Details about this story

• Source: Jersey Journal
• Date: March 19, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Jarrett Renshaw
• Topics: State Government
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: For the last two years, Christmas time is a year-round celebration in West New York. A Jersey Journal analysis of the practice of discretionary state grants - commonly referred to as "Christmas tree" grants - doled out by Hudson County's legislators through a secretive budget process reveals that West New York received the overwhelming majority of the pork-barrel spending since 2005. Since 2005, West New York nabbed $7.2 million - or 40 percent of all the Christmas tree grants provided to Hudson County over that time period, according to an analysis of records from the state's Treasury Department obtained under the Open Public Records Act. By comparison, the much larger Jersey City received $3.56 million, or 20 percent of the funds allocated to Hudson, during the same period.