Corzine axes traditional Friday off

In the eyes of many New Jersey state workers, the governor is the Grinch who stole the day after Thanksgiving.

New Jersey used to be among at least 24 states that let their workers take the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday -- not by law, but as a proclamation by the governor.

But this year, Gov. Jon S. Corzine halted the decades-old tradition, saying that state employees who want that Friday off to create a four-day weekend would have to use a vacation or personal day.

Corzine insists he’s not out to ruin anyone’s day-after holiday plans. The no-nonsense businessman, a former chairman of the investment firm Goldman Sachs, says he just wants state offices open on a business day to serve taxpayers.

His office emphasized that Corzine warned the state’s nearly 80,000 workers last year that it would be the last time he gave them the day off following Thanksgiving.