McGreevey closes transition office

Six months after leaving the New Jersey governor's post after coming out as gay, James E. McGreevey has closed the transition office he set up in the city where he once served as mayor. McGreevey officially resigned as governor November 15. He had at his disposal just under $500,000 in state money to tie up loose ends related to his shift from public figure to private citizen. McGreevey spent $180,000 on a staff of three to four people to handle communications and archiving work, said Tom Vincz, spokesman for the state treasurer. Some of those bills have been submitted but remain to be paid. Departing governors are traditionally afforded a six-month transition allowance by the state. Former governors James J. Florio and Christine Todd Whitman were given extra time, but McGreevey did not request an extension, Vincz told Gannett New Jersey for Tuesday's newspapers. A call to the office Tuesday was answered by a recorded message saying the number had been disconnected. McGreevey has largely remained out of the public eye since leaving Trenton. In August he announced he was gay, that he had engaged in an extramarital affair, and that he would resign. Until last month, McGreevey worked for Weiner Lesniak, the Parsippany law firm of his friend, state senator Raymond Lesniak. The firm holds a contract with developers building the $1.3 billion Xanadu entertainment and retail project at the Meadowlands sports complex in East Rutherford. McGreevey championed the project as governor and resigned from the law firm because of conflict of interest allegations. McGreevey was mayor of Woodbridge when he was elected governor in 2001. (AP)