Fair Lawn is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 ...

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), 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 so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and a

bedroom A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterized by its usage for sleeping. A typical Western world, western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedsid ...

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

located northwest of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 34,927, an increase of 2,470 (+7.6%) from the 2010 census count of 32,457, which in turn reflected an increase of 820 (+2.6%) from the 31,637 counted in the 2000 census. Fair Lawn was incorporated as a borough 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 ...

on March 6, 1924, as "Fairlawn", from portions of Saddle River Township.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 77. Accessed May 18, 2012. The name was taken from ''Fairlawn'', David Acker's estate home, that was built in 1865 and later became the Fair Lawn Municipal Building. In 1933, the official spelling of the borough's name was split into its present two-word form as "Fair Lawn" Borough. Radburn, one of the first

planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in the United States, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located within Fair Lawn and was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age." Fair Lawn is home to a large number of commuters to

, to which it is connected by train from two

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

s on

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

's Bergen County Line, the Radburn and Broadway stations. Fair Lawn's motto is "A great place to visit and a better place to live."Leggate, Jim
"Fair Lawn Ranked No. 7 in NJ For Job Seekers; Fair Lawn has received numerous accolades this year."
Fair Lawn - Saddle Brook Patch, November 19, 2013. Accessed November 1, 2014. "Fair Lawn's motto is that it's 'a great place to visit and a better place to live. Fair Lawn has been rated as one of the top 10 best places to live in New Jersey.

History and historical significance

The first settlers of Fair Lawn were members of the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

tribe, of Native Americans, a group of hunter gatherers who eventually sold their land to incoming Dutch and Irish settlers and migrated to Pennsylvania. The new colonists turned the region, part of the New Barbadoes Township, into five large farm lots, conjoined by two main roads—Paramus and Saddle River—and named it "slooterdam" (after a V-shaped sluice-like fishing

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

built in the Passaic River by the Lenni Lenape). The name stuck until 1791. In the 1800s, these five lots became nine smaller lots, and three new roads—Fair Lawn Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, and Prospect Street—were constructed to encourage mobility between them. Eighty houses were built by 1861, and the renamed Small Lots, now a part of the Saddle River Township and home to multiple vegetable and fruit farms and dairies, became an agricultural community. Berdan Avenue, a new road located near five Berdan family farms, was soon added and Victorian homes were built alongside it and in nearby areas. The grandest of the estates, perched atop a hill by Small Lots Road was David Acker's estate "Fairlawn", from which the township gets its name (Images of America, Page 7) and is now the site of the borough's library. Rapid suburban development of the town occurred in three sections: the River Road–Fair Lawn Avenue area known as "Memorial Park", the area at Lincoln Avenue and Wagaraw Road known as "Columbus Heights", and the area east of the railroad and south of Broadway, known as Warren Point. The development of this section was catalyzed by the "establishment of a post office, a railroad station, and a trolley to the Hudson River" (Images of America, Page 8). In the 1900s, Fair Lawn residents were displeased about the schooling situation as part of Saddle River Township; the schools were either dilapidated or too far away for Fair Lawn residents, and citizens felt that they were not getting schools comparable to the tax money they were paying. As such, a movement to separate from Saddle River Township was born. Fair Lawn residents petitioned to the state, asking to incorporate as an independent borough, and in April 1924, the borough of Fair Lawn was voted into existence. Fair Lawn is home to the following eight sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places: * Peter Garretson House, 4-02 River Road (1974) * Irregular pattern between Radburn Road and the Erie Rail Road tracks in Radburn (1975) * G.V.H. Berdan House, 1219 River Road (1983) * Richard J. Berdan House, 2407 Fair Lawn Avenue * Cadmus-Folly House, 19-21 Fair Lawn Avenue * Naugle House, 42-49 Dunkerhook Road – Built in the 1750s, the house was acquired by the borough. * Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House, 41-25 Dunkerhook Road – Constructed in 1754, the house was named by Preservation New Jersey as one of New Jersey's 10 most endangered historic places * Radburn station, Pollitt Drive (1984) Other sites, in addition to those listed above, are also considered historic by the Historic Sites Survey Committee of the Bergen County Historic Sites Advisory Board, including: * Henry A. Hopper House * George Washington School (Recommended as a National Register possibility, but needs further documentation) * Fair Lawn, Berdan, and Prospect Avenues, Plaza and Radburn Roads * Peter Demarest House on Fair Lawn Avenue * Warren Bronze and Aluminum Factory on Second Street In July 1982, an

train derailed and crashed into a pasta factory, killing the train's engineer. The derailment resulted from a group of teens who had tampered with the tracks. Two of the five youths charged with the crime were convicted of manslaughter for their roles in the incident and were given five-year sentences in a state correctional facility.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the borough had a total area of 5.22 square miles (13.53 km²), including 5.14 square miles (13.30 km²) of land and 0.09 square miles (0.23 km²) of water (1.70%). The borough borders Paterson (in Passaic County, across the Passaic River) to the west; Hawthorne across Lincoln Avenue to the West; Glen Rock across Harristown Road, Maple Avenue, the northern border of the former

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

plant and its extension north of Garwood Road and Naugle Drive to the north; Ridgewood across the Saddle River to the northeast; Paramus across the Saddle River to the east; Rochelle Park across another point in the Saddle River to the southeast; with Saddle Brook across the two longer portions of South Broadway and their extensions through Rosario Court to the south; and Elmwood Park across the Bergen County Line,

New Jersey Route 4 Route 4 is a state highway in Bergen County and Passaic County, United States. The highway stretches from Route 20 (McLean Boulevard) in Paterson east to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95), U.S. Route 1/9 (US&nb ...

(Broadway), Cyril Avenue and Willow Street to the south. The hills of Wyckoff are visible from the northern neighborhoods of Fair Lawn.

Neighborhoods

Fair Lawn is an incorporated collection of diverse neighborhoods, each with its own distinct character and vibe. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the borough include: *Berdan Grove, a residential neighborhood of single-family homes behind Thomas Jefferson Middle School, surrounding Berdan Grove Park on Berdan Avenue. This neighborhood is home to the borough's highest concentration of

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

s and includes Milnes Elementary School. *Broadway District contains the major commercial thoroughfare of Broadway and houses the Broadway District commuter stop for NJ Transit's Bergen County Line train. Roughly located around the Warren Point and Lyncrest areas, the district also extends as far as Morlot Avenue along the tracks, roughly around or a little after Glen Rock Lumber, housing many industries on Banta Place. The Broadway District is mainly a shopping district as it contains many stores, eateries, hobby centers, salons, and other businesses. Not only is it the largest stretch of stores within Fair Lawn, it also houses one of the highest densities of nail and beauty salons in the United States. The Broadway District stretches from the Route 4 split with Route 208 and continues all through Fair Lawn and includes a few blocks of Elmwood Park. Broadway also hosts the route of local Paterson-New York Spanish Transportation minibuses, known locally as guaguas, as a cheaper alternative for commuters to and from New York. It is one of only a handful of Bergen-Passaic-Hudson districts that even offers this service. *Central Fair Lawn is bounded by Morlot and Fair Lawn Avenues on the south and north, respectively, by River Road on the west, and Route 208 on the east and northeast. The borough's Municipal Complex, which houses its administrative, legal, financial, and police divisions, is located in this neighborhood, as are the Fair Lawn Public Library, Fair Lawn High School, and John A. Forrest Elementary School. * Dunkerhook, the Dark Corner (Donckerhoek in old Dutch), is on both sides of a former bridge over the Saddle River, in Fair Lawn and Paramus, near Fair Lawn Avenue. The Vanderbeck and Naugle houses there are both from the 18th century. * The Heights, more precisely known as "Columbia Heights", is located near Hawthorne's industrial section along the Passaic River on Wagaraw Road and Hawthorne's residential area at Lincoln Avenue as well as bordering Bunker Hill in Paterson. This well-maintained neighborhood houses some local industry outside of the McBride Industrial District that borders Glen Rock and is known by some of its residents as the "Bunker Hill Extension" or the "Walsh Area". *Hendersonville, also referred to as "Riverside East". This diverse neighborhood, located between Columbia Heights and the Municipal Complex within the "Westmoreland District", as well as sharing Route 208 with the neighboring borough of Glen Rock, is a mostly residential community of two-family Cape Cod-style houses located down the stretch of Henderson Boulevard curving around to 11th Street. Distinct to this neighborhood in comparison with other two-family districts and sections is that each Cape Cod has two doors in the front so each residing family has its own entrance into its respective quarters, a blueprint that was abandoned shortly after being built in favor of a "one door, two entrances" model. Westmoreland Elementary School is located in this neighborhood. * Lyncrest neighborhood, located south of Morlot Avenue, in alignment with Paterson's 33rd Street split into that city's Upper Eastside and Eastside neighborhoods, is an extension of the Eastside and notable for its older, stone houses in the footsteps of homes once owned by Paterson's former silk barons. This community is also diverse, with immigrants from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, as well as various parts of the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. It is home to many

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

Indian American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States, who ar ...

, and

Russian American Russian Americans are Americans of full or partial Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those that settled in the 19th-century Russian possessions in what is now Alaska. Russi ...

families, among other ethnic and religious groups. Lyncrest streets "1st-6th" are also known by the name of "Rivercrest" by locals, due to the split level and Cape Cod-style architecture of housing located in the "River Dip" adjacent to Memorial Park. Lyncrest Elementary School is located in this neighborhood. * McBride Industrial District is the area incorporating the McBride Industrial Park located between Fair Lawn Borough's border with Glen Rock and the Chandler Houses and Fair Lawn Commons communities. It currently houses the former

cookie factory, which has played a major role in not only Fair Lawn's identity itself, but also Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Paterson, Prospect Park, Haledon, Hawthorne, and Western Paramus near the Dunkerhook and Saddle River Areas, causing those venturing throughout these areas to coin the nickname "Cookie-City" as a general area term, describing the fragrance of freshly baked cookies that filled these areas on baking days. In the past, the McBride Industrial District took up both sides of Route 208, stretching from Fair Lawn Avenue to the intersection at Maple Avenue and Harristown Road, running up to the Bergen County Line train tracks via the Radburn District, and housing companies such as Nabisco,

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Maxell , commonly known as Maxell, is a Japanese company (law), company that manufactures consumer electronics. The company's name is a contraction of "Maximum capacity dry cell". Its main products are Battery (electricity), batteries, wireless chargi ...

, and others. More recently the district has been in the process of

deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpr ...

and corporate

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, as older companies fold or move out, replacing industrial properties with residential-commercial "mini-cities", as well as the headquarters of New Jersey's Columbia Savings Bank. * Memorial Park, a working-class neighborhood (sometimes called the "River Dip", "East River Area","Eastside Dip", "Riverside", or the more modern "Yang"; the aerial view of the neighborhood makes a " Ying Yang" symbol with neighboring East Side Park) within and around the River Road Improvement District with street addresses aligned with the corner of 33rd Street and Martin Luther King Way (Broadway) in neighboring Paterson. The Memorial Park neighborhood borders the Passaic River and contains the park next to Memorial Middle School named Memorial Park which houses a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Memorial commemorating those who fought in the war. The park is the terminus of the annual

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

parade and the site of the Memorial pool and beach as well as the

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

fireworks show. Residential gentrification is occurring with the leveling of two-family rental housing for more modern single-family housing in this area. * Radburn is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

also housing the landmark ''Radburn Plaza'' building, which was destroyed in a fire in 2002 and subsequently rebuilt. With its safe and easy access to local businesses and schools, and Fair Lawn's largest

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

branch, this neighborhood also offers commuter trains from Radburn station to the

Secaucus Junction Secaucus Junction (signed as Secaucus) is an intermodal transit hub served by New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Metro-North Railroad in Secaucus, New Jersey, Secaucus, New Jersey. It is one of the List of b ...

rail transfer station as well as to the

PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desir ...

train in Hoboken, both of which provide rail connections to

. This neighborhood includes Radburn Elementary School and Daly Field. An annual street fair is held here in June. * Radrock Estates is a small neighborhood around two streets, Well Drive and Split Rock Road, with a private park within the block they enclose, reminiscent of nearby Radburn but a separate development built about 1940. The entrance street from Fair Lawn Avenue has an entrance pillar on each side displaying the name. The surrounding area to the north and east, while built after World War II, is considered to be an extended part of Radrock Estates. Although it is a very diverse residential section, this neighborhood shares the conveniences of living in Radburn including dining, retail access, as well as rail access from Radburn Station. * The River Road District, with an annual street fair in autumn, houses many functional businesses, including numerous banks, ethnic restaurants and supermarkets, small offices, retail

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

outlets, both a

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...

store and a U.S. Post Office branch, and the landmark Joker's Child comic book store. River Road in this district is also zoned for apartments located above businesses. * Warren Point, a residential area located near the Broadway District. Bordering Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, it has many stores, big and small, and many eateries. The neighborhood also offers commuter trains from Broadway station to Hoboken's PATH and to Secaucus Junction via the Bergen County Line, as well as to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington (Manhattan), Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the Bennett Park (Ne ...

via jitney buses. Warren Point Elementary School and the private St. Anne School are located in this neighborhood. Warren Point also is home to a small

World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

monument honoring men from the neighborhood who fought in and died during the war. Other neighborhoods in the borough include "Fair Lawn Commons" (The Commons) off Route 208, located within the Radburn Historical District, yet which has a separate, more affluent feel and modern look and subculture; Radburn's El Dorado Village, which is known for its

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

immigrant residents; and just to its west, the "Chandler Houses". Fair Lawn's newest neighborhood is Fair Lawn Promenade (The Promenade), a

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

extending northward from The Commons along Highway 208 North, consisting of apartments, shops, offices, and restaurants, with the motto to be able to "live, shop, work, and play" in one locale. These distinct communities are located throughout the borough, and each has its own character, making Fair Lawn not just ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse, but also an experientially diverse borough notable even amidst Bergen County's diversity on a larger scale.

Ethnic diversity

Fair Lawn has a longstanding tradition of

ethnic diversity Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various ...

and a tolerance for people of different ethnicities and religious faiths. Continuing steady immigration from

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

has transformed Fair Lawn into an international

melting pot A melting pot is a Monoculturalism, monocultural metaphor for a wiktionary:heterogeneous, heterogeneous society becoming more wiktionary:homogeneous, homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative bei ...

, and over 50 languages and dialects are spoken in the borough.

History of ethnic diversity

Fair Lawn has been a center for

Jewish culture Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not simply a faith-based religion, but an orthopraxy and Ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, ...

over a period spanning several decades. Since the early 2000s, the

population has been increasing significantly and has replaced the earlier decreases in members of the non-Orthodox Jewish sects. After the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1991,

Russian Jews The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

began to migrate to Fair Lawn. Fair Lawn's

Jewish American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

population has therefore maintained an at least one-third presence overall for several decades. Russian Jews were then followed by

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

Christians. Over 10% of the borough's population is of Russian descent, the highest of any community in New Jersey, and increasing with continued migration of

s from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The size of Fair Lawn's Russian American presence prompted a 2014 April Fool's satire titled, "

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Moves Against Fair Lawn", which erroneously claimed the Russian country was sending its troops directly to Fair Lawn. Fair Lawn also has the largest

Israeli American Israeli Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Israeli descent. The Israeli-American community, while predominantly Jewish, also includes various ethnic and religious minorities reflective of Israel's diverse demographics. This c ...

community in

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

population, 19.7% in 2000, but this number is decreasing as the descendants of the original Italian immigrants are being displaced by immigrants from around the globe. Fair Lawn's reputable

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

, safe and well-policed neighborhoods, and the borough's convenient access to commercial centers and

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

s, a complex network of highways, transit lines, New York City, and

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

, have all made Fair Lawn a magnet for new immigrants from several regions around the world. The 2012

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

conducted by the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

showed a significant increase in the

population, including the Asian Indian,

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

, and

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth largest Asian Ame ...

populations, and the

Polish American Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

population is also growing. The public library in Fair Lawn holds storytelling programs in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

languages, while

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

has been taught in the school district since the 2007–2008 school year. Fair Lawn's first annual

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Holi festival was held in 2022. A number of places for congregation cater to different nationalities in Fair Lawn, including three Korean churches, one Taiwanese church, Young Israel of Fair Lawn, Saint Leon Armenian Church, and the (Italian American) Cosmos Club of Fair Lawn. Several Filipino organizations are based in Fair Lawn. Between the 2010 Census and the 2013–2017

, Fair Lawn's Filipino population was estimated to have increased by more than 50% (from 626 in 2010 to 952 in 2013–2017).

Immigrants from former Soviet Union

Given the established presence of

Russian Americans Russian Americans are Americans of full or partial Russians, Russian ancestry. The term can apply to recent Russian diaspora, Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to those that settled in the 19th-century Russian colonization of ...

in the borough, immigrant nationalities native to other republics of the

Former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

, including

Ukrainian American Ukrainian Americans are Americans who are of full or partial Ukrainians, Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2021 there were 1,017,586 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.3% of the American population. The Ukr ...

s, Georgian Americans, Armenian Americans, and Uzbek Americans have also established an increasing presence in Fair Lawn. As a suburb of New York City, Fair Lawn has a diverse population. The town has a high

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigration population, as well as

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

immigrants, including Albanian Americans and Macedonian Americans, as well as Latino Americans, including Peruvian Americans and Stateside Puerto Ricans, have settled in Fair Lawn's western flank, in the Memorial Park neighborhood between the River Road Improvement District and the Passaic River, where there is also a small but stable

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

population.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 32,457 people, 11,930 households, and 8,971 families in the borough. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 12,266 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 84.36% (27,380)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.75% (567) Black or African American, 0.06% (20) Native American, 9.72% (3,154) Asian, 0.00% (1)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.35% (762) from other races, and 1.77% (573) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.15% (3,296) of the population. Of the 11,930 households, 33.3% had children under the age of 18; 62.7% were married couples living together; 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present and 24.8% were non-families. Of all households, 21.3% were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.17. 22.0% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 30.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92.2 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 88.9 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two 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 of und ...

was $92,727 (with a margin of error of +/− $4,701) and the median family income was $112,650 (+/− $5,760). Males had a median income of $70,990 (+/− $3,246) versus $54,358 (+/− $2,815) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $40,146 (+/− $1,700). About 2.1% of families and 3.4% 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 4.3% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.DP03: Selected Economic Characteristics from the 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for Fair Lawn borough, Bergen County, New Jersey

. Accessed May 18, 2012.

Same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

headed 64 households in 2010, an increase from the 49 counted in 2000.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 31,637 people, 11,806 households, and 8,901 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 12,006 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 91.54% Caucasian, 4.92% Asian, 0.74% Black or African American, 0.04% Native American, 1.37% from other races, and 1.38% reporting two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 5.51% of the population.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Fair Lawn borough, Bergen County, New Jersey

. Accessed March 5, 2013.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Fair Lawn borough, New Jersey
,

. Accessed March 5, 2013. There were 11,806 households, out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.5% were

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

living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.12. In the borough the population was spread out, with 22.8% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $72,127, and the median income for a family was $81,220. Males had a median income of $56,798 versus $41,300 for females. The

for the borough was $32,273. About 2.6% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the

, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Businesses headquartered or located in Fair Lawn include: A major cookie/bakery/office operation of

Mondelēz International Mondelēz International, Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, Holding company, holding, drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual rev ...

, located along Route 208 North, had been the borough's largest employer and taxpayer for more than 60 years, until its shutdown was announced in 2021 when the company sent termination notices to employees. Demolition of the plant, which had opened in 1958 and produced as many as of cookies annually, began in January 2023. U.S. Technologies, a high-precision electronics corporation, is headquartered in Fair Lawn. Columbia Bank (New Jersey), the fourth largest mutual

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

in the United States, and the largest mutual bank domiciled within the State of New Jersey, is also headquartered in Fair Lawn.

Thermal energy storage Thermal energy storage (TES) is the storage of thermal energy for later reuse. Employing widely different technologies, it allows surplus thermal energy to be stored for hours, days, or months. Scale both of storage and use vary from small t ...

company CALMAC of Fair Lawn had performed about 4,000 commercial air-cooling installations in 37 countries by 2014. Danbee Investigations, a global

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

agency, is based in Fair Lawn. A. Zerega's Sons Inc., founded in 1848 in

and currently based in Fair Lawn, describes itself as the fifth-largest

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

maker in the United States, producing 100 million pounds of pasta annually. The Filipino American Festival, a

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...

describing its mission to include educating

s to engage in community partnership, is headquartered in Fair Lawn. The company presents the annual Filipino-American Festival in Bergenfield in eastern Bergen County.Mission Statement
, The Filipino American Festival, Inc. Accessed February 1, 2015. Kuiken Brothers, a major supplier of residential and

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings and other structures, like bridges. Apart from natur ...

s in the New York City metropolitan area, is headquartered in Fair Lawn. Fair Lawn Promenade is a mixed-use retail / residential / business complex that opened on April 1, 2014. It has shops, restaurants, condominium rooms, and offices. Businesses there include the first East Coast location of The Habit Burger Grill.

Sports

Fair Lawn has one of the original organized street hockey/DekHockey programs in the state. The Fair Lawn Flyers competed in the first national street hockey championships in 1976 in Leominster, Massachusetts. Fair Lawn Lanes includes 32 bowling lanes, an arcade, and a lounge.

Parks and recreation

Parks in Fair Lawn include: * Memorial Park – located on 1st Street, which has an inline skating rink, playing fields, basketball courts, and a beach park. * Berdan Grove Park – located on Berdan Avenue, home of the John Alaimo Field for baseball, basketball courts, walking paths, and a playground. * Gregory Park – located on 28th Street, which has a basketball court, playground, baseball field, and a walking path. * Cresthill Park – located on Godwin Avenue, which has a playground, and a basketball court. Dietch's Kiddie Zoo was a children's zoo that opened in 1951. It also included kiddie rides and a train ride. The zoo closed in 1967.

Government

Local government

Fair Lawn operates within the Faulkner Act (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under the Council-Manager plan E form of New Jersey municipal government, as implemented as of January 1, 1986, based on direct petition. The borough is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of a five-member borough council. Members of the Borough Council serve four-year terms in office and are 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 tha ...

in partisan elections in odd-numbered years on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election every other year as part of the November general election. All policy making power is concentrated in the council. At an annual reorganization meeting held after each election, the council selects a mayor, a deputy mayor, and a deputy mayor for community affairs from among its members. The mayor presides over its meetings with no separate policy-making power. A borough manager is appointed by the council to serve as the municipal chief executive and administrative official.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 160. , the members of the Borough Council are acting

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich ( D, term as mayor and on committee ends December 31, 2025), Deputy Mayor Cristina Cutrone (D, term on council ends 2027; term as deputy mayor ends 2025), Deputy Mayor of Community Affairs Joshua Reinitz (D, term on council and as deputy mayor ends 2025), Kris Krause (D, 2027) and Nathalie Salinas (D, 2027; appointed to serve an unexpired term).Mayor and Council
Borough of Fair Lawn. Accessed April 26, 2024.''2024 County and Municipal Directory''

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Official Statement of Vote 2023 General Election - November 7, 2023 Official Results

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Bergen County Statement of Vote November 2, 2021 Official results

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Lisa Swain when she took office in the General Assembly; Kurt Peluso replaced Swain as mayor and in turn Gail Rottenstrich replaced him as deputy mayor. Cutrone served on the council on an interim basis until the November 2018 general election, when she was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.Bergen County November 6, 2018 General Election Statement of Vote

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

when held in the council chambers in the Fair Lawn Municipal Building. Work sessions, where laws are discussed and prepared for adoption, are not usually televised.

Boards and commissions

Fair Lawn's government extends beyond the council and departments in the form of the following boards and commissions, which are generally staffed by volunteers appointed by the mayor and council: *Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention *American with Disabilities Advisory Committee *Arts Council *Broadway Special Improvement District *Cadmus House Museum *Environmental Commission *Garden Committee *Green Team Advisory Committee *Historic Preservation Commission *Open Space Committee *Planning Board *Property Maintenance *Rent Leveling Board *River Road Improvement Corporation *Shade Tree Advisory Committee *Zoning Board

Federal, state and county representation

Fair Lawn is located in New Jersey's 5th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 38th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 20,302 registered voters in Fair Lawn, of which 7,150 (35.2% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,613 (17.8% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 9,528 (46.9% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 11 voters registered as

Libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

or Greens.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 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed December 5, 2013. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 62.6% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 80.2% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide). In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

received 8,993 votes (53.6% vs. 54.2% countywide), ahead of Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

with 7,062 votes (42.1% vs. 41.1%) and other candidates with 709 votes (4.2% vs. 4.6%), among the 16,875 ballots cast by the borough's 22,745 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.2% (vs. 72.5% in Bergen County). In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 8,374 votes (54.1% vs. 54.8% countywide), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

with 6,815 votes (44.0% vs. 43.5%) and other candidates with 188 votes (1.2% vs. 0.9%), among the 15,473 ballots cast by the borough's 21,563 registered voters, for a turnout of 71.8% (vs. 70.4% in Bergen County). In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 8,834 votes (53.2% vs. 53.9% countywide), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

with 7,464 votes (45.0% vs. 44.5%) and other candidates with 147 votes (0.9% vs. 0.8%), among the 16,595 ballots cast by the borough's 21,378 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.6% (vs. 76.8% in Bergen County).2008 General Election Results for Fair Lawn
, ''

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

''. Accessed August 31, 2011. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

received 8,745 votes (54.3% vs. 51.7% countywide), ahead of Republican

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

with 7,177 votes (44.6% vs. 47.2%) and other candidates with 118 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 16,102 ballots cast by the borough's 20,372 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.0% (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 and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

received 57.1% of the vote (5,377 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 41.8% (3,932 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (100 votes), among the 9,642 ballots cast by the borough's 20,718 registered voters (233 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 46.5%. 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 f ...

received 5,503 ballots cast (51.1% vs. 48.0% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 4,590 votes (42.6% vs. 45.8%), Independent Chris Daggett with 521 votes (4.8% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with 71 votes (0.7% vs. 0.5%), among the 10,763 ballots cast by the borough's 20,714 registered voters, yielding a 52.0% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).

Education

The Fair Lawn Public Schools serves 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 (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of nine schools, had an enrollment of 5,529 students and 458.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 12.1:1.District information for Fair Lawn Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 1, 2024. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

.) are Thomas Edison School for preschool, John A. Forrest Elementary School with 269 students in grades K-4, Lyncrest Elementary School with 207 students in grades K-4, Henry B. Milnes Elementary School with 428 students in grades K-4, Radburn Elementary School with 393 students in grades K-4, Warren Point Elementary School with 392 students in grades K-4, Westmoreland Elementary School with 393 students in grades PreK-4, Memorial Middle School with 626 students in grades 5-8, Thomas Jefferson Middle School with 1,134 students in grades 5-8 and Fair Lawn High School with 1,624 students in grades 9-12. The

National Blue Ribbon Schools Program The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

has recognized Fair Lawn High School (in 1991 and 1998), Lyncrest Elementary School (2016) and Henry B. Milnes Elementary School (2020) as Blue Ribbon Schools. Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the

Bergen County Academies 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 all of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school was fo ...

in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district. St. Anne School is a Catholic elementary school that operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.

Emergency services

Fair Lawn has an all-

volunteer fire department 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 respo ...

. The department has four stations—Company 1 on George Street, Company 2 at Route 208 South (before Maple Avenue Bridge), Company 3 located at the corner of Plaza Road and Rosalie Street and Company 4 on Radburn Road. Fair Lawn residents are served by the all volunteer Fair Lawn Volunteer Ambulance, Inc., which provides 24/7

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

. This service is equipped with four state of the art ambulances stocked with all necessary supplies to handle any medical emergency. Fair Lawn is also served by the all-volunteer Fair Lawn Rescue Squad. The squad provides heavy rescue and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) services to the residents and businesses of the borough. Fair Lawn also has a police department that was founded in 1930. In 2014, the department responded to over 400 calls.

Transportation

Roads

Fair Lawn is interwoven by a robust network of roads. , 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 transport ...

. Fair Lawn is traversed by two state highways,

, which connects Fair Lawn to

via the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey, with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named after George W ...

, and New Jersey Route 208, which links Fair Lawn to the New York City bypass highway

Interstate 287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving northern New Jersey and the counties of Rockland County, New York ...

. Fair Lawn has several main roads crossing through it forming a rough 3x3 grid. Running north–south are Saddle River Road, Plaza Road, and River Road ( County Route 507) while Broadway, Morlot Avenue, and Fair Lawn Avenue run east–west, and Route 208 runs northwest–southeast. Running east–west between and parallel to Morlot and Fair Lawn Avenues is Berdan Avenue, a residential thoroughfare which is bisected by Route 208 into two discontinuous segments, the western one of which contains Fair Lawn High School. Broadway becomes Route 4 heading into Paramus and is less than from the George Washington Bridge. Fair Lawn Avenue is considered the borough's main street, containing its borough hall, police station, and public library. The road goes west over the

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

into Paterson, and on the east, Fair Lawn Avenue ends at Saddle River Road, which through Dunkerhook Park becomes Dunkerhook Road, and becomes Century Road once in Paramus, at Paramus Road. The intersection of Fair Lawn Avenue and Plaza Road form what could be considered a "town center", with several shopping plazas and the Radburn train station all within walking distance. In October 2015, a community meeting was held to discuss a vision for this corridor. Other commercial areas include Broadway and River Road. Route 208 has its southern terminus in Fair Lawn and bisects the borough from the northwest to the southeast, where it eventually merges with Broadway to become Route 4 just west of Fair Lawn's border with Paramus. Taken the other direction, Route 208 flows northwest to

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

. Numerous commercial establishments and office buildings line Route 208 along the northwestern half of this limited access highway's trajectory through Fair Lawn. South of Route 4, Saddle River Road goes through the eastern side of Fair Lawn and into Saddle Brook, where it provides a link to both the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...

and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

. North of Route 4, Saddle River Road provides a link to Glen Rock.

Grid-based address system

Fair Lawn uses a street address numbering system in which most Fair Lawn addresses are given hyphenated numbers. The address of the borough's public library, for example, is 10-01 Fair Lawn Ave. Less than 1% of addresses in New Jersey use this kind of numbering system and Fair Lawn's nearly 10,000 hyphenated addresses account for nearly half of them. This numbering system is also used in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York City. Exceptions to this numbering system generally exist on the Glen Rock, Hawthorne, and Saddle Brook sides of Fair Lawn and within the Radburn development. The system, dating at least as far back as the 1930s, was designed to allow emergency personnel to quickly locate addresses. The first numbers (before the dash) correspond to block-distances from Broadway (on streets that run North-South) and to the numbered streets in the borough (example: 2nd Street, 17th Street, etc.) on the streets that run East-West; with the highest numbers being in the low 40s, and the lowest numbers being 0–30, etc. Addresses south of Broadway / Route 4 start with a zero and a hyphen, which can cause confusion with those unfamiliar with the grid system. Most GPS systems and online address entry forms do not accept the dash, though addresses entered without the dash are typically handled properly.Diduch, Mary
"Fair Lawn's number maze: Hyphenated addresses can be confusing"
''

'', February 1, 2015, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

as of August 10, 2016. Accessed September 16, 2017. "Few municipalities use the system; Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City, is one that does. Of the 3.9 million addresses in the state, 21,970 have hyphenated addresses. Nearly half — about 10,000 — are in Fair Lawn, with Newark trailing with about 6,000, according to the Postal Service. ... Homes and buildings south of Broadway — Route 4 — have a zero before the hyphen, followed by the building number. Structures north of Broadway are given a number before the hyphen that corresponds to the street."

Public transportation

Fair Lawn is served by the Radburn and Broadway train stations on the

Bergen County Line, which offers service to

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

via the

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by eight NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, an NJ T ...

, and connections at

to Penn Station in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

and to most other NJ Transit train lines. NJ Transit buses include the 144, 145, 148, 160, 164 and

196 Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this yea ...

routes 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 station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving ab ...

in Midtown Manhattan; the 171 and 175 to the

George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is a commuter Bus station, bus terminal at the east end of the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The bus stati ...

; and the 746,

758 __NOTOC__ Year 758 (Roman numerals, DCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 758 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent ...

and 770 lines, offering local service. Spanish Transportation and its jitney buses / guaguas operate out of its terminal located one block from the NJ Transit Paterson Terminal on Broadway in downtown Paterson. The two lines, the Broadway and Main Street jitneys, begin at its respective Main Terminal on Broadway, with the Broadway- Washington Heights line heading west on Broadway with frequent local stops then continuing onto Route 4 before crossing the

and dropping commuters off in front of the

with access to the A Train. The Main Street- 42nd Street route heads south down Main Street and makes frequent local stops through Clifton and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's 16th-most-populous municipality,Lincoln Tunnel, dropping commuters off via 42nd Street in front of the

Aviation

Fair Lawn lies north of

, approaches to which are directly over Fair Lawn, and northwest of Teterboro Airport.

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

is away and

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...

is located to the east, both located in New York City.

Popular culture

* In the 1976 film ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

'', when Travis Bickle (

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

) is talking to a Secret Service agent, he provides a false name (Henry Krinkle), and a false address (154 Hopper Avenue, Fair Lawn, New Jersey). There is a Hopper Avenue in Fair Lawn, but 154 Hopper Avenue does not exist, and the ZIP Code he provides is also incorrect (61045, which is actually in Kings, Illinois). * In 1981

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band The Misfits, who later became one of the original pioneers of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

, recorded their studio demo titled "The Fairlawn Sessions" at New Found Sound Studio with original singer Glen Danzig. * In the 1996 Mel Gibson movie ''

Ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...

'', Fair Lawn is seen when Gibson is told to turn from Route 4 onto Saddle River Road (Fair Lawn) and into the rock quarry (which is actually located in Haledon, New Jersey). * In the 2004 movie ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

'', Fair Lawn can be seen on the map that Detective Washburn (

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

) is reading. The map is fake, since it shows a fictional uncompleted highway off the

in Oradell. * At the beginning of the "Pine Barrens" episode of the television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'', Mob boss Tony Soprano tells Paulie Walnuts and protege

Christopher Moltisanti Christopher Moltisanti, portrayed by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character of the HBO TV series ''The Sopranos''. He is Tony Soprano's protégé and a member of the DiMeo crime family, rising from associate to captain over the course o ...

to visit a Russian mobster, Valery, in Fair Lawn. However, this scene was shot in Paterson. A scene in the episode " The Happy Wanderer" was filmed in front of the historic Radburn Building. * Fair Lawn was featured in the movie ''

The Other Guys ''The Other Guys'' is a 2010 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote it with Chris Henchy. It stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg with Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samu ...

'' starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The two main characters travel to Fair Lawn, New Jersey to get accounting files.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Fair Lawn include: * Tom Acker (1930–2021), former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

* Matt Ahearn (born 1959), former member of the

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 ...

who represented the 38th Legislative District from 2002–2004 * Ian Axel (born 1985), singer-songwriter, pianist, and member of the band

A Great Big World A Great Big World is an American musical duo from New York made up of singer/songwriters Ian Axel and Chad King and signed to Epic Records. The group is best known for their single "This Is the New Year", which was performed by the cast in an epi ...

* Jeffrey Boam (1946–2000), screenwriter best known for ''

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...

'' and ''

Lethal Weapon 2 ''Lethal Weapon 2'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor and Patsy Kensit. It is a sequel to the 1987 film '' Letha ...

'' and '' 3'' * Steve Bornstein (born 1952), President and CEO of the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

Brendan Burke Brendan Gilmore Burke (December 8, 1988 – February 5, 2010) was an athlete and student manager at Miami University for the Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey, RedHawks men's ice hockey team. The youngest son of Brian Burke (ice hockey), Brian Bu ...

(born 1984), sportscaster for the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated with the National Hockey League's (NHL) New Jersey D ...

* Anthony Campanile (born 1982), linebackers coach for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

and former defensive backs coach for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

* Gérard Debaets (1899–1959), Belgian

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

* Russell Dermond (1936–2015), sprint canoer who competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics * John E. Dohms (1948–2012), researcher of the

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

of avian diseases * Barry Edelstein (born 1965), theatre director, author, and educator who serves as Artistic Director of the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collec ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

* W. Cary Edwards (1944–2010), politician who served as the

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

from 1986 to 1989 * Steven Ehrlich (born 1946),

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who is the founding partner of the practice Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects, formerly known as Ehrlich Architects * Tracy Eisser (born 1989), rower who won the gold medal in the

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each h ...

s at the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette-le-Lac in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by ...

and competed at the Olympics * Philip Ettinger (born 1985), actor known for his roles in '' First Reformed'' (2017), '' Tyrel'' (2018) and in the 2020 film '' The Evening Hour'' *

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

(born 1948), singer-songwriter and co-founder and lead singer of

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Originally having a traditional band lineup, Becker and Fagen cho ...

* Nicholas Felice (1927–2021), politician who served in the

and was mayor of Fair Lawn * Jim Finn (born 1976), football player with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

* Helene Fortunoff (1933–2021), businessperson who headed Fortunoff * David Gewirtz, CNN columnist, cyberterrorism adviser and presidential scholar * Robert M. Gordon (politician), Robert M. Gordon (born 1950), member of the New Jersey Senate since 2008, who served in the

from 2004 to 2008 and was mayor of Fair Lawn from 1988 to 1991 * Neal Gottlieb (born 1977), ice cream entrepreneur who founded Three Twins organic ice cream * Boris Gulko (born 1947), International Grandmaster and former winner of the U.S. Chess Championship * Larry Hochman (born 1953), orchestrator and composer who won four Emmy Awards for his original music on the TV series ''Wonder Pets!'' and a Tony Award for his orchestrations for ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' * Šaćir Hot (born 1991), soccer player for the New York Red Bulls, the United States men's national soccer team, United States U-20 team, and

; attended Fair Lawn High School * Allen Kay (1945–2022), advertising executive * Julia Knitel, actress and singer, best known for her work in the theatre * Sally Kornbluth (born 1960), Cell biology, cell biologist and academic administrator, serving as the 18th List of presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology * Naomi Kutin (born 2001), world record-setting powerlifting, powerlifter * George Lefferts (1921–2018), writer, producer, playwright, poet, and director * Steve Malzberg (born 1959), radio host * Antonio Matarazzo (born 1993), professional association football, soccer Midfielder (association football), midfielder who currently plays for Orlando City B in the United Soccer League, USL * Pellegrino Matarazzo (born 1977), professional soccer coach who is currently the manager of VfB Stuttgart * Mike Meola (1905–1976),

who played between the 1933 and 1936 in baseball, 1936 seasons * Lee Meredith (born 1947 as Judi-Lee Sauls), actress who appeared in ''The Producers (1968 film), The Producers'', ''Hello Down There'' and ''The Sunshine Boys (1975 film), The Sunshine Boys'' * The Kid Mero (born 1983), Writer, comedian, TV personality, voice actor, YouTube personality, music blogger and Twitter personality * Jillian Morgese (born 1989), actress * Mary Gordon Murray (born 1953), actress and singer who was nominated for a Tony Awards, Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical for ''Little Me (musical), Little Me'' * Millie Perkins (born 1938), actress, who played the title role in her first film as the star of ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' * Ron Perranoski (1936–2020), Major League Baseball pitcher from 1961-1973 * Philip Plotch (born 1961), author, professor and transportation planner * Billy Price (singer), Billy Price (born 1949), soul singer * Maurice Purtill (1916–1994), drummer in the Big Band era, most notably the Glenn Miller Orchestra * Sarah-Nicole Robles (born 1991), actress and voice actress, best known for providing the voice of Luz Noceda in the Disney Channel animated series ''The Owl House'' * Roberta Rogow (born 1942), writer of speculative fiction and fan fiction, and a filk music singer-songwriter * Steve Rothman (born 1952), Congressman who represented New Jersey's 9th congressional district from 1997–2013 * Ira Rubin (1930–2013), world champion professional contract bridge player * C. Gus Rys (–1980), politician who was mayor of Fair Lawn and served three terms in the

* Amy Scheer, professional sports executive who is general manager of the Connecticut Whale (PHF), Connecticut Whale of the Premier Hockey Federation * Charlie Schlatter (born 1966), actor * Loren Schoenberg (born 1958), jazz musician, conductor and educator who is founding director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem * Dave Sime (1936–2016), sprinter who won a silver medal in the 100m dash at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome * Regina Spektor (born 1980), singer * Brendan Suhr (born 1951), Director of Program Development for the UCF Knights men's basketball team and former NBA scout and assistant coach * Steve Swallow (born 1940), jazz double bassist and bass guitarist * Helen Van Wyk, (1930-1994), Artist, author and PBS television host * Donna Vivino (born 1978), stage and screen actress, who has performed the starring role of Elphaba in the Broadway National Tour production of ''Wicked (musical), Wicked'' * Reginald Weir (1911–1987), African-American tennis player and physician * Julius Wiggins (1928–2001), publisher and founder of ''Silent News'', the first newspaper for the deaf * Ben Younger (born 1977), screenwriter and director of films including ''Boiler Room (film), Boiler Room'', ''Bleed for This'' and ''Prime (film), Prime'' * Benjamin Yudin (born 1944), Rabbi and founder of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn * Herb Zarrow (1925–2008), magician who created the Zarrow shuffle

Historic sites

The

Fishing Weir is a prominent archaeological feature just north of the Fair Lawn Avenue Bridge. It was constructed by

tribe members and is the best-preserved of several such weirs on the

. Fair Lawn is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places: * G. V. H. Berdan House – 1219 River Road (added 1983) * Richard J. Berdan House – 24-07 Fair Lawn Avenue (added 1983): Purchased by Richard J. Berdan in 1808, the home was constructed for the Bogert family . * Cadmus-Folly House – 19-21 Fair Lawn Avenue (added 1983) * Peter Garretson House – 4-02 River Road (added 1974): With a homestead that dates back to 1719, the sandstone house is one of the oldest surviving structures in Bergen County. The Garretson Forge and Farm Restoration operates the site, owned by the county, as a farm museum. * Naugle House – 42-49 Dunkerhook Road (added 1983): Constructed in 1776, the home was visited by the Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette. The site was purchased by the borough in 2010 for $1.7 million, and a plan has been formulated to repair the home and preserve the grounds as open space. * Radburn – Irregular pattern between Radburn Road and Erie RR. tracks (added 1975) * Radburn station – Pollitt Drive (added 1984) * Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House – 41-25 Dunkerhook Road (added 1983): Constructed in Dutch stone by Jacob Vanderbeck in the 1750s, the house has had a number of prominent owners, including Fair Lawn mayor and Assemblyman Richard Vander Plaat. Owned by a developer who has sought to use the site to construct a large-scale assisted-living facility, the house has been listed on Preservation New Jersey's 2013 list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey.10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey 2013: Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House
, Preservation New Jersey. Accessed October 11, 2013. Fair Lawn also has a close association with two historic areas along the Saddle River in Paramus. One is the Easton Tower, a Bergen County historic site that consists of a stone tower and a small dam which mark the site of the colonial-era Jacob Zabriskie mill and the 19th–20th centuries-era Arcola community park. Another is the Dunkerhook community, focused around the New Jersey designated historic road, Dunkerhook Road. The western section of the community includes the Naugle House and the Jacob Vanderbeck Jr. House, and the eastern section included a slave and free-African American community that consisted of a school, a cemetery, a church, and houses including the now-demolished Zabriskie Tenant House.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Fair Lawn, New Jersey, 1924 establishments in New Jersey Boroughs in Bergen County, New Jersey Boroughs in New Jersey Faulkner Act (council–manager) Populated places established in 1924 Russian-American culture in New Jersey Russian communities in the United States Ukrainian communities in the United States Ukrainian-American culture in New Jersey

History and historical significance

Geography

Neighborhoods

Ethnic diversity

History of ethnic diversity

Immigrants from former Soviet Union

Demographics

2010 census

2000 census

Economy

Sports

Parks and recreation

Government

Local government

Boards and commissions

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Emergency services

Transportation

Roads

Grid-based address system

Public transportation

Aviation

Popular culture

Notable people

Historic sites

References

Further reading

External links