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Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop

(Jersey Journal File Photo)

Will the public be denied a chance to see Jersey City vs. the Port Authority hit a courtroom?

Mayor State Fulop last year announced he planned to file a $400 million lawsuit against the bi-state agency, accusing it of stiffing the city on tax payments for the 32 properties the Port Authority owns here.

At the time of his announcement, Fulop told The Jersey Journal he threatened to sue because all his attempts to meet with the Port Authority over the issue were ignored.

But, three months later, and there's still no suit. And that's because both the city and the Port Authority say they have been communicating about the impasse and talks, they say, are going well.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said Weiner Lesniak, the law firm hired to represent the city for $150 an hour (not to exceed $50,000), sent a "formal demand letter" to the Port Authority and the agency responded.

“We’ve had an initial meeting with the Port Authority’s new leadership, which was moderately productive,” Morrill said.

That “new leadership” is Deb Gramiccioni, who was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie to replace Bill Baroni as the Port Authority’s deputy executive director. Baroni resigned in December amid fallout from the George Washington Bridge lane closures fiasco.

Gramiccioni, asked to comment, also sounded a positive note.

“The Port Authority is committed to working with its host communities on all matters that impact their residents and our discussion with Jersey City Mayor Fulop was a productive beginning to what I am sure will be a continuing dialogue with him and his administration,” she said in an email from a Port Authority spokesman.

Morrill said the "formal demand letter" cannot be released.

Jersey City's lawsuit threat could end up going the same route as Newark's lawsuit against the Port Authority in 1998. Newark sought underpaid rent, and the two entities settled out of court, with the Port Authority agreeing to give Newark over $100 million in tax relief, plus $12.5 annually for capital improvement projects and $3 million in additional rent payments.