Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 26,203.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Englewood Township. With the creation of the City of Englewood, Englewood Township was dissolved. An earlier referendum on March 10, 1896, was declared unconstitutional.
Geography
Englewood is located at 40°53'36' North, 73°58'33' West (40.893343, -73.975801).According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.8.km2 (4.9 sq mi). 4.9 square miles (12.7 km2) of it is land and 0.20% is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,203 people, 9,273 households, and 6,481 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,322.0 people per square mile (2,056.3/km2). There were 9,614 housing units at an average density of 1,952.7/sq mi (754.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 42.49% White, 38.98% African American, 0.27% Native American, 5.21% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 8.50% from other races, and 4.50% from two or more races. 21.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.7.17% of Englewood residents identified themselves as being of Colombian American ancestry in the 2000 Census, the ninth highest percentage of the population of any municipality in the United States.There were 9,273 households out of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.29.In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.The median income for a household in the city is $54,379, and the median income for a family is $62,194. Males had a median income of $41,909 versus $34,358 for females. The per capita income for the city was $35,275. 8.9% of the population and 6.6% of families were below the poverty line. 10.2% of those under the age of 18 and 8.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Local government
Beginning in 1980, Englewood switched from a Mayor-Council form of government to a modified Council-Manager plan of government in accordance with a Special Charter granted by the New Jersey Legislature. Under this charter, the mayor retains appointive and veto powers, while the council acts as a legislative and policy making body, with some power to appoint and confirm appointments. The City Council consists of five members: four are elected from wards of roughly equal population and one additional member is elected at large. Administrative functions are responsibilities of the City Manager.The current Mayor is Frank Huttle III (D, term ends on December 31, 2013). The mayor is elected city-wide to a three-year term of office and has significant powers in appointing members to the Planning Board, the Library Board of Trustees, and, with council confirmation, the Board of Adjustment. The mayor serves on the Planning Board. The mayor attends and may speak at council meetings, but voting is confined only to breaking a deadlock with an affirmative vote for passage of an ordinance or resolution. The mayor has veto power over any city ordinance, but can be overridden with votes from four council members.The City Council consists of five members, each elected for a three-year term. Four are elected from the individual wards in which they live and the other is elected by a city-wide vote as an at-large member. The city is divided into four wards which are approximately equal in population. The City Council is the legislative branch of government, whereby, deciding public policy, creating city ordinances and resolutions, passing the city budget, appropriating funds for city services, and hiring the City Manager. The City Council meets generally four times per month (except during summer months).Members of the City Council are:At Large: Lynne Algrant (D, term ends in 2012)
Ward 1: Dr. Kenneth E. Rosenzweig (D, 2011)
Ward 2: Charlotte Bennett Schoen (D, 2010), Council President
Ward 3: Scott Reddin (D, 2011)
Ward 4: Jack Drakeford (D, 2010)
All members of the City Council are Democrats. However, Drakeford is a member of one local faction of the Democrats, and Rosenzweig, Schoen and Reddin are part of another faction. (Algrant may arguably be considered a member of either faction.) These two factions of the party act essentially as two separate political parties because of the lack of a significant Republican presence.In elections held on November 6, 2007, voters filled two seats on the city council. In the Second Ward, Democratic incumbent Charlotte Bennett-Schoen (618 votes) won re-election, defeating Republican Norman Gorlyn (411). In the Fourth Ward, democratic incumbent Jack Drakeford (498) won a fourth term in office, topping both independent candidate Dierdre Glenn Paul (362) and Republican challenger Alice Joy Frank Leonard (35). Democrats will retain complete control on the 2008 council.On Election Day, November 7, 2006, Englewood voters selected a mayor and filled the at-large seat on the City Council. As of Election Day, the Mayor and Council were all Democrats, in a community in which registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a more than 6-1 margin. Incumbent Mayor Michael Wildes (with 4,673 votes) coasted to a win in his bid for a second term in office, defeating independent Robert O. Stern (2,443) and Republican Baruch Y. Prince (400). Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (5,132 votes) defeated Republican Harry Kanner (1,501). The election was characterized by mudslinging between the candidates and the factions within Englewood's dominant Democratic party.
Federal, state and county representation
Englewood is in the Ninth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 37th Legislative District.New Jersey's Ninth Congressional District is represented by Steve Rothman (D, Fair Lawn). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).The 37th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Loretta Weinberg (D, Teaneck) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Valerie Huttle (D, Englewood) and Gordon M. Johnson (D, Englewood). The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham). The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).Bergen County's County Executive is Dennis McNerney (D). The executive, along with the seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. As of 2010[update], Bergen County's Freeholders are Chairman James M. Carroll (D, Demarest), Vice-Chairwoman Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington), John Driscoll, Jr. (R, Paramus), David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn), Robert G. Hermansen (R, Mahwah), Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford) and Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge). Other countywide elected officials are Sheriff Leo P. McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Michael R. Dressler (D, Cresskill) and County Clerk Kathleen Donovan (R, Rutherford).
Politics
As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 26,353 in Englewood, there were 14,049 registered voters (53.3% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 6,151 (43.8% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,029 (7.3% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 6,866 (48.9% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were three voters registered to other parties.On the national level, Englewood leans very strongly toward the Democratic Party. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 78% of the vote here, defeating Republican John McCain, who received around 20%.
Education
The Englewood Public School District serves students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. For high school, students from Englewood Cliffs attend Dwight Morrow High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Englewood Cliffs Public Schools.Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are D. A. Quarles Early Childhood Center (400 students; PreK-1), Cleveland School (363; 1-5), Lincoln School (428; 1-5), Janis E. Dismus Middle School (534; 6-8), Dwight Morrow High School (9-12; 1,059) and Academies at Englewood (9-12).As an alternative to regular public education, Englewood has the Englewood on the Palisades Charter School (216; K-5)High school students from Englewood may also apply on a competitive basis to attend the public Bergen County Technical High Schools and Bergen County Academies, with the former located in Teterboro and Paramus and the latter located in Hackensack.Englewood is the home to a number of private schools. Dwight-Englewood School has 935 students in preschool through twelfth grade. Elisabeth Morrow School serves 462 students in preschool through eighth grade. Moriah School of Englewood is a Jewish day school with nearly 1,000 students in preschool through eighth grade, and St. Cecilia Interparochial School is a Catholic school with 165 students in pre-k 3 through eighth grade. Yeshiva Ohr Simcha serves students in high school for grades 9-12 and offers a postgraduate yeshiva program.
Transportation
New Jersey Transit bus lines serving Englewood include the 166 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan; the 171, 175, 178 and 186 routes to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal; and the 756 and 780 offering local service.Route 4, Route 93, Interstate 95, County Route 501, and County Route 505 also serve Englewood. The northern terminus of Route 93 is at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 93, but the road continues north as CR 501.A proposed extension of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail along the Northern Branch would include stations at Englewood Hospital, Town Center and Route 4.
Origin of Name
Englewood was so named because it was the first primarily English-speaking settlement on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River in former New Netherland after the annexation of New Netherland by England in 1664. Numerous other settlements in the United States were named for Englewood as settlement in North America expanded westward.
Pre-Colonial and Colonial
Englewood, like the rest of New Jersey, was originally populated by Lenni-Lenape Native Americans prior to European colonization. The Lenape who lived in the Englewood region were of the 'turtle clan' which used a stylized turtle as its symbol, but little else is known of the original inhabitants.When Henry Hudson sailed up what would become known as the Hudson River in 1607, he claimed the entirety of the watershed of the river, including Englewood, for the Netherlands, making the future region of Englewood a part of New Netherland. However, the region remained largely unsettled under Dutch rule as the Dutch did little to encourage settlement north of modern Hudson County, as the imposing New Jersey Palisades blocked expansion on the west bank of the Hudson.In 1664, after the Dutch surrendered all of New Netherland to England, the rate of settlement picked up. The English were generous with land grants, and many families, not only English but also Dutch and Huguenot, settled the area, which during the colonial era was known as the English Neighborhood. Street names in Englewood still recall the relative diversity of its earliest settlers; Brinckerhoff, Van Brunt, Lydecker, Van Nostrand and Durie (Duryea), all Dutch; Demarest (de Marais), DeMott and Lozier (Le Sueur), French Huguenot; and Moore, Lawrence, Cole and Day, English.
Historical notes
From 1906 until 1907 when it burned down, Englewood was the site of Upton Sinclair's socialist inflected intentional community, the Helicon Home Colony. Associated with the project were Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lewis Sinclair.The telephone industry made a United States 'first' in Englewood with the introduction of what is known now as Direct distance dialing (DDD). On November 10, 1951, Englewood Mayor M. Leslie Downing made the first directly-dialed long distance call, to Mayor Frank Osborne of Alameda, California. As of that date, customers of the ENglewood 3, ENglewood 4 and TEaneck 7 exchanges (who could already dial New York City and area) were able to dial 11 cities across the United States, simply by dialing the three-digit area code and the seven digit number (or the three-digit area code and the local number of two letters and five digits).Vince Lombardi began his coaching career at St. Cecilia High School two years after his graduation from Fordham University, and the NFL championship trophy is named in his honor.In the 2008 movie Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Norah Silverberg one of the primary characters is from Englewood although Englewood is never seen in the film.
Famous residents
Some noted current and former residents include:John Aprea(born 1941), actor, known for his role as 'Young Sal Tessio' inThe Godfather: Part II(1974) and on television as 'Lucas Castigliano' on thesoap operaAnother World.
Jack Armstrong(born 1965), formerMajor League Baseballright-handedpitcher.
Byron Baer(1929–2007), served in theNew Jersey General Assemblyfrom 1972–1993 and in theState Senatefrom 1994 - 2005
Kevin Baker(born 1958), novelist and journalist.
Alejandro Bedoya(born 1987), professional soccer player forÖrebro SKand theUS National Soccer Team.
Clifford Whittingham Beers(1876–1943), founder of the Americanmental hygiene movement.
Regina Belle(born 1963),Grammy Awardwinning singer.
Tony Bennett(born 1926),Grammy Award-winning singer.
George Benson(born 1943), jazz singer and musician.
John Bergamo(born 1940), percussionist and composer.
Shmuley Boteach(born 1966),Orthodoxrabbi,radioandtelevisionhost and author.
Elizabeth Bracco(born 1959), actress.
Dick Button(born 1929), Olympic ice skater and commentator. Ranked #11 on theSports Illustratedlist ofThe 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures.
David Cassidy(born 1950), actor and musician, best known for his role onThe Partridge Family.
Wayne A. Cauthen(born 1955), current and first appointedAfrican AmericanCity ManagerofKansas City, Missouri.
Sophie Clark, the only African American victim of theBoston Strangler,Albert DeSalvo
Orestes Cleveland(1829–1896),Mayor of Jersey City1864-1867; 1886–1892, member of theU.S. House of RepresentativesfromNew Jersey's 5th congressional districtfrom 1869-1871.
Claudia Cohen(born 1950), socialite and gossip columnist.
David X. Cohen(born 1966) Head writer and executive producer of TV seriesFuturama.
Peter Coyote(born 1941), Actor and author.
Vince Curatola(born 1953), who playedJohnny Sackon theHBOseriesThe Sopranos.
John Fiedler(1925–2005)voice actorandcharacter actorinstage,film,televisionandradio, perhaps best remembered for two roles: the voice ofPigletinDisney's manyWinnie the Poohproductions and the role of Mr. Peterson, nervous patient onThe Bob Newhart Show.
Lucy Fisher (born 1949) Film producer.
B. C. Forbes(1880–1954), founder ofForbesmagazine.
Virgil Fox(1912–1980), Organist.
Genie Francis(born 1962), best known for her role asLaura SpenceronGeneral Hospital.
Ivor Francis(1918–1986), actor.
Dizzy Gillespie(1917–1993), jazz trumpeter (lived in Englewood from 1965 until his death in 1993).
Zach Grenier(born 1954), actor known for roles inFight Club,Deadwoodand on Broadway.
Bruce Harper, former professional football player,New York Jets.
David Hoadley, former president of thePanama Railway.
Ernie Isley(born 1952), guitarist and member ofThe Isley Brothers.
Marvin Isley(1953–2010), bassist and member of the Isley Brothers.
Kimberly Jones(born 1975), a female rapper otherwise known as Lil' Kim.
Serius Jones(born 1982), MC, battle rapper, mixtape awards winner.
Kitty Kallen(born 1922), singer.
Sara Lee Kessler, TV reporter.
Chuck Knox Jr.,NFLassistant coach.
Dr.John Lattimer(1914–2007), urologist who did extensive research on the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations. His collection of military paraphernalia, included 'medieval armor, Revolutionary and Civil War rifles and swords, a pile of cannonballs, World War II machine guns and German Lugers, and drawings by Adolf Hitler.'
Dinah Lenney(born 1956), actress and author.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh(1906–2001), author and aviator, wife ofCharles Lindberghand daughter of Dwight Morrow.
Charles Lindbergh(1902–1974), aviator.
Bernarr Macfadden(1868–1955),physical cultureadvocate.
William Marchant(1923–1995),playwrightandscreenwriter, best known for writing the play that served as the basis for the 1957Walter Langmovie,The Desk Set.
Bruce McKenna, television and movie screenwriter.
Dwight Morrow(1873–1931), formerUnited States Senator,United States Ambassador to Mexico, Father-In Law ofCharles Lindberghand namesake ofDwight Morrow High School.
Sybil Moses(c. 1939-2009), Prosecutor of the 'Dr. X'Mario Jascalevichmurder case andNew Jersey Superior Courtjudge.
Eddie Murphy(born 1961), comedian and actor.
Nypoleon(R&B singer),singer,songwriter,producer,actorborn inTrinidadand moved to Englewood, NJ
Karen O(born 1978 as Karen Lee Orzołek),lead vocalistfor theNew Yorkartpunk bandYeah Yeah Yeahs.
Roscoe Orman(born 1944), television personality Gordon onSesame Street
Charles Osgood(born 1933), Television personality.
Clyde Otis(1924–2008), American music industry executive.
Betsy Palmer(born 1929), Actress
Bill Parcells(born 1941),NFLHead Coach, formerly of theNew York GiantsandNew York Jets.
Margaret Patrick(1913–1994), 'Ebony' ofEbony and Ivory.
Wilson Pickett(1941–2006), singer.
Sarah Jessica Parker(born 1965), actress, best known for her starring role inHBO'sSex and the City.
Clarke Peters(born 1952), actor; currently Det. Lester Freamon onHBO'sThe Wire.
Sylvia Pressler, was the Chief Judge of the Appellate Division theNew Jersey Superior Courtfor 5 years, officially retiring from the bench in 2004.
Aidan Quinn(born 1959), actor.
Sylvia Robinson(born 1936), singer, record producer, and co-founder ofSugar Hill RecordsandAll Platinum Records.
Steve Rothman(born 1952), Congressmen representing Englewood, was Mayor of Englewood from 1983-1989.
Walter SchirraDwight Morrow H.S. graduate; Mercury, Gemini, Apollo Astronaut; Emmy winner
Al Sharptonresided here with his then-wife Kathy Jordan at the time of his campaigning forNew York City mayorin 1997
Dick Shawn(born 1925, Buffalo, NY), Actor, Broadway Star, Comedian, lived and raised children in Englewood for 30 years. Daughter, Wendy, married Joey Travolta, also of Englewood.
Brooke Shields(born 1965), actress.
Upton Sinclair(1878–1968), author; established a commune calledHelicon Home Colonyin 1906 with proceeds from his novelThe Jungle; it burned down in 1907.
Darryl Smith(born 1962), Community Activist/Politician. Deputy Mayor, Seattle, Washington
Sister Souljah(born 1964), rapper/activist.
The Sugarhill Gang, firstAmerican hip hopgroup to record a record on wax, and hit theTop 40.
Gloria Swanson(1897–1983), actress.
Walter Scott Taylor, Sr., clergyman and firstAfrican-Americanmayor of Englewood.
Susan Thomases(born 1944), attorney. She served as personal counsel and informal adviser toHillary Clintonduring the Clinton Presidency.
Tony Tolbert(born 1967), Former NFL PlayerDallas Cowboys.
Robert Torricelli(born 1951), formerU.S. Senator; resided in Englewood throughout his career of elective political office.
John Travolta(born 1954), actor.
Alexander Buel Trowbridge(1929–2006), formerUnited States Secretary of Commerce.
Donald N.S. Unger(born 1962), Writer/Teacher. Author of'Men Can: The Changing Image and Reality of Fatherhood in America.'Lecturer in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies at MIT.
Ron Villone(born 1970),MLBplayer for theSeattle Mariners,San Diego Padres,Milwaukee Brewers,Cleveland Indians,Cincinnati Reds,Colorado Rockies,Houston Astros,Pittsburgh Pirates,Florida Marlins,New York Yankees,St. Louis Cardinals, and theWashington Nationals.
Austin Volk(1919-2010), former Mayor of Englewood during the 1967 civil unrest and former New Jersey assemblyman.
Bob Weinstock(1928–2006), founder ofPrestige Records.
Leslie West(born 1945), musician, singer and guitarist ofMountain.
Matt White(born 1980), singer-songwriter.
Eric Williams, singer and member ofBlackstreet.
Bill Willoughby(born 1957), former NBA basketball player was the first NBA player drafted out of high school when he was selected by theAtlanta Hawksin 1975.
