New Jersey

Gov. Phil Murphy taps Francis K. O’Connor as new NJ DOT commissioner

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2024

Press Room

Gov. Phil Murphy taps Francis K. O’Connor as new NJ DOT commissioner

2-minute read

Gov. Phil Murphy announced a new commissioner to head the state Department of Transportation on Friday afternoon to relieve his current chief of staff who has served in both roles since October.

Francis K. O’Connor will take over the role, though the announcement from the governor does not say when. According to his LinkedIn profile, O’Connor began his 40-year career in public and private transportation sectors as a toll collector on the New Jersey Turnpike, eventually rising to the Turnpike Authority’s deputy director for electronic toll collections. He has worked throughout New Jersey for companies including Edison-based Atkins, an engineering consultant firm, and Ewing-based Electronic Transaction Consultants.

“With more than four decades of experience working within transportation agencies across the country, Fran is immensely qualified to advance my Administration’s efforts to continue building a transportation system that is more modern and more accessible than ever before,” Murphy said.

O’Connor takes over for Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, who had more than 20 years of experience at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority before a six-year stint at the Florida Turnpike Authority. She became Murphy’s DOT commissioner in 2018, a position that also chairs four boards, like the Turnpike Authority and NJ Transit, and vice chairs the Motor Vehicles Commission board.

Earlier this week: Murphy’s chief of staff also heads NJ DOT. Can she keep doing both effectively?

Gutierrez-Scaccetti was supposed to take on the chief of staff role full-time Jan. 12, but remained in both jobs, which are considered some of the most demanding in state government. Some questioned if balancing the dual roles was sustainable for much longer, particularly given the budget challenges ahead and reports of internal strife in Murphy’s inner circle. Several legislators noted Gutierrez-Scaccetti has been accessible and on top of both jobs in the last few months.

“I am turning the reins over to an extraordinary transportation leader in Fran O’Connor, who will continue to advance NJDOT’s important mission,” Gutierrez-Scaccetti said.

Source link

Click to comment

New Jersey

World Insurance Acquires Van Syckel Insurance of New Jersey

Published

18 hours ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

World Insurance Acquires Van Syckel Insurance of New Jersey

World Insurance Associates announced that it acquired the business of Van Syckel Insurance of Bound Brook, New Jersey on August 1, 2025.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Van Syckel Insurance, which was started in 1865, is managed by Ryan Van Syckel, the great, great grandson of the founder.

The agency provides home and auto insurance, flood insurance, workers’ compensation and business insurance.

World Insurance, based in Iselin, New Jersey, serves clients from more than 300 offices across the U.S. and U.K.

Topics
Mergers & Acquisitions
Auto
New Jersey

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Interested in Auto?

Get automatic alerts for this topic.

Source link

New Jersey

NJ Transit Midtown Direct diverted into Hoboken Terminal, causing delays

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Press Room

NJ Transit Midtown Direct diverted into Hoboken Terminal, causing delays

NEW JERSEY (WABC) — It was a frustrating morning for some commuters on NJ Transit after Midtown Direct rail service was diverted into Hoboken Terminal.

Delays of more than 30 minutes were reported by passengers and the transit system.

NJ Transit rail tickets and passes are being cross honored by NJ Transit and private carrier bus and PATH at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken, and 33rd Street-New York.

———-

* Get Eyewitness News Delivered

* More New Jersey news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.

Source link

New Jersey

N.J. lawmakers, advocates exploring different ideas to save NJ PBS

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

Press Room

N.J. lawmakers, advocates exploring different ideas to save NJ PBS

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

A legislative committee held a hearing this week to reimagine the state’s only public television station, so it can stay operational and continue to provide local news, sports and arts programming for New Jerseyans. NJ PBS announced in September that it will cease operations next summer because of drastic state and federal funding cuts,

NJ PBS, which airs local and national news as well as community and educational programming, used to be known as New Jersey Network. After lawmakers ended public funding for the media company that was run by the state in 2011, WNET in New York City reached an agreement with New Jersey to operate the network, which was renamed NJ PBS.

Bipartisan support

During the 90-minute session, organized by the Senate legislative oversight committee, legislators from both sides of the aisle spoke in support of maintaining public television in the state. Republican Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, who served as the director of federal policy at the Association for America’s Public Television Stations for almost a decade, said for many children and new American citizens, PBS is their first classroom.

“For families that can’t afford private pre-school or expensive streaming service, public television is the only consistent source of educational content in the home,” she said.

Dunn said many parents have told her that Sesame Street was more than just a show.

“It was a trusted partner in their child’s early development, and a critical educational lifeline,” she said.

Democratic Assembly majority leader Lou Greenwald said the power of local news informs and inspires.

“When we invest in honest, reliable, community-based information, we empower people, we bring them into the process and we start to build something that we’ve lost far too much of in recent years, trust,” Greenwald said.

He told the panel that as news organizations have become smaller, with fewer reporters in New Jersey and other states, residents have fewer options to learn what’s going on in their towns.

“It’s about democracy,” said Greenwald. “It’s about community and it’s about a shared truth, in an age when truth is increasingly up for grabs.”

Source link