Governor Chris Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie will be in Middletown this afternoon to acknowledge Hurricane Sandy First Responders and Volunteers.
This Christies are scheduled to arrive at the Port Monmouth Fire House, 125 Main Street, Port Monmouth at 3 PM. They will address the press following their meet and greet.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno will be attending the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund Benefit at Buono Sera Palazzo, 1033 West Park Ave, Ocean Township, this evening.
The event will feature live entertainment, silent auction, cocktail party and dancing. Scheduled entertainers include Big Joe Henry, Pat Guadagno, Kyle Grooms of Comedy Central & The Dave Chappelle Show, Gordon Baker-Bone, Craig Mahoney & Carolina Hidalgo. Spotlight performances by Vini ‘Mad Dog’ Lopez, Bobby Banderia, Marc Ribler, Brian Kirk, Sonny Kenn, Joe Petillo, Matt O’Ree.
Tickets are $100 and are available through Buono Sera Bar and Restaurant, 732-530-5858.
Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty Photo Credit Mark Bonamo, NJ.com
Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty and his colleagues on the Borough Council are acting on their pledge to rebuild the town’s boardwalk by Memorial Day 2013.
NJ.com reports that the governing body introduced a $20 million bond ordinance last week to provide the initial funding of the reconstruction.
Doherty said that Belmar’s property taxpayers will not be on the hook for the cost of the new boardwalk, with FEMA and the borough’s beach utility, which is funded by beach badge fees, paying off the bonds.
“It’s our understanding is that FEMA will pick up 75 percent of the expense, based on the language coming from the White House,” said Doherty, 39. “The remaining amount will come from the beach utility itself. So if you don’t use the beach, you’re not paying for anything. And zero dollars are coming from residential property-tax payers, with no property-tax hike anticipated.”
Beach badge prices are expected to rise from $7 to $8 for daily passes and for $50 to $55 for seasonal passes.
The mayor, a Democrat, had kind words for Governor Christie, but not so kind words for another Doherty, State Senator Michael Doherty. The senator has proposed legislation that would eliminate a beach town’s ability to sell beach badges if state or federal funds are used to rebuild from Hurricane Sandy.
“I think Gov. Christie has done an outstanding job in his leadership, and one of the things he’s been very effective at is keeping politics out of anything related to the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts,” Doherty, a Democrat, said. “I wish that Sen. Doherty would follow Gov. Christie’s lead as well. It’s nothing more than trying to score cheap political points after arguably the worst natural disaster that our state has ever experienced.”
The bond ordinance is expected to be passed at the December 3 meeting of Belmar’s council.
Trenton, NJ – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that weekday PATH service will resume to Lower Manhattan along the World Trade Center line beginning Monday, November 26 at 5 a.m.
The World Trade Center PATH line will run Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., with stops in New Jersey at Newark, Harrison, Journal Square, Grove Street and Exchange Place and in New York at the World Trade Center. Disabled access will be available at Newark and World Trade Center.
Floodwater from the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy had inundated the World Trade Center station, covering its track bed with several feet of water. Port Authority PATH crews have worked around the clock to remove millions of gallons of water from the tracks and platforms and also to fix and replace damaged switching and signal systems as quickly as possible. Weekend service will not yet be available to enable crews to continue the remaining necessary repair work.
The restored service to the World Trade Center will be in addition to the PATH service currently running from Newark in New Jersey to 33rd Street in New York. That line is running seven days a week between the hours of 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. and includes stops in New Jersey at Newark, Harrison, Journal Square, Grove Street and Newport stations and stops in New York at 9th, 14th, 23rd and 33rd Street. Once service resumes at the World Trade Center on Monday, service on the 33rd Street line will resume running between Journal Square and 33rd Street and will make all station stops including Christopher Street in Manhattan.
Weekend service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street line extends to Harrison and Newark in New Jersey. Disabled passengers have access to the platforms at Newark, Journal Square, Newport and 33rd Street.
Service at the Hoboken station, which saw unprecedented and widespread flooding remains suspended due to the fact vital switching equipment was destroyed and cannot be salvaged. Crews are working 24/7 to replace the signal equipment and restore communications in the tunnels, a process that is expected to take several weeks.
To provide additional mass transit options from Hoboken to Manhattan, the Port Authority and New Jersey Transit are operating a ferry service from the Hoboken Ferry Terminal. NJ Transit customers will now be able to take a bus to the Hoboken Ferry Terminal and then transfer to a ferry that will take passengers to Pier 79 at 39th street in Manhattan. The fare is $5 and ferries will run back and forth between Hoboken and Manhattan from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday thru Friday. Free shuttle buses will be provided from Pier 79 to midtown Manhattan.
Passengers who normally use the Hoboken station to get to Manhattan can also choose to make the ten minute walk to the Newport station, or take advantage of several other ferry and bus alternatives. Ferry service to Lower Manhattan is available from Liberty State Park and to Midtown Manhattan from Weehawken, New Jersey. In addition, NJ Transit has increased the number of No. 106 buses from Hoboken to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in both directions.
For up-to-date information on PATH service, visit the Port Authority’s website at www.panynj.gov/path/and follow them on Twitter @PATHTweet.
Figure Accounts for Cleanup Costs to Date Plus Rebuilding and Improvements to Infrastructure
Promotion: Click for full view
Trenton, NJ – In response to the unprecedented and widespread damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to personal property, businesses, transportation and utilities infrastructure, as well as New Jersey’s $38 billion tourism industry, the Christie Administration has completed a preliminary cost analysis of those damages, which puts the total cost at approximately $29.4 billion. The estimate will be further refined in the days and weeks ahead.
“This preliminary number is based on the best available data, field observations and geographical mapping, and supported by expert advice from my Cabinet commissioners and an outside consulting company,” said Governor Christie. “In a short period of time, we put together a comprehensive and responsible estimate, which may increase in the weeks ahead, and I stand ready to work with our Congressional delegation and the Obama Administration to get the funding support New Jersey expects and deserves in the aftermath of this catastrophe.
“We will continue to provide immediate relief for our citizens who were struck hard by Sandy,” the Governor continued. “But be assured, I will spare no effort and waste no time to rebuild and restore our tourism industry, our transportation and utilities infrastructure and the lives of our citizens for the long term.”
The preliminary cost estimate is inclusive of aid received to date and anticipated from federal sources including FEMA and the Small Business Administration. The estimate will likely be refined further to consider and include the long-term impact on the next tourism season, shifts in population, impact on real estate values and other factors.
The pollsters that Governor Chris Chrisite called “crap” last month released the first post Hurricane Sandy independent poll this morning. The results give the governor extremely high marks for his handling of the superstorm which ravaged the Jersey Shore and impacted 66% of all New Jersey residents.
On October 9, Christie reacted to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll that indicated improving approval ratings but soft support for his reelection by calling the Eagleton polls “crap.”
“It’s never good, it’s never accurate. When it’s good for me, it’s not right, when it’s bad for me it’s not right,” Christie said according to PolitickerNJ. He said he would not comment about future Eagleton polls.
But Sandy was a live changing event. Don’t be surprised if Christie has something honest and refreshing to say about today’s polling results when questioned by a reporter.
92% of the respondents said that Christie handled Hurricane Sandy well. 69% said he handled it “very well” and 23% rated him “somewhat well.”
The other 8% are cranky and don’t like fleece. (MMM’s assessment, not a poll result)
81% answered that Christie and President Obama showed the “needed cooperation and bipartisanship” in handling the aftermath of Sandy. 12% said Christie went too far in his praise of the president.
Christie’s ovrerall favorability rating now stands at 65%, 67% with registered voters.
49% of Democrats, 70% of Independents and 89% of Republicans now have a favorable impression of the governor. Only 38% of Democrats report an unfavorable impression of him, down from 68% in early October.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, considered the only Democrat with a chance to defeat Christie in the 2013 general election, has not been active on twitter since the poll was released.
Governor Chris Christie said at a press conference this afternoon that utilities will be connected to homes at Fort Monmouth this weekend and that New Jersey residents that were displaced by Hurricane Sandy should be able to start moving into the temporary housing sometime next week.
The governor said that “some type of lottery system” being developed by the Department of Community Affairs will be employed to select residents who will move onto the fort, because the demand of tempory housing is expected to exceed the supply.
The governor went on to explain that officials are assessing the need for housing this week by interviewing people still in shelters and surveying local officials.
Christie called the press conference to announced that he met with the four leaders of the legislature, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, JR and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, who all agreed that the states efforts to recover and rebuild from Sandy will not get bogged down in partisanship.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that resident selection for temporary housing must comply with FEMA rules and that specifics of when, how and who will be moved into Fort Monmouth is expected to be worked out within a few days.
FEMA Approves 5 Additional Days of Full Reimbursement for Emergency Power Restoration and Transportation Assistance in Hard Hit New Jersey Communities
Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that President Barack Obama has approved a 5-day extension of the federal cost share for Hurricane Sandy, from 75 percent to 100 percent for emergency power restoration and emergency public transportation assistance, including direct federal assistance, for those areas of New Jersey within counties designated for public assistance.
“I want to thank the federal government for the continued responsiveness to the needs of New Jersey as recovery efforts continue – particularly this extension which recognizes the additional challenges posed by the winter nor’easter and our ability to make full and proper use of the initial 100 percent reimbursement approved by the President on November 1st,” said Governor Christie. “As we continue to make progress after each of those storms to restore power and get people’s lives back to normal as much as we can, this assistance will remain critical to our recovery and clean-up efforts.”
The previously approved increase of reimbursement authority will now continue through November 14th, rather than expire yesterday as previously schedule. This increased level of federal assistance program pertains to those areas of New Jersey that were previously declared a federal disaster area, including Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties. Other forms of Category B assistance remain at a 75% cost share, consistent with the initial approval of assistance.
More information on the original November 1st approval of 100% cost share for these expenses can be found here.
