Monmouth County News Briefs, March 9

Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett have announced the fifth consecutive year of no fare increases for NJ Transit under the Murphy Administration.

According to a Feb. 28 press release, it was also announced that Wi-Fi will be installed on all NJ Transit buses through Murphy’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget.

“Without a single fare hike, NJ Transit has been drastically transformed and improved over the last five years,” Murphy said. “On-time performance is up, cancellations are down and engineer ranks have been replenished.

“Under our administration, NJ Transit has been on the fast track to success and will remain a high priority in years to come. New Jersey commuters deserve a transit agency that works for them and that is exactly what we are giving them,” he said.

“Since 2018, Gov. Murphy has provided continued support for NJ Transit to deliver improvements in safety, service, reliability and the overall experience for our customers,”  Corbett said.

“While there is much work still to be done, we are pleased we are able to continue to build on the progress of the last four years without a fare increase for our customers in Fiscal Year 2023,” he said.

 

Former NBA player and executive Ernie Grunfeld is the only athlete in NBA history whose parents survived the Holocaust.

“By the Grace of the Game” (Dreamscape Media, 2021), a new book written by his son, former professional basketball player Dan Grunfeld, details his family’s remarkable history and the profound impact basketball has had in their lives, according to a press release.

Ernie Grunfeld was 10 years old when his family immigrated to America from Communist Romania, with no knowledge of English and having never touched a basketball. Ten years later he stood on the podium as an Olympic gold medalist for the United States.

This virtual event is the annual Abram Matlofsky Memorial Program supported by the Karma Foundation and will be held March 23 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.

Dan Grunfeld will discuss his family’s history and American story in conversation with his father and with Craig Karmazin, CEO of Good Karma Brands, a sports media and marketing company, and grandson of Abram Matlofsky.

The talk is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University. Advance registration is required at BildnerCenter.Rutgers.edu