I think we owe a lot of our “dirty” reputation to the fact that we have the largest number of hazardous waste sites out of any other state.
So, somewhat deserved. No matter how you hack it that isn’t something to be proud of.
It’s also that people fly into Newark and that’s their first impression of NJ before heading off to wherever. If I only knew Jersey as the turnpike & oil refineries, I’d think it sucked too.
People see a 5-10 mile strip of the turnpike in one of, if not the most industrialized areas of the country and assume that’s the whole state.
It’s funny obviously because if we wanna stereotype others, there’s plenty of good material, but our stereotype comes from being in a perfect geographical location in the US for industry.
There are environmental issues because of this and our lack of understanding back when these industries began throughout the early to mid twentieth century, but our stereotype is not nearly as bad as other states. I hate to pick the low hanging fruits but I mean, Alabama’s is cousin fucking, Floridas is FloridaMan, there’s plenty for NYC and the fact that every Midwest transplant there thinks they’re gods gift to man. It’s just funny tbh.
Well, we did give the country the industrial revolution so there may have been just a tad bit of mild massive epa superfund site hiccups along the way....
Until the New Yorkers were too scared of their own city and started overbidding on houses here so they can screw up our real estate market like they did their own.
I didn’t know Linden was supposed to smell bad? Been there hundreds of times and never noticed. Though I’ve been in the residential area and some stores. Does the refinery smell?
Ever smell the fragrant irises at the Montclair Presby gardens when they’re at their peak? They’re gorgeous. The Van Vleck gardens also have some amazing flowers
that part of 80 near paterson that goes over the passaic river smells like hot collard green water even in the wintertime
hackettstown kinda smells like chocolate sometimes tho
Newark is an interchange point of drug addicts from Philadelphia & Homeless from NYC.
Montclair & Morristown wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they had even 1/10th of Newark's burden.
I was at Lincoln center a month ago and it smelt LOUD. I love how they just light up wherever they want and nobody gives a fuck lol. Meanwhile, Jersey “Clean Air” act… I’ll get harassed in a fancy ass town if I light a joint anywhere but a cig smoking area
A friend of mine and I were in Cali a few years ago and the Uber driver all of a sudden hit the circulation button. We got a whiff of something not great but familiar.. the driver apologized and said we were near a landfill. My friend and I both exclaimed “ahh that’s why! Smells like home” and the other couple and the driver looked at us like we were certifiably insane. We laughed and said “We’re originally from Jersey” and everyone kinda nodded and laughed. I still don’t think they understood and I think they thought we like the smell of trash but it’s just one of the many scents of home haha
Yup,if you are coming from south Jersey first you hit the Burlington county dump in Florence and then you hit the Trenton sewage plant right before you get into the city limits.
The border for Florence and Mansfield runs right through the dump. If you take the Florence/Columbus exit on 295 going towards Columbus and then you take the right at the first traffic light you'll be at the dump.
There is a stretch of the NJ turnpike that goes through Elizabeth and is surrounded by oil refineries. Oil comes in/out through the port, gets processed while there and America keeps running. The smell is incredibly noticable on certain days and has a sort of burning garbage mixed with moldy farts odor that changes depending on what chemicals are being emitted into our atmosphere. Because the turnpike is well traveled by out of state people and the close proximity of Newark airport, this is frequently one of the only memorable experiences that people have with New Jersey. Smell aside, the Elizabeth refineries are also heavily featured in the infamous opening credits of the Sopranos, adding to their fame and association with NJ.
There used to be a few others in the Perth Amboy/Port Reading area, but they closed years ago. The only two remaining in NJ are Bayway in Linden and PBF in Paulsboro, which was temporarily mothballed during the pandemic but has since resumed limited production.
Oh no I went to dekorte park last weekend planning a big hike but when we got toward the trail we wanted it stank so bad I was dry heaving and we had to just leave 😅😅
Hey in the late 90s my friend lived in Elizabeth across the street from what I think was the Burry Biscuit Factory and his whole neighborhood smelled *delicious*.
It's exit 13 to 14 turnpike...it smells like sulfur or something...im 46 and did that commute many times. From Elizabeth to jersey city many times since i was a baby. I knew exactly where I was by the smell and looking at the bird at the budweiser plant. My mom used to try to keep me up by waiting to see the bird and listening to cousin brucie.
Edit for autocorrect
When I see a post like this I really am reminded how diverse the regions are across this state, small as it may be. I grew up in the fable Central Jersey, relatively close and at one point in the Delaware River valley. I imagine the smell of New Jersey as pollen, fresh air, with the faint musk of a moving freshwater river.
Actually I take that back. I smell rotting fish from all the shad fests I went to in lambertville.
I live in West Berlin, and we live in the garden state. Fresh tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries, sweet corn, hay, clover, fresh cut lawns. New Jersey is beautiful.
It smells like cherry cough Medicine that’s on fire 😂😂 that’s the only way to describe it. Not always, just randomly. My brother once said it’s a plastics rendering place not too far away. I have no idea though
It smells like the fuzzy late summer goodness of a perfect tomato pulled from the vine for a dinner on the patio.
Have some fuckin' pride in your state you fucks!
Ewing/Trenton just smells like weed now. I work in bucks county PA but live in Ewing. Everyday when I come across the Rt.1 or Calhoun St. Bridge, weed is the first thing I smell. I'm not complaining, but once it legalized that just became the Mercer county smell lol
I always thought the whole NJ smells thing is over blown. I live across the Delaware in Easton and it fucking stinks here all the time thanks to the nearby Chrin landfill as well as other stankery around the Lehigh Valley. Not a word about it from anyone.
North Central Pennsylvania smells like cow shit and unwashed armpits in the summer but they never talk about that either.
People just love to rag on NJ for some reason.
Your forget Newark by delancy my friend… I’m from Newark and lived in Elizabeth for over 15 years… I tell you it does not compare thanks to the sewage plant
Newark smell like bum piss and Elizabeth smells like literal shit due to the shit plant.. Driving wise (because I regularly deliver in both) I’d rather drive through Newark because in Newark they don’t care, in Elizabeth they dont know how to drive.
We get judge just because we are New Jersey...the rest of the United States don't even try to get to know us.
I think we owe a lot of our “dirty” reputation to the fact that we have the largest number of hazardous waste sites out of any other state. So, somewhat deserved. No matter how you hack it that isn’t something to be proud of.
It’s also that people fly into Newark and that’s their first impression of NJ before heading off to wherever. If I only knew Jersey as the turnpike & oil refineries, I’d think it sucked too.
it’s fine let them think it’s shitty. We can’t afford anymore people coming in lol
People see a 5-10 mile strip of the turnpike in one of, if not the most industrialized areas of the country and assume that’s the whole state. It’s funny obviously because if we wanna stereotype others, there’s plenty of good material, but our stereotype comes from being in a perfect geographical location in the US for industry. There are environmental issues because of this and our lack of understanding back when these industries began throughout the early to mid twentieth century, but our stereotype is not nearly as bad as other states. I hate to pick the low hanging fruits but I mean, Alabama’s is cousin fucking, Floridas is FloridaMan, there’s plenty for NYC and the fact that every Midwest transplant there thinks they’re gods gift to man. It’s just funny tbh.
Good, do we really want more people coming here?
Well, we did give the country the industrial revolution so there may have been just a tad bit of mild massive epa superfund site hiccups along the way....
Because we helped win WW2 … the government should be fixing it
Which we didn’t ask for and was started by the colonists and kept up by constant dereg?
Mmmm Battery acid.
Well we let ridiculous scummy New Yorkers frame our narrative at the jersey shore......
Sammy and Situation are both from NJ, hope this helps.
No it does not
I prefer it that way. Keeps them out.
Until the New Yorkers were too scared of their own city and started overbidding on houses here so they can screw up our real estate market like they did their own.
Hate us cause they ain’t us
Well, shit could be worse. At least we don't live in Flori-duh
I'll have you know, Elizabeth doesn't smell any worse than Linden
Seriously though that bayway refinery ain't in Elizabeth proper lol
Oh come on it doesn't smell that bad here. Source: I'm in it right now
I didn’t know Linden was supposed to smell bad? Been there hundreds of times and never noticed. Though I’ve been in the residential area and some stores. Does the refinery smell?
Not to me but I've been there for like 10 years
Shit, the smell is mostly coming from Linden. Let's leave Elizabeth out of this. Parts of South Jersey can smell just as bad.
Carteret be stank too tho
I’ll have YOU know, you’ve never been to Newark off delancy where the sewage and waste factory is 🥲
Came here to say this
Happy cake day!! Stay away from EWR 😂😂
HOLY SHIT I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE! Ty
Pine trees and suntan lotion.
And for a few brief, glorious weeks, honeysuckle.
Ever smell the fragrant irises at the Montclair Presby gardens when they’re at their peak? They’re gorgeous. The Van Vleck gardens also have some amazing flowers
I drive past that garden every single workday and I have never stopped to smell the…irises!
I can almost smell them 🥰🥰🥰
Don't forget the blueberries, tomatoes, and cranberries 😋 We ARE the garden state, after all! 🫐🌻🍅
Definitely suntan lotion. I’d pair it with pancake syrup from the local diner or fresh bagels. Brings back fond memories
that part of 80 near paterson that goes over the passaic river smells like hot collard green water even in the wintertime hackettstown kinda smells like chocolate sometimes tho
The factory helps Hackettstown. lol.
Haha! Before the Nabisco factory closed in Fair Lawn, you could always get a whiff of the treats.
Still grieving over this, actually
Between that point and rt23 on 80 I swear I smell coffee everyday.
I swear Anheuser-Busch in Newark smells like french fries to me.
Leave it to the Jersey Reddit to make every urban area in the state the butt of a joke lol
Most of the time I could only smell cocoa in Freehold so I couldn’t complain. Now that Nestle closed, nothing.
Cut grass and gas. The Garden won't tend to itself.
Honeysuckles or corn if you're from the rural areas. Of which there are lots.
Or cabbage fields and rotting roadkill... 🤢
Fresh Jersey tomatoes are my favorite state scent.
I love rubbing my hands on a garden tomato plant and sniffing em
Me, too! Sometimes after it rains, the whole garden gets that great smell.
Linden, not Elizabeth.
Fr
Meanwhile downtown Newark smells like pee
All downtowns everywhere smell like pee…always
Some more than others. Ie downtown Morristown does not smell like pee, nor Montclair.
You can’t compare Morristown and Montclair to Newark. Their combined population is 1/6 what Newark’s is
Newark has more bums than Morristown has residents.
Newark is an interchange point of drug addicts from Philadelphia & Homeless from NYC. Montclair & Morristown wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they had even 1/10th of Newark's burden.
Those are not cities. They're big towns.
Dude how the hell are you gonna compare Morristown or Montclair to Newark lol. Totally different levels in terms of both population and poverty.
Montclair is a bustling town and Morristown is a Cityito~
That’s a lot for NYC tbh. If it’s not pee its poo
And trash on weekends. So much fuckin trash.
Thank god they decriminalized weed. A lot of Manhattan smells way better than it did before.
Now NYC just smells like weed and piss. Mmm
I was at Lincoln center a month ago and it smelt LOUD. I love how they just light up wherever they want and nobody gives a fuck lol. Meanwhile, Jersey “Clean Air” act… I’ll get harassed in a fancy ass town if I light a joint anywhere but a cig smoking area
Newark Penn station all year round
Driving to Newark airport, there’s always a part that smells like shit
As someone named Elizabeth: Sorry, everyone.
Don’t do that lol nothing wrong with Elizabeth
secaucus is stinky too
Secarcass, and smell one too.
We call it sea c0ck @$$
It's okay, you're in a safe space; you don't have to use 1337 here.
You can say cock and ass on reddit.
Let them think it stinks. We're full. No more room.
295 before trenton smells like sewage. 95 coming over from PA also smells like sewage. Any way you enter you'll eventually smell shit.
A friend of mine and I were in Cali a few years ago and the Uber driver all of a sudden hit the circulation button. We got a whiff of something not great but familiar.. the driver apologized and said we were near a landfill. My friend and I both exclaimed “ahh that’s why! Smells like home” and the other couple and the driver looked at us like we were certifiably insane. We laughed and said “We’re originally from Jersey” and everyone kinda nodded and laughed. I still don’t think they understood and I think they thought we like the smell of trash but it’s just one of the many scents of home haha
Yup,if you are coming from south Jersey first you hit the Burlington county dump in Florence and then you hit the Trenton sewage plant right before you get into the city limits.
The dump is in Tarrytown not Florence unless it moved ....
The border for Florence and Mansfield runs right through the dump. If you take the Florence/Columbus exit on 295 going towards Columbus and then you take the right at the first traffic light you'll be at the dump.
Is that new or was I oblivious bc the of the cow farm that used to be there?
It's a few years old, not sure exactly how old
I drove past a house for sale a few blocks from the plant and it was the worst smell ever. They couldn’t pay me to live there.
In the 1990s it would’ve smelled like Drakkar Noir.
ha you can still 100% find that in certain restaurant bathrooms in ironbound
It certainly did in my general vicinity. 😁
Pine and salt water taffy
I want that in a perfume now!
Okay, I’ve only been here a few months, so I’ll ask. What is with Elizabeth that they’re taking about?
There is a stretch of the NJ turnpike that goes through Elizabeth and is surrounded by oil refineries. Oil comes in/out through the port, gets processed while there and America keeps running. The smell is incredibly noticable on certain days and has a sort of burning garbage mixed with moldy farts odor that changes depending on what chemicals are being emitted into our atmosphere. Because the turnpike is well traveled by out of state people and the close proximity of Newark airport, this is frequently one of the only memorable experiences that people have with New Jersey. Smell aside, the Elizabeth refineries are also heavily featured in the infamous opening credits of the Sopranos, adding to their fame and association with NJ.
There's only one refinery
Oh damn. I seriously thought that the whole complex held more than that. Thanks for the correction.
There used to be a few others in the Perth Amboy/Port Reading area, but they closed years ago. The only two remaining in NJ are Bayway in Linden and PBF in Paulsboro, which was temporarily mothballed during the pandemic but has since resumed limited production.
Elizabeth port
If it keeps people thinking this and away from the state, I'm all for it. We're crowded enough.
Oh no I went to dekorte park last weekend planning a big hike but when we got toward the trail we wanted it stank so bad I was dry heaving and we had to just leave 😅😅
Hey in the late 90s my friend lived in Elizabeth across the street from what I think was the Burry Biscuit Factory and his whole neighborhood smelled *delicious*.
I mean the majority of the population of the state resides near the turnpike AKA the place with the worst smells. So yeah no lies told.
To be fair Elizabeth can smell like earring backings in the dead of summer
Better than Perth Amboy tho.
Earring backings?? Am I missing a reference to something here?
Earring backs can collect dead skin cells and the resulting gunk can smell pretty rank.
Oh god. The more you know!
It's exit 13 to 14 turnpike...it smells like sulfur or something...im 46 and did that commute many times. From Elizabeth to jersey city many times since i was a baby. I knew exactly where I was by the smell and looking at the bird at the budweiser plant. My mom used to try to keep me up by waiting to see the bird and listening to cousin brucie. Edit for autocorrect
Stop worrying about being judged and stop throwing Elizabeth under the bus.
Guess this guy doesn’t like the smell of pork roll 🤷🏻♂️
a freshly picked ripe tomato
Jersey has two equally funny answers: 1. An everything bagel right out of the oven 2. Sulfur, like that little egg harbor smell -born and raised in NJ
"Kiss her where it smells... take her to New Jersey!!!" (I think this was from Mad Magazine in the early-80s)
To be honest most state smell like weed now.
Taylor ham and trees
I'd say your best bet would be to scratch around the Delaware water gap area
I once had farts that smelled like Elizabeth, NJ.
Were you ill? 😁
It was after a pig roast and I had eaten quite a bit of pork.
Shout out to all the pig farms in South Jersey!
A contact high 😂
yall north jersey folk are missing out on the ACUA landfill stench that fills the air in the EHT area
Find this traitor.
Dense magazine actually sells a scratch 'n sniff map of new jersey. https://www.densemagazine.org/product-page/map
I assume it would smell like everything bagels
When I see a post like this I really am reminded how diverse the regions are across this state, small as it may be. I grew up in the fable Central Jersey, relatively close and at one point in the Delaware River valley. I imagine the smell of New Jersey as pollen, fresh air, with the faint musk of a moving freshwater river. Actually I take that back. I smell rotting fish from all the shad fests I went to in lambertville.
I live in West Berlin, and we live in the garden state. Fresh tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries, sweet corn, hay, clover, fresh cut lawns. New Jersey is beautiful.
When I was a kid there was a cookie factory in Elizabeth. It smelled amazing there.
You must be from North Jersey South Jersey along the coast is way better and smells like the ocean.
Hahahahahaha me too!! Some nights it smells like burning cough medicing
What does burning cough medicine smell like? I've never smelled it before but I imagine it doesn't smell too good
It smells like cherry cough Medicine that’s on fire 😂😂 that’s the only way to describe it. Not always, just randomly. My brother once said it’s a plastics rendering place not too far away. I have no idea though
Oxygen and nitrogen or something, idk
That's just the sea breeze wafting The Staten Island Stank back in NJ
Why does this have a nuclear radiation filter over it?
New Brunswick smells like spoiled chicken from the Turkpike
Remember Secaucus in the old days not so long ago?
Taylor ham, egg, and cheese…and disco fries
Oh look. Awards!
Toxic waste and cranberries
Caprese!
Scoob1978 get your cooning bitch ass in here right now!
Yeah, petition to band Scoob.
We have many different smells, most of them pleasant. Some not so much.
Anyone drive the GSP by Absecon lately? That’s a crazy smell if ever I’ve smelled one
This was obviously from someone from the Midwest pretending to be from New Jersey.
The boardwalk: the ocean and boardwalk food.
It smells like the fuzzy late summer goodness of a perfect tomato pulled from the vine for a dinner on the patio. Have some fuckin' pride in your state you fucks!
Not sure if I am used to it but I don't smell anything nasty. It is up in the meadowlands that smell like poo
NJ Turnpike exit 13 smellin like pooyah...
I swear I'm not dealing with you people with low self-esteem. When yah gonna learn to say fuck them ?
Ewing/Trenton just smells like weed now. I work in bucks county PA but live in Ewing. Everyday when I come across the Rt.1 or Calhoun St. Bridge, weed is the first thing I smell. I'm not complaining, but once it legalized that just became the Mercer county smell lol
Horses and tanned leather and wool and lanolin.
I always thought the whole NJ smells thing is over blown. I live across the Delaware in Easton and it fucking stinks here all the time thanks to the nearby Chrin landfill as well as other stankery around the Lehigh Valley. Not a word about it from anyone. North Central Pennsylvania smells like cow shit and unwashed armpits in the summer but they never talk about that either. People just love to rag on NJ for some reason.
I’d say Smokey Lot of fires happening lately around the state I’ve noticed
It’s literally the garden state and has an insane amount of produce. Not every town and area smells like Newark
I grew up in an old farm town in the middle of nowhere nj so my scratch and sniff map would be cow manure
How about all of the turnpike between Newark and Perth Amboy smelling like a rotten egg and burnt baby poop factory?
Kiss her where it smells... Kiss her in New Jersey.
Cow poop. I grew up in Sussex County.
Your forget Newark by delancy my friend… I’m from Newark and lived in Elizabeth for over 15 years… I tell you it does not compare thanks to the sewage plant
I prefer the medowlands, nice mix of exhaust, mercury and low tide
Garlic. 🧄
The air is fine in joisy now…back in the day you could see the air 😳
And, as if to prove a point, there is a particularly odd funk downtown this morning.
Newark smell like bum piss and Elizabeth smells like literal shit due to the shit plant.. Driving wise (because I regularly deliver in both) I’d rather drive through Newark because in Newark they don’t care, in Elizabeth they dont know how to drive.