Bergenfield, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bergenfield, New Jersey
Borough
Cooper's Pond
Seal
Location of Bergenfield in Bergen County highlighted in red (left). Inset map: Location of Bergen County in New Jersey highlighted in orange (right).
Census Bureau map of Bergenfield, New Jersey
Bergenfield, New Jersey Location in Bergen County, New Jersey Show map of Bergen County, New Jersey Bergenfield, New Jersey Location in New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Bergenfield, New Jersey Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Bergen
Incorporated	June 25, 1894
Government
• Type	Borough
• Body	Borough Council
Area
• Total	2.91 sq mi (7.55 km2)
• Land	2.90 sq mi (7.52 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)  0.31%
Area rank	338th of 565 in state 28th of 70 in county
Elevation	66 ft (20 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	28,321
• Estimate  (2023)	28,274
• Rank	87th of 565 in state 7th of 70 in county
• Density	9,752.4/sq mi (3,765.4/km2)
• Density rank	39th of 565 in state 11th of 70 in county
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP Code	07621
Area code(s)	201
FIPS code	3400305170
GNIS feature ID	0885157

Bergenfield's main road, Washington Avenue

Bergenfield is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 28,321, an increase of 1,557 (+5.8%) from the 2010 census count of 26,764, which in turn reflected an increase of 517 (+2.0%) from the 26,247 counted in the 2000 census.

Bergenfield was formed on the basis of a referendum held on June 25, 1894, from portions of Englewood Township and Palisades Township. The borough was formed during the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County, in which 26 boroughs were formed in the county in 1894 alone. The borough was named for its location in Bergen County.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Bergenfield as its 211th best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey. The magazine ranked Bergenfield as its 231st best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live".

NeighborhoodScout named Bergenfield as the safest municipality in the nation in 2012 with more than 25,000 residents and in both 2013 and 2014 they named it as the 2nd safest town in the US only behind Franklin, Massachusetts. In 2019, Bergenfield has dropped in their ratings, falling to number 4.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.885 square miles (7.473 km²), including 2.876 square miles (7.448 km²) of land and 0.009 square miles (0.024 km²) of water (0.33%).

The borough borders the Bergen County municipalities of Cresskill, Dumont, Englewood, New Milford, Teaneck and Tenafly.

Demographics

Bergenfield has been called the Little Manila of Bergen County. Of the 14,224 Filipino population in the county as a whole enumerated in the 2000 Census, 3,133 (22% of the county total) lived in Bergenfield. By the 2010 Census, 4,569 Bergenfield residents (17.1% of the population) listed themselves as being of Filipino ancestry, and increasing further to 5,062 (18.4%) by 2016.

A growing Jewish community in Bergenfield and neighboring Teaneck is comprised of Modern Orthodox Jews.

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 26,764 people, 8,852 households, and 6,816 families in the borough. The population density was 9,306.5 per square mile (3,593.3/km²). There were 9,200 housing units at an average density of 3,199.1 per square mile (1,235.2/km²). The racial makeup was 52.42% (14,029) White, 7.70% (2,060) Black or African American, 0.31% (84) Native American, 25.60% (6,851) Asian, 0.05% (13) Pacific Islander, 10.12% (2,709) from other races, and 3.80% (1,018) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 26.52% (7,097) of the population.

Of the 8,852 households, 35.5% had children under the age of 18; 58.7% were married couples living together; 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 23.0% were non-families. Of all households, 19.4% were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.46.

23.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 91.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.8 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $82,546 (with a margin of error of +/− $6,568) and the median family income was $99,963 (+/− $5,602). Males had a median income of $52,891 (+/− $2,058) versus $50,443 (+/− $2,598) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $35,034 (+/− $2,133). About 3.9% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.2% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Same-sex couples headed 62 households in 2010, an increase from the 51 counted in 2000.

Economy

Prestige Records, a major producer of jazz recordings that was established in 1949, had its offices in Bergenfield from the mid-1960s until its sale in 1972.

Arts and culture

..... The victims were four local high schoolers, ages sixteen to nineteen, and their mutual deaths by carbon monoxide were followed by a rash of copycat attempts. ..... References in the arts include the Tom Russell song "Bergenfield" (1989), and the Alice Donut song "New Jersey Exit" (1988).

The Royal Teens were a 1950s rock and roll band from the borough that was best known as one-hit wonders for their song "Short Shorts". The Knickerbockers were a 1960s band that took their name from Knickerbocker Road in nearby Tenafly. Mucky Pup was a hardcore and heavy metal band from Bergenfield.

Several scenes for the Harlem Globetrotter 1954 film Go, Man, Go! were filmed at Franklin School, and along nearby Prospect Avenue. Those scenes included actors Dane Clark (portraying Abe Saperstein) and Patricia Breslin (playing Sylvia Saperstein). Many of the school's 5th grade boys were used as extras.

On May 4, 2006, the ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to Bergenfield to build a home for the Llanes family on New Bridge Road. The episode aired as the pre-season two-hour special originally broadcast on September 17, 2006. The Llanes sold their home in 2012 and went to live with relatives because their taxes increased beyond their ability to pay, having risen from under $6,500 in 2007 to more than $15,000 five years later due to the increased assessed value of the home following the renovation.

Sports

On July 22, 2007, the Team Bergenfield Roller Hockey Club, won the NARCh National Roller Hockey Championship defeating the Nor-Cal Patriots 6–5 in Estero, Florida. Team Bergenfield went 6–0–1 in the tournament en route to winning the Men's Silver Championship. The team formed in Bergenfield in 1994 and is one of the longest running roller hockey clubs in the United States.

Emergency services

Police

The Bergenfield Police Department provides police services to the Borough of Bergenfield. As of 2010, there are a total of 46 sworn officers in the department, 8 civilian telecommunicators, and three civilian Records Bureau employees.

The force is responsible for all aspects of policing in the borough, including responding to fire and medical emergency calls. Each patrol car is equipped with a first aid kit, oxygen tank, and an Automated external defibrillator.

Fire

Started in 1905, the Bergenfield Fire Department (BFD) has three independent fire companies and a career staff.

Ambulance

The Bergenfield Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc. (BVAC) was formed in 1941 as the "Bergenfield Volunteer Firemen's Ambulance Corps." Renamed the "Bergenfield Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc." and established as an organization independent of the Bergenfield Fire Department in 1981, BVAC is located at 1 Froelich Street in Bergenfield. The BVAC is a volunteer independent public emergency medical service. As such, they do not bill for services. BVAC is funded by donations from the public as well as limited funding from the borough.

The corps provides basic life support, and is staffed by certified emergency medical technicians. BVAC has four ambulances, one first response SUV, and one EMS Support Unit. Dispatching is provided by the Bergenfield Police Department's 9-1-1 center.

The primary jurisdiction of the BVAC is the Borough of Bergenfield, but the corps also responds to requests for mutual-aid from the neighboring First Aid Squads of Dumont, New Milford, and Teaneck.

The BVAC is a member of the New Jersey State First Aid Council.

Education

Students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade are educated by the Bergenfield Public Schools. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,666 students and 283.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Franklin Elementary School with 345 students in grades K-5, Hoover Elementary School with 261 students in grades K-5, Jefferson Elementary School with 278 students in grades K-5, Lincoln Elementary School with 410 students in grades PreK-5, Washington Elementary School with 300 students in grades K-5, Roy W. Brown Middle School with 855 students in grades 6-8 and Bergenfield High School with 1,203 students in grades 9-12.

Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district.

Transportation

County Route 39 (Washington Avenue) in Bergenfield

Roads and highways

As of May 2010^[update], the borough had a total of 60.50 miles (97.37 km) of roadways, of which 54.75 miles (88.11 km) were maintained by the municipality and 5.75 miles (9.25 km) by Bergen County.

Main roads include Washington Avenue, Main Street, Prospect Avenue, River Edge Road and New Bridge Road.

Public transportation

NJ Transit bus service is available to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 166, 167 routes and to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station on the 186 route; and to other New Jersey communities served on the 753, 756 and 772 routes.

Until 1959, the New York Central Railroad operated passenger service through the borough on the West Shore Railroad. Service operated north along the Hudson River to Albany, New York, and points west; and south to Weehawken Terminal.

Community

Bergenfield is one of a growing number of districts to form a SID (Special Improvement District). Bergenfield's Special Improvement District stretches a mile along Washington Avenue from Teaneck to Dumont has been promoting the local businesses for several years. Its mission is to inform people about Bergenfield's shopping district and its over 50 international restaurants and food stores within one mile.

Mayors

• Arvin Amatorio, 2020–present
• Norman Schmelz, 2013–2020.
• Timothy J. Driscoll 2008 to 2013.
• Richard J. Bohan 2004-2007.
• Robert C. Rivas 1999 to 2003.
• Kevin M. Clancy 1996-1998
• Charles F. McDowell, Jr. 1992-1995
• Robert J. Gallione, Jr. 1988-1991
• Charles J. O'Dowd 1968-1971 and 1980-1987.
• James F. Lodato 1976-1979.
• William D. Armitage 1975
• H. Alfred Struhs 1974
• Walter S. Rosenbaum 1972-1973
• William J. Patterson 1964-1967
• Hugh M. Gillson 1960-1963
• Edward C. Meyer 1954 to 1959.
• Henry W. Theis 1946 to 1953.
• Leonard Lindstrom 1931.
• Charles A. Grabowski 1926.
• T. J. Prime 1918 to 1922.
• George Breisacher (1865–1934) 1912 to 1913.
• Walter Cornelius Christie (1863–1941) 1897 to 1891. He was the founder and the second mayor of Bergenfield, New Jersey.

Notable people

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

See also

In Spanish: Bergenfield para niños