GLEN ROCK, NEW JERSEY

'Glen Rock' is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 11,546. Glen Rock is ranked in 47th place among the Highest-income places in the United States with a population of at least 10,000.
Glen Rock was formed on September 14, 1894 from portions of both Ridgewood Township and Saddle River Township, "that being the year the county went crazy on boroughs."^[1][2]

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Transportation

Notable residents

Popular culture

References

Sources

External links

Geography

Glen Rock is located at (40.961109, -74.125766).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 7.1 km² (2.7 mi²). 7.0 km² (2.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.37% is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,546 people, 3,977 households, and 3,320 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,638.9/km² (4,246.1/mi²). There were 4,024 housing units at an average density of 571.2/km² (1,479.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 90.07% White, 1.81% African American, 0.16% Native American, 6.48% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.72% of the population.
There were 3,977 households out of which 43.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.1% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.5% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the borough the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $104,192, and the median income for a family was $111,280. Males had a median income of $84,614 versus $52,430 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $45,091. About 2.1% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Glen Rock's governing body consists of a mayor and six council members elected at large on a staggered basis in partisan elections. Two council members are elected each year for three-year terms and the Mayor is elected to a four-year term of office. The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer for the Borough.
Glen Rock operates using a Mayor / Council within the Borough form of government with the annual appointment of a full time professional borough administrator who is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Borough, responsible to the Mayor and Council.
The Mayor of Glen Rock is John van Keuren. Borough Council Members are Council President Michael O'Hagan, Byron Arnao (2009), Carol Knapp, Mark McCullough, Joan Orseck (2009) and Art Pazan.^[3]
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, voters filled two open seats on the borough council that was at the time occupied with five Republicans and a single Democrat, with the two seats up for election held by Republicans not running for re-election. Key issues in the election were leadership, sharing services with the Board of Education and other municipalities, taxes and communication with residents. Newcomers Joan Orseck (2,536 votes) and Byron Arnao (2,392), both Democrats, defeated Republicans Jon Osborn (2,230) and Douglas Arpert (2,108), leaving a 3-3 split on the Borough Council for 2007.^[4][5][6]

Federal, state and county representation

Glen Rock is in the Fifth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 35th Legislative District.^[7]

Politics

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 11,525, Glen Rock has 7,682 registered voters (66.7% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 1,405 (18.3% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,673 (21.8% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 4,603 (59.9% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There was one voter registered to another party.^[8]
On the national level, Glen Rock is almost evenly split. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 51% of the vote here, edging Republican George W. Bush, who received around 48%.^[9]
Recently, an issue has been made of underage drinking occurring in the town. The Glen Rock Police Department, along with the high school administration and the local media have brought to the attention of parents an event known as "keg races," competitive beer drinking parties. In recent years, the police have broken up several parties in which teens were consuming alcohol.^[10]

Education

The Glen Rock Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district consists of six schools (with 2003-04 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics), which include four K-5 elementary schools — Richard E. Byrd School with 237 students, Central Elementary school with 296 students, Clara E. Coleman School with 332 students and Alexander Hamilton Elementary School with 271 students. There is one middle school, Glen Rock Middle School, with 591 students in grades 6-8, and Glen Rock High School, which has an enrollment of 646 students in grades 9-12. The high school consistently places in the top 50 public schools in the state. Over 90% of students who attend Glen Rock High School go on to a two-year or four-year college.
There is one parochial school, Academy of Our Lady which is affiliated with St. Catharine's Roman Catholic church located in Glen Rock and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in neighboring Ridgewood.

Transportation

Glen Rock is served by two separate train stations, at Glen Rock (Main Line) on the Main Line and the Glen Rock (Boro Hall) on the Bergen County Line.
MJ Transit provides bus service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 148, 164 and 196 routes, service to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal on the 175, and local service on the 722 and 746 bus lines.^[11]
Route 208 travels through Glen Rock.

Notable residents

★ Michael Cavanaugh, vocalist and musician, star of the Broadway musical ''Movin' Out''.

★ George Hotz, first person to unlock iPhone for use with carriers other than AT&T.^[12]

★ Jimmy Vivino, member of The Max Weinberg 7.^[13]

★ Floyd Vivino, lived and went to school in Glen Rock, also known as Uncle Floyd

Popular culture

★ The TV show Ed filmed some scenes in Glen Rock.

★ In October 2005, many scenes of prominent locations in town were shot for the film ''World Trade Center'', starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Oliver Stone

★ This town is probably famous among video gamers, mainly because it is the headquarters of the game developer Imagineering, once a developer of console games. In every game they had produced, the following message always appears in the title screen and in the instruction booklet: ''"Developed by Imagineering Inc., Glen Rock N.J."''. This blatant advertising practice of displaying their hometown in their games is considered a very rare practice among game developers and is probably why Glen Rock become famous among video gamers.

★ Absolute Entertainment was a video game developer and publisher founded in Glen Rock that produced titles for the Amiga, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game consoles, as well as for the PC. The company was formed in 1986 by former Activision employees Dan and Garry Kitchen, Alex Demeo, and David Crane until the founding fathers finally pulled the plug in 1995.

★ Unlike most suburban towns whose names have little or nothing to do with reality, Glen Rock was actually settled around an enormous rock left by retreating glaciers in a small valley (glen). From a 1985 ''The New York Times'' article, "Glen Rock is named for a 570-ton boulder, believed to have been deposited by a glacier, that stands at the northern end of Rock Road, the town's main street. Called Pamackapuka, or Stone from Heaven, by the Delaware (Lenape) Indians, it served as a base for Indian signal fires and later as a trail marker for colonists."^[14] Notwithstanding this article, Rock Road runs almost due East/West, so there is no "northern end"—nor is the rock at the end of Rock Road, which runs nearly another half mile to its western end. Also, while the Rock lies at the intersection of Rock Road and Doremus Avenue, the Rock is actually on Doremus, not Rock.[1]

References

1. "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 78.
2. "History of Bergen County" Vol. 1, p. 366. Source shows September 12, 1894 as date of formation.
3. Glen Rock Borough Government, Borough of Glen Rock. Accessed January 23, 2007.
4. Glen Rock Election Guide, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 1, 2006.
5. Glen Rock Election Results, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 8, 2006.
6. Bergen County 2006 General Election Results, accessed February 1, 2007.
7. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 57. Accessed August 30, 2006.
8. "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006.
9. 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004.
10. Glen Rock parents get eye-opener about teens, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', January 31, 2006.
11. New Jersey Transit Bus Schedules, accessed August 30, 2007.
12. McKay, Martha. "Tech whiz cracks code tying it to AT&T network", ''The Record (Bergen County)'', August 24, 2007. Accessed August 27, 2007. "The 17-year-old Glen Rock resident posted the complicated steps on his blog Thursday.... 'I've lived and breathed that phone for the last two months,' said Hotz, a Bergen County Academies grad who won a prestigious ,000 Intel science fair prize this year for a device that projects a 3-D image.
13. Jimmy Vivino: Biography, accessed December 19, 2006.
14. If You're Thinking of Living in Glen Rock Janet Elder

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

★ Glen Rock official website

★ Glen Rock Police Department website

★ Glen Rock Public Schools

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Glen Rock Public Schools

★ Glen Rock Public Library