Steve Hyman wants Jersey City to know two things: He’s not responsible for a racist faux newspaper that appealed to the African-American community during the election. And he won’t take a $3 million offer from the city for his 6th Street Embankment property.

“I tried hard to get (Healy) in a runoff,” he admitted at the May 20 City Council meeting.

Council President Mariano Vega reminded him the Hudson Reporter headline declared a “landslide” in Healy’s election win, despite the close voting percentages.

“(Former Mayor) Hague got 97 percent of the vote. That’s a landslide,” Hyman responded.

He denied involvement in the “garbage newspaper,” which referred to Councilwoman Viola Richardson, Deputy Mayor Kabili Tayari, and Councilwoman-at -Large Willie Flood as part of Healy’s “plantation.”

“I swear on my family that I had nothing to do with this,” he insisted.

Unconvinced, Richardson shot back “Mr. Hyman, are you actually standing here saying you weren't responsible for all this?”

Regardless, Hyman insisted that despite Healy’s $3 million funded election victory, $3 million dollars is not enough for the city to pay him in order to turn his property into open space preservation and a Light Rail link.

“I will not settle under these circumstances. The property is worth more,” he said. “I’ve spent five years of my life on this. I’m not gonna just roll over. I refuse to be taken advantage of.”

Hyman had sought to derail Healy’s re-election campaign since the city has blocked development of his property. Hyman paid $3 million for it in 2003, and the city wants to buy it for open space. Hyman is said to want at least $7 million.

The fate of the property is stalled in the courts.