Fulop anti-Bayonne comments rile up local officials

Three Bayonne city councilmembers are slamming Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop for a Tweet disparaging their hometown.

Fulop, who opposed an architectural style called the “Bayonne Box” in his city, tweeted what the officials are calling anti-Bayonne slurs: “If it comes from Bayonne, leave it alone,” and “14A, Stay away.”

“I grew up in a ‘Bayonne Box,’ and so did a lot of my friends in town,” said First Ward Councilman Tom Cottter. “If Mayor Fulop has a problem in his city with construction that’s fine, but for him to drag Bayonne through the mud just to make a point shows what little respect he has for us.”

Second Ward Councilman Sal Gullace says that Bayonne is experiencing a renaissance, with new developments adding to the city’s tax revenues.

“The last thing we need is a neighboring Mayor reinforcing old stereotypes and publicly attacking our city’s image, and I expect Mayor Fulop to apologize,” said Gullace.  “I’m from Bayonne, and so are my wife, my kids, my family, my friends and my constituents, so when the Mayor of Jersey City badmouths Bayonne I get pretty upset.”

Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski thinks that Fulop should develop some other interests.

“It’s one thing to make fun of a building design. It’s something totally different to insult the people that live inside them,” said Ashe-Nadrowski.  “You would think that Mayor of Jersey City, one of the biggest in the state, would have other issues to deal with besides insulting thousands of Bayonne residents.”