Tuesday, January 17, 2006
A question for Jon Corzine
To: PLAINSBORO TWP. LOCAL BUSINESSES AND AREA MEDIA
From: PLAINSBORO TOWNSHIP POLICETRAFFIC SAFETY BUREAU
Date: JANUARY 6, 2005
Re: TRAFFIC ADVISORY
On January 17th, 2006 Governor Corzine will celebrate his inauguration with an inaugural ball at Princeton University’s Jadwin Gym. Invited guests will be bused from the Bristol Meyers Squibb facility on Scudders Mill Road in Plainsboro Township. Approximately 500 vehicles are expected to park at the facility. There will be road closures and restricted access onto local roads as well as US Route 1 south bound. The Plainsboro Township Police Department is urging all businesses in the area of Scudders Mill Road, College Road, and the surrounding area to consider dismissing your employees at approximately 3:30 pm. Traffic will be seriously affected on Scudders Mill Road and US Route 1 south bound through West Windsor Township and Princeton. Expect this condition to last well past rush hour.
The email had to be re-sent over the weekend to clarify that Plainsboro was not ordering local businesses to close, but only recommending it.
Isn't it strange that the Democratic governor of New Jersey can't find any venue in the state's actual capital city to hold his inauguration? Not enough rich people there, Jon?
UPDATE (January 19, 7:15 am): The new governor of New Jersey stopped by the Nassau Street Starbucks in Princeton on his first full day on the job. He stepped out of his black SUV and got to the door just as I did, and I greeted him with a cheery "Hello, Governor." He seemed quite startled to be called "Governor" (presumably, as opposed to "Senator"), said "oh" and held the door for me, which gesture I graciously accepted even though it was sort of emasculating. Not nearly as emasculating as my total failure to work up the courage to ask him the snarky question posed by this post, though. It's pretty sobering to realize that if you take away the shield of anonymity even I won't be rude to a governor on his first day of work.
I'll leave out the part about how he cut in line in front of the two people who were already there, since the line is sort of confusing and he quickly apologized and said, "well, that isn't a very good start, is it?" which I thought was, *cough*, actually sort of smooth and self-deprecating all at once.
I expect that Corzine's tenure will be bad for business in New Jersey, and it will hurt my own income in some substantive way. But, and this is a huge but, he is our most recent best chance for cleaning up the endemic corruption in this state. Ordinarily, I would not expect a governor to do that, but if he has presidential ambitions -- which he must, because otherwise you'd have to be nuts to give up the Senate seat for Trenton -- he could come up with worse ways to burnish his reputation than scrubbing down this state's politics. So let's wish him well in this, and I'll hold the snark as long as possible.
4 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Jan 17, 08:52:00 AM:
Trenton makes, the world takes...I wouldn't wanna have anything in Trenton either. It's depressing enough just to drive through there.
Corzine: multimillionaire of the people. Couldn't they find a better solution than to jam up Rt 1 and Scudder's Mill? One that impacted Princeton and not us lowly renters of Plainsboro? Well, at least it's an excuse to go home early.
By 
The Tiger, at
Thu Jan 19, 12:55:00 PM:
Isn't the governor's residence in Princeton?
By , at
Thu Jan 19, 01:09:00 PM:
Yes, Trenton makes, the world takes. We have a bridge and song about that. What Trenton gives the world is pork roll. There is Taylor brand, Trenton brand (same company as Taylor, just milder), and Case brand (virtually unavailable outside New Jersey and Philly). I love the stuff. It brings back memories of the Jersey Shore and walk-up stands that grilled pork roll and served it on buns. For a buck. Pt. Pleasant, Seaside, and others. I just made some at home this weekend.
If Gov. Corzine was observed ordering pork roll on a bun, I'd be impressed. He can get Starbucks anywhere. Come home Jon, come home.
By Sharon GR, at
Sun Jan 22, 07:20:00 PM:
I'm lol at IndespensableDestiny's comment. Pork roll is such the Jersey stuff- We even got pork roll sandwiches in the cafeteria for lunch in elementary school.
