Tag: Edgewater NJ

‘Are You on the Take?’

Guest Post by John Stossel

'Are You on the Take?'

Home prices keep climbing. It’s another reason to let people build housing.

But corrupt politicians sometimes prevent that.

The little town of Edgewater, New Jersey, sits right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. A developer, Maxal Group, bought a dumpsite there and proposed building more than a thousand new waterfront apartments.

The town said no.

Why? The development would generate $12 million a year in taxes for Edgewater. To please the politicians, Maxal even offered to build parks and a school at no cost.

But Edgewater Mayor Michael McPartland and his town council rejected the parks, school and extra tax revenue.

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Crony Developments

Guest Post by John Stossel

Crony Developments

“Are you on the take?”

When I tried to get Edgewater, New Jersey, politicians to answer that question, the mayor wouldn’t discuss it, ultimately telling me, “You may sit down.”

The town of Edgewater is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Anyone fortunate enough to live there gets a spectacular view of New York City’s skyline.

But the Edgewater city government wants to seize a choice piece of waterfront land for itself.

The spot in question is owned by a developer, the Maxal Group. Maxal bought the property for about $26 million and then spent millions more to clean it up. They planned to build apartments and, to please the town, parks, a school and a ferry stop for commuters.

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