Roselle Park, New Jersey

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Roselle Park, New Jersey
settlement_type = Borough
nickname =
motto =

imagesize =
image_caption =


image_

---

mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Map of Roselle Park in Union County


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =

subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = New Jersey
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Union
government_footnotes =
government_type = Borough (New Jersey)
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Joseph DeIorio
leader_title1 = Clerk/Administrator
leader_name1 = Doreen Cali [ [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/1153/default.aspx Borough Clerk] , Borough of Roselle Park. Accessed January 3, 2008.]
established_title = Incorporated
established_date = March 22, 1901

unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 3.2
area_land_km2 = 3.2
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 1.2
area_land_sq_mi = 1.2
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2006
population_footnotes =
population_total = 13124
population_density_km2 = 4191.4
population_density_sq_mi = 10855.7

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes = [Gnis|885380|Borough of Roselle Park, Geographic Names Information System, accessed January 3, 2008.]
elevation_m = 24
elevation_ft = 79
latd = 40 |latm = 39 |lats = 56 |latNS = N
longd = 74 |longm = 16 |longs = 1 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 07204
area_code = 908
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 34-64650GR|2 [ [http://mcdc2.missouri.edu/webrepts/commoncodes/ccc_nj.html A Cure for the Common Codes: New Jersey] , Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed July 14, 2008.]
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0885380GR|3
website = http://www.rosellepark.net
footnotes =

Roselle Park is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 13,281.

Roselle Park was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 22, 1901, from portions of Union Township."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 240.] [ [http://www.unioncounty150anniversary.com/rosellepark.php Borough of Roselle Park] , Union County, New Jersey. Accessed January 2, 2008.] The separation occurred due to a number of grievances based on a lack of sufficient public services, including; lack of a modern sewage system, poor schools, neglected roads, and minimal public safety measures. [ [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/44/default.aspx The History of Roselle Park, New Jersey] , Borough of Roselle Park. Accessed January 2, 2008.]

Geography

Roselle Park is located at coor dms|40|39|55|N|74|16|7|W|city (40.665352, -74.268710)GR|1 at an elevation of 79 feet (24 m) above sea level.

The borough is bordered to the northeast by Union Township, to the northwest by Kenilworth, to the east by Elizabeth, to the south by Roselle and to the west by Cranford.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.2 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

USCensusPop
1930=8969
1940=9661
1950=11537
1960=12546
1970=14277
1980=13377
1990=12805
2000=13281
estimate= 13124
estyear=2006
estref= [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US3445330&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US34%7C16000US3445330&_street=&_county=roselle+park&_cityTown=roselle+park&_state=04000US34&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=population_0&ds_name=null&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry= Census data for Roselle Park borough] , United States Census Bureau. Accessed August 18, 2007.]
footnote=Population 1930 - 1990. [ [http://www.wnjpin.net/OneStopCareerCenter/LaborMarketInformation/lmi01/poptrd6.htm Jersey Resident Population by Municipality: 1930 - 1990] , Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network. Accessed March 1, 2007.] As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 13,281 people, 5,137 households, and 3,416 families residing in the borough. The population density was 10,855.7 people per square mile (4,203.1/km²). There were 5,258 housing units at an average density of 4,297.8/sq mi (1,664.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 80.87% White, 2.42% African American, 0.11% Native American, 9.14% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 4.89% from other races, and 2.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.34% of the population.

There were 5,137 households out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the borough the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $53,717, and the median income for a family was $63,403. Males had a median income of $42,623 versus $33,105 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $24,101. About 3.4% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 1.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

The Borough of Roselle Park is governed by an elected Mayor and six Councilpersons. Roselle Park is divided into five election districts, referred to as wards, with one Councilperson elected from each ward, and one Councilperson elected at large. The Mayor is elected to a four-year term and Councilpersons are elected to three-year terms. [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/default.aspx Borough of Roselle Park Mayor & Council] , Borough of Roselle Park. Accessed January 2, 2008.]

The Mayor Of Roselle Park is [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/84.aspx Joseph DeIorio] . Members of the Borough Council are:
*At large: [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/86.aspx Ricky Badillo]
*Ward 1: [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/89.aspx Larry Dinardo]
*Ward 2: [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/85.aspx Rick Matarante]
*Ward 3: [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/90.aspx Larissa Chen-Hoerning]
*Ward 4: Modesto Miranda, Jr.
*Ward 5: [http://www.rosellepark.net/content/46/64/87.aspx Michael Yakubov]

Federal, state and county representation

Roselle Park Borough is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 21st Legislative District. [ [http://www.lwvnj.org/pubs/CG06.pdf 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government] , New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 63. Accessed August 30, 2006.]

Education

The Roselle Park School District serves public school students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics [ [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3414310 Data for the Roselle Park School District] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed March 7, 2008.] ) are:

;Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
* [http://www.roselleparkschools.org/rpelem/aldene/aldhp.html Aldene/Ernest J. Finizio School] - Virginia Gilcrest, Principal (259 students)
* [http://www.roselleparkschools.org/rpelem/gordon/rghp.html Robert Gordon School] - James Salvo, Principal (300 students)
* [http://www.roselleparkschools.org/rpelem/sherman/shrmhp.html Sherman School] - Thomas Faria, Principal (313 students)

;Middle School (Grades 6-8)
* [http://www.roselleparkschools.org/rpms/msix.html Roselle Park Middle School] (326 students)
**Jeannine Grasso, Principal
**James Shriner, Vice Principal

;High School (Grades 9-12)
*Roselle Park High School (845 students). Roselle Park High School reported a 99.7% high school graduation rate for the class of 2006.
**Sarah Costa, Principal
**Frances Kenny, Vice Principal of Academics
**John Wagner, Vice Principal of Athletics
**Susan Carlstrom, Director of Guidance and Testing

Railroads

Roselle Park has a rich railroading heritage. A steam locomotive adorns the Borough seal, and the town is very welcoming to railroad enthusiasts.

It all began when the young and recently chartered Elizabethtown & Somerville railway began laying rails through what would become Roselle Park in 1839. It eventually became the Central Railroad of New Jersey between Jersey City, New Jersey and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Throughout the years as traffic grew, the line would grow to four main tracks, hosting not just the CNJ, but also the trains of Reading Company and the Baltimore and Ohio.

Roselle Park and Roselle formerly shared a rail station on the CNJ mainline. Passenger service East of Bayonne, New Jersey ended on April 30, 1967. Shuttle service between Bayonne, New Jersey and Cranford, New Jersey continued on for several years but eventually ended, resulting in the closure of the old station on Chestnut Street. The line continued to see operation as an access route to the NJTransit/NJDOT railroad shops at Elizabethport until the mid-1980s. It is currently out of service and unused, as the Conrail Elizabeth Industrial Track.

Competition would come as the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company realized that railroading was a more efficient mode of transportation for their coal than a canal system. They formed the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and began building Eastward in 1853. By 1872, they had reached Roselle, and formed the subsidiary Newark and Roselle Railway in order to continue building East to the Hudson River. April 1, 1976 the Lehigh Valley Railroad became part of the Consolidated Rail Corporation, also known as Conrail and became known as their "Lehigh Line". On June 1, 2001 Conrail was purchased and split between Norfolk Southern (60%) and CSX (40%), and became "shared assets". Conrail continues to operate the Lehigh Line. In addition to New Jersey Transit the line sees anywhere from 35-45 freights per day from four railroads; Conrail, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and tri-weekly Canadian Pacific (formerly Delaware and Hudson Railway). The track is Norfolk Southern's primary access route into and out of the New York City metropolitan area, and is also part of CSX's primary North-South corridor.

The Roselle Park Train Station offers New Jersey Transit commuter rail service as part of their Raritan Valley Line Service. This was a result of the Aldene Connection which opened April 30, 1967. Currently the station is located at milepost 16.0 on the Conrail Lehigh Line, on the corner of Chestnut Street and West Lincoln Avenue; the same location of the original Lehigh Valley station. In addition to local travel, from here, one take the train to Newark, New Jersey or New York City and connect to various modes of travel to nearly anywhere in the U.S. and Canada on Amtrak.

The town was also once served by the Rahway Valley Railroad. The line was exempted in 1991 by then Rahway Valley Railroad controller Delaware Otsego Corporation, and was given to the County of Union. It has remained dormant since. However, beginning in 2004, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders began taking steps to reactivate the routes. They named the Morristown and Erie Railway as designated operator, and funded the beginning of Right-of-way renewal. Currently the Morristown and Erie Railway is awaiting further funding to complete the work. The line will be reactivated by 2010.Fact|date=January 2008

Other Transportation

Route 28 passes through Roselle Park, and the Garden State Parkway skirts the western boundary of the borough.
New Jersey Transit Bus Operations provides bus service on three routes:
*58 - Elizabeth to Kenilworth
*94 - Bloomfield to Linden
*113 - Dunellen to New York City

Newark Liberty International Airport is approximately 10 minutes away, with hundreds of flights departing to and arriving from all over the globe daily. Linden Airport, a general aviation facility, is also in nearby Linden, New Jersey.

Notable historical facts

*The first known settlement within what is now the Borough was built by Samuel Williams, in 1700.
*Galloping Hill Road was continually used by revolutionary war scouts, delivering messages to and from General George Washington and Governor Livingston.
*Galloping Hill Road also believed to be the route traveled by the British columns en route to the Battle of Connecticut Farms, battling the New Jersey militia the entire way.
*Son of American General, William Crane, was bayoneted and killed by the British near what is now Galloping Hill Road and Colonial Road.
*Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad passes through in 1839, as the first railroad in Northern New Jersey.
*The first store in the world to be lit by electric light was Stone's Store on Westfield Avenue, lit by Thomas Edison's carbon filament prototype.
*1907 the first poured concrete building in the world, now the Robert Gordon School, was built in Roselle Park using Thomas Edison's revolutionary process.
*Roselle Park was home to the factory and lab of Marconi Wireless Telegraph, and became site of the first regularly broadcast radio station "WDY".
* Eddie Cantor made regular appearances on Marconi's radio station WDY.
*Andy Garcia and Andie MacDowell filmed scenes in 1998 for "Just the Ticket" in town.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Roselle Park include:
*Michael Ausiello, "TV Guide" writer. [Gillette, Felix. [http://www.observer.com/2007/doctor "The Doctor Is In: TV addicts cut off by the W.G.A. turn to 'TV Guide' guy"] , "The New York Observer", November 15, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2007. "Indeed, it was TV that helped make life bearable for the young Mr. Ausiello. He grew up in the small town of Roselle Park, New Jersey, a half hour outside of Elizabeth."]
*Rick Barry (born 1944), NBA All-Pro Forward. Ranked #2 on the "Sports Illustrated" list of "The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures". [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/states/new_jersey/greatest/ The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures] , "Sports Illustrated", December 27, 1999]
*Mike Daly, Songwriter / Record Producer
*Gregory Gillespie (1936-2000), artist. [ [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0F80DB42C7C772FB&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=V5FE54YLMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "GREGORY GILLESPIE, 64, UNFLINCHING PAINTER"] , "The Plain Dealer", April 30, 2000. Accessed August 18, 2007. "Gillespie was born in 1936 in Roselle Park, N.J., and raised in a strict Roman Catholic household."]
*Keith Loneker, former professional football player and actor. [ [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LONEKKEI01 Keith Loneker] , database Football. Accessed August 18, 2007.]
*Alan Pasqua (born 1952), pianist, composer and jazz musician. [Stewart, Zan. [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/16670999.html?dids=16670999:16670999&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+18%2C+1996&author=ZAN+STEWART&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=VALLEY+WEEKEND%3B+He's+Taking+His+Grand+Piano+and+Going+Out+on+a+Limb%3B+In+a+break+from+soundtracks%2C+synthesizers+and+written+music%2C+Alan+Pasqua+will+play+a+spontaneous%2C+acoustic+solo+show+Sunday+in+Glendale.&pqatl=google "VALLEY WEEKEND; He's Taking His Grand Piano and Going Out on a Limb; In a break from soundtracks, synthesizers and written music, Alan Pasqua will play a spontaneous, acoustic solo show Sunday in Glendale."] , "Los Angeles Times", April 18, 1996. Accessed February 25, 2008. "Pasqua's been fond of acoustic pianos since he started playing at age 7 in Roselle Park, N.J."]

References

External links

* [http://www.rosellepark.net/ Roselle Park Borough website]
* [http://www.roselleparkschools.org/ Roselle Park School District]
*NJReportCard|39|4550|0|Roselle Park School District
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3414310 Data for the Roselle Park School District] , National Center for Education Statistics