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| The 1980s |
| 1980: Abscam Phony sheiks carrying briefcases stuffed with cash catch a Trenton congressman in the act of taking bribes, ending his career and paving the way for a 25-year-old Chris Smith to take his seat. 1981: Sammy "the Bull" and his Trenton hits A charismatic renegade mobster from Trenton is rubbed out by Sammy Gravano in retaliation for the slaying of a capo's son. 1982: I-95 takes a strange twist Furious local opposition keeps the highway from cutting a path through Hopewell, meaning that there will be no direct interstate link between New York and Philadelphia. 1983: Mayor Barbara Sharp-witted Southern belle Barbara Boggs Sigmund becomes mayor of Princeton and later a figure revered statewide for her courage and humor while fighting cancer. 1984: Trenton's makeover State government spends millions and gives tycoons millions more in tax breaks to rebuild downtown, giving the city a whole new skyline. 1985: Crack comes to Trenton In a smokeable new form, cocaine become priced for the ghetto and quickly begins destroying the lives or users and those close to them. 1986: Fire at Shenanigan's Two city firemen die when they're lost in smoke while battling a blaze at a downtown bar -- a tragedy that leads to reforms in building code. 1987: Burning mad over incineration Officials shake hands on a deal to bring a trash burner to Duck Island, the beginning of a project that put taxpayers $115 million in the hole before environmental opposition scrapped the plans. 1988: Giuliani and Princeton In his quest to topple Wall Street junk-bond king Michael Milken, an ambitious federal prosecutor named Rudolph Giuliani goes after key figures at a once-well-regarded Princeton brokerage house. 1989: Who killed Cissy? An intruder kills a beloved Princeton socialite with several stabs to the back. Unsolved, it ranks as Princeton's most notorious crime. |
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