Activists & electeds rally against $10.7B Turnpike extension at Jersey City City Hall

Dozens of activists and electeds rallied against the $10.7 billion New Jersey Turnpike extension plan at Jersey City City Hall last night, one week after the U.S. Coast Guard granted a permit for the Newark Bay Bridge project.

By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View

Hudson County Complete Streets Co-Founder Emmanuelle Morgan explained she believed the NJ Turnpike Authority (NJTPA) is at best exaggerating about the need to replace the bridge versus investing in necessary repairs.

“Their own study states it could be repaired for a mere $260 million,” she declared.

Morgan also did not like that they want to essentially build two bridges to replace one bridge. She was adamant the bridge could be repaired cheaper than the billions of dollars a bridge replacement would take.

“Ordinary people just want clean air and safe streets. Some people like Assemblyman Will Sampson … would like you to believe that union jobs are more important than clean air and public health and that only the NJ Turnpike can somehow deliver union jobs unlike, say NJ Transit,” she argued.

Morgan also stated that state and federal agencies pushed highways through minority neighborhoods throughout the country without community consideration and increasing pollution.

“In Jersey City, this divided Greenville from our most precious natural resource, the Hudson River … We need two bridges like we need a hole in the head!” Morgan exclaimed.

“You have a partner here in the Jersey City Department of Infrastructure, the administration and the council … This project is wrong for New Jersey,” said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democratic candidate for governor.

He also entertained the possibility of filing a lawsuit to stop the project.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who is running for Assembly in the 32nd Legislative District, contended that more delays equal more traffic, which leads to congestion and pollution, which is harmful minority communities.

“They relied on the Trump Administration’s statement that we cannot consider environmental justice in determining whether this passes the environmental assessment process,” he argued.

“Boo!” the crowd replied.

“We have to factor the concept of racism into this legal process … This is just bad policy … As Hoboken’s mayor, you can count on me every step of the way,” Bhalla asserted.

He added that New York City’s congestion pricing has been effective in reducing traffic in Hudson County on the I-78 extension, echoing what his running mate Katie Brennan said in February.

“The Coast Guard’s decision to rubber stamp this ill-advised project and issue a finding of no significant impact, it’s actually a declaration of stunning indifference to our community,” added state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32), calling it “a betrayal.”

He further stated that Trump’s executive order disregarding environmental justice was not legal since it cannot overturn a law approved by Congress, before calling the project “reckless” and asking for it to be cancelled altogether.

“From day 1, my position has been to cancel this project … The decision by the Coast Guard, in my view, was a joke,” Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), a mayoral candidate, said.

While he supports union labor, he said they would be better suited expanding the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail instead of the Turnpike.

Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore said that while they understand that upgrades are necessary, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) needs to reconsider the current plan.

“… We’re not going to be bullied. We’re not going to be muffled. We’re gonna make sure we’re standing in solidarity …”

Ward E Councilman James Solomon, who is running an anti-establishment campaign for mayor, noted that many electeds and candidates on opposite political sides stood together for the cause.

“We have elected officials who frankly sometimes don’t like each other and we are all unified in opposition because this is such a bad idea … This is an idea driven by money and power and greed,” Solomon stated.

In the event that Jersey City sues the Coast Guard and/or the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the downtown councilman said he would vote in favor of it.

“When the shovel hits the fan, what are we gonna do?!” Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh, an LD-32 Assembly candidate on Fulop’s “Democrats for Change” ticket, asked.

“Stand up and fight back!” The crowd chanted.

“We have to rage against this Turnpike! It’s been a long road, and it’s just beginning. I opposed this when it was only $10 billion. Now it’s $12 billion. This is a slush fund for government contractors and insiders with an in,” Saleh exclaimed.

Safe Streets JC board member Jimmy Lee noted his daughter goes to school near the highway and would be especially impacted by more air pollution.

“It will be a historic generational mistake if we continue down this path,” he stated to applause.

“There’s no shortage of mass transit projects we should invest in,” Lee argued, also criticizing the Turnpike’s methodology and studies justifying the expansion.

He encouraged people to vote in the June 10th primary, as well as thanking the media who continued covering the issue of the Turnpike expansion.

“There is neither room in the lungs of children of Jersey City or Newark for more pollution nor on our local streets for more congestion and unsafe streets,” he said after the event concluded.

“Meanwhile, NJ Transit falls apart and the PATH was literally on fire. Fix the bridge, but invest the rest in desperately needed improvements to mass transit.”