21 New Jersey people to watch in 2021 – nj.com

This year has to be better.

The COVID-19 pandemic derailed 2020, as the virus caused devastating grief, economic depression and total disruption of our society. And as the virus spread, a national reckoning with systemic racism and a roller coaster presidential election gripped much of our remaining collective attention.

Now, with vaccines in distribution, 2021 is starting on a hopeful note. But the road to recovery will be long, and beyond the virus other news is waiting to be made.

Here’s a look at 21 New Jerseyans we expect to be making headlines in 2021.

The nation’s first “second gentleman” will be a Jersey Boy. Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, is a Matawan native. Emhoff, a lawyer with decades of experience in entertainment law, will be teaching a class on the subject at Georgetown University’s law school next semester, according to the Washington Post, while his wife helps lead the nation.

As New Jersey has pushed forward toward marijuana legalization, Rev. Charles Boyer — who is the pastor of Bethel A.M.E. church in Woodbury and the founder of Salvation and Social Justice — has been a prominent voice for equity for communities who have been hit hard by the decades-long War on Drugs. Beyond that, Boyer has lead calls for COVID-19 relief to the hardest-hit New Jerseyans. With 2021 bringing legal weed and an enduring pandemic, Boyer figures to remain a central figure.

Joe’s Rotisseria in Roselle Park, a pizza and chicken shop is famous for its “Triple Threat:” A dreamy combination of pizza, stromboli and garlic knots. Joe Brignoni, the owner of Joe’s, expanded his operations in 2020 with the opening of a second location in Asbury Park, a move that had been delayed by COVID-19, according to the Asbury Park Press. The new expansion was overshadowed by the pandemic, but 2021 could see the Shore spot make a splash.

The economic fallout from COVID-19 has caused budget crunches across all parts of society. In college sports, that has begun to manifest as athletic departments cutting Olympic sports like track and field, swimming, gymnastics and wrestling. But such decisions can be devastating to affected athletes; it’s the loss of opportunity they had worked so hard for.

Russell Dinkins, a former Princeton track athlete, has become an activist in the fight to save track programs at colleges around the country, at places like the University of Minnesota, Clemson University and Brown University. Cutting track in particular, Dinkins often points out, hits Black athletes harder than almost any other sport. With budgets still strained, it’s likely that Dinkins’ fight will continue into 2021.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-9th Dist., has been a feisty voice for North Jersey in Congress and an outspoken, aggressive critic of President Donald Trump. Pascrell is the chair of the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, a position that gives him power to investigate corruption allegations against public officials. The big question for him in 2021 is how far he’ll go against the outgoing administration.

Zellie Thomas has already left a highly visible mark on Paterson: The massive Black Lives Matter mural that is painted on Broadway. But that piece of symbolism is just the beginning of Thomas’ social activism. Thomas is a teacher in Paterson, as well as a Black Lives Matter organizer. His work was thrust into the spotlight in 2020, from organizing mutual aid as COVID-19 relief, as detailed by NorthJersey.com, to leading marches against systemic racism. Thomas is primed to carry that torch into 2021.

This was a year of delays for Vera Farmiga. The actress and Clifton native is cast as Livia Soprano, the matriarch of the fictional North Jersey crime family in “The Many Saints of Newark,” and will return to her starring role in “The Conjuring” series with “The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.” Both movies were set to be released in 2020, but COVID-19 delays pushed both to 2021.

Few have delivered such scathing critiques of the Murphy administration’s education decisions during COVID-19 as state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex. The lawmaker, who represents much of Newark east side as well as neighboring Belleville, has demanded a statewide plan to assess learning loss in Garden State students, and address the problem. As the disruption of education stretches into another semester, it’s fair to assume Ruiz, the chair of the state Senate’s education committee, will be a leading voice in representing underserved children and holding Murphy accountable.

Rutgers basketball was this good surged to its highest highs in decades last season, before the team’s run was cut short by COVID-19. The Scarlet Knights have picked up where they left off this year and look even better, thanks in large part to senior Ron Harper, Jr., a native of Franklin Lakes who is the son of former NBA star Ron Harper. Rutgers is currently ranked in the NCAA’s Top 25 and looks like a team that can make a deep run in March Madness; for that to happen, Harper will need to lead the way.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal is the state’s top law enforcement official at a time when police are under heavy scrutiny. Answering calls for police reform, Grewal ended 2020 by unveiling a new statewide use of force policy. Grewal has pushed to make police disciplinary records public, but police unions have challenged that effort and the issue is now tied up in state court. A decision in that case will come in 2021 and make major headlines. Grewal has also recently pushed for a more national profile, with a recent op-ed published in the New York Times in which he offered a vision for how progressive states can fight conservative judges. One thing to keep an eye on: Will Grewal be on the Biden administration’s list of possible replacements for Craig Carpenito, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey who is stepping down in January.

New Jersey faces an educational crisis in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: The long-running debate over whether or not schools should be open for in-person learning, the stark digital divide that has made remote education even more difficult for the state’s most needy, and strained mental health in students dealing with unprecedented isolation. Angelica Allen-McMillan became the acting commissioner of the state’s education department in October, and will face confirmation by the state senate in 2021. It will be her job to oversee New Jersey’s responses to the pressing needs of students, teachers and parents, and the education system’s longer recovery from the coronavirus.

Groomed at Bergen Catholic before blossoming into one of Rutgers’ biggest wrestling stars, Nick Suriano qualified for the Olympic trials in 2019 was preparing to grapple for a ticket to Tokyo before the pandemic put that process on hold. Now Tokyo 2020 has become Tokyo 2021, and Suriano’s Olympic dream remains alive.

High school sports in the Garden State has been turned upside by COVID-19, leaving constant uncertainty for students, parents and coaches. Navigating the mess has fallen to Colleen Maguire, the first woman to serve as the head of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. The organization is the governing body for high school sports in the state, and its decisions affect more than 280,000 student athletes and their families. So far there’s optimism that 2021 will start off on a positive note: This year’s winter sports are scheduled to start their delayed seasons in 2021, and the NJSIAA recently unveiled its plan for spring sports. But nothing is certain as long as the pandemic continues, and the NJSIAA, which lost $640,000 in the wake of virus-related cancellations, is feeling the strain.

Rachel Zegler will be the driving force in Steve Spielberg’s version of “West Side Story” as 18-year-old from Clifton stars as Maria. The film, which was partially shot in Paterson and Newark, had its release date pushed back to 2021. The role is a huge come up for Zegler, who was not long ago performing in her high school’s production of “Shrek.”

It was July, just after COVID-19′s first wave crested in New Jersey and as nationwide demands for social justice were peaking, that Jonathan Holloway took over as president of Rutgers University. Holloway, a historian who has spent a career studying systemic racism and inequality, brought valuable perspective to Rutges leadership at a time when race relations dominated the national conversation. He was also thrust into a job that, because of COVID-19, demanded unprecedented decisions; within his first week, Holloway decided Rutgers would be an all-remote learning model and he gave himself a 10% pay cut. Now, with the end of the pandemic on the horizon, Holloway will guide Rutgers into the new normal.

It’s election year in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, is up for re-election and three Republicans are already competing to be the challenger. Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker from Somerset County, was the first to announce his candidacy. Ciattarelli sought the governorship in 2017, but finished second in that year’s Republican primary to former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. Doug Steinhardt, the former head of the state GOP and the former five-term mayor of Lopatcong in Warren County, recently announced his gubernatorial bid as well. Atlantic County businessman Hirsh Singh, who most recently lost the Republican primary in New Jersey’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, rounds out the field of declared candidates.

Legal weed is finally here, New Jersey. The basic framework for the state’s budding industry is in place, thanks to rushed legislation put together in the wake of November’s election, but it will be up to the newly formed New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission to make it bloom. At the head of that agency is Dianna Houenou, a former ACLU lawyer who was appointed by Murphy in November. Houenou has already said she hopes to lower the barriers of entry into the legal weed market, and is committed to instilling a culture dedicated to equity at the commission that will last for years to come.

A critically acclaimed producer, the frontman of electro-pop favorites Bleachers, a new collaborator with Bruce Springsteen — there’s little wonder why Jack Antonoff was named NJ.com’s New Jersey artist of the decade. Antonoff will be back in the spotlight in 2021, as he is up for another Grammy Awards thanks to his work on Taylor Swift’s No. 1 album “Folklore.” Our ears eagerly await whatever else Antonoff has in store for the new year (including a promised new Bleachers album).

Nearly a year into the pandemic, Judith Persichilli has truly become “the woman who needs no introduction,” as Murphy declares at each coronavirus press conference. Persichilli, a former nurse, is the head of the state health department and has spearheaded the battle against COVID-19. Now a vaccine is on the way, but as long as the virus persists, Persichilli will be an important name for New Jerseyans to follow.

Sydney McLaughlin is on the cusp of superstardom, and the Tokyo Olympics are likely to be her springboard. McLaughlin, a 20-year-old hurdler from Dunellen who was the subject of an in-depth NJ Advance Media profile, reached new heights in the sport in 2019 with a silver medal at the year’s world championships. The stage was set for her to seize the moment in 2020, until COVID-19 forced the Olympics to be delayed a year. Now the games are finally drawing near, and McLaughlin still figures to be an American star. If she can grab gold in Tokyo, she’ll become a household name.

After nearly four years, Murphy’s first term as governor is winding down, and the campaign for another four years is ramping up. The former Goldman Sachs executive has pushed progressive policies for the state, a stark contrast from his predecessor, former Gov. Chris Christie. Murphy goes into his reelection bid with high approval ratings (62% in November) as New Jerseyans have largely rallied behind his efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. But winning a second term likely won’t come easily; no Democratic governor has won reelection in New Jersey since 1977, and Murphy will have to navigate campaigning alongside the still-challenging task of leading the state out of the pandemic.

• Anthony Mangieri, known as “The Pizza Pope,” is a legendary pizza maker and New Jersey native who made his return to the Garden State. Over the summer, Mangieri opened Una Pizza Napoletana in Atlantic Highlands, and the restaurant has been a hit.
• Siree Morris and Ayanna Morris are the husband and wife behind Newark Moonlight Cinema, one of the most successful drive-in theaters that popped up during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re betting that the love for drive-ins will outlast COVID-19, and have announced they’ll be moving to a permanent location in the Brick City and expanding to have more screens.
• Months into a national reckoning on systemic racism, the institutions that are foundational to our culture are seeking ways to become more equitable. What do such changes look like for New Jersey’s flagship university? That’s Enobong “Anna” Branch’s job to figure out. Rutgers named Branch the school’s first ever Senior Vice President of Equity in September.
• It’s a local election year for Jersey City, with Mayor Steve Fulop seeking another four years. Robert Menendez, Jr., the son of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, is rumored to be considering a challenge to Fulop, but no official announcement has been made.

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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.