 BREAKING NEWS:
ENCAP FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY!
See Bankruptcy Pettion Here
 NORTH ARLINGTON - The Leader Newspapers is reporting that EnCap Holdings, the controversial and embattled developer chosen to remediate the Meadowlands and construct nearly 5,000 units of housing has filed for bankruptcy effectively ending the company's nine-year relationship with the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC). Read More
EDITORIAL:
FINALLY,
IT'S OVER!
NJMC'S decision to pull the plug on EnCap is a second
chance for N. Arlington, Lyndhurst & Rutherford to construct a responsible
plan for redevelopment in the Meadowlands
The
political gods sometimes do the right thing.
In the
case of EnCap, they
finally pulled the plug on the biggest redevelopment debacle in the state
of New Jersey. Read More
STATEMENT BY MAYOR PETER MASSA
ON THE DEMISE OF ENCAP
 “The decision by the NJMC to right the wrongs that were made over the past eight years ago is welcomed by North Arlington as a vindication to our long-stated position that EnCap was not qualified, technically, financially or otherwise to transform the Meadowlands from garbage dumps to golf courses. Read More
BREAKING NEWS:
NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS COMMISSION VOIDS AGREEMENT WITH ENCAP!
NJMC kicks out controversial developer, state action could
end litigation with North Arlington, Massa, local officials hail
decision as long overdue!
NJMC Resolution on Encap: Click Here
NORTH
ARLINGTON - The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission terminated the agreement with EnCap Holdings as the developer of record after
years of delays, cost overruns and financial questions that have plagued the
project since it's inception. Read More
Editorial:
EnCap
or garbage, choose your poison!
Keeping landfills open to subsidize the cost of
remediation makes sense for North Arlington taxpayers!
 The
history of the Meadowlands and North Arlington's involvement with landfill
operations is really in the eye of the beholder. Politics and legacy play a
huge role in what actually happened versus what some would like you to believe. Read More
Melray's debacle follows Bianchi to governing body!
Former
Planning Board Chairman presided over "air rights"
sale, controversy continues as to who's responsible for lights!
NARA MINUTES ON MELRAY'S: CLICK HERE
 Wall, Kairys believe furniture retailer is responsible!
NORTH
ARLINGTON - Years after approving the controversial sale of "air
rights" to a Ridge Road furniture retailer, Councilman Joe Bianchi's
inability to have lights installed at the parking lot below the building
continues to agitate borough residents. Read More
Editorial:
North Arlington: STAY THE COURSE!
Stopping EnCap, cutting spending, controlling property taxes
and taking a tough stand against employee raises is the only way North
Arlington can finally fix the problems inherited by the local GOP!
The
Democratic Party here in North Arlington did the impossible this year by
presenting homeowners with a zero tax increase after being socked with a huge
tax hike (33%) just a year ago!
Councilman
Al Granell, who serves as the borough's Finance Chairman worked exclusively
alone in the construction of this year's budget. He and CFO Judith Tutela did
most of the heavy lifting with Administrator Terrence Wall. The two
Republicans, Joe Bianchi & Rich Hughes failed to offer a single budget
reduction or suggestion that resulted in this year's zero tax increase! Read More
Campaign 2008:
NORTH ARLINGTON DEMOCRATS FORMULATE CAMPAIGN STAFF, FUNDRAISER AND VOTER REGISTRATION TEAM
 Democrats tap Councilman Al Granell to head effort with Nick Mazzolla & George McDermott as deputy campaign managers, next fundraiser scheduled for May 1st at Euro Lounge
Mayor Massa talks about finding Max, North Arlington's newest celebrity!
NORTH ARLINGTON - Local Democrats gathered Friday evening at the VFW Hall and began the process of building a campaign staff to re-elect Council President Steve Tanelli and elect former Councilman Mark Yampaglia. Read More
Analysis:
MASSA ADMINISTRATION DELIVERS ON "ZERO TAX"
INCREASE BUDGET!
 Tanelli, Granell are responsible for reforming the budget
process and delivering on what GOP just likes to "talk" about!
It was a sight to seen last week as GOP insiders
looked on in awe and shock as Finance Chairman Al Granell called for an
amendment to the 2008 municipal budget to further cut spending and deliver
a zero tax increase. Read More
EDITORIAL:
The time for a federal probe of EnCap is now!
Phony hearings, whitewashed reports and
political stonewalling must cease! The homeowners of North Arlington,
Lyndhurst & Rutherford demand to know the truth!
Massa, Tanelli & Granell stand tall for taxpayers!
After
years of taking political refuge behind some of the state's most influential
officials, EnCap was exposed for
the scheme that it is this week. Read More
Inspector General suggests criminal inquiry of EnCap
 A state watchdog agency today alleged serious wrongdoing by EnCap, the embattled builder aiming to clean up and develop Meadowlands landfills, and asked the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice to take a close look at the project and decide whether a criminal investigation is warranted. Read More
Massa Administration authorizes repairs to Corsi Estate,
resurfacing of Hedden Terrace & Canterbury Avenue
Governing body makes appointments to Rec Commission,
authorizes support for YMCA Grant for $15,000
Granell calls upon Republicans to make budget suggestions to
fulfill their campaign promise of a tax rebate
NORTH
ARLINGTON - The North Arlington Mayor & Council met Thursday and made some
productive strides to fix and repair two streets and one of the borough's
recreational facilities along Schuyler Avenue. Read More
EDITORIAL:
The demise of the "talking head!"
 GOP voters reject the rhetoric of talk radio and other extremists who for too long have had a debilitating effect on politics in America!
The Republican Party for too long has been held hostage by the so-called political influence of talk radio, the medium of preference for most right-of-center voters. Read More
Inside the numbers: The
NA Police Department:
Binding arbitration could cost NA taxpayers hundreds of
thousands of dollars in new spending!
NAPD seeks 4.0% pay raise through binding arbitration, twenty
of thirty-two police officers earn in excess of $100,000 last
year!
Average NA police officer earned $101,197 in 2007, does
bipartisan support exist to hold line on salaries & spending?
NORTH
ARLINGTON - The
North Arlington Leader reported this week that the North Arlington Police Department is seeking a 4%
pay hike that would increase municipal
spending about $130,000 for fiscal year 2007 as well as fiscal year 2008.
Because the police contract is retroactive, increases in police salaries in a
new agreement could run well over $260,000! Read More
Editorial:
TRUMP.
JUST ANOTHER ENCAP?
The real
risks for North Arlington.
According
to The
Record of Hackensack, The Trump Organization has taken over the EnCap Cherokee
parcels.
But
we really don’t know what that means. Did they take ownership of the
property?
If
so? When? Read More
EnCap contractor hauled away
A contractor connected to millions in cost overruns and delays in the EnCap golf project was arrested and charged with money laundering Friday in an unrelated federal corruption probe. Read More
Editorial:
IS SCHOOL BOARD PROPERTY PRIVATE?
Lonegan controversy begs the question, who owns and
controls our public schools if not the New Jersey taxpayer?
This week
former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan was arrested for demonstrating at the scene
of a Jon Corzine town meeting promoting his "asset monetization"
proposal that lacks little semblance of public support. Read More
EnCap or Trump, what's the difference?
 Now coined a "clean-up" versus redevelopment, why
is North Arlington still being sued to impose eminent domain seizure of Porete
Avenue and the construction of low income housing?
New
brand, same deal?
NORTH
ARLINGTON - While the names are changing to protect the incompetence of the
past, is anything really changing when it comes to the controversial EnCap project that now has a Trump brand
attached to it? Read More
Editorial:
Bi-partisan cooperation makes sense for North Arlington.
Petty in-fighting and "politics as usual" has no
place in the operation of municipal government.
The stakes are too high for political forces to disrupt unity
amongst the members of the governing body
Mayor Pete
Massa and his Democratic majority are to be commended for welcoming the new
Republican members of the North Arlington Mayor & Council.
As Mayor
Massa stated in his State
of the Borough address, the election is in fact over and that the time for governing must
supersede the desire to attack the majority for cheap political points.
Councilman Joe Bianchi and Councilman Rich
Hughes seem like reasonable people who in the end want North Arlington to
prosper. Read More
Stirring
the partisan pot.
NA
Republicans continue to seek Democratic help to mask their own support of
higher taxes , EnCap and low income housing.
NORTH ARLINGTON - An
unidentified GOP source today told the political web site www.insidebergen.com that North Arlington Democrats are "attacking" a neighboring mayor
and the district's state senator in wake of an upset victory in last fall's
council races. Read More
Greedy Developers attack Massa, Zoning Board members in attempt to force storage facility at 170 Schuyler Avenue!
Developers call themselves "Concerned Citizens" of North Arlington in putting public pressure on members to vote yes come the January 9th meeting!
Use "Encap style" tactics to scare community with a twisted version of the truth!
NORTH ARLINGTON - In a highly unusual move, the applicant of a storage facility before the local Zoning Board has started a "media blitz" with several full-page ads in the Leader Newspapers, South Bergenite and The Kearny Observer calling upon the board to approve an application that would construct a storage facility on prime real estate. Read More
Editorial:
Why eliminate the capital punishment option?
New Jersey's death penalty laws are toothless and the legal
system undermines the use of capital punishment even in the most heinous of
crimes!
The NJ
legislature wants to remove from the books the rarely used option of capital
punishment.
Despite
the fact the prisons are filled with convicted murderers who in fact are guilty
of these crimes, the state refuses to move forward with any sense of speed the
application of the death penalty. Read More
Editorial:
LYNDHURST JOINS NORTH ARLINGTON IN VOIDING ENCAP AGREEMENT, FEDERAL PROBE TO FOLLOW?
Mayors DiLascio, Hipp and Massa now all on record in opposing flawed development proposal, when will state finally see the light and financially help Rutherford & North Arlington?
LYNDHURST - Township Mayor Richard DiLascio and the five-member commission voted to void the controversial EnCap agreement. The Lyndhurst decision to void the contract in place now has North Arlington and the township officially against the agreements in place with incoming Mayor-elect John Hipp already on record opposing the Rutherford portion of the embattled regional housing scheme to urbanize South Bergen.
Editorial:
SILENT PROBE
Inspector General's report still a mystery as legislature
will use oversight authority to review EnCap
But who will review the legislature's role in this mess?
According
to the Bergen
Record, the long
awaited report by the state's Inspector General as to what went wrong with EnCap will finally be released to the
public. According to a letter written to Senate President Richard Codey,
"the report will discuss the role played by the various governmental
entities, as well as the use of public funds." Read More
The State Aid Game.
How does Harrison receive $6.6 million while North Arlington
gets just $500,000?
Taxes rise 33% in NA while infusion of state support keeps
Harrison increase at just 8%!
NORTH
ARLINGTON - North Arlington is 2.6 square miles. Harrison 1.3 square
miles. North Arlington has 15,077 residents while Harrison has 14,424.
North Arlington has 6,392 households while Harrison has 5,136. 24.5% of all
North Arlington households have children under the age of 18 while 33.7% of
Harrison households have children under 18. 49.7% of North Arlington households
are married couples while Harrison has 49.8% of households with married
couples. Read More
2007 Final Election Results
2007 Certified Election Results - Borough of North Arlington: Click Here
The perks of public office.
Should part-time elected officials receive free health
benefits courtesy of North Arlington taxpayers?
What example will Bianchi & Hughes set for homeowners?
With
Republicans back on the governing body for the first time in three years,
it will be interesting to see if incoming council members Joseph Bianchi and
Richard Hughes opt to receive free health benefits courtesy of taxpayers. Read More
YOU'RE HIRED!
Just a day after two of the Borough’s anti-EnCap councilmen were swept out of office by local voters, state Superior Court Judge Jonathan Harris ruled Cherokee Investment Partners could not transfer the former Bergen County Utilities Authority property here to one of its subsidiaries. Read More
JUDGE SUPPORTS BOROUGH’S EFFORTS TO STOP ENCAP FROM SELLING PROPERTIES
NORTH
ARLINGTON - Superior
Court Judge Jonathan Harris ruled yesterday that Cherokee Investment Partners
is prevented from transferring the Bergen County Utilities Authority property
in North Arlington to one of its subsidiaries. Read More
N. Arlington demands Encap probe
North Arlington officials on Monday called for a federal investigation into the "entire sorry episode" of the controversial EnCap proposal to build a massive golf course-residential-retail complex in three Bergen County communities.
"The mountain of evidence against EnCap and the people in state government who pushed this project is growing taller than the landfills in the Meadowlands," said North Arlington Mayor Peter Massa. He cited a report in Sunday's editions of The Record detailing environmental problems at the faltering seven-year-old project, originally pitched as a means of closing four old Meadowlands landfills. Read More
MASSA SPEAKS WITH CORZINE ON THE STATUS OF ENCAP AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Attending the retirement dinner of former state PBA President Mike Madonna, North Arlington Mayor Pete Massa got the chance to speak with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine over the future of EnCap and redevelopment in the Meadowlands. Read More
The affordable housing myth.
The NJMC's misguided notion that government can regulate
housing stock and force inclusionary zoning practices doesn't make
any sense in a state where home values and property taxes are sky high!
Does an unelected regional
state agency have the authority to impose inclusionary zoning restrictions upon local municipalities that have governing bodies directly elected by the
voter? Read More
MAYOR MASSA CALLS NJMC DECISION VINDICATON
Says State Has To Protect Taxpayers and Allow Borough To Chart Its Own Redevelopment Course
NORTH ARLINGTON – Mayor Peter Massa applauded the action taken yesterday by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission against the notorious EnCap developer, saying: "its about time that the NJMC recognized what we have been saying all along – that the EnCap project is a taxpayer ripoff and an detriment to our communities". Read More
An
NA Today Exclusive:
NJMC DECLARES ENCAP IN DEFAULT!
Could this be the end of the line for the embattled
developer?
NORTH
ARLINGTON - EnCap
Holdings, the
controversial and embattled developer who sought to construct 1,650 units of
housing in North Arlington while seeking to use eminent domain seizure was
apparently declared in default of the agreement with the New Jersey
Meadowlands Commission today according to NJMC sources.
If true,
North Arlington Mayor Pete Massa and the all-Democratic council will have proven
to be correct as to it's opposition to random development, eminent domain
seizure of Porete Avenue companies and the construction of low income housing. Read More
NA TODAY'S NUMBERS SOAR!
Hits, pageviews and unique visitors increase year over year for third straight year, 8.8 million hits since 2005!
Site projects 3.6 million hits, 140,000 unique visitors in 2007!
NORTH ARLINGTON - NA Today, the borough's #1 online source for news and information continues to grow at an incredible pace and is poised to receive over 130,000 visitors in 2007. Read More
Congressman visits North Arlington
United States Congressman Steve Rothman visited North Arlington this week as part of his annual listening tour of the 9th congressional district. Rothman took the time to greet residents and talk about the state of the economy and other federal issues important to North Arlington.
Rothman is seen pictured with several members of the North Arlington Mayor & Council including Peter Massa, Steve Tanelli, Phil Spanola, Jim Ferriero and Al Granell.
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