Nestor Lombardo and his wife, Monica Bittarrini, moved to Weehawken about a year ago, soon after the Sept. 11 tragedy. The owner of an Italian travel business in Manhattan, Lombardo said that he loved to take his wife to restaurants in New York and Hoboken and wondered why there weren’t any eateries near their Fulton Street residence.
“Every time we went out to dinner, it had to be in Hoboken or Manhattan, but there was never any place to park,” Lombardo said.
Walied Abdelaziz and his brother Yazeed are Weehawken natives who used to own and operate the Riverview Gourmet catering business in town. They also wondered why there wasn’t a simple pizza/sandwich shop along Weehawken’s once-flourishing Park Avenue.
Well, thanks to the efforts of both families, there are now two new eating establishments open along Park Avenue, giving Weehawken’s main drag another financial shot in the arm in its revitalization process.
There has been a concerted effort between the current administrations in Weehawken and Union City to encourage new businesses to open along Park Avenue, businesses that could not only add to the revitalization, but also change the character and the atmosphere of the neighborhood, much like the rebirth Hoboken’s Washington Street enjoyed in the 1980s.
Lombardo and Bittarini opened the doors to Rigoletto Ristorante, located at 3706 Park Ave., last month, a fine Italian cuisine establishment that features reasonable prices.
A week later, Pizza Villa, owned and operated by the Abdelaziz brothers, opened at 3502 Park Ave., featuring all different varieties of pizza and Italian sandwiches.
And both entrepreneurs wanted to take advantage of what Park Avenue has to offer.
“There’s definitely a lot of potential there,” Walied Abdelaziz said. “There has been such an influx of people to the area from New York that would like to see establishments like ours. We’re seeing Park Avenue take a change in the way it looks and I’d like to be a pioneer to start a new trend. I find it’s a positive thing for the town to have Park Avenue flourishing.”
Not only does Abdelaziz have the challenge of opening a new business on his plate, but he was also recently sworn in as a new member of the Weehawken Police Department and is currently attending the Passaic County Police Academy for basic training.
“Oh, yeah, it’s definitely a challenging time for me,” said Abdelaziz, who will try to juggle basic training and the restaurant business for the next 22 weeks. “My brother will basically run the business for now.”
However, Yazeed Abdelaziz is also currently on the Weehawken Police Department’s hiring list with the hopes of becoming a police officer in the near future.
Lombardo, who held his grand opening party for township residents Thursday night, said that he loves the area.
“It’s a beautiful neighborhood and it deserves to have a place like this,” Lombardo said. “I want to see the neighborhood grow up and do well. I think it’s a neighborhood that is changing for the good. It’s a good opportunity for us. We love Weehawken.”
Lombardo said that he has received positive responses from residents in the neighborhood.
“It’s a good neighborhood and the people have been telling us that they’re glad we’re here,” Lombardo said. “That’s part of the reason why we opened. We figured we could offer pretty reasonable prices in a restaurant close to their home. Some people have told us that we’re crazy, that we would be out of business in six months.
But I’m very optimistic. I think we all needed something like this, especially after what happened last year.” Another new eatery is expected to open on Park Avenue soon. The Subway sandwich chain is set to open a store in the Tower Shopping Plaza by the end of the month.
In the future, there is expected to be a cooperative effort between the two towns along Park Avenue to have a collective revitalization project. The project has been in the discussion stages for almost two years and is nearing completion.
Weehawken has already established a Park Avenue Revitalization Committee that is working toward encouraging businesses to come to the area. The group is also been essential in the restoration and renovations of the historic Weehawken Water Tower, which began earlier in the year.