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New Jersey Beaches Reopen, but Christie Catches More Heat - The New York Times

posted onJuly 5, 2017
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Article snippet: Swimmers and picnickers headed to New Jersey state beaches that reopened on Tuesday after a three-day government shutdown, even as Trenton insiders and beach-chair pundits began discussing the winners and losers in the budget standoff that ended with a deal late Monday night. Richard J. Codey, a Democratic state senator who served as acting governor from 2004 to 2006, said Gov. aerial photographs captured him sunbathing with his family on Sunday at one of the beaches he had ordered closed. “You never want to put that image out there — that’s tone-deaf,” Mr. Codey said. “Then the ‘I didn’t get any sun.’” He was referring to a comment made by Mr. Christie on Sunday, which was quickly contradicted by the photographic evidence. “Can you imagine the conversation where he says to his press secretary, ‘Tell them I had a hat on’?” Mr. Codey continued, referring to a Christie spokesman’s lawyerly explanation for the conflict. “It all came down on him the way it played out.” Staff members at the Red Fox Beach Bar and Grill at Island Beach State Park — the beach where Mr. Christie lounged with his family and friends of his children on Sunday, in a private section attached to an official governor’s residence — blamed the governor for the shutdown that led the restaurant to close over the weekend and on Monday. “I probably lost $1,000 just in tips alone,” said Gail Swayze, a bartender. By Tuesday, she had come up with a way to celebrate the end of the shutdown, offering a $5 ... Link to the full article to read more

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