The first full week of autumn has commenced with the last notes of summer sun preceding some cloudy (but cozy) skies. It’s been another busy week in Essex County and we’ve got all the news to keep you up to date. Among the highlights: a casting call for Happy Gilmore 2 is posted in West Orange; Montclair’s Walnut Street Fair returns today; and a scam warning to E-ZPass customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania is issued by federal authorities. Read on for all the news in Essex County for the week ending September 29th, 2024.
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Among the Headlines (read on for full stories):
- Montclair Launches New Collaborative Artwork Festival
- New Candy Shop Opens in Verona
- Details on the Casting Call for Happy Gilmore 2 in West Orange
- Bloomfield Creates Flood Mitigation Committee
- Newark Foundation Donates Backpacks to Honor Late Officer
- Ina Garten Joins Stephen Colbert for the Highlight of Montclair Film Festival’s Storyteller Series
- NJIT + Rutgers-Newark Make Top 100 ‘Best Colleges’ List
- Montclair’s Walnut Street Fair Returns Today, 9/29
- Scam Warning to E-ZPass Customers in NJ + PA Issued by Federal Authorities
- BDP Holdings Designated as Lackawanna Plaza Redeveloper
Montclair Launches New Collaborative Artwork Festival
Montclair residents are launching a new, free, community-wide festival, called Seeing from the Heart. The festival matches participants into small teams, each of which then collaboratively creates an artwork. The first theme is “mutual compassion, empathy, respect, and friendship across boundaries or differences” where adults and seniors are matched into teams of about four to five while parents with their kids or teens are matched into other teams consisting of two to three families. According to a press release, each team meets in person several times during October and November at local sponsored venues in order to envision and design a joint artwork inspired by the theme. The teams’ artworks will be exhibited publicly at Montclair Art Museum (MAM) and other local venues in December before a public opening celebration for the Seeing from the Heart exhibition will be held on Thursday, December 12th at MAM. Visual artists, art-making enthusiasts, and other interested locals are invited. Sign-ups to participate in the festival are now open online, through tomorrow, September 30th.
New Candy Shop Opens in Verona
A new sweet shop called Tweedle Tee’s Candies and Curiosities, located at 524 Bloomfield Avenue in Verona, has recently opened and aims to recreate the nostalgic magic of childhood candy. The Montclair Girl has been told that soon to come, the team will provide crafting classes for kids, taught by kids. Click here to learn more about Tweedle Tee’s Candies + Curiosities.
Montclair Family Seeking Donations
A family in Montclair has started a GoFundMe campaign after seven-year-old Kyle Rodrigues has endured a kidney disease since birth and will undergo an emergency kidney transplant on Friday, October 4th. His father, Alex, will be the donor. The family of six will be taking leave from work and are seeking donations to help pay various bills. Interested donors can find more information on their GoFundMe site.
Details on the Casting Call for Happy Gilmore 2 in West Orange
Essex County locals had the chance to be in a new Netflix movie. Casting agents for Happy Gilmore 2 were seeking Northern New Jersey locals this week to be paid extras and to portray 2000s-era golf spectators, with the shoot starting around Tuesday, September 24th. Adam Sandler, who plays Happy Gilmore, has been spotted around Essex County these past few weeks as the movie continues to film locally. Click here to read more about the Happy Gilmore 2 casting call in Essex County.
Bloomfield Resident Fatally Shot in Newark
A Bloomfield resident was found with fatal gunshot wounds at a supermarket in Newark on Wednesday, September 18th. According to Patch Newark, Newark police officers responded to a grocery store on the 300 block of South 7th Street around 8:45PM after getting reports about gunfire. The officers found an unresponsive woman, 26-year-old Nakiyyah Blue of Bloomfield, in the store suffering from gunshot wounds, per a statement from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Newark Department of Public Safety. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department, is currently investigating the shooting. Anyone with information can contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s tip line at 877-847-7432.
Bloomfield Creates Flood Mitigation Committee
The Township of Bloomfield recently announced the formation of a Flood Mitigation Advisory Committee to help cope with flooding and stormwater management in the township. The committee will focus on community engagement, assessing current flood control methods, and providing recommendations to address the ongoing challenges posed by flooding, per a press release from the township. Committee membership will prioritize seven residents and property owners in flood-prone areas and individuals with expertise in flood management, engineering, or environmental science.
Newark Foundation Donates Backpacks to Honor Late Officer
The Ricardo J. Barbosa Foundation, Inc. recently announced the results of the Second Annual Back-to-School Book Bag Drive. The Back-to-School drive was dedicated to honoring the memory of Ricardo J. Barbosa, a beloved School Resource Officer from the 3rd Precinct of the Newark Police Department in the Ironbound. The Foundation distributed 350 book bags throughout six schools in the East Ward of Newark: Ann Street, Lafayette, Hawkins, East Ward Elementary, Oliver, and Wilson Avenue schools. The Back-to-School Book Bag Drive provided students from the East Ward with essential school supplies, including book bags, notebooks, pens, pencils, folders, and other educational materials, per Patch Newark. The drive aimed to ensure that the schools have the resources available for children to start the school year prepared and with the confidence to succeed academically.
Ina Garten Joins Stephen Colbert for the Highlight of Montclair Film Festival’s Storyteller Series
Photo Credit: FRANK PR/Montclair Film
On Sunday, October 20th at 12PM, author and cooking star Ina Garten will join Stephen Colbert in conversation at The Wellmont Theater in downtown Montclair during the 2024 Montclair Film Festival. According to a press release provided by FRANK PR, the event (presented in partnership with Watchung Booksellers) is the Centerpiece of the festival’s Storyteller Series, presented by Audible. Ina Garten is a New York Times bestselling author of 13 cookbooks and the James Beard Award-winning host of the Emmy Award-winning television shows Barefoot Contessa and Be My Guest on Food Network and Discovery+, respectively. Her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, is included with a ticket to this conversation.
Parents in Montclair Seek to Remove PTA President
Glenfield Middle School PTA members plan to remove the president of the volunteer organization after what they said is the “expiration of her term, lack of transparency over finances and resignations under her ‘corrosive leadership.'” The president, Dee Thompson, was elected for a two-year term in May 2022, and while the PTA’s website states her term runs through June 2025, it also lists her as a president in 2022 and 2023. According to Montclair Local, the Glenfield School parents have sought help from the New Jersey PTA, in which a response to the local PTA members said there should be an election. The Glenfield School PTA was scheduled to meet at 6:30PM on Wednesday, September 25th, at Glenfield Middle School to discuss the matter.
NJIT + Rutgers-Newark Make Top 100 ‘Best Colleges’ List
Rutgers University-Newark and The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark ranked in the ‘Top 100’ nationwide on a new list of “Best Colleges” from U.S. News & World Report. Rutgers ranked 80th and NJIT ranked 84th, respectively, per Patch Newark. Both universities were also featured on last year’s list. In total, six New Jersey colleges were ranked on the list as well.
Montclair’s St. James Episcopal Church Starts ‘Puzzle Pantry Project’
St. James Episcopal Church, located at 581 Valley Road in Montclair, will commemorate the 40th Anniversary of its preschool with a public art project called “The Puzzle Pantry: Feeding Our Neighbors” designed to raise awareness of child hunger. According to Montclair Local, the “Puzzle Project” aims to collect 263,262 puzzle pieces — each representing one hungry child in America — to be glued, to plywood five-foot cutouts of the six digits that make up the statistic. The project is set to be unveiled sometime during The National Association for Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Week of the Young Child between Saturday, April 5th through Friday, April 11th, 2025. The pre-school children and parents will help collect puzzle pieces and work on the project during the school year as the public is invited to participate by donating food and puzzle pieces. Reverand Hasselbrook also encourages people to help stock the pantry moving forward.
Bloomfield Township Earns Bronze Level Certification from Sustainable Jersey for 5th Time
Bloomfield Township has achieved Bronze Level Certification from Sustainable Jersey; this marks the fifth time the township has received the designation since 2009. Bloomfield maintains its Bronze Level status for the next three years with this certification, reaffirming its commitment to sustainability and environmental leadership. This certification also opens the door to increased grant opportunities, which will support future green projects, per a press release from the township. Sustainable Jersey certification is a voluntary program, recognized across the state as a significant achievement for municipal governments. Bloomfield remains committed to its long-standing goals of promoting sustainable habits and improving the quality of life for its residents through green initiatives.
Newark Tweaks Water + Sewer Billing Cycle for Residents
Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced last week that the Department of Water + Sewer Utilities changed its billing cycle beginning this month. The new cycle ensures customers will receive their bills by the 15th of each month and will have 15 days to pay the bill after they receive it. The department will offer forgiveness for accrued interest and penalties to customers with outstanding bills who pay in full by Thursday, October 31st, 2024. Customers are also advised that this month’s bill may be higher than usual to reflect both August and September balances. According to a statement published on the City of Newark’s website, the department appreciates customer cooperation as these billing cycle changes are made. Residents seeking more information can visit the Newark Department of Water + Sewer Utilities website. Payment plans, questions, or concerns relating to these changes should be directed to the Newark Water and Sewer customer service unit at 973-733-6370.
Montclair’s Walnut Street Fair Returns Today, 9/29
The Walnut Street Fair is taking place today, September 29th, from 11AM–4PM after being postponed back in May due to rain. The fair is presented by the Junior League of Montclair-Newark and will take place on Walnut Street from Grove Street to Forest Street and include various activities for everyone. Click here for more information about this year’s Walnut Street Fair in Montclair.
Scam Warning to E-ZPass Customers in NJ + PA Issued by Federal Authorities
Federal officials say a text messaging scam is occurring going after customers of tolling agencies across the country that persuades them to enter personal and/or financial information on a falsified website. If a person has received a text message claiming to be from E-ZPass, it is instructed to not click on the link and delete the message immediately instead. E-ZPass customer service via phone call or online is available for any questions. Alternatively, if a person clicked on a link contained in a text message, officials advise to immediately contact their financial institution and notify E-ZPass of any erroneous information posted to their accounts. According to ESPN New Jersey, a victim may also report the fake text message to the FBI.
BDP Holdings Designated as Lackawanna Plaza Redeveloper
On Tuesday, September 24th, the Montclair Town Council voted unanimously to formally designate BPD Holdings LLC as the redeveloper. This will allow them to move forward on a redevelopment agreement for the site. The town opted to amend the time frame to reach an agreement with BDP Holdings, LLC from 60 to 120 days. If either party can’t reach an agreement, either one can void the designation, per Montclair Local. A complete application for preliminary and final site plan approval is due by Sunday, June 1st, 2025.
Montclair Changes Public Comment Rules for Town Council Meetings
The Montclair Town Council voted in favor of a resolution during its meeting on Tuesday, September 24th, that tweaks the way public comments will be handled at future meetings. According to Patch Montclair, an amendment to the resolution excluded a phrase that members of the public are allowed to comment on any item which is, “on the agenda or any governmental issue that they want to address.” Councilor-at-large Carmel Loughman said the phrase might open the floodgates to contentious arguments and personal attacks that aren’t related to official town business and has already caused some debate and discourse among residents. Montclair interim town attorney Paul Burr has stated that the state’s Open Public Meetings Act requires the council to permit a public comment session during its meeting, where the public can come and speak on any matter that they want to discuss.
Montclair Film Announces Complete 2024 Montclair Film Festival Program
Montclair Film announced the full slate for the 2024 Montclair Film Festival this week, which is taking place from Friday, October 18th through Sunday, October 27th in Montclair. The Festival’s Opening Night will welcome Academy Award winner Director Edward Berger for a screening of his new film Conclave and will participate in a post-screening Q+A on Friday, October 18th at 7PM at The Wellmont Theater. Click here for more about this year’s festival.
Financial Audit of Montclair Released Filled with Comments + Recommendations
The revised 2023 Report of Audit on the Financial Statements of the Township of Montclair was released last week. It covers the year that ended Sunday, December 31st, 2023. Some general comments covered contracts and agreements being required to be advertised for, purchasing approval, traffic tickets in municipal court, issues regarding finance department cash receipts, assessing risks related to cybersecurity, and segregation of duties, per Patch Montclair. The full report can be found online.
