Secaucus ( ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in Hudson County,

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 ...

, United States. As of the

2010 United States census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, the town's population was 16,264,DP-1 – Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 for Secaucus town, Hudson County, New Jersey
,

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 December 25, 2011.Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2010 for Secaucus town
,

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is a governmental agency of the U.S. state 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 ...

. Accessed December 25, 2011. reflecting an increase of 333 (+2.1%) from the 15,931 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,870 (+13.3%) from the 14,061 counted in the 1990 Census. Located within the

New Jersey Meadowlands New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for the large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of ...

, it is the most

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

of the county's municipalities, though large parts of the town are dedicated to light manufacturing, retail, and transportation uses, as well as protected areas. Secaucus is a derivation of the Algonquian words for "black" (''seke'' or ''sukit'') and "snake" (''achgook''), or "place of snakes", or ''sekakes'', referring to snakes.

History

''Sikakes'', once an island, was part of the territory purchased by Director-General of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant in 1658. The territory was part of what is considered to be the oldest municipality in the state of

which was first chartered in 1660 as

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

in the province of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

and, in 1683, became Bergen Township. Settlement had begun by at least 1733 by the Smith family, whose namesake Abel I. Smith Burial Ground is part of the lore of Secaucus. Secaucus was originally formed as a

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 ...

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 12, 1900, from portions of

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

. On June 7, 1917, Secaucus was incorporated as a town, replacing Secaucus borough, based on the results of a referendum held on June 5, 1917.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1969. Trenton, New Jersey. p. 147. Accessed February 19, 2014. Secaucus was originally an agricultural community specializing in flowers. It later became known for its

pig farm Pig farming or pork farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon) and skins. Pigs are amenable to ...

s in the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1900s the town was home to approximately 55 pig farms, which reached a peak of nearly 250,000 pigs in

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 ...

, outnumbering humans 16 to 1. Cook, Joan
"Pigless Secaucus, 75, Points With Pride"
''

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 ...

'', April 29, 1975. Accessed November 14, 2022. "Actually, its swineries reached their peak during World War II, when the community's 55 farms boasted a total population of 250,000 pigs, dining on a trans‐Hudson line of garbage imported from Manhattan's hotels, restaurants and nightclubs.... The first heat came from a 1947 local ordinance that prohibited, new farms within the town borders. Then, in the early nineteen‐fifties, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority purchased 11 of the 55 farms for a highway right‐of-way. Some of the rest of the farms faded away, and the last few were put out of business by court order 18 years ago." These farms served the meat demands of Newark and New York, and made the farmers wealthy. Many of them were local politicians, most notably pork peddler

Henry B. Krajewski Henry B. Krajewski (July 15, 1912 – November 8, 1966) was an American politician who ran for the United States Presidency in 1952 (for the Poor Man's Party) and in 1956 (for the American Third Party). He was also an American Third Party candidat ...

, who ran for New Jersey senator, three times for governor and twice for U.S. President.Schwartz, Art
"Local mayor to magazine: Pig joke not amusing; Asks students to respond to New Yorker piece"
''

The Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the '' Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983 ...

'', February 16, 2014. Accessed September 1, 2014.Mullins, Michael D
"'Redevelopment' was the word in '07 Major projects, renovations continue despite national real estate downturn"
''

'', January 8, 2008. Accessed November 14, 2019. "Once home to pig farms, this town on the Hackensack River now has its own major train station (Secaucus Transfer Station) and several massive developments under way." The town's pig farms, rendering plants, and junk yards gave the town a reputation for being one of the most odorous in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. An ordinance passed in 1947 prohibited new farms, and in the 1950s the pig farms began to dwindle, partially after 11 of the farms were acquired for construction 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 ...

, which would carry tourists who would not appreciate the odor; the last farms were shut down by court order in the late 1950s. In 1963, debris from the demolition of Pennsylvania Station was dumped in the Secaucus Meadowlands. In later decades Secaucus became more of a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

. In a non-binding referendum in 1969, 90% of voters in Secaucus chose to leave Hudson County and join Bergen County, as that county was more similar in character and had lower taxes. However, only the state has the authority to change county lines, so it never came to fruition. Today it remains the most

town in Hudson County. Despite being geographically located within Hudson County, Secaucus Public Library is a member of the

Bergen County Cooperative Library System The Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS, pronounced "buckles") is a consortium of public libraries in the four northeastern New Jersey Gateway Region counties of Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, and Essex. Founded on October 1, 1979, the orga ...

. On February 9, 1996, two NJ Transit commuter trains collided at Bergen Junction in Secaucus when a train operating on the Bergen Line ran a signal and sideswiped a train running on the Main Line. The accident occurred during the morning rush hour just south of the current Secaucus Junction station. With three fatalities, the incident is NJ Transit's deadliest accident and was the first to involve fatalities of the passenger and crew on NJ Transit. '' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine ranked Secaucus as its 182nd best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey, after ranking the borough 11th in its 2008 rankings.

Geography

Secaucus is an island in the

. The Hackensack River runs along western side of town. Penhorn Creek and Cromakill Creek are its eastern borders. According to the

, the town had a total area of 6.54 square miles (16.95 km²), including 5.83 square miles (15.09 km²) of land and 0.72 square miles (1.86 km²) of water (10.96%). At the southern end of Secaucus is Snake Hill (officially known as Laurel Hill), an

igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

intrusion jutting up some from the Meadowlands below, near the

. Being partly surrounded by the meadowlands, Secaucus provides opportunities to observe the recovery of natural marshes in the town's post-industrial, post-agricultural age. Some marsh areas in the northeast part of town have been filled to provide a new commercial area, and some to build footpaths for nature walks with signs illustrating birds and other wildlife to be seen there.Cheslow, Jerry
"If You're Thinking of Living In/Secaucus; From a Swamp, an Ever-Changing Town"
''

'', April 20, 2003. Accessed November 12, 2012. At 27.4%, it has the most open "green" space in of any town in Hudson County. Secaucus borders the municipalities of Jersey City, Kearny and

in Hudson County; and Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Lyndhurst, Rutherford in Bergen County. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the town include: * County Avenue – from Municipal Building to Secaucus Junction * Harmon Cove – along the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

and Meadowlands Turnpike *

Harmon Meadow The Plaza at Harmon Meadow is a shopping complex in the Meadowlands of Secaucus, New Jersey, approximately six miles from New York City. It was developed by Hartz Mountain Industries, whose corporate offices are located in the Plaza. The Plaz ...

– site of

Mill Creek Mall The Mall at Mill Creek, formerly known as Mill Creek Mall, is a strip mall located in Secaucus, New Jersey in the New Jersey Meadowlands. It is situated in the Harmon Meadow Plaza complex, approximately from New York City, and is owned by Hartz ...

and Meadowlands Convention Center * Laurel Hill * Little Snake Hill *

Mill Creek Marsh Mill Creek Marsh is a nature preserve in the New Jersey Meadowlands located in Secaucus at its border with North Bergen, the Cromakill Creek, in Hudson County, New Jersey. It is fed by the Hackensack River, and is a contributing property to the Hac ...

* North End – north of

New Jersey Route 3 Route 3 is a major state highway in the northeastern part of New Jersey. The route runs from U.S. Route 46 (US 46) in Clifton, Passaic County to US 1/9 in North Bergen, Hudson County. The route is a divided highway for i ...

; home of

Secaucus High School Secaucus High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Secaucus, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Secaucus Board o ...

, Schmiddt's Woods, and Mill Creek Marsh * Riverbend – a wetlands preserve at the

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ban ...

in the Hackensack River * Secaucus Junction – NJ Transit's central rail hub * Secaucus Plaza Central Business District at Paterson Plank Road south of Route 3 * Snake Hill – site of Laurel Hill County Park

Subsections

North End

As its name suggests, the North End in Secaucus, New Jersey, is the section of town north of

and the Secaucus Plaza Central Business District, to which it is connected by Paterson Plank Road. The

and its tributary Mill Creek create the other borders for the district. The North End is one of the older, traditional residential neighborhoods of Secaucus, which itself has been transformed to a

and retail and outlet shopping area in the late 20th century. It is home to

, whose athletic fields are used by the Bergen County Scholastic League. Nearby Schmiddt's Wood is one of the last original hardwood forests in urban North Jersey. As part of the

New Jersey Meadowlands District New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, the areas along the river are characterized by wetlands preservation and restoration areas. Mill Creek Marsh is park administered by the

New Jersey Meadowlands Commission The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC; formerly the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission) was a regional zoning, planning and regulatory agency in northern New Jersey. Its founding mandates were to protect the delicate balance of n ...

and will eventually connect to the Secaucus Greenway. It southern counterpart is known as Riverbend. The

, also north of Route 3, but on the other side of Mill Creek close to

Eastern Spur is part of

Harmon Cove

Harmon Cove is the western section of Secaucus, New Jersey along the

, south of

. The name is

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsHartz Mountain, a corporation that owns much land in the

, which originally developed the area as a gated community in the 1970s with townhouses and highrise residential buildings. Part of the Hackensack RiverWalk Secaucus Greenway passes through the neighborhood, which is north of Anderson Marsh and Snake Hill, home to Hudson County's Laurel Hill Park. NJ Transit maintained a Harmon Cove station from 1978 until the re-routing of the Bergen County Line and the opening of Secaucus Junction in August 2003. The HX Draw is used by the line to cross the river. NJ Transit bus 329 serves the area. The

Hudson Regional Hospital Hudson Regional Hospital (HRH) is an acute care hospital, located on the Hackensack River, in Secaucus, New Jersey, in the middle of the New Jersey Turnpike and busy Route 3 traffic flow. HRH has a helipad for transporting injured persons from th ...

and several hotels are located in Harmon Cove, whose main thoroughfare is

Meadowlands Parkway Meadowlands or The Meadowlands may refer to: Places United States Minnesota *Meadowlands, Minnesota, a city in Minnesota *Meadowlands Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota, a township in Minnesota New Jersey *Meadowlands Rail Line, a New Jersey ...

, along which office and manufacturing buildings are found. The Harmon Cove Outlet Center is an outlet shopping district further inland from the Hackensack riverfront. Hartz Mountain Industries operates many facilities and properties in Harmon Cove.

Demographics

In the 2009–2013 American Community Survey, about 20% of the town's employed residents commute to

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 ...

to work.

2010 Census

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

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 $82,289 (with a margin of error of +/− $6,523) and the median family income was $96,475 (+/− $10,189). Males had a median income of $58,902 (+/− $7,548) versus $54,665 (+/− $4,626) 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 town was $38,375. About 4.7% of families and 6.6% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

2000 Census

According to 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 15,931 people, 6,214 households, and 3,945 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 2,706.7 people per square mile (1,044.3/km²). There were 6,385 housing units at an average density of 1,084.8 per square mile (418.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 78.54%

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 ...

, 4.45%

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 ...

, 0.11% Native American, 11.80% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 2.79% from other races, 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 ...

or Latino of any race were 12.26% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Secaucus town
,

. Accessed December 25, 2011.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 – Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Secaucus town, Hudson County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed July 15, 2012. There were 6,214 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.08. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $59,800, and the median income for a family was $72,568. Males had a median income of $49,937 versus $39,370 for females. The

for the town was $31,684. About 3.9% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the

, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

There are several large retail areas in Secaucus. Secaucus Plaza is the "downtown" area of Secaucus, just off of Route 3. The Outlets are a collection of outlet shops selling discounted name-brand merchandise in southwest Secaucus. Many factory retail outlets are scattered throughout the Harmon Cove industrial section, often located in warehouses or converted factories. Harmon Cove Outlet Center is the largest outlet mall, on Enterprise Avenue. The

is a mall on Route 3 on the west side of the Turnpike.

Harmon Meadow Plaza The Plaza at Harmon Meadow is a shopping complex in the Meadowlands of Secaucus, New Jersey, approximately six miles from New York City. It was developed by Hartz Mountain Industries, whose corporate offices are located in the Plaza. The Plaz ...

is a large hotel, restaurant and shopping complex that features gyms, a pool hall, the Meadowlands Convention Center, a 14-screen Showplace Theatres and a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club located east of the

, near Route 3 and Interchange 16E. Best Buy,

Raymour & Flanigan Raymour & Flanigan is a high-end American furniture retail chain, based in the Northeastern United States. Overview Raymour's Furniture Company, the predecessor of Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, was established by brothers Bernard Goldberg and Ar ...

, Ashley Furniture,

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

and Daffy's are located on Paterson Plank Road off Interchange 16E.

National Retail Systems National Retail Systems, Inc. (NRS) includes Keystone Freight Corp. & National Retail Transportation, Inc. (NRT). NRS is an asset based 3PL founded in 1952. It is headquartered in North Bergen, New Jersey, United States. NRS' hub locations includ ...

is another large employer. Secaucus is home to several corporate headquarters, including The Children's Place, FiberMedia, Hartz Mountain Industries and Quest Diagnostics. Goya Foods previously had its headquarters there. In 2011, two companies announced that they would be leaving Secaucus. The Manischewitz Company announced that it would relocate its administrative offices to Newark after being located in Secaucus for seven years. Panasonic's North American headquarters, with of offices and of warehouse space, had been located in Secaucus since 1973. After considering new locations in New York, California and Georgia, the company announced it would relocate to Newark and would receive an Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit of $102 million from the State of New Jersey for the relocation from its Secaucus location. The company also cited the environmental benefits possible by reducing the need of 1,000 employees to drive to work. Secaucus is home to 11

data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommun ...

s due to its proximity to New York City and its more favorable costs and storm resiliency.

Arts and culture

The

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band, The Wrens, named their 1996 album ''Secaucus'' for the town where they resided together and worked for a decade.

Sports

Starting with the 2014–15 NBA season, Secaucus became the official review headquarters of the NBA. All reviews of controversial calls and plays take place in the replay center. Referees consult the headquarters for guidance on the correct call. The high-tech center features over 94 HD televisions, with multiple feeds of every live NBA game. Sports companies headquartered in Secaucus include

Red Bull New York The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

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 ...

's MLB Network,

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

's NHL Network, and NBA Entertainment/ NBA TV (whose studios are also the site of the NBA Draft Lottery). It is also home to men's soccer team Secaucus FC, which is part of the Garden State Soccer League. Secaucus was the headquarters of

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

for the first four seasons of the league. The headquarters have since moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Secaucus held a pre-Super Bowl "Winter Blast" party during the first weekend of February 2014 to celebrate Super Bowl XLVIII being played in New Jersey. The party featured a number of activities, including an ice skating rink. The town had planned for large crowds, even planning special court sessions in advance to handle the projected surge of potentially disruptive visitors. The turnout was much lower than expected, with Mayor Gonnelli citing the NFL's focus on activities in

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 ...

aimed at visitors.

Government

Local government

Secaucus is governed under the

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

form of New Jersey municipal government. The town is one of nine municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and a Town Council made up of six council members elected from three wards. The Mayor is 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 ...

directly by the voters. The Town Council is comprised of six members elected to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with three seats up at the same time as the mayor and three seats the following year, followed by two years with no elections.''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 ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 142. , the Mayor of Secaucus is

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

Michael Gonnelli, whose term of office ends December 31, 2025. Members of the Town Council are James J. Clancy Sr. (I, 2022; Ward 2), Robert V. Constantino (I, 2025; Ward 1), Mark Dehnert (I, 2025; Ward 2), John Gerbasio (I, 2022; Ward 1), William McKeever (I, 2025; Ward 3) and Orietta Turci-Tringali (I, 2022; Ward 3).Mayor & Council
Town of Secaucus. Accessed April 29, 2022.Elected Officials

Hudson County, New Jersey Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

Clerk. Accessed April 27, 2022.General Election November 2, 2021 Official results

, updated November 17, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.November 6, 2018 General Election

Clerk, updated November 29, 2018. Accessed January 1, 2019. Orietta Tringali was chosen in January 2018 to fill the Ward 3 seat expiring in December 2018 that had been held by Susan Pirro until she resigned from office. On June 9, 2018, the Office of Emergency Management Building was dedicated to Pirro, who died on March 18, 2018. In October 2016, Gary Jeffas resigned from office to fill the position as Town Administrator; his Ward 1 seat expiring in December 2018 was filled by John Gerbasio, who served on an interim basis until the November 2017 election, when he was chosen to serve the balance of the term of office.Hudson County General Election 2017 Statement of Vote November 7, 2017

Clerk, updated November 17, 2017. Accessed January 1, 2018. Richard Steffens was chosen unanimously by the council in August 2009 to step in as mayor to finish the term of Dennis Elwell who resigned amid corruption charges on July 28, 2009, and was later convicted. Michael Gonnelli then won a full four-year term in November 2009 and was re-elected for another four years in 2013. In 2018, the town had an average property tax bill of $6,258, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $7,762 in Hudson County and $8,767 statewide.

Fire Department

Secaucus is served around the clock by five volunteer fire companies that make up the Secaucus Fire Department, with a combined fire apparatus fleet of four Engines, two Ladders, one Rescue, one squad/brush unit, and one fireboat, operating out of five fire stations located throughout the town.

Federal, state and county representation

Secaucus is located in the 9th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report
New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 32nd state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

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 ...

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey League of Women Voters. Accessed October 30, 2019. Parts of the town are in Hudson County's 8th and 9th freeholder districts.

Politics

According to ''

'', Secaucus is "arguably Hudson County's most conservative town". As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 10,298 registered voters in Secaucus, of which 5,886 (57.2%) were registered as Democrats, 876 (8.5%) were registered as Republicans and 3,531 (34.3%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 5 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. 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 61.1% of the vote (4,188 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 38.1% (2,609 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (56 votes), among the 6,893 ballots cast by the town's 10,819 registered voters (40 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 63.7%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 53.0% of the vote here (3,889 cast), 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 45.6% (3,348 votes) and other candidates with 0.9% (63 votes), among the 7,344 ballots cast by the town's 10,650 registered voters, for a turnout of 69.0%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat

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 50.6% of the vote here (3,460 ballots cast), outpolling Republican George W. Bush with 48.6% (3,320 votes) and other candidates with 0.3% (33 votes), among the 6,838 ballots cast by the town's 9,767 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 70.0. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 54.5% of the vote (2,214 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 42.8% (1,738 votes), and other candidates with 2.7% (108 votes), among the 4,376 ballots cast by the town's 10,966 registered voters (316 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 39.9%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 50.7% of the vote here (2,959 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 35.9% (2,096 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 5.4% (315 votes) and other candidates with 2.3% (132 votes), among the 5,833 ballots cast by the town's 10,158 registered voters, yielding a 57.4% turnout.

Education

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 ...

are educated by the

Secaucus Public Schools The Secaucus Public Schools is a public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Secaucus, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of four ...

. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 2,229 students and 187.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1.District information for Secaucus School District

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 February 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are Millridge School / Early Learning Center serving Pre-K, Clarendon Elementary School with 470 students in grades K–5, Huber Street Elementary School with 635 students in grades Pre-K–5, Secaucus Middle School with 514 students in grades 6–8 and

with 594 students in grades 9–12 The athletic teams of Secaucus High School are nicknamed the "Patriots". For the 2018–2019 school year, the

Hudson County Schools of Technology The Hudson County Schools of Technology is a public school district based in North Bergen that offers career and vocational education for public middle school and high school students in sixth through twelfth grades, and for adult students thr ...

moved

High Tech High School High Tech High School is a full-time state school, public magnet school, magnet Secondary education in the United States, high school serving students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades in Secaucus, New Jersey, Secaucus, in Hudson Cou ...

from its previous location in

to a newly built school building in Secaucus constructed at a cost of $160 million on a site. The former building was sold to the

North Bergen School District The North Bergen School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from North Bergen, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year ...

to become the new home of North Bergen High School. Immaculate Conception School, the town's only

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

day school, serving grades Pre-K through eighth grade, closed in 2008. The Nicholas G. Hayek Watchmaking School, established in 2005, offers a two-year training program that prepares students to service watches.

Transportation

Secaucus contains a wide variety of road and rail transportation. Because of its central location, many shipping warehouses and truck freight transfer stations are located in Secaucus, both for shipping companies such as UPS and for numerous retailers. For example, Barnes & Noble's "same day delivery" service to

operates from a warehouse in Secaucus. The town also has a large rail yard and multimode terminal run by CSX and Norfolk Southern where loads are switched between trains or transferred to or from trucks.

Roads and highways

, the town had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Hudson 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

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 ...

. The town is roughly divided into four parts by the intersecting roads of Route 3, which runs east and west, and the Eastern Spur of the

( Interstate 95), which runs north–south. The Route 3 bridges cross the

, connecting to East Rutherford; the eastbound bridge, constructed in 1934, was described by state transportation commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti in 2022 as being "in the worst condition of any in the state", and is part of $143 million replacement project. Two turnpike interchanges are located within the town: Exit 16E/17 for Route 3 and Route 495 (which leads to the Lincoln Tunnel), and Exit 15X for the Secaucus Junction station (which opened in late 2005).

Public transportation

Secaucus is the site of NJ Transit's

Frank R. Lautenberg Frank Raleigh Lautenberg (; January 23, 1924 June 3, 2013) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as United States Senator from New Jersey from 1982 to 2001, and again from 2003 until his death in 2013. He was orig ...

Secaucus Junction rail station, which connects NJ Transit's two commuter rail networks in northern New Jersey. As the station is in the south end of the town, access from the rest of Secaucus is limited via County Avenue, Meadowlands Parkway or NJ Turnpike Interchange 15X. The station opened in December 2003, with a 1,100-spot parking lot that allows commuters to park and ride. Discount curbside intercity bus service is also provided outside the station by

Megabus Megabus may refer to: * Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. * Megabus (North America), a low-cost bus service in the United States and Canada owned by Variant Equity Advisors. * Megabús, a ...

, with direct service to

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, among other locations. Numerous NJ Transit buses serve Secaucus, including the 124, 129, 190 and 320 buses 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 ...

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 78 bus to Newark, the 2 route to Jersey City, the 85 route to Hoboken and local service provided on the 772 route. There is a bus park-and-ride at the northeast corner of Secaucus. In the first half of the 20th century the

Jersey City, Hoboken and Rutherford Electric Railway The Jersey City, Hoboken and Rutherford Electric Railway was incorporated in 1893, and leased from 1894-1899 to the New Jersey Electric Railway Company. The line was operated by Jersey City, Hoboken and Paterson Street Railway. The track leng ...

operated a trolley line through the then main business district of Secaucus, on Paterson Plank Road from Jersey City and across the

to East Rutherford. The closest airport with scheduled passenger service is Newark Liberty International Airport, which straddles Newark and Elizabeth. The nearest intercity rail station is Newark Penn Station, a one-seat ride from Secaucus Junction.

Media

Secaucus is located within the New York media market, with most of its daily papers available for sale or delivery. Local,

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and regional news is covered by '' The Jersey Journal'', the daily newspaper that relocated its offices to Secaucus in 2014 from Jersey City's Journal Square, an area of the city that was named for the newspaper that operated there for 90 years. The ''

Secaucus Reporter The ''Secaucus Reporter'' is a weekly community newspaper serving Secaucus, in Hudson County, New Jersey. The paper is one of nine weekly publications produced by The Hudson Reporter Assoc., L.P. The company's main office is located in Bayonne ...

'' is part of ''

'' group of local weeklies. Locally, Secaucus is covered by weeklies the ''

River View Observer ''River View Observer'' is a monthly newspaper owned by Ad Vantage Publishing Inc., headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.

'' and ''El Especialito''. The town had been served by the ''Secaucus Home News'', a weekly newspaper that published for 107 years before abruptly shutting down in 2017.

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW ...

, channel 9, is a television station licensed to Secaucus, serving the New York metro area television market as the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service. Its studios and main offices are located in Secaucus. The 1987–1989 talk show ''

The Morton Downey Jr. Show ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show'' is a syndicated American talk show presented by Morton Downey Jr. that ran from 1987 to 1989. The show and its host pioneered the concept of " trash TV" format. Starting as a local program on New York-New Jersey sup ...

'' was among the WWOR-TV programs filmed in Secaucus. The warehouse at 10 Enterprise Avenue was used as the primary filming location for the hospital drama '' Mercy'', which aired on NBC from 2009 to 2010.Wright, E. Assata
"Getting the film crews back to NJ; Gov. to decide future of tax credit that benefited Hudson County"
''

'', February 20, 2011. Accessed July 15, 2012. "The tax credit had been instrumental in attracting several TV productions to Hudson County, including the NBC hospital drama ''Mercy,'' which was shot in Secaucus, and NBC's ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,'' which filmed throughout the county but was primarily shot in a studio in North Bergen."

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Secaucus include the following: (B) denotes that the person was born there. *

Jeff Bittiger Jeffrey Scott Bittiger (born April 13, 1962) is a former relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball. He pitched four seasons in the major leagues, from until . He was the player ...

(born 1962), former

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

for the Philadelphia Phillies,

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, 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 ...

. * Robert John Burck (born 1970), Times Square street performer known as the

Naked Cowboy Robert John Burck (born December 23, 1970), better known as the Naked Cowboy, is an American actor, singer, songwriter, writer, and street performer, best known for singing regularly in New York City's Times Square. Burck is also a regular in th ...

Jerry Casale Jerry Joseph Casale (September 27, 1933 – February 9, 2019) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1958 and 1962. Listed at , 200 lb., he batted and threw right-handed. Early life Casale was ...

(1933–2019), former

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, Los Angeles Angels and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

* Dave Draper (1942–2021), bodybuilder * Dennis Elwell (born 1945), mayor of Secaucus from 2000 until 2009, when he resigned after allegations of political corruption * Paul Iacono (born 1988), actor known for the 2009 film '' Fame'', and the TV series '' The Hard Times of RJ Berger''(B) *

Anthony Impreveduto Anthony Neil Impreveduto (April 11, 1948 – August 6, 2009) was an American educator and Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1988 until 2004, when he resigned following a guilty plea to corruption ...

(1948–2009), served on the Town Council from 1981 to 1992 and in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1987–2004 until he was forced to resign after pleading guilty to corruption charges * Louis King (born 1999), college

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Oregon Ducks *

(1912–1966), pig farmer and frequent political candidate *

Margarita Levieva Margarita Vladimirovna Levieva (russian: Маргари́та Влади́мировна Леви́ева; born 9 February 1980) is a Russian-American actress. Early life Levieva was born in then Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, ...

(born 1980), actress *

Mark Lukasiewicz Mark Lukasiewicz (born March 8, 1973) is a former professional baseball pitcher who played two seasons for the Anaheim Angels of Major League Baseball. Lukasiewicz grew up in Secaucus, New Jersey and graduated from Secaucus High School in 1991 ...

(born 1973), former MLB pitcher who played two seasons for the Anaheim Angels * Blaine Morris, cast member on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

drama '' Skins'' *

Frank MacCormack Frank Louis MacCormack (born September 21, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers () and Seattle Mariners (). Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, MacCormack was raised in Secaucus, New Jersey and played prep baseball ...

(born 1954), former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

who played for the

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

. *

John J. Matheussen John J. Matheussen (born January 30, 1953) is an American Republican Party politician. He served in the New Jersey Senate from 1992 to 2003, where he represented the 4th Legislative District. Early life and education Born in Jersey City, Mathe ...

(born 1953), politician who represented the 4th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate from 1992 to 2003 * Vincent Prieto (born 1960), member of the New Jersey General Assembly since 2004 who was chosen as Assembly Speaker for the 2014–2015 Legislative Session *

Dan Resin Dan Resin (February 22, 1931 – July 31, 2010) was an American actor. Early life Resin was born in South Bend, Indiana. He was three years old when his parents divorced. Resin met his future wife in the seventh grade. He graduated from I ...

(1931–2010), actor known as Dr. Beeper in the film '' Caddyshack'' and as the Ty-D-Bol man in toilet cleaner commercials * Ian Roberts (born 1965), founding member of the

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKa ...

improv troupe * Russ (born 1992), rapper *

Bart Shatto Bart Shatto is a Broadway theatre actor-singer who has appeared in the Broadway musicals ''Les Misérables'', '' The Civil War'' and ''Dracula, the Musical'' as well as the national tour of ''Cats''. He was also in Cornstock Theatre's production ...

, actor *

Seven Volpone __FORCETOC__ Keith Volpone (born March 4, 1972), also known as Seven Volpone, is an entrepreneur, business executive, singer, songwriter and record producer. Volpone is the current CEO of Big Block Capital Group and Big Block Media Group. Early ...

(born 1972), entrepreneur, business executive, singer, songwriter and record producerSullivan, Al
"Local boy makes good CAST star makes splash on pop scene"
''

'', August 13, 2002. Accessed June 26, 2022. "But only a handful of local residents know who the lead singer, Seven, really is, or the fact that he grew up in Secaucus and that he had been a star on stage here during high school in the late 1980s."

References

External links

* {{authority control 1900 establishments in New Jersey New Jersey Meadowlands District Populated places established in 1900 New Jersey populated places on the Hackensack River Towns in Hudson County, New Jersey