Lt. Gov, Port Authority Present Fort Lee FD With $5,000 ‘Token of Appreciation’

New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor and the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey visited Fort Lee’s Ladder Co. 3 Monday to present Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich with a $5,000 check for the Fort Lee Fire Department.

Fort Lee fire and borough officials, State Assemblywoman Joan Voss of Fort Lee and several members of the Fort Lee Fire Department were on hand for the brief ceremony to hear from Sokolich, Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango.

“It may not be as much money as you need, and I doubt very much you’ll ever have as much money as you need to do what you do every day,” Guadango said to the firefighters gathered for the ceremony in front of the firehouse on Main St. and against the backdrop of the fire company’s new truck. “Because what you do every day, you can’t put a price tag on.”

Calling firefighters and other emergency services workers “the unsung heroes of our lifetime,” Guadango added that it was particularly fitting that the presentation of the “small token of our appreciation” came just a few months before the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

“And I just thought that if the New Jersey and New York—and I say it that way on purpose—Port Authority could find a few extra pennies, those few extra pennies have to go back to the people who give so much every day and get so little back,” Guadango said. “I also think it’s appropriate that we do this in the weeks and the months leading up to 9/11 because we need to reinforce how important it is to have these mutual aid agreements. New York can’t do it by itself. It does need to have New Jersey. 10 years ago, we lost 677 New Jerseyans who went across the river to work in New York City—and we will remember them in September—and I hope this [token of appreciation] somehow thanks the people in this room who helped save lives and helped console people that did not come home that day.”

Baroni called the presentation of the $5,000 check “a mark of both 90 and 10,”—signifying the 90 years the Port Authority has been in existence and the 10 years since 9/11.

“The presence of the George Washington Bridge, the challenges that the GWB creates every single day, we would not be able to be the leading transportation agency in the world if not for partners like Fort Lee and [its] emergency services,” Baroni said. “Continuing to mark the years that we’ve worked together—not just on the bridge—but also marking what happened 10 years ago, our check today is a continuing sign of that partnership, a continuing sign of working together.”

A former New Jersey state senator, Baroni said that when he left the Senate to work for the Port Authority, “they made it very clear to me … to make sure that I fought like heck for our local towns, communities and fire departments.”

“Today is a continuing part of that,” he said.

Sokolich called the occasion “an important day in Fort Lee.”

“In these days of budget crises and financial constraints, as all of you are aware, Fort Lee has always made a tremendous commitment to our emergency services,” Sokolich said, noting the borough’s appreciation for the “open lines of communication” with Trenton from the time the current administration took office and the “great” partnership with the Port Authority.

“[The $5,000] will be placed in and utilized to help you, our emergency services, and in particular the fire department, to serve us and keep our community that much safer,” Sokolich said.

Fort Lee Councilman and fire liaison Harvey Sohmer said after the ceremony that there are no specific plans for spending the $5,000, but rather that the money would be put into the borough’s coffers and earmarked specifically for needs that may arise within the fire department.