Emails Show Mounting Pressure for Rockefeller Project

Emails obtained this week illustrate some of the pressure Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer faced last year to approve a development project in the city's north end.

While Zimmer planned to meet with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection officials in May to discuss the city's overall flooding, the first topic on the agenda was "review of concepts for flood control measures at Rockefeller property,” according to emails obtained by The New York Times.

A Zimmer spokesman told the Times on Wednesday the mayor attended the meeting, but refused to discuss the project, according to the article.

Zimmer received a call the day after the meeting saying Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was going to visit Hoboken the following week, according to the Times. According to Zimmer, it was during that visit when Guadagno told her the Rockefeller plan needed to "move forward."

The $1 billion Rockefeller Group project intended to revitalize Hoboken's north end has become part of a federal investigation since Zimmer revealed Gov. Chris Christie's administration allegedly threatened to withhold Sandy funding if the development wasn't approved.