ShareBrendan Byrne's Greatest Hits
Once pilloried from Pompton Plains to Penny Pot, the former two-term governor is basking in his role as the unofficial state comedian. He recently weighed in with his top five one-liners.
“Sometime after the 1977 election, I was marching in a parade in Princeton with Barbara Sigmund, the mayor, and she said, ‘Look how they’re all waving at you, Governor.’ And I said, ‘Yes, and now they’re using all five fingers.’ ”
“When I was at the height of my unpopularity, half the people in New Jersey wouldn’t walk across the street to spit at me—and the other half would.”
“When I got out of office, one of my first clients was Alitalia Airlines. I was convinced they thought I was Italian and my last name was Arena.”
“One time a poll said 96 percent of the people in New Jersey knew who I was and 4 percent thought I was doing a good job.”
Referring to the notorious tradition of taking names from gravestones to fill voter rolls: “When I die, I want to be buried in Hudson County so I can remain active in politics.”
Article from December, 2005 Issue.
