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Success – A Votee Park Community Picnic and Race Amity Day


PUBLISHED BY TEANECK VOICES

6/10/2024

Contents:

  • Success – A Votee Park Community Picnic and Race Amity Day
  • THS Class of 1959’s 2024 Scholarships and Some Significant Graduates
  • Teaneck Results of the June 4 Primaries
  • Englewood’s “One Community” Org Focuses on Alfred Avenue
  • The Week That Was – June 3-9, 2024
  • This Week in Teaneck – June 10-15


Announcements

  • Older Americans Month
  • Juneteenth Celebrations – 6/15-19
  • An Evening for Democracy – OTOV Fundraiser – 6/22
  • David Drumgold’s Variety Show – Puffin – 6/22


Contacting Teaneck Voices:

  • Email: teaneckvoices@gmail.com
  • Phone: 201-214-4937
  • USPS Mail: Teaneck Voices, PO Box 873. at 1673 Palisade Ave. 07666

Success! 1st Annual Votee Community Picnic & Race Amity Day

The sponsors – the Coalition of Teaneck Neighborhood Associations for a Better Teaneck (CNA) and the Teaneck Schools and Township – hoped for good weather and 300 attendees on the afternoon of June 9. 


They got the weather, and at least 800 residents in what can only be judged a huge success. Led by Nadia Hosein and Reshma Kahn, with strong support from Hallie Wannamaker and the CNA coalition, Votee Park became a virtual sea of diverse and enthusiastic residents of every conceivable age and sort observing youthful performances in the new Weinberg band shell and dropping by to welcome an incredibly wide range of attending organizations with diverse foods and organizational tales to tell under too many tents and tables to count. 


How often do we see the Superintendent of Schools, the Town Manager, and the Director of Recreation within feet of each other? What follows are just a few of the hundred possible pictures that fully capture this Teaneck success.

Teaneck High School Class of 1959 Continues Its Legacy of Excellence: $10,500 in Scholarships Awarded to Seven THS 2024 Graduating Seniors

On a hill, she stands majestic, noble to our view

Glory, honor, praise, allegiance, these to her are due….

Shout her glory, pay her homage, praise her to the sky.

Hail to thee our alma mater,

Hail to Teaneck High.

Teaneck High School Alma Mater


For the Class of 1959, Teaneck High School still stands as a shining example of the fulfillment of the dream and promise of public education. Sixty-five years after their graduation, the members of ’59 still marvel at “what a special class we were!” To honor their class – and to recognize that Teaneck High School continues to educate and shape high-quality and socially committed young citizens, at their 50th Class Reunion in 2009, the Class of ’59 started a Scholarship Fund for graduating THS seniors. To quote from the Class of 1959 website: “We are delighted and so proud to present our scholarship report for 2024. With $10,500 in scholarships awarded this year, our fifteen-year total is an amazing $123,450. Truly, our class stands alone among all other THS Classes in this outstanding accomplishment.”


The scholarships are awarded to students who not only achieved academic excellence, but also exemplify contributions to school and community, leadership, respect for diversity, and school spirit. The 2024 awardees and some of their achievements are:


Mirza Ahmed: Rank 10; GPA 4.784; 15 Honors and 10 AP courses; Honors: National Honor Society, AP Scholar; Muslim Student Association (President/Founder); Computer Science Honor Society (President/Founder); Red Cross Club; FDU Python graduate; Volunteer: Young Muslim Youth Group; Council on American Islamic Affairs, Youth Advisor, Food pantry; SAT tutoring; Soccer referee; Rutgers New Brunswick, Software Engineering.


Rawda Elbatrawish: Rank 42; GPA 4.363; 13 Honors and 11 AP courses; Honors: THS Ambassador, Upstander Award, Hometown Hero Award, Youth Leadership in Excellence Award. Muslim Student Association (Pres,), Red Cross Club, Speech and Debate (Capt.), Student Council (Pres.), Medical Club (Pres.), Math Club (Pres.); Teaneck Ambulance Corp. EMT, Peace Project Advisory Board, Election Poll Worker, Teacher religious school. Rutgers New Brunswick, Pre-Med.


Olivia Gonzalez: Rank 14; GPA 4.740; 13 Honors and 8 AP courses; Honors: AP Scholar, National Honor Society, Peer Leader, National Hispanic Youth Leadership Award; UNICEF Club (VP), Varsity Softball (Capt.), Speech and Debate (Capt.), Yearbook, Theater; Strive tutoring, Teaneck South Softball League Coach, Teaneck Jr. Wrestling, Girls Who Code Summer Camp Counselor; Babysitting, CVS Clerk; Lafayette College, Political Science.


Brooke James: Rank 61, GPA 4.183; 7 Honors and 2 AP courses; Honors: National Honor Society; Basketball (Capt.), Track and Field, Art Club, Architecture Construction and Engineering Club; Never Alone Again, Bergen County Youth Task Force, Tutor Teen Learning Center, Waitress, Lash Technician; Morgan State, Architecture.


Kelly Mackiewicz: Rank 1; GPA 5.098; 15 Honors and 9 AP Courses; Honors: Valedictorian, AP Scholar, National Honor Society; Girls Who Code (Founder), THS Writing Center Coach, STRIVE tutor, Varsity Tennis, Medical Club; Teaneck, Library, Rodda Center Tennis Coach; Waitress; Johns Hopkins University, Applied Math and Statistics.


Amelie Rosado: Rank 53; GPA 4.259; 17 Honors and 2 AP Courses; Honors: Student of the Month Academic Institute of Business; Varsity Tennis, Art Club, Debate Club, Studio 2B, Fashion Show, theater, Be All You Can Be Careers Club; Pizza Shop work; Nova Southeastern University, Business/Marketing.


Sara Shields: Rank 35; GPA 4.422; 10 Honors and 3 AP Courses; Honors: Student Ambassador, National Honor Society, Rotary Youth Leadership award; Tennis (Capt.), Softball (Capt.), Student Council (VP), Studio 2B (Treas.), String Ensemble (Concertmaster), Black Youth Organization, Interact Club, SOLA Club; Heroes and Cool Kids, Women’s Shelter, Church Choir; Summer camp counselor, Server Ice-cream Store; University of New Haven, Business Management.


A Word About the Class of 1959


Most of the members of the THS Class of 1959 were born in 1941, the year of the United States’ engagement in World War II. A few were born in early 1942 (and 1 in 1940). So the first years of their childhoods were spent in wartime.  In their senior year in high school, when they were to vote for the teacher to whom their Yearbook would be dedicated – the members of ’59 made a different choice: They dedicated their yearbook to PEACE:


Many people have paid a dear price by accepting the obligations of peace. We, as the future governing generation, must preserve and make secure the rewards of their efforts.


Members of the Class of 1959 have excelled in many areas and contributed to their communities, businesses, governments, universities, sports, and almost every area of endeavor. As in any class, a few members have become well-known; among those who graduated THS in ’59: 


David J. Stern, NBA Commissioner, 1984-2014, who, as an adult raising his young family in Teaneck, served pro bono as the attorney for the Teaneck Fair Housing Committee,


Gabrielle Kirk McDonald,  former President of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague (1997-99), first African American woman to be appointed a federal judge in the State of Texas;


Sybil Adelman Sage, who started her career as secretary to Carl Reiner and became one of the first successful female television comedy writers, writing for (among many other shows) Mary Tyler Moore, The Odd Couple, and Northern Exposure (with her husband Martin Sage);


Frank Lalli, Editor of Money Magazine, and appointed Editor of George after the death of JFK, Jr.;


Clifford Goldman, Former New Jersey State Treasurer who was the principal architect of the school finance reform package that led to the creation of the state’s first income tax.


Interesting fact: When the Honorable Gabrielle Kirk McDonald was serving in the Hague, she hired a young lawyer from Teaneck to serve on her staff. That lawyer was Renee Pruitt (now Karibi-Whyte), daughter of former BOE President and Councilman Dr. Henry Pruitt and Dr. Ezita Pruitt. While in the Hague, Renee met and married Sodigi Karibi-Whyte. They are the parents of 4 children, one of whom, Odein Karibi-Whyte, a new Morehouse graduate, was prominent in community activities during his 4 years at Teaneck High School.


The Commitment to Community, to Unity, and to Peace lives on: “Hail to thee our alma mater, Hail to Teaneck High.”

Primary Results from 6/4 Democratic & Republican Primaries

Virtually all the votes have been counted, although not all eligible mail-in votes postmarked 6/4 are in. More than 3 times as many Teaneck Democrats cast votes as did Teaneck Republican voters. No real surprises in voting results for the top six offices in the Democratic primaries. Republicans in Teaneck voted for the Trump-backed US Senate candidate who lost state-wide.

  • Biden and Trump were essentially uncontested in the two Presidential primary races although 362 Democrats (14%) voted uncommitted in the Democratic Presidential primary race. 
  • Kim (D) and Glassner (R) easily won their party’s nod for the general election US Senate race here in Teaneck – although Bashaw won state-wide in the Republican Senate primary
  • Gottheimer (D) and Guinchard (R) will be the candidates contesting the 5th Congressional seat – and each easily won their party’s vote here in Teaneck
  • Cureton (D) and Kugler (R) easily won their party’s primary for County sheriff which will set up a repeat of the prior Sheriff’s contest in November
  • Tannelli and Zur (D) will face Plotkin and Joseph (R) in the November race to elect two members of the County Commissioners board – all four of these candidates won easily here in Teaneck


More interesting were Teaneck’s races for the 46 seats (2 each from each of the Town’s 23 voting districts). Though the vote occurs in the June primary, these seat holders are actually elected in the primary election. 


In the past, one male and one female were elected from each of the 23 elected voting districts in both parties. Now the 2 highest-vote candidates from each district, irrespective of gender, win. And that includes write-ins. (Case in point: Two women candidates each received a single write-in in one Republican district where no named or write-in male candidate got a vote, and both women were, therefore, elected.). 

 

It should be noted that when the primary results were first posted in Teaneck, the software erroneously showed one male and one female candidate winning in each district – a mistake then corrected by the Town Clerk. 


It appears that all of the Republican Town Committee candidates favored by the current Republican party won – although no candidates were supported in many of the 23 voting districts. 


Even more interesting was the race for the 46 members of the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee. A slate of 24 candidates was supported by the Bergen County Jewish Action Committee (BCJAC). There were 35 candidates endorsed by both the existing Teaneck Democratic Committee (TDMC) and the Bergen County Democratic Committee. 33 of those TDMC candidates were incumbents. All of these numbers are confounded by the fact that several candidates were endorsed by both the BCJAC and the TDMC. And in several voting districts, there were no endorsed candidates, only write-ins. 


In the end, 28 TDMC-endorsed candidates were elected/re-elected. 16 BJJAC-endorsed candidates were elected. Just five of the incumbent TDMC members who ran lost their seats.


Is it over? The answer is probably yes but three contests remain close enough to change should late-postmarked mail-in-ballots still come in in the week of June the 10th. 


Readers who want to track down all of this data have two choices. They can go to the not-fully fleshed-out table on the Township website. (Click Here) Or they can go to the much more complicated – vote-by-vote, district-by-district account where all of the votes – even the write-ins – are chronicled Click Here


Good luck!

Englewood’s One Community Org focuses on Alfred Avenue

Recognize that Lawn Sign? You should because it is the one that is found in the front yard of Margaret Baker’s home at the corner of Decatur and Alfred Avenues.


The massive new apartment building pictured behind the sign is NOT the exact view that Ms. Baker’s family has of the 6-story apartment building that now faces her. 


But it is the same building! What you see behind Margaret’s sign is what the 6 Englewood single-family homes along Tietjen Avenue now see (instead of the sun).  


And guess what? The well-organized Englewood organization One Community opposing massive huge apartment re-zoning primarily of Englewood’s most vulnerable neighborhood – the one that abuts Teaneck to the east – is aggressively engaged in litigation to stop town-wide multi-family high rises throughout Englewood.


This community organization is now focusing not only on the neighborhood-destroying building pictured here but also on the fact that Teaneck’s AINR-happy Council has already approved an equally offensive building – the next lot - which will directly overhang Englewood’s Denning Park and its sports fields. One Community is also exploring whether the next insult will be an Alfred Avenue multi-function cannabis facility that is alleged to be ALSO directly contiguous to Englewood’s Denning Park. 


Are there some rules about the impact of one town’s development on neighboring towns? Has good neighbor communication among and between contiguous communities broken down??  Is the cannabis facility issue imminent as a site plan decision before Teaneck’s Planning Board? And if it is, what say does Englewood have in the matter? 


Teaneck Voices is now directly in contact with this One Community organization in Englewood. It has read with interest the organization’s litigation challenging a zoning program that was allegedly never properly put through Englewood’s Planning Board. It notes with interest that this litigation is now before Judge Christine Farrington who has made some very judicious decisions concerning Teaneck’s development (See the recent litigation argued before Farrington won by Teaneck activists to get the Holuba redevelopment redesigned.) Our readers should spend some time with the One Community website (www.englewoodonecommunity.org). 


Stay Tuned, Teaneck.

The Week That Was – June 3-9, 2024

 A very quiet week in terms of the number of reportable results from public meetings in the Township.


Parks, Playgrounds & Recreation (PPRAB) – Wednesday, June 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm. In Rodda MP-3. No video of this meeting is available. For the agenda for the meeting (Click Here).


Board of Education Special Meeting – Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at 8:00 pm. The very short agenda is available (Click Here). But neither the meeting video nor minutes from the meeting are as yet available. The primary agenda item was to have been the Board’s evaluation of the Superintendent.


Board of Adjustment (BofA) June 6, 2024 at 7:00 pm. The meeting was conducted with just 5 eligible members, 3 of whom are alternate members of the Board. The meeting was chaired by the vice-chairman. The Board summarily approved minutes from 4 previous meetings beginning with minutes from the September 2022 Board meeting. Minutes from 20 additional meetings are still missing. 


The Board addressed three applications.  It approved one (ZB2023-47- Fermin). It found that another (ZB2023-36 – Douck) no longer needed Board approval due to intervening Code changes. After extensive discussion the application ZB2024-08 – Rocklin) was carried to the next meeting (July 11). Readers can review the 1 hour and 18 minute Board video at (Click Here).

This Week in Teaneck - June 10-15, 2024

If additional information becomes available during the week, it will be added to the Teaneck Voices website in RED font if you Click Here


Board of Education Workshop Meeting – Monday, June 10, 2024, at 8:00 pm in person at the THS Student Center and by Zoom (Click Here) The agenda for the meeting is found at Click Here


Cedar Lane Management Group – June 12, 2024, at 8:00 pm – in person at 555 Cedar Lane, Suite 4, no additional information is available


That’s all Folks!

Announcements

Contacting Teaneck Voices


Co-Editors: Dr. Barbara Ley Toffler and Dr. Chuck Powers

IT Editor: Sarah Fisher

By Email: teaneckvoices@gmail.com

By Phone: 201-214-4937

By USPS Mail: Teaneck Voices, PO Box 873. at 1673 Palisade Ave. 07666

Teaneck Voices' Website is www.teaneckvoices.com


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