Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) camp held Sandy relief money hostage, mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken, NJ alleges.....on UP w/ Steve Kornacki MSNBC story

Two senior members of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration warned a New Jersey mayor earlier this year that her town would be starved of hurricane relief money unless she approved a lucrative redevelopment plan favored by the governor, according to the mayor and emails and personal notes she shared with msnbc.

PHOTO BY ANDREW BURTON/GETTY

Mayor Dawn Zimmer (L) of Hoboken 

talks with New Jersey 

Governor Chris Christie (R)

 prior to a joint press conference,

 Nov. 4, 2012 in Hoboken, N.J.

The mayor, Dawn Zimmer, hasn’t approved the project, but she did request $127 million in hurricane relief for her city of Hoboken – 80% of which was underwater after Sandy hit in October 2012. What she got was $142,000 to defray the cost of a single back-up generator plus an additional $200,000 in recovery grants. 

In an exclusive interview, Zimmer broke her silence and named Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, Christie’s community affairs commissioner, as the two officials who delivered messages on behalf of a governor she had long supported.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer, (D-Hoboken)

“It’s not fair for the governor to hold Sandy funds hostage for the city of Hoboken” because he wants support for one private developer, she said Saturday on UP w/ Steve Kornacki.

Constable and Christie – through spokespersons – deny Zimmer’s claims. more