NJ mayor’s name was on 250 city parking tickets. Whistleblower says they were ‘fixed’

🔶 Mayor accused of ticket fixing
🔶 Allegations ahead of primary
🔶 Democrat running for Assembly

HOBOKEN — The mayor of Hoboken has been hit with allegations of an extensive pattern of parking ticket fixing, which the democrat has claimed is a smear campaign timed to his race for Assembly.

Hoboken Mayor Ravinder “Ravi” Bhalla was named in roughly 250 parking violations, dating back to 2005, many of which were ultimately dismissed, as seen in public court records.

Before becoming mayor, Bhalla served on the Hoboken City Council from 2009 to 2018.

Attorney Georgina Giordano Pallitto has sent a letter to state, county and federal prosecutors on behalf of a client whose name has not been publicly disclosed.

Pallitto previously worked as an assistant prosecutor in the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and is a former municipal public defender in Hoboken.

A good deal of the tickets dismissed were for expired parking meters, violation of alternate side parking rules or parking too close to a crosswalk.

Pallitto's letter to authorities listed six different parking violation tickets listing Bhalla’s car — a gray Mazda sedan — within an 18-month span, totaling $320 in fines and fees.

All six were ultimately dismissed by the Hoboken Municipal Court, which the attorney said despite Bhalla being mayor were not transferred to a different Municipal Court as required for cases involving a member of the governing body.

A spokesman for Bhalla dismissed the letter as “an amateurish stunt” in a statement to Hudson County View, later also sent to New Jersey 101.5.

“The plain facts are Ravi Bhalla never asked anyone for special treatment period end of story and was never provided any,” Bhalla’s spokesperson Rob Horowitz said.

Bhalla running for NJ Assembly in crowded race

Bhalla is running with Katie Brennan in the Democratic primary for two Assembly seats in Hudson County’s 32nd district.

It’s a competitive race, as they face incumbent Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez whose running mate is Jersey City Councilman Yousef Saleh.

Also vying for the Democratic nod in the same race are two public workers backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, Jennie Pu and Crystal Fonseca.

Editor's note: A previous version said all tickets were dismissed, instead of "many."

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