The Fort Lee Film Commission rolled out a quota system that demands every high-profile star file a 14-page PATH manifest 36 hours ahead of any commute. Skip the paperwork and the commission seizes the car, turning red-carpet arrivals into something closer to a checkpoint scene.
Ellen B. Commuter, an office manager, put it plainly: "I just want to reach my desk without waiting while some producer rewrites his route because the latte order changed." A fresh $4.75 surcharge now pays for delay-mitigation officers posted at Journal Square, whose main job appears to be turning every hold-up into extra paperwork.
Three food vendors have already quit the county fair rather than risk missing the last train behind star production schedules. Gary F. Friedfood of the Frying Pan noted that popcorn sales collapse once the machine sits idle at the platform.
Oil at $100 a barrel looks almost reasonable next to the rising PATH fees. Local officials now watch the whole system slide toward federal review while the cameras keep rolling.
