Paramus, New Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paramus (IPA: [pəˈræməs]) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 25,737. As of the Census Bureau's 2005 estimate, the population was 26,545. Paramus is one of the largest shopping meccas in the country, with over $5 billion in annual retail sales, more than any other ZIP Code in the United States.[1]
Paramus was incorporated as a borough on April 4, 1922.[2] Paramus was created from portions of Midland Township, which now exists as Rochelle Park.[3]
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[edit] Geography
Paramus is located at (40.947107, -74.070471)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 27.1 km² (10.5 mi²), all land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 25,737 people, 8,082 households, and 6,780 families residing in the borough. The population density was 949.1/km² (2,457.7/mi²). There were 8,209 housing units at an average density of 302.7/km² (783.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 79.19% White, 1.13% African American, 0.05% Native American, 17.23% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.89% from other races, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.87% of the population.
There were 8,082 households out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.3% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.1% were non-families. 14.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.32.
In the borough the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $76,918, and the median income for a family was $84,406. Males had a median income of $56,635 versus $37,450 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $29,295. About 1.4% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Paramus has a mayor and six person council. The Mayor is James Tedesco, and the council members are Frank Ciambrone, Richard Conte, Richard LaBarbiera, Louis Romano, Connie Wagner and Keith Zakheim.[4]
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, voters chose a mayor and filled two seats on the borough council. The 2006 council was comprised of five Democrats and a Republican, with one Democratic and one Republican seat up for reelection. Democratic incumbent Mayor James J. Tedesco III was reelected, and two Democratic newcomers Denis Niland and Frederick Hayo were elected. When the new council is seated on January 1, 2007, the council will have full Democratic Party control.[5][6]
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Paramus is part of New Jersey's 38th Legislative District and is in the Fifth Congressional District.[7]
New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District, covering the northern portions of Bergen County, Passaic County and Sussex County and all of Warren County, is represented by Scott Garrett (R, Wantage Township). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 38th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Joseph Coniglio (D, Paramus) and in the Assembly by Robert M. Gordon (D, Fair Lawn) and Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Bergen County's County Executive is Dennis McNerney (D). The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Bergen County's Freeholders are Chairwoman Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford), Vice-Chairman David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn), Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington), James M. Carroll (D, Demarest), Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge), Elizabeth Randall (R), Westwood) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D, Englewood).
Other countywide elected officials are Sheriff Leo McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Mike Dressler (D, Cresskill) County Clerk Kathleen Donovan (R).
[edit] Politics
As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 26,624 in Paramus, there were 16,636 registered voters (62.5% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 3,144 (18.9% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,148 (18.9% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 10,342 (62.2% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were two voters registered to other parties.[8]
On the national level, Paramus leans toward the Republican Party. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 52% of the vote here, defeating Democrat John Kerry, who received around 47%.[9]
[edit] Education
The Paramus Public Schools serve students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. For the 2005-06 school year, the district opened school with 4,500 youngsters in five K-4 schools (Memorial Elementary School, Midland Elementary School, Parkway Elementary School, Ridge Ranch Elementary School and Stony Lane Elementary School), two grade 5-8 middle schools (Eastbrook Middle School and Westbrook Middle School) and Paramus High School. Three of the district's schools have been formally designated as National Blue Ribbon Schools: Paramus High School, Parkway Elementary School and Ridge Ranch Elementary School.
Befitting the diversity in the region, Paramus is home to many private religious schools. Paramus is the home of Paramus Catholic High School, a co-educational Roman Catholic high school founded in 1965 and operated by the Archdiocese of Newark. It is the largest Roman Catholic high school in the state of New Jersey, enrolling approximately 1,500 students. It is also the location of Visitation Academy, a K-8 Catholic school. Paramus is home to both the Yavneh Academy, a K-8 Jewish day school, and the Frisch School, a large Modern Orthodox Jewish yeshiva serving high-school age students in grades 9-12.
Bergen Community College, the county college of Bergen County, is based in Paramus, with other satellite centers located elsewhere around the county. The Bergen campus of Berkeley College is located in Paramus.
[edit] History
The term Paramus comes from the Lenni Lenape Native American word meaning "land of the wild turkey" or "place of fertile soil".[10] That is why there is a giant metal statue of a turkey in the Paramus Park mall.[citation needed]
Paramus, and the neighboring communities of Ridgewood and Hackensack, was the scene of a great deal of activity during the American Revolutionary War.
A section of Paramus known as Dunkerhook (meaning dark corner in Dutch) was an African-American community dating back to the early 18th century. Although historical markers on the current site and local oral tradition maintain that this was a slave community, contemporary records document that this was actually a community of free blacks, not slaves.[11]
During World War II, Farview Avenue was closed off by the United States Army. The military had lined up anti-aircraft cannons along the street to prevent any attack on New York City. Farview Avenue is located at the highest peak of Paramus and has a clear view of the New York City skyline.
For hundreds of years, the Dutch settlers grew massive crops of hemp in Paramus, up until 1937, when marijuana was declared illegal. On what is now the Garden State Parkway Highway, Dutch farmers grew hemp. Hemp was considered the top cash crop in New Jersey next to corn, tomatoes, cabbage and celery. Hemp also was farmed in other areas of Paramus, as well as along the Hudson River where the George Washington Bridge is now located.
[edit] A place to shop
Paramus is known for its multitude of stores and malls. It has five major indoor shopping centers, due to its easy access for residents in the areas of Bergen County and Passaic County in New Jersey and Rockland County in New York. New Jersey also does not levy a sales tax on clothes, which makes it an attractive shopping destination for people even further away in New York City.
On Route 4, are the Bergen Mall and the Mall at IV. On Route 17, are Paramus Park and the Fashion Center. At the intersection of Routes 4 and 17 is Paramus's biggest and most famous mall, the Garden State Plaza. Across from the Garden State Plaza is the world's third largest Ikea, and one of three in the New York City metro area.
Paramus, along with the rest of Bergen County, has strict blue laws preventing stores from selling a majority of non-food items from opening on Sundays. Although it started as a religious observance, it is kept on the books due to a desire of the residents of Paramus to have one day a week when traffic is tolerable in the town. Furthermore, both Paramus and the surrounding county have significant Jewish and Muslim populations who do not observe their Sabbath on Sunday. This law was called into question most recently when a BJ's Wholesale Club opened at the 4/17 junction. BJ's was allowed to open on Sundays, but is only allowed to sell food and basic necessities. The store has been structured to deny access for shoppers to purchase items that cannot be purchased on Sunday. Other towns in Bergen County are less strict with the countywide blue laws. It is one of the last places in the entire United States to have such an extensive blue law.
Local Blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while the Bergen Mall and Garden State Plaza were under construction. The legislation was motivated by fears that the two new malls would aggravate the already severe highway congestion caused by local retail businesses along the borough's highways.[12]
In spite of its six-day shopping week, Paramus consistently has the most retail sales of any ZIP Code in the United States.[1] Many national chain stores boast Paramus as their most prominent locations, including Nordstrom, in which the Paramus store is their best-performing chainwide. There are 25 retailers that occupy multiple stores in Paramus[1], including Macy's which had outlets in three malls for a short period of time. Some retail analysts view Paramus as being two markets, centered on the two major highways. Lord and Taylor has 2 locations in Paramus, giving Paramus the distinction of the only town with more than one Lord and Taylor location in the town itself. Shoppers are often reluctant to switch from one highway to another, so having one outlet on each makes sense.
When Paramus residents go shopping on Sundays, they often visit Willowbrook Mall, a short distance down Interstate 80 in Wayne, New Jersey or Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York.
[edit] Mall history
- 1957 - The Garden State Plaza Shopping Center was built by Muscarelli Construction Company on 198 acres at the intersection of Routes 4 and 17.
- 1958 - The Bergen Mall was built on 101 acres on an area east of the Plaza on Route 4.
- 1958 - The Fashion Center was soon built on 35 acres. The owners originally referred to its location as being in Ridgewood/Paramus to appeal to the Ridgewood population. Over the years, the references to Ridgewood became somewhat lost.
- 1974 - Paramus Park Mall, built by the Rouse Company. The last of the large centers was built on 66 acres in the middle of an area where the old farms were located.
- 2003 - IKEA opens its third largest store at the intersection of Routes 4 and 17, on the site of the old Alexander's department store. It is joined the next year by 3 other retailers.
[edit] Entertainment
In 1931, one of the earliest Drive-in theaters opened in Paramus, and boasted the world's largest and brightest screen, located behind what is now the Garden State Plaza Shopping Mall. The Paramus Drive-In closed sometime around 1983.
Paramus' lone movie theater complex is a 10-screen AMC Theatres, located on Route 4 just east of the Bergen Mall. This theatre was originally opened in 1965 by Stanley Warner Theatres. The Cineplex Odeon Route 17 Triplex, now closed, was located next to Garden State Plaza on Route 17. This theatre was opened in 1965 by Century Theatres and was closed on January 19, 2006 by Loews Cineplex Entertainment. Construction of a larger movie theatre at Garden State Plaza, boasting 16 screens, is underway. Plans are to close the aging tenplex on Route 4 after the new Garden State Plaza site opens.
Van Saun County Park is located in Paramus. It has Bergen County's only zoo.
[edit] Popular culture
- The 1993 Saturday Night Live spin-off movie Coneheads partially took place in Paramus. Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin's characters decide to move to and permanently reside in the town so daughter Michelle Burke can attend Paramus High School. Aykroyd's character "Beldar Conehead" spends his days in Paramus teaching driving lessons and playing golf.
- "Vinnie" from the popular band "Less Than Jake", the band has a few songs dedicated to the town of Paramus.
- In the movie Soapdish (1991), Sally Field goes to "The Paramus Mall" for some cheering up.
- In an episode of Will & Grace, Grace and Karen get helicoptered over to the Paramus Park Mall to do some shopping.
- In an episode of Boy Meets World, Cory and Shawn discuss the time they "ate cake at the Paramus mall"
- In an episode of The Nanny, Fran Fine discusses the time she was kicked out of the Paramus Mall
- Bill Murry discusses the end of the world in Ghostbusters 2 with a woman in his talk show. She claimed that she was taken by aliens at the Paramus Holiday Inn.
- The men on The Cosby Show become pregnant after drinking water at a mall in Paramus.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- Playwright and screenwriter William Marchant, author of Desk Set, died in Paramus on November 5, 1995.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Paramus 07652, GlobeSt. Retail, October 3, 2005
- ^ Paramus Borough History, accessed August 9, 2006
- ^ "Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties)" prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958. p8.
- ^ Borough of Paramus: Members of the Council, accessed June 22, 2006
- ^ Paramus Election Guide, The Record (Bergen County), November 1, 2006
- ^ Paramus election results, The Record (Bergen County), November 8, 2006
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 62, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006
- ^ 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004
- ^ If You're Thinking of Living In/Paramus; In Shopping Mecca, Houses Sell Well Too, The New York Times, April 15, 2001
- ^ Dunkerhook: Slave Community?, accessed November 11, 2006
- ^ "SUNDAY SELLING PLAGUING JERSEY; Local Businesses Pushing Fight Against Activities of Stores on Highways - Other Group Active Local Option Opposed", The New York Times, June 2, 1957. p. 165
[edit] Source
- Paramus- the Way We Were 1922-1960 by Fritz Behnke
[edit] External links
- Paramus official website
- Paramus Public Schools
- Paramus Public Schools's 2004-2005 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Paramus Public Schools
- history of Dunkerhook
- Paramus Rescue Squad official website
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
