Paterson hits a criminal snag in a positive video promoting the city

PATERSON — More than 200 community leaders gathered at The Brownstone banquet hall on Monday afternoon for the debut of an “I love Paterson” promotional video designed to highlight the city’s assets.

But Paterson officials are now scrambling to edit the video after learning that Ehab Abdelaziz, one of the people featured as “co-hosts” in the show, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy charges in the federal corruption probe of the Jersey City Police Department.

The city’s cultural affairs director, Marcia Julian Sotorrio, who put together the promotional video, said she had not known of Abdelaziz’s criminal conviction until alerted to the situation on Monday by a Paterson Press reporter.

Abdelaziz, whose sentencing in federal court is scheduled for next month, was among the crowd of people at the Brownstone for the video’s launch, a group that included the mayor, the acting police chief, a congressman and a host of other prominent Patersonians.

Abdelaziz said he saw no reason why he shouldn’t be part of the city’s promotional video.

“Something that happened in Jersey City has nothing to do with this,” Abdelaziz, a former Jersey City police officer, said when asked whether he had informed the city officials after his problems with the law.

Sotorrio said she hoped Abdelaziz’s role would not tarnish what was supposed to be an attempt to improve Paterson’s image. With footage of the city’s many ethnic celebrations, its restaurants and its successful businesses, the video is designed to invite new investment in Paterson.

“It’s all positive stuff about the city. There’s nothing negative in there,” Sotorrio said.

“We’re trying to promote some of the things the city has to offer,” said historic preservation director Gianfranco Archimede.

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“I’m so excited,” former Mayor Lawrence “Pat” Kramer said before the screening of the video. “This shows there are people who still care about the city and think it can be great again.”

Sottorrio said “I love Paterson” would be sent to other major cities as well as business groups. She said the video cost $4,000 to produce and that she used money that had been unspent on other things.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for 15 years,” she said.

Sotorrio was visibly upset to learn about Abdelaziz’s guilty plea. She said she would remove him from the recording before sending it out.

Shooting of the video started about a year ago, Sotorrio said. At that time, federal authorities already had begun their probe into allegations of Jersey City police officers taking bogus payments for off-duty work. Abdelaziz’s name had surfaced in news reports in the early stages of the investigation. But charges against him had not been filed.

Paterson Councilman Kenneth Morris, who appears in the promotional video alongside Abdelaziz, said he was not aware of the federal case at the time the scene was filmed. In light of the guilty plea, Morris said it would not be in the city’s best interest to keep Abdelaziz in the film.

When he pleaded guilty last fall, Abdelaziz also resigned from a seat he held on the Paterson Board of Adjustment. On Monday, he said his role in the video — in which he is on camera at least five times — was minimal.

“I was just an actor in that video,” he said. “I was not hosting anything at all.”

The video itself describes Abdelaziz as a “co-host” in its closing credits, in which he is identified by full name.