New Jersey

Murphy gets high marks in early COVID: This week in Central Jersey history, April 21-27

Published

8 months ago

April 21, 2025

Murphy gets high marks in early COVID: This week in Central Jersey history, April 21-27

According to a Monmouth University Poll, Gov. Phil Murphy’s approval rating among New Jersey residents skyrocketed to 71% amid the coronavirus pandemic, jumping 30 points since September 2019, it was reported on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.

The poll also showed wide approval of the strict measures the state had taken to slow the spread of the virus.

Here’s a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.

Five years ago

April 21, 2020: The Somerset County Park Commission announced the annual July 4th fireworks display at North Branch Park in Bridgewater and other popular events had been canceled due to the financial and health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

April 21: Seton Hall basketball star Myles Powell earned a second straight Haggerty Award as the metropolitan area’s top player, becoming the first Pirate ever to receive the honor twice.

April 22: Gov. Phil Murphy reported 3,551 new cases of the coronavirus in New Jersey at the state’s daily briefing, bringing the statewide total to 95,865. He also reported 314 more virus-related deaths, bringing the statewide death toll to 5,063.

April 24: It was reported seven New Jersey schools were in the top 100 in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the best 500 high schools released earlier in the week, including Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies on the campus of Middlesex County College in Edison.

April 24: Bon Jovi canceled the band’s upcoming summer tour with Bryan Adams, which included at show on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, at the Prudential Center in Newark, it was reported.

April 25: It was reported the cities of South Amboy and Perth Amboy had canceled their annual joint Fourth of July celebration and several other large annual outdoor events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

April 27: According to a new Monmouth University Poll released three days after “Weed Day,” a sizeable majority of New Jersey voters would vote to legalize marijuana in November 2020, it was reported.

10 years ago

April 25, 2015: It was reported a person associated with Raritan Valley Community College in the North Branch section of Branchburg had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and Somerset County and state health officials were conducting an investigation to identify those people who may have had sufficient exposure to require further testing.

April 25: Marisa Eve Girawong, a physician’s assistant, was killed in the 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. Before leaving to work there in 2014, Edison was listed as her place of residence.

April 25: Jonathan Morgan, 28, of Plainfield, one of two men responsible for the 2010 robbery and murder of Isidro Leonardo, 44, a Plainfield taxi driver, was sentenced to 45 years in state prison, it was reported.

April 25: The Stone Temple Pilots and Dreamers performed at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair.

April 26: The Franklin Township Food Bank’s annual Tour de Franklin fundraiser, featuring 62-, 40-, 25- and 10-mile rides, as well as others, was held in the Somerset section of Franklin Township.

April 26: The Montgomery High School boys tennis team won four of their five matches to beat Pingry, 34-30, clinching their seventh straight Somerset County Tournament tennis team title at the Green Knoll Tennis Center at Bridgewater.

2000

April 21, 2000: Lightning struck at least four homes in Middlesex County between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., setting one of them on fire.

April 23: It was reported New Jersey actors Avery Brooks and Joe Morton would be featured in the 11th annual “Genesis Festival 2000, New Voices in African-American Theatre,” which would begin Saturday, April 29, 2000, at Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick.

April 24: New Jersey voters passed a record number of school budgets the previous week, approving 88.1 percent of spending plans, up from the previous year’s 82.8 percent, it was reported.

April 25: The Transcontinental Gas Line Co., a Texas-based natural gas pipeline company, won final approval to build a controversial 155-mile gas line through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On Wednesday, April 26, 2000, New Jersey officials said they would contest the federal approval.

April 25: Shawnetta Stewart and Usha Gilmore became the first Rutgers University women’s basketball players selected in the WNBA Draft.

1975

April 21, 1975: In high school baseball, Rich Gabriel’s two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning gave South River a 3-1 win over Woodbridge, which had its first defeat of the season.

April 22: During a five-hour Somerville Board of Education session, 12 teachers were put out of jobs and two programs were cut despite protests from students, teachers, parents and citizens.

April 24: Secretary of State J. Edward Crabiel was back on the state government payroll, one day after his acquittal on highway bid-rigging charges.

April 25: East Brunswick Mayor Jean Sears Walling died of cancer at Middlesex General Hospital in New Brunswick. She was 53.

April 25: It was reported poet-singer Patti Smith would make her first New Jersey appearance on Wednesday, April 30, 1975, at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick.

April 26: County and state health inspectors had ruled out problems in the Dunellen High School cafeteria as the cause of sickness which had kept nearly one-third of the students home for two days, it was reported.

1925

April 21, 1925: Ground was broken by the Charter Construction Company, Inc. of New York for the erection of First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Prospect Avenue and East Ninth Street in Plainfield. It was reported on Wednesday, April 22, 1925, the cost would be $55,000.

April 22-23: The movie, “The Last Laugh,” starring Emil Jannings, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.

April 23: Josephine Krysowaty, 11, who lived on Neshanic Mountain and was stabbed 20 times, died at Somerset Hospital, making it a murder case.

April 24: It was reported more than 700 people of Plainfield and vicinity had pledged active support of the campaign for $500,000 for Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield.

April 24: Rutgers University’s relay athletes regained the Middle Atlantic States Championship in the annual Penn relay games in Philadelphia, Pa., by beating Johns Hopkins, New York University and Lafayette in the mile relay.

Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com

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New Jersey

White Christmas in the Philadelphia region this year? Cecily Tynan breaks down our chances

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

White Christmas in the Philadelphia region this year? Cecily Tynan breaks down our chances

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Is there anything more magical than waking up on Christmas morning to a fresh blanket of white outside?

Well, if you’re dreaming of a white Christmas in the Philadelphia region, keep dreaming. Our chances are really low.

By definition, a white Christmas is defined as having at least an inch of snow on the ground.

But since 1950, we’ve only had eight of those in Philadelphia, the latest in 2009, 1998 and 1995.

Statistically, the chance of a white Christmas in the Poconos is 40%. But then it really drops as you head to the south — Lehigh Valley at 90%, Trenton 12%, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and the Jersey Shore are all less than 10%.

And this year, it’s even less than that because temperatures will be at or above average from Christmas Eve through the 28th.

So Cecily’s official forecast for Christmas: it’s not white, it’s mostly cloudy, seasonable highs in the mid to upper 40s.

There’s always next year!

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New Jersey

Future Home to Paramount, 1888 Studios in Bayonne Breaks Ground | Jersey Digs

Published

14 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Future Home to Paramount, 1888 Studios in Bayonne Breaks Ground | Jersey Digs

Construction has officially begun at 1888 Studios, which will revitalize 58 acres of land near the Bayonne Bridge. Image courtesy Choose New Jersey.

A large film production studio in New Jersey is officially underway as construction has begun to revitalize 58 acres of land near the Bayonne Bridge.

Public officials and film industry executives took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for 1888 Studios, a motion picture and television production complex that will rise at the foot of Avenue A in Bayonne. The event took place inside a tent on the studio construction site, which had been a Texaco refinery that closed in the 1980’s.

Jersey Digs was the first outlet to report on the studio plan back in 2022. Bayonne passed a rezoning plan in 2020 for the land, which overlooks Staten Island and the Kill Van Kull.

1888 Studios Bayonne 7 — The full plan for 1888 Studios. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Designed by San Francisco-based firm Gensler, 1888 Studios will consist of a mix of studio sound stage buildings complemented by attached office structures. The complex will include a post-production office and several mill buildings for stages to be constructed and stored.

The new facility will span 23 soundstages and more than one million square feet. The construction phase is expected to produce 2,300 union jobs and when the facility is complete and operational, it is expected to produce 2,000 union jobs.

1888 Studios Bayonne 8 — Rendering of the studio complex. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Arpad Busson, the President of the 1888 Studios, said during the ceremony that the production complex “will reshape the city for generations to come” and would make Bayonne “a global connector.” Film powerhouse Paramount signed a 10-year agreement back in October to be the facility’s primary tenant.

Other aspects of the plan for 1888 Studios include a lighting and grip building, a central utility plant, a utility yard, a trash and recycling area, and a facilities yard to support the studio use, along with surface parking. Four subterranean parking structures would be built on the site, providing a total of 2,127 parking spaces.

1888 Studios Bayonne 6 — 1888 Studios. Image courtesy of Gensler.

Paramount’s Global Operations executive Jose Turkienicz attended the groundbreaking and called the studio complex “a major step forward” and a source of “creative momentum.” A former New Jersey resident, Turkienicz thanked the state’s public officials for supporting tax credit programs for the film industry in the Garden State.

Outgoing Governor Phil Murphy said that New Jersey has an “innovation economy,” which includes film and digital industries. He noted that New Jersey gets back $7 for each $1 invested in the film industry and lauded the state’s Film Ready program that prepares communities for the movie and television business.

Among the celebrities at the ceremony were model and businesswoman Elle Macpherson; Emmy Award-winning actress Tammy Blanchard, a Bayonne resident; Mark Lipsky, executive producer of such Eddie Murphy films as The Nutty Professor, Beverly Hills Cop II, and Coming to America; and actor and executive Paul DeAngelo, a Bayonne resident.

1888 Studios is one of three major film production facilities under construction in New Jersey, with Lionsgate breaking ground recently on a studio in Newark and Netflix building another facility at Fort Monmouth.

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