Federal judge blocks New Jersey from leaving Waterfront Commission
In
one of his final acts as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie signed
what appeared to be a death warrant for an agency that has policed the
ports around New York Harbor for 65 years. But that execution was stayed
late last week.
On Friday evening, a
federal judge in Newark temporarily barred Mr. Christie’s successor,
Philip D. Murphy, from withdrawing the state’s support for the agency,
the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. The judge, Susan D.
Wigenton, determined that it was in the public interest for the
commission to continue trying to keep organized crime off the docks and
issued a preliminary injunction.
When
the commission was formed by a compact between New Jersey and New York
in 1953, there was no question about mob influence in the ports. A
series of articles on the subject in the New York Sun yielded an
Oscar-winning film, “On the Waterfront,” that helped make a star of
Marlon Brando.
But in recent years,
lawmakers in Trenton have argued that the commission does more harm than
good by impeding hiring and limiting the economic impact of the
shipping industry. The Democratic-controlled State Legislature
repeatedly passed a bill that would effectively end the agreement with
New York, but they could not get it past Mr. Christie, a Republican.
The
former governor vetoed the bill in 2010, saying that it would be
unconstitutional for New Jersey to unilaterally break a two-state
compact that had been endorsed by Congress. But just before leaving
office in January, Mr. Christie signed the 2017 version of the bill
without explaining his turnabout.
The
Waterfront Commission immediately sued, naming Mr. Murphy, a Democrat,
as a defendant in a federal lawsuit on his first day in office. The
commission’s executive director, Walter Arsenault, argued that New
Jersey’s withdrawal would cripple the commission, which relies on a tax
on every container of cargo that moves through the ports.
As
recently as 2014, dockworkers’ union officials pleaded guilty to
extorting money from their own members on behalf of the Genovese crime
family, Mr. Arsenault said in an affidavit in the case.
Judge
Wigenton wrote that “allowing one state to dictate the manner and terms
of the commission’s dissolution, and the subsequent distribution of the
agency’s assets” would run counter to the terms of the compact. She
noted that New York officials have remained silent on the matter.
Michael
A. Cardozo, a partner with the Proskauer law firm in Manhattan, which
represents the commission, said that New Jersey could appeal the
injunction. But, he said, Judge Wigenton had indicated that she did not
accept any of the state’s arguments for the legislation. “What else is
left to litigate?” Mr. Cardozo said.
Leon
Sokol, a lawyer representing the New Jersey Senate and Assembly, which
joined the case as defendants, said his clients were still studying the
ruling and exploring their options. He said they would await a decision
from the office of the state’s attorney general. A spokesman said the
attorney general’s office was reviewing its options.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/nyregion/new-jersey-waterfront-commission.html
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