After Jared Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer, made a pitch soliciting $150 million for the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop has come out against the tax subsidy and abatement request made by the developers. 
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I want to be clear with residents on where the city stands here. Last week, the developer of this project submitted an application to Jersey City for a tax subsidy and abatement on this property,” Fulop wrote of his Facebook page this morning.
“The administration made clear to the applicant that the city is not supportive of their request and while the law requires a first reading ordinance vote if they submit an application, I don’t foresee the council voting in favor.”
Fulop’s remarks came in light of various news outlets, including the New York Times, detailing Nicole Meyer, Jared Kushner’s sister, making a pitch soliciting $150 million to finance the One Journal Square project.
The pitch was made in front of over 100 Chinese investors at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing, the report says.
Although Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, has divested his interests in the project, some believe Meyer’s involvement brings in clear conflicts.
“I know for certain I have made my feelings clear here on this project and what I feel works best for Jersey City. This tax abatement application doesn’t work for us,” Fulop said, who did not include specifics of what the application included.
The $400 million tower project is a joint effort between Kushner Companies and KABR Group, who bought the property for $27 million in early 2015 (h/t The Real Deal).
This is not the first time that Kushner’s ties to Jersey City have given the Fulop administration headaches.
In January of this year, Charlie and Jared Kushner (Charlie is Jared’s father), as well as KABR Group, were tied to a $100,000 donation to the super PAC Coalition for Progress, which was linked to Fulop’s potential run for governor.
The six-figure contribution was made to New Jersey Progressive Inc., which donated a total of $400,000 to Coalition for Progress on September 14, 2014, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
However, that donation was refunded on May 6 of last year after the group began to be scrutinized by members of the media and the public over a lack of transparency.
Hudson County View first reported back in March 2016 that Progressive New Jersey Inc. had ties to now-U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) and to ex-Gov. Jim McGreevey (D), who now runs the Jersey City Employment and Training Program.
Additionally, a group of Jersey City residents have taken offense to Kushner’s close relationship with Trump, calling themselves Evict Trump-Kushner and previously stating that “If you attack our community, you should not be able to profit from our community.”
One of Trump’s campaign promises was to crack down on illegal immigrants, which he has followed through on via raids throughout the country by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In February, Fulop signed an executive order declaring Jersey City a sanctuary city, meaning the municipality would not use their resources to assist ICE actions.
Fullop flipping on what group he should be in bed with at this point and level of the election cycle.