borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
at the eastern border of
Bergen County
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
, situated along the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
2020 U.S. census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
. Accessed February 5, 2012. reflecting a decline of 116 (−0.3%) from the 35,461 counted in the 2000 census. Along with other communities in Bergen County, it is one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnic
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
enclaves
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
outside of
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
.
Fort Lee is named for the site of an
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
military encampment. At the turn of the 20th century it became the birthplace of the American
film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...
. In 1931 the borough became the western terminus of the
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...
, which crosses the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
and connects to the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Fort Lee's population and housing density increased considerably during the 1960s and 1970s with the construction of highrise apartment buildings.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
, Fort Lee borough had a total area of 2.87 square miles (7.44 km2), including 2.52 square miles (6.52 km2) of land and 0.35 square miles (0.92 km2) of water (12.33%).
The borough is situated atop the escarpment of the
Hudson Palisades
The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson River Palisades, are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in Northeastern New Jersey and Southeastern New York in the United States. The cliffs s ...
on the
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...
between the Hackensack and Hudson rivers. The borough is bisected by the confluence of roads at GWB Plaza leading to the George Washington Bridge.
Unincorporated communities
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Given its evolving
cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
ambiance and adjacent proximity to Manhattan, Fort Lee is one of Northern New Jersey's
Hudson Waterfront
The Hudson Waterfront is an urban area of northeastern New Jersey along the lower reaches of the Hudson River, the Upper New York Bay and the Kill van Kull. Though the term can specifically mean the shoreline, it is often used to mean the contigu ...
communities that has been called New York City's
Sixth Borough
The term sixth borough is used to describe any of a number of places that are not politically within the borders of any of the five boroughs of New York City but have been referred to as a metaphorical part of the city by virtue of their geogra ...
The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee G ...
'', June 12, 2012. Accessed December 7, 2013. "Fort Lee - Bedroom community. Sixth borough of New York City. Gateway to Bergen County."
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. April 30, 2011. Accessed July 8, 2014. "The cliff-top 33-acre Fort Lee Historic Park, on a Revolutionary War fort site named for Gen. Charles Lee from whom the borough also takes its name, offers educational programs as well as bridge and river views." after
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
and his troops had camped at
Mount Constitution
Mount Constitution is a mountain on Orcas Island, the highest point in the San Juan Islands and the second highest mountain on an ocean island in the contiguous 48 states. Only Devils Peak in the Channel Islands of California is higher.
A sto ...
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
composed his pamphlet, ''
The American Crisis
''The American Crisis'', or simply ''The Crisis'', is a pamphlet series by eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosopher and author Thomas Paine, originally published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution. Thirteen numbered pamphlets w ...
'', which began with the recognized phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls." These events are recalled at Monument Park and
Fort Lee Historic Park
Fort Lee Historic Park is located atop a bluff of the Hudson Palisades overlooking Burdett's Landing, known as Mount Constitution, in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States. Native Americans appear to have lived in the area for thousands of years ...
.
Formation
Fort Lee was formed by an act of the
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
on March 29, 1904, from the remaining portions of Ridgefield Township.Snyder, John P ''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968'' Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 78. Accessed February 14, 2012. With the creation of Fort Lee, Ridgefield Township became defunct and was dissolved as of March 29, 1904. The Fort Lee Police Department was formed under borough ordinance on August 9, 1904, and originally consisted of six marshals.
America's first motion picture industry
The history of
cinema in the United States
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Amer ...
can trace its roots to the East Coast where, at one time, Fort Lee was the
motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
capital of America. The industry got its start at the end of the 19th century with the construction of
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
motion picture studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
, in
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.
. New Jersey offered land at costs considerably less than New York City, and the cities and towns along the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
and the Palisades benefited greatly as a result of the phenomenal growth of the film industry at the turn of the 20th century.
Film-making began attracting both capital and an innovative workforce, and when the
Kalem Company
The Kalem Company was an early American film studio founded in New York City in 1907 in film, 1907. It was one of the first companies to make films abroad and to set up winter production facilities, first in Florida and then in California. Kalem ...
began using Fort Lee in 1907 as a location for filming in the area, other filmmakers quickly followed. In 1909, a forerunner of
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
, the
Champion Film Company
The Champion Film Company was an independent production company founded in 1909 by Mark M. Dintenfass. The studio was one of the film companies that merged to form Universal Pictures.
Champion was the first film production company to establish i ...
, built the first studio. They were quickly followed by others who either built new studios or who leased facilities in Fort Lee. In the 1910s and 1920s, film companies such as the
Independent Moving Pictures Company
The Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) was a motion picture studio and production company founded in 1909 by Carl Laemmle. The company was based in New York City, with production facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1912, IMP merged with ...
,
Peerless Studios
Peerless Pictures, originally Peerless Features, was an early film studio in the United States. Jules Brulatour was a co-founder. The Peerless studio was built in 1914 on Linwood Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The company was merged along with a ...
,
The Solax Company
Solax Studios was an American motion-picture studio founded in 1910 by executives from the Gaumont Film Company of France. Alice Guy-Blaché, her husband Herbert, and a third partner, George A. Magie, established the Solax Company.
Guy-Blaché ...
Goldwyn Picture Corporation
Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, 1 ...
World Film Company
The World Film Company or World Film Corporation was an American film production and distribution company, organized in 1914 in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Short-lived but significant in American film history, World Film was created by financier and fi ...
,
Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York.
History
Early years
The first studio of the Biograph Company, formerl ...
,
Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
,
Pathé Frères
Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipme ...
,
Metro Pictures Corporation
Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased fac ...
,
Victor Film Company
The Victor Film Company was a motion picture company formed in 1912 by movie star Florence Lawrence and her husband, Harry Solter. The company established Victor Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey, when early film studios in America's first motion pi ...
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
, 2004. . Accessed May 27, 2015.
With the offshoot businesses that sprang up to service the film studios, for nearly two decades Fort Lee experienced unrivaled prosperity. However, just as the development of Fort Lee production facilities were gaining strength, Nestor Studios of
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As ...
, built the first studio in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
in 1911. Nestor Studios, owned by David and William Horsley, later merged with Universal Studios; and William Horsley's other company, Hollywood Film Laboratory, is now the oldest existing company in Hollywood, now called the Hollywood Digital Laboratory.
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
's more temperate climate enabled year-round filming and led to the eventual shift of virtually all filmmaking to the West Coast by the 1930s.
At the time,
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
owned almost all the patents relevant to motion picture production. Movie producers on the East Coast acting independently of Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company were often sued or enjoined by Edison and his agents, while movie makers working on the West Coast could work independently of Edison's control, in part due to the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
–which was headquartered in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and covered most of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
–being well known for not enforcing patents claims.
In nearby Little Ferry on July 9, 1937, a major fire broke out in a
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
nitrate film
Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
reels.
Television and film in New Jersey
There is a long history of television and film in New Jersey, which is considered the birthplace of the movie picture industry.
Film and television "firsts"
The roots of the industry started in Newark with Hannibal Goodwin's patent of nitrocellu ...
remains an important industry. Since 2000, the Fort Lee Film Commission has been charged with celebrating the history of film in Fort Lee, as well as attracting film and television production companies to the borough. The Barrymore Film Center promotes films, film making and its history in the borough. Local film is being promoted, especially because of NJ Tax Credit Programs.
Birthplace of subliminal messaging
In 1957, market researcher James Vicary claimed that quickly flashing messages on a movie screen, in Fort Lee, had influenced people to purchase more food and drinks. Vicary coined the term ''
subliminal advertising
Subliminal stimuli (; the prefix ' literally means "below" or "less than") are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, in contrast to stimuli (above threshold). A 2012 review of functional magnetic resonanc ...
'' and formed the Subliminal Projection Company based on a six-week test. Vicary claimed that during the presentation of the movie ''
Picnic
A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...
'' he used a
tachistoscope
A tachistoscope is a device that displays an image for a specific amount of time. It can be used to increase recognition speed, to show something too fast to be consciously recognized, or to test which elements of an image are memorable. Proje ...
to project the words "Drink
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...
" and "Hungry? Eat popcorn" for 1/3000 of a second at five-second intervals. Vicary asserted that during the test, sales of popcorn and Coke in that New Jersey theater increased 57.8% and 18.1% respectively."Does subliminal advertising work?"
The Straight Dope
"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in ...
, April 22, 1977. Accessed December 7, 2013.'Subliminal Advertising – Claim: An early experiment in subliminal advertising at a movie theater substantially increased sales of popcorn and Coke." Urban Legends Reference Pages, May 3, 2011. Accessed December 7, 2013. "Vicary's studies were largely forgettable, save for one experiment he conducted at a Ft. Lee, New Jersey movie theater during the summer of 1957.... The result of displaying these imperceptible suggestions – ''Drink Coca-Cola'' and ''Hungry? Eat Popcorn'' – was an amazing 18.1% increase in Coca-Cola sales, and a whopping 57.8% jump in popcorn purchases.... Eventually Vicary confessed that he had falsified the data from his first experiments, and some critics have since expressed doubts that he actually conducted his infamous Ft. Lee experiment at all."
In 1962, Vicary admitted to lying about the experiment and falsifying the results, the story itself being a marketing ploy. An identical experiment conducted by Henry Link showed no increase in cola or popcorn sales. The additional claim that the small cinema handled 45,699 visitors in six weeks has led people to believe that Vicary actually did not conduct his experiment at all.
Korean community
A small number of Korean immigrants have resided the area as early as the 1970s. In the 1990s, a continuous stream of Korean immigrants emerged into Fort Lee. A substantial number of affluent and educated
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian America ...
professional
A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...
s have settled in Bergen County since the early 2000s and have founded various academic and communally supportive organizations, including the Korean Parent Partnership Organization at the
Bergen County Academies
Bergen County Academies (BCA) is a tuition-free public magnet high school located in Hackensack, New Jersey that serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades from Bergen County, New Jersey. The school was founded by John Grieco, also fou ...
magnet high school
In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. " Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...
and The Korean-American Association of New Jersey. Approximately 130 Korean stores were counted in downtown Fort Lee in 2000, a number which has risen significantly since then, featuring restaurants and
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
(''
noraebang
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...
'') bars, grocery markets, education centers and
bookstores
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
, banking institutions, offices, electronics vendors, apparel boutiques, and other commercial enterprises.
Various Korean American groups could not reach consensus on the design and wording for a monument in Fort Lee as of early April 2013 to the memory of
comfort women
Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ian ...
, tens of thousands of women and girls, many Korean, who were forced into
sexual slavery
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a ...
by
Japanese soldiers
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese dia ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
NJ.com
NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...
, June 8, 2013. Accessed April 13, 2022. "The Palisades Park monument is the first in the United States to recognize what is widely believed to be an international atrocity — the systemic sexual slavery of women from Korea, the Philippines, China, Japan and the Netherlands during WWII. Erected in 2010, it's also prompted a visit from members of the Japanese parliament, been defaced by groups upset with its existence, and inspired similar memorials in Hackensack, Fort Lee and elsewhere in the United States." In May 2012, borough officials in neighboring Palisades Park rejected requests by two
diplomatic
Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...
delegations from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
to remove such a
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
from a public park, a
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
plaque on a block of stone, dedicated in 2010; days later, a
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n delegation had endorsed Palisades Park's decision. In October 2012, a similar memorial was announced in nearby Hackensack, to be raised behind the Bergen County Courthouse, alongside memorials to the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
, and was unveiled in March 2013. On May 23, 2018, a comfort women memorial was installed in Constitution Park in Fort Lee. Youth Council of Fort Lee, a student organization led by Korean American high school students in Fort Lee designed the memorial.
George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal
The
Fort Lee lane closure scandal
The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, was a political scandal involving a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluding to cr ...
, also known as Bridgegate, was a political scandal concerning the actions taken by the staff of
New Jersey Governor
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
and his
Port Authority
In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority_for_a_special-purpose_district.html" ;"title="110. - 6910./ref> is a type of Nonprofit organization">nonprof ...
appointees to create a traffic jam in Fort Lee when dedicated toll lanes for one of the Fort Lee entrances to the upper level on the
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...
were reduced from three to one from September 9, 2013, to September 13, 2013. Three members of the Christie administration were convicted on federal conspiracy charges for their roles in the lane closures.
One of the reasons suggested for these actions was to punish Fort Lee Mayor
Mark Sokolich
Mark J. Sokolich ( ; born 1963) is an American attorney and politician. He serves as the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. He is also the managing partner of the law firm that he founded. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life
Sokolic ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Chris Christie in the
2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election
The 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the governor of New Jersey. Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Christie ran for reelection to a second term in office. He faced Democratic nominee Barbara Bu ...
. Another theory was that Christie or his aides sought to punish
New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...
majority leader,
Loretta Weinberg
Loretta Weinberg (born February 6, 1935) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey Senate from 2005-2022, where she represented the 37th Legislative District. She also served as Senate Majority Leader. ...
, who represented the
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
district containing Fort Lee, as retribution for the Democrats' blocking of Christie's reappointment of a
New Jersey Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...
justice. Christie withdrew his appointee consideration and delivered a speech referring to New Jersey Senate Democrats as "animals" just one day before emails were sent by Christie's aides to the Port Authority requesting the lane closures.
Demographics
At the turn of the 21st century, Fort Lee saw a large
Korean migration
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
which has converted much of the town into a large
Koreatown
A Koreatown ( Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula.
History
Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...
, in that many traditional Korean stores and restaurants may be seen in Fort Lee, and the
hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...
letters of the Korean alphabet are as common as signs in English in parts of the downtown area. This Koreatown is separate from the similar Korean enclave in the adjacent town of Palisades Park. The rapid increase of the Korean population has seen the decline of many other immigrant communities once centered in Fort Lee, notably the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
communities, once quite large but now all but extinct. A sizable Russian immigrant community has also sprung up in recent years.
The per capita Korean American population of Bergen County, 6.3% by the
2020 U.S. census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
, (increasing to 6.9% by the 2011
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...
), is the highest of any county in the United States, with all of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population and an absolute total of 56,773 Korean Americans (increasing to 63,247 by the 2011 American Community Survey) living in the county. The concentration of Korean Americans in nearby Palisades Park in turn is the highest of any municipality in Bergen County, at 52% of the population, enumerating 10,115 residents of Korean ancestry; while Fort Lee has nearly as many Koreans by absolute numbers, at 8,318, representing 23.5% of its 2010 population. Along with Koreatowns in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
, the Bergen County Koreatowns serve as the nexus for an overall Korean American population of 218,764 individuals in the Greater New York
Combined Statistical Area
Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...
, the second largest population of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea.
In March 2011 about 2,500
Japanese-Americans
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...
were living in Edgewater and Fort Lee, the largest concentration of Japanese-Americans in New Jersey.
There were 1,119 Fort Lee residents who filed claims to recover lost money from the Madoff investment scandal, the most from any ZIP code.
2010 Census
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...
was $72,341 (with a margin of error of +/− $4,502) and the median family income was $86,489 (+/− $11,977). Males had a median income of $66,015 (+/− $3,526) versus $55,511 (+/− $3,404) for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the borough was $44,996 (+/− $2,903). About 5.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
2000 Census
As of the
2000 United States census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...
there were 35,461 people, 16,544 households, and 9,396 families residing in the borough. The population density was 14,001.7 people per square mile (5,411.7/km2). There were 17,446 housing units at an average density of 6,888.5 per square mile (2,662.4/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 62.75%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 1.69% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.26% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
. Accessed March 5, 2013.
There were 16,544 households, out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 39.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the borough the age distribution of the population shows 17.5% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $58,161, and the median income for a family was $72,140. Males had a median income of $54,730 versus $41,783 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the borough was $37,899. About 5.7% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2000 Census, 17.18% of Fort Lee's residents identified themselves as being of
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
ancestry, which was the fifth highest in the United States and third highest of any municipality in New Jersey; behind neighboring Palisades Park (36.38%) and Leonia (17.24%) – for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry. In the same census, 5.56% of Fort Lee's residents identified themselves as being of Chinese ancestry, and 6.09% of Fort Lee's residents identified themselves as being of Japanese ancestry, the highest of any municipality in New Jersey for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry. In the 2010 Census, 23.5% of residents (8,318 individuals) identified themselves as being of Korean ancestry, 7.5% (2,653) as Chinese and 3.7% (1,302) as Japanese.
Economy
Companies based in Fort Lee include Bank of New Jersey, the
American Bank Note Company
ABCorp is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newl ...
Hudson Shakespeare Company The Hudson Shakespeare Company is a regional Shakespeare touring festival based in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, that produces an annual summer Shakespeare in the Park festival and often features lesser done Shakespeare works such as '' ...
has brought their Shakespeare in the Park touring shows to Fort Lee in "Shakespeare Tuesdays". The group now performs regularly at Monument Park (1588 Palisade Avenue, next to the Fort Lee Museum) with two Tuesday shows per month during the summer. The festival also tours similar dates in Hackensack.
Since the mid-1980s, Fort Lee Koreatown has become a Korean dining destination. Fort Lee's Korean food has been described by local food writers as being better than in Koreatown, Manhattan.
Korean Chinese cuisine
Korean–Chinese cuisine (), also known as Sino–Korean cuisine, is a hybrid cuisine developed by the ethnic Chinese in Korea.
Despite originally being derived from Chinese cuisine, Korean-Chinese cuisine consists of unique dishes with Korea ...
is now also available in Koreatown, as is misugaru. Korean
café
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-c ...
s have become a major cultural element within Fort Lee's Koreatown, not only for the coffee, ''
bingsu
''Bingsu'' (), sometimes written as ''bingsoo'', is a Korean shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings that may include chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, and red beans.
The most common variety is ''pat-bingsu'' (), the red bean shaved ...
'' (shaved ice), and
pastries
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggest ...
, but also as communal gathering places.
Government
Local government
Fort Lee is governed under the
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
form of New Jersey
municipal government
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
. The borough is one of 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
and the six-member
Borough Council
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
, with all positions elected
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council is comprised of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
weak mayor
Weak may refer to:
Songs
* "Weak" (AJR song), 2016
* "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011
* "Weak" (SWV song), 1993
* "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995
* "Weak", a song by Seether from '' Seether: 2002-2013''
Television episodes
* "Weak" (''Fear t ...
/ strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.
, the Mayor of Fort Lee is Democrat
Mark Sokolich
Mark J. Sokolich ( ; born 1963) is an American attorney and politician. He serves as the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. He is also the managing partner of the law firm that he founded. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life
Sokolic ...
, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023.Mayor Mark Sokolich Borough of Fort Lee. Accessed April 13, 2022. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Ila Kasofsky (D, 2022), Joseph L. Cervieri Jr. (D, 2024), Harvey Sohmer (D, 2024), Michael Sargenti (D, 2023), Peter J. Suh (D, 2022) and Paul K. Yoon (D, 2023).''2021 County and Municipal Directory''
New Jersey Department of State
The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as ...
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 18,382 registered voters in Fort Lee, of which 7,537 (41.0% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 2,487 (13.5% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 8,350 (45.4% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 8 voters registered to other parties.Voter Registration Summary – Bergen
New Jersey Department of State
The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as ...
Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed December 7, 2013. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 52.0% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 62.6% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).
In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
received 7,891 votes (60.9% vs. 54.8% countywide), ahead of Republican
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
with 4,737 votes (36.6% vs. 43.5%) and other candidates with 104 votes (0.8% vs. 0.9%), among the 12,950 ballots cast by the borough's 19,738 registered voters, for a turnout of 65.6% (vs. 70.4% in Bergen County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 8,624 votes (61.0% vs. 53.9% countywide), ahead of Republican
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
with 5,236 votes (37.0% vs. 44.5%) and other candidates with 114 votes (0.8% vs. 0.8%), among the 14,144 ballots cast by the borough's 19,352 registered voters, for a turnout of 73.1% (vs. 76.8% in Bergen County).2008 General Election Results for Fort Lee" ''
The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee G ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
received 8,367 votes (61.1% vs. 51.7% countywide), ahead of Republican George W. Bush with 5,161 votes (37.7% vs. 47.2%) and other candidates with 100 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 13,692 ballots cast by the borough's 18,294 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.8% (vs. 76.9% in the whole county).
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
received 55.3% of the vote (3,735 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barbara Buono
Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...
with 43.5% (2,941 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (78 votes), among the 6,992 ballots cast by the borough's 18,356 registered voters (238 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 38.1%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat
Jon Corzine
Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...
received 5,187 ballots cast (58.8% vs. 48.0% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 3,191 votes (36.2% vs. 45.8%), Independent Chris Daggett with 287 votes (3.3% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with 38 votes (0.4% vs. 0.5%), among the 8,817 ballots cast by the borough's 18,854 registered voters, yielding a 46.8% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).
Emergency services and public safety
Police
The borough council created the Fort Lee Police Department in 1904, although it was not until 1927 that the council authorized the appointment of a full-time paid
police chief
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
. As of 2019, the police department had about 100 members.
Emergency medical services
The Fort Lee Volunteer Ambulance Corps, founded in 1971, provides
emergency medical services
Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...
to the Borough of Fort Lee, the
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...
, and the
Palisades Interstate Parkway
The Palisades Interstate Parkway (PIP) is a limited-access highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. The parkway is a major commuter route into New York City from Rockland and Orange counties in New York and Bergen County in New ...
. One of the largest EMS agencies in the surrounding area, the Fort Lee Volunteer Ambulance Corps operates a fleet of four medium-duty ambulances, one first responder vehicle, and two command vehicles from its headquarters on the corner of Main Street and Anderson Avenue. In 2011, the agency purchased a new state-of-the-art ambulance, designated FLA-1, in order to begin retiring some of its aging ambulances. The agency plans to purchase a second ambulance sometime in 2013. With approximately 50 active members, the corps operates 24 hours a day on weekends and from 7 PM to 6 AM on weekdays, with paid borough employees staffing the ambulances during the day on weekdays. The Fort Lee Volunteer Ambulance Corps responds to approximately 3,400 emergency medical calls annually. The corps is a member agency of the East Bergen Ambulance Association (EBAA) with a standing mutual aid agreement with surrounding East Bergen boroughs.
Fire department
Fort Lee is protected around the clock by the
volunteer firefighters
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...
of the Fort Lee Fire Department, which was founded in 1888 when the borough was still a part of Ridgefield Township and operates out of four fire stations. The Fort Lee Fire Department operates a fire apparatus fleet of six engines (including spares), two ladders, one heavy rescue, one squad (light rescue), two support services units, a mobile air cascade unit, four command vehicles(battalion and deputy chiefs), and six fire prevention units. The Fort Lee Fire Department's volunteer fire companies respond to, on average, approximately 1,800 emergency calls annually.
Education
Public schools
The
Fort Lee School District
The Fort Lee School District or Fort Lee Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
As of ...
serves public school students in
pre-kindergarten
Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...
through
twelfth grade
Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...
. As of the 2018–2019 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 4,103 students and 301.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a
student–teacher ratio
Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...
. Accessed April 1, 2020. Schools in the district (with 2018–2019 enrollment data from the
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...
) are
School 1 (761 students in grades K–4),
School 2 (493; Pre-K–4),
School 3 (596; K–4),
School 4 (614; K–4),
Lewis F. Cole Intermediate School / Lewis F. Cole Middle School (585; 5–8) and
Fort Lee High School
Fort Lee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade, located in Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Fort Lee ...
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
, the highest award an American school can receive, one of only ten schools statewide to be honored. The school was one of three in Bergen County honored that year.
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
Bergen County Technical Schools (BCTS) is a county technical school district that serves as the vocational / technical education arm of all the school districts within the 70 municipalities in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The primar ...
, which include the
Bergen County Academies
Bergen County Academies (BCA) is a tuition-free public magnet high school located in Hackensack, New Jersey that serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades from Bergen County, New Jersey. The school was founded by John Grieco, also fou ...
Paramus
Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
. 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.
Private schools
Private schools in the area include Christ the Teacher (Pre-K–8, 314 students), First Step Day Care Center (Pre-K, 101 students), Fort Lee Education Center (7–12, 78 students), Fort Lee Montessori Pre-School (Pre-K, 49 students), Fort Lee Youth Center Playgroup (Pre-K, 30 students), Futures Best Nursery Academy (Pre-K, 98 students), Green House Preschool and Kindergarten (Pre-K–K, 125 students), Happy Kids Pre-School (Pre-K, 75 students), Hooks Lane School (Pre-K, 54 students), Itsy Bitsy Early Learning Center (Pre-K, 60 students), Genesis Preschool & Academy (Pre-K, K–6, 83 students), Palisades Pre-School (Pre-K, 108 students), Rainbow School DC (Pre-K, 88 students), and Small World Montessori School (Pre-K, 51 students). Christ the Teacher Interparochial School operates under the supervision of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jer ...
Paramus Catholic High School
Paramus Catholic High School is a co-educational Roman Catholic high school located in Paramus in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school, founded in 1965, under Archbishop Thomas A. Boland, and Superintendent of Schools, M ...
in
Paramus
Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
while its offices are in Fort Lee. It is one of the two weekend Japanese school systems operated by the Japanese Educational Institute of New York (JEI; ニューヨーク日本人教育審議会 ''Nyūyōku Nihonjin Kyōiku Shingi Kai''), a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
juku
''Gakushū juku'' ( ja, 学習塾; see cram school) are private, fee-paying schools that offer supplementary classes often in preparation for key school and university entrance exams. The term is primarily used to characterize such schools i ...
(Japanese-style cram schools) in Fort Lee. One of the Fort Lee schools, Hinoki School, had 130 students. There were additionally two institutions trying to open juku in Fort Lee. Clipping from
Newspapers.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
.
Transportation
Roads and highways
, the borough had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Bergen County and by the
New Jersey Department of Transportation
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...
and by the
Palisades Interstate Park Commission
The Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) was formed in 1900 by Governors Theodore Roosevelt of New York and Foster Voorhees of New Jersey in response to the quarrying operations along the Palisades Cliffs of New Jersey. The Palisades, a Na ...
, the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
and the
New Jersey Turnpike Authority
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge T ...
.
Fort Lee is served by the
Palisades Interstate Parkway
The Palisades Interstate Parkway (PIP) is a limited-access highway in the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. The parkway is a major commuter route into New York City from Rockland and Orange counties in New York and Bergen County in New ...
,
Route 4
Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries:
International
* AH4, Asian Highway 4
* European route E04
* European route E004
* Cairo – Cape Town Highway
Albania
* SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
(the northern terminus of the
New Jersey Turnpike
The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not cons ...
),
U.S. Route 9W
U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as Fletcher Avenue crosses the US 1–9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 (I-95) approache ...
,
U.S. Route 1-9
U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) is the long concurrency of US 1 and US 9 from their junction in Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, north to New York City. The route is a multilane road with some freeway portions that runs through ur ...
County Route 505
The following highways are numbered 505:
Canada
* Alberta Highway 505
* Manitoba Provincial Road 505
* New Brunswick Route 505
* Ontario Highway 505 (former)
Costa Rica
* National Route 505
Israel
* Route 505 (Israel)
Japan
* Japan Natio ...
. The
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...
(signed as I-95/US 1-9/US 46), the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, crosses the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...
in New York City. Many of these roads converge at GWB Plaza, a busy crossroads at the northern end of the borough.
Public transportation
Fort Lee is served by
NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
buses
154
Year 154 ( CLIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Lateranus (or, less frequently, year 907 ''Ab urbe cond ...
158
Year 158 ( CLVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tertullus and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 911 ''Ab urbe ...
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 bus ...
in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...
; the
171
Year 171 ( CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 924 '' Ab urbe c ...
,
175
Year 175 ( CLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Piso and Iulianus (or, less frequently, year 928 ''Ab urbe condita ...
,
178
Year 178 ( CLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 931 ''Ab urbe cond ...
,
181
Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 ''Ab urbe condit ...
,
182
Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...
188
Year 188 (CLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscianus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 941 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomi ...
756
__NOTOC__
Year 756 ( DCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 756 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
.
Rockland Coaches provides service along Route 9W on the 9T and 9AT bus lines and on the 14ET to the
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 bus ...
in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...
and on the 9 / 9A to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal. Saddle River Tours / Ameribus provides service to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station on route 11C.
The Fort Lee Parking Authority issues and controls parking passes, meter fees, and provides shuttles and non-emergency transportation. Marc Macri] a former law partner of Mayor Mark Sokolich, serves as Commissioner of the Fort Lee Parking Authority.
two Taiwanese airlines,
China Airlines
China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (in ...
and
EVA Air
EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated ca ...
, provide private bus services to and from
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
in New York City for customers based in New Jersey. These bus services stop in Fort Lee.
As of 2021, OurBus offers intercity bus service from the George Washington Bridge bus stop to various locations such as
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
and
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system, Fort Lee has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Tallest buildings and structures
The
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United S ...
(GWB), at meters in height as measured from its base, is the tallest structure in Fort Lee. The cliffs of the Palisades rise to about . Since the 1960s, numerous residential high-rise buildings have been built along the Palisade Avenue-
Boulevard East
Boulevard East (officially John F. Kennedy Boulevard East, and sometimes referred to as JFK Boulevard East) is a two-way, mostly two lane, scenic county road in the North Hudson, New Jersey municipalities of Weehawken, West New York, Guttenberg ...
corridor. Fort Lee's population and housing density increased considerably during the 1960s and 1970s with the construction of highrise apartments.Haller, Vera "Close to the City, but With a Life of Its Own" ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', September 7, 2012. Accessed October 2, 2019. As of 2019, including from the bridge itself, there were 10 structures over tall in Fort Lee.
In media
* The borough was mentioned in "Weekend Update" segments involving fictional
consumer affairs
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
reporter
Roseanne Roseannadanna
Roseanne Roseannadanna is a character created and portrayed by Gilda Radner on ''Weekend Update'' in the early seasons of ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). She was the segment's consumer affairs reporter who, like an earlier Radner character Em ...
, played by
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In h ...
, who almost always began reading letters by saying, "A Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey, writes in and says...." Feder was the brother-in-law of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'' writer and segment co-creator
Alan Zweibel
Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American television writer, author, playwright, and screenwriter whom ''The'' ''New York Times'' says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original ''Saturday Night Live'' ...
and an actual Fort Lee resident until he moved to
West Nyack, New York
West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central Ny ...
Desperately Seeking Susan
''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housew ...
'', the main character Roberta (played by Rosanna Arquette) is from Fort Lee. A key thematic element of the film is the contrast between Roberta's life in New Jersey and her desire to experience Susan's lifestyle in New York City.
*
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...
directed several scenes of ''
Goodfellas
''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...
Arcadia Publishing
Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publ ...
, 2006. . Accessed August 31, 2015. "The most interesting film shot in Fort Lee in the modern era was ''Goodfellas'' (Warner Brothers, 1990). Director Martin Scorsese, who is a leading film scholar, knows the history of film in Fort Lee and shot key scenes of this film blocks away from locations used by D. W. Griffith in the first classic gangster film, ''The Musketeers of Pig Alley'' (Biograph, 1912)."
* Chabad of Fort Lee, a synagogue, was used as the filming location for the
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
residence of Detective Elliot Stabler on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''.
* In late March 2011, a group of teenagers reported that they had been detained by the Fort Lee Police Department who left them in a police van parked for 14 hours overnight at headquarters. The detainees, who said that they had no food, water or access to bathrooms during that time, were released after passers-by heard their screams. In December 2013, $120,000 was awarded to each of three of the teens as settlement of a lawsuit that alleged that they had been unlawfully detained and that police officers had used racial epithets.
* On March 2, 2012, The show ''
Morning Joe
''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough reporting and discu ...
'' on
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
aired live from
Fort Lee High School
Fort Lee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade, located in Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Fort Lee ...
.
Joe Scarborough
Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of ''Morning Joe'' on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski. He previously hosted ''Scarbo ...
and
Mika Brzezinski
Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski Scarborough (; pl, Brzezińska; born May 2, 1967) is an American talk show host, liberal political commentator, and author who currently co-hosts MSNBC's weekday morning broadcast show ''Morning Joe''. She was forme ...
joined Gov.
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
, Rev.
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
,
Michelle Rhee
Michelle Ann Rhee (born December 25, 1969) is an American educator and advocate for education reform. She was Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools from 2007 to 2010. In late 2010, she founded StudentsFirst, a non-profit organizati ...
,
Harold Ford Jr.
Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party f ...
,
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...
, Interim Superintendent of Fort Lee Schools (Steven Engravalle) and other invited guests to discuss New Jersey's education reform.
Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Fort Lee include:
* Vito Albanese (1918–1998), politician who represented Bergen County in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1966 to 1968
*
Albert Anastasia
Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...
(1902–1957), Mafia boss
*
Mickey Appleman
Mark "Mickey" Appleman (born July 15, 1945) is an American professional poker player, sports bettor, and sports handicapper now living in Fort Lee, New Jersey. His poker accomplishments include winning four WSOP bracelets, all in different var ...
(born 1946), professional poker player
*
Allan Arkush
Allan Arkush (born April 30, 1948) is an American director and producer of films, television and videos. He is a collaborator of Joe Dante.
Early life
Arkush grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated in 1966 from Fort Lee High School. Hi ...
(born 1948), film director and television producer known for ''Rock and Roll High School'' and the NBC series '' Heroes''
*
Miri Ben-Ari
Miri Ben-Ari ( he, מירי בן-ארי; born December 4, 1978) is an American–Israeli musician, producer, and humanitarian, known as "the hip-hop violinist".
Life and career
Ben-Ari was born in Tel Aviv District, Israel. She grew up playing ...
(born 1978), Israeli-American violinist
*
Barbara Bennett
Barbara Jane Bennett (August 13, 1906 – August 8, 1958) was an American stage and film actress and dancer.
Family
Born in Palisades Park, New Jersey, Barbara Bennett was the second of three daughters born to actor Richard Bennett and his ...
(1906–1959), silent screen actress and literary representative
*
Constance Bennett
Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...
(1904–1965), stage and film actress
*
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
(1910–1990), stage and film actress
*
Mike Berniker
Michael Berniker (June 30, 1935 – July 25, 2008) was an American record producer who was recognized with nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Jo ...
(1935–2008), record producer
*
Alessandra Biaggi
Alessandra Rose Biaggi (born May 20, 1986) is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 34th district, which includes portions of Bronx and Westchester Counties. She is the chair of the ...
Balfour Brickner
Balfour Brickner (November 18, 1926 – August 29, 2005), a leading rabbi in the Reform Judaism movement, was rabbi emeritus of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan when he died.
Brickner was a longtime political activist who was invol ...
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
* Dr.
Joyce Brothers
Joyce Diane Brothers (October 20, 1927 – May 13, 2013) was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer.
She first became famous in 1955 for winning the top prize on the American game show '' The $64,000 Ques ...
(1927–2013), psychologist, television personality
*
Charlie Callas
Charlie Callas (born Charles Callias; December 20, 1924 – January 27, 2011) was an American actor and comedian. He was most commonly known for his work with Mel Brooks, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin, and his many stand-up appearances on tele ...
(1924–2011), comedian and actor
*
Cam'ron
Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...
(born 1976), rapper
*
Jonathan Cheban
Foodgod (born Jonathan Cheban; 21 February 1974) is an American reality television personality, entrepreneur and former publicist. He has made appearances on the show ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' and its spinoffs.
Early life
Cheban was b ...
(born 1974),
reality-television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
star and entrepreneur, noted for his recurring role on the show ''
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian–Jenner blended family, airing between 2007 and 2021. Its prem ...
'' and its spinoffs
* Nai-Ni Chen (1959–2021), Taiwanese-American dancer and choreographer
*
Jay Chiat
Jay Chiat (October 25, 1931 – April 23, 2002) started his career as an American advertising copywriter.
Biography
Chiat was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He attended Rutgers Colle ...
(1931–2002),
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
Fox Business Network
Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenu ...
anchor
* Haskell Cohen (1914–2000), public relations director of
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
from 1950 to 1969, known as creator of
NBA All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...
*
Émile Cohl
Émile Eugène Jean Louis Cohl (; né Courtet; 4 January 1857 – 20 January 1938) was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Pa ...
(1857–1938), French
caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfred Grévin (1827–1892)
* Al ...
,
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...
, and
animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...
*
Celia Cruz
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...
(1925–2003), Cuban-born salsa singer
*
Morton Downey Jr.
Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the " trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program '' The Morton Downey Jr. Show''.
Early life
Downey's parents ...
(1932–2001), singer, songwriter, radio and TV personality; host
*
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...
(1929–1980), jazz pianist and composer
*
Phil Foster
Phil Foster (born Fivel Feldman; March 29, 1913 – July 8, 1985) was an American actor and performer, best known for his portrayal of Frank DeFazio in '' Laverne & Shirley''.
Early life
Foster was born Fivel Feldman in Brooklyn, New York Ci ...
(1913–1985), comedian and actor, played Frank De Fazio in ''
Laverne & Shirley
''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of '' Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' st ...
''
*
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...
(1924–2003), comedian and actor
* Alan Hantman (born 1942), architect who served as the 10th
Architect of the Capitol
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...
, from February 1997 until February 2007.
* Charles J. Hunt (1881–1976), film editor and director
*
Jim Hunt
James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governor in the state's history.
Hunt is t ...
,
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
former
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...
and current president of the
New Jersey Hitmen
The Jersey Hitmen are a junior and youth ice hockey organization with teams in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL), with its top level junior team playing in the USPHL's National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC). The orga ...
*
Arthur Imperatore Sr.
Arthur Edward Imperatore Sr. (July 8, 1925November 18, 2020) was an American businessman and sports owner from New Jersey. He was best known as being the founder and president of the NY Waterway, a ferry service. After serving in the United Stat ...
(1925–2020), businessman best known as being the founder and president of the
NY Waterway
NY Waterway (or New York Waterway) is a private transportation company running ferry and bus service in the Port of New York and New Jersey and in the Hudson Valley. The company utilizes public-private partnership with agencies such as the Port ...
*
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one o ...
(born 1969), rapper
* Ron Johnson (1947–2018), former NFL running back for the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...
and
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
*
Ali Khatami
Ali Khatami is the younger brother of former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, and served as his chief of staff during his second term in office.
Khatami was born to Ruhollah Khatami, alongside older siblings Fatemeh Khatami and Mohammed Khat ...
(born 1953), former
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian Presidential
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
*
Randy Klein
Randy Klein (born September 9, 1949) is an American musician, composer, pianist, author, and educator.
Music career
Klein was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in Union City and Fort Lee. At 14, he performed with local rock group ...
(born 1949), musician, composer, pianist, author and educator
*
Samm Levine
Samuel Franklin Levine (born March 12, 1982) is an American actor, comedian and podcaster. He is known for his portrayal of Neal Schweiber on NBC's ''Freaks and Geeks'' and PFC Hirschberg in the 2009 film ''Inglourious Basterds''. Levine was al ...
(born 1982), actor on ''
Freaks and Geeks
''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
''
*
Nathaniel Lubell
Bennet Nathaniel Lubell (August 15, 1916 – September 17, 2006) was an American three-time Olympian fencer.
Early and personal life
Lubell was born in New York City, and was Jewish. Later in life he lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Fencing ...
(1916–2006), Olympic fencer who competed for the United States in
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ...
at the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
and the
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
*
Ted Manakas
Theodore Manakas (born February 22, 1951), is an American former professional basketball player for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. He played in five National Basketball Association (NBA) games.Caldera, Pete"Where are they now? Former Fort Lee/Prince ...
(born 1951), former professional basketball player who played briefly in the NBA for the
Kansas City-Omaha Kings
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the olde ...
*
Eddie Mannix
Joseph Edgar Allen John Mannix (February 25, 1891 – August 30, 1963) was an American film studio executive and producer. He is remembered for his work as a "fixer (crime), fixer", who was paid to cover up Hollywood stars' often colorful privat ...
(1891–1963), film studio executive at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
*
Willard Marshall
Willard Warren Marshall (February 8, 1921 – November 5, 2000) was a right fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1942 through 1955, Marshall played for the New York Giants (1942, 1946–1949), Boston Braves (1952), Cincinnati Reds (1952-1953) a ...
(1921–2000), former MLB
right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In ...
who played for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
,
Boston Braves
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During it ...
,
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
and
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.
Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...
*
Pierre McGuire
Regis Pierre McGuire (born August 8, 1961) is an American-Canadian ice hockey executive who last served as senior vice-president of player development for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as a televis ...
(born 1961), ice hockey analyst and former NHL coach and scout
*
Aline Brosh McKenna
Aline Brosh McKenna (born August 2, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Her credits include writing '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), ''27 Dresses'' (2008), ''Morning Glory'' (2010), ''We Bought a Zoo'' (2011) and co-cre ...
(born 1967), screenwriter who wrote the scripts for '' The Devil Wears Prada'' and ''
27 Dresses
''27 Dresses'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, and starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released in Australia on January 10, 2008, and in the United States on ...
''
* Bill O'Reilly (born 1949), television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator, host of ''
The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' on
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
*
John Orsino
John Joseph Orsino (April 22, 1938 – November 1, 2016) was a Major League Baseball catcher. He was signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before the 1957 season, and played for the San Francisco Giants (1961–1962), Baltimore ...
(1938–2016),
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...
who played for the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...
(1961–1962),
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
Johnny Pacheco
Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer who in the 1970s became one of the leading exponents of salsa as well in t ...
(1935–2021), Dominican musician, arranger, bandleader and record producer, who was the founder and musical director of
Fania Records
Fania Records is a New York–based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his Brooklyn-born Italian-American ex-New York City Police Officer turned lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its nam ...
*
Christopher Porrino
Christopher S. Porrino (born October 20, 1967) is an American trial lawyer who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 2016 to 2018. Porrino is currently a partner of Lowenstein Sandler, and chair of the firm's Litigation Department. ...
(born 1967), lawyer who became served as
New Jersey Attorney General
The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limit ...
from 2016 to 2018
* George Price (1901–1995), cartoonist best known for his work for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''
* Nia Reed (born 1996), professional volleyball player and member of
United States women's national volleyball team
The United States women's national volleyball team participates in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball. The current head coach is three-time Olympic gold medalist and retired dominant beac ...
*
Richard Reines
Richard Reines is an American recording industry executive who is co-owner of Drive-Thru Records with his sister, Stefanie Reines. Since its establishment in 1996, Drive-Thru Records has achieved notable success with bands including New Found Gl ...
, recording industry executive, co-owner of
Drive-Thru Records
Drive-Thru Records was a California-based independent record label owned by siblings Richard and Stefanie Reines. The label was partially responsible for popularizing the pop-punk/emo merger sound of the early to mid-2000s. After facing financi ...
*
Freddie Roman
Freddie Roman (born Fred Kirschenbaum; May 28, 1937 – November 26, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, best known for his frequent appearances at "Borscht Belt" hotels.
Early life
Freddie Roman grew up in Jamaica, New York. His father ...
(1937–2022), comedian,
New York Friars' Club
The Friars Club is a private club in New York City. Famous for its risqué roasts, the club's membership is composed mostly of comedians and other celebrities. Founded in 1904, it is located at 57 East 55th Street, between Park Avenue and Ma ...
notable
* Joe Rosario (born 1959), actor, writer, director
*
Murray Sabrin
Murray Sabrin (born December 21, 1946) is a professor of finance in the Anisfield School of Business at Ramapo College and a perennial candidate for public office in New Jersey.
Family, education, and affiliations
Sabrin was born in Bad Wörish ...
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
politician
* Amy Scheer, professional sports executive who is general manager of the Connecticut Whale of the
Premier Hockey Federation
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and h ...
* August Semmendinger (1820–1885), photographic inventor
* Eva Shain (–1999), boxing judge, one of the first female judges in New York, first woman to judge a heavyweight championship bout (1977 fight between
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs " San Francisco Bay Blues", " Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited ...
(1950–2011), singer
*
Alfonso Soriano
Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (born January 7, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball left fielder and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and Chicago Cu ...
(born 1976), outfielder who plays for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
*
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and author who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Throughout his career, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in th ...
(born 1962),
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
who played for
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...
,
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
and
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...
*
Anthony Strollo
Anthony C. Strollo (June 18, 1899 – disappeared April 8, 1962), also known as "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high-ranking capo of the Genovese crime family for several decades.
Biography
Early years
Anthony Strollo was ...
(1899–1962), New York mobster who served as a high-ranking capo of the
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...
until his disappearance after leaving his home in Fort Lee
*
Lyle Stuart
Lyle Stuart (born Lionel Simon; August 11, 1922June 24, 2006) was an American author and independent publisher of controversial books. He worked as a newsman for years before launching his publishing firm, Lyle Stuart, Incorporated.
A former pa ...
(1922–2006), independent publisher of controversial books
*
Justin Tuck
Justin Lee Tuck (born March 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft ...
(born 1983), former NFL defensive end who played for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
and
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
*
June Valli
June Valli (June 30, 1928 – March 12, 1993), the stage name of June Foglia, was an American singer and television personality.
Early years
Born in the Bronx, Valli's father was Italian, and her mother was Austrian. She worked as a bookkeepe ...
(1928–1993), singer and television personality.
*
James Van Fleet
General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...
(1892–1992),
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
general
*
Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang (; born March 31, 1980) is a Taiwanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals. He also played for ...
(born 1980), pitcher for the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...
*
Jennifer Wu
Yue "Jennifer" Wu (born January 4, 1990) is a Chinese American table tennis player originally from China who has been named to the U.S. team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was a gold medalist in women's team and women's singles at the 2015 Pan ...
(born 1990),
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
player originally from China who has been named to the U.S. team at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
*
Glen Zipper
Glen Zipper (born February 25, 1974) is an American writer, film producer and former New Jersey assistant state prosecutor.
Life and film career
Zipper graduated from Fort Lee High School, in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and received a degree in pol ...
(born 1974), writer, film producer and former New Jersey assistant state prosecutor known for the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning film '' Undefeated''Shkolnikova, Svetlana "Fort Lee natives win big at Academy Awards" ''Fort Lee Suburbanite'', March 16, 2012. Accessed July 8, 2014. "Glen Zipper stands with his fellow crewmembers for the football documentary 'Undefeated,' which took the Oscar for Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards. He and his brother Ralph grew up in Fort Lee, and worked together on the film. Glen, who worked as a criminal prosecutor in Hudson County for three years."
See also
*
Fort Lee lane closure controversy
The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, was a political scandal involving a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluding to cr ...
Riviera (nightclub) The Riviera was a nightclub in Fort Lee, New Jersey, just outside of New York City, from 1931 to 1953. For most of its history it was located overlooking the Hudson River adjacent to the George Washington Bridge. (144 pages)
History
The Riviera was ...
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...