New Jersey Gay Bar Threatened By Sanitation Authority, Workers Who Demanded Bribes
The owner of a popular gay bar in Jersey City is determined to bring down a group of corrupt sanitation workers he claims have demanded bribes in exchange for picking up his trash, a municipal service provided by the city and paid for with tax dollars.
Pint owner Wolf Sterling told CBS2 that the harassment began on August 13, when a sanitation worker banged on the bar’s back door, demanding bottles of liquor for himself and other city employees from a bartender who answered.
“He informed my employee his supervisor told him he could no longer pick up our recycling, but he would do so if we bribed him with liquor,” Sterling said. “The guy was so blatant, and he seemed to think in this day and age that he wouldn’t get caught.”
The bartender refused to cough up a bribe and the sanitation worker, who has not been named, returned the following week with more threats and additional backup.
“They asked for liquor, and made it clear they would have to supply them liquor on a weekly basis for this gentleman and his entire truck in order for them to continue picking up our trash,” Sterling said.
Sterling said he reported both incidents, which were captured on surveillance footage that you can watch on Pint’s Facebook page, to the Jersey City Incinerator Authority, and was met with even more threats.
“They said that if I pursued the complaint that I would have city inspectors come through my business, so it was a threat not to pursue the complaint,” he said. After posting a call-to-action on Pint’s Facebook page, Sterling finally started getting the results he deserved from the start.
On Tuesday, after being contacted by CBS2, a rep from Mayor Steven Fulop’s office noted the Jersey City Incinerator Authority is not operated by the city, and that it apparently has a history of corruption.
“We are working to shut it down after a long history of corruption,” the rep said. According to CBS2, “workers from the agency were arrested for allegedly taking money in exchange for mixing construction debris with the city’s trash” on June 4.
“It bothers me a lot that we have a few corrupt people who mar the reputation of other city employees and the city that so many of us love,” Sterling said.
