Hoboken Mayor Says No to Permit for New Snooki Spin Off Show
Reality star Snooki and her pal JWoww of MTV's "Jersey Shore" were denied a permit from the mayor's office of Hoboken, N.J., to shoot a spinoff series there.
Dawn Zimmer, the city's Mayor, announced via the Hoboken website that the city has denied the duo's show a film permit to shoot in public locations in Hoboken:
"Based on protecting public safety and quality of life concerns for Hoboken residents, the City has denied a film permit for a spin-off of the 'Jersey Shore' to be filmed in public locations," the post read.
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"Please see the attached letters, which explain the reasons for this decision. The applicant has been advised that they do have a right to appeal the Film Commission's decision to the City Council."
The attached letters, containing one from the Mayor and one from the City of Hoboken Local Film Commission, describes "a litany of potential public safety problems associated with such an unstructured production as was proposed," according to cinemablend.com.
The letters also addressed the small size of the city and the problems that could cause if fans decided to track the stars down on each location. Hoboken also prohibits filming in residential areas past 11 p.m., which would pose yet another problem for the production, which proposed a 24-hour filming permit.
The Mayor's decision surprisingly made no mention of denying the show a permit because of its raunchy content, which has caused a lot of stir for MTV and just about every location the cast attempts to visit.
In September, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie blocked a $420,000 tax credit the state had previously approved for the 'Jersey Shore's' production company.
The governor said in a statement that he was "duty-bound" to see that taxpayers were "not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuates misconceptions about the state and its citizens."
Other lawmakers, like State Senator Joseph Vitale, praised the Governor's decision.
"It's about the words, and words matter. The words the cast members use to describe Italian-Americans, 'Guido' and others, are no different to me than words used to disparage other ethnic groups or races. It wouldn't be an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars to support that kind of language," Vitale told The New York Times.
Mayor Zimmer also expressed in a letter to Jim Bianco, Head of Productions at 495 Productions that she would not tolerate the company trying to sneak in a shoot without a permit.
"We were extremely surprised to learn during our meeting with you that 495 Productions filmed in public areas without a required film permit in one location."
"Any attempts to film in a manner that is not permitted without a permit will be dealt with immediately and aggressively by the City of Hoboken."
