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N.J. Corruption: They Didn't Get Away With It All

Let's start with Bob Janiszewski

Or Dem party chair Charlie Cart

or Richard Vuola, whose taste for payola

Proved not to be very smart

Five on the Pleasantville school board

May have made thousands combined

Assemblyman Hackett was part of that racket

Leaving no scoundrel behind

Chris Christie, U.S. Attorney

Busts the pols on the take

Joe Scarpelli had knees of jelly

As did John Westlake

Sharpe James, was Mayor of Newark

A real graft entrepreneur

The system is broken — just look at Hoboken

Russo's doing time in the stir

New Brunswick's director of housing

Fixed up his own house instead

And Joe Auriemma faced quite a dilemma

Took the roof, bathroom and shed (and a furnace)

You can't pocket charity proceeds

Mayor Foy may have missed that point

And Frank G. Abate should learn some karate

He's got four more years in the joint

This sad song never seems to end

I think you know what I mean

It looks like curtains for a certain

Mayor whose beret wasn't green

New Hanover's new sidewalk

Paved with contracts fixed by James Nash

And William C. Braker, less giver, more taker

Wanted "Viagra and cash"

Sung by Stephan Marolachakis and Jesse Hinkle

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mike Pesca
Mike Pesca first reached the airwaves as a 10-year-old caller to a New York Jets-themed radio show and has since been able to parlay his interests in sports coverage as a National Desk correspondent for NPR based in New York City.