Mayor Wants a Fitness Flash Mob To Take Over Woodbridge

If you're in Woodbridge, you should stop, drop, and shake tomorrow at 10 am.

Thursday is going to be the official kickoff for the  where township employees, politicians, students, and business folk will be movin' and groovin' to a funky beat.

The publicity event is described in a township flyer as being "hosted by Mayor John McCormac," but according to a report in mycentraljersey.com, the idea was Council President Gregg Ficarra's, who is known for his intense interest in fitness activities.

The concept of a shaking Woodbridge flash mob might seem slightly scary, but it's all good, explained Ficarra, who is head of the Mayor's Wellness Committee. 

“When I was a health and physical education teacher in Perth Amboy in the late 1980s, there was a national movement in which schoools around the country around a particular time would stop what they were doing and exercise,” Ficarra said in the report.

Ficarra also told mycentraljersey.com that he is working on having the video uploaded to township administration and school district computers for the event.

Exercise is good for the environment, Ficarra said in the story, because it "cuts down on energy costs."

'Moves Like Woodbridge' takes its name from the Maroon 5 song and video, "Moves like Jagger," an ode to the dance style of the Rolling Stones lead singer. There are two versions of the video - one that is risque, and a PG version.

The song, though, might not have been the wisest choice: "Moves Like Jagger" made the curated by Start Strong Boston, a program of the Division of Violence Prevention at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC).

The Maroon 5 song hit #5 on the list of

The Woodbridge event, which is being arranged by a township employee in McCormac's office, has a Facebook page and its own video, shot by township employees, featuring Ficarra, Woodbridge students, and a Woodbridge policeman handing out a ticket to a motorist who "failure to move like Woodbridge."

After the motorist replies, "Seriously?" to the ticket, the announcer exhorts township residents to get out on Thursday and start dancing.

The mayor's office did not respond to inquiries.