Nutley

Nutley, New Jersey
Map of Nutley Township in Essex County. Inset: Location of Essex County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Nutley, New Jersey
Coordinates: 40°49′11″N 74°9′32″W / 40.81972°N 74.15889°W / 40.81972; -74.15889Coordinates: 40°49′11″N 74°9′32″W / 40.81972°N 74.15889°W / 40.81972; -74.15889
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Essex
Incorporated	February 18, 1874 as Franklin Township
Reincorporated	March 5, 1902 as Nutley
Government
- Type	Walsh Act
- Mayor	Joanne Cocchiola-Oliver
Area
- Total	3.4 sq mi (8.9 km2)
- Land	3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation [1]	59 ft (18 m)
Population (2006)[2]
- Total	27,011
- Density	8,123.0/sq mi (3,136.3/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	07110
Area code(s)	973
FIPS code	34-53680[3][4]
GNIS feature ID	1729715[5]
Website	http://www.nutleynj.org/

This article is about the township of Nutley in New Jersey. For the village in East Sussex, see Nutley, East Sussex.

Nutley is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 27,362. For 2008, the population of Nutley is estimated to be over 30,000 residents.

What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 18, 1874, from portions of Belleville Township. Nutley was incorporated as a Town on March 5, 1902, replacing Franklin Township.^[6] Nutley was one of several Essex County communities that changed to the Township type during the 1970s in order to qualify for federal revenue-sharing aid only available to townships. Nutley derived its name from the estate of the Satterthwaite family, established in 1844, which stretched along the Passaic River and from an artist's colony in the area.^[7][8]

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Nutley as its 38th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.^[9]

Geography

Nutley is located at 40°49′11″N 74°09′32″W / 40.819600°N 74.158770°W / 40.819600; -74.158770 (40.819600, -74.158770).^[10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.9 km²), of which, 3.4 square miles (8.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.75%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 27,362 people, 10,884 households, and 7,368 families residing in the township. The population density was 8,123.0 people per square mile (3,134.9/km²). There were 11,118 housing units at an average density of 1, 273.8/km² (3,300.6/sq mi). The racial makeup of the township was 87.95% White, 1.87% African American, 0.05% Native American, 7.10% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.75% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.69% of the population. The population of Nutley, as well as its ethnic and racial diverstiy has significantly grown since the 2000 census. Official numbers are anticipated for 2010.

As of the 2000 census, 36.0% of town residents were of Italian ancestry, the 12th-highest percentage of any municipality in the United States, and fifth-highest in New Jersey, among all places with more than 1,000 residents identifying their ancestry.^[12]

There were 10,884 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $59,634, and the median income for a family was $73,264 (these figures had risen to $76,729 and $96,403 respectively as of a 2007 estimate^[13]). Males had a median income of $51,121 versus $37,100 for females. The per capita income for the township was $28,039. About 3.4% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Nutley's population grew between the 1920s and 1960s due to a large influx of Italian immigrants and assimilated Italian-Americans. Today, 44.5% of Nutley is of Italian descent, per data from the 2000 Census^[14]

History

Former railroad station at Franklin Avenue

The town of Nutley grew slowly as the Village of Newark developed. The first European settler in the area, recorded in the minutes of a Newark town meeting in 1693, was a Dutch painter named Bastian Van Giesen.^[7] His house still stands today on Chestnut Street and is the location of the Nutley Women's Club. John Treat and Thomas Stagg purchased lots adjacent to Van Geisen's in 1695 and 1698 respectively. The first brownstone quarry in Nutley is believed to have been in operation by the early 18th century and was the town's first major industry.^[7] Jobs at the brownstone quarry in the Avondale section of Nutley provided work for many Italian and Irish immigrants. Mills situated along the Third River in the area now known as Memorial Park I became Nutley's second major industry.^[7] John and Thomas Speer, Joseph Kingsland, and Henry Duncan all operated mills in the town during the 1800s. Current streets in Nutley are named after these mill owners. Henry Duncan built several mills throughout the town and established the village of Franklinville consisting of 30 homes and a few small businesses which later became the center of Nutley.^[7] One of Duncan's buildings has been modified and now serves as the town hall.

Nutley's current town historian, John Demmer, is the author of the book in the "Images of America" series titled Nutley; Demmer is also part of The Nutley Historical Society [1], a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serve the educational, cultural and historical needs of the community. Several other passionate historical works on Nutley have been written by local historians, notably the late Miss Ann Troy's "Nutley: Yesterday - Today"; "Nutley" by Marilyn Peters and Richard O'Connor in the "Then and Now" series; and books about the Nutley Velodrome.

Government

Local representation

Nutley has operated a Commission form of government under the Walsh Act since 1912.^[15] Each of the five commissioners are elected on a nonpartisan basis to serve four-year concurrent terms (current terms of office all end on May 22, 2012). The commissioners also serve as department heads in addition to their legislative functions. The Commissioners elect one Commissioner as Mayor. Historically the Commissioner that receives the most votes is appointed Mayor. The mayor is only responsible for his or her departments and serves as the chair of the commission.^[16]

Nutley's current Commissioners are:

• Joanne Cocchiola-Oliver - Commissioner of Public Affairs and Mayor (2012)
• Thomas J. Evans - Commissioner of Revenue and Finance (2012)
• Alphonse Petracco - Commissioner of Public Safety (2012)
• Dr. Joseph P. Scarpelli - Commissioner of Public Works (2012)
• Mauro G. Tucci - Commissioner of Parks and Public Property (2012)

Federal, state and county representation

Nutley is part of New Jersey's 36th Legislative District and is in the Eighth Congressional District.^[17]

New Jersey's Eighth Congressional District, covering the southern portion of Passaic County and northern sections of Essex County, is represented by Bill Pascrell Jr. (D, Paterson). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

For the 2008-2009 Legislative Session, the 36th District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Paul Sarlo (D, Wood-Ridge) and in the Assembly by Frederick Scalera (D, Nutley) and Gary Schaer (D, Passaic).^[18] The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).^[19]

Essex County's County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Essex County's Freeholders are Freeholder President Blonnie R. Watson (at large), Freeholder Vice President Ralph R. Caputo (District 5), Johnny Jones (at large), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (at large), Patricia Sebold (at large) Samuel Gonzalez (District 1), D. Bilal Beasley (District 2), Carol Y. Clark (District 3) and Linda Lordi Cavanaugh (District 4).^[20]

Franklin Avenue, a main shopping street

Politics

On the national level, Nutley leans toward the Republican Party. In 2008, Republican John McCain received 52% of the vote here, defeating Democrat Barack Obama.^[21]

Education

The Nutley Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[22]) are five elementary schools for students in grades K-6 — Lincoln (489 students), Radcliffe (365), Spring Garden (399), Washington (379) and Yantacaw (503) — John H. Walker Middle School for grades 7 and 8 (669) and Nutley High School for grades 9-12 (4,374).

Recreation

Nutley's parks include Booth Park, DeMuro Park, Father Glotzbach Park, Msgr Owens Park, Flora Louden Park, Kingsland Park, Memorial Park I, II, III, Nichols Park, and Rheinheimer Park. They offer fields for baseball, football, basketball,lacrosse, roller hockey, and soccer among other sports.^[23]

Operation Nutley Cares

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the central gulf coast region on August 29, 2005, Mayor Joanne Cocchiola and Commissioner Carmen A. Orechio reached out to local residents who wanted to help victims of the devastation, and formed the Operation Nutley Cares Committee. A decision was made to adopt Bay St. Louis, Mississippi as a sister city, Bay St. Louis, population 8,500, which sits just northwest of New Orleans, and had at least 60% of the community completely destroyed by Katrina and another 20% condemned. Monetary donations are still being accepted to help fund efforts to assist Bay St. Louis.

Corporate residents

Hoffmann–La Roche US-section is headquartered in Nutley, and was the site of the creations of the blockbuster medications Valium and Librium.^[8]

Noted residents

Nutley's rich history includes being the home to many notables:

• Merle Allin, bass player.^{[citation needed]}
• Julian "Bud" Blake (1918-2005), cartoonist (Tiger).^[24][25]
• Robert Blake (born 1933), actor (Baretta), born Michael James Vincenzo Gubitosi.^[26]
• Carol Blazejowski, (born 1956) General Manager of the WNBA's New York Liberty.^[27]
• Jonathan Budine (born 1967), film director, producer and editor.^[28]
• Henry Cuyler Bunner, novelist.^[29]
• Elan Carter (born 1969), Playboy Playmate of the Month, June 1994.^[30]
• Tina Cervasio, sportscaster, best known for her work as the Boston Red Sox sideline reporter on NESN telecasts.^[31]
• Samuel "Little Sammy" Corsaro, Gambino crime family soldier.^{[citation needed]}
• William Pène du Bois (1916-1993), author, artist.^[32]
• Frank Fowler, painter.^[29]
• Ron Fraser, "Wizard of College Baseball", Baseball coach at University of Miami.^[33]
• Garry Furnari (born 1954), served in the New Jersey Senate and in New Jersey Superior Court, and was Mayor of Nutley from 1996-2003.^[34]
• Robert Ellis Kur (born 1948), television journalist.^{[citation needed]}
• Frank Lautenberg (born 1924), United States Senator.^[35]
• Frederick Dana Marsh (1872-1961), illustrator.^[7][36]
• Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), painter.^[29]
• Annie Oakley (1860-1926), sharpshooter.^[29]
• Carmen A. Orechio (born 1926), President of the New Jersey Senate.^[37]
• Carlo Jackie Paris (1926-2004), jazz singer and guitarist.^[38]
• Raphael Sonenshein (born 1949), executive director of the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission and chairman of the political science department at California State University, Fullerton
• Frederic Dorr Steele (1873-1944), illustrator.^[29]
• Leo Sternbach (1908-2005), inventor of Valium.^{[citation needed]}
• Martha Stewart (born 1941), domestic guru, born Martha Helen Kostyra.^[39]
• Alix Strachey (1892-1973), psychoanalyst, born Alix Sargant-Florence, translated Sigmund Freud's works into English.^[40]
• Nick Zano (born 1979), actor.^[41]

Cultural references

• Ed Sullivan gave out Nutley pillows, maroon satin with yellow-appliqued letters and fringe, as "boobie prizes" on his long-running television show.
• Aerosmith played at the Nutley prom in the 1960s. Stated in Aerosmith's autobiography Walk This Way. [2]
• Iron Butterfly played at the 1971 Nutley High School Prom.^{[citation needed]}
• George Dorn, in The Illuminatus! Trilogy is described as having grown up in Nutley, with references to his childhood illustrating that the authors had more than a passing familiarity with the town.
• Nutley native son, antiwar activist and Quaker, C(arl) J(ohn) Hinke became the last American arrested for the Vietnam War draft [3] on December 12, 1976. He had moved to Canada due to his pacifist convictions after being offered a one-way ticket to North Vietnam by Nutley's American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters. Hinke was pardoned by Jimmy Carter on January 21, 1977 in his first official act as president.
• In an episode of Saturday Night Live, Derek Jeter's Taco Hall is "just off Route 3" where "there's a place called Nutley New Jersey".
• In the Schrödinger's Cat trilogy, Nutley High School and Nutley are mentioned in passing, with Nutley being the location of a "tapioca mine".
• Weird NJ runs regular features on past and present Nutley destinations such as Franklin Avenue beat coffee house, Angelo Nardi's Villa Capri [4] which town council tried to close for decades and various Nutley "old man" bars such as the Old Canal Inn [5]. Nutley was also used as a shooting location for the 1999 film Weird N.J. [6]
• An episode of Comedy Central's "Strangers with Candy" was filmed at the Jim Dandys on Frankin Avenue.
• The courtroom in NBC's television show Ed was an exact replica of Nutley's municipal courtroom. In addition, various locations in the township were used, including the outside of the Public Safety building.
• The short-lived FOX television show Quintuplets was set in Nutley. ^[42]
• Part-time Nutley resident, celebrity homemaker Martha Stewart, has mentioned numerous times on her television shows, her childhood memories of Nutley. She also had a "Nutley Day" on her talk show Martha, in 2006.
• Parts of episodes of Law & Order SVU were filmed in Nutley's Park Oval, Nutley's Park and Recreation Center and Nutley High School.
• Nutley is referenced in the Futurama episode #210 "Put Your Head on My Shoulders" as the destination of the bus stop where Bender found all of the undesirable Valentine's Day dates for his dating service customers ("Can't hon', I gotta catch my bus back to Nutley.", "Excuse me, did you say '10:15 to Nutley'?" and "Anybody else for Nutley?"), in "The Beast With a Billion Backs" ("This place makes Nutley look like crap.") and in "Into the Wild Green Yonder" ("Beats Nutley on a Saturday night.")
• Nutley is frequently mentioned and featured in HBO's hit series The Sopranos, and Soprano family associate Furio Giunta purchased a home in Nutley.
• Nutley is also referenced by Archie Bunker a number of times on the TV show All in the Family (it's where Edith's family is from)--as in "I don't want to take the bus all way to Nutley, NJ to see your ......Family", spoken in the Archie Bunker whine.
• The TV show Make Me a Super Model filmed an episode in the "Oval" (the nickname for the football/soccer/baseball field) of Nutley High School. The show's host, Tyson Beckford was also there with a few famous top models.

References

External links

• Township of Nutley
• NJ Hometown
• Nutley Public Schools
• [7]
• Nutley Public Schools's 2006-07 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Nutley Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics

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