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Message for poor NJ Transit riders: Fixes are coming … eventually • New Jersey Monitor

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Message for poor NJ Transit riders: Fixes are coming … eventually • New Jersey Monitor


Meghan Howard Noveck had a typical, awful day using NJ Transit Wednesday.

Low-level boarding was in effect for her morning train to New Brunswick, so passengers had to exit using one door and walk on wooden platforms across the tracks to get to the platform.

“Don’t worry, they had a staff member there to warn us about the one board that was loose,” Howard Noveck told me.

The whole thing put her about half an hour behind schedule. Frustrating, but she’s used to the kind of service she gets from NJ Transit — whether it’s rail, light rail, or bus.

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“It’s not reliable,” she said.

Never fear! A handful of our state’s House delegation met with the CEOs of Amtrak and NJ Transit on Wednesday, toured our rail facilities, and told reporters in New Brunswick that they do not want a repeat of this summer’s series of service delays and cancellations and they pledge things will change — eventually.

“This is not going to happen overnight,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer said.

“We do face an uphill battle when we’re dealing with a Republican majority in the House,” said Rep. Frank Pallone.

“We still don’t have a firm answer right now on what exactly went wrong and, as a result, we can’t give that exact, 100% assurance to the people of New Jersey that they’re not going to see that problem again,” Rep. Andy Kim said.

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Such doom and gloom! I went to the press conference expecting to hear some reassurance that our state’s leaders are on top of this mess, but perhaps our members of Congress are smart enough not to raise the hopes of NJ Transit riders, who by now all but expect the terrible, unreliable service they receive day in and day out.

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner and NJ Transit CEO/President Kevin Corbett offered a few rays of sunshine. Gardner said thousands of feet of wires related to the electrical system that powers the trains have been replaced, other infrastructure has been upgraded, and both agencies have increased their monitoring and inspections. Corbett said the two agencies are working together to modernize equipment that is 90 years old.

Single day of NJ Transit feedback shows wide range of rail rage and bus blues

But Gardner also uttered some defense of the system that made me realize why our House members were less rosy than he was. Only eight trains caused all of the mess this summer, he noted.

“To be clear, we had a unique set of system failures that happened — very few impacts across all the number of trains. Thirty-five thousand trains we ran over a couple of months, we had eight instances occur out of those 35,000 trains,” Gardner said.

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I’m sure it’s frustrating to run a train system and have a small percentage of trains give it a bad reputation, but how many thousands of commuters relied on those eight trains? Should they be heartened to know that people riding all the other lines made it to work on time? No A for effort here, sorry.

Corbett added something baffling when discussing train delays: “If a train’s 10 minutes late, people will start hitting Twitter. That comes with the nature of commuter rail and we know that.”

I don’t know if Corbett meant to communicate that the guy who runs the state’s public transit system thinks the problem when a train is 10 minutes late is that people will complain in public about it, but that’s sure how it sounded. Here’s a solution for that: Make the trains run on time and people won’t gripe on social media that they’re late.

I asked Howard Noveck if anything said at Wednesday’s press conference made her feel better.

“Not even a little bit,” she said.

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Same. Especially after I woke up Thursday and started seeing all the alerts of NJ Transit issues: Bus 158 out of Fort Lee canceled because there was no driver, train 1105 to Suffern delayed up to 20 minutes because of equipment problems, train 481 also late because of a track condition near Summit.

Just another wonderful day riding NJ Transit. But things will change, they promise!

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Dan Levy’s new Netflix comedy ‘Big Mistakes’ was filmed at these New Jersey locations

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Dan Levy’s new Netflix comedy ‘Big Mistakes’ was filmed at these New Jersey locations


Filming Big Mistakes in New Jersey was no mistake at all.

The Netflix comedy series, which debuted earlier this month, has already hit the streaming service’s Global Top 10 English TV List, making it one of the most-watched shows out right now.

As per Netflix, the comedy series co-created, executive produced, written and starring Emmy winner Dan Levy, follows Nicky (Levy) and Morgan (Taylor Ortega), two deeply incapable siblings who are in over their heads when a misguided theft for their dying grandmother accidentally pulls them into the world of organized crime. Blackmailed into increasingly dangerous assignments, they clumsily fail upwards, sinking deeper into chaos they’re ill-equipped to handle. The dark comedy, which has only eight episodes, has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes so far. 

RECOMMENDED: Where was ‘Beef’ season 2 filmed? Behind the locations of the dark Netflix comedy

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Set in the fictional New Jersey suburb of Glenview, the series was fittingly filmed primarily in numerous towns and cities in New Jersey, including Caldwell, Cranford, Franklin Lakes, Irvington, Jersey City, Union, Warren and Weehawken for a total of 40 filming locations. (The cartel storyline in Episode 7 was shot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where its coastline and architecture doubled as Miami’s waterfront, luxury estates and yacht life.)

“I’ve really enjoyed shooting in New Jersey,” location manager Mia Thompson said. “We have quite a number of recurring locations that have all just been wonderful—not only the home owners, but the business owners, the towns, the local police, the local fire departments, the town clerks. It’s been a really great experience.”

More than 300 cast and crew and 500 vendors took part in the production. Ortega, who plays Morgan, is actually a New Jersey native and was surprised to film in her backyard.

“It was surreal getting to film in my home state,” she said. “I grew up in New Jersey and was obsessed with film and television and never thought I’d be returning home for such a major project and moment in my life.”

The show filmed the scenes at Morelli’s Hardware, run by Nicky and Morgan’s mom (Laurie Metcalf), at Edison Millwork & Hardware, a more than 50-year-old, family-owned hardware store in Edison.

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Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes filmed at a mom-and-pop hardware store in New Jersey

“It’s one of the few mom and pop hardware stores that are left anywhere, really, so it was really great to find this location that fits very perfectly with our story,” Thompson said.

The show was also filmed at Wyoming Presbyterian Church in Millburn—the backdrop for Nicky’s day job as a pastor and his living space. 

Big Mistakes filmed at a real church in New Jersey. Dan Levy is pictured behind the camera in his pastor costume
Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes filmed at a real church in New Jersey

“We’ve utilized every inch of space of that church inside and out,” said Thompson. “They’ve enjoyed the experience just as much as we have.”

Other spots they filmed at include Deerfield School, Essex County Airport, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Hatfield Swamp, Springfield Municipal Building and the Crystal Inn in Eatontown.

Big Mistakes on location at the inn
Photograph: Spencer Pazer, courtesy Netflix | Big Mistakes on location at the inn

“One thing about New Jersey is that it’s so diverse. The various neighborhoods offer different kinds of looks and aesthetics,” said Thompson. “You have everything that you could ask for.”

See Jersey in all eight episodes, streaming now on Netflix.



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ACLU featured at Bruce Springsteen No Kings show in New Jersey

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ACLU featured at Bruce Springsteen No Kings show in New Jersey


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There will be No Kings at the Monday, April 20 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at the Prudential Center in Newark but the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey will be there.

The group will be the “featured organization” for the New Jersey stop of the band’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour.

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“We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen to advocate for the rights and freedoms that all people deserve,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha in statement. “This moment requires all of us, and we are grateful to Bruce, who is using his platform to fight against authoritarianism and for our rights. We share a love for New Jersey and a desire to make the Garden State safer and freer for everyone who calls it home. Our team is thrilled to connect with everyone who shares our mission to protect and defend civil liberties, and who knows the power that art and music have to change the world.”

Springsteen said the American Dream is under attack by “our wannabe king and his rogue government” when he announced the tour on Feb. 17. Promotional posters for the tour features the phrase “No Kings,” a reflection of the national anti-President Donald Trump protests that have taken place in the last year.

The tour kickoff was March 31 at the Target Center in Minneapolis and it included 27 songs over three hours. The show also featured some direct talk from Springsteen on the state of the country. The setlist included the newly composed “Streets of Minneapolis,” written after the fatal shooting by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti of Minneapolis in January.

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ACLU-NJ representatives will be at the Prudential Center to talk to concertgoers about its work. The American Civil Liberties Union previously released an ad with the Springsteen classic “Born in the U.S.A.” featured on the eve of the Supreme Court case where the ACLU is challenging the President Trump’s executive order attempting to overturn the current interpretation of 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ legal status.

Visit www.aclu-nj.org for more info on the ACLU-NJ.

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at cjordan@app.com



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NJ Lottery Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Sunday, April 19

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The New Jersey Lottery offers multiple draw games for people looking to strike it rich.

Here’s a look at April 19, 2026, results for each game:

Pick-3

Midday: 8-7-3, Fireball: 9

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Evening: 5-0-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Pick-4

Midday: 4-7-7-9, Fireball: 9

Evening: 5-9-7-8, Fireball: 0

Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.

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Jersey Cash 5

20-25-35-38-45, Xtra: 35

Check Jersey Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Millionaire for Life

32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Quick Draw

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

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Cash Pop

Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the New Jersey Lottery drawings held?

  • Pick-3: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-4: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Jersey Cash 5: 10:57 p.m. daily.
  • Pick-6: 10:57 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Jersey Sr Breaking News Editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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