Category: Bergen County

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Bergen Sheriff Saudino: ‘There is no Place for Politics in Law Enforcement’

Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino

Sheriff says he will run on platform of fiscal responsibility

By Alyana Alfaro | 12/15/15 4:13pm

Bergen County Sheriff Saudino is up for reelection next year.

With the year winding down, eyes around the state are starting to turn to the 2016 election. In Bergen County, November will see Republican Sheriff Michael Saudino working to keep his seat.

This year, the Bergen County Democratic Party won big in the assembly and county races. They retained their majority on the freeholder board and decisively won LD38, a district initially perceived to be one of the most competitive in the state. Now, as Democrats prepare for next year, it is only logical that they will try to maintain that flood of victories and secure Saudino’s seat for the Democratic Party.

However, Saudino, seems to be in the good graces of many of his Democratic colleagues. Last week, he was the only Republican at an event in Paterson where elected officials spoke out against anti-Muslim sentiment. Last year, he made waves when he endorsed Democratic challenger Jim Tedesco for County Executive over incumbent Republican Kathleen Donovan. He later rescinded that endorsement but Donovan eventually lost to Tedesco.

“I think I have shown that I am not a political guy,” Saudino told PolitickerNJ. “I don’t intend to change. I don’t want to be a political guy. I understand that I am in an elected position but I want to keep politics as much as I can out of it. There is no place for politics in law enforcement. I try to maintain that attitude. To me, it is not about the party. It is about who the best people are, who has the best ideas.”

Saudino said he hopes he can win in 2016 despite the number of Democratic wins in the county this year

 

https://politickernj.com/2015/12/bergen-sheriff-saudino-there-is-no-place-for-politics-in-law-enforcement/

Posted on by — 1 Comment

In Oradell, fate of historic Blauvelt Mansion faces further discussion

Atwood-Blauvelt mansion

DECEMBER 15, 2015, 9:11 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015, 10:18 PM
BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

ORADELL — Supporters of the historic Blauvelt Mansion breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday night after Mayor Joseph Murray, Jr. announced that the property’s owner, CareOne, would not apply for a demolition permit before the end of the year.

“Mayor-elect [Dianne] Didio and I met with people from CareOne yesterday and they have agreed to continue dialogue with Mayor Didio to find a mutually satisfactory resolution and hopefully to preserve the mansion,” he said. “That conversation will probably commence in January.”

Murray’s statement at least temporarily quelled widespread fears that CareOne, one of the state’s largest nursing home operators, was planning to demolish the 1890s-era structure. Built in the Shingle Style by the architect Fred Wesley Wentworth, who would become most famous for his role in reconstructing Paterson after fire destroyed large portions of the city in 1902, the great house sits like a castle at the top of a sprawling lawn bordering Kinderkamack Road and has become a beloved landmark for many Bergen County residents.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/in-oradell-fate-of-historic-blauvelt-mansion-faces-further-discussion-1.1474073

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Herointown, N.J.: The state’s heroin crisis in 9 startling statistics

Heroin-006

184,038 Number of patients admitted to New Jersey substance abuse treatment facilities for heroin or opioid abuse since 2010.

781 Number of heroin-related deaths in New Jersey in 2014, the fourth straight year the state saw an increase

By Stephen Stirling | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 15, 2015 at 6:38 AM, updated December 15, 2015 at 7:59 AM

The statistics on New Jersey’s heroin crisis are staggering, and paint a picture of a crisis that spreads far beyond overdoses and deaths.

Below are bullet points on just how far and wide heroin and opioid addiction reaches in the Garden State.

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/12/herointown_nj_the_states_heroin_crisis_in_10_graph.html

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Feds: Rutherford man among three charged in spamming scheme that targeted 60M people

spam_theridgewoodblog

DECEMBER 15, 2015, 11:55 AM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015, 12:07 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWARK — Three men were charged Tuesday in a computer hacking and spamming scheme that federal prosecutors in New Jersey said compromised the personal information of 60 million people and netted more than $2 million in profits.

Timothy Livingston, 30, of Boca Raton, Florida, operated a business known as A Whole Lot of Nothing that sent spam emails on behalf of clients including insurance companies and online pharmacies, charging $5 to $9 for each spam email that resulted in a completed transaction, according to authorities.

In addition to Livingston, the indictment charged Tomasz Chmielarz, 32, of Rutherford, New Jersey; and Devin McArthur, 27, of Ellicott City, Maryland, with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Livingston and Chmielarz also were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/feds-rutherford-man-among-three-charged-in-spamming-scheme-that-targeted-60m-people-1.1473887

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Police shooting of suspect in Rochelle Park full of mystery

BB gun

Another reminder this morning of the dangers and the quick decisions NJ police sometimes have to make. This gun was being held by a man on Route 17 in Rochelle Park. It’s a BB gun, but the Bergen County prosecutor says the orange tip had been painted over. Is there any realistic way for the officers involved not to have believed that was a real gun? The man was shot and is at the hospital

DECEMBER 14, 2015, 7:46 AM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015, 6:43 AM
BY RICHARD COWEN AND JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

Why a Maywood man had a BB gun whose orange tip had been painted black is one of the questions detectives were investigating Monday after the man crashed a car outside the Bergen County Board of Social Services office and was shot by two Rochelle Park police officers.

The shooting occurred at 3:27 a.m. after police were called to the building at 218 Route 17 north by security officers, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said via his Twitter account.

The driver remained inside the Toyota sedan after he crashed it in a driveway, the prosecutor said. The officers’ shots struck him in the lower body.

Molinelli identified the driver as Matthew S. Chaseman, 46, of 14 Marlboro Court in Maywood, and said his injuries did not appear to require surgery.

Chaseman was being treated Monday at Hackensack University Medical Center. The officers were not injured in the incident, which delayed operations at the Social Services office for several hours.

As of late Monday afternoon, authorities had not provided a detailed explanation of what had prompted the shots, which also shattered the rear window on the driver’s side of the car.

A Teaneck couple who identified themselves as Chaseman’s parents pulled into the driveway of their home shortly before 3:30 p.m.

The woman said she had called the hospital. “He’s going to be fine,” she said. “We’re not at all concerned.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/police-shooting-of-suspect-in-rochelle-park-full-of-mystery-1.1473465

Posted on by — 6 Comments

Bergen Town Center mall in Paramus is preparing for a $130 million expansion

The Outlets @ Bergen Town Center

DECEMBER 14, 2015, 11:29 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2015, 6:33 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

One of North Jersey’s oldest shopping centers, formerly known as Bergen Mall and reborn as The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, is preparing for another major makeover.

The Paramus shopping center’s owner is planning an expansion — reportedly to add a level above the existing center — to meet demand for space at the mall, which has benefited in recent years from the success of its off-price and outlet tenants, the fastest-growing category in apparel retailing.

Urban Edge Properties, the public company that owns the mall, expects to invest as much as $130 million in a 200,000-square-foot addition to The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, according to a recent financial filing by the company. That would make the project similar in size to the last renovation and expansion of the mall in 2006, and would increase its size by about 20 percent.

The proposal is a sign of the strength of the North Jersey retail market, and particularly Paramus. The planned revamp would be the latest example of malls responding to pressure to constantly evolve as they face the challenge of online commerce and changing shopping patterns.

Urban Edge has revealed some details about the project in public financial documents, and in meetings with analysts, but has not yet submitted plans to Paramus. Those familiar with the project said Urban Edge plans to add a third retail level over part of the existing shopping center, the section of the mall that houses the majority of its stores and the parking deck. One source said the expansion could be larger than 200,000 square feet, and possibly as big as 500,000 square feet.

Bergen Town Center is 1.2 million square feet. It is divided into two separate sections — the parcel west of Forest Avenue, which is a traditional enclosed mall with a parking deck and a parking lot bordered by a strip of additional stores, and the area east of Forest Avenue, which includes freestanding stores, including a Lowe’s and an REI store that provides gear for camping and hiking.

The enclosed mall portion was 99.9 percent occupied as of the end of September, according to Urban Edge’s third-quarter earnings report.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-town-center-mall-in-paramus-is-preparing-for-a-130-million-expansion-1.1473710

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Prosecutor: Maywood suspect with BB gun in car shot by police on Route 17 in Rochelle Park

rochell park police

file photo of Rochelle Park Police  by Boyd Loving 

DECEMBER 14, 2015, 7:46 AM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2015, 2:06 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN AND RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

Two Rochelle Park police officers shot a man who was armed with a BB gun outside the Bergen County Board of Social Services Monday morning, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

Police were called to the building at 218 Route 17 North in Rochelle Park by security after the man crashed his car and remained inside it, the prosecutor said on Twitter.

The officers’ shots hit the suspect in the lower part of his body and shattered the driver’s side rear window of his Toyota sedan, authorities said. Molinelli said the injuries were not life-threatening and did not appear to require surgery.

The prosecutor identified the suspect as Matthew S. Chaseman, 46, of 14 Marlboro Court in Maywood. Chaseman is being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center. The officers were not injured.

Molinelli said that it wasn’t immediately clear whether Chaseman had a real gun. The orange tip of the gun had been painted black, the prosecutor said. He said he did not know whether Chaseman pointed the gun at any of the officers.

About 11 a.m., half a dozen detectives from the offices of the Bergen County Prosecutor and Sheriff entered Chaseman’s apartment at Hammel Gardens and removed several bags of his belongings. The evidence included a bow and arrows.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/prosecutor-maywood-suspect-with-bb-gun-in-car-shot-by-police-on-route-17-in-rochelle-park-1.1473465

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Shops at Riverside mall in Hackensack reopens after bomb threat

Riverside Square Mall

DECEMBER 12, 2015, 2:12 PM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015, 6:47 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN AND HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

A false bomb threat led to the three-hour evacuation of The Shops at Riverside mall in Hackensack on the penultimate Saturday in the holiday shopping season.

As authorities investigated the threat — scrawled on a bathroom wall, graffiti-style — hundreds of jittery shoppers had to abandon their meals and purchases, and were forced out of the complex and into the parking lot, alongside mall workers.

Hackensack Police summoned the Bergen County bomb squad and ordered the evacuation after a security officer discovered the message written with a marker near a urinal in a lower-level men’s room at around 1 p.m., said Hackensack Police Capt. Timothy Lloyd.

Witnesses said several hundred customers and employees emptied out of the mall in an urgent but orderly fashion as both sound and light alarms went off.

A search by bomb-sniffing dogs and bomb-squad officers found no explosives and the mall — at the intersection of Route 4 and Hackensack Avenue — re-opened around 4 p.m., Lloyd said.

The evacuation also led police to divert traffic on Hackensack Avenue onto Route 4, said Anthony Cureton, a spokesman for the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office.

Some two hours into the evacuation, most people had cleared out of the area. On the grass at the outskirts of the complex’s parking lot, though, small groups of employees lingered waiting for their stores and restaurants to reopen. And some shoppers also stayed behind, forced to wait because, they said, authorities wouldn’t allow them to retrieve their vehicles from the mall’s multi-tiered parking garage before the all-clear was given.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/shops-at-riverside-mall-in-hackensack-reopens-after-bomb-threat-1.1472899

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Study: credit card debt may reach alarming levels

creditcards

DECEMBER 10, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY MELANIE ANZIDEI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Consumers are expected to end the year with credit card debt that is close to levels experts consider unsustainable.

A study released Wednesday by the credit card comparison company CardHub found that consumers racked up $21.3 billion in new credit card debt in the third quarter, from July through September. That’s 34 percent more than the same period last year, and the most for the third quarter since 2009, the year the recession ended.

CardHub projects that credit card debt by Dec. 31 will surpass last year’s by $68.5 billion. At that pace, the average household will be ringing in the new year owing more than $8,000, the highest since the last recession.

“We consider an average [household] debt of $8,400 as being unsustainable — proved in 2008 when the crushing debt plunged us into the Great Recession,” Jill Gonzalez, a CardHub analyst, said in an email Tuesday afternoon.

She added that these rising levels of credit card debt should serve as a “wake-up call” to consumers, who should “rein in spending” in an effort to avoid reaching that tipping point.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/credit-card-debt-is-dangerously-high-experts-say-1.1471448

 

CardHub https://www.cardhub.com/edu/credit-card-debt-study/

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Valley’s Life-Saving Tourniquets Donated to Bergen County Rapid Deployment Force

Bergen County Rapid Deployment Force
file photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

Valley’s Life-Saving Tourniquets Donated to Bergen County Rapid Deployment Force
December 2, 2015

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , The Valley Hospital continues to show its dedication to protecting our community through the distribution of tourniquets to first responders. The most recent recipients of the tourniquets are the Bergen County Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), which is comprised of police officers from each municipality within Bergen County.  These officers respond to a variety of incidents including riots and active shooters. Each officer on the Bergen County RDF was issued two tourniquets.

Having access to a tourniquet can be critically important in a life or death situation. If a police officer is shot or injured in an extremity, they are able to apply the tourniquet to themselves. Similarly, if a member of the community is severely injured in an extremity, the tourniquet can be used to assist them. The presence of these tourniquets minimizes the chance that a wounded individual will bleed to death prior to help arriving.

In addition to the Bergen County RDF, Valley’s Department of Emergency Services has donated almost 1,000 tourniquets to approximately 500 police officers in 16 area towns. They have also given tourniquets to the New Jersey Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Posted on by — 4 Comments

Local State and Transit Police Plus Bergen County Agencies Respond to Large Brawl at BOOM Burger in Rochelle park

BOOM Burger
photo Courtesy of Boyd Loving”s Facebook page

Local  State and Transit Police Plus Bergen County agencies Respond to Large Brawl at BOOM Burger in Rochelle park

December 7,2015

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Rochelle Park NJ,  Police from more than a dozen Bergen County agencies plus NJ State and NJ Transit PD units responded to a large bar brawl at the Boom Burger restaurant, 375 West Passaic Street, Rochelle Park on Sunday evening, 12/06 at approximately 7:30 PM. An unknown number of restaurant patrons suffered minor injuries in the fracas. Two (2) ambulances were also called to the scene and at least two (2) patrons received treatment on site, but no one was transported to a hospital. No word on whether there were any arrests related to the incident, nor what precipitated the brawl. Jets ,Giants Bragging rights ,Football you bet!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Bigger and longer N.J. bear hunt? Will cover more territory and could add days

dont-feed-the-bears

Councilmen Mike Sendon could not be reached for comment

DECEMBER 4, 2015, 2:48 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2015, 11:38 PM
BY RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The expanded black bear hunt that begins on Monday will cover more ground than ever before with a greater focus on rooting out so-called urban bears that feed off trash cans in suburban areas.

But a battle of wills still rages between hunt advocates and opponents who say that nuisance bears can be managed more humanely with stricter enforcement of garbage-can laws and more public education.

This year, the will of the hunters has an edge, as the state Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of allowing the hunt to begin as planned.

Related:   Expanded bear hunt to begin next week, include parts of Wayne, Bloomingdale, Pequannock

The new bear hunt rules not only expand the terrain in which hunters can stalk bears, but also allow the state Division of Fish and Wildlife to extend the six-day hunt by four days if hunters don’t reduce the bear population by 20 percent.

The state’s newly adopted black bear management policy expanded the hunting area beyond the traditional boundaries of Route 287 and Route 78, in play since 2003. It opened up more densely populated suburban towns to bear hunting, including the west side of Wayne, Pompton Lakes, Wana­que, Oakland, Pequannock, Lincoln Park and Madison. The bear hunt is spread over eight counties and more than 1,000 square miles, touching as far south as Mercer County.

New Jersey has 3,500 black bears, according to state estimates. Bears have been spotted in all 21 counties.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/expanded-bear-hunt-to-begin-as-scheduled-after-supreme-court-challenge-falls-short-1.1467889

Posted on by — 7 Comments

Former Bergen Dems chairman Joseph Ferriero sentenced to three years in prison

joseph-ferriero-file-photojpg-928e8ceb2b5dc8b1_large

DECEMBER 4, 2015, 11:47 AM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2015, 6:16 PM
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Sobbing as he pleaded for mercy and insisted he did nothing wrong, Joseph A. Ferriero, the once powerful leader of the Bergen County Democratic Party, was sentenced Friday to nearly three years in prison for using his political clout to profit from a kickback scheme involving government contracts.

“I understand the court has to accept the verdict,” Ferriero said, adding, “Not for a nanosecond did I think I was doing anything wrong.”

In retrospect, he said, he should have done things differently, but he insisted he never solicited bribes or accepted kickbacks.

U.S. District Judge Esther B. Salas imposed a 35-month prison term on the 58-year-old Hackensack lawyer during a two-hour hearing in federal court in Newark. She said he can self-surrender to prison authorities within 60 days.

Ferriero, who earlier this week lost a bid to set aside his conviction, is planning an appeal.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/former-bergen-dems-chairman-joseph-ferriero-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-1.1467769

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Protest follows talk of demolishing Oradell mansion

Atwood-Blauvelt mansion

DECEMBER 4, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

ORADELL — A former owner of the Atwood-Blauvelt Mansion said Thursday that the property’s current owner has signaled that it intends to file for a permit to demolish the historic structure.

Jeffrey Wells, who owned the home until 2011, said that representatives of CareOne, one of the state’s largest nursing home operators, informed him this week that “they were looking to do a walk-through on the house because they were going to apply for a demo permit.” Supporters of efforts to preserve the mansion, which was built in the 1890s, responded by staging a small demonstration there on Thursday.

But Timothy Hodges, CareOne’s chief strategy officer, said Thursday that the fate of the building has not yet been decided.

“Ever since CareOne acquired the property at 699 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, it has continued to explore its development options for the property,” he said. “That process is still ongoing and no final decisions have been made.”

He added: “CareOne has not applied for a demolition permit from the Borough of Oradell.”

Borough Administrator Laura Graham confirmed that no such application had been filed as of Thursday afternoon.

Wells said the purpose for the walk-through would be to show CareOne’s construction professionals how the building receives utility services. The tour was scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, he said.

But when those professionals saw about a dozen people displaying a banner reading “SAVE the BLAUVELT” on the property’s front lawn, they canceled the appointment, Wells said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/talk-of-demolition-1.1467524