Category: North Jersey

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Bicycle Bandit goes on a one man crime spree in North Jersey

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July 29,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A homeless man dubbed by police as the “bicycle bandit” is wanted in connection with a series of overnight break-ins in several New Jersey communities, including Ridgewood, Allendale, Closter, Norwood, and Ramsey.

On Monday July 20, 2015, a Ridgewood resident reported that sometime between 2:00 am and 6:00 am that date an unidentified actor entered his/her home removing cash from the kitchen counter and consuming some leftover food from the refrigerator. The matter is under investigation by the detective bureau. Ridgewood Police now believe the the actor as the “Bicycle Bandit”. The Police have identified the man, James Rainsford, 47, a homeless man authorities say lives in or near Paterson.

In Allendale home surveillance video from one of the burglaries captured the suspect, 47-year-old James Rainsford, calmly walking up to an Allendale home and trying one door after another. He bolts when an alarm sounds and runs across the lawn, and soon after, his bike reflectors are seen spinning away as he rides off.

Little Falls Police are also looking for Rainsford who they say is responsible for burglarizing multiple homes and taking food with him from the scenes.

Anyone with information or who may have seen Rainsford should either call 9-1-1 or the Ridgewood Police Department at 201-652-3900.

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TONIGHT TREVOR LOUDON AT THE WAYNE PUBLIC LIBRARY

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GUEST APPEARANCE SPEAKER

July 27, 2015 (Monday)Tonight

7:00 PM Wayne NJ Public Library 475 Valley Rd, Wayne, NJ 07470

You hear the news, but you know that making a deal with Iran is like making a deal with the Devil.  You know you’re not going to make out well in the deal.   You’ve been hearing so much about what is happening and you wonder what it really means to you and your family……………this is the event to attend this summer, without a doubt.

From Christchurch New Zealand, Trevor Loudon has been researching the radical left for more than 30 years.

This research has given Loudon unique insight into how extensively often miniscule communist parties have been able to manipulate, and even control policy formation in many Western countries -this is not just a historical problem, but is a very real issue, threatening America’s national security, and indeed very survival, right up to the present day.

In March 2007, Loudon discovered the long hidden relationship between notorious Hawaiian Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis and the young Barack Obama. Soon his work was being quoted by Accuracy in Media, countless bloggers and Glenn Beck. In 2009 Loudon exposed the communist roots of Obama “Green Jobs Czar” Van Jones. After an extensive campaign by Glenn Beck and others, Jones was forced to resign from his White House position.

Since 2011 Loudon has toured the United States promoting his two books “Barack Obama and the Enemies Within” and “The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress” – an extensively footnoted expose of the rapidly unfolding Marxist takeover of the United States government.

He believes that if America should fall, so will every Western nation, including his beloved New Zealand.

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Garrett to Obama: Prioritize the Extradition of Murderous Fugitives from the Castro regime

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New Jersey cop-killer Joanne Chesimard

Jul 17, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in calling on President Obama to demand that Cuban officials extradite New Jersey cop-killer Joanne Chesimard and New York City terrorist William Morales as the United States announces the reopening of embassies in both countries. Chesimard and Morales are convicted felons who escaped to Cuba and were granted political asylum by the Castro regime. Cuban officials have publicly announced they will not negotiate any extradition as a condition for normalized relations between the United States and Cuba.

“It is imperative that your administration ensures that justice is served by making the extradition of Joanne Chesimard’s and William Morales’ a top priority,” said the group of lawmakers in the letter to President Obama. “In recent months Bernadette Meehan, a National Security Council spokeswoman said “the return from Cuba of fugitives from U.S. justice is an issue of long-standing concern to the United States that will be addressed in the broader context of normalizing relations.” However, there has been no evidence of progress in securing the return of these fugitives.”

Reps. Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02), Tom MacArthur (NJ-03), Leonard Lance (NJ-07), Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), and Peter King (NY-02) also signed Garrett’s letter.

Click here to read the entire letter to President Obama.

About Chesimard and Morales:

Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1977. In 1973, New Jersey State Troopers Werner Foerster and James Harper made a routine traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. When the troopers asked the vehicle’s driver to exit the car, one of the passengers, Joanne Chesimard, pulled out a gun and began shooting. During the ensuing firefight, Foerster was hit twice in the chest and Harper once in the shoulder. The injured Foerster was then shot twice in the head—execution style—with his own sidearm.

William Morales was sentenced to 99 years in prison for his participation with the terrorist organization Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional Puertorriquena (FALN). William Morales was a chief bomb maker for FALN, and he has been linked to the 1979 bombing of Fraunces Tavern in New York City, an attack that injured 60 and killed four.

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FAA investigating lasers being pointed at 11 planes over NJ

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JULY 16, 2015, 8:46 AM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015, 5:46 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating incidents of lasers being pointed at 11 airplanes flying over New Jersey on Wednesday night, a spokesman said.

The incidents occurred between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., spokesman Jim Peters said in a statement. No injuries were reported.

Three of the planes were at 3,000 feet of altitude, within 20 miles of Newark Airport: Porter 141, American Airlines 1472 and American Airlines 966.

The Newark-bound planes all landed safely, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. The lasers were being shined into the cockpits, which can have a blinding effect on pilots and is “extremely dangerous,” Coleman said.

Delta Air Lines 504, Shuttle America 3489, JetBlue 2779 and JetBlue 828 planes were four miles south of the Outerbridge Crossing, also at an altitude of 3,000 feet, Peters said.

American Airlines 348, Republic Airlines 4643 and GoJet 6201 — all bound for LaGuardia — were flashed at 9,000 feet, 10 miles north of Robbinsville, the spokesman said

https://www.northjersey.com/news/faa-investigating-lasers-being-pointed-at-11-planes-over-nj-1.1375593

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Federal court vacancies in N.J. prompt ‘judicial emergency’

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JULY 9, 2015, 7:53 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015, 11:32 PM
BY JANE FRITSCH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

New Jersey’s federal courts, among the busiest in the nation, are operating under a “judicial emergency,” as declared by the body that sets standards for caseloads, because of vacant judgeships that have gone unfilled for months.

Four of the state’s 17 federal judges have retired or moved to part-time status since the beginning of the year, but the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, under Republican control, has taken no action on three pending nominations backed by New Jersey’s Democratic senators.

“We’re at the mercy of the Senate,” Jerome B. Simandle, New Jersey’s chief federal judge, said in an interview.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-federal-courts-operating-under-judicial-emergency-due-to-judge-shortage-1.1371743

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Alligator caught in Passaic River in Elmwood Park

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file photo alligator sausage

JULY 8, 2015, 9:50 AM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015, 3:38 PM

BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

ELMWOOD PARK –  The search for the gator roving the Passaic River is over.

Authorities captured the alligator around noon today after launching a boat to get close enough to the creature.

Media and Elmwood Park officials gather on the banks of the Passaic River after a fisherman reported seeing an alligator in the water.

The alligator was spotted this morning by a fisherman,  Luis Acosta,  who called police around 8:20 a.m. after he saw the alligator about 15 feet away while he was fishing for carp.

“I noticed something moving,” Acosta said. “I thought it was a snapping turtle.”

He then thought it might be a floating log. But suddenly, “I saw his whole body. His legs, his tail. I said, ‘wow.'”

He was relieved when authorities also spotted the alligator. “If that alligator goes inside the water, they’re going to think I’m crazy,” he said.

The report of the exotic resident of the Passaic set off a frenzy of activity in the area, with police, fire and wildlife officials rushing to the scene – followed by people who heard about the creature and wanted to get a look.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/alligator-caught-in-passaic-river-in-elmwood-park-video-1.1370314

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NJ TRANSIT’S SUMMER SHORE TRAIN SERVICE TO THE WAVES IS THE WAY TO GO

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Enhanced North Jersey Coast Line express weekend service to beach towns

July 6,2015

NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT is making it convenient and affordable to get to summer shore destinations with the return of express weekend rail service from Penn Station New York and northern New Jersey cities to shore communities along the North Jersey Coast Line this Sunday, June 21.

Enhanced Saturday, Sunday and holiday rail service on the North Jersey Coast Line will operate from June 21 through September 12 and utilize the agency’s dual-powered locomotives to provide a one-seat ride.

“This one-seat ride rail service from New York is a sound investment that not only gives visitors and residents easier access to some of our most popular beaches and boardwalks, it also helps take cars off the roadway and boosts tourism and the economy in our shore communities,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Chairman Jamie Fox.

“Our Shore service provides a safe and reliable way to get people where they need to be to enjoy time in the sun and expands transit options for travelers along the state’s costal region,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim.  “NJ TRANSIT is grateful for the continued support of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) without whom funding for this service would not be possible.”

Four round-trip express trains will operate between Penn Station New York and Bay Head.  This service also features hourly train service between Bay Head and Long Branch from approximately 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Two of the round-trips will be geared to beach travelers, with an additional two round-trips providing service during the early morning and late night timeframes.

The express service will serve Penn Station New York, Secaucus Junction, Newark Penn Station, Elizabeth, Rahway, Aberdeen-Matawan, Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and then all station stops to Bay Head, without the need of a transfer in Long Branch.  A travel time savings of approximately 25 minutes is expected from the normal travel time between New York and trains such as Belmar, Manasquan and Point Pleasant.

Seating will be limited aboard the express service.  Customers are strongly encouraged to purchase round-trip tickets or discounted beach packages to Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar (a savings of $6.50) prior to the start of their trip.  NJ TRANSIT beach packages are available at some ticket windows and ticket vending machines.  More information on beach packages is available on njtransit.com/summer.

Customers can also purchase NJ TRANSIT tickets using MyTix mobile ticketing.

Express trains will supplement NJ TRANSIT’s regular hourly rail shuttle service between Long Branch and Bay Head, and will operate using the statewide transportation agency’s new ALP-45 dual-powered locomotives.   These specialized trains will operate in electric mode between New York and Long Branch and will switch to diesel operation for travel between Long Branch and Bay Head – allowing for the one-seat ride.

The announcement follows the May 11, 2015 endorsement of the service by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), which authorized a $273,000 allocation through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) to fund the new service.

Detailed schedules are available on njtransit.com.

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Jersey Shore’s Portuguese man o’ wars

Portuguese man o' wars

You will not find these at Graydon

Posted: Jul 02, 2015 10:42 PM EDTUpdated: Jul 03, 2015 8:40 AM EDT
By SHARON CROWLEY, Fox 5 News Reporter

MYFOXNY.COM –

More Portuguese man o’ wars have turned up on New Jersey’s beaches. Dozens of the potentially dangerous jellyfish-like creatures have washed up on several Jersey Shore beaches in recent weeks. The first sighting was in Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island.

Jersey shore vacationers are keeping a watchful eye out while swimming in the ocean this summer. Some have said they are worried because of the man-of-wars.

A man o’ war can pack a highly toxic and painful sting that in some rare cases can be life-threatening. It has tentacles that can grow as long as 30 feet.

Jenkinson’s Aquarium marine biologist Trystin Figell says the Portuguese man o’ war is not typically found in this area. He says they have a gas-filled swim bladder, so they rely on the wind and currents. So they likely arrived along New Jersey’s coastline with the Gulf Stream. They are usually found in warmer waters, like off Florida’s coast.

Dr. Robert Glatter, of Lenox Hill’s emergency room, says if you get stung don’t remove the stinger with your hand use another object and put warm water on the area.

Most reactions while painful are not deadly. Those susceptible to severe allergic reactions are at higher health risk if stung. Dr. Glatter says that if you have trouble breathing, feel like you may pass out, your throat starts to close, or your tongue swells then you need to seek immediate medical help.

https://www.myfoxny.com/story/29467280/portuguese-man-of-wars-jersey-shore

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Strains on mass transit will get even worse as population in metro area grows, experts say

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BY NOLAN HICKS , DAN RIVOLI

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, June 28, 2015, 2:23 AM

All aboard for more mass transit misery.

New projections show the New York region’s population should reach 20.5 million people by 2020, further taxing the region’s already overcrowded and cash-strapped subway, bus and train systems.

The projections — calculated by the mapping service ESRI for The Associated Press — estimate the region is growing at a clip of almost 100,000 people annually. Long Island, Westchester County and much of northern New Jersey are included in the metro area.

The importance of these systems can’t be overstated: 31% of metro area commuters use transit to get to work, the U.S. Census estimates.

As the region’s population booms, the strains on mass transit are increasingly evident.

Overcrowding was the single biggest cause of delays on the New York subway system during the last year, MTA stats show. Ridership has also grown on NJ Transit and the PATH trains.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/growing-population-transit-worse-experts-article-1.2273743

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The Watcher’ scares couple into fleeing $1.3 million dream home

By Leonard Greene
June 24, 2015

A New Jersey couple is suing the people who sold them their dream home for neglecting to tell them about a stalker who calls himself “The Watcher,” who has been harassing them since they moved in.

Derek and Maria Broaddus paid $1.3 million last year for their six-bedroom Union County dream house only to learn of “the Watcher,” who had a fixation on the home, the suit says.

In their suit, the couple says the stalker threatened them with several letters and packages — mail the previous owners received before unloading the haunted house.

The house “has been the subject of my family for decades,” one letter said.

“I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming,” said

https://nypost.com/2015/06/24/the-watcher-scares-couple-into-selling-1-3-million-dream-home/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow

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North Jersey churchgoers unite in spirit with Charleston

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photo by Boyd Loving at Metropolitan AME Church in Ridgewood

JUNE 21, 2015, 10:10 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015, 11:46 PM
BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE, LINDA MOSS AND JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

Although the killing of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church happened more than 700 miles away in Charleston, S.C., churchgoers in North Jersey felt the reverberations strongly Sunday as they prayed for the victims and their loved ones.

At the Bethel A.M.E. Church in Paterson, the Rev. Allan Boyer asked worshipers to help him light candles in honor of the victims.

The nine flickering lights represented a deep connection between the two churches, Boyer said. Both were started over 150 years ago by individuals concerned with the fight for civil rights. Both boast a link to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered a speech at Emanuel in 1962 and visited the building where Bethel is currently housed just eight days before his assassination in 1968.

And now, both are relying on their faith to respond to mindless hate with Christian love. “We hate the sin, but love the sinner,” Boyer said Sunday, urging his congregation not to be consumed by anger in the wake of the shootings. “If you’re going to be a Christian, sometimes you have to bite your tongue. Sometimes you have to turn the other cheek and walk away.”

At Christ Temple Baptist Church in Paterson, the Rev. Gregory Turner lauded the relatives of the Charleston victims for forgiving suspect Dylann Roof.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-churchgoers-unite-in-spirit-with-charleston-1.1360311

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Deadly week around North Jersey

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file photo Boyd Loving

JUNE 19, 2015, 11:43 PM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015, 12:18 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

In the past 10 days, two teenagers were killed in traffic accidents — a 16-year-old died while trying to cross Route 46 in Lodi and a 13-year-old Cresskill boy was killed riding his bike to school. Two bodies were found along the cliffs of the Palisades, including that of an 18-year-old — also from Cresskill — who was dumped there after she died of a heroin overdose last summer. And a bridge inspector was swept to his death by high waters in Passaic, washing up in Rutherford three days later.

It’s the type of trend that has no pattern or discernable cause. But the seemingly relentless stream of bad news has dominated media coverage across North Jersey, banging a drumbeat of danger in the suburbs that has only been amplified by national stories like Wednesday night’s mass slayings at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C.

“It’s a lot for a little community,” said Cresskill Police Chief Edward Wrixon. “It’s been very trying on me and the officers and the townspeople. The one good thing I see in it is how we all work together, and I think we are doing a damn good job.”

Law enforcement officials and experts on criminology and psychology said that it is unlikely that more people are dying in North Jersey this summer than in any other year. Instead, they said, the extraordinary details of many of these incidents — the young victims and the seemingly random strikes of fate — create a sense of heightened sensitivity to similar events, leading to the impression of an uptick.

There is also a bright side to a spate of gruesome news stories, they said. It helps create a conversation about mortality in an American culture that often resists talking explicitly about death.

“There’s a macabre human interest in it,” said Keith Durkin, a professor of sociology, psychology, sociology and criminal justice at Ohio Northern University. “It mirrors our anxieties. But it alleviates them and makes us confront the realities of our fears.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/deadly-week-around-north-jersey-1.1359788

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North Jersey churches wary of too much security

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JUNE 18, 2015, 10:59 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015, 11:08 PM
BY JEFF GREEN AND MONSY ALVARADO
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

For as long as Mack Cauthen could remember, Bible study at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Englewood has always been open to not only members of the congregation, but anyone who is interested in learning and sharing their experiences.

But a day after nine people were killed during a prayer meeting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., Cauthen, a church deacon, and other North Jersey religious leaders were grappling with how to continue the church’s mission to welcome and attract new members while keeping their congregations safe.

“We are trying to reach as many people as possible to join us and to learn, but at the same time what do you do?” Cauthen asked. “Try and restrict people, and who is the judge?”

The Rev. Melanie Miller of the AME Zion Church in Hackensack said the shooting will compel churches to discuss what security measures can be instituted, while balancing the religious needs of the community.

“When things like this happen it not only instills fear, but at the same time we have to reach out to anyone who may feel isolated,” she said

https://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-churches-wary-of-too-much-security-1.1358778

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North Jersey rising: with casino war raging, four-county unity alliance party draws statewide power to Meadowlands, a sign of potential power shift

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EAST RUTHERFORD – In the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride on to the scene, a vision of divine apocalypse, a harbinger of the Last Judgment, a shudder for sinners for all time.

At Meadowlands Racetrack on Tuesday night, the Democratic chairmen of four North Jersey counties – Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic – rode into East Rutherford for what was billed as a charity event, providing what could be a glimpse of doom to South Jersey power brokers as the war clouds of casino controversy loom over all of New Jersey.  (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)

North Jersey rising: with casino war raging, four-county unity alliance party draws statewide power to Meadowlands, a sign of potential power shift | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis

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United Airlines Moves all Operations to Newark Airport

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Newark flights to/from San Francisco and Los Angeles to offer international-style inflight service

Airline will add trans-Atlantic 757s to p.s. fleet and replace them with Boeing 767s on most trans-Atlantic routes

June 16, 2015

NEWARK, N.J.,  United Airlines, the U.S. airline industry’s transcontinental leader, will bring the airline’s “p.s.” Premium Service to its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in October. Beginning October 25, all regularly scheduled Newark-Los Angeles and Newark-San Francisco flights will offer:

flat-bed seats in the United BusinessFirst cabin;
premium in-flight service;
more extra-legroom Economy Plus seats than any other carrier; and
modern interiors with in-flight Wi-Fi and personal on-demand entertainment with individual seatback monitors and power ports for customers in every row.

With the addition of p.s. service at Newark Liberty, United customers flying on transcontinental flights to and from Newark in the BusinessFirst cabin will, for the first time, enjoy flat-bed comfort for their entire journey when connecting to and from flights across United’s extensive trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific networks.

United will cement its role as the leader in transcontinental flying with more than 1,250 daily flat-bed seats – the most in the New Yorkmarket – and a 44 percent increase in flat-bed seats year-over-year. The airline will fly up to 17 daily round trips Newark-San Franciscoand up to 15 daily round trips Newark-Los Angeles, leading the industry with a total of up to 10,000 round-trip seats offered per day on the two combined key transcontinental routes.

Manhattan business travelers, particularly those who work on Wall Street and throughout lower and westernManhattan, enjoy easy access to Newark Liberty, the most convenient of the three New York-area airports.

While at Newark Liberty, p.s. customers will have access to the New York area’s best airport experience. The company also announced today that it is making a multi-million dollar investment to renovate United’s Terminal C lobby and to bring its new airport lounge design concept to all United Club locations at Newark Liberty. United already has invested more than $2 billion to build a world-class gateway at Newark Liberty where, with its airport partners, the airline is offering chef-driven restaurants, redesigned lounge-like gate areas and improved United Club locations.

At Newark Liberty, the airline offers a full range of premium services, including a new United Global Services reception lobby for its top frequent flyers, offering personalized check-in and travel services to members of the airline’s invitation-only Global Services program and to customers traveling on long-haul international flights in United Global First. United also offers its Mercedes-Benz tarmac transportation service, and when feasible, representatives meet Global Services and United Global First customers with applicable itineraries who may have tight connections and will drive them across the tarmac to their connecting flights.

“The introduction of p.s. to Newark Liberty, the New York/Newark region’s premier airport, offers Los Angeles and San Francisco travelers the highest levels of service in the air and on the ground,” said Jim Compton, United’s vice chairman and chief revenue officer. “We are investing in the three critical components of the travel experience for our customers – our network, our product and our facilities.”

With its launch of p.s. services at Newark Liberty, United will cease operations at Kennedy International Airport on Oct. 25. United has entered into two separate transactions:  Delta Air Lines plans to acquire United’s JFK slots, and United plans to acquire slots from Delta in Newark. Each transaction is subject to regulatory approval.