April 10, 2017
Last week, while on the air with WFAN's "Boomer and Carton" radio show, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie challenged the commissioners of the four major sports leagues to step up and write checks to save St. Anthony High School in Jersey City.
St. Anthony, which is home to one of the most successful high school basketball programs in the nation, is facing mounting debt and is scheduled to close in June.
Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, who is also the school’s president and had been spearheading efforts to try to save it before the official decision to close was made, responded to Christie’s plan while on a different radio show.
While chatting with FOX Sports 920 the Jersey host Zach Gelb, Hurley said Christie's idea is nice, but that it’s time to let the school go.
“You know, I think those things are wonderful, but I think what we need right now is to move forward,” Hurley told Gelb. "I don’t think we should put the families and the kids again in a situation where we're talking about, 'Maybe we could do this.' I think we need to just transition into where we are."
Hurley added that the school building is leased through the parish and that the lease is ending, and even if the money were raised (he’s been quoted in the past as saying that $500,000 was needed to keep the school open), "We will not have a place to run our high school."
He also added that the land where the school sits is set to undergo “significant development.”
Listen to the full radio interview below.
