7. Fort Lee was the subject of the political Bridgegate scandal
Bridgegate, or the Fort Lee lane closure scandal, was one of the stranger political scandals of 2013. During morning rush hour on September 9, 2013, two out of three lanes of a street entrance to the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side were closed, after which Fort Lee declared a public safety threat. The two lanes weren’t reopened until that Friday, and public officials demanded answers, which were surprisingly political.
Instead of typical reasons for road closures like road repairs, many believed that the lanes were closed intentionally as an attack against Fort Lee’s Mayor Mark Sokolich, who chose not to support Chris Christie for governor. Christie’s appointees were investigated, including David Wildstein, who ordered the lane closures, and Bill Baroni, who claimed the lane closures were for a traffic study. Baroni and deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly were found guilty on all counts, and the scandal further damaged Christie’s political career. Christie was later accused of having direct knowledge of the lane closure, though, in 2020, the Supreme Court overturned any prior convictions related to the incident.