North Arlington is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 16,457,
As the site of Holy Cross Cemetery, which has interred almost 290,000 individuals since its establishment in 1915, and with another Jewish cemetery including several thousand more burials, North Arlington has almost 20 times more dead people than living, with more burials than the living population of Newark, the state's largest city. Holy Cross has an average of 2,600 interments each year, of which about 65% are burials, with the remainder split between entombment in mausoleums or crypts and burial of cremated remains. Expansion of the mausoleum will bring its capacity to nearly 36,000 interments, with the cemetery's total capacity of about 750,000 expected to last past the year 2090. The cemetery covers and was assessed at $185 million, though its non-profit status means that the municipality generates no tax revenue from a property that covers almost an eighth of the borough's land area.
North Arlington was ranked eighth by Money magazine on its list of "Best Places to Live 2017", which cited the borough's healthy economy, affordable homes and a high quality of life.
History
thumb|North Arlington erected a 9/11 memorial at the James Zadroga Soccer Field.
North Arlington was originally part of an area called "New Barbadoes Neck".
Copper was mined at the Schuyler Copper Mine in present-day North Arlington during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was one of the first true copper mines in North America.
In 1755, the first steam engine in North America was assembled in North Arlington. The Newcomen steam engine was imported from England by John Schuyler to pump water out of his copper mine. He hired engineer Josiah Hornblower to assemble the machinery.
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. It was called North Arlington because it was north of the Arlington section of Kearny, which had been named from the Arlington Station on the Erie Railroad.
North Arlington, together with Lyndhurst and Rutherford, was the site of the EnCap project, an effort to remediate landfills on the 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 clean up the landfills as part of the project.
On November 18, 2015, North Arlington approved plans for FedEx to build a freight distribution facility on a former steel dumping ground on Porete Avenue. FedEx pledged to build a new access road to Porete Avenue from Belleville Turnpike, complete with a signalized traffic light, as part of construction. The company planned to hire 225 people to work at the facility. FedEx planned to complete the building by early 2017.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.53 square miles (6.55 km<sup>2</sup>), including 2.48 square miles (6.43 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 0.05 square miles (0.12 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (1.78%).
Route 7 (Belleville Turnpike) occupies much of the border of between Bergen County to the north and Hudson County to the south, with North Arlington on one side and Kearny on the other. The bordering neighborhood in Kearny is called Arlington, from which the name North Arlington is derived. Cemeteries lie along both sides of the route, with North Arlington Jewish Cemetery in Bergen and Arlington Memorial Park in Hudson.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+North Arlington borough, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|12,438
|10,567
|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,245
|81.93%
|68.65%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |56.18%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|58
|148
|style='background: #ffffe6; |257
|0.38%
|0.96%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.56%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|10
|19
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7
|0.07%
|0.12%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|841
|1,201
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,173
|5.54%
|7.80%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.13%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|2
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.01%
|0.01%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|22
|91
|style='background: #ffffe6; |166
|0.14%
|0.59%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.01%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|205
|153
|style='background: #ffffe6; |498
|1.35%
|0.99%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.03%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|1,605
|3,211
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5,109
|10.57%
|20.86%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |31.04%
|-
|Total
|15,181
|15,392
|style='background: #ffffe6; |16,457
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, North Arlington had a population of 16,457. The median age was 41.5 years. 18.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.7 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 6,525 households in North Arlington, of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.0% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Same-sex couples headed 39 households in 2010, an increase from the 28 counted in 2000.
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census
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.
Economy
Companies based in North Arlington include Pizza Land, located at 260 Belleville Turnpike, which was featured in the opening credits of The Sopranos. Additionally, in Law & Order episode 10.6, "Marathon" (1999), a pizza box from the restaurant was used by a suspect to transport and conceal firearms.
Sports
The Inline Skating Club of America is a skating facility that is the home of the New Jersey Grizzlies of the Professional Inline Hockey Association Pro Division and the Wallington Grizzlies of the Professional Inline Hockey Association Minor League.
North Arlington offers an extensive public athletic/recreation program for youth, offering a boys and girls basketball leagues, a recreation bowling league, a girls softball league, little league baseball, a soccer association, and a popular football and cheerleading program, the "Junior Vikings", named after the North Arlington High School "Vikings". Additionally, to meet the needs of a growing population of children with special needs, North Arlington recreation offers "Recreation for Developmentally Challenged Children". This program includes cooperation from neighboring towns, and consists of Spring baseball and soccer. The recreation program serves adults with an adult men's basketball league as well as an adult women's volleyball program.
Parks and recreation
Riverside County Park is a Bergen County Park covering , located on River Road between Lyndhurst and North Arlington. It has a playground, athletic fields, tennis courts, a Bocce ball court and fitness center.
Government
Local government
North Arlington is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of a mayor and a borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by North Arlington is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.
, the mayor of North Arlington is Republican Daniel H. Pronti, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. Pronti, who won the 2018 mayoral election, replaced Joseph P. Bianchi on the ballot, following Bianchi's death on October 10, 2018; Bianchi, a volunteer firefighter in the borough, who responded to Ground Zero after the September 11 terror attacks, died of cancer he initially contracted at the site. Members of the North Arlington Borough Council are Council President Mario L. Karcic Jr. (R, 2026), Council Vice President Kirk Del Russo (R, 2028), Donna Bocchino (R, 2026), Amanda DeCicco(R, 2028), Brian A. Fitzhenry (R, 2027) and Allison C. Sheedy (R, 2027).
In October 2025, the borough council selected Amanda DeCicco from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the council seat that was vacated by Lynette Cavadas.
In January 2019, Kirk DelRusso was unanimously selected from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that became vacant when Daniel H. Pronti was sworn in to the mayor's position.
In January 2015, the borough council selected Brian Fitzhenry from a list of three candidates nominated by the Republican municipal committee to fill the council seat that was vacated by Joseph Bianchi when he took office as mayor; Fitzhenry would serve on an interim basis until the November 2015 election. Republicans swept the November 2015 general election, giving the party full control of municipal government. Brian Fitzhenry and Allison Sheedy were elected to full three-year terms, while Mario Karcic Jr., was elected to fill the balance of Joseph Bianchi's council seat expiring in 2016.
Peter Norcia was appointed in February 2013 to fill the vacant seat of Steve Tanelli, who won a seat on the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+List of mayors of North Arlington
!#
!Name
!Term length
!Party
|-
|1
|George Bayliss*
|April 28, 1896 - July, 1909
|Republican
|-
|2
|William Brandenburg Jr.
|July, 1909 - December 31, 1919
|Democrat
|-
|3
|Harry McKinlay
|January 1, 1920 - December 31, 1921
|Republican
|-
|4
|Alfred F. Barnard
|January 1, 1922 - December 31, 1930
|Republican
|-
|5
|Daniel Rentschler
|January 1, 1931 - December 31, 1936
|Republican
|-
|6
|Alexander Allan
|January 1, 1937 - December 31, 1944
|Republican
|-
|7
|John R. Manson
|January 1, 1945 - December 31, 1946
|Unknown
|-
|8
|Louis E. Gaeckle
|January 1, 1947 - December 31, 1950
|Unknown
|-
|9
|Walter J. O'Connell
|January 1, 1951 - December 31, 1954
|Unknown
|-
|10
|Leonard Barnett**
|January 1, 1955 - May, 1956
|Democrat
|-
|11
|Peter R. Tonner
|May, 1956 - December 31, 1964
|Democrat
|-
|12
|William D. McDowell
|January 1, 1965 - December 31, 1968
|Republican
|-
|13
|Theodore R. Lapinski
|January 1, 1969 - December 31, 1970
|Republican
|-
|14
|Edward J. Slodowski
|January 1, 1971 - December 31, 1974
|Democrat
|-
|15
|Ernest T. Cerone
|January 1, 1975 - December 31, 1978
|Republican
|-
|16
|Edward Martone
|January 1, 1979 - December 31, 1982
|Democrat
|-
|17
|Leonard R. Kaiser
|January 1, 1983 - December 31, 2002
|Republican
|-
|18
|Russell L. Pitman
|January 1, 2003 - December 31, 2006
|Democrat
|-
|19
|Peter Massa
|January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2013
|Democrat
|-
|20
|Joseph Bianchi***
|January 1, 2014 - October 10, 2018
|Republican
|-
|21
|Daniel H. Pronti
|January 1, 2019 - currently serving
|Republican
|}
<small>*Resigned in July of 1909, Councilman Brandenburg elected to succeed him</small>
<small>**Resigned in May of 1956 to move to Florida for business reasons, Councilman Tonner elected to succeed him</small>
<small>***Passed away while serving in office, council did not select a new mayor immediately, Pronti elected via mayoral race</small>
Federal, state and county representation
North Arlington is located in the 9th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 36th state legislative district.
Politics
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As of March 2011, there were a total of 8,594 registered voters in North Arlington, of which 2,839 (33.0% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,603 (18.7% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 4,146 (48.2% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 6 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 55.8% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 67.8% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).
In the 2016 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received 3,392 votes (48.4% vs. 41.1% countywide), ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton with 3,351 votes (47.8% vs. 54.2%) and other candidates with 269 votes (3.8% vs. 4.6%), among the 7,097 ballots cast by the borough's 9,594 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.0% (vs. 72.5% in Bergen County). In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 3,706 votes (56.7% vs. 54.8% countywide), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 2,703 votes (41.3% vs. 43.5%) and other candidates with 55 votes (0.8% vs. 0.9%), among the 6,541 ballots cast by the borough's 9,138 registered voters, for a turnout of 71.6% (vs. 70.4% in Bergen County). In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 3,500 votes (49.1% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 3,454 votes (48.5% vs. 53.9%) and other candidates with 76 votes (1.1% vs. 0.8%), among the 7,124 ballots cast by the borough's 9,317 registered voters, for a turnout of 76.5% (vs. 76.8% in Bergen County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 3,376 votes (49.3% vs. 47.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat John Kerry with 3,370 votes (49.2% vs. 51.7%) and other candidates with 51 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 6,847 ballots cast by the borough's 9,072 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.5% (vs. 76.9% in the whole county).
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In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 60.0% of the vote (2,477 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 39.1% (1,613 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (38 votes), among the 4,256 ballots cast by the borough's 8,783 registered voters (128 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 48.5%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 2,131 votes (47.6% vs. 45.8% countywide), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 1,953 votes (43.6% vs. 48.0%), Independent Chris Daggett with 295 votes (6.6% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with 30 votes (0.7% vs. 0.5%), among the 4,476 ballots cast by the borough's 8,940 registered voters, yielding a 50.1% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).
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Education
Students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade are educated by the North Arlington School District. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of five schools, had an enrollment of 1,869 students and 135.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.8:1. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 school enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School with 298 students in grades K–5,
Franklin Roosevelt Elementary School with 226 students in grades K–5,
George Washington Elementary School with 357 students in grades K–5,
North Arlington Middle School with 422 students in grades 6–8 and
North Arlington High School with 532 students in grades 9–12. In 2010, Roosevelt Elementary School was recognized with the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.
In the 1970s and 1980s, declining enrollment led North Arlington to be one of the few school districts in the state that featured involuntary "combined classes" whereby classes at their Roosevelt School for grades 4 and 5 and for grades 6 and 7 were combined into a single classroom with a single teacher for each pair of grades.
Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, Applied Technology High School on Bergen Community College Campus, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district.
Queen of Peace, a Roman Catholic parish, operates a parochial school, Queen of Peace Elementary School, which was founded in 1923 and serves Pre-K to 8th grade, under the auspices of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Queen of Peace High School, which served 9th–12th grades and was founded in 1930, closed after the 2016–17 school year. Despite a fundraising campaign that raised $1 million, in May 2017, the Archdiocese of Newark announced the closing of the high school as of June 30, 2017, in the wake of sharply dropping enrollment and financial challenges, though the affiliated K–8 grammar school remained open.
Emergency services
Police
The North Arlington Police Department (NAPD) protects and services the citizens of North Arlington. Chief Michael Horton was sworn in as Chief of Police in July 2024, overseeing a police department that consists of 34 men and women. NAPD serves the residents in many roles which include Patrol, Detective Bureau, Special Operations Unit, Motorcycle Unit, and School resource officers.The North Arlington Police Department is located at 214 Ridge Road.
Fire
The North Arlington Fire Department (NAFD) is an all-volunteer fire department organized in 1910. The department is staffed by 80 fully trained firefighters. There are three separate firehouses. The three separate firehouses are manned by three fire companies: Hose Company 1 (established in 1910), Schuyler Engine Company 2 (established in 1916), and Eagle Truck Company 3 (established in 1923).
;Apparatus
- Stationed at Company 1: Engine 1 and Special Service Unit 39-SSU
- Stationed at Company 2: Engine 2 and Engine 6
- Stationed at Company 3: Ladder 3 and Rescue 5
;Chiefs
- 39-00 – Chief John Nichols
- 39-10 – Assistant Chief Brian Heinzman
- 39-20 – Deputy Chief Thomas Kropp
Ambulance
The North Arlington Volunteer Emergency Squad works with a paid staff Monday thru Friday 6am - 6pm and volunteer staff from 6pm to 6am Monday through Friday and day and night Saturday and Sunday.
The North Arlington Volunteer Emergency Squad (NAVES), was founded on June 2, 1972. The squad consists of 55 members(2018) ranging in ages from 16 to 58 years of age.
NAVES currently operates four ambulances and a First Responder/ Command Vehicle. Operations Staff consists of a captain and three lieutenants. There is a crew chief on each tour that reports to a lieutenant. Executive board staff Consists of president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and two trustees. NAVES has a youth squad and a growing auxiliary which assist in non-riding functions such as fundraising and administrative duties.
Transportation
thumb|right|View north along [[New Jersey Route 17|Route 17 in North Arlington]]
Roads and highways
, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Bergen County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Route 7 and Route 17 meet at the intersection of Ridge Road (Route 17) and Belleville Turnpike (Route 7), the latter of which crosses the Passaic River on the Belleville Turnpike Bridge. The bridge, also known as the Rutgers Street Bridge, connects the borough to Belleville in Essex County. The bridge was formally renamed on July 4, 2013, as the "Lance Corporal Osbrany Montes de Oca Memorial Bridge" in memory of a United States Marine Corps infantryman from North Arlington who was killed in February 2012 while serving in Afghanistan.
Public transportation
NJ Transit bus routes 30, 40 and 76 provide service to and from Newark.
Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with North Arlington include:
- Heinrich Gebhard (1878–1963), pianist, composer and piano teacher
- Derek Jeter (born 1974), shortstop who played his entire career for the New York Yankees
- William D. McDowell (1927–2007), politician who served as Bergen County's first County Executive and had been Mayor of North Arlington
- Diane Ruggiero (born 1969), screenwriter for Veronica Mars
- Frank Sowinski, former professional basketball player.
- James Thomas, guitarist and composer, of the San Francisco psychedelic instrumental band The Mermen
- James Zadroga (1971–2006), NYPD officer, participant in the cleanup after the September 11 terrorist attacks and namesake of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010
- Joseph Zadroga (1947–2024), advocate for first responders sickened from their time in the rubble of the World Trade Center following the September 11 terrorist attacks
References
Related reading
- 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.
- Clayton, W. Woodford; and Nelson, William. History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men., Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1882.
- Harvey, Cornelius Burnham (ed.), Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey. New York: New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Co., 1900.
- Van Valen, James M. History of Bergen County, New Jersey. New York: New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Co., 1900.
- Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858–1942, History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630–1923, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1923.
External links
- North Arlington official website
- North Arlington School District
- School Data for the North Arlington School District, National Center for Education Statistics
- North Arlington High School Band