The Bergen Record

A quest for trust

It’s been seen hundreds of times in movies and on television. The harried and overworked public defender comes rushing into a courtroom, barely willing to represent the client and not remembering their name. They fumble through a hearing or a trial,...

Grief, defiance remain

On a busy corner in South Paterson, a mural stretches along the side of a neighborhood bakery, turning an ordinary block into a quiet act of remembrance. ● It depicts a boy riding a bicycle, a small Palestinian flag trailing behind him. He glances back...

COMMON THREAD

In January 1926, a single firing inside Botany Worsted Mills set off a walkout that shut down much of Passaic’s textile industry. ● By the time it ended 13 months later, 16,000 workers had joined the strike. Police had clubbed picketers in the streets,...

Trump says victory is near in Iran war

On Day 33 of the war with Iran, President Donald Trump declared victory was at hand. Almost. In a prime-time address from the White House on April 1, Trump extolled what he called “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” −...

DUMPING GROUNDS

The Ford Motor Company would be required to clean up contaminated groundwater at the Ringwood Superfund site, advancing a phase of work that has remained unsettled for years, under a proposed federal settlement filed in March. The agreement, filed in...

HUNDREDS IN THE STREETS

Bundled up against an unseasonably chilly spring morning on March 28, hundreds, many holding anti-Trump signs, gathered in Morristown in front of town hall for the third round of nationwide No Kings rallies. “Stop the Trump War Machine” and “Let’s...

Braced for impact

At the height of the Cold War, federal officials drew maps that told Americans where to go in case of a nuclear attack. In Passaic, one of those places was a library. Inside the Reid Memorial Library, a fallout shelter sign still lists a capacity of 90...

Welcome to JERSEYWOOD

Texas has oil. Pennsylvania has coal. ● New Jersey has film. ● Movies are our natural resource. It’s what we’re rich in. ● Between the scenic locales, the concentration of tech people and the proximity to two of America’s great cities, the Garden State...

Six Flags to showcase Boardwalk-style rides

JACKSON – If you can’t make it to a Jersey Shore boardwalk this summer, Six Flags Great Adventure has another option for you. The amusement park is unveiling “Shoreline Pier at The Boardwalk” for the 2026 season, featuring whirling rides; disco fries...

Sherrill picks fight with Trump over rules for ICE

President Donald Trump put socalled sanctuary cities and states on notice when he retook the Oval Office last year, signing executive orders threatening to withhold federal funding, threatening prosecution of local officials who refuse to cooperate...

FATAL FLIGHT

The takeoff from Essex County Airport in Fairfield looked routine. John F. Kennedy Jr. was flying a small plane toward Massachusetts with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, on July 16, 1999. Hours later, the plane...

A real boring job

NEWARK – The Gateway commission overseeing the Hudson River rail tunnel project plans to start operating its tunnel boring machines close to schedule even though construction was halted amid the federal government’s pause on funding. James Starace,...

PILOTS DEAD AFTER JET, TRUCK COLLIDE

Two pilots were dead, dozens of people were injured and New York City’s LaGuardia Airport was closed March 23 after an Air Canada Express jet hit a fire truck on a runway there late on March 22, officials said. An Air Canada Express CRJ-900 plane was...

Will nominee for DHS visit NJ?

Someday soon, perhaps, likely new U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former plumber and onetime popular host of a home improvement show, will travel to Roxbury to determine whether a planned immigrant detention center has the proper...

Gen Z is drinking less than other groups. The reasons why may surprise you.

When Nick Graziano steps outside, he assumes he’s on camera. ● “Whenever I leave the house, in the back of my head I’m always acting as if I’m being recorded,” said the 21-year-old senior at Montclair State University. ● For his parents’ generation,...

Jersey Shore oyster farmers struggling

Few people were looking forward to spring more than Dale Parsons, a fifth-generation bayman and oyster farmer from Tuckerton. Parsons is trying to put his oyster farm back together after what was probably the most disastrous winter he’s endured as a...

White-collar pink slips

Service sector employment in North Jersey and the larger New York City metro area fell for the seventh month in a row, and the state workforce has shed nearly 4,000 jobs so far this year, according to data released March 17 by the New York Federal...

STATE KICKS IN

The regional host committee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will receive another $20 million in taxpayer dollars from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. The money was earmarked for the agency by former Gov. Phil Murphy as one of his last acts...

‘Unimaginable toll’

Leqaa Kordia of Paterson, a pro-Palestinian protester who demonstrated at Columbia University in 2024, was released from immigration detention on March 16 after a judge set bond and federal authorities declined to block the order, ending a yearlong...

TRUMP ‘STRONGLY’ CALLS FOR BACKUP

President Donald Trump on March 16 “strongly urged” nations who rely on the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments to “get involved with us” quickly and “with great enthusiasm” to guard the waterway as oil prices stayed at $100 a barrel amid the ongoing...

‘People are turning to faith and to each other’

For Muslims, Ramadan is a joyful time to fast, pray and break bread with family and community — but this year the Islamic holy month has been clouded by worry. Families are grappling with a widening war in the Middle East, rampedup immigration...

ROUGH ROADS AHEAD

Amid political turmoil, federal funding freezes and market uncertainty, NJ Transit is slowing its transition to zero-emission buses. ● The agency secured nearly $324 million in federal funds between 2020 and 2024 to modernize four bus garages in North...

Camera focuses on slain filmmaker

Juan Arredondo was assisting his friend, documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud, film people as they were escaping Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on March 13, 2022, when he experienced a moment that still haunts him. Brent was killed by a Russian sniper...

Eight-ring circus

NorthJersey.com

Ships attacked in Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump said he would ensure safety in the Strait of Hormuz as oil tankers have come under fire and the U.S. military has attacked mine-laying ships during the Iran war. Iran has effectively closed the narrow strait, preventing Saudi...

SHERRILL PITCHES $60.7B NJ BUDGET Proposal about $980M more than plan for 2026

In her first budget address, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced a $60.7 billion fiscal plan, the highest in state history. Sherrill campaigned on affordability and lowering costs for residents. Her budget for fiscal year 2027 – which will run from July 1,...

WAR COULD DRIVE GAS PRICES UP TO $4

New Jersey gas prices could hit $4 a gallon within the next week, analysts are saying, as the Iran conflict drags into its second week. Oil prices topped $100 over the weekend of March 7 and 8, and in response the Group of Seven nations is considering...

FACT OR AI?

Iran strikes a U.S. Navy fleet in the waters off Bahrain. Missiles land in a densely populated area in Tel Aviv. Emergency workers find the body of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in air strikes, lying in rubble. These images and...

DATA DRIVEN

Deep in southern New Jersey, on the edge of the state’s treasured Pinelands ecosystem, a giant data center is rising. ● It sits far apart from the dozens of other data centers that crowd the frenetic northern part of the state, where their proximity to...

Trump demands Iran’s surrender

President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” in a social media post the morning of March 6, insisting “there will be no deal” to end his 7-day-old war with the battered Persian Gulf power. The president added in a social media post...

Trump says he will help pick next leader

President Donald Trump spoke in favor of a boots-on-the-ground attack on Iran by regional Kurdish forces and said he would take a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. “We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead...

U.S. ground troops not planned in Iran

The White House on March 4 said there are no plans for ground troops in Iran, even as the Trump administration pledged more firepower in the war after officials said a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship, with reports of at least 80 people...

TRUMP CRITICIZES TOP U.S. ALLIES’ RESTRAINT

President Donald Trump slammed top U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, as the war with Iran expands and warned Americans that they may have to deal with “a little high” oil prices as crude costs soared and the stock market tumbled. “If we have...

U.S. fighter jets crash in Kuwait

The Trump administration’s war with Iran will not be “endless,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on March 2, as the United States’ and Israel’s joint air strikes against Iran expand, the death toll rises and a congressional debate over President...

Spiritual quest

Muhammad Abuhadba wakes up every morning moments before the alarm sounds. Lately, his internal alarm has been programmed to go off ahead of the 4:50 a.m. setting. With sunrise quickly approaching and little time to spare, Abuhadba races to the...

Trump’s combative State of the Union

He stuck to the script, mostly. President Donald Trump’s signature has been his willingness to ad lib his way through big speeches with bombastic rhetoric, but at the State of the Union address on Feb. 24 he read a statistics-heavy speech that focused...

TOP OF THE HEAP?

The record-breaking blizzard that rocked New Jersey on Feb. 22 and 23 was one of the largest snowstorms in state history. The blizzard of February 2026 holds the Bergen County record for most snowfall in one town: Lyndhurst had gotten 30.7 inches as...

WINTER WALLOP

New Jersey woke up to blizzard conditions Feb. 23, with more snow on the way in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest storms in years. Heavy snow fell overnight after a wet and windy day on Feb. 22, with some areas seeing as much as 2 feet by...

THE LOCKED FILE

PISCATAWAY – Like thousands of New Jerseyans who file public records requests every year, Jerry Toto Jr. just wanted answers. Toto, 35, was abruptly terminated from his role as a volunteer firefighter and EMT at the North Stelton Volunteer Fire...

A CITY BUILT AROUND HISTORY

U.S. Supreme Court strikes down tariffs

WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, ruling that he does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs at the stroke of a pen. The court on Feb. 20 tossed the tariffs that are the...

‘HURRY, HARD!’

Like many curlers, Jim Mantia got introduced to the sport during an Olympic year. Mantia, a 50-year-old Leonia resident, was looking to try an Olympic sport after watching the 2018 Winter Games. That year, the U.S. men’s curling team surprised many...

Life for commuters goes off the rails

Many mornings for NJ Transit train commuters require deep breaths, patience and a little luck — and this Tuesday was no different for some train riders as a four-week train schedule disruption started this week so workers can switch over to the new...

Civil rights icon ‘kept the dream alive’

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights icon who battled alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases and shamed corporations for their lack of diversity and failure to support voting rights, died on Feb. 17. He...

Her turn on center ice

LITTLE FALLS – Olga Mikutina circled the ice rink at Montclair State, first slowly, testing out how her blades cut into the fresh sheet, and then faster. Music started and stopped. Skaters sped by, single or dancing in pairs. Some wore Israel’s blue...

Slice of history

What’s the all-American pie? Apple, or cherry? ● Most of us would — likely — say apple. The phrase, after all, is “American as apple pie.” ● Except when it isn’t. ● “Violence is as American as cherry pie,” said the revolutionary H. Rap Brown in 1967....

LAST CALL

1641 A Dutch immigrant named Aert TeWnissen Van Patten builds North Jersey’s first breWery in Hoboken to supply early settlers. (It burned doWn tWo years later.) 1840 1858 German immigrant Gottfried Krueger opens G. Krueger BreWing Co. in NeWark....

High court orders NJ reply in affordable housing case

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has ordered the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to respond by Feb. 17 to an emergency application by the group Local Leaders for Responsible Planning, which is seeking a stay for some of its members on the...

Dead mall walking

Google the phrase “dead malls in New Jersey” and you’ll be hit with a few contenders – but a standout in North Jersey is Livingston Mall. With the Macy’s anchor store closing sometime in 2026, and Barnes & Noble expected to leave sometime in 2027,...

Cross-country trip saves young girl’s life

The email that saved Ellaura Smith’s life was sent across the U.S. on a cold, gray January day to Matthew Ostroff ’s inbox at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. It was from Ellaura’s parents, who found Ostroff during a desperate...

Rail tunnel laborers fume over layoffs

NORTH BERGEN – Lamonte Richardson had a feeling of déjà vu last week when he went home to tell his family and three school-age children that he had been laid off from his job as a shop steward on the Gateway rail tunnel project, halted because of a...

Calls intensify to stop ICE detention facility

The fight over a proposed ICE immigrant detention center in Morris County isn’t cooling down. Activists and local residents continue to pressure Roxbury Township officials to adopt ordinances they say could block U.S. Immigration and Customs...

Hospital expands to meet booming demand

When Dr. Dominic Ruocco began working at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, the area surrounding the hospital along the Hudson River was scattered with empty factories, dilapidated piers and vacant lots from a bygone industrial era. That was in...

UNSAFE AT ANY SPEED?

Seattle. New England. One title. Super Bowl 60 lands in Santa Clara,

AN UPSET IN THE MAKING?

With the special Democratic primary to fill New Jersey’s vacant 11th Congressional District seat still too close to call, the current leader declined to declare victory and the runner-up didn’t concede. At midday on Feb. 6, activist Analilia Mejia led...

Gateway’s fate a legal debate

Scattered on the concrete slab project site for the Gateway rail tunnel project in North Jersey are weatherized containers full of rubber materials and electronics that need to be protected from the harsh temperatures. Nearby are empty white cars that...

Inflation bowl Your party for the Big Game to cost slightly more

Americans can expect to spend $2 more on average this year than in 2025 for a 10-person Super Bowl feast when the New England Patriots face off against the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8. ● That’s according to a January report by the Wells Fargo Agri-Food...

Trump vs. tunnel

The agency overseeing the largest federally funded infrastructure project in the country is suing the Trump administration for withholding more than $205 million needed to keep construction going on a $16 billion rail tunnel project beneath the Hudson...

Port Authority friction

New York and New Jersey argue and negotiate about a lot of issues – with varying degrees of resolution – and right now they are squabbling about an obscure bureaucratic role: the deputy executive director position at the Port Authority of New York and...

‘A real blessing to be invited in’

For eight years, Paul Aronsohn served as New Jersey’s first ombudsman for people with developmental disabilities. He built the office from scratch, took calls at all hours, drove thousands of miles to meet families in crisis and often found himself at...

LEADERS OF CHANGE

Cynthia Wilks knew what she wanted to do for a living while still a student at Bridgeton High School. A three-sport athlete in the late 1990s, Wilks told girls athletic director Kay Ballinger, “I want to do what you’re doing.” ● All Wilks needed was a...

Real lifesavers

ALLENDALE – It’s a rare game when a high school athletic trainer has to deal with more than one medical emergency, but that’s just what happened at the Northern Highlands-Teaneck basketball game this week. Northern Highlands’ athletic trainer Pete...

A day remembered

On Jan. 28, 1986, the world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven aboard. Forty years have passed as of today, but...

DIGGING OUT

Much of North Jersey is still digging out from the weekend’s storm, the most severe to hit the area in nearly five years, experts said. Upper Greenwood Lake, a neighborhood stretching across parts of Sussex and Passaic counties, led the area with 17.3...

Sherrill pressed to protect migrants

Now that Mikie Sherrill is the governor of New Jersey, immigrant advocates in the state want to know what she plans to do about protecting immigrants. Sherrill did express some thoughts on immigrants during her inauguration speech on Jan. 20 by...