When someone posted a subjective map of New Jersey to reddit, it went viral, with its depictions of where "Executives living in mansions with Mercedes Benzes," "Sad black people and corruption," "The Hill People," "Ghetto in the woods," "Pretty Much Alabama" and more were. Then Rutgers University graduate and current part time research assistant Joe Steinfeld stepped up and claimed credit. He tells the Star-Ledger, "I meant it as a joke. It’s tongue-in-cheek. It’s meant to be silly, meant to be fun."
Of course, not everyone thinks it's fun. Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage—the town that would be by "Poor Minorities" and "Russians, Polacks And Toxic Fume"—said, "I’d ask whoever designed the map to actually travel to these areas to see how vibrant some of the neighborhoods are... It’s unfortunate that somebody has enough spare time to do something that is just going to inflame some people and point to the worst possible side of things. I don’t find humor in it."
Steinfeld spoke to MyCentralJersey, "Thankfully, most of the feedback has been very positive. A lot of comments have been about how accurate the map was, and many people seemed to feel proud of where I placed them, despite how I worded the labels for their areas. I did, however, receive some criticism for being too general in a lot of the more densely populated areas of the state like Northeastern (New Jersey), as well as leaving out some demographics here and there." He added, "We're more than a Turnpike and a TV show; it’s not just oil refineries and suburbs. We have mountains, plenty of forests and farmland, beautiful beaches, and our drivers aren’t nearly as bad as they're cracked up to be!"
