Harrison, New Jersey

Harrison is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 14,424.

Geography

Harrison is located at (40.745951, -74.155096).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²), of which, 1.2 square miles (3.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (6.82%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 14,424 people, 5,136 households, and 3,636 families residing in the town. The population density was 11,811.1 people per square mile (4,564.9/km²). There were 5,254 housing units at an average density of 4,302.2/sq mi (1,662.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 66.10% White, 0.98% African American, 0.40% Native American, 11.89% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 15.96% from other races, and 4.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.97% of the population.

As of the 2000 census, 7.22% of Harrison's residents identified themselves as being of Chinese ancestry. This was the fifth highest percentage of people with Chinese ancestry in any place in New Jersey with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.

There were 5,136 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 36.8% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,350, and the median income for a family was $48,489. Males had a median income of $33,069 versus $26,858 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,490. About 10.1% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

History

Colonial Times to the 1840's

The area that is now Harrison was a part of a charter granted to Captain William Sandford of Barbados. "New Barbadoes Neck," as the tract was known, consisted of 30,000 acres and it extended from Newark Bay north to present day Rutherford, between the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers. Sandford sent his nephew, Major Nathanial Kingsland, to enter into an agreement for the purchase the land from the Unami Indians, a branch of the Leni Lenapi Indians, the original inhabitants of the area.

In 1825, the New Jersey Legislature, who's main purpose was to divide territories into townships and counties, changed the name of New Barbadoes Neck to the Township of Lodi, New Jersey, in Bergen County. Since Lodi was part of Bergen County, matters dealing with the county government and courts had to be taken to Hackensack.

In 1840, the inhabitants of the Township of Lodi joined with present day Secaucus, Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, and Union City and petitioned for the creation of a new county due to the great distance which the petitioners had to travel to reach the count seat in Hackensack. This appeal resulted in the creation of Hudson County and the first mention of Harrison occurs in the law which was passed on February 22, 1840. The Township of Harrison was thereby established.

The first committee meeting of the Township of Harrison was held on April 16, 1840, and it is widely accepted that Harrison was named for President William Henry Harrison, who was elected that year.

1850's to Present Day

In 1867 General N. N. Halstead succeeded in getting the necessary laws passed in Trenton and in March, Kearny became a separate Township from land that was a part of Harrison, which included East Newark at the time. (East Newark later seceeded from Kearny, establishing their own Borough.)

The first steam engine in North America was set up at Schuyler Copper mines, to help drain water from the mines. While campaigning for re-election, President William Howard Taft coined the town's motto, "The Beehive of Industry," which is still used today.

With the town's proximity to rail lines, and a large waterfront, Harrison was favorably situated for trade. Some of the industries which called Harrison home included the Edison Lamp Works, Worthington Pump and Machinery, the RCA Company, the Peter Hauck Brewery, Driver-Harris Company, Crucible Steel Company, Otis Elevator, Hartz Mountain, Nopco Chemical and Hyatt Roller Bearing.

As the U.S. moved into the 20th century, these facilities played a major role in the development of revolutionary new products for both the private and public sector, peaking during World War II. The small town of about only 14,000 residents, had more then 90,000 workers commuting into it on a daily basis.

Government

Local Representation

Harrison is governed under the Town form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and Town Council comprising eight council members. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of eight members elected to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis.

The Town of Harrison is divided into four electoral wards, with each ward represented by two council members, with a total of eight council members on the Town Council. Each ward is divided into three districts, for a total of 12 electoral districts in Harrison.

The head of the government is the Mayor. The Mayor chairs the Town Council and heads the municipal government. The Mayor may both vote on legislation before the Council and veto ordinances. The Mayor's veto can be overruled by ¾ of the Town Council voting to overrule the veto.

Town Council meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm (except in July and August, when no meetings are held), in Council Chambers, which is located on the second floor of the Town Hall at 318 Harrison Avenue. Public Caucus Meetings are held at 6:30 pm in Room 303.

The current Mayor and Council members are:

Mayor Raymond J. McDonough (Current term in office expires December 31, 2010)

Members of the Harrison Town Council are:

• 1st Ward: Jesus Huaranga (term expires 2010) and Caroline Mandaglio (term expires 2011)
• 2nd Ward: Steve McCormick (2010) and Maria McCormick (2011)
• 3rd Ward: Laurence Bennett (2010) and Francisco Nascimento (2011)
• 4th Ward: James Doran (2010) and Michael Dolaghan (2011)

Federal, State and County Representation

Harrison is in the Thirteenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 32nd Legislative District.

Education

The Harrison Public Schools serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide.

Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Lincoln Elementary School (Pre-Kindergarten through the 3rd grade; 824 students), Lincoln Elementary School Annex (4th and 5th; 378), Washington Middle School (6th through 8th), and Harrison High School (9th through 12th; 637).

The Harrison Public School District is participating in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program. For the 2005-06. school year parents can request to transfer a child from the Washington School, designated by the State of New Jersey as a Category I School, to another school which is not a Category I School. Since there is only one elementary school in Harrison, parents can request a transfer to the Hoboken Public Schools under the Choice program. A transfer request will depend upon the capacity of the selected Hoboken school.

In September 2007, Harrison realigned the grades being housed in each of the school buildings in town. The new Harrison High School located on Hamilton Street between Kingsland and Schuyler Avenues opened to students in grades 9-12. As a result, the old Harrison High School building, located on 1 North 5th Street, was renamed as Washington Middle School. The old Washington Middle School, in turn, located on Hamilton Street between North 2nd and North 3rd Streets, now houses the 4th and 5th grades that formerly used the top floors of Holy Cross School. Holy Cross School has since been vacated by the Harrison Public School district.

Transportation

The Harrison station on the PATH rapid transit system offers service to Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken and New York City. The Northeast Corridor, built in the 19th Century by the Pennsylvania Railroad and now owned by Amtrak, carries New Jersey Transit trains, and passes through the city on the same alignment as the PATH. There was a stop on the Northeast Corridor in Harrison, but it was eliminated due to the ease of picking up trains in Newark at Penn Station.

Harrison is served by buses operated by several bus companies. New Jersey Transit offers service within New Jersey on the 39, 40 and 43 routes.

By car, Harrison depends on Interstate 280 which runs through town. Westward, I-280 leads to Route 21, the Garden State Parkway, and Interstate 80. Eastward, it leads to Route 7 and the New Jersey Turnpike.

The closest airport in New Jersey with scheduled passenger service is Newark Liberty International Airport, located 4.8 miles away in Newark / Elizabeth. New York City's LaGuardia Airport is 20.2 miles away in Flushing, Queens via the Lincoln Tunnel.

Redevelopment

Portions of Harrison are currently undergoing transit-oriented redevelopment under a plan developed by the community planning and design firm, Heyer, Gruel & Associates LLC and adopted by the Harrison Redevelopment Agency. With the construction of new high school athletic facilities, the Harrison Board of Education sold the former John F. Kennedy Stadium to the Roseland Property Co./Millennium Homes development group, where currently new townhouses are being built. The Hampton Inn and Suites Newark/Harrison Riverwalk Hotel opened on December 31, 2004 across from Newark along the Passaic River. The area stretching from the PATH train station south to the Harrison/Newark border has been designated as a redevelopment zone (275 acres, or about 35% of the town). Plans are now underway to transform the aforementioned area of the town from deindustrialized, abandoned factories into a transit village containing high-rise office complexes and street-level retail. The current design will introduce seven- to nine-thousand new housing units. Redevelopment groups participating in these projects have separated the designated site into two zones - Harrison Commons and the Riverbend District. The Harrison Commons initiative, led by companies the Pegasus Group, LLC and Applied Development, extends from the south side of the I-280 overpass towards the north side of the PATH station and will feature building designs depicting "modern 19th century architecture," headed by Minno & Wasko Architects, as well as Torti Gallas and Partners. The Advance Realty Group, along with Red Bull GmbH, oversees the Riverbend site, consisting of the area stretching from the south side of the PATH station to the Passaic River.

Sports

After years of delays, Red Bull and the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) announced in 2006 that Red Bull Arena will be the new home of the Major League Soccer team, Red Bull New York. The new stadium is part of the large redevelopment plan for Harrison. The stadium will hold 25,000 fans and will feature a European style roof. In addition to soccer, Red Bull Arena will be able to host games for professional men's lacrosse and international rugby teams as well as championship matches on the collegiate and secondary school levels. The stadium is expected to be open in the summer of 2009.

The Adler lawsuit

In July 2006, property owner Steve Adler filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court alleging, among several grounds, that the Harrison Redevelopment Agency was illegally formed and its actions are void ab initio. The lawsuit alleges that the composition of the Harrison Redevelopment Agency violates New Jersey Department of Community Affairs guidelines for membership of the board, the Town Ordinance promulgating the board, and the State Statute empowering the redevelopment agency. The board from its onset did not have professionals of various fields as members. Rather, it had, in violation of the town ordinance and state statute, more than two members who were political officials or employees of the Town of Harrison. If the lawsuit is successful, all designated developers could be stripped of their development designation. The court voted in favor of the agency in 2007. Rather than pursuing a court appeal, Adler settled the case September 2008 by accepting an undisclosed cash payment from the redevelopment agency.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Harrison include:

• Timothy Adams (born 1967), actor, who has appeared on One Life to Live.
• Dave D'Errico (born 1952), former professional soccer player.
• Sam Dente (1922-2002), major league baseball shortstop from 1947-1955.
• Bhairavi Desai, founding member of the Taxi Workers Alliance in New York.
• Daisy Fuentes (born 1966), model, actress and former MTV VJ.
• Fred A. Hartley, Jr. (1902-1969), served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives where he represented the New Jersey's 8th and New Jersey's 10th congressional districts.
• Ray Lucas (born 1972), former NFL quarterback who played for the New York Jets, among other teams.
• Edward F. McDonald (1844-1926), represented New Jersey's 7th congressional district from 1895 to 1899.
• Tab Ramos (born 1966), retired soccer midfielder.
• Fred Shields (1912-1985), born Ferdinand Zbikowski and played under that name for the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1968.
• George Tintle (1892-1975), soccer goalie elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1952.

Trivia

• Harrison had the longest-serving Mayor in American history, Frank E. Rodgers, who was first elected in 1946 and served for 48 years, from 1947 to 1995, being elected to 24 two-year terms. He also served one term in the New Jersey State Senate, from 1979 to 1983.
• Harrison has been featured in portions of the HBO hit series The Sopranos. In 2000, the high school was used as the location of an open casting call by HBO which brought 15,000-plus mafia hopefuls to the town, doubling the town's population and bringing traffic to a standstill.
• Nathan Lane performed on the high school's stage before breaking into acting.

References

External links

• Harrison website
• Harrison Meetings - Video clips of the Mayor and Council meetings
• Harrison Public School District
• Harrison Riverbend District
• Data for the Harrison Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics
• Harrison Discussion website
• Daily Harrison | Hometown news and more