MVC Day 3: People camping out overnight, huge lines, BBQ, cornhole

Barbecue. Television. Cornhole. People found lots of ways to occupy their time in lines that queued up Wednesday night at some Motor Vehicle Commission offices — heading to lines of hundreds by Thursday morning, yet again — even after Gov. Phil Murphy encouraged people to stay home if possible.

The South Brunswick office had reached its capacity of being able to serve 200 customers by 6 a.m., South Brunswick police said on their Twitter account. Lakewood had also reached capacity well before opening, Michael Platt of Jackson told New Jersey 101.5.

"I got here about 6:30. I've been waiting for two hours because they don't open until 8, and the line is all the way backed up onto Route 70," Platt said.

Platt, who needs to get his car inspected by the end of July, said the lines could have been avoided if the MVC offices had stayed open throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic, instead of shutting down in March under an order from Murphy. Residents were given extensions on expiring licenses and registrations as offices closed.

"It's stupid," Platt said. "They should have stayed open. Even if they did close they should have come up with a way. They knew this was going to happen. They had to of."

Murphy, for his part, has been urging residents to do any MVC business they can online, and to wait before heading to an office if they've got time before a registration or renewal is due.

Andrew McElroy of Byram and his daughter were in line with the cornhole players at the Randolph office trying to get her driver's license. He said Thursday morning the the line seemed to be made up of teens, some with their parents, also trying to get their licenses.

"My daughter had taken her driver's test last week and the certificate that she gets is only good for seven days, and there's no way to do it online. And to be honest with you, I haven't been able to find out what happens if she doesn't get her license within that seven days. I don't know if she has to retake her test. I know she probably can't drive," McElroy said.

McElroy said he was "pretty optimistic at some point we'll get in. I don't know when that will be, but at some point."

McElroy said he realizes things have been difficult with the coronavirus, and joked that the lines remind him of buying concert tickets in the 1990s.

"It's obvious they didn't have any planning to put this together. It's kind of a comedy," McElroy said.

Three people were stopped from selling spaces on the line at the Lakewood MVC on Thursday morning, according to Lakewood police. The office reached its capacity before the 8 a.m. opening and started handing out cards to customers, police told New Jersey 101.5. The two women and a man instead put their cards up for bid and got between $100 and $300. Police stopped their “auction” and told them to leave. No charges were filed.

The Lakewood Scoop was first to report the story.

Republican gubernatorial challenger Jack Ciattarelli called for MVC commissioner Sue Fulton to be fired over the long lines.

"The mess at Motor Vehicle offices yesterday and today is unacceptable. What can the governor do? To start, he can fire the head of the MVC. The failure in execution yesterday was unacceptable by any measure. Accountability is required," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Share your MVC line story. Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

More from New Jersey 101.5: