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Little Ferry gets quiet ....
Nov. 6th, 2003 09:44 amFrom the Bergen Record again
Little Ferry's big spender dims the lights
Thursday, November 6, 2003
By JOHN A. GAVIN
STAFF WRITER
LITTLE FERRY - No other move signaled that the bitter campaign for mayor and council was over than when a worker with a 4x4 pickup hooked up the large electronic sign Wednesday afternoon and wheeled it away.
The electronic sign - the kind used to alert motorists at construction sites - had been parked at Gilbert Manor Apartments for months, blinking political messages and providing a forum for Donald Nuckel, the multimillionaire Republican candidate for mayor.
Nuckel poured nearly $200,000 of his money into his first bid for elected office but lost by almost 500 votes to Mayor Thomas Quirico, a Democrat.
On Wednesday, as campaign aides cleared out Nuckel's headquarters and removed many of his campaign's blue and white placards along Liberty Street, a worker at his apartment management company said he had not come in for the day.
Frank L. Migliorino, Nuckel's personal counsel, said Nuckel had left for a long weekend vacation in the mountains with his young children.
However, he said Nuckel had met with a businessman earlier in the day and that Nuckel was relieved the campaign had ended.
"He feels almost a sense of relief that it's over," Migliorino said. "He feels good about his effort. He thought he did everything he had to do."
At Quirico's law office Wednesday, the mayor was met with congratulatory phone calls and e-mails and even had flowers sent to his office and Borough Hall.
He said the victory was especially pleasing because of his opponent's huge spending.
"The voters are obviously intelligent and sophisticated," Quirico said. "All the people in Little Ferry saw through what he was trying to do."
The race prompted heavy voter turnout, as 54 percent of Little Ferry's 4,639 registered voters cast ballots.
Quirico defeated Nuckel 1,556 to 1,063. Democratic Councilmen George Muller and Mauro Raguseo defeated Republican challengers Bernard Sobolewski and Philip Convery.
Nuckel and his two running mates - who were all but invisible in the campaign - said his business expertise would give the borough a voice as developers plan major projects, such as Xanadu in the Meadowlands.
Democrats said Nuckel wanted to tear down the two-story apartments he owns to build high-rise towers.
Quirico also criticized Nuckel for several lawsuits he had filed over the borough's objections to the blinking signs as a possible traffic hazard.
* There were at least 2-3 signs in town on other apartment complexes he owned. Once in a while they had public service messages, but mostly they were his forum.
Little Ferry's big spender dims the lights
Thursday, November 6, 2003
By JOHN A. GAVIN
STAFF WRITER
LITTLE FERRY - No other move signaled that the bitter campaign for mayor and council was over than when a worker with a 4x4 pickup hooked up the large electronic sign Wednesday afternoon and wheeled it away.
The electronic sign - the kind used to alert motorists at construction sites - had been parked at Gilbert Manor Apartments for months, blinking political messages and providing a forum for Donald Nuckel, the multimillionaire Republican candidate for mayor.
Nuckel poured nearly $200,000 of his money into his first bid for elected office but lost by almost 500 votes to Mayor Thomas Quirico, a Democrat.
On Wednesday, as campaign aides cleared out Nuckel's headquarters and removed many of his campaign's blue and white placards along Liberty Street, a worker at his apartment management company said he had not come in for the day.
Frank L. Migliorino, Nuckel's personal counsel, said Nuckel had left for a long weekend vacation in the mountains with his young children.
However, he said Nuckel had met with a businessman earlier in the day and that Nuckel was relieved the campaign had ended.
"He feels almost a sense of relief that it's over," Migliorino said. "He feels good about his effort. He thought he did everything he had to do."
At Quirico's law office Wednesday, the mayor was met with congratulatory phone calls and e-mails and even had flowers sent to his office and Borough Hall.
He said the victory was especially pleasing because of his opponent's huge spending.
"The voters are obviously intelligent and sophisticated," Quirico said. "All the people in Little Ferry saw through what he was trying to do."
The race prompted heavy voter turnout, as 54 percent of Little Ferry's 4,639 registered voters cast ballots.
Quirico defeated Nuckel 1,556 to 1,063. Democratic Councilmen George Muller and Mauro Raguseo defeated Republican challengers Bernard Sobolewski and Philip Convery.
Nuckel and his two running mates - who were all but invisible in the campaign - said his business expertise would give the borough a voice as developers plan major projects, such as Xanadu in the Meadowlands.
Democrats said Nuckel wanted to tear down the two-story apartments he owns to build high-rise towers.
Quirico also criticized Nuckel for several lawsuits he had filed over the borough's objections to the blinking signs as a possible traffic hazard.
* There were at least 2-3 signs in town on other apartment complexes he owned. Once in a while they had public service messages, but mostly they were his forum.
