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While the Supreme Court says New Jersey has each proper to tug out of the bi-state Waterfront Commission, that transfer would nonetheless be an open invitation to corruption.
The justices merely ruled that Jersey by no means gave up its proper to withdraw.
But doing so is only a reward to the International Longshoremen’s Association, which has pushed for many years to kill the docks watchdog.
For 70 years, the fee has had regulatory authority over the ports in Newark, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Staten Island, and Brooklyn — conserving the mob at bay and making certain truthful hiring.
Yet first Republican Gov. Chris Christie and then-Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy sided with the ILA.
Now, NJ Advance Media’s Ted Sherman has unearthed decade-old draft Waterfront Commission reviews buried beneath Christie that depict ports stricken by organized crime, drug use, racism, sexism, and no-show jobs, together with practically 20 folks paid greater than $450,000 a yr.
And the ILA’s spent hundreds of thousands in Jersey lobbying for its “freedom,” together with a minimum of $455,000 to 3 darkish cash political organizations run by Sean Caddle, who final we checked was awaiting sentencing for hiring males to homicide a former affiliate.
The Genovese, Bonanno, and Gambino organized crime households allegedly proceed to affect the ILA and port companies.
After the SCOTUS ruling, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James vowed to “proceed to do every little thing in our energy to fight corruption and crime, defend the well being of our financial system, and make sure the security of New Yorkers.”
At the least, Hochul and Murphy now should attain some settlement on methods to preserve ongoing investigations, enforcement actions, and so forth.
Maybe that’s sufficient leverage to muscle Murphy into not promoting out the ports to the mob.
