One One of the key players in getting Steve Fulop elected Mayor of Jersey City is Freeholder and former Councilman Bill O’Dea who is the Deputy Executive Director of Elizabeths’ Economic Development Corporation based in Union County. O’Dea is a close friend and confidant of State Senator Ray Lesniak of Union County. Lesniak is a political power broker, close friend and chief architect of Jim McGreevys’ political career. McGreevy chose Lesniaks’ law firm to represent the town of Woodbridge when he was Mayor. It was to Lesniak McGreevy first confessed of his lifestyle the day before he resigned. Lesniak and McGreevy have never lost touch with one another speaking regularly since the resignation. Now that McGreevy has been appointed as head of Jersey Citys’ Job Program by Mayor Fulop at $110,000 per year the question is what influence might McGreevy have in promoting Ray Lesniaks long time ambition of expanding his interests into Hudson County. This ambition has been there for years only dampened by Senator Robert Menendez who acknowledged his friendship with Lesniak and qualifying it by saying “We get along very well with each other. But the bottom line is we’ve also had conflicts about politics when Ray wanted to play in Hudson County. So it’s not always been that amorous.” Menendez made the above comments in regard to questions about FirstBankAmericano, an Elizabeth Bank that failed in July 2009. Menendez wrote a letter to the Federal Reserve asking they approve the sale of that bank to a holding company in Brick. Menendez did not mention in that letter that Lesniak and Joseph Ginarte, the bank’s chairman, were longtime contributors who each had a financial stake in the bank. Menendez has had a cloudy political life and is not the powerful head of Hudson County he was a few years ago. This leaves the door wide open for the “ghosts of the past” to materialize once again. Always keep in mind that New Jersey politics is a tangled web. Throw some names into the pot. McGreevys’ former chief of staff, Jamie Fox, was former Senator Robert Torricelli’s chief of staff. MWW was the public relations firm that hired Golan Cipel when his government career was over and MWW was started by Torricelli and former Governor Jim Florio. Torricelli is now a lobbyist and a partner in Panepinto Properties, a prosperous Jersey City real estate development firm. In 2007 Torricelli was the subject of controversy when it was revealed he was spending some of the $2.9 million dollars left over from his Senate campaign on donations to political candidates with ties to his business interests. Former New Jersey Governor and U.S. Senator Jon Corzine is somewhere out there on the flotsam and jetsam of the political sea. Though now fallen and disgraced, Corzine was completely entangled in the web of New Jersey politics. His mentor and political rabbi was Bob Torricelli. Corzine was a business partner of Charlie Kushner in a failed bid to buy the New Jersey Nets. He is also close to Jim McGreevy. Charlie Kushner is Jim McGreevys’ financial guru having raised $1.5 million dollars to get him elected. Kushner is the one who introduced McGreevy to Golan Cipel in Israel before McGreevy became Governor. As Governor, McGreevy appointed Kushner to the board of the Port Authority which would have given him huge influence over billions of dollars of development contracts. Kushner never had that opportunity as he resigned rather than face in depth scrutiny when proposed as the head of that agency. Kushners’ well documented downfall in the last decade coincided with McGreevys’ resignation as Governor. The two men who had sparred on and off in the last year of McGreevys’ reign now comforted each other. After Kushners’ release from prison he faded into the background of his enormous billion dollar company. It should be mentioned Kushners’ son, Jared, married Donald Trumps’ daughter, Ivanka, a few years ago adding the Trump dynasty to the mix. KRE, the present name of the Kushner Real Estate company, is on tap to construct a 465,000 square foot residential tower with 540 units in phase one of a development project at Journal Square above and around the PATH station. The total project will bring approximately 2 million square feet of residential and commercial space to Journal Square. In April of this year the film premiere of “Fall to Grace” which documents McGreevys’ transition from disgraced Governor to advocate for incarcerated women was held at Kean University in Union County. Among those in attendance were Ray Lesniak and Bill O’Dea. Lesniak said the film which will air on HBO is evidence McGreevy is engaging with people who need help. He went on to say “It shows McGreevy is still a politician at heart meaning he loves people and loves to be engaged with people.” One of the key players in getting Steve Fulop elected Mayor of Jersey City is Freeholder and former Councilman Bill O’Dea who is the Deputy Executive Director of Elizabeths’ Economic Development Corporation based in Union County. O’Dea is a close friend and confidant of State Senator Ray Lesniak of Union County. Lesniak is a political power broker, close friend and chief architect of Jim McGreevys’ political career. McGreevy chose Lesniaks’ law firm to represent the town of Woodbridge when he was Mayor. It was to Lesniak McGreevy first confessed of his lifestyle the day before he resigned. Lesniak and McGreevy have never lost touch with one another speaking regularly since the resignation. Now that McGreevy has been appointed as head of Jersey Citys’ Job Program by Mayor Fulop at $110,000 per year the question is what influence might McGreevy have in promoting Ray Lesniaks long time ambition of expanding his interests into Hudson County. This ambition has been there for years only dampened by Senator Robert Menendez who acknowledged his friendship with Lesniak and qualifying it by saying “We get along very well with each other. But the bottom line is we’ve also had conflicts about politics when Ray wanted to play in Hudson County. So it’s not always been that amorous.” Menendez made the above comments in regard to questions about FirstBankAmericano, an Elizabeth Bank that failed in July 2009. Menendez wrote a letter to the Federal Reserve asking they approve the sale of that bank to a holding company in Brick. Menendez did not mention in that letter that Lesniak and Joseph Ginarte, the bank’s chairman, were longtime contributors who each had a financial stake in the bank. Menendez has had a cloudy political life and is not the powerful head of Hudson County he was a few years ago. This leaves the door wide open for the “ghosts of the past” to materialize once again. Always keep in mind that New Jersey politics is a tangled web. Throw some names into the pot. McGreevys’ former chief of staff, Jamie Fox, was former Senator Robert Torricelli’s chief of staff. MWW was the public relations firm that hired Golan Cipel when his government career was over and MWW was started by Torricelli and former Governor Jim Florio. Torricelli is now a lobbyist and a partner in Panepinto Properties, a prosperous Jersey City real estate development firm. In 2007 Torricelli was the subject of controversy when it was revealed he was spending some of the $2.9 million dollars left over from his Senate campaign on donations to political candidates with ties to his business interests. Former New Jersey Governor and U.S. Senator Jon Corzine is somewhere out there on the flotsam and jetsam of the political sea. Though now fallen and disgraced, Corzine was completely entangled in the web of New Jersey politics. His mentor and political rabbi was Bob Torricelli. Corzine was a business partner of Charlie Kushner in a failed bid to buy the New Jersey Nets. He is also close to Jim McGreevy. Charlie Kushner is Jim McGreevys’ financial guru having raised $1.5 million dollars to get him elected. Kushner is the one who introduced McGreevy to Golan Cipel in Israel before McGreevy became Governor. As Governor, McGreevy appointed Kushner to the board of the Port Authority which would have given him huge influence over billions of dollars of development contracts. Kushner never had that opportunity as he resigned rather than face in depth scrutiny when proposed as the head of that agency. Kushners’ well documented downfall in the last decade coincided with McGreevys’ resignation as Governor. The two men who had sparred on and off in the last year of McGreevys’ reign now comforted each other. After Kushners’ release from prison he faded into the background of his enormous billion dollar company. It should be mentioned Kushners’ son, Jared, married Donald Trumps’ daughter, Ivanka, a few years ago adding the Trump dynasty to the mix. KRE, the present name of the Kushner Real Estate company, is on tap to construct a 465,000 square foot residential tower with 540 units in phase one of a development project at Journal Square above and around the PATH station. The total project will bring approximately 2 million square feet of residential and commercial space to Journal Square. In April of this year the film premiere of “Fall to Grace” which documents McGreevys’ transition from disgraced Governor to advocate for incarcerated women was held at Kean University in Union County. Among those in attendance were Ray Lesniak and Bill O’Dea. Lesniak said the film which will air on HBO is evidence McGreevy is engaging with people who need help. He went on to say “It shows McGreevy is still a politician at heart meaning he loves people and loves to be engaged with people.”
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 01:21:34 +0000
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