Fort Lee Mayor Now Says Team Christie Wooed Him With Favors And A Meal

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich told the Bergen Record Thursday that Gov. Chris Christie (R) made an extensive push to get his endorsement including lunch at the governor's mansion and favors from officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

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Sokolich told the newspaper he had lunch with Christie at the governor's residence, Drumthwacket, along with Hoboken, N.J. Mayor Dawn Zimmer. In January, Zimmer accused the Christie administration of threatening to withhold Hurricane Sandy aid from her city unless she approved a real estate project. He also said officials at the Port Authority, which oversees the bridge, lavished Fort Lee with attention prior to the closures including providing pothole repair and shuttle bus service.

According to Sokolich, his main contact at the Port Authority was the agency's former deputy executive director, Bill Baroni, a Christie appointee who resigned in December as questions about the closures mounted.

Sokolich also said his cousins from Croatia were given a tour of the 9/11 Memorial Plaza by David Wildstein, the Port Authority's director of interstate capital projects. Wildstein also resigned in December and documents subpoenaed by a committee investigating the lane closures indicate he was involved in discussions about shutting the lanes with a top aide in Christie's office.

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