Straw is only used in a few places around the country. You apparently live in one of those places. Yes it can be too thick. So can peat moss. When Mother Nature reseeds, She doesn't use anything. She runs heavy livestock over the area and they leave.

An update: First, thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up blowing off some of the contractor's seeds with a leaf blower. Then I put down a thin layer of compost, re-seeded with my quality blend, and put down starter fertilizer. The contractor said he seeded with "Tri blend Rye". I guess this is a perennial Rye blend? Will PR die in NJ (zone 7) in about a year? I have my fingers crossed that my TTFF/KBG outcompetes his Rye. How can I tell the difference between TTFF, KBG, and Rye seedlings?

When I re-seeded some sections last October in temperatures similar to the ones in Portland OR right now, it took about 18 days to see full germination. For comparison, when I initially seeded early September in 86 degree weather, I had full germination by day 4. I think you should wait, the cooler the temps the longer it takes.

Not really that hard to find, both can be found on Amazon. Prodiamine Tenacity Also at http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/ if you prefer. It's a bit of an expense upfront but they will both actually save you money. Without Tenacity you will have an explosion of weeds as soon as you seed and start watering, it will cost you a lot to control selectively after the fact and ruin your lawn. There is a starter fertilizer available at Home Depot which contains the same active ingredient, however it will cost you ~$150+ for your size area. If you get the Tenacity bottle for $60 and starter fertilizer separately it will come out to about the same but you will still have half the bottle left for subsequent weed control and seeding projects. The Prodiamine jug will last you 10 years and cost $6 per spring app at 6 month rate. The equivalent protection with Home Depot products would cost you $100 per spring app at 6 month rate, so the Prodiamine jug will save you $940 over the next 10 years. With that size lawn a tow behind sprayer would be a wise investment. Also, it would be worthwhile to keep looking into buying bulk lawn care products( e.g herbicide concentrates, fertilizers etc.) rather than stuff from big box stores, it gets very expensive when you have that many square feet to cover.