Pleasantville, New Jersey

Pleasantville, New Jersey
—  City  —
Map of Pleasantville in Atlantic County. Inset: Location of Atlantic County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Pleasantville, New Jersey
Coordinates:
Country United States
State New Jersey
County Atlantic
Incorporated January 10, 1889
Government[1]
 • Type City (New Jersey)
 • Mayor Jesse Tweedle, Sr.
 • Administrator Marvin D. Hopkins[2]
Area
 • Total 7.3 sq mi (19.0 km2)
 • Land 5.8 sq mi (15.0 km2)
 • Water 1.5 sq mi (4.0 km2)
Elevation[3] 13 ft (4 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 20,249
 • Density 3,491.2/sq mi (1,349.9/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 08232, 08234
Area code(s) 609
FIPS code 34-59640[4][5]
GNIS feature ID 0885356[6]
Website http://pleasantville-nj.org

Pleasantville is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 20,249.

Pleasantville was originally incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 10, 1889, from portions of Egg Harbor Township, based on the results of a referendum held on December 15, 1888. Pleasantville was incorporated as a city on April 14, 1914, replacing Pleasantville borough, based on the results of a referendum held that same day.[7]

Contents

Geography

Pleasantville is located at (39.395566, -74.522956).[8]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.3 square miles (19.0 km2), of which, 5.8 square miles (15.0 km2) of it is land and 1.5 square miles (4.0 km2) of it (21.17%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 19,012 people, 6,402 households, and 4,366 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,291.3 people per square mile (1,270.0/km2). There were 7,042 housing units at an average density of 1,219.1 per square mile (470.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 25.01% White, 57.70% African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.95% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 10.96% from other races, and 4.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.87% of the population.

There were 6,402 households out of which 36.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 24.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.44.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.4% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,913, and the median income for a family was $40,016. Males had a median income of $26,909 versus $25,886 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,668. About 12.2% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over.

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1930 11,580
1940 11,050 −4.6%
1950 11,938 8.0%
1960 15,172 27.1%
1970 14,007 −7.7%
1980 13,435 −4.1%
1990 16,027 19.3%
2000 19,012 18.6%
2010 20,249 6.5%
Population 1930 - 1990[9]

Government

Local government

Pleasantville operates under the City form of New Jersey municipal government, led by a Mayor and a seven-member City Council. The City Council consists of two members elected from wards to three-year terms, and five members elected at-large to four-year terms in office, all of whom are elected in partisan elections on a staggered basis.[1]

The Mayor of the City of Pleasantville is Jesse L. Tweedle, Sr. The City Council President is Dr. Johnson Harmon and other members of the Pleasantville City Council are Lincoln Green, Sr., Stanley Swan, Jr., Ricky Cistrunk, Judy Ward, Lockland V. Scott, and William Christmas.[10]

Federal, state and county representation

Pleasantville is in the 2nd Congressional district. New Jersey's Second Congressional District is represented by Frank LoBiondo (R, Ventnor City). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

Pleasantville is in the 2nd legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Jim Whelan (D, Atlantic City), and in the Assembly by John F. Amodeo (R, Margate) and Vincent J. Polistina (R, Egg Harbor Township).[11]

Atlantic County's County Executive is Dennis Levinson (Linwood), whose term of office ends on December 31, 2011.[12] The Board of Chosen Freeholders, the county's legislature, consists of nine members elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with three seats coming up for election each year of which four members are elected at-large and one member from each of the five districts. As of 2011, Atlantic County's Freeholders are four at-large members Alisa Cooper (Linwood, term expires December 31, 2011)[13], Vice Chairman Frank V. Giordano (Hamilton Township, 2012)[14], Joseph J. McDevitt (Ventnor City, 2013)[15] and Jim Schroeder (Northfield, 2011)[16]; and five members elected from districts District 1 (Atlantic City (part), Egg Harbor Township (part) and Pleasantville) Charles T. Garrett (Atlantic City, 2013)[17], District 2 - (Atlantic City (part), Egg Harbor Township (part), Longport, Margate, Somers Point and Ventnor), Chairman Frank D. Formica (Atlantic City, 2012)[18], District 3 (Egg Harbor Township (part), Hamilton Township (part), Linwood and Northfield) - Frank Sutton (Egg Harbor Township, 2011)[19], District 4 (Absecon, Brigantine, Galloway Township and Port Republic - Richard Dase (Galloway Township, 2013)[20] and District 5 (Buena Borough Buena Vista Township, Corbin City, Egg Harbor City, Estell Manor, Folsom, Hamilton Township (part), Hammonton, Mullica Township and Weymouth) - Vacant.[21][22]

Education

Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade are educated by the Pleasantville Public Schools. The school district is an Abbott District.[23] Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[24]) are four pre-K to fourth grade elementary schools — Leeds Avenue School with 560 students, North Main Street School with 315 students, South Main Street School with 541 students, Washington Avenue School with 477 students — Pleasantville Middle School with 712 students in grades 6 - 8, and Pleasantville High School with 1,105 students in grades 9 through 12. The district also includes the Greyhound Academy. Students from Absecon attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[25]

On September 6, 2007, The FBI infiltrates the offices of Pleasantville Public Schools and arrested five members of the Pleasantville school board as part of a federal corruption case that included several state lawmakers and other public officials. Included in the sweep were the arrests of Assemblymen Mims Hackett and Alfred E. Steele, and Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera.[26] Indictments were filed against four sitting members of the Board of Education charging that they had accepted bribes to steer insurance or roofing business from the district. Charged were Jayson Adams (accused of accepting $15,000 in bribes), James McCormick ($3,500), James Pressley ($32,200) and Rafael Velez ($4,000). Former board member Maurice 'Pete' Callaway, a member of the Pleasantville City Council, was accused of accepting $13,000 in bribes as part of the scheme.[27]

Commerce

Portions of Pleasantville are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3½% sales tax rate (versus the 7% rate charged statewide).[28]

Transportation

U.S. Route 9, U.S. Route 40, U.S. Route 322 and the Atlantic City Expressway pass through Pleasantville.

Sports

In 1945 the Boston Red Sox held their spring training in Pleasantville.[29]

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Pleasantville include:

References

  1. ^ a b 2005 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book, Rutgers University.
  2. ^ City Administrator, City of Pleasantville. Accessed May 6, 2008.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: City of Pleasantville, Geographic Names Information System, accessed January 4, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  5. ^ A Cure for the Common Codes: New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed July 14, 2008.
  6. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  7. ^ "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 70.
  8. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  9. ^ New Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990, Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.
  10. ^ [1], City of Pleasantville. Accessed Feb 11, 2010.
  11. ^ "Legislative Roster: 2010-2011 Session". New Jersey Legislature. http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/roster.asp. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
  12. ^ County Executive Dennis Levinson, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  13. ^ Alisa Cooper, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  14. ^ Frank V. Giordano, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  15. ^ Joseph C. McDevitt, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  16. ^ Jim Schroder, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  17. ^ Charles T. Garrett, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  18. ^ Frank D. Formica, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  19. ^ Frank Sutton, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  20. ^ Richard Dase, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  21. ^ Board of Chosen Freeholders, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  22. ^ Marino, Suzanne. "Formica chosen freeholder board chairman", Shore News Today, January 5, 2011. Accessed January 6, 2011.
  23. ^ Abbott Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 31, 2008.
  24. ^ Data for the Pleasantville Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 24, 2007.
  25. ^ Cohen, Lynda. "New issues draw new interest in Absecon school vote", The Press of Atlantic City, April 12, 2008. Accessed May 1, 2008. "Few Absecon students currently attend Pleasantville High School, where the district has a sending relationship."
  26. ^ Baldwin, Tom. "11 arrested in N.J. corruption probe", USA Today, September 6, 2007. Accessed September 6, 2007. "Among the arrested were state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Rev. Alfred Steele aides in their legislative offices acknowledged. Also reportedly arrested was Samuel Rivera, the mayor of Passaic, and Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark City Council President Mildred Crump."
  27. ^ Staff. "Who's who: Overview of the politicians charged in bribery scandal", The Record (Bergen County), September 7, 2007. Accessed September 7, 2007.
  28. ^ Geographic & Urban Redevelopment Tax Credit Programs: Urban Enterprise Zone Employee Tax Credit, State of New Jersey. Accessed July 28, 2008.
  29. ^ The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing. 2007. pp. 1789. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3. 
  30. ^ Sims, Gayle Ronan. "Horse-diver Sonora Webster Carver, 99", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24, 2003. Accessed December 3, 2007. "Sonora Webster Carver, 99, the first woman to dive off Atlantic City's Steel Pier while riding a horse - a stunt she continued for 11 years after she was blinded during a performance - died Sunday at Our Lady's Residence in Pleasantville, N.J."
  31. ^ New Jersey Governor Walter Evans Edge, National Governors Association. Accessed August 2, 2007.
  32. ^ Ty Helfrich, Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed May 6, 2008.
  33. ^ Norment, Lynn. "Rodney Jerkins: music maestro on a mission.", Ebony (magazine), June 1, 2002. Accessed December 19, 2007. "Jerkins is pop music's newest and youngest hit-making wiz. At age 24, the Pleasantville, N.J., native is a fascinating coming-of-age success story and stands out among hundreds of rags-to-riches tales."
  34. ^ Famous People in Atlantic County History, Atlantic County, New Jersey. Accessed March 31, 2008.
  35. ^ Post, Michelle Brunetti. "Comic book fan and Pleasantville High School graduate helps make action figures at Hasbro", The Press of Atlantic City, January 29, 2011. Accessed August 30, 2011. "David Vonner, 38, grew up in Atlantic City’s Pitney Village and graduated in 1990 from Pleasantville High School, where he was a talented artist, comic book fan and a bit of a class clown.... Now he has his dream job as senior product developer for Boys Toys at Hasbro, where he handles the Marvel Universe line of action figures."

External links