Bergenfield, New Jersey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bergenfield, New Jersey
Borough
Borough of Bergenfield
Cooper's Pond
Map highlighting Bergenfield's location within Bergen County. Inset: Bergen County's location within New Jersey
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  (2010 Census)
• Total	26,764
• Estimate  (2019)	27,327
• Rank	89th of 566 in state 7th of 70 in county
• Density	9,306.5/sq mi (3,593.3/km2)
• Density rank	39th of 566 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, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 26,764, reflecting an increase of 517 (+2.0%) from the 26,247 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,789 (+7.3%) from the 24,458 counted in the 1990 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 USA 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.

Census 2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 26,764 people, 8,852 households, and 6,816 families residing 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 of the borough 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 (U.S. Census)|Hispanic or Latino of any race were 26.52% (7,097) of the population.

There were 8,852 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. 19.4% of all households 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.

In the borough, the population was spread out with 23.9% 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 there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and old 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.

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.

Saddle River Tours / Ameribus provides service to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station on route 11C.

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.

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.

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 currently one of the longest running roller hockey clubs in the United States.

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

In popular culture

• Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties) prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958.
• Clayton, W. Woodford; and Nelson, William. History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1882.
• Harvey, Cornelius Burnham (ed.), Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey. New York: New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Co., 1900.
• Van Valen, James M. History of Bergen County, New Jersey. New York: New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Co., 1900.
• Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858-1942, History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1923.

• Bergenfield Public Schools's 2014–15 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education

Education

Students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade are educated by the Bergenfield Public Schools. As of the 2017–18 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,563 students and 272.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.1:1. Schools in the district (with 2017-18 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Franklin Elementary School (338 students; in grades K-5), Hoover Elementary School (237; K-5), Jefferson Elementary School (262; K-5), Lincoln Elementary School (396; PreK-5), Washington Elementary School (294; K-5), Roy W. Brown Middle School (836; 6-8) and Bergenfield High School (1,174; 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.

Notable people

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

• Jack Antonoff (born 1984), singer, songwriter, and record producer, as well as guitarist of Fun.
• Harry Basil, stand-up comic, actor in Peggy Sue Got Married and film director.
• Chris Brantley (born 1970), former NFL wide receiver.
• Walter Christie (1863-1941), founder of Bergenfield who was the borough's second mayor in 1897.
• Pierce H. Deamer Jr. (1907-1986), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly and New Jersey Senate.
• Al Di Meola (born 1954), jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist, composer and record producer.
• Frank Eufemia (born 1959), Major League Baseball, pitcher.
• Ella Fajardo (born 2003), point guard who plays for the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights women's basketball team and has represented the Philippine national team in international competitions.
• Thom Fitzgerald (born 1968), filmmaker, The Hanging Garden, 3 Needles.
• George Gately (1928-2001), creator of the Heathcliff comic strip.
• Bob Gaudio (born 1942), from the Four Seasons.
• The Knickerbockers, 1960s band took their name from Knickerbocker Road in nearby Tenafly.
• Eugene Korn (born 1947), Orthodox rabbi who has focused on Jewish-Christian relations.
• David Lat (born 1975), blogger.
• Jimmy Lydon (born 1923), who played Henry Aldrich in the movies, honored in the Bergenfield Hall of Fame.
• Mucky Pup (1985-1996; 2009-2011), hardcore and heavy metal band.
• Produce Pete (born 1945), grocer, chef and celebrity spokesperson.
• Tom Reilly (born 1959), actor who played Bobby Nelson on CHiPs.
• The Royal Teens, 1950s rock and roll band best known as one-hit wonders for their song "Short Shorts".
• Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University.
• Floyd James Thompson (1933-2002), America's longest held prisoner of war.
• McCoy Tyner (1938–2020), jazz pianist known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.
• Ron Villone (born 1970), Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for 12 MLB teams, including for the New York Yankees in the 2006 season.
• Jacklyn Zeman (born 1953), actress who has played Barbara "Bobbie" Spencer on General Hospital since 1977.

See also

In Spanish: Bergenfield para niños