Greetings from sunny Central Jersey!
A new bill would require New Jersey to define the geography of its much-spoofed midsection and promote tourism there.
The bill, introduced in the state legislature Tuesday, requires state tourism officials to redraw maps to include an official “Central Jersey region” defined as Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties.
Funds would also be allotted to boost agricultural tourism in the state’s no man’s land — which was famously parodied on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
The bill also details federal spending relief guidelines in the state that brought you “hoagies” and “The Sopranos.”
Titled “Is Central Jersey A Real Place?,” the 2018 Colbert spoof ponders whether there’s actually anything besides just North Jersey and South Jersey.
A new bill in New Jersey would require state tourism officials to redraw maps to include a “Central Jersey region.” YouTube/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Central Jersey was famously spoofed by late night host Stephen Colbert in a segment titled “Is Central Jersey A Real Place?” in 2018. YouTube/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert“We know why Central Jersey was invented,” political reporter Claude Brodesser-Akner says in the segment. “So people don’t have to say they’re from South Jersey.”
Gov. Phil Murphy later joined the debate, declaring that Central Jersey does, in fact, exist.
The goal of the new legislation is to codify the area in order to promote it as a tourist destination.
