Mayor on Crutches Reappears at Events

Mayor John McCormac showed up during the weekend at township events, but with crutches, bandages and braces for the knee he injured playing basketball.

Was it the foot or the leg? Apparently, neither. It looks like it was a knee injury that sidelined Mayor John McCormac in recent days. Word has spread around town that the mayor had suffered an injury while playing basketball, but it was hard to find out exactly what the problem was. No information could be obtained from Town Hall about where McCormac was, or how serious his sports injury - which apparently required surgery - was. But after days of speculation and secrecy from One Main Street, the mayor reappeared at township events - albeit on crutches. McCormac hobbled around the Woodbridge Community Center Sunday during the Star Wars event designed by a hired public relations firm to bolster the fortunes of the building.  His PR team …

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Mayor Gets His Wish; Historic Diner is Being Torn Down

A historic diner, which many wanted to move and preserve, got no help from Town Hall in more than 16 months of trying.

It looks like Mayor John McCormac has gotten his wish. Mom's Diner, the classic 1950s diner on Route 1 in Avenel, is about to fall to the wrecking ball. The diner and the neighboring Gem Motel are both being bulldozed to make way for a 4,1888 sq. ft. Wawa convenience store and gas station with six islands. On Thursday, most of the Gem Motel was gone, while the improvements added over the decades to Mom's Diner revealed the original details of the stainless steel structure. Over the entrance was a clock, long hidden by the facade added to the roofline in an effort to modernize the exterior. The clock hands were frozen just short of 3:00.  When the mayor first announced the Wawa incursion into Woodbridge back in November, 2011, there were …

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Did Mayor McCormac Break Some Bones? Admin is Silent on Mayor's Fate

The mayor apparently suffered an injury while playing basketball. It's apparently the worst-kept secret in Woodbridge.

Word's been spreading like wildfire for days that Mayor John McCormac suffered an injury last week that included broken bones and has caused his absence from Town Hall. The township administration was silent about how the mayor is doing. A township employee confirmed that indeed, McCormac had not only broken bones, supposedly in his foot, while playing basketball, but that the mayor had had surgery to repair the fracture. McCormac spokesman John Hagerty did not return phone calls about the injury. One township citizen reported that when a call was put it to Hagerty to inquire about the mayor's health, Hagerty allegedly hung up on the caller. The Woodbridge Chamber of Commerce wished the mayor well. They sent out an email that highlighted …

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Birdsall Files for Bankruptcy Protection; No Word on Fate of Woodbridge Projects

The company embroiled in arrests and Pay to Play campaign contribution scandals this week took a step to defend itself by filing Chapter 11 papers on Friday

Just days after its executives were arrested for election donation fraud and its bank accounts frozen, Birdsall Engineering threw its own curveball. Friday afternoon, the engineering and consulting firm hired by Woodbridge and other municipalities throughout the state, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was unable to pay its 350 employees this week because it didn't have access to bank accounts frozen after the arrest of seven current and former officials of the Eatontown firmed, according to an app.com report. The Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to reorganize and survive the court-ordered onslaughts of recent days. "This will better allow us to reorganize our company, handle our payroll and operational budget and …

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Hurricane Sandy

Flood Zone Group to Meet with Mayor

Victims of Hurricane Sandy flooding are having an open meeting tonight

The Woodbridge Flood Zone group, which has caused a stir with a march and presence at last week's council meeting, will be holding a meeting tonight at the First Presbyterian Church in Woodbridge. Mayor John McCormac and members of the town council are slated to attend. The meeting will begin with a planning session at 7:30 pm, followed by the regular meeting at 8 pm. The community group is comprised of township residents affected by Hurricane Sandy and other flooding events, and who are ready to do work towards real change. Township residents who have experienced flooding issues are welcome to attend the meeting. Follow Woodbridge Patch on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for the daily newsletter.

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Mike Coyne a.k.a. "The Lawn Ranger" a.k.a."TheSlyFoxHunter"

6:52 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2013

We don't want to exclude anybody, I just made it clear that our meeting wouldn't be used a a political platform for anybody or anything else but our collective problems. Anybody should be welcome to sit and listen as we really need all the support we can get. I for one will try and treat everyone the way I would like to be treated, with respect. I was sorry to see anyone leave. I thought I made …   more ›

A Year After a Freak Fall Claimed a Life, "Moves Like Woodbridge" is Repackaged

Jean Donato died in a bizarre accident a year ago during the township-promoted exercise event. A year later, her death is still ignored by officials- but the shakefest has been renamed and toned down.

A year after a freakish accident claimed the life of a longtime Woodbridge Board of Education employee, the township-sponsored exercise event that cost the woman her life has quietly disappeared. Instead, it's been revamped into a presumably safer 12-week dieting and exercise event, called the "Mayor's Spring into Shape Weight Loss Challenge." Residents who pay a $30 fee will get a t-shirt with Mayor John McCormac's fat fighting slogan, "Shape Up Woodbridge!" on it. They'll also receive a pedometer, nutrition education classes, and workout sessions at the Woodbridge Community Center.  Big losers will win cash prizes, said McCormac in a statement on the event. In 2012, the exercise event was known as "Moves Like Woodbridge." The idea was …

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Janelle

9:40 am on Friday, March 29, 2013

Deborah Bell - So you indicate above that you screwed up the article, but you want me to apologize??? I did nothing but comment on how disgraceful the article was in the first place.....I don't owe anyone an apology. See -- that's what it means to have an opinion.   more ›

Hurricane Sandy

Woodbridge Flooding Victims Express Frustration, Muted Hope After March

Members of the Woodbridge Flood Zone group gave eloquent - and painful - testimony about their Sandy devastated homes at the town council meeting.

Residents of Woodbridge's flood-prone areas were polite, but the patience was becoming threadbare. That was the sentiment at Tuesday's council meeting from the dozens of homeowners who marched down Main Street to Town Hall to keep the pressure on after years of having their flood-battered homes ignored. Most are members of the ad hoc Woodbridge Flood Zone - a group begun by Monique Coleman, who expanded their efforts into a meeting and a frequently updated website - own some of the more than 600 homes in the township that experienced moderate or severe devastation from Hurricane Sandy. The township administration was prepared for the marchers. Mayor John McCormac gave a speech to update residents on progress being made to get the …

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floodvictim2

5:28 pm on Monday, March 25, 2013

First of all Mr. M aras we really do not need your help. I sat near you at the Council meeting last week and you were alseep at your chair for most of it. When you got up you were disrespectful to the Council President. Nobody else in our group was. Mr Coyne was respectful and presentable and you were not. You actually appeared to be inebriated and you were slurring your words. You will notice …   more ›

TELL US: What Do You Think About McCormac's 2nd Spot Tie for Most Excellent Mayor?

Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac is in a two-way tie for the second spot in a poll conducted by PolitickerNJ. What are your thoughts?

It's good news for fans of Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac. PolitickerNJ, the most popular Internet site for the state's political junkies, asked readers to vote for which mayor they thought was "most consistently excellent" from a list of 16 candidates. The polling results today showed that McCormac is tied for second place with Mayor Dave Mayer of Gloucester Township. The poll's winner is longtime Monroe Township mayor, Richard Pucci. McCormac and Mayer each received 25 percent of the votes, while Pucci grabbed half, according to the site. The poll may not be scientifically accurate, though: none of the other 13 mayors listed received any votes at all. TELL US: Do you agree with the poll's results? Should Mayor McCormac have won? Who …

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Hurricane Sandy

Sandy-Devastated Homeowners in Woodbridge Got Small Comfort from FEMA Meeting

Residents in sections of the township who experienced major losses and destruction from October's hurricane found little to allay their frustration at the first local meeting on the destruction.

Maybe it's becaue it's been so long since Hurricane Sandy, or maybe it was just the frustration of dealing with monolithic federal bureaucracies. Woodbridge homeowners who have been suffering since last October's gigantic hurricane had little good to say about a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) meeting held on Monday. It was the first public meeting held for township residents to deal with the effects of Hurricane Sandy since it devastated parts of Woodbridge four months ago. "[It was a] total waste of time. Nothing was presented that I didn't find out on my own 3 months ago," posted Debbie Wherrity Smith on Woodbridge Patch's Facebook page. "No new info! And no one could answer any of our questions!" declared Christina O'Leary…

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Hurricane Sandy

VIDEO: FEMA Meeting in Woodbridge Was 'No Help at All'

Not everyone was satisfied by the first public meeting in Woodbridge to discuss the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, four months after the storm slammed the township.

Four months after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of Woodbridge, people who are still struggling to get help with their hurricane-damaged homes didn't find much new at a meeting to discuss the storm damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) held a meeting last Thursday at Woodbridge High School that was well attended. Victims of the hurricane, though, said they found little new from the panel of experts who sympathized with their plight, but couldn't make the federal bureaucracy move any faster than it has. Mayor John McCormac was also at the meeting, the first public gathering since the hurricane struck last October. The mayor said the township was the first municipality to apply for aid, and that because there was so much …

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