At least five New Jersey mayors are upset the Meadowlands may have to deal with inclement weather and a Super Bowl in 2014 and have threatened to withhold police and emergency services during next year’s Super Bowl, especially if the region faces a snowstorm. The mayors feel their their municipalities can better allocate their limited resources elsewhere in case of bad weather.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonelli, in a statement released before the blizzard that severely pounded the northeast on Friday, said the NFL should not bother ask the mayors for help before next year’s Super Bowl.
“With one of the world’s largest sporting events coming to the East Rutherford venue, there is little doubt that the mayors will be expecting a call that their services are needed,” Gonelli said. “Their answer will be clear – don’t ask.”
Carlstadt Mayor William Roseman said, “The teams have never been good corporate neighbors to the region … The [Giants and Jets] don’t care about budget caps and what the impacts are on the taxpayers in Carlstadt.”
“I had to cut back my police department budget by a total of a million dollars in the last several years,” he added. “While we are forced to lay off police officers, the owners of the Giants and Jets are filling their pockets at taxpayers’ expense.”
Other mayors also complained the Giants and Jets do not contribute much to the surrounding communities and threatened, “the first cold-weather Super Bowl may be their loudest statement yet.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.