Narrative:

I was working the local control position; understanding that overflow arrivals to runway 11 were going to be conducted once the runway was open. TRACON finals sector was attempting to hand off aircraft X to land runway 11. At that time runway 11 was still closed so I notified the supervisor that TRACON was attempting the hand off. The supervisor then called the sector and from what I heard it seemed like they didn't understand that they shouldn't be running an approach to a closed runway. Aircraft X continued towards runway 11 to which the supervisor told TRACON multiple times to stop bringing him in to runway 11. Aircraft X then turned southbound and then northbound as if to rejoin the final for runway 11. Aircraft X then turned eastbound and was descending indicating runway 4 in the scratch pad. I yelled over to the class bravo airspace that aircraft X was descending into his airspace and to watch out in case someone pops off of a satellite airport. Someone then came on the landline and said to me in a bullying fashion. 'You guys are the worst.'I notified the supervisor that it looked like they were trying to take him to runway 4L. The supervisor picked up the phone again and; from what I remember; started telling them to 'get him out of there; you can't just bring him to another runway without coordinating.' at that point someone on the landline keyed up again; but I started speaking to tell them we're not taking the aircraft and for the sector to keep him; but they just spoke as I was speaking and an aircraft was calling me at the same time; so nothing was achieved. At that point aircraft X was turning final behind aircraft Y and in front of aircraft Z with less than standard separation and was calling me with a visual approach to runway 4L. I was astonished that was happening; but I did my best to establish visual separation because I had no idea what the approach controller did. I stopped the departure traffic and let aircraft X land because I did not want to send any aircraft around only to speak to the same controllers who initiated the entire situation to begin with.the only suggestion I can really make is that the TRACON follow the faah 7110.65; letters of agreement and standard operating procedures. The appropriate sectors were informed that the runway was closed and the port authority was a little delayed in opening it. There was never any indication that the runway was open prior to it actually opening. Despite this; the TRACON decided to run aircraft X to a closed runway. This in turn placed several aircraft; passengers; cargo and other controllers in unsafe situations. I decided the best course of action was to land these planes and not return them to a facility that created the situation in the first place. The actions of that sector caused me to question their abilities to protect the flying public. I worry for the safety of the flying public; my friends; my family and myself if I were ever have to fly out of ewr again. This is a systemic issue at the TRACON and the 'holier than thou' attitude is endemic. It needs to stop.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Local Controller reported that TRACON vectored an aircraft to a known closed runway; resulting in a loss of separation when the aircraft was re-vectored.

Narrative: I was working the Local Control position; understanding that overflow arrivals to Runway 11 were going to be conducted once the runway was open. TRACON Finals Sector was attempting to hand off Aircraft X to land Runway 11. At that time Runway 11 was still closed so I notified the Supervisor that TRACON was attempting the hand off. The Supervisor then called the sector and from what I heard it seemed like they didn't understand that they shouldn't be running an approach to a closed runway. Aircraft X continued towards Runway 11 to which the Supervisor told TRACON multiple times to stop bringing him in to Runway 11. Aircraft X then turned southbound and then northbound as if to rejoin the final for Runway 11. Aircraft X then turned eastbound and was descending indicating Runway 4 in the scratch pad. I yelled over to the Class Bravo Airspace that Aircraft X was descending into his airspace and to watch out in case someone pops off of a satellite airport. Someone then came on the landline and said to me in a bullying fashion. 'You guys are the worst.'I notified the Supervisor that it looked like they were trying to take him to Runway 4L. The Supervisor picked up the phone again and; from what I remember; started telling them to 'get him out of there; you can't just bring him to another runway without coordinating.' At that point someone on the landline keyed up again; but I started speaking to tell them we're not taking the aircraft and for the sector to keep him; but they just spoke as I was speaking and an aircraft was calling me at the same time; so nothing was achieved. At that point Aircraft X was turning final behind Aircraft Y and in front of Aircraft Z with less than standard separation and was calling me with a visual approach to Runway 4L. I was astonished that was happening; but I did my best to establish visual separation because I had no idea what the Approach Controller did. I stopped the departure traffic and let Aircraft X land because I did not want to send any aircraft around only to speak to the same controllers who initiated the entire situation to begin with.The only suggestion I can really make is that the TRACON follow the FAAH 7110.65; Letters of Agreement and Standard Operating Procedures. The appropriate sectors were informed that the runway was closed and the Port Authority was a little delayed in opening it. There was never any indication that the runway was open prior to it actually opening. Despite this; the TRACON decided to run Aircraft X to a closed runway. This in turn placed several aircraft; passengers; cargo and other controllers in unsafe situations. I decided the best course of action was to land these planes and not return them to a facility that created the situation in the first place. The actions of that sector caused me to question their abilities to protect the flying public. I worry for the safety of the flying public; my friends; my family and myself if I were ever have to fly out of EWR again. This is a systemic issue at the TRACON and the 'holier than thou' attitude is endemic. It needs to stop.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.