Hackensack, New Jersey
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- For other places with this name, see Hackensack.
| City of Hackensack | |
| Nickname: "A City in Motion" | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States of America |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Bergen |
| Settled | 1665 (as New Barbadoes) |
| Incorporated | 1693 (as New Barbadoes Township) |
| Incorporated | 1921 (as a city under current name) |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Karen K. Sasso |
| Area | |
| - City | 4.3 sq mi (11.2 km²) |
| - Land | 4.1 sq mi (10.7 km²) |
| - Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km²) |
| Elevation | 120 ft (36.6 m) |
| Population (2006)GR2 | |
| - City | 42,677 |
| - Density | 10,358.3/sq mi (3,999.4/km²) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Website: http://www.hackensack.org | |
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen CountyGR6. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 42,677. The Census Bureau's 2005 population estimate indicates a total population of 43,735. It is located approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of Manhattan and 12 miles (19 km) south of Rockland County, New York. From a number of locations one can see the New York City skyline.
The Metropolitan campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University straddles the Hackensack River in both Hackensack and Teaneck. Hackensack is also the home of the New Jersey Naval Museum and the World War II submarine USS Ling. Astronaut Walter Schirra is perhaps Hackensack's most famous native son.
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[edit] Geography
Hackensack is located at (40.887797, -74.047978)GR1.
It is bordered by Paramus, River Edge, Teaneck, Bogota, Ridgefield Park, Little Ferry, South Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Lodi, and Maywood.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.2 km² (4.3 mi²). 10.7 km² (4.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.41%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 42,677 people, 18,113 households, and 9,545 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,999.4/km² (10,358.3/mi²). There were 18,945 housing units at an average density of 1,775.4/km² (4,598.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.61% White, 24.65% African American, 0.45% Native American, 7.45% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 9.71% from other races, and 5.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25.92% of the population.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 24,568 |
|
|
| 1940 | 26,279 | 7.0% | |
| 1950 | 29,219 | 11.2% | |
| 1960 | 30,521 | 4.5% | |
| 1970 | 36,008 | 18.0% | |
| 1980 | 36,039 | 0.1% | |
| 1990 | 37,049 | 2.8% | |
| 2000 | 42,677 | 15.2% | |
| historical data source: [1] | |||
There were 18,113 households out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.8% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.3% were non-families. 39.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.08.
In the city the population was spread out with 18.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 38.4% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,316, and the median income for a family was $56,953. Males had a median income of $39,636 versus $32,911 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,856. About 6.8% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Hackensack operates under the New Jersey 1923 Municipal Manager Law. This form of government separates policy making (the work of the Mayor and City Council) from the execution of policy (the work of the City Manager). This maintains professional management and a City-wide perspective through: nonpartisan election, at-large representation, concentration of executive responsibility in the hands of a professional manager accountable to the Mayor and Council, concentration of policy making power in one body: a five-person Mayor and Council. In the several decades in which the City has used the Municipal Manager Form of Government, Hackensack has had only nine City Managers.
The Mayor of the City of Hackensack is Karen K. Sasso[2]. Other members of the Hackensack City Council are Deputy Mayor Jorge E. Meneses, Charles P. McAuliffe, Michael R. Melfi and Marlin G. Townes[3].
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Hackensack is part of New Jersey's 37th Legislative District and is in the Ninth Congressional District[4].
New Jersey's Ninth Congressional District, covering the southern portion of Bergen County and sections of Hudson County and Passaic County, is represented by Steve Rothman (D, Fair Lawn). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 37th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Loretta Weinberg (D, Teaneck) and in the Assembly by Valerie Huttle (D, Englewood) and Gordon M. Johnson (D, Englewood). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Bergen County's County Executive is Dennis McNerney (D). The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Bergen County's Freeholders are Chairman Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge), Vice-Chairman Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington), David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn), James M. Carroll (D, Demarest), Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford), Julie O'Brien (D) and Connie Wagner (D).
Other countywide elected officials are Sheriff Leo McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Mike Dressler (D, Cresskill) County Clerk Kathleen Donovan (R).
[edit] Politics
As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 43,681 in Hackensack, there were 17,933 registered voters (41.1% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 4,838 (27.0% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,945 (10.8% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 11,142 (62.1% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were eight voters registered to other parties[5].
On the national level, Hackensack leans strongly toward the Democratic Party. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 71% of the vote here, defeating Republican George W. Bush, who received around 28%[6].
[edit] Education
The Hackensack Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district include four K-4 elementary schools: Fairmount Elementary School (web site under construction), Fanny Meyer Hillers School, Jackson Avenue Elementary School and Nellie K. Parker Elementary School. The 5ive 6ix School serves grades 5 and 6. Hackensack Middle School serves grades 7 and 8.
Hackensack High School serves students from Hackensack, Maywood, Rochelle Park and South Hackensack. Students from Teterboro may attend either Hackensack High School or Hasbrouck Heights High School.
The Bergen County Academies, a public magnet high school located in Hackensack, serves the high-school population of Bergen County, as part of the Bergen County Technical Schools district.
The Metropolitan campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University straddles the Hackensack River in both Hackensack and Teaneck.
[edit] History
The first inhabitants of the area were the Lenni Lenape Native Americans (known to the European settlers as the Delaware) who lived along the valley of what they called the Achinigeu-hach, or "Ackingsah-sack", (today the Hackensack River) and spoke a Munsee dialect of the Algonquian languages.
As the Dutch settlers of the Dutch West India Company in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) moved west of the Hudson River in the 1660s, they eventually settled along the Hackensack River calling the area Bergen.
Oratam, sagamore of the Lenni Lenape, deeded the land to the Dutch in 1665 (see the seal of Bergen County). The area was soon taken by the English in 1669, but kept its Dutch name. Philip Cartaret, governor of what was then considered the proprietary colony of East Jersey granted land to Captain John Berry in the area of Bergen and soon after took up residence and called it "New Barbadoes," after having resided on the island of Barbadoes.
In 1675, the East Jersey Legislature officially established the first four counties of present day New Jersey, (Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Monmouth).
New Barbadoes Township, together with Acquackanonk Township, were formed by Royal Charter on October 31, 1693.[7]
The neighborhood that came to be known as the village of Hackensack (today the area encompassing Bergen County's municipal buildings in Hackensack) was a part of Essex County until 1710, when Bergen County, by royal decree of Queen Anne of Great Britain, was enlarged and the Township of New Barbadoes was removed from Essex County and added to Bergen County.
In 1710, the village of Hackensack in the newly formed Township of New Barbadoes was designated as being more centrally located and more easily reached by the majority of the Bergen County’s inhabitants, and hence was chosen as the county seat of Bergen County (as it remains today). During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington headquartered in New Barbadoes Township in the village of Hackensack in November 1776 and camped on 'The Green' across from the First Dutch Reformed Church. This prepared the way for the first American victory of the Revolution the following month at the Battle of Trenton.
The New Jersey Legislature passed a school act in 1894. Each village, borough, town, or city in New Jersey was delegated responsibility for its own public schools through the office of the county superintendent. One result of the 1894 Act was the formation of Hackensack High School in the village of Hackensack in the Township of New Barbadoes.
Over the centuries, after many departures, secessions, and de-annexations due to what is now referred to as Boroughitis, all that was left of New Barbadoes Township was the village of Hackensack and its surrounding neighborhoods (Fairmount, Red Hill, Cherry Hill). On November 21, 1921, based on the results of a referendum held on November 8, 1921, New Barbadoes Township received its charter to incorporate as a city and officially took on its name “Hackensack,” a name derived from its original inhabitants, the Lenni-Lenape, who named it "Ackingsah-sack."[7]
[edit] Points of interest
First Dutch Reformed Church (“Church on The Green”); built 1696. In 1696 Major Berry donated land for the First Reformed Dutch Church,[8] erected in that same year, (which still stands in Hackensack today as the oldest church in Bergen County and the second oldest church in New Jersey). The following is list of notable people buried in the Church's adjoining cemetery:
- Enoch Poor, one of George Washington’s officers.[9][10]
- Richard Varick, former mayor of the city of New York and former New York Attorney General[11][12]
- Interment records for First Dutch Reformed Churchyard
North Jersey Media Group. Bergen County’s largest newspaper, The Record, calls Hackensack its home. The North Jersey Media Group (NJMG) publishes two daily newspapers; 41 local newspapers; a magazine, (201) The Best of Bergen; and operates several local web sites. Scheduled tours of their printing facility are available to groups.
New Jersey Naval Museum and the World War II submarine USS Ling, a Balao class submarine, and several smaller water vessels and artifacts. The museum is open select weekdays for group tours.
Other points of interest within the city include the Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack River County Park, the Church on the Green, and the Bergen County Courthouse.
[edit] Local media
Radio station WWDJ at 970 AM, is licensed to Hackensack and has its transmitter in the city. The station is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format.
[edit] Trivia
- Jason Rullo, drummer of the progressive metal band Symphony X, was born on July 17, 1972 in Hackensack.
- Hackensack was to have been ground zero for the nuclear warhead that Superman successfully redirected into space in "Superman: The Movie" (the other warhead detonated on the San Andreas Fault). Hackensack was the hometown of the mother of Valerie Perrine's character, Eve Teschmacher.
- The song I Happen to Like New York by Cole Porter features the lines
- "Last Sunday afternoon
- I took a trip to Hackensack,
- But after I gave Hackensack the once-over,
- I took the next train back."
- The band Fountains Of Wayne has a song called "Hackensack" from their 2003 album Welcome Interstate Managers. The song is about somebody recognizing a girl he used to know from Hackensack High School who had become famous.
- "I used to know you when we were young,
- You were in all my dreams.
- We sat together in period one,
- Fridays at 8:15"
- Hackensack is also mentioned in Billy Joel's song Movin' Out:
- "Who needs a house out in Hackensack,
- Is that all you get for your money?"
- Hackensack is also mentioned in System of a Down's song Lost In Hollywood from the album Mezmerize:
- "The lines in the letter said
- 'We have gone to Hackensack' "
- F. Scott Fitzgerald went to the prep school, the Newman School, in Hackensack in 1911.
- Hackensack is also mentioned in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.
- Stanley, the waiter, to Willy Loman in Act 3, "But I know you, you ain't from Hackensack. You know what I mean? "
- The 1985 film Brewster's Millions starred Richard Pryor, who played a pitcher for the Hackensack Bulls, a fictional minor-league baseball team.
- In the 1998 film Bride of Chucky, Chucky's human body is said to be buried in a fictional Hackensack Cemetery.[13]
- In the 2001 film Zoolander, Hackensack is mentioned as where Mugatu first made his novelty neck ties.
- Season 1 Episode 48 of Pinky and the Brain is set in the Hackensack Socko Kicky Sack Kicker Factory.
- Hackensack was home to the legendary Van Gelder recording studio where Jazz greats Sonny Rollins and Thelonius Monk recorded some of their landmark work.
- Thelonius Monk recorded a tribute to Rudy Van Gelder entitled Hackensack.
[edit] References
- ^ New Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990. Retrieved on 2007-03-03.
- ^ Welcome to the City of Hackensack, accessed July 25, 2006
- ^ Mayor and City Council, accessed June 26, 2006
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 58, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006
- ^ 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004
- ^ a b "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 78-79 re Hackensack, p. 82 re New Barbadoes.
- ^ Photographic Inventory: Hackensack First Reformed Church, accessed August 7, 2006
- ^ Enoch Poor burial site, accessed August 7, 2006
- ^ Find-A-Grave information for Enoch Poor, accessed August 7, 2006
- ^ Col. Richard Varick burial site, accessed August 7, 2006
- ^ Find-A-Grave information for Richard Varick, accessed August 7, 2006
- ^ FILM REVIEW; Carrying a Torch for a Malevolent Doll, The New York Times, October 17, 1998
[edit] External links
- Hackensack official website
- Hackensack Public Schools
- Hackensack elementary school portal
- Photos of Hackensack, Upper Main Street Alliance
- Personal photographs of Hackensack from a local resident
- Hackensack Public Schools's 2005-06 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Hackensack University Medical Center
- Hackensack Riverkeeper
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Hackensack Public Schools
- Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights for Hackensack
- New Jersey Naval Museum website
- Hackensack Community Message Boards
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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