Newark Hotels Reservation

Embattled ex-Secaucus mayor Dennis Elwell testifies in his own defense

SECAUCUS — In a deep, bass voice that resounded throughout the courtroom, former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell took to the stand today in his own defense, telling a jury he never took a bribe from government informant Solomon Dwek.

"Did you ever promise, in exchange for payment, to take any official action, in the present or future?" Elwell was asked by his lawyer, Thomas J. Cammarata.

"I did not," Elwell replied, his dead-eyed gaze fixed on his lawyer as the jury of nine women and seven men looked on from a few yards away, some scribbling in their notebooks.

Elwell, mayor of Secaucus from 2000 to 2009 and once the dominant political figure in the small North Jersey town, stands accused of taking $10,000 in illegal bribes through a middleman in exchange for his support of a purported hotel project. That middleman, Ronald Manzo, has already pleaded guilty.

The hotel project was presented to him by Dwek, the now-notorious former real estate investor from Deal who agreed in January 2007 to go undercover for the FBI and work as an informant after he was arrested in an unrelated $50 million bank fraud.

Dwek himself has been conspicuous by his absence during the federal court proceedings. He had been expected to be the prosecution’s main witness, but was pulled after authorities learned he had been arrested last month in Baltimore on charges of failing to return a rented car.

Although Dwek has been free on bail since he pleaded guilty to the bank fraud, a hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday on his bail status in the wake of the Maryland arrest.

Dwek, going by the name of David Eisenbach, wore a hidden surveillance camera that recorded his encounters in 2009 with Elwell, and remains the cornerstone of the government’s case against the Secaucus Democrat.

Elwell resigned as mayor after being charged in July 2009 — along with 43 politicians, rabbis and others — in a massive FBI sweep that relied heavily on Dwek’s informant work, in what has been called the biggest corruption sting in state history.

Elwell, who appeared confident today throughout an hour of testimony, is in his second week of a heated trial playing out in a Newark courtroom before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares. Wearing a light gray, tailored suit and pink tie, the broad-shouldered 66-year-old fielded questions from his lawyer that mostly appeared to be aimed at establishing that Elwell had little or no control over the development project he is accused of accepting a bribe to help support.

Jersey City cheap hotels: How to Find Them On Priceline

One of the best ways to find Jersey City cheap hotels is by using Priceline’s Name Your Own Price Service. When hotels have unsold rooms they use Priceline and Hotwire to fill them, which connects these hotels to bargain shopping shopping customers who do not mind not knowing which hotel they’ll be staying in. For 2008 Priceline came second only to Hotwire in terms of customer service according to J.D. Power and Associates. Generally you’ll get a higher price on Hotwire but with the added benefit of knowing the amenities of your hotel as well and being 100% sure that your hotel room will have adequate space, as Hotwire allows you to specify how many people there will be for your stay. There is a very slight chance that when you use Priceline, you’ll get a hotel room with one bed when you need a room for 3 people. Regardless, Priceline is the place to go to if you want a cheap hotel.

To access Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price Service” simply go to Priceline.com and bid for hotels for the Jersey City area. Once you enter your criteria Priceline will give you 7 zones:

Elizabeth

Jersey City

Meadowlands – Rutherford

Newark – Newark Airport (EWR)

Secaucus – North Bergen

Short Hills – Summit

West Orange

If you click and then unclick on each zone you can find out the maximum star level available within each zone.

Elizabeth: 3-Star Upscale

Jersey City: 4-Star Deluxe

Meadowlands – Rutherford: 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus

Newark – Newark Airport (EWR): 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus

Secaucus – North Bergen: 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus

Short Hills – Summit: 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus

West Orange: 21?2-Star Moderate-Plus

(you’ll know why I do this a little further in the article)

Where to start your bid

Check out betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com. Both sites allow users to post their winning bids on Priceline. You can get a good idea of where you should start your bid from these sites.

Priceline Rebidding Basics

Priceline allows to rebid if you change something in your criteria. You can change you dates, your destination city, or your minimum/chosen star level. I can bet that you do not want to change any of these. However, Priceline also allows you to bid again if you change your zone criteria. Does this mean that you have to completely change your zone in order to bid again? No. You can use “dummy zones” to rebid. Say you want to stay in a 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus hotel in the Short Hills zone. That means that you have 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus as your chosen (minimum) star level and Short Hills as your 1 checkmarked zone. You bid using these criteria and your bid fails. You can rebid immediatley if you change your zone criteria. How? Simply add a zone whose maximum star level is lower than the star level you are bidding on. This means you can bid again if you add West Orange to your zone criteria, for a total of 2 zones (just make sure to bid using 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus as your chosen star level). If that second bid fails you can bid again using another “dummy” zone whose maximum star level is lower than the one you are bidding on. For your third bid, start a new bid by clicking the Priceline logo at the rejection screen (you have to start a new bid because the rejection screen won’t allow you to uncheck the West Orange zone). This time, select Short Hills and Elizabeth as your 2 zones. Also make sure to select 31?2-Star Upscale-Plus as your chosen star level. You can now bid again for the Short Hills zone.

ABA Journal

Notices of the American Mathematical Society

Billboard

Billboard

American gas association monthly