Posted on 05/05/2023 2:23:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry wasn't pleased with the scene but said he'll gladly pick up discarded spaghetti instead of a dumped tire or mattress.
Pasta al fresco was served in a New Jersey town last week, much to the chagrin of city workers-turned-busboys who had to clear mounds of macaroni dumped in the woods.
A public works crew picked up 500 pounds of noodles discarded into a wooded area of Old Bridge, on the banks of the Iresick Brook, Mayor Owen Henry told NBC News on Friday.
“No sauce, no gravy, no cheese, it was was just piles of macaroni" and spaghetti, Henry said.
It's believed the pasta was dry and uncooked at the time it was dumped but then turned al dente when rain fell on central New Jersey last week.
About two inches of rain had fallen on the region on April 22-23 and the pasta was picked up on April 28.
Keith Rost, 33, recently moved into the neighborhood and was out for a walk and smoke last week when he came upon the piles of pasta.
Word in the neighborhood, Rost said, is that the dry pasta was dumped by a man as he cleaned out the Hillyard Road home of his late parents, who apparently believed in having a fully stocked pantry.
"I was like, 'What was all of this?!'" Rost said Friday. "I just started reading the alphabet (pasta) to spell my name. I didn't know what to think."
Disney's gay fans worry about Florida policies even as many consider the park a safe haven While Mayor Owen laughed about the incident, he took a serious moment to ask locals not to dump their unwanted goods in the woods.
"Old Bridge is very rural so we do have people who go out and illegally dump so much material in isolated areas, so we're constantly going out there and cleaning up," Henry said.
"I mean it's unfortunate because we can take so much of this stuff in at our recycling centers. There's no reason to dump a mattress in the woods, no reason to throw a refrigerator away. We'll come to get it from your house. Electronics, rugs, padding, concrete, metal, it makes no sense to throw it into the woods."
Even though the pasta dumper could be cited, Henry said police will not actively pursue the case.
"It was illegal dumping but it wasn't anything hazardous. I mean it's pasta — flour, water and eggs?" Henry said. "We're not focused on that. There are bigger, pressing issues the detective bureau needs to be involved in. It's not on the front burner."
And the mayor pointed out this serving of illegal dumping isn't the worst he's seen.
"I'l take pasta any day over tires," he said. "I'll take pasta any day over a mattress."
Plugs Biden, the Irish-Italian himself is in this video toward the end:
https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU?t=138
It was obviously before the plugs.
(He harvests corn pop also.)
There’s a good Italian restaurant in Old Bridge called Ponte Vecchio.
Elbow pasta.
In the Pine Nut Barrens with Pesto Sauce.
Elbow macaroni room.
1. I used to live about a mile away from the dump site, but it was too long ago for me to have even any info. I wasn’t even aware there was a creek there even though NJ is rotten with creeks.
2. I saw on another site they think it was son cleaning out his mom’s house who did. Not to defend him, but having recently had to deal with decades of food kept by father, who passed away last year, it can be tough if you don’t have much help. These last few years have destroyed many a relationship. Luckily I had someone willing to get rid of stuff for me the proper way.
Lizzo Alert!!
They must have been alfredo running out.
Trying to figure out why they picked it up rather than just let earthworms deal with it.
The alternatives, in my experience are al chewe or al mushe
Clearly they were pestomists.
That IS Plugs! Nice catch!
We at least know his parents weren’t short on dough.
So, the New Jersey record-breaking pasta dish-cooking festival has been canceled for this evening? I had already made plans!
Yet it was gnocchi to good health.
What I want to know it why he didn't just blame bears for 500 Pounds of Pasta 'Mysteriously' Dumped in the Woods. Who would have questioned?
“What I want to know it why he didn’t just blame bears for 500 Pounds of Pasta ‘Mysteriously’ Dumped in the Woods. Who would have questioned?”
That’s right. The bear story wouldn’t have made al dente in the local news.
The truth is out there:
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