Below is Mike Lenz's statement on the Frank Sinatra Drive Collapse....
Mike Lenz stated "First we must state that although this is a horrible event, we are very thankful that no one was harmed when the uptown portion of Frank Sinatra Drive collapsed into the Hudson River. The Council Majority, Mayor Zimmer and I have been warning about Infrastructure problems since Day 1. Tim Occhipinti may not have been in town long enough to know, but that portion of the road was built by a private developer and then turned over to the county for maintenance and upkeep. After years of backroom deals and developer friendly inspectors under past administrations, it is not a surprise that the work was shoddy and did not stand the test of time. I am running for 4th Ward Council to ensure that we have a Council, Zoning board, and building inspectors who are working for the best interests of the city and its residents, not the developers and their pocketbooks.
Additionally, its unfortunate that it took a portion of our streets to fall into the Hudson to demonstrate the need for the city of Hoboken to maintain a reasonable surplus. Some may call it a 'rainy day fund' but perhaps it would be better to call it a 'fall into the Hudson fund.' As a city, we dodged a financial bullet since this portion of Frank Sinatra Drive is going to be repaired with county and private funds, but the next time we may not be so lucky. Had we followed the advice of Tim Occhipinti and his allies on the council and used the surplus for a one-shot revenue item, the City could have been looking at millions in financial liability." ◦
