DOCUMENT: Crime

Counting The Beefs On The N.J. Turnpike

Garden State toll takers a nasty bunch, say motorists

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Counting The Beefs On The N.J. Turnpike

SEPTEMBER 8--Along with chronicling the joys of the open road, turnpike bard Bruce Springsteen has written about the highway's treacherous side, from the Challenger he piloted through the "dead ends and all the bad scenes" to all those empty roads and empty dreams. So we're wondering why The Boss has given a pass to the Garden State's feral toll takers, who seem way scarier than Spanish Johnny or the Magic Rat, according to complaint letters sent this year to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. In the third and final installment of our summer series (Massachusetts and New York preceded N.J.), below you'll find a generous sampling of entertaining 2004 beefs filed by motorists traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway. If these aggrieved drivers are to be believed, some toll takers are abusive, vulgar, threatening, and violent. Who knew? Though we must salute the state employee who, last month, allegedly responded to a routine request for a receipt with this lyrical reply: "You white people are a pain in the ass! Kiss my sweet black ass." (20 pages)