NJ Transit workers take trip to Super Bowl on taxpayers’ dime

Bergen Record via NorthJersey.com ^ | February 15, 2013, 12:01 PM | Karen Rouse

[Olog-hai]

NJ Transit sent four employees to the Super Bowl in New Orleans—including a key rail official who was in charge of the Hoboken terminal when dozens of rail cars and locomotives, left to sit in low-lying yards, were damaged during superstorm Sandy—at a taxpayer cost of $14,505, expense reports show.

The bills, obtained by The Record through an Open Public Records Act request, include:

• $7,800 for lodging from Jan. 31 through Feb. 4, 2013;
• $5,241 for airfare;
• $423 in miscellaneous expenses.

The intent of the visit was to ground NJ Transit officials in procedures used to handle transportation and security at the Super Bowl, using New Orleans as an example. …

Just days before the trip, state Sen. Paul Sarlo threatened to call a hearing to investigate conditions at the Hoboken transit hub, which had deteriorated so badly that customers were cut off from the waiting room and lacked flushable toilets in the dead of winter. NJ Transit soon after reopened the waiting room and began using a train parked in the station as a temporary restroom. …

[Olog-hai]

Giants Stadium will never host the SB. I sure don’t buy the excuse.

[kevkrom]

Giants Stadium will never host the SB. I sure don’t buy the excuse.

Next year's Superbowl is indeed slated for the Meadowlands.

[Olog-hai]

That’s out of character for the NFL. They usually play the SB away from the winter weather.

There is a lot of talk about this matter:

Sports Business Journal reported on Monday that the league even has considered either moving the game up a day to Saturday, to avoid a logistical nightmare—or to delay the game for several days if need be. …

[Kozak]

NJ in February. What a lovely vacation.....

[Kozak]

NJ in February. What a lovely vacation.....