It appears the
nation's first gay governor and his partner have
finally found a nice place to shack up together.
According to The [Newark, N.J.]
Star-Ledger newspaper, former New Jersey governor
James E. McGreevey and his partner, Mark
O'Donnell, are about to purchase a 17-room,
$1.4 million home in Plainfield's historic Sleepy
Hollow neighborhood. The home, an ivy-covered Georgian
colonial, reportedly has eight bedrooms and four
bathrooms. The neighborhood is home to several local
politicians, including former Plainfield mayor Al McWilliams
and Democratic assemblyman Jerry Green. Apparently the
neighborhood has been buzzing for several weeks with
word that McGreevey, 48, and O'Donnell, 42, a
Manhattan financier, would soon be moving in.
"It's good for us to have someone who
has been in the circles he's been in,"
McWilliams told the Star-Ledger. "It
shows there is more to our city than what you read
about in the papers sometimes." McGreevey has made
few public appearances since resigning the
governor's office in 2004, following his
dramatic public admission of an extramarital affair with a
gay appointee. But he has been turning up in recent
weeks as he prepares to release his memoir, The
Confession, which is due out in the fall. According to the
Star-Ledger, the palatial home, which includes a
solarium, a butler's pantry, and in-ground
swimming pool, sits on 1.7 acres and was originally
built for a founder of the New York Stock Exchange. Its
gardens were designed by the firm of noted landscape
architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who created New York
City's Central Park. (The Advocate)
