CRESSKILL, NEW JERSEY

'Cresskill' is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 7,746. The town got its name from the watercress that grew in its streams, or "kills."^[2]
Cresskill was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 8, 1894, from portions of Palisades Township at the height of the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County. A portion of the borough was annexed by Alpine in 1904."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 80.^[3]
Cresskill was the home of Camp Merritt, the major debarkation point for American troops being sent abroad to fight in World War I. A large obelisk memorial, set in the middle of the Camp Merritt Memorial Circle at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Knickerbocker Road (CR 505) commemorates the fact.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Transportation

Famous residents

References

Sources

External links

Geography

Cresskill is located at (40.942074, -73.965049).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 5.5 km² (2.1 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,746 people, 2,630 households, and 2,161 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,397.5/km² (3,625.9/mi²). There were 2,702 housing units at an average density of 487.5/km² (1,264.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 78.05% White, 0.92% African American, 0.04% Native American, 18.64% Asian, 0.65% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.99% of the population.
There were 2,630 households out of which 40.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.1% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.8% were non-families. 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the borough the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $84,692, and the median income for a family was $96,245. Males had a median income of $61,194 versus $38,990 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $41,573. About 1.7% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Cresskill is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government by a Mayor and a six-member Borough Council. The mayor is directly elected by the voters to a four-year term of office. Borough Council members serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.
The Mayor of the Borough of Cresskill is Benedict Romeo. Members of the Cresskill Borough Council are Council President James Cleary, W. Keith Brassel, John Brennan, John McCann, Kathy Savas and Thomas W. Thomasma.^[4]
Election Day, November 7, 2006, saw very close results in initial returns for the two open seats on the now all-Republican Borough Council, with fewer than 100 votes separating the four candidates. In final voting results, Democratic Party challenger Kathleen W. Savas (1,194 votes) and incumbent Thomas W. Thomasma (1,170) won seats on the council. Incumbent Republican Carolyn Schultz came in third (1,115) and was in turn trailed by just nine votes by Savas' running mate, Louis M. Laurita (1,106).^[5][6][7]

Federal, state and county representation

Cresskill is in the Fifth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 39th Legislative District.^[8]

Politics

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 8,212 in Cresskill, there were 4,560 registered voters (55.5% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 742 (16.3% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,125 (24.7% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 2,693 (59.1% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were no voters registered to other parties.^[9]
On the national level, Cresskill is almost evenly split. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 50% of the vote here, narrowly edging Democrat John Kerry, who received around 49%.^[10]

Education

The Cresskill Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with enrollment data from the New Jersey Department of Education's 2004-05 School Report Cards) are Edward H. Bryan School with 565 students in grades K-6, Merritt Memorial School with 329 students in grades K-6 and Cresskill High School with 720 students in grades 7-12.

Transportation

County Route 505 and County Route 501 travels through Creskill.

Famous residents

★ Mary J. Blige, R&B singer (b. 1971)^[11]Century, Douglas. "Alpine, N.J., Home of Hip-Hop Royalty", ''The New York Times'', February 11, 2007

★ Lynn Chen, actress (b. 1976)

★ Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-born composer who made Cresskill his home in the early 1960s (b. 1921).^[12]

★ Bobby Hebb, singer; recorded the hit song "Sunny" (b. 1938)

★ Robert Bruce Merrifield, biochemist and winner of 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[13]

★ Sherrill Milnes, operatic baritone (b. 1935)

★ Vladimir Viardo, pianist.^[14]

References

1. , Geographic Names Information System, accessed April 16, 2007.
2. If You're Thinking of Living In/Cresskill; High-Cost Housing, Quality Services, ''The New York Times'' by Jerry Cheslow, October 16, 1994
3. "History of Bergen County" Vol. 1, p. 347.
4. Borough of Cresskill Public Officials, Borough of Cresskill. Accessed January 2, 2007.
5. "Election 2006: Municipal Results", ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 8, 2006.
6. Cresskill Election Guide, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 8, 2006.
7. Bergen County 2006 General Election Results, accessed February 1, 2007.
8. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 56. Accessed August 30, 2006.
9. "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006
10. 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004
11. Rappers making the move to Bergen County, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', October 10, 2005
12. Seachrist, Denise A. (2003). ''The Musical World of Halim El-Dabh''. Kent, Ohio, United States: Kent State University Press, p. 95.
13. [Petkewich, Rachel. "Nobel Laureate R. Bruce Merrifield Dies At 84", ''Chemical & Engineering News'', May 23, 2006. Accessed May 9, 2007. "Robert Bruce Merrifield, a biochemist who won the 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a method he named solid-phase peptide synthesis, died on May 14 at his home in Cresskill, N.J., after a long illness. He was 84."
14. Alexander Ney: refers to performance at Viardo's home in Cresskill, accessed August 29, 2006.

Sources

★ "History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923;" by "Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858-1942."

★ "Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties)" prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958.

External links

★ Cresskill official website

★ Cresskill Public Schools

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics for the Cresskill Public Schools