I have to say I do have some sympathy for the perpetrators; I doubt that they did this deliberately.
I can only surmise that the picture out the front window looked OK... It's been a while since I used 29 at EWR, so I can't remember what the lighting looked like. It's possible that the runway was (un)lit in a similar way to the taxiway. Remember this is a visual approach - no LOC or VOR radial, etc.
I have noticed that many airports have added potentially confusing lighting details to some runways over recent years, whilst removing those that are fairly unique. It is not unusual to line up on a runway(?) that has:
a) No white CL lighting.
b) Green CL in places for turnoffs.
c) Red stop bars (LAHSO).
Contrast that with a taxiway(?) that has:
a) Areas of missing CL lighting.
b) Green CL for lead-in to entry/exit points.
c) Red stop bars (taxi limit).
At sunset you're especially vulnerable landing to the west, at any airport.