While walking down 75th Street, everything at first seems “normal” –paved streets, parked cars, traffic and shops – until after Park Avenue, where the modern asphalt is exchanged for red bricks.
Residents of the street, which is comprised of mostly one-family homes and large trees, said that they choose to live here for many reasons, including the approximately century-old bricks.
While snow removal is impossible due to the lack of paving, most said that the bricks also keep their street quieter with less traffic, providing a unique and irreplaceable aesthetic.
“It’s beautiful.” – Douglas Cohn
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Resident Douglas Cohn said that the bricks are at least 100 years old.
“It’s beautiful,” said Cohn, who added that the red bricks were part of the reason he moved in more than 25 years ago.
Cohn said that at one time, there were more trees along the streets, and the foliage made the block look as if it was surrounded by a tunnel of leaves.
“It was gorgeous,” said Cohn.
Resident John Romano said, “I know [North Bergen has tried to] pave it a couple of times over the last 20 years or so, and I think there’s been a lot of fight back from some of the residents and other people in town, so thankfully they haven’t. I think it adds a lot of character. Every time I talked to people and tell them were I live in this area, I tell them it’s the red brick road, and they say, ‘Oh, that block is so nice.’ ”
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.