New Jersey residents know that its rest stops are named after prominent residents of the state, like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Edison. Recently, the New Jersey Turnpike announced plans to re-name those rest stops with an updated roster of more contemporary figures. Famous folks who now have their own rest stops include Jon Bon Jovi and Whitney Houston, courtesy of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame. Curiously missing from the list is Bruce Springsteen, although there’s a reason for that: He apparently wasn’t interested in having a rest stop named after him.
New Jersey Hall Of Fame spokeswoman Natasha Alagarasan told NorthJersey.com (as Stereogum notes), “Bruce Springsteen respectfully declined to have a service area named after him. It should be noted, though, that Bruce has been very supportive of the New Jersey Hall Of Fame over the years, and is very much a part of the fabric of the Hall.”
As for the newly re-named rest stops, those include Montvale’s James Gandolfini Service Area, Brookdale North’s Larry Doby Service Area, Brookdale South’s Connie Chung Service Area, Vauxhall’s Whitney Houston Service Area, Cheesequake’s Jon Bon Jovi Service Area, Monmouth’s Judy Blume Service Area, Forked River’s Celia Cruz Service Area, Atlantic’s Frank Sinatra Service Area, and Ocean View’s Toni Morrison Service Area.
