Price gouging in the Meadowlands

Good morning!

World Cup supporters have claimed the soccer tournament would generate about $3 billion in economic activity for the region, and it appears as though that entire amount may come just from price gouging at Meadowlands hotels.

Dawn Gilbertson at the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that hotels in places like East Rutherford are charging absurd amounts to bilk out-of-towners visiting for the World Cup, and especially for the July 19 final.

SpringHill Suites East Rutherford, located just north of MetLife Stadium, wants $700 a night for a June 30 knockout-round match and $4,500 a night the weekend of the final (and you have to book two nights minimum). The Hampton Inn by Hilton next door is charging $4,200 for the final weekend.

I’m a proud New Jerseyan who once lived in East Rutherford, so I say this with all due respect:

The kicker: A sign in the lobby of SpringHill Suites, which sits across Paterson Plank Road from MetLife, tells guests it’s illegal to walk there.

Commentary: I wrote about the Roselle police chief who is back on the job after state officials said his use of a gay slur at work was bad but not that bad. The chief, Stacey Williams, insisted during the court hearing where he fought for his job back that he didn’t use the word and, if he did, it would have been no big deal. “It’s like calling somebody a punk,” Williams testified. It’s really not, chief!

Economy: Via Kevin Hardy, “Families are facing rising grocery prices at the same time that many of the most vulnerable are losing access to the nation’s largest food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. More than 4 million Americans lost SNAP benefits between February 2025 and this February, according to analyses of the most recent federal data.”

Crime: The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced federal agents arrested Eduardo Cruz Garcia Tuesday and charged him with assaulting and injuring a federal officer when Cruz Garcia fled the scene of a traffic stop involving immigration agents. “As alleged, the defendant weaponized his vehicle and conducted an egregious assault on a federal law enforcement officer during the course of his official duties,” U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said. The feds say they pulled Cruz Garcia’s car over in Ocean County in search of a different man. Cruz Garcia is in the country illegally, federal officials say.

ICE: A group of Democratic House members, including Rep. LaMonica McIver, visited Delaney Hall in Newark yesterday but federal agents refused to let them speak to detainees inside. The visit came after the Democrats held a non-official hearing at Newark City Hall about conditions for the jail’s detainees. “They are being retaliated against for speaking out and speaking to their members of Congress,” said McIver, who is due to appear in a federal appeals court next week to argue that the federal assault charges she faces should be thrown out. Prosecutors allege McIver assaulted agents during a May 2025 visit to Delaney Hall.