Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.), went toe-to-toe with Meyner. The heroes included a politician, a philanthropist and a housewife.Ĭongressman Peter Frelinghuysen Jr., father of present Rep. Robert Meyner, who with Tobin continued pushing for the Great Swamp airport even after it appeared to be dead. One of his prime allies was New Jersey Gov. His push for the airport was premised partly on the flawed notion that jets from Europe would need to land there before continuing across the U.S.

The prime villain: Austin Tobin, the late executive director of the Port of New York Authority, who insisted that the Great Swamp was the best place for a new airport, even though it lay just beyond the Port Authority’s jurisdiction. That nine-year fight is remembered in an hour-long documentary that premiered on Saturday before a large and enthusiastic audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.Īny good story needs heroes and villains, and Saving the Great Swamp, Battle to Defeat the Jetporthas several. Dillard Kirby addresses MPAC screening of jetport movie. It’s even harder to imagine a grass-roots effort, generations before social media, actually defeating such an entrenched colossus as the Port Authority. It’s hard to envision what Greater Morristown would be like today if the Port Authority had succeeded a half-century ago in transforming the Great Swamp into the region’s fourth major airport.

Swamp loop hero