FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY

'Fort Lee' is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 35,461.
Fort Lee was formed by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 29, 1904, from the remaining portions of Ridgefield Township."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 78.^[1] With the creation of Fort Lee, Ridgefield Township became defunct and was dissolved as of March 29, 1904.^[2]

Contents

Geography

History

Fort Lee: the motion picture capital of America

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Transportation

Miscellaneous

Notable residents

Sources

References

External links

Geography

Fort Lee is located at (40.853423, -73.97481). It is north of Edgewater, New Jersey and is on the Hackensack Peninsula between the Hackensack River and the Hudson River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 7.5 km² (2.9 mi²). 6.6 km² (2.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (12.15%) is water.

History

Fort Lee is named as a result of George Washington and named after General Charles Lee, who camped in this area, defending New York City. George Washington and his troops actually walked on a road which is called Main Street in Fort Lee. In fact, it was during Washington's retreat from Fort Lee in November 1776 that Thomas Paine composed his pamphlet, "The American Crisis", which began with the recognized phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls". The George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to the Washington Heights neighborhood in uptown Manhattan, New York City, has its western terminus located in Fort Lee.
In recent years, Fort Lee has seen a surge of residents of Korean origin which has led to the conversion of much of the town into a large Koreatown, similar to Chinatowns of such cities as New York and San Francisco in that many traditional Korean stores and restaurants may be seen in Fort Lee, and the Hangul letters of the Korean alphabet are as common as signs in English in parts of the downtown area.
The rapid increase of the Korean population has seen the decline of many other immigrant communities once centered in Fort Lee, notably the Greek and Italian communities, once quite large but now all but extinct. Luxury high-rises built near the George Washington Bridge have attracted many New York City residents to the city as well, as Fort Lee offers some relief from the stresses and prices of living in New York City. A sizable Russian immigrant community has also sprung up in recent years, also attracted by the urban setting of Fort Lee.

Fort Lee: the motion picture capital of America

The history of cinema in the United States can trace its roots to the East Coast where at one time, Fort Lee was the motion picture capital of America. The industry got its start at the end of the 19th century with the construction of Thomas Edison's "Black Maria", the first motion picture studio in West Orange, New Jersey. Cities in New Jersey offered land at costs considerably less than New York City, and the cities and towns of New Jersey near New York benefited greatly as a result of the phenomenal growth of the film indusry at the turn of the 20th century.
Filmmaking began attracting both capital and an innovative workforce and when the Kalem Company began using Fort Lee in 1907 as a location for filming in the area, other filmmakers quickly followed. In 1909 a forerunner of Universal Studios, the Champion Film Company, built the first studio. They were quickly followed by others who either built new studios or who leased facilities in Fort Lee. In the 1910s and 1920s, film companies such as the Independent Motion Picture Co., Peerless Studios, The Solax Company, Éclair Studios, Goldwyn Picture Corporation, American Méliès (Star Films), World Pictures, Biograph Studios, Fox Film Corporation, Pathé Frères, Metro Pictures Corporation, Victor Film Company, Selznick Pictures Corporation were all making pictures in Fort Lee. Such notables as Mary Pickford got their start at Biograph Studios.
With the offshoot businesses that sprang up to service the film studios, for nearly two decades Fort Lee experienced unrivaled prosperity. However, just as the development of Fort Lee production facilities was gaining strength, Nestor Studios of Bayonne, New Jersey, built the first studio in Hollywood in 1911. Nestor Studios owned by David and William Horsley, later merged with Universal Studios, and William Horsley's other company Hollywood Film Laboratory is now the oldest existing company in Hollywood, now called the Hollywood Digital Laboratory. California's more hospitable and cost effective climate led to the eventual shift of virtually all filmmaking to the West Coast by the 1930s. Some companies, such as American Méliès, moved to San Antonio, Texas, and others moved to Jacksonville, Florida. However, the companies which moved to Texas and Florida soon folded or joined the move to Hollywood.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,461 people, 16,544 households, and 9,396 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,411.7/km² (14,001.7/mi²). There were 17,446 housing units at an average density of 2,662.4/km² (6,888.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 62.75% White, 1.73% African American, 0.07% Native American, 31.43% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.69% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.87% of the population.
There were 16,544 households out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 39.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the borough the population was spread out with 17.5% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $58,161, and the median income for a family was $72,140. Males had a median income of $54,730 versus $41,783 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $37,899. About 5.7% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2000 census, 17.18% of Fort Lee's residents identified themselves as being of Korean ancestry, which was the fifth highest in the United States and third highest of any municipality in New Jersey — behind Palisades Park (36.38%) and Leonia (17.24%) — for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.^[3] In the same census, 6.09% of Fort Lee's residents identified themselves as being of Japanese ancestry, which was the highest of any municipality in New Jersey for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.^[4]

Government

Local government

Jack Alter was Mayor of the Borough of Fort Lee from 1992 until his death on August 27, 2007. Fort Lee Borough Council President Ila Kasofsky, whose term ends on December 31, 2007, succeeded him as Interim Mayor. The Fort Lee Democratic Organization will select an alternate candidate to replace Alter on the November ballot.^[5]
Other members of the Council are Joseph L. Cervieri, Jr. (2009), Armand Pohan (2008), Michael Sargenti (2008), Mark Sokolich (2009) and Michael Villano (2007).^[6]
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, voters filled two three-year seats on the Borough Council, on a Council that was comprised entirely of Democrats, in a community in which registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a better than 2-1 margin. Incumbent Democrats Mark J. Sokolich (6,020 votes) and Joseph L. Cervieri Jr. (5,836) won re-election, defeating Republicans challengers John Cali (2,475) and Boris Zmijewsky (2,316).^[7][8][9]
Late Mayor Alter's ticket is running Council President, Ila Kasofsky and Former Councilman, Jan Goldberg. Councilman Villano's ticket is running Former Councilman and Zoning Officer, Donald Porrino and the Director of Programs & Services for People with Disbailities, Roberta Wailes.

Federal, state and county representation

Fort Lee is in the Ninth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 38th Legislative District.^[10]

Politics

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 37,310 in Fort Lee, there were 17,434 registered voters (46.7% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 4,788 (27.5% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 2,016 (11.6% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 10,628 (61.0% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were two voters registered to other parties.^[11]
On the national level, Fort Lee leans strongly toward the Democratic Party. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 61% of the vote here, defeating Republican George W. Bush, who received around 38%.^[12]

Education

The Fort Lee School District serves public school students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district include four K-6 elementary schools (School 1, School 2, School 3 and
School 4),
Fort Lee Middle School (grades 7 and 8) and Fort Lee High School (grades 9-12).

Transportation

Fort Lee is served by Palisades Interstate Parkway, New Jersey Route 4, New Jersey Route 5, New Jersey Route 67, Interstate 95/New Jersey Turnpike, US Route 9W, US Route 1-9, US Route 46, and County Route 505. The George Washington Bridge crosses the Hudson River from Fort Lee to Manhattan.
Fort Lee is also served by New Jersey Transit buses no. 154, 158, 159, 171, 175, 178, 181, 182, 186, 188, 751, 753, 755, and 756. The buses with the number that starts with the digit 1 goes into New York City. ^[13]

Miscellaneous

★ The Long Path, is a 330-mile (528 km) long-distance hiking trail that starts at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee and continues to Altamont, New York, in the Albany area.

★ NBC owns a building in Fort Lee that houses operations for WNJU, licensed to Linden. The same building served as the original MSNBC studios from 15 July 1996 to November of that year, when MSNBC moved to Secaucus. The building was also the original home for CNBC from the channel's launch in 1989 until 2004, when that network transferred operations to new facilities in Englewood Cliffs.

★ In ''Desperately Seeking Susan'', Rosanna Arquette plays a bored suburban housewife living in Fort Lee who becomes obsessed with a woman she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of a New York City tabloid.

★ Martin Scorsese directed several scenes of ''Goodfellas'' in Fort Lee.^[14][15]

Notable residents

★ Albert Anastasia, Mafia boss.^[16]

★ Mickey Appleman, professional poker player.^[17]

★ Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist, television personality, current resident.^[18]

★ Cam'ron, rapper.^[19]

★ Jay Chiat, Advertising agency executive.^[20]

★ Celia Cruz, Cuban-born singer.^[21]

★ Kerri Green, actress

★ Buddy Hackett, comedian and actor.^[22]

★ Whitney Houston, Singer, Actress.

★ Jay-Z, rapper.^[23]

★ Samm Levine, actor on ''Freaks and Geeks''.^[24]

★ Freddie Roman, Comedian, Friars Club Notable.

★ Darryl Strawberry, Major League Baseball Outfielder who played for both the New York Mets and New York Yankees.^[25]

★ Chien-Ming Wang, Starting pitcher for the New York Yankees

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.

References

1. "History of Bergen County," Vol. 1, pp. 361-364 shows a creation date of April 18, 1904, for Fort Lee.
2. "Municipal Incorporations," Extinct List p. 81.
3. Korean Communities, Epodunk. Accessed June 28, 2006.
4. Japanese Communities, Epodunk. Accessed June 28, 2006.
5. Firschein, Merry. "Mayor loved, served Fort Lee", ''The Record (Bergen County)'', August 28, 2007. Accessed August 28, 2007.
6. Fort Lee Mayor & Borough Council, Borough of Fort Lee. Accessed February 1, 2007.
7. Fort Lee Election Guide, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 1, 2006.
8. Fort Lee election results, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 8, 2006.
9. Bergen County 2006 General Election Results, accessed February 1, 2007.
10. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 57. Accessed August 30, 2006.
11. "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," Bergen County, New Jersey, dated April 1, 2006.
12. 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004.
13. New Jersey Transit Bus Schedules, accessed August 30, 2007.
14. Fort Lee Film Commission. "Fort Lee: Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry", Accessed May 14, 2007. "The most interesting film shot in Fort Lee in the modern era was ''Goodfellas'' (Warner Brothers, 1990). Director Martin Scorsese, who is a leading film scholar, knows the history of film in Fort Lee and shot key scenes of this film blocks away from locations used by D. W. Griffith in the first classic gangster film, ''The Musketeers of Pig Alley'' (Biograph, 1912)."
15. Filming Locations for ''Goodfellas'', Internet Movie Database. Accessed May 14, 2007.
16. King of the Brooklyn Docks, accessed March 29, 2007. "In the mid-1940s, Anastasia decided to move away from Brooklyn and follow his longtime friend Joe Adonis to the country setting of Fort Lee, New Jersey. The Brooklyn home held in the name of his wife was sold for ,000. The Anastasias built a new, 35-room, 5-bathroom house, valued at more than ,000 at #75 Bluff Road in Fort Lee."
17. "Frank closer to big money", ''The Record (Bergen County)'', August 3, 2006. "All were eliminated along with pros Mickey Appleman of Fort Lee and Teaneck native David Sklansky."
18. Ft. Lee's Dr. Brothers to be honored, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', December 3, 2006. "But right now, she's getting ready for a photo shoot 'at her spacious Fort Lee co-op'."
19. "It's not easy being pink: Cameron Giles, better known as Cam'ron, triggered the pink fad. Now he wants to change color and cash in as a trendsetter", ''taipei Times'', October 18, 2004. Accessed May 13, 2007. " In a gated condominium community in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the dense shrubbery suggests a botanical garden more than a residential one. A lantern at the foot of each house's staircase is illuminated before sundown, and there is a late-model sport utility vehicle in nearly every drive. But there is only one hot-pink Range Rover. That is how you can tell the house of Cameron Giles. For the better part of two years, pink has been the dominant color in the life of Giles, a rapper who performs as Cam'ron."
20. The Last Adman, ''New York (magazine)'', April 8, 2002. "When I started to get friendly with Jay, he couldn't explain either, at least not with any clear logic, how he went from being a Jewish kid from the Bronx and Fort Lee, New Jersey, to ending up in the agency business."
21. Latin music icon Celia Cruz dies, CNN.com, July 17, 2003. "But she spent her final days 'at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey', trying to recover from a December surgery to remove a brain tumor."
22. COMEDIAN BUYS HOME; Buddy Hackett New Owner of Anastasia House in Fort Lee, ''The New York Times'', August 30, 1958. "Buddy Hackett is the owner of Albert Anastasia's Spanish stucco home on the edge of the Palisades in Fort Lee."
23. Barboza, Craigh. "Friend Or foe?", ''USA Weekend'', January 28, 2001. Accessed May 14, 2007. "Jay-Z, himself, has a two-floor penthouse in Fort Lee, N.J., with a view of Manhattan."
24. Super Sunday tallies up a record ,165,961 in contributions for United Jewish Fund, ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', March 3, 2000. "Levine, who was present at the opening of Valley Alliance's Milken Gym, told The Journal that Super Sunday reminded him of the community spirit of his home town -- Fort Lee, New Jersey."
25. Darryl Strawberry leaves hospital after cancer surgery, CNN.com, October 16, 1998. "He will convalesce 'at his home in Fort Lee, New Jersey'."

External links

★ The Borough's web site

★ Fort Lee Police Department

★ Fort Lee Volunteer Ambulance Corps

★ Fort Lee School District

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Fort Lee School District

★ Fort Lee Online community web site

★ Fort Lee Film Commission web site

★ an enlarged view of road jurisdiction at the Fort Lee approaches to the George Washington Bridge