Why Was it Time for Some Traffic Problems in Ft. Lee?

Editor’s Note: The following is from the Jan. 10 member edition, published every Friday morning. To read the full issue — which includes this week’s horoscopes for all 12 signs and a generous helping of astro-news briefs — consider a single-issue purchase here. Or, get instant access to this issue through a free one-month trial membership here, and receive our twice-weekly mailings automatically (plus it makes you eligible for a significant discount on The Mars Effect annual readings!). — Susan

By Eric Francis

Wednesday, a collection of emails in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal in New Jersey were made public. Among those messages: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” wrote N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, to the Christie ally at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Aug. 13.

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie visits the Liliputians. AP photo.
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie visits the Liliputians. AP photo.

“Got it,” replied David Wildstein, who in his testimony before the state senate Thursday pleaded the 5th (the right to remain silent) over and over again.

His attorney told the senate panel he would start answering questions were he given state legal immunity by both N.Y. and N.J. as well as federal immunity (all three jurisdictions are involved). That sounds intriguing.

For those who have not been following this story, Christie is the brash Republican governor who during Hurricane Sandy helped Pres. Obama win the 2012 election by acting friendly toward the president when he came to visit the scene of devastation. This infuriated the Romney campaign — especially when Gov. Christie refused to tour New Jersey with the Republican presidential nominee at the peak of the campaign.

The Port Authority, which runs the George Washington Bridge, under orders from Christie’s office, shut down three of the four lanes onto the world’s busiest bridge, the one along I-95 that takes you from New Jersey to Manhattan. This was done for four agonizing days — not previously announced and for no obvious reason. The result was that the entire borough of Fort Lee was gridlocked for four days as four lanes of traffic tried to cram through one tollbooth. Tens of thousands of people endured an hours-long traffic jam. Emergency vehicles and school buses could not move.

Read more