8/11/2019 Asbury Park Press front page Tuesday, Aug. 12 2014

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FAMED ACTOR ROBIN WILLIAMS

FOUND DEADUSA TODAY, 1B AND 7B

TRENTON On Aug. 12, 2004, Gov.James E. McGreevey decided to comeclean with himself, his family and thevoters. Announcing he was a gayAmerican, McGreevey told the nationhe was resigning and ending the politi-cal career he had spent decades build-ing.

While pundits have argued overMcGreeveys legacy in the gay rightsmovement, the political impact of hisdecision to quit is clear: Without JimMcGreevey, there might not have beena Chris Christie.

There definitely were repercus-sions. We certainly would not have hadJon Corzine as governor, said Mon-

mouth University Polling Institute di-rector Patrick Murray. We got Jon Cor-zine, rather than a second McGreeveyterm. And Jon Corzine gave us ChrisChristie.

In terms of gay rights, the declarationmay have had a marginal impact onAmericans changing attitudes. Fromthe perspective of New Jersey policy,the impact is difficult to assess; the statehad Democratic governors for the fiveyears following his resignation.

But politically, McGreeveys an-nouncement and the events that precip-itated it were seismic. The announce-ment was not simply the result ofMcGreeveys sexuality. The governor

MCGREEVEY: 10 YEARS LATER

After gay Americandeclaration, N.J. politicstook unexpected detour

DOMINO

EFFECT

By Michael Symons @MichaelSymons_

SeeMCGREEVEY, Page A7

MOREPHOTOSTo see a photo galleryof former Gov. JamesE. McGreeveythroughout the years,visit APP.com/Photos.

AP FILE PHOTOS

Jon Corzine (top) wonthe 2005 New Jerseygovernor race.

Following Corzinesscandals, Gov. ChrisChristie (above) ranfor governor in 2009and won.

Asbury Park Press APP.COM $1.00

TUESDAY 08.12.14

VOLUME 135

NUMBER 192

SINCE 1879

ADVICE D7

CLASSIFIED D8

COMICS D6

LOCAL A3

MOVIES D5

OBITUARIES A8

OPINION A11

SPORTS C1

TECH TUESDAY A6

WEATHER C8

MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY

RETURNED FEELING RENEWED

Defensive tackles Dimitrius Smith and Eric Macik

ready to make magic happen on the gridiron.

Sports,C1

Some homeowners in Ocean County signed up forhousing aid to help them get their financial footing af-ter superstorm Sandy, only to later discover that anoverwhelmed program actually may be sinking theircredit scores.

Liz Vargo, a 64-year-old retiree in Point Pleasant, en-rolled in the Sandy Homeowner and Renter AssistanceProgram after flooding from the October 2012 stormfilled her basement with four feet of water. She rackedup a few thousand dollars in credit card debt replacingthe uninsured contents of her basement and was plan-ning on using the money she was saving from SHRAP,which was covering her mortgage and utilities, to pay itdown when she signed up in January.

It wasnt long before she started getting calls fromher mortgage lender. It turns out her February bill due on the first of the month wasnt paid until Feb. 24.Then Marchs payment wasnt made until April 24 andAprils wasnt received until May 8. She even got a fore-closure notice as SHRAP failed time and time again tomake timely payments.

Homeowners:Programcant paybills on timeLate mortgage payments

damaging credit scoresBy Russ Zimmer @russzimmer

They never paid my mortgage.

They didnt pay for July, and they

didnt pay it for August until just

now.

KATHLEEN KRZYWICKI,a Toms River resident, about her issues with SHRAP

SeeSHRAP, Page A5

NEW YORK It stinks. The ceilings leak. Its hot. Itsdark. The people who wait in the Port Authority bus ter-minal, crowded shoulder-to-shoulder, compare it to theseventh circle of hell.

Now commuters who have endured these and otherconditions at the outdated facility get to describe their

daily ordeal face-to-face with officials who own thebuilding and run the buses.

The first commuter chat held by the agency in fiveyears takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. todayon the bus termi-nals second floor, opposite Jays Hallmark store.

Authority spokesman Chris Valens said Port Author-ity and bus carrier management will be there to hearwhat commuters have to say.

Its a chance for commuters to talk to managementand carriers ... about their concerns and the things theywant to see, Valens said. There isnt a set agenda; itsmore of a listening session.

Officials are likely to get an earful. Commuters post

ON THE WEB

Comment on the Port Authority bus terminal master planstudy at http://bit.ly/1oYQV7R.

Terminal from hell?

Your turn to sound off

SeeTERMINAL, Page A12

By Larry Higgs @APPLarry

TRENTON Gov. James E. McGree-veys announcement 10 years ago thathe was a gay American and would re-sign as governor has been described alot of ways shocking, regrettable, in-evitable, a cover story.

To McGreevey, the events of Aug.12, 2004, are actually, a blessing.

Its sort of understanding and hope-fully having an awareness of the signif-icance of that decision, what it meant inpeoples lives both personally and pro-

fessionally, McGreevey said.In the 10 years since then, McGreevey

has written a book, weathered a rough di-vorce proceeding, studied to become anEpiscopalian priest and worked to helpformer prisoners successfully transitionback into society.

In many respects, Im much closer tothe values with which I was raised. Immuch closer to the ground in a better,healthier and I think more fulfilledplace, McGreevey said.

Speech led to progress

for LGBT, ex-prisonersBy Michael Symons @MichaelSymons_

SeePROGRESS,Page A7