Friday, May 18, 2007

Flemington: MyTown in Central Jersey

While most of New Jersey struggles with the dichotomy of being either South Jersey or North Jersey, MyTown of Flemington sits in the center of Central New Jersey, at the heart of heavenly Hunterdon County. We sit pretty much in the center---we’re one hour north of Philadelphia and one hour west of NYC. People here work and travel to both cities everyday. Well, not the same people---that would be silly. But many people do choose to live here because of its proximity to NYC and Philly. One spouse/domestic partner/civil-unionist can work in one city, while the other works in the other. Proudly, we are the center of Central New Jersey. The center of what Ben Franklin called "A keg tapped at both ends".

Fellow comedian Dom Irrera tells a joke about nicknames: “In the old neighborhood, everyone had a nickname. There was Big Petey. There was Little Petey. There was even Medium Petey."

Sometimes, but not always, I feel like we live in the equivalent of ‘Medium Petey’. Not quite northern NJ and not quite southern, either. To my buds in Bergen County, we’re part of South Jersey, and all Philly fans. To my peeps in Gloucester County, we’re strict northerners and all Yankee fans. And at the center of it all is Flemington, MyTown in Central Jersey.

And I can say ‘MyTown’ because while I am not a native NJer [born and raised in NYC, thank you very much---Brooklyn, to be exact, thanks again] I spent twelve years on the Flemington Borough Council dealing with the problems and challenges that any Central Jersey town faces these days. Property taxes. Sprawl. Property taxes. Traffic. Downtown business leaving, coming back, leaving again. And property taxes, of course. So, I can now claim my piece of NJ as MyTown.

Flemington [aside from being MyTown] is really Anytown, USA. We have our Main Street [really called “Main Street”, ---and we even have a North Main and a South Main, too]. We have our history ---the Lindbergh Baby Trial took place here in 1935. And, no, it was not the Lindbergh Baby who was on trial [like we’ve never heard that joke before]—(and yup, I made that joke myself once, when I was living here for about five minutes) ----it was the first “Trial of the Century” and the trial-ee was Bruno Hauptman. We even have a re-enactment of the Trial each year in the actual courthouse where the original trial took place. Some older folks around here (including the current Mayor) still believe that Hauptman was guilty and got what he deserved. Really.

While MyTown has not grown much in years and years and years [pop. according to City-Data.com is “Males: 2,038 (48.5%)Females: 2,162 (51.5%)”, [Check that out, fellas!---that’s 1.06 girls for every boy!]
We’re still just about 4200, on the nose------MyTown is surrounded on all four sides by the ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-pulsating, housing development-building, school-constructing, mall-installing, ‘open space’ buying, super-growing Raritan Township [21,834 residents, increased a staggering 138.9 percent since 1980!] -----RTville, the town without a center.

RTville used to call MyTown ‘the whole in the doughnut’. I prefer [since MyTown is the town-center of RTville] to call MyTown the ‘nucleus of the cell’. After all, this is where everything in Hunterdon happens---all roads in Hunterdon County [well, two roads, actually---31 and 2-oh-2] lead to MyTown. My term has not caught on yet with the local residents, but it is more catchy than ‘the whole in the doughnut’, and it has panache. And EveryTown in NJ needs some panache to distinguish itself from NYC, Philly and [sometimes] the rest of Jersey.

So, I kind’ve grown to like MyTown very much. It’s home and it is getting more panache-ey everyday.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was driving through Flemington the other day... wow! Where did all of these Illegals come from? I saw 2 or 3 couples in the Marshals with about 10 or 12 kids running amok screaming and yelling in Spanish and playing near the door. I saw 4 women (all pregnant and pushing children in strollers) and 6 men in the parking lot throwing trash on the ground.

And to top it off, I saw one dart across 179 carrying an infant in front of on coming traffic.

What a mess they've made of such a nice place.

ImprovforLawyers said...

Why post "Anonymously"? I welcome your comments, and your identity.

Next time you drive through Flemington, let me know. I will meet you and we will take a walk downtown. Eat some lunch. Buy a paper. Maybe even meet some of the Latino population you seem to disdain. You may even discover you like them. I will pay for the lunch.

Anonymous said...

I feel compelled to reply due to the fact you are putting words into my mouth, (that I "don't like Latino" People) and your position that all Latino people are exactly alike.

On the contrary, most Latino people are not like those I witnessed as described above. Your position is both flawed and uneducated.

I grew up in the area and returned recently to visit family and some old friends after having moved to the West Coast after school. I never dreamed the problems we are having with illegals spread all the way out here. It doesn't seem that you have gotten to the point of putting bars on your windows yet but it happens very fast so...

Just for the record - I am "Latino." Most Latino people are here legally, law abiding, and contribute to the American way of life in a positive way. Lumping us together under some fictious umbrella is just plain ignorant not to mention destructive.

We:

Obey the Law and not just those that aren't felonies.

Drive, but possess a license, insurance, and registration.

Pay Taxes.

Pay Bills.

Live in Apartments without 20 or so random people sleeping on our floor for $15 a night.

Don't have sex with minors.

Our children do not run around like untrained animals.

Anyone who has encountered a large group of illegals after working hours will testify to what I have eyewitnessed. It may not be "politically correct" to say so but unfortunately its true.

And for good reason...

Mexico, for example, is exporting its impoverished, its sick, and its criminal elements to our great country. There's a reason why Mexico City is the most polluted in the world.

At what age is sex acceptable in Mexico? Have they continued that practice here? Do Doctors give out anti-biotics like its candy? Do we now have new strains of drug resistant disease, and are diseases we erraticated in the 19th making a comeback?

Etc. etc. etc.

Of course, not all Mexicans are here illegally, and there are some who are here illegally that don't engage in all I have listed above, however, even one of these named above is unacceptable.

Ever hear of Mariel? Would you like to introduce me to some of those people? Would you welcome them, as Latino People, into your community....into your home?

I discussed my observations with a friend who is currently in law enforcement in the area. He told me that MS-13 has already surfaced in Flemington.

Here's an idea: Meet a member of the MS-13 in Flemington and ask him to lunch then write in the blog what you experienced. Or, as an alternative, take the money to HCMC and place it down in my name against the millions owed that hospital for unpaid bills the illegals have decided not to pay.

And while your there please find out how many illegals actually did pay.