‘Dive-in’ movie night is Aug. 6
Cinema under the Stars presents a “Dive-in” movie night at the town pool on Thursday, Aug. 6 with “Despicable Me.” Bring a chair, blanket, and snacks. The film starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $5, or free for pool members and individuals with a North Bergen library card. Residents can sign up for a membership at the door.
Transportation will be provided the day of the event at both library locations: 8411 Bergenline Ave. and 2123 Kennedy Blvd. The North Bergen Municipal Pool Complex is at 2111 91st St. For more information call (201) 758-2714 or visit northbergen.org.
Free crosstown bus on weekends inaugurated in Guttenberg
The Town of Guttenberg has initiated a free crosstown bus service on Saturdays and Sundays between the hours of 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The service will make a loop through town, heading as far west as Adams Street, passing Bergenline Avenue, Boulevard East, the Galaxy Towers, and down to River Road and the new Waterfront Park. The service is free to Guttenberg residents.
2015 National Night Out Against Crime is Aug. 4
Mayor Nicholas Sacco, Public Safety Commissioner Allen Pascual, the Board of Commissioners, Police Chief Robert Dowd, and the entire NBPD invite all residents to attend the township’s annual National Night Out Against Crime celebration on Tuesday, Aug. 4, which for the first time will be held at six separate locations.
National Night Out is a nationwide program designed to improve relationships between police and local communities in a fun, informal setting. North Bergen has expanded its event this year from its traditional three locations to six, which will allow even more residents to attend block parties in their neighborhoods. All events will include free food, music, games, events and much more and the celebration will begin at 6 p.m.
North Bergen’s six locations are: Kennedy School, 1210 11th St.; Applied Housing, 1108 26th St.; Policeman’s Park, 37th and Union Tpk.; Meadowview Village, 58th-61st on Meadowview Ave.; Lawler Senior Citizen Building, 6121-6131 Grand Ave.; and Broadway between 73rd and 76th.
All locations will be staffed by community volunteers as well as many members of the NBPD who will be volunteering their time off-duty. In addition several local businesses will be donating items ranging from food and beverages to prizes and gift cards.
National Night Out not only promotes good will between the police and the community, it serves as a way to thank the public for their past and continued support. Come join in for a night of free food, beverages, music, and fun for everyone.
Fun with a Cop on Aug. 7 at Braddock Park
The North Bergen Public Library and the North Bergen Community Police invite residents to have Fun with a Cop on Aug. 7 at 11 a.m. at Braddock Park. Learn about police tactics with the North Bergen Community Police. For ages 10-14. Be ready to get wet.
NHRFR promotes five officers, shows off new equipment
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR) promoted five fire officers and unveiled new equipment this week, adding to its fleet of fire protection apparatus.
The five veteran firefighters promoted to new supervisory positions are Captain James Corso to Battalion Chief, and Firefighters Jose Vargas, Steven Hillis, Brian Stahl, and Mike Flood to Captain. The ceremony, held at NHRFR Headquarters in West New York, was attended by North Bergen Mayor and State Senator Nicholas Sacco, as well as Weehawken Mayor and NHRFR Management Committee Chairman Richard Turner.
“As our department has grown younger with the hiring of new firefighters over the past two years, many of whom are military veterans, having outstanding supervising officers who can serve as mentors and leaders is more important than ever,” said Turner. “Each of these young men have been outstanding members of our department and we are all proud to see their careers continue to advance today.”
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue was created in 1999 when North Bergen, Union City, West New York, Weehawken, and Guttenberg combined their individual fire departments into one fire-protection unit that is the third largest fire department in the state.
Following the promotion ceremony, NHRFR leadership unveiled several new pieces of fire equipment which it has purchased or acquired recently. Included was the department’s new 81-foot tower ladder truck, as well as its four new pumper trucks, each of which are capable of supplying up to 1,500 gallons of water per minute. Also on display was an additional tower ladder received in an equipment swap with the Town of Secaucus.
Next Guttenberg summer concert is The Bronx Wanderers on Aug. 6
The Bronx Wanderers echo the past while breathing new life into the sounds of today. Their tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Dion will feature crowd favorites “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Runaround Sue,” and “The Wanderer,” along with current sounds of Coldplay, Bruno Mars, and many more. The concert will take place on Thursday evening, Aug. 6 on Boulevard East between 70th and 71st Streets. Preliminary music starts at 6 p.m. with the main concert at 7:30.
Also upcoming in Guttenberg are The Infernos on Aug. 26. The crowd will be dancing to three decades of musical magic, from Barry White to Sinatra to today’s hot sounds including Taylor Swift.
The David Cedeno Latin Orchestra concert scheduled for July 29 was canceled due to county road construction.
‘Made Here’ group exhibition opens at Guttenberg Arts on Aug. 7
Made Here 2015, a group exhibition at the Guttenberg Arts Gallery, will take place from Aug. 7 to Sept. 4. Artist participating in the exhibition are Pavel Acosta, Heidi Lau, Elisabeth Smolarz, and Juana Valdes. The works included in Made Here were created during the artists’ residences this past summer.
Pavel Acosta’s move from Cuba to the United States fundamentally changed his artwork. The skills he learned in Cuba (stealing paint off buildings to make works) remain a base metaphor to address life’s struggles in his work. His new works show Acosta’s source of materials is not the city anymore, but museums. Museum walls are carriers of memories, and ultimately of history, and are reflected in the two new pieces he has created during his residency.
Heidi Lau has worked exhaustively with a variety of traditional mediums including printmaking, ceramics, and bookmaking. Her geometric forms, inspired by magic charts and mandalas, are juxtaposed with tusche renderings and acid washes resembling nebulas or alchemy. These created artifacts take the form of various objects of remembrance: towers, funeral monuments, and fossilized creatures, composing the history of a mystical world by suggesting its existence and decline.
Elisabeth Smolarz collaborates with individuals to create shrine-like installations of their own objects in their home environments, embodying their sense of selfhood and identity, thus creating a series of intricate self-portraits that tell the story of each individual. As the first community-based artist in residence at Guttenberg Arts this summer, Smolarz focused on the population of Guttenberg. Her series of individual portraits together makes up a larger community portrait and one that shows what it means to be one of the most densely populated municipalities in America.
Juana Valdes’ work records her own personal experience of migration, directly informed by her Afro-Cuban ethnicity growing up in America. Valdes’ compositions represent a personal examination of the post-colonial history of the Americas and the current representation of Latinos, Caribbean citizens, Blacks or “others” in mainstream America, through works of found ceramics and prints.
The title “Made Here” carries not only multiple definitions, but multiple conceptual meanings including location, identity, the politics of materials, and the historical nature of place. All of these new works address many of these issues and are intended as just the beginning points for deeper reflection.
Jason Liebman free acoustic concert on Aug. 11
The North Bergen Summer Concert Series presents an acoustic concert by Jason Liebman on Aug. 11 at 5 p.m. at the North Bergen Pool. Attendance is free with a pool membership or a North Bergen Public Library card. You can sign up for a library card at the pool. The North Bergen pool is at 2111 91st St. Call (201) 758-2713 for more information.
Unique Creatures visit the library in August
The program “Unique Creatures” is returning to the main library and the Kennedy Branch. Meet and learn about different types of animals. For more information contact the library at (201) 869-4715 or nbpl.org.
This event takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. at the main library, 8411 Bergenline Ave. It will also be held on Friday, Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Kennedy Branch Library, 2123 Kennedy Blvd.
See ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ for free outdoors at the Kennedy Library on Aug. 18
Cinema under the Stars continues with “Guardians of the Galaxy” at the Kennedy Branch Library at 8 p.m. on Aug. 18. Bring a chair, blanket, and snacks, and enjoy the movie for free in the parking lot of the Kennedy Branch Library, 2123 Kennedy Blvd.
NBPD backpack drive going on now
Residents can help the North Bergen Police and the New Jersey National Guard collect new or gently used backpacks for the children in the community from now through Wednesday, Aug. 26. The drop off location is the New Jersey National Guard Recruiting Station (trailer) located at 8901 Bergenline Ave. All backpacks collected will be donated to the department of child protection and permanency of Hudson County.
2015 back-to-school drive underway
The North Bergen Emergency Relief Program is hosting a 2015 back-to-school drive for families in need throughout the township. Items will be collected through Aug. 30 and distributed on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at the North Bergen Recreation Center, 6300 Meadowview Ave.
Items needed include backpacks, pens, pencils, notebooks, composition books, binders, paper, crayons, colored pencils, markers, highlighters, kid’s scissors, glue, glue sticks, rulers, calculators, folders, book covers, lunchboxes, new or gently used school uniforms, and new children’s underwear/socks/undershirts.
For a list of drop-off locations visit the town website at northbergen.org. Contact Emergency Relief Coordinator Aimee Focaraccio with questions at (201) 392-0229 or afocaraccio@northbergen.org.
Kids ride the ferry free all summer
Children under 12 can ride the NY Waterway ferry for free through Labor Day, Sept. 7. Ferries travel to midtown and downtown from Port Imperial and Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken and 14th Street in Hoboken, making NY Waterway the easiest, most family-friendly way to enjoy the sights and sounds of summer in the Big Apple.
“As a family-owned business, we take pride in being family-friendly. We want to make a visit to the greatest city in the world affordable and convenient,” said NY Waterway President and Founder Arthur E. Imperatore. “We are happy to offer free ferry rides for children to make it even easier for families to have a memorable experience in New York City this summer.”
It takes 8 minutes to cross the Hudson River from Port Imperial, Lincoln Harbor, or 14th Street in Hoboken to Midtown West 39th Street in Manhattan, and takes less than 25 minutes to cross from these New Jersey terminals to Lower Manhattan. Service between Port Imperial, Lincoln Harbor or 14th Street in Hoboken and 39th Street operates all day, seven days a week.
At the West 39th Street Midtown Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, free connecting multi-route NY Waterway shuttles are waiting to take passengers on several routes serving midtown and downtown. Shuttles stop at key destinations such as Times Square, the Empire State Building, Macy’s, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, Bryant Park, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Families can take advantage of “Kids Ride Free” in tandem with NY Waterway’s Your Key To The City partner program which offers discounts of up to 56 percent on top NYC museums, attractions, and tours. NY Waterway’s expanded Your Key to the City program also offers special discounts on over 40 participating Broadway plays and musicals.
For more information, call 1-800-53-FERRY or click on www.nywaterway.com or www.facebook.com or @ridetheferry.