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$ 1 / FINAL EDITION
F R I D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 6 , 2 0 1 5
A F F I L I AT E D W I T H
Faces old and new help fill Giants, Jets coaching vacancies. PAGE 30
MEADOWLANDS
Done deal: Izod Center closing
The sports authority votes to shut the arena by month’s end, keep it
closed for at least two years and shift scheduled events to Prudential
Center. Those acts, however, could opt out of their contracts instead.
IN TODAY
Oscars hit
by charges
of racism
So, just how racist and
misogynistic are the Oscars?
That was the question
being asked — and frequently, heatedly answered — as
the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences
announced its nominees for
the 87th annual Academy
Awards.
Of eight nominated films
for best picture? Not one in
which a woman is the sole,
central character. Of 20
nominees in the acting
categories? Not one minority
performer. / Page 22
By Ted Sherman
NJ Advance Media for The Star-Ledger
New Jersey on Thursday abruptly
pulled the plug on the 34-year-old
state-owned Izod Center arena in the
Meadowlands, citing $8.5 million in
losses and mounting state subsidies.
With little warning and no public
notice, the New Jersey Sports and
Exposition Authority voted to shut
the arena by the end of the month and
shift the remaining few events on its
schedule — including Chris Brown
and Trey Songz in February and the
Maroon 5 World Tour in March — to
the Prudential Center in Newark,
eight miles away.
Officials said the Izod Center’s
losses left them no choice but to
temporarily shut the facility. In its
agreement with Prudential, the state
will keep the arena dark for at least
two years, receiving $2 million in
compensation for the added events.
“We’re in a situation none of us
like,” said Michael Ferguson,
chairman of the state authority.
“Operating this authority is not easy.
Easy solutions don’t exist.”
The authority acted despite
emotional pleas from local officials,
union leaders and members of the
Legislature, who urged the board to
keep the arena open while at least
seeking bids from a private operator.
But officials in Newark, home of the
Prudential Center, were overjoyed at
the news.
“This is a long time coming,” North
Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos said
in a statement. “It never made sense
to keep open an outdated arena that is
less than 10 miles away.”
He added, “I commend the
Inside
Brendan Byrne: The
former governor was
proud to share his
name with the
arena. / Page 3
A timeline: Key
moments in the
Izod Center’s long
history. / Page 3
In Sports: Some of
New Jersey’s most
unforgettable
moments happened
there. / Page 29
SEE IZOD, PAGE 3
The right medicine
for Jersey
SETON HALL, HOSPITAL TO CREATE
SCHOOL AT FORMER PHARMA SITE
TRENTON
Christie’s
not bound by
pension law,
lawyer says
By Samantha Marcus
NJ Advance Media for The Star-Ledger
New Jersey’s highly touted 2011
pension law is unconstitutional
when it commits Gov. Chris
Christie to make a full payment
into the troubled pension system,
but not when it comes to concessions that public workers agreed
to in exchange, an attorney for the
state said Thursday.
Assistant Attorney General
Jean Reilly told a Superior Court
judge that the Legislature can
change workers’ contributions or
suspend cost-of-living adjustments — two crucial pieces of the
overhaul — but that doesn’t mean
the state has to make the payment
into the system as spelled out in
the law.
“They’re not irrevocably bound
together,” Reilly said near the end
of a five-hour hearing as a dozen
unions try to force the governor to
make the state’s entire contribution this fiscal year.
The statement later prompted
Judge Mary Jacobson to ask:
“When the state’s not holding up
its end of the bargain, (how can
you) expect the individual
employees to hold up theirs?”
Reilly said the state budget
trumps all laws and cuts can be
made to the pension system in
tough economic times.
The point was crucial to the
billion-dollar showdown between
union lawyers and the Republican
governor over an issue that has
dominated Trenton since Christie
took office.
Jacobson did not issue a ruling
on Thursday or say when it could
be expected, but the decision
1st
PRIVATE
MEDICAL
SCHOOL
IN N.J.
IN DECADES
14
ACRES THE
SCHOOL
WILL
OCCUPY
2017
YEAR THE FIRST
CLASS COULD
BEGIN
2,500
PROJECTED
SHORTAGE OF
HEALTH CARE
WORKERS IN
N.J. BY 2020
(PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/THE STAR-LEDGER)
By Adam Clark and Kathleen O’Brien / NJ Advance Media for The Star-Ledger
bold plan forged by Seton Hall University and one of the state’s largest
hospitals to create the state’s first private medical school in decades
hosp
was described by officials Thursday as a boost to both the state’s
wa
economy and its national profile.
Seton Hall University will partner with
Hackensack University Health Network to start
the school, which is expected to open its doors
to students in the fall of 2017. The two institutions will remake the former Hoffman-La
Roche pharmaceutical facility on Route 3 that
straddles the Clifton-Nutley border — a
complex whose future had been a concern of
local officials since the company left in 2013.
The move allows Seton Hall to expand its
post-graduate education to include medicine.
The university president, A. Gabriel Esteban,
noted most of the country’s top 50 universities
have medical schools, and pointed out the new
school will vault Seton Hall into the ranks of
those schools that have both a law and medical
school.
For the hospital system, based in Hackensack but growing through acquisitions, it will
allow it to have a full-time partnership with a
university.
At a news conference, state and local officials
billed the proposed four-year school as an
economic boost to the surrounding community
and state, although many details have yet to be
settled, such as the name of the school and its
overall cost.
“I think this is a plus, plus for all of us,” said
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.). “This is a
big deal, my friends. The consequences of this
will be seen for years to come.”
The school is expected to occupy about 14
acres of the more than 100-acre campus and
become the anchor tenant of the site redevelopment, said Bob Garrett, president and chief
executive of Hackensack University Health
Network.
La Roche is in the midst of finding a developer to purchase the land, but the planned
medical school is negotiating its lease with La
Roche, Garrett said.
The two institutions will evenly split the cost
SEE SCHOOL, PAGE 3
SEE PENSION, PAGE 12
Today’s
Weather
Mostly sunny, with a northwest wind
10 to 15 mph, remaining mostly clear at night.
High: 40° Low: 12° / Forecast, Page 2
Index
Advice / 19
Business / 6
Comics / 21
Editorial / 10
Horoscope / 19
HS Sports / 33
Lottery / 2
New Jersey / 9
Obituaries / 14
Puzzles / 19
Real Estate / 23
Sports / 29
Today / 18
Towns / 13
TV Grid / 20
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