Port Authority Head Seethed Over Fort Lee Lane Closures: 'I Pray That No Life Has Been Lost'
WASHINGTON -- Emails released Friday by the New Jersey Assembly underscore the dangerous situation New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) aides created by closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in September, with the head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey worrying that people may have died.
In an email to subordinates the morning of Sept. 13 -- several days into the lane closures -- Patrick Foye, Port Authority executive director, said he believed traffic congestion may have hindered first responders. "This hasty and ill-advised decision has resulted in delays to emergency vehicles," he wrote. "I pray that no life has been lost or trip of a hospital-or hospice-bound patient delayed."
The lane closings did delay emergency personnel from responding to four incidents, including a 91-year-old suffering cardiac arrest, who later died.
The closures were ordered by then-Port Authority official David Wildstein, an appointee of Christie's. The Port Authority, which operates the bridge, is run by both New York and New Jersey. Foye is an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). Neither Wildstein nor his boss, Bill Baroni, who has also since resigned, ever notified Foye that they would be closing two of the three bridge access lanes in Fort Lee on Sept. 9.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/port-authority-head-fort-lee-_n_4577516.html