NJ Mayor: Christie Held Sandy Funds Hostage

Gov. Chris Christie is facing new charges from the mayor of a New Jersey town who says his administration tied Superstorm Sandy recovery funds to support for a prime real estate project.

Hoboken, N.J., Mayor Dawn Zimmer said the message was clear: get behind the project or you won't get the funds.

"Lt. Gov. [Kim Guadagno] pulled me aside and said essentially, 'You got to move forward with the Rockefeller project; this project is really important to the governor,'" the Democratic mayor told CNN. "And she said that she had been with him on Friday night and that this was a direct message from the governor."

Christie's office said the claim is "categorically false."

But Zimmer is standing by her account, saying, "They were holding our Sandy funds hostage."

"I haven't been a part of the Democratic machine," she added. "I did have a really good relationship [with the governor] so I couldn't believe they were doing this."