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Suburban Essex Townscape
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Commission member seeks more hoops
By Richard Dickon
With residents constantly expressing concerns that Belleville lacks sufficient recreation areas, one father offered a simple way to add more play area to an existing place in town.
Resident Carlos Marzan is a recent addition to the township’s Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commission. At the most recent public Township Council meeting, he offered an idea about how to increase the number of basketball hoops available for youths to take advantage of when they are not in school.
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Fire at playground
By Richard Dickon
Belleville fire officials reported a small fire Thursday evening, June 25 at the Cortlandt Street playground, between Academy and Holmes streets.
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Attorney hiring still at issue
By Richard Dickon
School board members Monday night again found themselves defending their decision to replace the experienced school board attorney with an attorney who has never served a school board before.
Board members pointed to new attorney Alphonse DeMeo’s six years as a school board member several years ago, including time as board president, and a cost savings expected with his hiring.
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Board, council to study options
By Richard Dickon
School officials said Monday night that a plan to work with the Belleville Township Council on a feasibility study for the long under-utilized former School No. 1 is moving forward, the first time the two governing bodies have officially joined forces to examine what to do with the property.
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Resident: Keep historic camp passive
By Richard Dickon
Some of the same neighbors who recently helped take care of their unique open space had a clear, strong message for township officials– don’t try and place a playground in our beautiful piece of land.
Led by resident Geraldine DeAngelo, a small but vocal group of neighbors responded to one of their neighbors suggestion the playground equipment be placed at the open area known as Camp Carragher.
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Father, son indicted for slaying
A Belleville father and son have been indicted for allegedly killing their nephew/cousin and dumping his body in the marshes of the Meadowlands last October.
In an indictment returned on Friday, Gerald Toscano, 47, and Peter Toscano, 20, of Belleville, have been charged with the slaying of Jordan Voorhees, 22, formerly of Bloomfield. Voorhees had been living with his uncle and cousin for approximately six months. The victim’s body has not been recovered.
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Board ousts its attorney
By Richard Dickon
After 23 years as the Belleville Board of Education's attorney, Frank Pomaco was replaced Monday night by former board president and attorney Alphonse DeMeo, with a split board voting 4-to-2 to approve the change.
DeMeo, whose background is in criminal and divorce law, was board president before losing a re-election bid several years ago and moving out of town. He is currently an assistant public defender for Belleville.
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Man charged with lewd acts
By James Yoo
A Belleville man was in the city lockup Monday after he was charged with exposing himself and committing lewd acts in front of minors over the past four months, police said.
Roberto Velez, 36, would circle neighborhoods in search of young girls while naked in his white sport-utility vehicle, Detective Capt. Robert Rowan said. Once he found likely victims, Velez would follow them, pull over and perform a sex act within their view, Rowan added.
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Ex-mortician gets 5 years for body parts scheme
Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow announced Monday that a former Newark funeral director has been sentenced to five years in prison for participating in an illegal body parts scheme that collected bones, tissue and skin from corpses to be sold to a lucrative transplant market.
Stephen K. Finley, 46, of Murray Hill, who pleaded guilty to second-degree disturbing/desecrating human remains in February, was sentenced by Essex County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Vazquez.
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Caputo, Tucker win primary
Ralph Caputo of Belleville and Cleopatra Tucker won the 28th District Democratic primary over their opponents Seth Nwosu, Craig Stanley and Shelly Bell.
In the Republican primary, Andrew Bloschak of Belleville and Herbert Glenn were uncontested for the New Jersey Assembly race.
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Town sells unwanted property
By Richard Dickon
In an attempt to raise revenues to offset tax increases, while trying to improve properties in disrepair, the Belleville Township Council successfully auctioned off one of five lots recently, netting $120,000 for the township.
The council has approved the auction of two lots long neglected, the minimum bids for which could eventually bring in hundreds of thousands to the municipal coffers.
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Rec house demolition may cost less
By Richard Dickon
There has been little in the way of good news regarding the former recreation center known as the Friendly House in Silver Lake.
The closest thing to a positive outcome for the structure came recently when bids to demolish the building came in, and the bid that may be accepted was much less than what the township manager had expected.
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Questioning no tax hike
By Richard Dickon
Questions were debated at a recent council meeting about whether a virtually zero tax increase budget is tainted because the council deferred $2.3 in pension payments that will have to be paid for down the line.
The Belleville Township Council has introduced the 2009 municipal budget, at this point containing virtually no tax increase from 2008.
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Suspect said to be a fire chief
By Richard Dickon
A Bergen County assistant prosecutor confirmed Tuesday that Belleville Fire Battalion Chief Pat Nufrio has been arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to promote gambling in connection with an alleged Mafia-run gambling ring that handled more than $1 million in wagers each week.
James Donohue is assistant Bergen County Prosecutor and Chief of the Special Investigations Squad. He said Tuesday that Nufrio has been arraigned on the charge.
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Saint Celebrated
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Photo courtesy of Angela Cuozzo-Zarro
People crowding around the float waiting to place money on the statue of St. Anthony at St. Anthony’s Feast on Sunday, June 14 in Silver Lake. Residents enjoyed the traditional carrying of the statue as well as food and games.
Friendly House demolition bid awarded
By Richard Dickon
The demolition of the former recreation center known as the Friendly House in Silver Lake continues to stir controversy, but the final bid awarded to take the structure down has turned out to be on the low side, as officials had hoped.
After a winter where the interior was not heated, paint is peeling everywhere, black mold is growing and a once thriving facility has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that the Belleville Township Council voted to demolish the structure. Now, at least the work is being done cheaper than first thought.
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Speakers inspire classmates
By Richard Dickon
Despite rain that drove the ceremonies indoors, the Belleville school district’s 112th annual pomp and circumstance — Commencement, which included keynote speakers, music performances and the graduates’ entrance — focused on the traditional themes of remembering the past while looking to the future.
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Passion for science, exhibition help earn Gold Award
By Richard Dickon
For one of Belleville High School’s top achieving graduating seniors, earning Girl Scouting’s top award took the form of making science fun, exciting and educational for much younger students.
Earlier this spring, Puja Gujarthi presented an "interest project" as she moves toward her Gold Award in Girl Scouts by presenting a science exhibition in the BHS cafeteria. Experiments with water tension, laws of motion and centripetal force were set up in different booths for all to view.
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Distributor says he has a 40-foot truck
By Richard Dickon
The man who would like to be the furniture distributor attempting to sell to residents door-to-door through December spoke from North Carolina about his family’s long history of selling in Belleville, while the township’s attorney said he has not been contacted by anyone from the company yet.
Jerry Taylor of Taylors Furniture Distributors of Tobaccoville, N.C., told the Times in a phone interview that a 40-foot box truck would be used.
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Door-to door furniture sales?
By Richard Dickon
There may or may not be a furniture distributor attempting to sell to residents door-to-door soon, and continuing all the way through December.
While taking great pains to say they were not speaking specifically of the company looking to sell this time, township officials said negative consequences had occurred in the past in similar situations.
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Unfriendly ending
By Richard Dickon
A tour of the former recreation center known as the Friendly House in Silver Lake shows a stark contrast between the past and the present. It is clear that as recently as 2007, parts of the three-story structure on Frederick Street were still being actively used.
Now, however, after a winter where the interior was not heated, paint is peeling everywhere, black mold is growing and a once thriving facility has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that the Belleville Township Council has voted to demolish the structure.
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Businesses get grim news with a pep talk
By Richard Dickon
Virtually every small business owner in Belleville has likely felt the pinch of tough economic times. For one afternoon at least, a group of business owners heard some good news and a pep talk.
A group of local business owners on May 6 heard from a business counselor and a representative of the federal Small Business Association about how to survive the economic hard times that have hit Belleville as well as the entire country’s and world business communities.
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Persi contract not renewed
By Richard Dickon
There were major comings and goings at last night’s Board of Education meeting, with the interim superintendent’s contract not renewed, the former high school principal restored to his former position, and the middle school principal involuntarily transferred to School No. 8.
Then there were major revelations about the defeated 2009-10 school budget, with the Belleville Times obtaining a copy of the $914,000 in reductions outlined by the Belleville Township Council.
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Parents protest transfers
By Richard Dickon
What began Monday night as a raucous crowd demanding that teachers not be forced to retire or be involuntarily transferred from one school to another ended with the few residents left at the Board of Education meeting hearing a split board approve sweeping changes to the school district.
Four different Home and School Association presidents spoke out against the changes, but in the end, four administrators and 14 teachers were involuntarily transferred, and six retirements and three resignations were approved by four affirmative board members. Of the other three board members, there was one consistent no vote and two others that were either no votes or "take no part" votes.
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Turf field gains ground
By Richard Dickon
Despite possible concerns that the field might settle and shift over time, the Belleville Township Council is pressing forward with a plan to install a synthetic turf field at Municipal Stadium.
Township Manager Victor Canning said the move is necessary, because the main field needs to be used by so many youths, from peanut league to varsity sports, and the grass field has developed a reputation for being substandard.
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Town spending up slightly
By Richard Dickon
The Belleville Township Council on Tuesday introduced the 2009 municipal budget, at this point containing virtually no tax increase from 2008.
Preliminary municipal budget numbers show the 2009 spending plan increasing slightly, by one one-thousandth of a penny, which the township manager said "is analogous to being the same as last year."
So, while the budget introduced is not technically a zero increase, Township Manager Victor Canning said, "For once, we should get a pat on the back."
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Is your house a landmark?
By Richard Dickon
A resident who has helped resurrect historic preservation efforts in town updated the progress of a new group, which includes sending letters to every resident whose home may be eligible for landmark status.
At recent Belleville Township Council work session, resident Vincent Frantantoni said that the Belleville Historical Preservation Commission is preparing and adopting a landmark designation list for the Planning Board to eventually adopt as part of the township’s Master Plan.
As a guide, Frantantoni said the group is using a historic sites list compiled by Essex County historic preservation officials in the mid-1980s. Now officials from the New Jersey Historical Society are coming to Belleville in April for a special meeting with the Belleville commission "to see that this is done correctly," Frantantoni said.
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Council still blocks soccer
By Richard Dickon
Officials delayed a decision on whether to allow recreation soccer to use the main Municipal Stadium field at least until this week, when a decision on the feasibility of placing a synthetic turf field may finally be known.
Meanwhile, work is continuing to make sure all recreation sports fields are ready for spring games and promises are being made that a new stadium concession stand will be finished by mid-May.
The township council has tabled a request received from the Belleville Soccer Association for permission to use the stadium football field on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from March 29 to June 13.
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Administrators shadow students for a day
By Richard Dickon
A group of
Belleville
High School students drew strange looks and some ribbing from their classmates Monday, as the district’s top administrators shadowed them. The exercise was meant to give administrators a better understanding of what BHS students encounter on a typical school day.
Teachers in some cases altered lesson plans to facilitate a better experience for students and administrators, and students focused on the facts that administrators saw more clearly what they do, the short amounts of time allowed for traveling from class to class and the general time pressures they face.
Student Arlene Yaoto was paired up with Deborah Perri, supervisor of student services, and both seemed pleased with the results.
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Music students play toward the future
By Richard Dickon
High school junior Ryan Bridge and freshman Shakeera Hooker focus a big part of their lives on the making of music, and both say the schools’ music programs have helped feed an affection that may carry them all through their lives.
Bridge began playing piano at age six, and was recently selected to North Jersey Region One High School Choir. He is also trying out for the North Jersey Region Jazz Band and All State Chorus. Bridge also plays alto saxophone, clarinet and trumpet. It’s all leading to a college career majoring in Music Composition, he said.
For Hooker, being selected to the North Jersey Region One Band means she has come a long way in a short time, having just began to play in 2008.
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Man dies after plunge into Passaic River off Route 21
By Richard Dickon
A van crash left a Passaic man dead in the mid-afternoon on Saturday, March 7, after the van apparently jumped a guardrail and plunged from Route 21 into the Passaic River.
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