“Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again, out at the Wilmuth farm, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Professor Pierson and myself made the 11 miles from Princeton in 10 minutes. Well, I—I hardly know where to begin to paint for you a word picture of the strange scene before my eyes, like something out of a modern Arabian Nights.”

“Well, I just got here. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet. I guess that’s it. Yes, I guess—that’s the thing, directly in front of me, half buried in a vast pit. Must have struck with terrific force. The ground is covered with splinters of a tree it must have struck on its way down. What I can see of the object itself doesn’t look very much like a meteor, at least not the meteors I have seen. It looks more like a huge cylinder.”

The words above were broadcast on the evening of October 30, 1938, as part of a radio drama adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds. The performance, presented by actor and filmmaker Orson Welles, consisted of simulated news bulletins reporting on the crash landing and subsequent invasion of Earth by Martians.

In an era before news and information could be quickly and easily verified, and in a country tense during the buildup to World War II, some listeners believed the fictional broadcast was of a real event. Although many stories of widespread panic and chaos have been debunked over the years, the broadcast did resonate with many Americans and some were legitimately afraid. The program was accused of being deceptive, leading to calls for stricter regulations to prevent similar scares from occurring in the future.

In 1988, the unincorporated community of Grover’s Mill—the very real town featured as the landing site of the very fictional Martian invasion—erected an eight-foot-high bronze monument to this unique event in broadcasting history. Inscribed with a description of the evening and a rendering of the alien craft from the story, the monument stands in a quiet location near a pond.

Know Before You Go

The monument is located in a field in Van Nest Park, on the south side of Cranbury Road just east of Clarksville Road. Interpretive signs in the park also tell the story of the broadcast.

SAYREVILLE – With a bird's eye view of a glowing electric arc furnace, where temperatures soar to about 3,000 degrees, Don Bruhn sat in the operating pulpit diligently monitoring some of the equipment, as well as the additives, used in the process of turning scrap into rebar.

"I've always loved making steel," Bruhn, who was born and raised in Middlesex County and now resides in Whiting, said. "As hard as it is, there is just something about making steel that I feel proud about. It's kind of a miracle."

Bruhn and Knox are among the more than 200 workers at the Gerdau steel mill, where everyday scrap metal is turned into reinforcing steel or rebar, which is used in the construction of roadways, buildings, bridges and other concrete construction projects.

Gerdau is a leading producer of long steel in the United States and one of the largest suppliers of special long steel in the world, company officials said.

With its corporate headquarters in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Gerdau has more than 45,000 employees and operates more than 330 industrial and commercial facilities internationally, Gerdau spokesperson Kaley Goodfellow said. That includes about 130 locations for the company's North American long steel business division, which has its main office in Tampa, Fla., Of those 130 locations, about 20 are steel mills similar to the Sayreville plant, she said.

The Sayreville mill, located on North Crossman Road, is the only steel mill still operating in New Jersey and also the largest recycler in the state, Mark Quiring, vice president and general manager of the borough based mill, said.

The mill has the capability of making 800,000 tons of rebar per year, which is typically sold in the northeast and Canada. The rebar runs the gamut from no. 3 rebar, which is 3/8 of an inch in diameter, to number 18 rebar, which is about 2¼ inches in diameter, as well as rebar in Canadian and metric measurements.

The Sayreville plant currently is making the bulk of steel that is being used in the new bridge that will replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. The facility will supply about 32,000 tons of concrete reinforcing steel, Quiring said, adding that the 18 bar was added just for that project.

The steel mill opened in the borough in the early 1970s, Quiring said. Gerdau Ameristeel, now known as Gerdau, purchased both the Sayreville and Perth Amboy steel mills in 2002.

The recession took a toll on the Perth Amboy plant. The melt shop was closed in 2006, followed by the rolling mill in 2009, leaving about 180 workers out of jobs, Quiring said.

"It's a higher cost to operate in the Northeast," he said. "We tried to reduce costs and limit input, but with the recession demand dropped so much it wasn't viable to operate."

A fabricating shop, where steel is cut and bent according to the finished application, currently operates out of the Perth Amboy facility, he said.

A changing industry

Quiring started in the steel industry in 1977.

"Back then I had three job offers from three different steel companies," he said.

In November of 2004, he joined Gerdau. In 2006, he relocated to the Sayreville plant.

"Once you get in the steel you don't seem to get out," he said. "We have a lot of employees who have been around for a long time. Gerdau is a great company to work for. They want their workers to be engaged in their work."

Since the recession, the steel industry has become a lot more competitive, even though there are a lot less players, he said.

While many steel mills have closed over the years, Quiring attributed the company's survival to the institution of "a lot of cost-cutting measures."

"Gerdau's methodology is they always drive you to get continuously better," he said. "In about 2008 and 2009, our consumption numbers started going down. We were consuming less of the things needed to make a ton of steel, so our costs were going down. We have become a lot more cost efficient. There are a lot of things that go into the steel making process, other than the raw material costs. Electricity is the biggest cost next to labor. You come up with new ways to become more efficient."

The Sayreville mill is the first North American steel mill to be awarded the ISO 50001 certification, an international distinction that recognizes the mill's energy management system. With the new certification, the mill is now certified according to the quality, environmental and energy management standards.

"The ISO 50001 certification is a testament to our success and shows our company's dedication to the environment," Quiring said.

During the ISO certification process, Gerdau's Sayreville team analyzed energy consumption mill-wide and considered opportunities for new energy programs. A third party consultant then conducted a thorough review of the modifications that were implemented, affirming that the company conformed to the management standard and improved its energy performance.

Reliability manager Tom Messner, who was part of the energy team that helped the plant get its most recent certification, said obtaining the certification was a "struggle."

"It created new challenges for this energy intensive process," he said. "Using so much gas and electric made it really hard to comply with the standards. To meet the standard made us really happy. We're hoping we can perpetuate that to some of our other locations."

Messner, who has worked for the company for 29 years, spending the last 14 years at the Sayreville plant, said the steel mill industry has changed greatly over the last 15 years.

"Before it was just put out the product," he said. "Now it is so important to be more cost-effective with everything we do."

Safety is a priority at the plant, where billboards track of the number of days without accidents. Community service is another priority.

Sayreville employees participate in various community and charitable events including Sayreville Day, Bowl for Hunger, which raises money for area food pantries, and building of homes with Habitat for Humanity.

During a recent visit to the plant, huge scrap piles and large dump trucks dotted the outside landscape.

Inside the plant, amid the roar of machines, workers, wearing hard hats, safety glasses, and ear plugs, tended to their jobs.

"We use a lot of different commodities of scrap as raw material to start the process," Quiring said. "Steel doesn't lose its quality when it's recycled. It can be used over and over again."

The scrap was loaded into conveyor cars and transported to an electric arc furnace, where it was melted down in about 3,000 degree temperatures to a liquid steel. Fluxes and alloys are also added.

When the product reaches the correct weight and temperature, it was emptied into a ladle. The liquid steel was then taken to a caster and dispersed into a tundish. It was then cut into strands by a torch.

"You have to make sure it's solid through the middle," Quiring said. "You can't cut it if it's liquid."

The billets were rolled and cooled until they reached the desired shape and size.

Staff Writer Susan Loyer: 732-565-7243; sloyer@mycentraljersey.com

During the summer months of his college years, Carl Van Horn, a distinguished professor of public policy at John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, worked in a steel mill in western Pennsylvania, where his father worked for 40 years.

"There were jobs available," said Van Horn, who also studies the industry as a scholar. "It paid very well, but it was a dangerous job. It's a tough place to work. It certainly taught me the value of hard work."

But over the years steel mills fell on hard tough times and many have closed, including the plant where Van Horn worked.

"The industry has been hanging on by its fingernails for some time now," he said.

The steel mill industry in general flourished throughout World War II and the 1950's, Van Horn said.

"There was the mobilization with the war effort and then subsequent to that there was a massive infrastructure building project in the United States and they supplied the steel for all of that. They also made all the steel in the Cold War era."

During that time steel mills had no competition, Van Horn said.

"They were a monopoly," he said.

But, he said, the industry failed to "modernize."

"We still had the raw materials here, but we lost our strength in quality of the manufacturing process," he said. "As the plants overseas rebuilt, they built to modern standards and were able to produce good quality steel at a lower price per ton. We won the war, but we lost the manufacturing competition. It was too late to catch up in many ways."

He also attributed the industry's woes to a decline in the use of steel over the years.

"A lot of the automobiles used to have a lot more steel," he said. "That took away a huge market from the steel industry and so did the decline of the railroad. There are just a small number of steel mills left in the United States that produce your basic steel in large quantities."

But, he said, there has been a bit of a resurgence in the last 15 or 20 years.

"Some smaller, specialty steel plants have been somewhat successful in the United States with more modern equipment and a smaller workforce," he said. "The plants are able to make high quality specialty steel. It is not only specialized in terms of the product, but it is also specialized in terms of the strength."

In addition, he said, there are requirements with the defense industry that the steel they use be made in this country.

Although the industry has rebounded a bit, "it's still a tiny fraction of what it was 30-40 years ago," Van Horn said.

At the northeast corner of Mill Basin sits a shopping center with a celebrated pizzeria called La Villa. Sniff the air, however, and you won’t smell oregano. The odor is infused with salt, decaying plant matter and diesel fuel. The source — an arm of Jamaica Bay — is right behind the mall.

Mill Basin is a place of boaters and sun lovers. Streets curve along almost 360 degrees of waterfront, with docks sticking out from houses like sassy protruding tongues. Boat trailers park on front lawns; swimming pools are abundant. Some visitors liken the neighborhood to Miami. It certainly doesn’t feel like Brooklyn.

Joseph Salerno, 69, moved there with his wife and son in 1972, so he could live on the water with his speedboat. The owner of three pizzerias near Wall Street, Mr. Salerno, who is now retired, spent $101,000 on a raised ranch house on Whitman Drive.

“When you see the back, you’re going to drop dead,” he warned a reporter. A greenhouse stretched over the entire width of the house, and a swimming pool sparkled near a hot tub. There was also a wet bar and a dolphin sculpture that spat water. A gazebo overlooked the dock, where Mr. Salerno’s “Miami Vice” boat, as he described it, floated in the afternoon heat.

Though it is enviable, Mr. Salerno called his 2,700-square-foot 1960s home “average” compared with his neighbors’. Houses of a similar size and vintage here are regularly being torn down and replaced with bigger, more elaborate dwellings.

Alan Fleisher, the executive vice president of a commercial moving and storage company, lives in a 6,500-square-foot Mediterranean-style home on East 66th Street that he built after buying the property for $1.24 million in 2004 and razing the existing 1970s ranch house.

When he moved to Mill Basin in 1985, Mr. Fleisher said its remote location — the nearest subway stop is in Midwood, a 10- to 15-minute drive — was a mark of prestige. The area had the greenery and birdsong of much of New Jersey or Westchester County, but was smack in his native borough. Now the lack of subway service is considered a liability, he said. And the neighborhoods of northwest Brooklyn have overtaken Mill Basin in status.

But Mill Basin is a better deal. “It would be impossible to get this property in Fort Greene,” Mr. Fleisher said, gesturing to his double lot with pool.

He also likes walking safe streets at night and catching sight of an opossum. “Not that I’m a fan,” he said. “But you’re not going to see an opossum at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.”

And Mill Basin, Mr. Fleisher noted, has something else few other New York neighborhoods can boast of: no alternate-side parking.

What You’ll Find

A mitten-shape peninsula, Mill Basin extends northwest to Avenue U, southwest to Flatbush Avenue, northeast to East 66th Street and east, southeast and south to Jamaica Bay.

City planning maps label the area Mill Island, alluding to its previous incarnation as detached marshland. But the neighborhood has been called Mill Basin ever since the 1960s, when it was developed in its current form, said Dorothy Turano, the district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 18, of which Mill Basin is a part. Though some maps indicate Avenue T as the northwest border, the blocks between Avenues U and T are considered part of a neighborhood known as Old Mill Basin.

Recent years have brought Russians, Israelis, Orthodox Jews and Asians to the largely Italian-American community. “You have a very strong family element as well as strong wealth,” said Ian Girshek, an associate of Jaime R. Williams, the State Assembly member who represents District 59, which includes Mill Basin. As the many working-class residents who owned properties there reach retirement age, he added, they are selling to “a very eclectic crowd.”

Much of the neighborhood looks as if it is zoned for museums, embassies and castles, but such buildings are in fact single-family homes. Notorious among them is a fortresslike waterfront compound at 2458 National Drive owned by Galina Anisimova, the ex-wife of a billionaire Russian developer and aluminum tycoon. When the estate, which has a 14,000-square-foot main house and 7,800-square-foot guesthouse, was listed at $30 million four years ago, it was the highest price ever asked for a Brooklyn residence. Never sold, the property returned to the market this month, priced at $18 million.

For recreation, people on the bay look to their own backyards. But Mill Basin also has Lindower Park, with baseball fields, basketball courts and an outdoor pool, and it is spitting distance from the sports facilities at Floyd Bennett Field. Though the neighborhood lacks a beach, Coney Island and the Rockaways are less than half an hour away.

Stores and restaurants are clustered around the Key Food, at Avenue U and East 66th Street, and Mill Plaza Mall, at Strickland Avenue and Mill Avenue. Businesses south along Strickland Avenue include Main House BBQ, a new kosher smokehouse at the corner of Avenue V.

Residents note an uptick in the quality of local commerce. Kings Plaza, a major shopping center on Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, is being revitalized to bring in higher-echelon stores. And a high-end Fairway supermarket opened recently in the nearby neighborhood of Georgetown.

What You’ll Pay

Doreen Alfano, an owner of Bergen Basin Realty, said the average detached single-family home with a 40- by 100-foot lot on a “drive” street (an address with the suffix “Drive,” as opposed to a less prestigious numbered street) sold for around $850,000 without extensive renovations. Prices increase to about $1.095 million when the lots are 50 feet wide, and if the property is “done up” it will cost between $1.5 million and $2 million, Ms. Alfano said. Anything on the water starts at about $1.6 million.

Single-family townhouses, which are concentrated on the numbered streets, go for around $550,000 to $625,000. Two-family brick buildings start at around $800,000, Ms. Alfano said.

As of July 24, Zillow listed 79 houses and 10 apartments for sale. The median sales price reported by Trulia, as of July 1, for the combined neighborhoods of Mill Basin and Old Mill Basin was $730,000, based on 243 transactions over the previous 12 months, a year-on-year decrease of 4.3 percent.

The Vibe

This house-proud community is not afraid to lard on the ironwork and topiary. Most of the people out on a weekday summer afternoon had some kind of landscaping tool in their hands or were making noises behind construction barriers.

The Schools

Public School 236 serves about 500 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade. On 2015-16 state tests, 67 percent met standards in English versus 39 percent citywide; 72 percent met standards in math versus 40 percent citywide.

The Roy H. Mann middle school in neighboring Bergen Beach specializes in architectural design and innovative technology. The school serves about 570 students in sixth through eighth grades. On state tests, 21 percent met standards in English versus 37 percent citywide; 13 percent met standards in math versus 32 percent citywide.

Nearby Midwood High School at Brooklyn College serves about 3,800 students in ninth through 12th grades. Average 2016 SAT scores were 1096 out of 1600, compared with 909 citywide.

The Commute

Travel by car to Lower Manhattan takes about 40 minutes in light traffic, via Interstate 478. The BM1 express bus runs weekdays and Saturdays to Lower Manhattan and Midtown. The trip at rush hour from Strickland Avenue and 56th Drive to Madison Avenue and East 48th Street takes between one and two hours, depending on the departure time. The local B100 stops at the Kings Highway subway station, where passengers can connect to the B and Q trains. Total time to Grand Central Terminal by this route is about 90 minutes.

The History

Around 1676, Jan Martense Schenck, a Dutch immigrant to the town of Flatlands, built a two-room clapboard house on what is now East 63rd Street in Mill Basin. The house was enlarged and embellished over the next 275 years and ultimately bought by the Brooklyn Museum, which restored it to its early 18th-century condition. It is displayed on the museum’s fourth floor.

The body recovered Sunday afternoon in a wooded area of Middlesex County was that of missing New Jersey woman Stephanie Parze, the Monmouth County prosecutor's office announced Monday, adding in a press conference that they have concluded that Parze's now-deceased ex-boyfriend was responsible for her death.

Parze's body was found off Route 9, south of Old Mill Road in Old Bridge, the county prosecutor's office said. It was one of the areas where volunteers searched for the 25-year-old. The county's medical examiner performed an autopsy Monday morning and confirmed the identity, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement sources told NBC New York the body was fairly decomposed, and that tattoos and dental records would be used to make the identification.

The manner and cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner's office.

In a press conference Monday, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni, who was joined by Parze's parents, said that at the time of Parze's disappearance the department launched what essentially were two different investigations: "one a missing person's investigation and the other, while not announced publicly at the time, a homicide investigation." He went on to say that Parze's parents knew about the investigations.

Gramiccioni said that during the investigation "over 50 search warrants" were executed "in 10 different locations across the region" and "canvassed hundreds of acres of land in Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties as well as in Staten Island all in the search for Stephanie Parze, based on evidence we have gathered during our investigation."

A body recovered Sunday afternoon in a wooded area of Middlesex County could be that of missing New Jersey woman Stephanie Parze, law enforcement sources told NBC New York. Myles Miller reports.

Parze vanished the night before Halloween last year, after dropping her parents off at their house following a family night out.

Her car was still in the driveway, along with her phone, at her home in Freehold Township, roughly 25 minutes from where the body was found in Old Bridge.

In late November, John Ozbilgen, Parze's ex-boyfriend, was found dead by suicide in his home days after he was released from jail in an unrelated child pornography case. Monmouth County prosecutors also had just classified him as a person of interest in her disappearance.

Ozbilgen's residence was searched five times during the investigation, Grammiccioni revealed during the press conference.

"Today we announce that the now-deceased John Ozbilgen was responsible for the homicide of Stephanie Parze," Gramicioni said. "This is a finding we had suspected since early November but was only recently confirmed with further analysis of evidence that we have ceased during our investigation. The finding was confirmed, as well, soon after John Ozbilgen committed suicide."

Prosecutors said that after his suicide a number of items recovered from his home, including a note he left for his parents that apparently stated he had enough and couldn't do life in prison. The note also told his parents that what they would hear in the news was true, except for the accusation of child pornography. Ozbilgen also wrote that he had "dug himself a deep hole" and that "this was the only choice," the prosecutor added.

The only person of interest in the case of missing Freehold woman Stephanie Parze was found dead Friday in an apparent suicide. NBC New York’s Brian Thompson reports.

The note, according to prosecutors, did not disclose the location of Parze's remains. Gramiccioni said Monday the note confirmed the findings of investigators who had "accumulated a great deal of evidence that indicated he was responsible for her killing" and were working toward charging him.

"His suicide obviously cut that short," Gramiccioni said.

The search for Parze took investigators from the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office to Long Pond Park in Staten Island, only a few miles from where Ozbilgen used to live.

During their relationship, Parze accused Ozbilgen of abuse, filing a complaint for assault back in September.

Middlesex County Acting Prosecutor Christopher L.C. Kuberiet, who was also at the press conference, revealed that around 2:46 p.m., authorities received a phone call from two teens in Old Bridge walking along Route 9 to report the body.

Parze's father, who had been incredibly vocal on social media in the search for his missing daughter, thanked all who helped the family search for Parze.

Stephanie Parze, a 25-year-old makeup artist and nanny, vanished five days ago and her parents say it not like her to just disappear. Her car is still in her driveway where she lives alone, clothes and shoes from the last night she was seen inside with the lights on and her dog left alone. NBC New York’s Brian Thompson reports.

“This is an extremely somber day for us. Our lives are never going to be the same," Ed Parze said, choking back tears. "Stephanie is home — she’s coming home, at last, where she belongs.”

"The community came together so much — from the donations, the food, running events, and so forth — it was just out of control," he went on to say. "We thank you all for that because without that we could have never gone through this."

He also thanked the two individuals who found Parze's body and everyone involved in the investigation.

"We are not going to stop our efforts, even though we know she is home," he said, adding that in the near future the family plans to start a foundation to bring awareness to victims of domestic violence and missing people.

"It's an epidemic. It's totally an epidemic," he said.

Every year, head gardener for Rockefeller Center Erik Pauze scouts the nation for the perfect Norway Spruce to become the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. And every year, thousands of people gather on Center Plaza (and online) to witness 50,000 multi-colored LED lights glow for the first time in the season.

If Rockefeller Center’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony signals the start of the holidays, then the Tree’s departure marks its end. But the magic doesn’t stop there. Ever wonder where the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree goes after the holiday season? Since 2007, the tree has been donated to Habitat for Humanity International to be milled into lumber.

The Center Magazine spoke with a spokesperson from Habitat for Humanity International, who filled us in on what happens to the Tree once it comes down for the season.

2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Can you tell us a bit about Habitat for Humanity’s mission?

Habitat for Humanity is a global housing nonprofit that works in local communities in all 50 U.S. states and in more than 70 countries, partnering with individuals and families to build and improve affordable homes. Through financial support, volunteering, or advocacy, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower.

How does the partnership with Rockefeller Center support this?

For the past 15 years, Rockefeller Center, has generously donated lumber milled from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to Habitat for Humanity. Partnerships like this one play a critical role in helping Habitat build and maintain strong and stable communities by driving awareness of Habitat’s work and providing a resource for the homes that Habitat builds.

Rockefeller Center usually selects a Norway spruce as its holiday focal point. Is this a particularly good wood to build with?

The wood from a Norway spruce is flexible and durable, which makes it good for use in flooring, furniture, and cabinetry.

What happens each year after the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is taken down?

The Tree cut into large pieces, which are transported from Rockefeller [Center] to a mill in New Jersey where the initial rough sawing is done. From there, the pieces are brought to a landscaping company to be dried in a kiln, milled, and planed until they are soft and smooth. The finished beams are then shipped to the Habitat affiliate chosen to receive the lumber.

Can you tell us a little more about how Habitat chooses where the lumber goes and for what projects?

In most cases, the lumber is sent to a Habitat affiliate in the state where the tree was grown. The receiving affiliate then determines how the lumber will be used. Lumber from the 2011 and 2014 Trees was used to build the framework of multiple homes in Philadelphia. Wood from the 2007 Tree was used to build a new home with a family in Pascagoula, Mississippi that was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, a few beams from the 2013 Tree were incorporated into every home built for several years.

How long does it take for communities to receive the lumber after it’s been milled?

The time it takes for the lumber to reach the Habitat for Humanity affiliate varies based on current demand at the company where the beams are finished, and also the receiving affiliate’s distance from the company.

Do recipients have the opportunity to work with Habitat Humanitarians to decide how the lumber is repurposed? Where in Habitat homes is this lumber typically incorporated?

The receiving Habitat affiliate determines how the lumber will be used, so this varies from site to site. In the past, the wood has been used in parts of the home where it can be seen by the family every day, and some Habitat homes even have exposed pieces of lumber branded with stamps commemorating its time as the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

What do you believe is the best part about this partnership?

This generous yearly donation has become a symbol of renewal, as the lumber from these trees takes on a new purpose: sheltering Habitat homeowners for generations to come.

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