North Arlington, New Jersey

North Arlington is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 15,181. As the site of Holy Cross Cemetery, which has interred over 250,000 individuals since its establishment in 1915, North Arlington has over 15 times more dead people than living.

North Arlington was formed by a referendum passed on March 9, 1896, and incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 11, 1896, from area taken from Union Township.

Geography

North Arlington is located at (40.791320, -74.133041).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.8 km²), of which, 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (1.53%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,181 people, 6,392 households, and 4,129 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,880.7 people per square mile (2,271.9/km²). There were 6,529 housing units at an average density of 2,529.2/sq mi (977.1/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 89.61% White, 0.46% African American, 0.14% Native American, 5.61% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.29% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.57% of the population.

There were 6,392 households out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the borough the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $51,787, and the median income for a family was $62,483. Males had a median income of $41,512 versus $34,769 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $24,441. About 3.4% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Crime

The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 24. The number of murders and homicides was 0. The violent crime rate was 1.6 per 1,000 people.

Mayor Peter C. Massa is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Government

Local government

North Arlington is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office and only votes to break a tie. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.

The Mayor of North Arlington Borough is Peter C. Massa (D, term ends on December 31, 2010. Members of the North Arlington Borough Council are Council President Steven A. Tanelli (D, 2008), Joseph R. Bianchi (R, 2010), Sal DiBlasi (D, 2009), James Ferriero (D, 2008), Albert Granell (D, 2009) and Richard T. Hughes (R, 2010).

In elections held on [[November 6], 2007, voters filled two seats on the borough council. Republicans Joseph R. Bianchi (1,433) and Richard T. Hughes (1,390) unseated Democratic Party incumbents Philip Spanola (1,277) and Mark E. Yampaglia (1,289). The election results mean that the 2008 council will now have a 4-2 Democratic edge.

On Election Day, November 7, 2006, Democrats swept all three open seats, with Councilmember Peter C. Massa elected mayor (2,436), defeating Republican Peter J. Norcia (1,988). Salvatore DiBlasi (2,231) and Albert Granell Jr. (2,269) won election to the Borough Council, defeating Republicans Joseph Bianchi (2,091) and James Bocchino (2,047), with Independent Eileen Sheedy trailing the pack (190). Voters also approved a ballot initiative calling on the Council to enact an ordinance restricting the use of eminent domain for private development by a 2,567-711 margin. All three took office in their new roles as of January 1, 2007.

Federal, state and county representation

North Arlington is in the Ninth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 36th Legislative District.

Politics

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 15,254 in North Arlington, there were 8,544 registered voters (56.0% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 1,751 (20.5% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,471 (17.2% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 5,321 (62.3% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There was one voter registered to another party.

On the national level, North Arlington is almost evenly split. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 3,376 votes here, narrowly edging Democrat John Kerry who received 3,370 votes.

Education

Students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade are educated by the North Arlington School District. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 school enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) include three pre-K - 5 elementary schools — Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, with 336 students; Franklin Roosevelt Elementary School, with 169 students; and George Washington Elementary School, with 169 students — North Arlington Middle School with 365 students in grades 6 - 8, and North Arlington High School with an enrollment of 498 students in grades 9 - 12.

In addition, Queen of Peace, a Roman Catholic parish, operates two parochial schools, Queen of Peace Elementary School (Pre-K-8th Grade) and Queen of Peace High School (9th-12th Grade). Catholic Secondary Schools, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Accessed July 7, 2008.

Transportation

Route 7 and Route 17 both pass through North Arlington, meeting at the intersection of Ridge Road (Rt. 17) and the Belleville Turnpike (Rt. 7).

New Jersey Transit bus routes 39 and 76 serve North Arlington.

History

• North Arlington was founded as "New Barbados Neck".
• Copper was mined here in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the first true copper mine in North America.
• In 1754, the first steam engine in North American was constructed in North Arlington. The Newcomen steam engine was imported from England by John Schuyler pump water out of his copper mine. He hired engineer Josiah Hornblower to assemble the machinery.
• North Arlington, together with Lyndhurst and Rutherford was the site of the EnCap project, an effort to remediate landfills on the 785-acre site and construct homes and golf courses on top of the cleaned up site. On May 27, 2008, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission terminated its agreement with EnCap Golf Holdings, the company that had the contract to redevelop the site, after the company had missed targets to cleanup the landfills as part of the project.
• Arlington Diner in North Arlington was used in the making of a movie called Running Scared.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of North Arlington include:

• Thomas Klein, President, Sabre Holdings Inc. 30 Most Influential People In Travel (N.A. resident 1962-89).
• James Thomas, guitarist and composer, of the San Francisco psychedelic instrumental band The Mermen.

References

External links

• North Arlington official website
• North Arlington School District
• Data for the North Arlington School District, National Center for Education Statistics
• North Arlington Information & News
• North Arlington Property Rights Coalition
• NAHS Band Website