Bergen County, New Jersey
Seal of Bergen County, New Jersey Seal
Location in the state of New Jersey
New Jersey's location in the U.S.
Founded	1683
Seat	Hackensack
Largest city	Hackensack
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	247 sq mi (639 km²) 234 sq mi (606 km²) 13 sq mi (33 km²), 5.12%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	905,116 (Ranked 1st in NJ) 3,868/sq mi (1,493/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.co.bergen.nj.us

Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116, an increase of 20,998 (2.4%) from the 884,118 enumerated in the 2000 Census.^[1] The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack.^[2] The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 20th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States (and the fourth highest in New Jersey) as of 2009.^[3] The county hosts a park system totaling nearly 9,000 acres (3,600 ha).^[4]

History[link]

Bergen and Passaic counties, 1872.

Bergen County, 1896.

Bergen County, 1918.

At the time of first English contact, Bergen County was inhabited by Native American people, particularly the Lenape groups of the Tappan, Hackensack and Rumachenanck (later called the Haverstraw).^[5] Today, some of the Ramapough Mountain Indians who reside in the northwest of the county trace their ancestry back to the Lenape and Munsee peoples.^[6]

The area comprising today's Bergen and Hudson counties was part of New Netherland, the 17th century North American colonial province of the Dutch Republic. It had been claimed after Henry Hudson (sailing for the Dutch East India Company) explored Newark Bay and anchored his ship at Weehawken Cove in 1609.^[7]

Early settlement attempts by the Dutch included Pavonia (1633), Vriessendael (1640) and Achter Col (1642) but these settlements were repelled in Kieft's War (1643–1645) and the Peach Tree War (1655–1660).^[8][9] Settlers again returned to the western shores of the Hudson in the 1660 formation of Bergen, which would become the first permanent European settlement in the territory of the modern state of New Jersey.^[10][11]

During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, on August 27, 1664, New Amsterdam surrendered to the English Navy.^{[citation needed]} The Province of New Jersey was then formed in 1674. In 1679, Bergen was included in a judicial district with Essex, Monmouth and Middlesex counties, while the territory was called East Jersey, a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony).^{[citation needed]} In 1683, Bergen (along with the three other counties) was officially recognized as an independent county by the Provincial Assembly.^[12]

The origin of the name of Bergen County is a matter of debate. It is believed that the County is named for one of the earliest settlements, Bergen, in the location of modern day Hudson County. However, the source of the name of the settlement is under wide debate. Several sources attribute the name to Bergen, Norway, while others attribute it to Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands. Still others attribute it to the Dutch word meaning "hill" or "place of safety".^[13] Some sources say that the name is derived from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York City), Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Norway, who arrived in New Netherlands in 1633.^[14][15]

Initially, Bergen County consisted of only the land between the Hudson and the Hackensack Rivers, extending north to the border between East Jersey and New York.^[16] In January 1709, the boundaries were extended to include all of the current territory of Hudson County (formed in 1840) and portions of the current territory of Passaic County (formed in 1837). The 1709 borders were described as follows:^[16]

"Beginning at Constable's Hook, so along the bay and Hudson's River to the partition point between New Jersey and the province of New York; along this line and the line between East and West Jersey^† to the Pequaneck River; down the Pequaneck and Passaic Rivers to the sound; and so following the sound to Constable's Hook the place of beginning."

† The line between East and West Jersey here referred to is not the line finally adopted and known as the Lawrence line, which was run by John Lawrence in September and October, 1743. It was the compromise line agreed upon between Governors Daniel Coxe and Robert Barclay in 1682, which ran a little north of Morristown to the Passaic River; thence up the Pequaneck to forty-one degrees of north latitude; and thence by a straight line due east to the New York State line. This line being afterward objected to by the East Jersey proprietors, the latter procured the running of the Lawrence line.^[16]

Bergen saw several battles and troop movements during the American Revolutionary War. Fort Lee's location atop the New Jersey Palisades, opposite Fort Washington in Manhattan, made it a strategic position during the war. In November, 1776 the Battle of Fort Lee took place as part of the Continental Army's attempts to keep British forces from sailing up the Hudson River. After these defensive positions were hastily abandoned, the Continental forces staged a retreat through present-day Englewood and Teaneck, and across the Hackensack River at New Bridge Landing, one of the few sites where the river was crossed by a bridge. With the British in pursuit, this retreat allowed American forces to escape capture and regroup for subsequent successes against the British elsewhere in New Jersey later that winter.^[17] The Baylor Massacre took place in 1778 in River Vale, resulting in severe losses for the Continentals.^[18]

In 1837, Passaic County was formed from parts of Bergen and Essex counties. In 1840, Hudson County was formed from Bergen. These two divisions lost roughly 13,000 residents (nearly half of the previous population) from the county's rolls.^[19]

In 1852, the Erie Railroad began operating major rail services from Jersey City on the Hudson River to points north and west via leased right-of-way in the county. This became known as the Erie Main Line, and is still in use for passenger service today.^[20]

In 1894, state law was changed to allow easy formation of municipalities with the Borough form of government. This led to the Boroughitis phenomenon where many new municipalities were created in a span of a few years.^[21]

On January 11, 1917, the Kingsland Explosion took place at a munitions factory in what is today Lyndhurst.^[22] The explosion is believed to be an act of sabotage by German agents, as the munitions in question were destined for Russia, part of the U.S.'s effort to supply allies before entrance into World War I.^[23] After the U.S. entry into the war in April 1917, Camp Merritt was created in eastern Bergen County for troop staging. Beginning operations in August 1917, it housed 50,000 soldiers at a time, staging them for deployment to Europe via Hoboken. Camp Merritt was decommissioned in November, 1919.^[24]

In 1931, the George Washington Bridge was completed, linking Fort Lee to Manhattan. This connection would spur development in the post-World War II era, developing much of the county to suburban levels. A second deck of traffic on the bridge was completed in 1962, expanding its capacity to 14 lanes.^[25]

In 1955, the U.S. Army created a Nike Missile station at Campgaw Mountain (in the west of the county) for the defense of the New York Metropolitan Area from strategic bombers. In 1959, the site was upgraded to house Nike-Hercules Missiles with increased range, speed and payload characteristics. The missile site closed in June 1971.^[26]

In 2004, Bergen County and neighboring Passaic County were ranked by Forbes as the second most overpriced place in the nation. In 2005, they ranked seventh.^[27]

In 2005, Bergen had the fourth-highest median property tax of any county in the nation at $6,846, the second highest in New Jersey behind Hunterdon.^[28][29] In 2006, Bergen County homeowners paid a median of $7,237, a 5.7% increase over the previous year. However, the county dropped a position in the rankings, with only the fifth highest median property tax bill in the country, and third highest in New Jersey behind top-ranked Hunterdon county at $7,999 and #4 Somerset County at $7,318.^[30] The prospect of property tax relief prompted County Executive Dennis McNerney to call for municipalities with populations less than 10,000 in Bergen County to merge, saying "The surest way to significantly lower homeowners' property taxes is to merge small towns and reduce administrative overhead." Thirty-five of Bergen County's municipalities have less than 10,000 residents each.^[31]

Geography[link]

The Hackensack River and Passaic River watersheds.

Bergen County is located at the northeastern corner of the state of New Jersey and is bordered by Rockland County, New York to the north; by Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City, as well as by Westchester County, New York, across the Hudson River to the east; and within New Jersey, by Hudson County as well as a small border with Essex County to the south, and by Passaic County to the west.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 247 square miles (639.7 km²), of which 234 square miles (606.1 km²) is land and 13 square miles (33.7 km²) (5.12%) is water.

The highest elevation is Bald Mountain near the New York state line in Mahwah, at 1,152 feet (351 m) above sea level (41°07′15″N 074°12′01″W / 41.12083°N 74.20028°W / 41.12083; -74.20028).^[32] The lowest point is sea level, along the Hudson River, which in this region is more of a tidal estuary than a river.

The sharp cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades lift much of the eastern boundary of the county up from the Hudson River. The relief becomes less pronounced across the middle section of the county, much of it being located in the Hackensack River Valley or the Pascack Valley. In the northwestern portion of the county, Bergen County becomes hilly again and shares the Ramapo Mountains with Rockland County, New York.

The damming of the Hackensack River and a tributary, the Pascack Brook, produced three reservoirs in the county, Woodcliff Lake Reservoir, Lake Tappan, and Oradell Reservoir, which provide drinking water to much of northern New Jersey. The Hackensack River drains the eastern portion of the county through the New Jersey Meadowlands, a wetlands area in the southern portion of the county. The central portion is drained by the Saddle River and the western portion is drained by the Ramapo River. Both of these are tributaries of the Passaic River, which forms a section of the southwestern border of the county.

		Rockland County, New York
	Passaic County, New Jersey		Westchester, The Bronx, and Manhattan in New York
		Bergen County    East
		Essex County and Hudson County, New Jersey

Climate[link]

Bergen County lies at the edge of the humid subtropical climate zone according to the Koppen climate classification because its coldest month (January) averages above 26.6°F / -3°C.^[33][34][35] In part due to its coastal location and relatively low elevation, its climate is milder than in New Jersey counties further inland such as Sussex County. Bergen County has a moderately sunny climate, averaging between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually.^[36]

Demographics[link]

Broad Avenue, Koreatown in Palisades Park,^[39] where Koreans comprise the majority (52%) of the population.^[40][41]

As of the United States 2010 Census, the racial composition of Bergen County's total population of 905,116 was 62.54% non-Hispanic white, 14.51% Asian, 5.09% non-Hispanic black, 0.71% Hispanic black, 0.23% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.28% non-Hispanic from some other race, and 1.42% non-Hispanic reporting two or more races. 16.05% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The population density was 3,868 people per square mile (1,493/km²).

As of the census^[42] of 2000, there were 884,118 people, 330,817 households, and 235,210 families residing in the county. The population density was 3,776 people per square mile (1,458/km²). There were 339,820 housing units at an average density of 1,451 per square mile (560/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 78.41% non-Hispanic white, 10.67% Asian, 5.27% black, 0.15% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.22% from other races, and 2.26% non-Hispanic reporting two or more races. 10.34% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2000, there were 330,817 households out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.17. The age distribution was 23.00% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.40 males.

Also in 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $65,241, and the median income for a family was $78,079 (these figures had risen to $78,314 and $96,589 respectively as of a 2007 estimate.^[43]) Males had a median income of $51,346 versus $37,295 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,638. About 3.40% of families and 5.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.

Bergen is the most populous county in New Jersey, with approximately 90,000 more residents than Essex County (the second-ranked county in 2000), accounting for 10.5% of the state's population.^[44]

One of the largest immigrant groups in Bergen County is the Korean American community, which is concentrated along the Hudson River – especially in the area near the George Washington Bridge – and represents over half of the state's entire Korean population.^[45] As of the 2010 Census, persons of Korean ancestry make up 6.3% of Bergen County's population,^[46] which is the highest of any county in the United States; while the concentration of Koreans in Palisades Park, within Bergen County, is the highest of any municipality in the United States,^[47] at 52% of the population.^[46] Palisades Park is also residence to the highest total number (6,065) of individuals of Korean ancestry among all municipalities in the state,^[48][49] while neighboring Fort Lee has the second largest cluster (5,978) and third highest proportion (17.18%, trailing Leonia's 17.24%).^[49][50] Eight of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population are located in Bergen County, including Palisades Park, Leonia, Fort Lee, Ridgefield, Closter, Norwood, Edgewater, and Englewood Cliffs.^[49] Overall, sixteen of the top twenty communities on that list are located in Bergen; virtually all are in the eastern third of the county near the Hudson River. However, Ridgewood has emerged as a new Korean American nexus in western Bergen County.^[51]

In addition, the commercial districts of several communities — including Palisades Park, Fort Lee,^[52] Cliffside Park, Ridgefield, Leonia, and to a lesser extent Englewood Cliffs, Edgewater, and Fairview — collectively function as a sprawling suburban Koreatown for northern New Jersey, drawing shoppers from throughout the region.^[53] There is also an entrenched Korean population in the Northern Valley, especially in Tenafly, Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Norwood, and Old Tappan, as well as in several inland boroughs, including Paramus, Rutherford, and Little Ferry.^[49] Broad Avenue in the Palisades Park Koreatown^[52] has been described as the center of Korean culture in Bergen County,^[54] while the Fort Lee Koreatown is also emerging as such; nearby Grand Avenue houses the headquarters of The Korean-American Association of New Jersey.^[55] Bergen County's growing Korean community^[56][57][58] was cited by county executive Kathleen Donovan in the context of Hackensack attorney Jae Y. Kim's appointment to Central Municipal Court judgeship in January 2011.^[59] According to The Record of Bergen County, the U.S. Census Bureau has determined that the county’s Korean American population – 2010 census figures put it at 56,773 – has grown enough to warrant language assistance during elections.^[46]

Indian Americans (not to be confused with American Indians) represent the second largest Asian ethnic group in Bergen County, with slightly larger numbers than the Filipino and Chinese communities.^[45] Although the Indian American population in the area is widely dispersed, its biggest clusters are located in Ridgewood,^[60] Fair Lawn,^[61] Paramus,^[62] Hackensack,^[63] Bergenfield,^[64] Lodi,^[65] and Elmwood Park.^[66] Within the county's Indian population is a prominent Malayali community.

Bergenfield and, to a lesser extent New Milford, Dumont, and Teaneck, have become a hub for Filipino Americans, with Bergenfield becoming the first municipality on the East Coast of the United States to elect a mayor of Filipino descent in November 1999.^[67] Taken as a whole, these four adjacent municipalities contain over 40% of Bergen's entire Filipino population,^{[64][68][69][70]} although there are small numbers of Filipinos in many of the county's communities.

The Chinese American population is also spread out, with fairly sizable populations in Fort Lee, Paramus, and Englewood Cliffs.^[71] Fort Lee and Paramus have the highest total number of Chinese among Bergen municipalities while Englewood Cliffs has the highest percentage (8.42%).

The small Japanese community, which mainly consists of foreign businessmen and their families, has long had a presence in Fort Lee, with over a quarter of the county's total Japanese population living in that borough alone. The remainder of Bergen's Japanese residents are concentrated in the towns surrounding Fort Lee as well as in a few northern communities such as Ridgewood.^[72]

Meanwhile, Italian Americans have long had a significant presence in Bergen County; in fact, Italian is the most commonly identified first ancestry among Bergen residents (21.0%).^[73] Overall, 194,614 Bergen residents were recorded as being of Italian heritage in the most recent census.^[74] To this day, many residents of the Meadowlands communities in the south are of Italian descent, most notably in South Hackensack (36.3%), Lyndhurst (33.8%), Carlstadt (31.2%), Wood-Ridge (30.9%) and Hasbrouck Heights (30.8%).^[75] Saddle Brook (29.8%), Lodi (29.4%), Moonachie (28.5%), Garfield, Hackensack, and the southeastern Bergen towns were Italian American strongholds for decades, but their numbers have diminished in recent years as immigrants have taken their place.^[76] At the same time, the Italian American population has grown in many of the affluent communities in the northern half of the county, including Franklin Lakes,^[77] Ramsey,^[78] Montvale,^[79] and Woodcliff Lake.^[80]

Irish Americans and German Americans are the next largest ethnic groups in Bergen County, numbering 133,351 (12.8% of the county's total population)^[81] and 98,929 (11.2%),^[82] respectively. As is the case with Italian Americans, these two groups established sizable enclaves long ago and are now firmly entrenched in all areas of the county.

Polish Americans are well represented throughout Bergen County, with 65,232 residents of Polish descent as of the 2000 Census.^[83] The community's cultural and commercial heart has long been centered in Wallington, where 45.5% of the population is of Polish descent; this is the largest concentration among New Jersey municipalities and the seventh-highest in the United States.^[84] In recent years, the adjacent city of Garfield has also become a magnet for Polish immigrants, with 22.9% of the population identifying themeselves as being of Polish ancestry, the third highest concentration in the state.^[84] And while Polish Americans are the fourth-largest ethnic group in Bergen County, Poland is also the second most common place of birth (after South Korea) for foreign-born county residents.^[85]

Many towns in the county have a significant number of Jewish Americans, including Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Tenafly, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Woodcliff Lake, Paramus, and Franklin Lakes.^[86] Teaneck, Fair Lawn, and Englewood in particular have become havens for the Conservative and Orthodox Jewish communities,^[87] while Fair Lawn, Tenafly, Alpine, and Fort Lee are well known as hubs for Russian Americans, including a substantial proportion of Russian Jews.^[88] Closter, and Tenafly also have the largest Israeli communities in Bergen County and two of the three largest in the state.^[89] Altogether, 83,700 Bergen residents identified themselves as being of Jewish heritage in the most recent study.^[86]

Greek Americans have had a fairly sizable presence in Bergen for several decades, and according to census data the Greek community currently numbers 13,247 county-wide.^[90] The largest concentrations by percentage are in Englewood Cliffs (7.2%), Alpine (5.2%), Fort Lee (3.7%), and Palisades Park (3.5%).^[91] Similarly, the Armenian American population in Bergen (8,305 according to the 2000 Census) is dispersed throughout the county, but its most significant concentration is in the southeastern towns near the George Washington Bridge.^[92] Cliffside Park (3.6%), Englewood Cliffs (3.4%), Oradell (3.1%), Ridgefield (2.4%), Fairview (2.4%), Demarest (2.3%), and Emerson (2.2%) have the highest percentage of Armenians among all municipalities in the state, and in fact are all in the top 20 nationwide. Furthermore, the top 25 New Jersey communities on that list are all Bergen County communities.^[93][94]

Bergen also has a moderately sized Muslim population, which numbered 6,473 as of the last census.^[86] Its most notable Muslim enclaves are centered in Teaneck and Hackensack, two of the most diverse communities in the entire county.^[95] Bergen's Muslim population primarily consists of Arab Americans, South Asians, and African Americans, although it should be noted that many members of these groups practice other faiths.^[96] While Arab Americans have not established a significant presence in any particular municipality, in total there are 11,755 county residents who indicated Arab ancestry in the most recent survey.^[97] The overwhelming majority of Bergen's Arab American population (64.3%) is constituted by persons of Lebanese (2,576),^[98] Syrian (2,568),^[99] and Egyptian (2,417)^[100] descent.

The county's African American community is almost entirely concentrated in three municipalities: Englewood (10,215 residents, accounting for 38.98% of the city's total population), Teaneck (11,298; 28.78%), and Hackensack (10,518; 24.65%). Collectively, these three areas account for nearly 70% of the county's total African American population of 46,568, and in fact blacks have had a presence in these towns since the earliest days of the county. In sharp contrast, African-Americans comprise less than 2% of the total in most of Bergen's other municipalities.^[101] In Englewood, the African American population is concentrated in the Third and Fourth wards of the western half of the city, while the northeastern section of Teaneck has been an African American enclave for several decades.^[102] Hackensack's long-established African American community is primarily located in the central part of the city, especially in the area near Central Avenue and First Street.^[103]

The diverse Latino population in Bergen is growing in many areas of the county, but is especially concentrated in a handful of municipalities, including Fairview (37.1%), Hackensack (25.9%), Ridgefield Park (22.2%), Englewood (21.8%), Bogota (21.3%), Garfield (20.1%), Cliffside Park (18.2%), Lodi (18.0%), and Bergenfield (17.0%).^[104] Traditionally, many of the Latino residents were of Colombian and Cuban ancestry, although that has been changing in recent years. Currently, Englewood's Colombian community is the largest in Bergen County and among the top ten in the United States (7.17%); Hackensack, Fairview, Bergenfield, and Lodi also have notable populations.^[105] The Cuban population is largest in Fairview, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield, and Bogota, although the Cuban community is much bigger in Hudson County to the south.^[106] Since 1990 an increasing number of immigrants from other countries have entered the region, including people from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Ecuador. The diverse backgrounds of the local Latino community are best exemplified in Fairview, where 10% of the overall population hails from Central America, 7% from South America and 9% from other Latin American countries, mainly the Caribbean.^[107]

In the Forbes magazine 2006 ranking of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the United States, Alpine was ranked as the 8th most expensive in the country, with a median home sale price in 2005 of $1,790,000.^[108] In all, twelve Bergen County municipalities were represented on the list, including Englewood Cliffs (ranked #78; median sale price of $1,112,500), Saddle River (107; $997,000), Franklin Lakes (111; $985,000), Woodcliff Lake (266; $786,000), Haworth (342; $747,500), Demarest (350; $742,000), Ho-Ho-Kus (353; $740,000), Wyckoff (405; $700,000), Closter (452; $684,000) and Ridgewood (470; $675,000).^[109]

Law and government[link]

County government[link]

The Bergen County Court House stands in Hackensack.

Bergen has had a County Executive form of government since 1986. The current County Executive is Republican Kathleen Donovan. The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business.

The seven Freeholders are elected at-large to three-year terms in office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election each year.^[110] As of 2011, Bergen County's Freeholders are:^[111]

• Freeholder Chairman John Driscoll (R, Paramus)
• Freeholder Vice-Chairman Maura DeNicola (R, Franklin Lakes)
• John Mitchell (R, Cliffside Park)
• Robert G. Hermansen (R, Mahwah)
• John Felice (R, River Edge)
• David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn)
• Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee)

Bergen also elects three countywide officials, separately from the County Executive and Freeholder Board, who are Sheriff Mike Saudino (R-Emerson), Surrogate Court Judge Michael Dressler (D-Cresskill), and County Clerk Elizabeth Randall (R-Westwood).

On November 2, 2010 County Executive Dennis McNerney was defeated in his bid for a third term by Republican County Clerk Kathleen Donovan. Three incumbent Freeholders, Chairman James Carroll, Freeholder Elizabeth Calabrese and Freeholder John Hogan were all defeated by Republican challengers Franklin Lakes Mayor Maura DeNicola, Former River Edge Councilman John Felice and Cliffside Park resident John Mitchell. Incumbent Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire also failed in his bid for a third term as he was defeated by Emerson Police Chief Mike Saudino. As a result of the 2010 elections, Republicans will control Bergen County government for the first time in nearly a decade, with County Executive Kathleen Donovan and a 5–2 Majority on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 2010 Republicans had only 2 Freeholders and 1 Constitutional Officer, in 2011 the Democrats have only have 2 Freeholders and 1 Constitutional Officer, a complete shift in County government. In 2012, Democrats will retain their 2 seats on the Board of Freeholders while moving to 2 Constitutional Officers as John Hogan (D, Norwood) defeated incumbent Elizabeth Randall in the County Clerk race.

The Bergen County court system consists of a number of municipal courts handling traffic court and other minor matters, plus the Bergen County Superior Court which handles the more serious offenses.

State representatives[link]

The seventy municipalities of Bergen County are represented by seven separate state legislative districts. Three of these districts (the 37th, 38th and 39th) are situated entirely within the county, the others cross county boundaries.

Congressional representatives[link]

Two federal Congressional Districts cover the county, with the northern portion of the county in New Jersey's 5th district, represented by Scott Garrett (R) and the southern portion of the county in New Jersey's 9th district, represented by Steve Rothman (D).

Politics[link]

Bergen County voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by 54.2% to 44.8%. This makes the county slightly less Democratic than New Jersey as a whole, however. At the county level, the Republican Party is dominant, holding all county elected positions except surrogate and clerk, as well as 2 freeholder seats. The county is characterized by a divide between Republican communities in the north and northwest of the county and Democratic communities in the center and southeast. In 2008, the most strongly Democratic municipality was Englewood, while the most strongly Republican municipality was Saddle River.^{[citation needed]}

Blue laws[link]

One of the last remaining blue laws in the United States that covers most retail sales, other than food and gas (among other limited items), is found in Bergen County. The blue law enforced in the county is actually a state law that each county could reject by voter referendum, with 20 of the state's 21 counties having voted to reject the legal option to enforce the law.^[112] Thus one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the New York metropolitan area^[113] is almost completely closed on Sunday (grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, and restaurants are among the few businesses allowed to operate). Furthermore, Bergen County has significant populations of Jewish (2000 estimate of 83,700) and Muslim (2000 estimate of 6,473) residents whose observant members would not be celebrating the Sunday Sabbath with most of their Christian neighbors.^[114] The substantial Orthodox Jewish minority is placed in the position of being unable to shop either on Sunday (due to the blue laws) or on Saturday (due to religious observance).^[115][116]

However, repeated attempts to reject the law have failed as voters either see keeping the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend toward increasing hours and days of commercial activity in American society or enjoy the sharply reduced traffic on major roads and highways on Sunday that is normally seen the other days of the week. In fact, a large part of the reason for maintaining the laws has been a desire for relative peace and quiet one day of the week by many Bergen County residents.^[117]

This desire for relative peace is most apparent in Paramus, where most of the county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of Route 4 and Route 17, which are jam-packed on many Saturdays. Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County,^[118] banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings.^[117] Despite these strict blue laws, Paramus has become the top retail zip code in the United States, with the municipality generating over $5 billion in annual retail sales.^[119][120] Local Blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while The Outlets at Bergen Town Center and Westfield 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 seven days a week and to preserve one day on which the roads were uncongested. However, some would say the chosen day too conveniently coincides with the day on which the largest segment of the population practices religious worship.^[121]

[edit] Highlands protection

In 2004, the New Jersey Legislature passed the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, which regulates the New Jersey Highlands region. A portion of the northwestern area of the county, comprising the municipalities of Oakland and Mahwah, was included in the highlands preservation area and is subject to the rules of the act and the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, a division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.^[122] Some of the territory in the protected region is classified as being in the highlands preservation area, and thus subject to additional rules.^[123]

Transportation[link]

The George Washington Bridge, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County across the Hudson River to New York City, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.^[124]

Bergen County has a well-developed road network, including the northern termini of the New Jersey Turnpike (a portion of Interstate 95) and the Garden State Parkway, the eastern terminus of Interstate 80 and a portion of Interstate 287. US Highways 46, 202, 9, 9W, and New Jersey state highways 4, 17, 3, 120, 208, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway also serve the region. The intersection of Routes 4 and 17 is one of the busiest in the world.^[125]

The George Washington Bridge, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County across the Hudson River to the Upper Manhattan section of New York City, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge.^[126] Access to New York City is alternatively available for motorists through the Lincoln Tunnel in Hudson County.

Train service is available on three lines from New Jersey Transit: the Bergen County Line, the Erie Main Line, and the Pascack Valley Line. They run north-south to Hoboken Terminal with connections to the PATH train. New Jersey Transit also offers connecting service to New York Penn Station at Secaucus Junction. Connections are also available at the Hoboken Terminal to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and New York Waterways ferry service to the World Financial Center and other destinations.

The traffic intersection of Route 17 and Route 4 in Paramus is one of the busiest in the world.^[127]

Despite the name, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail does run in the county. An extension known as the Northern Branch Corridor Project has reached the draft environmental impact statement stage, but remains unfunded. The proposed Passaic-Bergen Rail Line, with two station stops in Hackensack, has not advanced since its 2008 announcement. The Access to the Region's Core rail tunnel project would have allowed many Bergen County railway commuters a one-seat ride into Manhattan but was canceled in October 2010.^[128][129]

Bus service is available from New Jersey Transit and private companies such as Academy Bus Lines, Coach USA, DeCamp Bus Lines and Red and Tan Lines, offering transport within Bergen County, elsewhere in New Jersey and to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal in New York City. In studies conducted to determine the best possible routes for the Bergen BRT (bus rapid transit) system, it has been determined the many malls and other "activity generators" in the vicinity of the intersection would constitute the core of any system.^{[130][131][132][133]} While no funding has for construction of the project has been identified, a 2012 study will define the optimal routes.^[134][135]

There is one airport in the county, Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, which is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Most commercial air traffic is handled by nearby Newark Liberty International Airport in Essex County, which serves as a major airport for the New York City Metropolitan Area.

For the main surface-street routes through the county, see List of county routes in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Education[link]

Bergen has several colleges and universities:

• Bergen Community College – Paramus
• Berkeley College – Paramus
• Dover Business College – Paramus
• Fairleigh Dickinson University – Teaneck and Hackensack
• Felician College – Lodi and Rutherford
• Saint Peter's College – Englewood Cliffs
• Ramapo College – Mahwah

Bergen has some 45 public high schools, see this list. It also has at least 23 private high schools, see this list.

Bergen County Academies, the county's public magnet high school in Hackensack, is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States.^[136] According to 2011 Newsweek statistics, Bergen County Academies students registered an average SAT score of 2100,^[137] the second highest of any U.S. high school; overall, Newsweek ranked BCA 23rd nationally and second in New Jersey.^[137] Bloomberg Businessweek cites Bergen County Academies as New Jersey's best high school.^[138]

Municipalities[link]

Labeled outline map of Bergen County municipalities.

Constitution Park in Fort Lee. High-rise residential complexes are a prominent feature of this borough.

The skyline of Manhattan as viewed from Mahwah, Bergen County's northernmost borough.

In the last decades of the 19th century, Bergen County, to a far greater extent than any other county in the state, began dividing its townships up into incorporated boroughs; this was chiefly due to the Boroughitis phenomenon, triggered by a number of loopholes in state laws that allowed boroughs to levy lower taxes and send more members to the county's board of freeholders. There was a 10-year period in which many of Bergen County's townships disappeared into the patchwork of boroughs that exist today, before the state laws governing municipal incorporation were changed.

Historical municipalities[link]

Over the history of the county, there have been various municipality secessions, annexations, and renamings. The following is a partial list of former municipalities, ordered by year of incorporation.

Points of interest[link]

Educational and cultural[link]

The New Jersey Meadowlands in Lyndhurst.

MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, is the most expensive sports stadium ever built,^[139] at approximately $1.6 billion.^[140]

Interior of Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, one of the largest and highest revenue producing shopping malls in the United States.

Part of the Palisades Interstate Park, the New Jersey Palisades overlook the Hudson River.

Scarlet Oak Pond, Ramapo Mountain Reservation, Mahwah.

Fyke Pond, Campgaw Mountain Reservation, Mahwah.

• New Jersey Naval Museum, Hackensack — There the USS Ling is moored in the Hackensack River and is available for tours as a museum ship.
• Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey, Teterboro Airport
• Bergen Museum of Art & Science, Hackensack
• Meadowlands Environment Center, Lyndhurst
• Tenafly Nature Center, Tenafly
• The Puffin Foundation, Teaneck
• The Maywood Station Museum, Maywood

Commercial and entertainment[link]

• MetLife Stadium, which replaced Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, is the home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets of the National Football League. At a construction cost of approximately $1.6 billion,^[140] it is the most expensive sports stadium ever built.^[139]
• American Dream Meadowlands, under construction in East Rutherford, will be one of the largest and most expensive retail and entertainment complexes ever built.
• Izod Center, East Rutherford (formerly known as the Continental Airlines Arena and the Brendan Byrne Arena)
• Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford
• Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus, is one of the largest and highest revenue producing shopping malls in the United States.
• The Shops at Riverside, shopping mall, Hackensack (formerly known as Riverside Square Mall)
• Paramus Park, shopping mall, Paramus
• The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, shopping mall, Paramus (formerly known as Bergen Mall)
• Fashion Center, shopping mall, Paramus
• H Mart, Korean shopping plaza and supermarket, Ridgefield
• Mitsuwa Marketplace, Japanese shopping plaza and supermarket, Edgewater
• Bergen County is also home to numerous corporate offices and headquarters.

State parks[link]

• Ramapo Mountain State Forest, Mahwah
• Palisades Interstate Park, Fort Lee, Englewood Cliffs, Tenafly, Alpine

State-owned historical sites[link]

• New Bridge Landing, River Edge, Teaneck and New Milford (Public and Private)
• The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus
• Steuben House, River Edge (at New Bridge Landing)

County parks[link]

• Belmont Hill County Park, Garfield
• Campgaw Mountain Reservation, Mahwah
• Dahnert's Lake County Park, Garfield
• Darlington County Park, Mahwah
• McFaul Environmental Center, Wyckoff
• Ramapo Mountain Reservation, Mahwah
• Overpeck County Park, Leonia, Palisades Park, Ridgefield Park
• Riverside County Park, Lyndhurst, North Arlington
• Pascack Brook County Park, Westwood
• Saddle Ridge Riding Area, Franklin Lakes
• Saddle River County Park, Paramus, Glen Rock, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook, Ridgewood
• Samuel Nelkin County Park, Wallington
• Van Saun County Park, Paramus
• Wood Dale County Park, Woodcliff Lake
• Bergen County Zoological Park, Paramus^[141]

County-owned historical sites[link]

• Baylor Massacre site, River Vale
• Camp Merritt, Cresskill
• Campbell-Christie House, River Edge
• Easton Tower, Paramus
• Garretson Farm, Fair Lawn
• Gethsemane Cemetery, Little Ferry
• Washington Spring Garden, Paramus
• Wortendyke Barn, Park Ridge^[142]

See also[link]

• Koreatown, Palisades Park
• List of Registered Historic Places in Bergen County, New Jersey

New Jersey portal

References[link]