Hundreds of pounds of cooked pasta mysteriously dumped in New Jersey woods

Pasta la vista!

A New Jersey town was awash with mystery after hundreds of pounds of cooked noodles inexplicably appeared along a creek bed in the woods last week — before the town cleaned up the macaroni mess.

Mounds of spaghetti and piles of other pastas, including ziti, were seemingly dumped by the stream near Veterans Park in Old Bridge, according to images posted by resident Nina Jochnowitz last Wednesday.

Jochnowitz, a former council candidate, estimated that there had to be more than 500 pounds of pasta left behind in a Facebook post where she shared the photos of the sauce-less noodles.

Her post was quickly screenshotted and shared on Reddit and Twitter where people from all over joked about the pasta fiasco and theorized its origin story with near-endless pasta-bilities and puns.

Some thought Strega Nona’s helper Big Anthony was behind the oodles of noodles, while others provided names of possible suspects.

“Sounds like the work of Rig-a-Tony!” one Reddit user commented.

“He was actually framed…orzo I’m told,” another replied.

“Lead suspect is a guy name Al Dente,” a different user wrote.

“Don’t forget his partner Lin Guini,” a person added.

The real pasta-dumper has not been found, according to Jochnowitz.


Hundreds of pounds of pasta can be seen dumped near Veterans Park in Old Bridge.
Hundreds of pounds of pasta can be seen dumped near Veterans Park in Old Bridge.
OLD BRIDGE New Jersey/Facebook

Another Reddit user speculated a potential motive.

“It was pasta expiration date,” they said.

Whoever was responsible for the mess should serve time, one person said on the Reddit thread.

“We should send the perpetrators to the state penne tentiary,” the user joked.

Nina Jochnowitz, a resident of the area, estimated that there had to be more than 500 pounds of pasta left behind.
Nina Jochnowitz, a resident of the area, estimated that there had to be more than 500 pounds of pasta left behind.
OLD BRIDGE New Jersey/Facebook
There were mounds of other pastas, including ziti, that were dumped by the stream near Veterans Park in Old Bridge.
There were mounds of other pastas, including ziti, that were dumped by the stream near Veterans Park in Old Bridge.
OLD BRIDGE New Jersey/Facebook

“I don’t know. If we do that, I’m alfredo what will happen to them,” a concerned citizen replied.

Jochnowitz too found humor in the bizarre littering incident — telling the Philadelphia Inquirer she immediately thought of the song “on top of spaghetiii, all covered with cheese…”

However, she said the so-called pasta dump illustrates the larger issue Old Bridge is facing with illegal dumping and a lack of bulk garbage pickup.


Various Reddit users came up with their best "pasta-puns" under the post.
Various Reddit users came up with their best “pasta-puns” under the post.
OLD BRIDGE New Jersey/Facebook

Soon after Jochnowitz posted about the ordeal and reported the food waste to the township, the town’s Public Works rushed to the scene and cleared the noodles.

“You might say, ‘Who cares about pasta?’ But pasta has a PH level that will impact the water stream,” she told the Inquirer. “That water stream is important to clean up because it feeds into the town’s water supply … It was one of the fastest cleanups I’ve ever seen here.”

source: nypost.com