money to fund pet projects from Little League ball fields to community museums, through last-minute budget appropriations that were made without public disclosure or debate.
During the heyday of Atlantic City's casino boom, millions of dollars from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority was diverted by Trenton to favored undertakings far afield from the Boardwalk, including among other things, a $1.3 million grant that helped build the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls.
Harrison, who studies New Jersey politics, said the Christie administration has a history of using state resources -- including the state's independent authorities, the Economic Development Authority and general state revenues--for political gain.
She pointed to the channeling of $6 million in federal recovery dollars after Hurricane Sandy by Christie's administration to a senior citizen project in Belleville conceived years before the storm struck. Two weeks later, the town's Democratic mayor endorsed the governor for re-election.
"You have people without money to repair their homes, but Belleville gets money for a senior citizen complex when it wasn't even touched by the storm?" she asked. "They didn't even bother putting on a facade. It was a joke."
The Port Authority had also long been a funding source, serving like a piggy bank for projects far and wide that had little, if anything, with the agency's mission.
"For years and years the Port Authority was known as the hotbed of patronage," said Harrison. "It's where governors would stick someone's Uncle Sal as some political favor. It was perceived as bloated, sometimes ineffectual and lots of infighting."
Christie, she said, "changed how the Port Authority and its vast resources were used to curry political favor."
With testimony from the Bridgegate trial and legislative hearings in the wake of the scandal, she said "it became clear that (the agency) became almost like a "private slush fund" used to reward to political allies.
"Part of the governor's job is to dole out these resources. But look at where the money goes," she said, questioning how much of it went to things for which it was never intended. "They've reshaped how funding mechanisms work."
The $600 million 'regional bank'
The Port Authority has always been a political behemoth. A $7.4 billion agency with intense regional rivalries created through a bi-state compact nearly 100 years ago, the authority controls everything from the the Hudson River tunnels, to all three New York metropolitan area airports, as well as the shipping terminals serving the region.
Run by a commission appointed by the governors of New York and New Jersey, there are constant political pulls from both sides of the river, with each side having its favored projects and causes.
Author and historian Jameson W. Doig, a professor emeritus at Princeton University who chronicled the history of the Port Authority in "Empire on the Hudson," said more than 40 years ago when the agency was flush with cash, then-executive director Peter Goldmark thought the Port Authority's mission could be advanced by allocating some funds to economic-development projects.
"The two governors weighed in, a regional bank was created, and modest amounts of money went to help build the Newark Law Center building and other non-transportation projects," he said.
The funding mechanism, though, always came with an asterisk attached.
According to a November 2016 bond statement issued by the Port Authority, "legislation authorizing the establishment of a Bank for Regional Development has not been enacted into law in either state." That never stopped the funding.
An examination of grants approved under the regional bank program shows several projects that have little to do with Port Authority's core mission: to move people and goods, provide access to the nation and the world, and promote the region's economic development.
The Liberty Science Center got money. So did the New Jersey Historical Society. In New York, the agency gave millions to Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the New York Botanical Garden, records show.
The little-known regional bank fund, with $600 million available to be split between the states, could be used by the governors for nominally economic development projects or local transportation projects, Doig said.
And that was where the Port Authority found the money for the Essex County park on the Passaic.
'That guy's off the deep end...'
Wildstein, while on the stand during the Bridgegate trial, made it clear his job was to help marshal Port Authority resources to bolster support among Democrats for Christie's 2013 re-election.
He spoke about the giveaway of surplus Port Authority vehicles and other equipment. There were special tours of Ground Zero and gifts of American flags flown over the hallowed ground of 9/11. And there was money. Lots of money -- millions in grants.
"Were any of those expenditures motivated by seeking to help Gov. Christie's re-election?" he was asked under oath.
"I would say so, yes," Wildstein replied.
DiVincenzo denied Wildstein's assertions.
"That's absolutely not true. Absolutely not true. Absolutely not true," he repeated again and again. "You know Wildstein is a nut. That guy's off the deep end."
David Wildstein, who testified that the Port Authority funding for the Essex County park was intended to secure an endorsement for the governor. (Julio Cortez | AP file photo)
Wildstein also testified that the governor himself had to sign off on the park deal, which came from a Port Authority "bank fund"--a pot of money New York and New Jersey's governors split and spent at their pleasure.
"So the more than a million dollars of Port Authority money that was given to Essex County ... was authorized by the governor?" he was asked by Baroni's attorney.
"Yes," Wildstein said. "Bank funds require the governor's authorization."
Baroni's attorney, Michael Baldassare, declined comment.
DiVincenzo said Christie never asked for his endorsement. "Why did I endorse?" he asked. "Because I knew he was going to win."
O'Dowd, now senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, said he could not respond to questions about Wildstein's allegations.
"Unfortunately, due to the ongoing legal and appellate proceedings associated with that case, I cannot comment on this matter," he said in an email.
Christie's spokesman flatly rejected Wildstein's assertions as well.
"David Wildstein is a convicted liar who testified falsely and repeatedly speculated about conversations he was never even a part of," Murray said. "This is just another example of David Wildstein lying to try to make people believe he was 'in the know.' He is nothing but a felon and admitted liar."
An incumbent with stuff to offer...
Others during the trial, though, said the governor's 2013 re-election team was courting them for endorsements with giveaways and grant money.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, for example, said the Port Authority donated $5,000 to his borough's fire department and helped underwrite the cost of several shuttle buses to take commuters to the Hudson River ferry at Edgewater after indicating he might be supportive of the governor.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, whose borough received grants and other assistance from the Port Authority, until he decided he could not endorse Christie for re-election. (Andrew Mills | Star-Ledger file photo)
Sokolich later fell out of favor after stepping back from a public endorsement, which led to the September 2013 scheme orchestrated by Wildstein, Baroni and Kelly to shut down several local access toll lanes at the George Washington Bridge.
There were gifts to other communities as well, in support of elected officials who Wildstein claimed could be helpful to Christie. He literally called it the Port Authority's "goody bag" of favors.
"It ranged from outright financial contributions to used cars and surplus equipment, to jobs, patronage positions," Wildstein said during his Bridgegate testimony.
Records in fact show millions in Port Authority funding was earmarked for a litany of public works projects in New Jersey, in places where Democrats cast their lots with the Republican governor.
The long-stalled, $256 million project to build a new PATH station in Harrison was given go-ahead by the Port Authority in April 2012. Nine months later, the Democratic mayor of Harrison and all eight of his council members endorsed Christie, making them the first elected Democrats to publicly embrace the Republican governor for re-election.
The late Mayor Raymond McDonough, who died in 2014, insisted at the time there was no deal for his endorsement. "I happen to like the guy," he explained.
The Port Authority, at the behest of the governor, also gave Union City $2.9 million for roadway improvements on approach roadways to the Lincoln Tunnel, marking the first time the city received such aid. A request for the funds was made in a letter from Christie in June 2012 to David Samson, the now disgraced former chairman of the authority who pleaded guilty to bribery in a shakedown of United Airlines.
Democratic Mayor Brian Stack subsequently threw his support to the governor.
In an email to Wildstein long before the Bridgegate scandal came to light, Bill Stepien, the governor's former campaign director and now a member of the Trump White House, talked about the giveaways. "It's good to be an incumbent with stuff to offer, ain't it?" he said.
A little publicized program
The stuff to offer to Essex County came out of a $60 million pot of money split between New York and New Jersey called the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Resources Program, intended to preserve open space throughout the Port District. The money was intended for the acquisition of property identified as suitable for conservation, ecological enhancement, public access or environmental mitigation.
The program was not well publicized. In fact, at a Port Authority board meeting on the Essex grant, then Chairman David Samson acknowledged there had been little focus on it.
"It doesn't get enough attention, just like so many of the environmental initiatives and open space initiatives that the Port Authority funds and actively pursues," he said.
Groups and agencies in both states had won Port Authority funding through the program for a variety of projects, including salt marsh restoration in the Meadowlands, wetlands conservation in Staten Island and the preservation of a woodlands tract along the Waakaack Creek in Holmdel.
DiVincenzo said he had no idea the estuary program even existed, but went to Corzine and spoke with the Port Authority. "When I asked them for money, I had the community come out and explain why it was important to them," he said.
Port Authority Estuary Resources Projects
Interactive graphic: click on locations for project information
In July 2009, the Port Authority agreed to provide Essex County with $4 million for land acquisition. But the price tag shot up after the county went to condemn the property, and the agency agreed to increase its award to $7 million. In a memorandum, a stipulation was added that "any additional funding would be provided either directly or indirectly through the county."
However, a few months later before the county received any of the money, DiVincenzo said he feared the project and its funding were about to go south. Christie defeated Corzine, while the estimated cost of the real estate continued to climb.
The county executive said he was not sure Christie would honor the grant. He had worked for Corzine and Essex went big for the incumbent. "He could have froze it. He could have said 'No, we're not going to continue with it,'" he said of Christie.
Looking to mend fences, DiVincenzo met with the governor-elect the day after his 2009 election win. "We said 'You won (and) we want to work with you,'" he said of the meeting. "I said we had to build a relationship with him."
By March 2010, the county executive was asking Baroni, who Christie installed as the highest-ranking New Jersey executive at the Port Authority, for funds. The county was promised another $2 million.
DiVincenzo with Bill Baroni, the former deputy director of the Port Authority, and then-Newark Mayor Cory Booker at an event announcing Riverfront Park in 2010. (Jennifer Brown | Star-Ledger file photo)
Later that spring, the county announced its plans for Riverfront Park in a ceremony at the site, then a gravel-covered property.
"I bring greetings. I bring congratulations. I bring $7 million," announced Baroni at the event, before the price of the park ballooned yet again, to $9 million.
A year later, the governor arrived for a groundbreaking ceremony, telling reporters his relationship with DiVincenzo and other Democrats was crucial to getting the project off the ground. "Most elected officials from the other party wouldn't do what he did," DiVincenzo said at the ribbon cutting.
Field of dreams
On a recent morning, Jillian Kimber, 26, of Newark, was alone on Riverfront Park's pristine field, the thud of her blue cleats forcefully sending a black-and-orange soccer ball into an open net.
Jillian Kimber on the soccer field of Essex County's Riverfront Park in Newark. (Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
"Sometimes it's hard to get time here," she said during a break. "There are a lot of people and teams out here. It's a great field."
Zak said the park draws thousands of people, with a riverfront revival program drawing more than 15,000 attendees last summer.
"It's like a link to the past," she said, talking of the embrace of the Passaic. "That's why Newark was founded. The river."
The county has built a walkway connecting Riverfront and Riverbank parks, and DiVincenzo wants to extend it to downtown. He has plans for a boathouse. He reiterates once again that all he did was look to build a relationship with the governor, who supported the county for four years.
"This was good work," DiVincenzo said of the park. "We didn't put any county dollars in. This was the right thing."
Meanwhile, Port Authority has quietly killed the regional bank program that funded it. Agency chairman John Degnan, who replaced Samson as head of the agency, said he remained troubled over where some of the money went under the program over the past 15 years.
"The Port Authority needs to act as a good public citizen. On the other hand, I couldn't see a nexus between transportation and some of the things it went to," he said.
Degnan did not challenge the Essex County grant. "It seems to me it fit within the estuary programs goals," he remarked.
However, he suggested that the money that went to ballet companies, theaters and science museums, and on several occasions, used to satisfy a local municipality's needs, was emblematic of the way the program ran.
A special panel recommended that the agency eliminate the regional bank and estuary program, and that the Port Authority return to its core mission of transportation infrastructure.
"Neither of those programs, it seems to me, was consistent with that mission," concluded Degnan.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.