Rally against the #TurnpikeTrap
On Saturday, November 12, 2022, local officials, advocates, and citizens gathered for a rally opposing Governor Murphy's ill-advised, exorbitantly expensive highway expansion plan through the heart of Jersey City. See excerpted speeches below.
Barkha Patel
Jersey City Director of Infrastructure, representing Mayor Steven Fulop
“As the federal government is finally coming to terms with the immense harm that these highway projects have caused, across the country, and is now allocating billions of dollars to repair and reconnect communities that have been torn apart by these highway projects, the state of New Jersey is moving in the opposite direction.”
James Solomon
Jersey City Councilmember, Ward E
“I hope you're good, but I also hope you're mad, 'cause this is one of the worst ideas in Hudson County in recent memory.”
Frank “Educational” Gilmore
Jersey City Councilmember, Ward F
“We're going to send a message to Trenton and the message is simple: do not pollute, do not congest, do not increase, and do not expand. It is as simple as that.”
Yousef Salef
Jersey City Councilmember, Ward D
“We need to make sure that the $4.7BN is going into more shuttle buses, more bike lanes, more environmentally sustainable forms of transportation. We need to be planning for the future.”
Bill O’Dea
Hudson County Commissioner, District 2
“[Governor] Phil Murphy, who's a friend, should just come one day, and just walk. And after he walks about a mile, and sees the impact it's gonna have, on existing properties, on a public housing site, on Ferris high school … I think he would realize… ‘that's it, kill the idea.’”
Anthony Romano
Hudson County Commissioner, District 5
“The Turnpike Authority has to come down and realize that there's different ways to do what they're trying to accomplish. We cannot afford more pollution. We cannot afford more traffic.”
Phil Cohen
Hoboken City Council, 5th Ward
“Gateway project: makes sense. Having more tunnels into NYC: makes sense. Investing in mass transit: makes sense. These are good ideas. But, to spend $5BN on this project, doesn't make sense.”
Jimmy Lee
President SafeStreetsJC
“We want to cut climate change in half by 2030; how can we be building more highways? Governor Murphy: please follow the science!”
Chris Adair
President, Bike Hoboken
“$5BN could pay for a whole hell of a lot more sustainable projects like light rail, like bus rapid transit lanes, and like more bike lanes! So let's focus on moving people, not cars. And we want Governor Murphy to hear us loud and clear when we say "NO" to his Turnpike expansion.”
John Reichman
President, Empower NJ
“All over the country, people are beating back highway projects. A highway project from California, from the Port of Long Beach: killed. Instead, they're expanding rail. Highway projects in the Denver metro area: Killed. An expansion of I-95, in Connecticut: killed. We have to do the same thing here.”
Tony Borelli
Vice President, Bike JC
“In an era where some cities are tearing down their freeways there are some unaccountable bureaucrats at the state level who want to go the opposite way with this thing.”
The pre-rally group ride
Before the rally Bike JC lead a brief tour of some of the schools and public housing complexes that would be harmed by this project.