BAYONNE - With three major studios planned for New Jersey, it's awfully easy to talk about the state becoming Hollywood East.

But no.

As Phil Murphy, First Lady Tammy and others gathered Tuesday morning for the groundbreaking of a film and TV studio on 58-acres of reclaimed industrial land along the city's waterfront, one of the many speakers said it's more like Hollywood turning into New Jersey West.

Bold talk indeed. But not entirely unjustified.

Prompted by the Murphy Administration's film tax credit program, the state may indeed become a production center.

Tuesday's event highlighted the 1888 Studios, which are being developed in conjunction with Paramount. Also being developed is a Netflix studio on the site of the closed Fort Monmouth and a Lionsgate studio in Newark.

There is history here. The film industry had its roots in Fort Lee before moving west.

The 1888 name of the studio championed today coincides with the year Thomas Edison invented the motion picture camera.

Tammy Murphy was moved to reference both the past and the future:

"This is New Jersey's natural resting place," she said.

Planned is a 1.6 million square-foot complex over 58 acres that will include 23 sound studios. Construction is projected to create about 2,300 jobs and once built, about 2,000 jobs will be created.

Jimmy Davis, the city's mayor, is about to leave his post to become sheriff of Hudson County,

He said bringing this project to fruition was one of the highlights of his 12 years in office. A lifelong resident, Davis recalled how the site was once occupied by Texaco.

Times have changed since the waterfront was an industrial center. City and state officials are delighted that once-contaminated land has been cleaned and repurposed.

As the governor said:

"This was a mess environmentally."

No more.

“When we look in the mirror of New Jersey we see an innovative economy,” Murphy said. “We see film, television and digital – it is who we are.”