Saddle River, New Jersey

Saddle River is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of New York City, located just over northwest of Manhattan. The town is known for its natural fields, farmland, horse farms, forests, and rivers, and has a bucolic atmosphere, due in part to a minimum zoning requirement of for homes. The borough contains both stately historic homes and estates, as well as newer mansions. It offers many spacious properties in a countryside-like setting, while also having proximity to New York City.

Saddle River is one of the highest-income small municipalities in the United States and was ranked 9th in New Jersey in per capita income as of the 2010 Census. Saddle River was ranked among the Top 100 in Forbes Most Expensive Zip Codes in America in 2010. In 1989, Saddle River was ranked the richest suburb in the nation among those with 2,500 or more people (based on per capita income). The town has been home to notable residents including former US Presidents, celebrities, athletes, and businessmen (See Notable people list).

The New York Times described Saddle River as "a place where one can still keep horses—one per acre—see a deer, listen to the birds, and catch a fish in the trout stream that gives the town its name."

As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,372,

Saddle River is a dry town, where alcohol cannot be sold.

History

European settlement of the area that is now Saddle River traces back to 1675, when the Lenape Native Americans sold a stretch of land along the Saddle River to Albert Zabriskie. Saddle River was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on November 22, 1894, from portions of Orvil Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. Saddle River's referendum passed on November 19, one day before the referendum passed for the formation of the neighboring borough of Upper Saddle River. An additional portion of Orvil Township was annexed in 1903.

The borough is named after the Saddle River, which flows through the borough and is a tributary of the Passaic River, which in turn was named for a stream and valley in Saddell, Argyll, Scotland.

Historic sites

Saddle River is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places:

Achenbach House – 184 Chestnut Ridge Road (added 1979, burned down in 2004)
Ackerman House – 136 Chestnut Ridge Road (added 1983)
Abram Ackerman House – 199 East Saddle River Road (added 1983)
Garret and Maria Ackerman House – 150 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Garret Augustus Ackerman House – 212 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Ackerman–Dewsnap House – 176 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Ackerman–Smith House – 171 East Allendale Road (added 1986)
Ackerman–Dater House – 109 West Saddle River Road (added 1983)
J. J. Carlock House – 2 Chestnut Ridge Road (added 1986)
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saddle River and Ramapough Building – 96 East Allendale Road (added 1986)
Alonzo Foringer House and Studio – 107 and 107B East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Hopper House – 45 West Saddle River Road (added 1984)
Joe Jefferson Clubhouse – 29 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
O'Blenis House – 220 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Garret K. Osborn House and Barn – 88 and 90 East Allendale Road (added 1986)
Dr. E. G. Roy House – 229 West Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Saddle River Center Historic District – Along West Saddle River Road at jct. of East Allendale Road (added 1986)
Stillwell–Preston House – 9 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)
Andries Thomas Van Buskirk House – 164 East Saddle River Road (added 1983)
Laurance Thomas Van Buskirk House – 116 East Saddle River Road (added 1983)
B. C. Wandell House – 214, 223, and 224 West Saddle River Road (added 1986)
F. L. Wandell Estate and Ward Factory Site – 255–261 East Saddle River Road (added 1990)
Dr. John Christie Ware Bungalow – 246 East Saddle River Road (added 1986)

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 4.97 square miles (12.86 km2), including 4.91 square miles (12.73 km2) of land and 0.05 square miles (0.13 km2) of water (1.03%).

Mount Pleasant and Villa Marie Claire are unincorporated communities located within Saddle River.

Property values and taxes

The median home value in Saddle River was $1,960,294, compared to $596,000 for Bergen County, $440,000 for the state of NJ and $331,000 for the US overall, as of March 31, 2022.

Saddle River has a property tax rate of 1.021% which was the third-lowest property tax rate in Bergen County in 2023

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Saddle River borough, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|2,811

|2,570

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,550

|87.82%

|81.54%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |75.62%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|24

|60

|style='background: #ffffe6; |65

|0.75%

|1.90%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.93%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11

|0.00%

|0.10%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.33%

|Asian alone (NH)

|229

|291

|style='background: #ffffe6; |451

|7.15%

|9.23%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13.37%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2

|0.00%

|0.06%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.06%

|Other race alone (NH)

|12

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14

|0.37%

|0.22%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.42%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|43

|57

|style='background: #ffffe6; |98

|1.34%

|1.81%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.91%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|82

|162

|style='background: #ffffe6; |181

|2.56%

|5.14%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.37%

|Total

|3,201

|3,152

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,372

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Saddle River had a population of 3,372. The median age was 53.5 years. 16.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 30.7% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and older there were 92.8 males age 18 and over.

There were 1,246 households, of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 63.1% were married-couple households, 12.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Same-sex couples headed seven households in 2010, an increase from the six counted in 2000.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census,

There were 1,118 households, out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.6% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.1% were non-families. 14.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.05.

Government

Local government

thumb|Saddle River Town Hall On Memorial Day 2023

Saddle River 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, who are all elected on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term. 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 Saddle River 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 serves as chief executive officer, and is an ex-officio member of all municipal committees and is the approving authority in the Borough of Saddle River. Mayoral appointments to the various boards and committees in the borough are subject to confirmation by the borough council. Borough council members serve on various operating committees and function in a liaison capacity to provide information and direction to the entire governing body. Members of the Saddle River Borough Council are Council President David B. Hekemian (R, 2025), Duncan B. Carpenter (R, 2025), Christopher DiGirolamo (R, 2024), Jon Kurpis (R, 2026), Jeffrey S. Liva (R, 2024; elected to serve an unexpired term) and Ravi Sachdev (R, 2026).

In August 2022, the borough council appointed Jeffrey Liva to fill the seat expiring in December 2024 that had been held by Rosario Ruffino until he resigned from office earlier that month in protest over the cost of a park project. Liva served on an interim basis until the November 2022 general election, when he was elected to serve the remainder of the term of office.

In March 2020, the borough council appointed Christopher T. DiGirolamo to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that was vacated by Paul Schulstad when he resigned from office earlier that month.

Federal, state and county representation

Saddle River is located in the 5th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 39th state legislative district.

Politics

Please note that election results from 1928 to 1956 were obtained from newspaper clippings and may not be official. Third parties were not listed for Saddle River in most of those articles. As of March 2011, there were a total of 2,387 registered voters in Saddle River, of which 286 (12.0% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,211 (50.7% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 889 (37.2% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 75.7% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 96.0% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 84.7% of the vote (845 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 14.3% (143 votes), and other candidates with 1.0% (10 votes), among the 1,032 ballots cast by the borough's 2,475 registered voters (34 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 41.7%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 968 votes here (74.4% vs. 45.8% countywide), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 283 votes (21.8% vs. 48.0%), Independent Chris Daggett with 39 votes (3.0% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with one vote (0.1% vs. 0.5%), among the 1,301 ballots cast by the borough's 2,436 registered voters, yielding a 53.4% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).

Education

The Saddle River School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade at Wandell School. As of the 2024–25 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 125 students and 14.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.5:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Saddle River was tied for the 28th-smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 150 students. Public school students from Saddle River attend the Ramsey Public School District's middle school and then have the option of attending either Ramsey High School or Northern Highlands Regional High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with each of the respective districts. As of the 2024–25 school year, the Northern Highlands Regional High School had an enrollment of 1,257 students and 109.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1, while Ramsey High School had an enrollment of 739 students and 77.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.5:1. One of under ten districts in the state with a dual send-receive relationship, three quarters of Saddle River's high school students attend Northern Highlands and about a quarter attend Ramsey High School.

All students in 8th grade 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, 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.

Saddle River Day School is a K–12 private school that was founded in 1957.

Transportation

thumb|right|[[New Jersey Route 17|Route 17 northbound in Saddle River]]

, 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 17 passes through Saddle River. Other main roads include West Saddle River Road, East Saddle River Road, Allendale Road and Chestnut Ridge Road.

Saddle River is served mainly by Route 17, which runs directly through the borough, but certain portions are served by locations in Ho-Ho-Kus, Waldwick, Upper Saddle River and Allendale. The Garden State Parkway is within a short distance of the borough at exit 171 in Woodcliff Lake.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Saddle River include:

Francis W. H. Adams (1904–1990), lawyer who served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1954 to 1955
Danny Aiello (1933–2019), actor
John V. Azzariti (born 1966), physician and politician who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2024

Gary Bettman (born 1952), Commissioner of the National Hockey League
Mary J. Blige (born 1971), recording artist and Grammy winner
Larry Blyden (1925–1975), actor
Tim Cahill (born 1979), former soccer player
Nick Cannon (born 1980), actor, producer, rapper and entrepreneur
Vince Carter (born 1977), formerly of the New Jersey Nets
Andrew Dice Clay (born 1957), actor and comedian
Vince Colletta (1923–1991), comic book artist
Rocco B. Commisso (born 1949), billionaire, founder of Mediacom
Vincent Curatola (born 1953), actor known for his role playing Johnny Sack on the television series The Sopranos
James P. Dugan (1929–2021), former member of the New Jersey Senate who served as chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee
Alonzo Foringer (1878–1948), painter best known for his World War I Red Cross promotional poster, "The Greatest Mother in the World"
Carol Haney (1924–1964), actress

* Mary Higgins Clark (1927–2020), author of suspense novels

Wil Horneff (born 1979), actor
Mark Jackson, (born 1965), former NBA player and former head coach for the Golden State Warriors
Wyclef Jean (born 1969), three-time Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and politician
A. J. Khubani (born 1959), telemarketer and founder of Telebrands
Jason Kidd (born 1973), former player and current head coach of the Dallas Mavericks
Joumana Kidd (born 1972), actress and journalist who is the former wife of Jason Kidd
Andrew Kissel (1959–2006), murdered real estate developer
Mariusz Kolodziej (born 1966), boxing promoter and entrepreneur
David Lat (born 1975), blogger
Judy Nicastro, politician who served from 2000 to 2004 as a member of the Seattle City Council
Richard Nixon (1913–1994), United States President, and First Lady Pat Nixon (1912–1993), who lived there from 1981 to 1991
Jeffrey Nordling (born 1962), actor who appeared in the series Dirt
Rosie O'Donnell (born 1962), comedian and television personality, homeowner since 2013
Charles Osgood (1933–2024), radio and television commentator, writer and musician
Kenneth Pasternak (born 1954), businessman, entrepreneur
Caroline Pennell (born 1995), singer-songwriter who was a contestant on the fifth season of The Voice
Mario Perillo (1927–2003), tour operator
Eleanore Pettersen (1916–2003), one of the first female architects in New Jersey
Sam Raia, politician who served as Mayor of Saddle River and former Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
Ja Rule (born 1976), rapper
Lisa Scafuro (born 1958), documentary film maker and children's book author born in Saddle River who still resides part of the year
Danielle Schulmann (born 1989), soccer player who plays as a forward for Sky Blue FC in the NWSL
Daniel Silna (born 1944), co-owner of the former ABA team the Spirits of St. Louis who has profited from TV revenue earned as part of the deal in which four ABA teams were merged into the NBA
Joseph Simmons (born 1964), a.k.a. Reverend Run, the "Run" in Run-D.M.C. and star of his family's reality show Run's House
Russell Simmons (born 1957), godfather of hip-hop, whose house has been up for sale following his divorce from Kimora Lee Simmons
Thomas Turino (born 1951), ethnomusicologist and author of several textbooks in the field
Ben Vereen (born 1946), Tony Award-winning actor, dancer and singer
William B. Widnall (1906–1983), politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for 24 years representing New Jersey's 7th congressional district
Susie Wiles (born 1957), political consultant who was selected by Donald Trump to serve as the 32nd White House chief of staff in his second administration

References

Sources

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

Saddle River official website
Saddle River School District
School Data for the Saddle River School District, National Center for Education Statistics
Ramsey High School
Northern Highlands Regional High School