Career
He took office following the resignation of John V. Kenny. Berry banned the film The Moon Is Blue from being shown for being "indecent and obscene" and refused to allow Bill Haley and the Comets to play a concert at municipally-owned Roosevelt Stadium. The latter act is believed to have inspired Haley to write the first protest song in rock and roll, "Teenager"s Mother," which included the lyrics "Are you right? Did you forget too soon? How much you liked to do the Charleston?"
In 1956, after the 1954 closing of the United States immigration station, Berry commandeered a United States Coast Guard cutter and led a contingent of New Jersey officials on an expedition to claim Ellis Island.