Verona is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Essex County in the

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 ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,572, an increase of 1,240 (+9.3%) from the 2010 census count of 13,332, which in turn reflected a decline of 201 (−1.5%) from the 13,533 counted in the 2000 census.

History

Verona and several neighboring towns were all originally one consolidated area known as the

Horseneck Tract The Horseneck Tract was an area in present-day Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that consisted of what are now the municipalities of Caldwell, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Verona, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Roseland, and portions of ...

18th century

In 1702, a group of settlers left Newark and purchased a large tract of land northwest of their home city for the equivalent of a few hundred dollars from 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 ...

Native Americans. This piece of land extended west and north to 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 ...

, south to the town center of what would become

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

, and east to the First Watchung Mountain, and was called Horseneck by the natives because it resembled the neck and head of a horse. What was then known as Horseneck contained most of the present day northern Essex County towns: Verona, along with

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

West Caldwell West Caldwell is a township located in the West Essex area in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located approximately west of Manhattan and northwest of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the townsh ...

, Cedar Grove, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell, and Roseland are all located entirely in Horseneck, and parts of what are today

, Montclair, and West Orange also were contained in the Horseneck Tract. After the Revolutionary War, the area of Horseneck was incorporated as "Caldwell Township" in honor of local war hero James Caldwell, a pastor who used pages from his church's bibles as wadding to ignite the ammo in soldiers' cannons and helped to drive the British out of Horseneck.

19th century

In the 19th century, the area of present-day Verona was part of what was known as Vernon Valley. The name was rejected when residents applied to the United States Postal Service, as the name had already been in use for an area in Sussex County. Verona was chosen as the alternative name for the community. The township's name is derived from

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, Italy. At various times between 1798 and 1892, issues arose which caused conflict between the Caldwell and Verona areas. These included a desire of the citizens of Verona to more closely control their own governmental affairs. With the population growing, Verona residents wanted to centrally locate essential services such as schools and places of worship, as well as problems with the water supply; and the disposition of road repair funds. On February 17, 1892, the citizens of Verona voted to secede from Caldwell Township to form Verona Township.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 194. Accessed May 30, 2024.

20th century

Further growth and the need for a water system and other public utilities found Verona moving ahead of the other half of the township and in 1902 the two areas decided to separate into two separate municipalities: Verona Township and Verona Borough. It took two sessions of the state legislature to approve the new borough, but on April 18, 1907, the borough of Verona was approved 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 ...

, pending the results of a referendum held on April 30, 1907, in which the new borough passed by a 224–77 margin. In 1907, residents of the newly formed borough had sought to disassociate themselves from the Overbrook County Insane Asylum and the Newark City Home, a reform school, and from the settlement of Cedar Grove, which was considered a settlement of farmers. On April 9, 1908, Verona Township changed its name to Cedar Grove Township. In 1981, the borough was one of seven Essex County municipalities to pass a referendum to become a township, joining four municipalities that had already made the change, of what would ultimately be more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships in order take advantage of federal

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sales, sale of goods and services among the stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders or Benefactor (law), contributors. It should not be confused with profit ...

policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis. In 1976, Verona Borough received $213,000 in federal aid while similarly sized Cedar Grove Township received $1.24 million, suggesting financial benefits to structuring communities as townships as opposed to boroughs when possible. Today, Verona uses just "Township of Verona" in most official documents.

Geography

According to the

U.S. 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 ...

, the township had a total area of 2.82 square miles (7.29 km²), including 2.79 square miles (7.24 km²) of land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km²) of water (0.74%).

Unincorporated communities 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 ...

, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Hillcrest and Verona Lake. The township is bordered by Cedar Grove Township, Essex Fells, Montclair Township, North Caldwell and West Orange Township. Verona lies between two mountains, the First and Second

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lenape name for them, Wach Unks ...

with a small river, the Peckman, flowing at the bottom of the valley towards the

at Little Falls.

Climate

Verona has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(Dfa), with warm/hot humid summers and moderately cold winters. The climate is slightly cooler overall than in

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 ...

, especially at night, because there is no

urban heat island Urban areas usually experience the urban heat island (UHI) effect; that is, they are significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds ar ...

effect, as well as higher elevation and a more interior location (greater distance away from the moderating effects of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

). January tends to be the coldest month, with average high temperatures in the upper 30s (

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...

) and lows in the lower 20s. July is the warmest months with high temperatures in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 60s. From April to June and from September to early November, Verona enjoys temperatures from the lower 60s to upper 70s. Rainfall is plentiful, with around a year. Snowfall is common from December to March and

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

s can bring significant amounts of snow. In January 1996, a weather station in nearby

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, recorded over of snow from the

North American blizzard of 1996 The North American blizzard of 1996 was a severe nor'easter that paralyzed the United States East Coast with up to of wind-driven snow from January 6 to January 8, 1996. The City University of New York reported that the storm "dropped 20 inches ...

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 13,332 people, 5,315 households, and 3,524 families in the township. 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 5,523 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 91.24% (12,164)

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 ...

, 1.97% (262) Black or African American, 0.03% (4) Native American, 4.03% (537) Asian, 0.01% (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 ...

, 1.11% (148) from other races, and 1.62% (216) from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 5.96% (795) of the population. Of the 5,315 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18; 56.1% were married couples living together; 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 33.7% were non-families. Of all households, 29.7% were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.12. 23.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 89.1 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 86.0 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

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 ...

showed that (in 2010

inflation-adjusted In economics, nominal value refers to value measured in terms of absolute money amounts, whereas real value is considered and measured against the actual goods or services for which it can be exchanged at a given time. Real value takes into acco ...

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 $93,839 (with a margin of error of +/− $6,753) and the median family income was $126,000 (+/− $9,193). Males had a median income of $71,917 (+/− $9,659) versus $52,433 (+/− $5,765) 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 township was $47,689 (+/− $3,282). About 1.8% of families and 2.3% 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 0.7% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census there were 13,533 people, 5,585 households, and 3,697 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 5,719 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 92.99%

, 1.53%

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 ...

, 0.02% Native American, 3.41% Asian, 0.06%

, 0.71% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.45% of the population.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for Verona township, Essex County, New Jersey
,

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 ...

. Accessed January 28, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 - Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for Verona township, Essex County, New Jersey
,

. Accessed September 6, 2012. There were 5,585 households, out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% 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, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.06. In the township the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $74,619, and the median income for a family was $97,673. Males had a median income of $60,434 versus $43,196 for females. The

for the township was $41,202, making it the eighth highest community in Essex County and 95th highest in the State of New Jersey. About 1.4% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the

, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Annin & Co., the world's oldest and largest flag manufacturer, had its main manufacturing plant in Verona from 1916 to 2013. The building was sold and redeveloped as apartments, which opened to tenants in 2018. Annin is the official flag manufacturer to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, and a major supplier to the United States Government. Annin produced flags that were used on

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

, at the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

s, atop

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

and the rubble of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

. Annin's Verona factory also produced 186 stick flags that were carried to the Moon in the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

lunar lander and later distributed as mementos of the first Moon landing. Annin does not claim that the flag planted on the Moon was produced by Annin, either in Verona or at a company plant in Bloomfield, although the company's president says that it has been assured by multiple sources that it was. The stars sections of all Annin flags were produced in Verona then. Annin President Carter Beard said that uniforms of the Apollo 11 astronauts were decorated with a silk-screened patch that may have been produced in Verona.

Parks and recreation

* Eagle Rock Reservation, a forest reserve and recreational park. Most of this reservation is in West Orange or in Montclair. * Everett Field, a small

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

park dedicated to the family who donated the land to the township. *

Hilltop Reservation The Hilltop Reservation is a nature preserve located in Essex County, New Jersey, in the host communities of Caldwell, Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona. It has over , and is the most recent addition to the Essex County Park System. It is co ...

, opened in spring 2003, includes the grounds of the former Essex Mountain Sanatorium, is home to many hiking and mountain biking trails. * Kip's Castle Park, the newest park to the

Essex County Park System The Essex County Park System comprises the county-run parks of Essex County, New Jersey. The Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs is in charge of the upkeep and preservation of the parks, reservations and a numbe ...

, features a start-of-the-20th-century castle-style

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

with large

carriage house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...

on . * Verona Park, the fifth-largest in the

, it was designed by the same designer as Central Park in New York City. *

Lenape Trail The Lenape Trail is a trail through Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, connecting many county parks and reservations, wooded spaces, and historical sites. It begins in Newark, New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey and ends in Millburn, New Jersey, ...

, a trail that runs from the Pulaski Skyway in Newark to the Passaic River in Roseland. The Verona section runs from the West Essex Trail, down and through Verona Park, and up toward Eagle Rock Reservation before entering West Orange. * Verona Community Center, built in 1997, provides a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

, game room,

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

, and

conference room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings. Room It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...

for any group or organization. also adjacent are: ** Veteran's Field, a grass turf field, provides two softball/baseball fields as well as an athletic field ** Centennial Field, an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

field, opened in 2007. ** Liberty Field, an artificial turf field, opened in 2015. ** Freedom Field, an artificial turf field, opened in 2016. * Verona Pool, features an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...

of various depths, with two

water slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, water chute, or hydroslide) is a type of Playground slide, slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at swimming pools or water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and ...

s and two

springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

s, as well as a wading pool for younger children;

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

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

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

and

shuffleboard Shuffleboard (Deck shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a marked scoring area. As a more generic term, it refers t ...

courts, in addition to

ping-pong Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

tables, full showers and a snackbar * West Essex Trail, acquired in 1985 through Green Acres funding, is a trail which runs from Arnold Way in Verona to the Passaic County line near the

, on the former right-of-way of the Caldwell Branch of the old

Erie Lackawanna Railroad The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route ...

Government

Local government

Verona operates within the

Faulkner Act The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor ...

, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Council-Manager form of New Jersey municipal government. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of the five-member Township Council, who 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 ...

on a

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

basis to staggered four-year terms of office, with either two or three seats coming up for election in odd-numbered years as part of the May municipal election. At a reorganization meeting held on July 1 after each election, the council selects a mayor and deputy mayor from among its members.''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 The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 169. , the members of the Verona Township Council are

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 ...

Christopher Tamburro (term on council and as mayor ends June 30, 2025),

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

Jack McEvoy (term on council and as deputy mayor ends 2025), Cynthia Holland (2025), Christine McGrath (2027) and Alex Roman (2027).Township Council
Township of Verona. Accessed January 22, 2025.Essex County Directory

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county,< ...

. Accessed January 22, 2025.May 9, 2023 Municipal Election Unofficial Results

Clerk, May 18, 2023. Accessed June 1, 2023.Municipal Election May 11, 2021 Unofficial Results

, updated May 11, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2022. The day-to-day operations of the township are supervised by Township Manager Kevin O'Sullivan, who has served as chief executive officer since taking office in February 2025.

Federal, state, and county representation

Verona is located in the 10th Congressional District2022 Redistricting Plan

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 8, 2022. and is part of New Jersey's 40th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 9,911 registered voters in Verona, of which 3,194 (32.2%) were registered as Democrats, 2,329 (23.5%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 4,387 (44.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no 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. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, 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 50.3% of the vote (3,662 cast), 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 48.9% (3,563 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (61 votes), among the 7,366 ballots cast by the township's 10,396 registered voters (80 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 70.9%. In the 2008 presidential election, 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 ...

received 49.6% of the vote (3,730 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 48.8% (3,664 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (57 votes), among the 7,515 ballots cast by the township's 9,750 registered voters, for a turnout of 77.1%. In the 2004 presidential election, 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 ...

received 51.4% of the vote (3,900 ballots cast), outpolling 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 ...

with 47.4% (3,597 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (67 votes), among the 7,587 ballots cast by the township's 9,697 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 78.2. 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 59.2% of the vote (2,645 cast), ahead of Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

with 39.6% (1,768 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (56 votes), among the 4,527 ballots cast by the township's 10,442 registered voters (58 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 43.4%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 49.1% of the vote (2,521 ballots cast), ahead of 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 ...

with 40.1% (2,062 votes), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 9.4% (482 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (43 votes), among the 5,137 ballots cast by the township's 9,738 registered voters, yielding a 52.8% turnout.

Current and previous mayors

Education

Public schools

The

Verona Public Schools The Verona Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Verona, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The Verona Public Schools (VPS) consist ...

is the public

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 ...

in Verona, which 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 ...

. The district has six campuses: four neighborhood elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 2,211 students and 182.3 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 Verona 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 15, 2022. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are Brookdale Avenue School with 131 students in grades K–4, Frederic N. Brown School with 274 students in grades K–4, Forest Avenue School with 213 students in grades K–4, Laning Avenue School with 233 students in grades Pre-K–4, Henry B. Whitehorne Middle School with 643 students in grades 5–8, and Verona High School with 686 students in grades 9–12. The high school mascot is the "

Hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

". However, this mascot has become controversial as a result of opposition from previous school Superintendent Earl Kim.Starnes, Joe Samuel
"Soapbox; Smile When You Say That"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', March 19, 2006. Accessed November 6, 2019. "It has been Verona High School's nickname for more than 60 years, and the original Hillbilly mascot, dating back to the 1950s, carried a rifle and a jug of liquor. In recent years his image was softened by replacing the gun and the moonshine with a fishing pole.... In 2004, the Verona school superintendent urged a change of the logo, citing its demeaning connotations, and he refused to pay for golf team shirts with the Hillbilly caricature." In the face of community support for the traditional name, the mascot was retained. The original mascot was depicted with a rifle and jug of moonshine. The rifle and jug and have been replaced with a fishing pole and a dog. The district has been recognized on three occasions with the Best Practice Award, honoring specific practices implemented by a district for exemplary and/or innovative strategies. In addition, three schools in the district was named a "Star School" by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. The school was the 70th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide in ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United St ...

'' magazine's September 2012 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 53rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. In 2020, Verona High School was the 31st-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 305 schools statewide.

Private schools

Founded in 1924 and located near Verona Park, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School serves students in pre-school through eighth grade, operating under the auspices of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The mother church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Hea ...

. The school was recognized by 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, ...

in 2011, one of 305 schools recognized nationwide and one of 14 selected from New Jersey. The school was honored a second time when it was one of eight private schools recognized in 2017 as an Exemplary High Performing School by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program of the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

. Academy360 Lower school, a school run by Spectrum360, is a private

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

school approved by the

, which serves children ages 3–21 who face learning, language and social challenges. Dating back to an orphanage founded in 1883 in

, the school moved to Verona in 1999 after remodeling a building that had been donated by Hoffmann-LaRoche. The name of the school was changed from "The Children's Institute" in the fall of 2016.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Essex 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 ...

. Within the limits of the township lies Route 23 and CR 506 which runs directly through the township. CR 577 runs through the southeastern portion of Verona. Other highways near Verona include 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 ...

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 ...

and the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

Public transportation

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 ...

bus routes 11 and 29 serve the township, providing service to and from Newark. In September 2012, as part of budget cuts, NJ Transit suspended service to Newark on the 75 line.

DeCamp Bus Lines DeCamp Bus Lines was an apportioned bus company serving Essex County, New Jersey and Passaic County, New Jersey, with charter services. Until 2023, DeCamp also operated commuter line-run services to and from Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the ...

offers commuter service on their 33 bus route between

and 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 ...

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 ...

Train stations, also run by New Jersey Transit, are located in the neighboring towns of Little Falls and Montclair. Prior to 1966, the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

's Caldwell Branch (a part of New York and Greenwood Lake Railway) ran passenger service through Verona from Great Notch. The line was removed in 1979 after a washout four years prior."Old Caldwell Branch at End of the Line"
''

'', June 10, 1979, p. NJ 25. Accessed October 10, 2009. On July 14, 2010, the township of Verona announced that it was honoring the old freight shed at the Verona station, the last standing structure of the railroad. The project of naming it a historic landmark in Verona, the first of many proposed by the Verona Landmarks Preservation Commission. Proposals include moving the structure to a more accessible place in Verona or turning the shed into a one-room museum.Corbett, Nic
"Verona honors history of forgotten railroad"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'', July 14, 2010. Accessed June 26, 2017. In the early 20th century, Verona was serviced by a trolley line which operated on Bloomfield Avenue. The tracks still lie underneath the roadway, and are visible when the roadway is under construction. Verona is from

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 ...

in Newark /

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

, and almost twice as far from

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 ...

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 ...

Local media

Newspaper

Verona is served by two weekly newspapers: The ''Verona-Cedar Grove Times'' and the ''Verona Observer''. ''

'', the largest newspaper in New Jersey, covers major news stories that occur in Verona.

Internet

Local news is covered by the ''Verona-Cedar Grove Times'', www.myveronanj.com, www.verona.patch.com, and by the official township website.

Radio

Verona falls in the New York Market, as well as the Morristown Market.

Television

Verona Cable television is served by Comcast of New Jersey. However, in 2007, Verizon introduced its Verizon FiOS service to the township. Comcast Channel 35 & Verizon FiOS Channel 24 is Verona Television (VTV) a

Government-access television In the United States, government-access television (GATV) is a type of specialty television channel created by government entities (generally local governments) and broadcast over cable TV systems or, in some cases, over-the-air broadcast t ...

(GATV) channel that runs council meetings, school board meetings and community functions, as well as any other Verona-related

Public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

videos submitted by the residents. VTV is maintained by the Verona Public Library.

Community services

* The Verona Fire Department is one of the largest fully volunteer fire departments in Essex County, staffed by over 60 firefighters. They have two stations, three engines, one ladder truck, one reserve engine, one brush truck, one utility truck, two command vehicles, and a heavy rescue. The department, founded in 1909 shortly after Verona was created, celebrated its 100th year of service in 2009. * The Verona Rescue Squad (volunteer) has three ambulances, two EMS bikes, one first responder vehicle and one command vehicle in one station on Church Street. Formed in 1927 it is one of the oldest EMS organizations in the state. Boasting over 120 members it is one of the largest volunteer EMS agencies in the area. * The main street in Verona is Bloomfield Avenue, where the Town Hall, Library, Middle School, and many shops, restaurants, and businesses are located. * During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and his troops used Eagle Rock Reservation as one of a chain of observation posts to monitor British troop movements. * The Essex Mountain Sanatorium opened in 1902 as the Newark City Home for Girls. With

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

spreading through Newark, the site was converted into a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

in 1907, against the wishes of local residents. Its location at the highest point in Essex County was believed to be beneficial and the facility was known for its high recovery rate before it closed in 1977.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Verona include: * Tommy Albelin (born 1964), NHL defenseman for

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

and coach of De Paul High School hockey team *

Kevin Bannon Kevin Bannon (born June 11, 1957) is a former American men's college basketball head coach who most recently served as head coach at Rutgers University from 1997 through 2001. Prior to that he spent eight years as head coach of Rider University's ...

(born 1957), former men's college basketball head coach who was the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represents Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Rutgers University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition and competes in the Big Ten Conference. Rutgers made the NCAA Final Four in 1976 ...

team's head coach from 1997 through 2001 * Leila T. Bauman, painter *

John C. Bogle John Clifton "Jack" Bogle (May 8, 1929 – January 16, 2019) was an American investor, business magnate and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive of The Vanguard Group and is credited with popularizing the index fund. An avid in ...

(1929–2019), founder of

The Vanguard Group The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment adviser founded on May 1, 1975, and based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $10.4 trillion in global assets under management as of 31 January 2025. It is the largest provide ...

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

(born 1943), Olympic gold medalist at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, professional basketball player for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, US Senator from New Jersey, and 2000 Presidential hopeful *

Lorinda Cherry Lorinda Cherry ( Landgraf; November 18, 1944 – February 11, 2022) was an American computer scientist and programmer. Much of her career was spent at Bell Labs, where she was for many years a member of the original Unix Lab. Cherry developed se ...

(1944–2022), computer scientist and programmer who spent much of her career at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

* Marion Crecco (1930–2015), 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 ...

from 1986 to 2002 * Jay Curtis (1950–2018), author, producer, writer, director and actor, who co-directed ''75-0: The Documentary'', about a 1966 loss in a game of football by a score of 75–0 to

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentucky: ...

, part of a 32-game losing streak *

Peter David Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

(born 1956),

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

author who has used Verona as location in his fiction, such as location of villain

Morgan le Fay Morgan le Fay (; Welsh language, Welsh and Cornish language, Cornish: Morgen; with ''le Fay'' being garbled French language, French ''la Fée'', thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morgant Mor ...

in his first novel, '' Knight Life''

David, Peter Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

. ''But I Digress'' Collection; 1994;

Krause Publications Krause Publications is an American publisher of hobby magazines and books. The company was started by Chester L. Krause (19232016) in 1952 and published '' Numismatic News''. In the coin collecting community the company is best known for its ...

; Pages 206-208 * Dan DePalma (born 1989), wide receiver who has played for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

* Mary Dunleavy (born 1966), operatic soprano *

Anthony Fasano Anthony Joseph Fasano (born April 20, 1984) is an American former professional football tight end. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Fasano also played for ...

(born 1984),

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

David Festa David Festa (born March 8, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Festa attended Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, New Jersey and played college baseball at S ...

(born 2000), professional baseball pitcher for the

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

Geirry Garccia Geraldo A. Garccia (1952 – February 12, 2010), known professionally as Geirry Garccia or Geirry A. Garccia, was a Filipino animator, painter and filmmaker. A prominent figure in Philippine animation since the People Power Revolution, he was re ...

(1952–2010), animator, painter and filmmaker recognized as a "brainchild" of

Filipino animation Philippine animation, also known as Pinoy animation or Filipino animation, has a strong history of animation in Southeast Asia started in the mid-20th century. Pioneered in Cartooning in the Philippines, cartooning, the animation provided i ...

* Jed Graef (born 1942), swimmer, gold medalist in 200m backstroke at

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

* Barbara J. Griffiths (born 1949), diplomat who was the

United States Ambassador to Iceland Until 1874, Iceland was a dependency of Denmark rather than an independent nation. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. In 1918, The Act of Union, an agreement between Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fu ...

from 1999 to 2002 * Fred Hill Jr. (born 1959), coached

team * Fred Hill Sr. (1934–2019), former head coach of the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball is the varsity intercollegiate team representing Rutgers University in the sport of college baseball at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games a ...

team * Philip E. Hoffman (1908–1993), lawyer who served as national president of the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

and as American Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council *

Fred Krupp Fred Krupp has been the president of Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group since 1984. He has worked towards convincing corporations of the benefits of environmentalism. This has included convincing McD ...

, president of the

Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund or EDF (formerly known as Environmental Defense) is a United States–based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. The group is known for its work on issues including global warming, ecosystem restoration, oceans, an ...

, spent childhood in Verona *

Archie Lochhead Archie Lochhead (November 17, 1892 – January 15, 1971) was the first Director of the Exchange Stabilization Fund, Technical Assistant to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, and President ...

(1892–1971), first director of the

Exchange Stabilization Fund The Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) is an emergency reserve fund of the United States Treasury Department, normally used for foreign exchange intervention. This arrangement (as opposed to having the central bank intervene directly) allows the US ...

and president of the Universal Trading Corporation * John MacLean (born 1964), player and assistant coach for NHL's

* Phyllis Mangina (born 1959),

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is currently an assistant women's basketball coach at Saint Peter's *

Elmer Matthews Elmer M. Matthews (October 18, 1927 – February 5, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served three terms in the New Jersey General Assembly. Born in Orange, New Jersey, Matthews received his bachelor's degree from the University ...

(1927–2015), lawyer and politician who served three terms in the

* Nicole McLaughlin, artist and designer, best known for upcycled fashion pieces *

Jay Mohr Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr (born August 23, 1970) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and radio host. He is known for playing film producer Peter Dragon in the television comedy series '' Action'' in 1999, Professor Rick Payne in the television ...

(born 1970), actor, comedian and radio personality *

Jon Okafor Jon Okafor (born August 25, 1989) is an American association football, soccer player who plays as a midfielder. Career College and amateur Okafor played four years of College soccer in the United States, college soccer at Brown University betw ...

(born 1989), professional soccer midfielder * Eugénie Olson, novelist and editor *

Henry Orenstein Henry Orenstein (born Henryk Orenstein; October 13, 1923 – December 14, 2021) was a Polish-born Jewish-American toymaker, professional poker player, entrepreneur and Holocaust survivor who resided in Verona, New Jersey. A survivor of five N ...

(1923–2021), professional poker player, helped push Hasbro to produce

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

Kal Parekh Kal Parekh (Hindi: कल पारिख) is an Indian-American film and television actor best known for his starring role as detective Nick Patel in The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim and as Sanjeev, an Indian-American flight engineer in the Am ...

, film and television actor who played the role of Sanjeev, an Indian-American flight engineer in the ABC television series, ''

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

'', set in the 1960s *

Kenneth Posner Kenneth Posner is an American lighting designer, working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in American regional theatre. His most notable designs include the musicals '' Wicked'' and '' Hairspray'', two highly regarded musicals of the early 21st ce ...

, lighting designer for such Broadway shows as ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

'', ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, based on Amanda Brown's novel. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victo ...

'', ''

The Pirate Queen ''The Pirate Queen'' is a musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, French lyrics by Alain Boublil and English lyric adaptations by Richard Maltby Jr. and John Dempsey. The French book was written by Boublil and Schönberg and the Englis ...

'', and ''

The Coast of Utopia ''The Coast of Utopia'' is a 2002 trilogy of plays: ''Voyage'', ''Shipwreck'', and ''Salvage'', written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 T ...

'', the latter of which won him a Tony award *

Brian Rafalski Brian Christopher Rafalski (born September 28, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, in the SM-liiga for HPK and HIFK, in ...

(born 1973), hockey player,

defenseman *

Saul Robbins Saul Robbins (February 16, 1922 – June 13, 2010) was an American toy manufacturer, the co-founder of Remco, with his cousin Isaac Heller. Personal life Saul Robbins was born on February 16, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. He earned a bachelor's d ...

(1922–2010), toy manufacturer, co-founder of

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John Roosma John Sieba Roosma (September 3, 1900 – November 13, 1983) was an amateur basketball player during the 1920s. He played for the United States Military Academy for five years, graduating in 1926. The Passaic, New Jersey native was a prolific score ...

(1900–1983), captain of

Ernest Blood Ernest Artel Blood (October 4, 1872, Manchester, New Hampshire – February 5, 1955) was a high school and college men's basketball coach. He was best known for his "Wonder Teams" at New Jersey's Passaic High School, which lost only one game in t ...

's "Wonder Teams" who became first college player to total 1,000 points for his career while at

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* Joel Rosenblatt, musician best known as the longtime drummer for the jazz-fusion band

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* David M. Satz Jr. (1926–2009), lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for District of New Jersey from 1961 to 1969 *

Brenda Shaughnessy Brenda Shaughnessy (born 1970) is an Asian American poet most known for her poetry books ''Our Andromeda'' and ''So Much Synth''. Her book, ''Our Andromeda'', was named a Library Journal "Book of the Year," one of '' The New York Times's'' "100 Be ...

(born 1970), poet * Donald J. Strait (1918–2015),

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in the

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during

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and a career officer in the

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Craig Morgan Teicher Craig Morgan Teicher (born 1979) is an American author, poet and literary critic. His poetry collection, ''The Trembling Answers'', won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 2018. He currently lives in New Jersey. Biography Teicher was born in N ...

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in 2018Lehman, David; and Hirsch, Edward
''Best American Poetry 2016''
p. 190.

Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, 2016. . Accessed January 19, 2020. "Brenda Shaughnessy was born in Okinawa, Japan, in 1970, and is currently associate professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark.... She lives with her husband, the poet Craig Morgan Teicher, and their two children in Verona, New Jersey." * Rod Trafford (born 1978), former NFL tight end who played for the

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and the

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(born 1976), actor and comedian

In popular culture

* The

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

crime drama ''

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'' was set in the area, and the storyline often included scenes filmed in Verona. Livia Soprano's house is in Verona in the series

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, and a Verona Rescue Squad ambulance is seen when she dies in the episode " Proshai, Livushka". In the episode "

Cold Cuts Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, delicatessens, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in ...

", it's established that

Bobby Baccalieri Robert Baccalieri Jr., portrayed by Steve Schirripa, is a fictional character on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. He is nicknamed "Bobby Bacala". A third-generation gangster, Bobby is first shown as a soldier and then later top aide to Corrado ...

and

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live in Verona. * The 1987 horror movie ''Doom Asylum'' was filmed at the now demolished Essex Mountain Sanatorium. * '' Pizza My Heart'', an

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

movie, is a contemporary retelling of ''

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'', that is set in Verona (New Jersey, not Italy). Although the storyline is set in Verona, it was actually filmed in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

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. * The original, unaired

of the television show ''

Strangers With Candy ''Strangers with Candy'' is an American television sitcom created by Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Amy Sedaris, and Mitch Rouse that originally aired on Comedy Central from April 7, 1999, to October 2, 2000. Its timeslot was Sundays at 10:00 ...

'', "Retardation: A Celebration", was filmed at Verona High School. The VHS signboard is also used in almost every episode thereafter to display various witticisms, although the name has been changed to that of the school in the show, Flatpoint High School. * Pearl, the hairdresser in "The Saturdays" by

Elizabeth Enright Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham (September 17, 1907 – June 8, 1968) was an American people, American writer of children's books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best ...

(1941), says she ran away from her abusive stepmother in Verona and went to New York City with her brother Perry. * Filming for scenes in the upcoming

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

movie

Happy Gilmore 2 ''Happy Gilmore 2'' is an upcoming American sports comedy film directed by Kyle Newacheck, and written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler. It is a sequel to ''Happy Gilmore'' (1996). Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Ben Stiller repris ...

took place at Verona Town Hall.

References

External links

Official Website of the Township of Verona

Verona Public Schools
*
School Data for the Verona Public Schools

Verona Fire Department

Verona Rescue Squad

Verona-Cedar Grove Times (Local Newspaper)

Verona Observer (Local Newspaper)

{{Authority control 1907 establishments in New Jersey Faulkner Act (council–manager) Populated places established in 1907 Townships in Essex County, New Jersey