A scholarly-looking head observing the students rushing to classes at Princeton University. This photo was taken during the summer of 1989.

 

My home state is the one famous for the sea shore, the Turnpike (I'm from Exit 9), pine barrens, endless suburbs, Bruce Springsteen (if you've read about the music I like, you probably have guessed I'm not a fan) and, unfortunately, oil and chemical refineries lining the road to New York City. I was born in and subsequently lived in Perth Amboy for the next two years. Situated on Raritan Bay and founded sometime back in the 1600's, Perth Amboy is a historic town that was once known as the "Pearl of the Colonies." Let's just say that at this point in time, this pearl needs some polishing. Eventually my parents moved us to the Township of East Brunswick in 1966, a semi-rural town at the time. Now it is a sprawling suburban area, steadily growing with families fleeing the outer boroughs of New York in search of their slice of the suburban pie. Route 18, the main artery that runs through the township, is lined with strip malls, auto dealers, drive-thru banks and every fast food restaurant known to mankind. The rest of the town consists of quiet blocks of homes in a variety of price ranges. In a word: suburbia. During my high school and college years I spent most of my time in the bars, restaurants and record stores of New Brunswick, an adjacent city which is famous for being the home of Rutgers University and the world headquarters of Johnson & Johnson. Oh yeah, and I also attended college at Rutgers. Central Jersey was my home until May of 1988, when I moved on up to the East Side of Manhattan.

 


The facade of a restored building, Neilson and Church Streets, downtown New Brunswick. I took this photo on a hot summer day in 1989. My friend Jim and I went on a photographic journey, cataloging all of our haunts in New Brunswick and Princeton.

 

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