Amy DeGise Addressed By 'Overflow' Crowd At Jersey City Council Meeting

JERSEY CITY, NJ — While Jersey City council meetings aren't televised, social media on Wednesday night made it clear that local residents stuck to a promise to publicly address Councilwoman Amy DeGise's recent crash with a bicyclist, for which she was cited for leaving the scene of an accident.

At the end of a five-hour City Council meeting Wednesday, DeGise responded to the speakers' calls for her to resign.

The regular monthly council meeting began at 6 p.m. and drew an "overflow" crowd, observers noted.

The Crash

On the morning of July 19, Uber Eats bicyclist Andrew Black rode his bike through a red light in Jersey City and was hit by Amy DeGise's SUV, causing him to flip into the air. DeGise was issued summonses for failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident.

She reported the crash six hours later.

Since then, more than 6,360 people have signed a petition for her to resign.

On Wednesday night, dozens of speakers repeated the call for her to resign, although a handful said she was being unfairly judged. DeGise spoke toward the end.

Wednesday Night's Meeting

Social media posts from people at the council meeting included video and quotes.

"Was present today for the Jersey City Council meeting," wrote Kyle Bibby just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday. "Pretty much everyone demanded that Amy DeGise resign for a hit and run, and a pattern of misconduct, and abuses of her office. Packed house."

"Cristina Varriale, like Amy DeGise, is a teacher, and thinks ADG needs to resign in order to reflect and contemplate her future," noted Matt DaSilva of Jersey City Safe Streets, who live Tweeted the events.

Brenda Flanagan Tweeted that one speaker, Kenneth Bandes of Families for Safe Streets, held a photo of his daughter who'd been killed by a bus in Manhattan in 2013. He said he was there to protect others from heartache.

Amy Torres said that one of the last speakers of the night brought home an important point.

"Last speaker from me bc it’s important," Torres Tweeted, "need for violence interruption for gun violence. Sadly the refusal to hold the CM accountable means actual issues like this get glossed over. It’s not about Amy. It’s about a city that spends time on what matters, not protecting itself."

DeGise spoke at the end of the meeting, saying she heard the speakers, feels "horrible" about the crash, and "will have more to say," but has to remain silent because of the pending court case against her. Michael Helfrich got most of the speech on video.

She said she and her loved ones have been through a hard time. "I hope no one here is ever subjected to this amount of trauma," she said.

Outlets had reported that she had gotten death threats.

What's Next?

On Monday, former congressional candidate Hector Oseguera told Patch, "People in Hudson County have a very cynical view of politics, precisely because of people like Amy DeGise. We are told that justice is blind, that no one is above the law, but in Hudson County the politically connected live as if the rules don't apply to them."

Besides the crash, NJ.com reported that DeGise had failed to pay numerous parking tickets, and has been living in an affordable housing unit all while owning property elsewhere.

DeGise, for her part, had said earlier that she would not resign, and said it again Wednesday. The court case against her has been moved to Essex County.

More information on the council meeting is here.

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