IT is difficult to think of New Jersey without thinking of New York City. The self-styled 'Garden State' does, after all, owe much of its economic base to its residents who work in the Big Apple and its businesses which make their money there.
Although much of the state is rather pretty and far from the dust and din of the big city, to be a New Jerseyite invariably means to harbour an inferiority complex. There is no way for Manhattanites to mention the word 'Jersey' without peering down their nose; and even residents of Queens make fun of the state, which is somewhat cheeky.
Any state which brought the world Bruce Springsteen and Princeton University cannot be all that bad, and at least it is not North Dakota; but its government leaders still feel a constant urge to define New Jersey's identity by its rivalry with the glamorous neighbour across the Hudson River.
Thus it is that some of New Jersey's recent brief moments of glory have come at New York's expense, such as luring its two professional football teams, the Giants and Jets, away from the city to a stadium complex near Newark. It also fought for years to claim ownership of the historic Ellis Island museum in New York harbour, a battle which went all the way to the Supreme Court and ended in an honourable draw with New York keeping most of the spoils.
New Jersey has also tried, rather successfully, to lure shoppers out of New York, lowering its sales tax to make its shopping malls a tempting target for big city folk in search of bargains. And its latest target has been the legendary New York Yankees, whose owner is so desperate to leave the Bronx that he has even listened to overtures from New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman.
Not surprisingly, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has virtually staked his political career on keeping the Yankees out of the hands of his arch-rival, even if it means using taxpayers' money to build a new stadium in Manhattan.