Fort Lee mayor Mark Sokolich rebuffed New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s offer to apologize to him face to face for the traffic snarls created by a member of his staff in an apparent act of political retribution, then abruptly changed his mind. Sokolich initially said a meeting between the two would be ”premature” given the ongoing investigation into the closure of two lanes leading onto the George Washington Bridge, but he is now prepared to meet with the governor when he visits Fort Lee on Thursday afternoon.
In a press conference on Thursday that ran nearly two hours, Christie said he hoped the mayor would reconsider and that he planned to visit Fort Lee regardless in order to apologize to the residents. “If he doesn’t want to meet with me, that’s his choice,” Christie said.