As Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla runs for a New Jersey Assembly seat, he is facing criticism after public records revealed he was named in nearly 250 parking and traffic violations since 2005. Most of these cases took place while Bhalla served as either a city councilman, beginning in 2009, or as mayor, a position he has held since 2017.
The complaint was filed just two weeks before the June 10 Democratic primary, in which Bhalla is competing in a six-way race for two Assembly seats in the 32nd Legislative District. It questions whether the mayor received special treatment in court and whether proper legal procedures were followed.
- Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla has been named in 247 municipal court cases for parking and traffic violations dating back to 2005.
- A legal complaint claims six tickets were dismissed improperly by Hoboken’s court without required transfers, possibly violating court procedures.
- The allegations surfaced just days before Bhalla’s Democratic primary for a New Jersey Assembly seat in the 32nd District.
Court Records Show Nearly 250 Tickets Since 2005
According to court records listed on NJCourts.gov, Ravi Bhalla has been the defendant in approximately 247 municipal court cases. These cases include both parking and moving violations.
Some of the violations include:
- Parking too close to a crosswalk
- Parking at a fire hydrant
- Parking at a bus stop
- Parking in a school zone
- Parking on sidewalks
- Expired meters
- Street cleaning violations
- Driving without a license
- Driving with a suspended license
- Driving without proof of insurance
- Driving or parking an unregistered vehicle
- Failing to show license plates properly
- Speeding
- Disobeying traffic signals
There was also a DWI charge in Secaucus, but Bhalla was found not guilty in that case.
While many of the violations were minor, the high number of tickets and how some were dismissed have raised concerns.
Six Dismissed Tickets Cited in Legal Complaint
A formal complaint was sent by Georgina Giordano Pallitto, a lawyer certified by New Jersey as a criminal trial attorney.
She sent the complaint to:
- Joshua Haber, U.S. Attorney’s Office
- Theresa Hilton, New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice
- Esther Suarez, Hudson County Prosecutor
Pallitto used court records to find that Bhalla had nearly 250 violations, and she focused on six recent tickets in her letter. These six tickets were issued between November 12, 2021, and October 28, 2023, and were all dismissed between November 22, 2023, and January 24, 2024, by the Hoboken Municipal Court.
Here are the details of those six cases:
- 847 Garden Street, prohibited parking on November 12, 2021 — dismissed November 22, 2023
- 105 1st Street, alternate side parking violation on April 6, 2023 — dismissed January 9, 2024
- 260 Newark Street, expired meter on May 31, 2023 — dismissed January 10, 2024
- 58 3rd Street, expired meter on August 18, 2023 — dismissed January 17, 2024
- 7 Newark Street, expired meter on October 20, 2023 — dismissed January 23, 2024
- 165 9th Street, parked in a crosswalk on October 28, 2023 — dismissed January 24, 2024
The total amount of fines and fees for these six tickets came to $320. All of the tickets were connected to a gray Mazda sedan with license plate K97NZL, which has since been repossessed by the car’s lessor and is no longer in Bhalla’s possession.
Complaint Says Court Procedure Was Not Followed
In her letter, Pallitto pointed out that, by law, tickets involving local officials should be moved out of their city’s municipal court to avoid a conflict of interest. This is because the mayor oversees city departments, including the court system. But in these six cases, that did not happen. All of the tickets were handled and dismissed by the Hoboken Municipal Court.
The complaint also says that in some of these cases, the tickets were dismissed months or even years after the deadline for court action had passed. One ticket was dismissed two years after it was issued, even though the system normally requires a suspension or warrant when a person fails to appear in court.
Pallitto also wrote that if the mayor gave his tickets to court employees or officers and asked them to “take care of it,” that could count as official misconduct under New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2). It might also break federal law, such as honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1346, depending on the details.
Earlier Cases Were Handled Differently
The complaint compares the current ticket dismissals to how things were done in the past. For example, in 2012, when Bhalla was a city councilman, he was given tickets for driving with a suspended license, driving without proof of insurance, driving without a license, and making an improper turn.
Those tickets were moved to the Jersey City Municipal Court—not handled in Hoboken—and later dismissed for lack of prosecution. Pallitto argues this earlier case followed the correct process, unlike the six recent tickets she highlighted.
Bhalla’s Campaign Responds and Denies Special Treatment
In response to the complaint, Bhalla’s campaign spokesperson, Rob Horowitz, denied all wrongdoing. He said that Bhalla never asked for special treatment and never received any. According to Horowitz, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the court system to fall behind, and many old tickets, including some of Bhalla’s, were dismissed because they had been pending for more than 180 days.
Horowitz also questioned the timing of the complaint. He said it was a “political stunt” because it was sent just 12 days before the primary election. He described it as part of a “dirty tricks” campaign tied to the Hudson County political machine. He also pointed out that Pallitto, the attorney who wrote the letter, worked for the Hudson County Law Department and did not name the client she was representing.
A Competitive Democratic Primary with Political Tensions
The issue comes at a critical time in a highly contested election. Bhalla is one of six Democratic candidates running for two Assembly seats in New Jersey’s 32nd District. He is campaigning with Katie Brennan, a housing advocate from Jersey City.
They face strong opposition from candidates supported by the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), including Jennie Pu, the Hoboken Library Director, and Crystal Fonseca, a Jersey City department supervisor. Two other candidates in the race are Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez and Jersey City Councilman Yousef Saleh. Ramirez and Saleh are backed by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is running for governor.
Over the past few months, there have been many attack ads aimed at Bhalla. One recent flyer came from the Hudson Votes Project, a political action committee that supports Pu and Fonseca. The group listed a mailbox at a UPS Store in Jersey City’s Newport area as its address. The flyer included a news image highlighting Bhalla’s ticket record.
In another past incident, in March 2023, Bhalla was seen parking at a bus stop to buy coffee from Starbucks, which sparked public criticism on social media; people called it a case of a public official not following the same rules as everyone else.
No Confirmed Investigations Yet
At this point, no law enforcement agency has confirmed whether they are investigating Bhalla. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not reply to requests for information. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said they could not confirm or deny whether there is a criminal investigation.
Pallitto’s letter ends by urging the authorities to review the records and decide whether there was any wrongdoing. She says the public’s trust in the legal system depends on fair treatment for everyone, no matter their position.
