TRENTON, NJ-The political pot in which the decision to temporarily close Fort Lee borough's local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge was made boiled over at a legislative hearing here Monday.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials came to testify before the Assembly's Transportation Committee about the week-long closure, which led to seriously clogged roads in downtown Fort Lee.

Various politicians, including Assemblywoman Linda Stender – who is vice-chair of the committee – have suggested that the sudden and unannounced lane closures were a retaliatory move against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich. The mayor declined to endorse Gov. Chris Christie for re-election last month shortly before the lane closures.

At Monday's hearing, according to the Wall Street Journal, Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the PANYNJ, said the closures were done to assess the "fairness" of designating local access lanes. "Is anybody going to argue this is fair?" Baroni asked the committee.

Democratic committee members did not embrace this explanation, however. The committee chair, John Wisniewski – who is also a former state party chair – said to Baroni, "You are a masterful dancer and we appreciate your dancing skills." (Read more here.)

Instant Insights /

Assembly Hearing: Was Gridlock in Ft. Lee Political?

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