Juan Perez beamed as he flashed his new student driving permit.

TRENTON, N.J. - Juan Perez beamed as he flashed his new student driving permit.

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"I've been waiting for this for the longest time," the teenager said.

Perez would have had to wait longer if it were any other year. That's because the motor vehicle office off Route 1 in Lawrence, and all other state offices, would have been closed the day after Thanksgiving.

But New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine bucked state tradition and kept them open this year, saying they should be open Friday to serve citizens. That angered state workers, but Corzine's move pleased people like Perez, who took advantage of the day off from school to get his long-awaited permit.

"I'm glad he did it," Perez, 17, said. "Good for him."

New Jersey has been among at least 24 states who let its workers take the day after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday, but Corzine said that the decades-long tradition would stop and that state workers who wanted off would have to use either a vacation or personal day.

The workers weren't happy, making more than 5,000 protesting calls to the Democrat's office. But state worker parking lots were much emptier than typical Friday, indicating many workers got the day off anyway.

Corzine took a quick spin though the Lawrence motor vehicle facility on Friday, thanking workers for showing up and apologizing for any inconvenience. Workers greeted him with smiles and told him the day was surprisingly busy.

"People want to take care of their business, and the state should be made available to them," said Corzine, who reported to work himself around 8:30 a.m. carrying a large pile of binders and papers.

Not all state workers were smiling.

Shawn Ludwig, a child abuse investigator in Camden, said his office had about 30 employees Friday, compared with the 150 that typically work at the site.

"The building is empty," Ludwig said. "It doesn't make sense to be here."

He questioned the expense involved in opening, lighting and heating state buildings for the day.

"It's just a bad move," Ludwig said.

Corzine, who also toured a Trenton soup kitchen Friday, said many Garden State residents would like to be able to complain about work.

Kevin Cranston, spokesman for the state Motor Vehicle Commission, said the Lawrence facility conducts about 1,150 transactions per day and did 720 on Friday.

New Jersey has about 80,000 state workers. They get 13 paid holidays.

New Jersey governors have granted the day after Thanksgiving off through a proclamation going back at least until 1962. But state law hasn't been changed to make the day an official holiday, so it's up to the governor to declare it a four-day weekend.