Publisher's rich friend was first to complain on GWB jams

The first of two 47-story residential towers in the Hudson Lights project overlooks Fort Lee's local-access lanes to upper-level tollbooths on the George Washington Bridge, below. The building's Web site boasts of "convenient access" to the bridge, a shuttle service to and from "the express Manhattan subway" and 1-bedroom apartments from $2,500 a month.

Three lanes were merged into one on Sept. 9-13, 2013, in a plot among Governor Christie's aides and his cronies on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the world's busiest bridge, to retaliate against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In today's anniversary coverage of the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal, The Record again claims to have broken the story (A-1 and L-1).

And the addled Road Warrior columnist even takes credit for ending the four day-plus traffic jam on Sept. 13, 2013 (L-6).

A year later, little has changed at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Governor Christie has managed to insulate himself from direct blame -- and stick the public with more than $9 million in legal bills.

The infamous "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" e-mail launched state and federal investigations, but they grind on.

And Bridget Anne Kelly, the Christie deputy chief of staff who sent it to crony David Wildstein at the bi-state agency, and others close to the governor fell on their swords.

Media failed us

The Record and other media have let us down.

Instead of dogging the GOP bully at every public appearance to explain his innocence, they dutifully reported his dog-and-pony shows on Sandy and his purely political trips to Iowa and Mexico.

Meanwhile, tolls keep on going up, and Christie and his Port Authority appointees have refused to expand mass-transit alternatives to commuting by car.

You've seen little reporting about that.

"The Record's claim of a scoop is ringing hollow" is the heading for my Jan. 14, 2014, post, which can be read in its entirety by clicking on this link:

The Times was first with word of federal probe