ZIP Code 07070

Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,834. It was formed as a borough on September 21, 1881, from portions of Union Township. The borough was named for John Rutherfurd, a U.S. Senator who owned land in the area. It is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places: Iviswold Castle, a $9 million renovation project of the Floyd Iwold castle that was completed in 2013, and the Bergen Line (New Jersey Transit) railway station. In the 1870s, the area began to be called "Rutherford", though the spelling may have been the result of name recognition of the Ohio politician Rutherford B. Hayes, who was elected President in 1876, or could have been because of a clerical error by the United States Postal Service. The Erie Railroad built its Main Line from Jersey City across the Meadowlands in the 1840s. Several resorts were built along the Passaic, with guests disembarking at Boiling Springs station. Later, the railroad opened a station closer to the river, at Carlton Hill, and a horsecar line (briefly on rails) along Jackson Ave took travelers to the resort area. The area that is today North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Rutherford and East Rutherford became part of Harrison Township (of which today's remaining portion is Harrison town) in 1852.

History

Rutherford is home to the following locations on the National Register of Historic Places: Iviswold castle, 9 Ridge Road, and Carlos Williams House. The area was known as Boiling Springs for a powerful and ceaseless spring located in the vicinity. The Erie Railroad built its Main Line from Jersey City across the Meadowlands in the 1840s. Several resorts were built along the Passaic, with guests disembarking at Boiling springs station and taking Union Avenue to the river. On September 21, 1881, the Borough of Rutherford was formed by formal vote of secession from Union Township. In the 1870s, the area began to be called "Rutherford". The change may have been the result of name recognition of the Ohio politician Rutherford B. Hayes, who was elected President in 1876, or could have been because of a clerical error by the United States Postal Service. The Post Office opened a facility called "rutherford" in 18 1976. The town's name was changed to Rutherford in the 1930s, when the name of the town was changed from Rutherfurd to Rutherford. The name is still used to refer to the town's main street, which is now known as Rutherford Avenue. It is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which was once known as the "corner of the Turnpikes" The town has a population of about 1,000. It was once part of New Barbadoes Township, but became part of Bergen County in 1852.

Geography

Rutherford is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located 8 miles (13 km) west of Midtown Manhattan. The borough is bounded by the Passaic River bordering Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County to the west, the Erie Railroad bordering East Rutherford to the north and east, the Hackensack River bordering Secaucus to the southeast, and Berrys Creek, Wall Street West and Rutherford Avenue bordering Lyndhurst to the south and southwest. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 2.89 square miles (7.49 km²) of land and 0.11 square miles of water (3.88% of the total area) The borough has a population of 1,816, according to the 2010 Census. It is located on the East River, a tributary of the Hudson River, which flows through the borough to the east and west. Rutherford is located in the Bergen County section of New Jersey, on the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from Long Island to New Jersey. The Bergen River runs through Rutherford and into the Hudson Valley, where it connects to the East and West Hudson Rivers. It also runs through the town of Lyndhurst, which is located to the southwest of Rutherford and to the northwest of the borough. The town of Rutherford is in the borough's eastern portion, and the borough is on the West River, to the northeast of the Town of Passaic. The Borough's population is 1,716, with the borough having a total of 2,892, including 2.78 square miles.

Demographics

The 2010 United States census counted 18,061 people, 6,949 households, and 4,663 families in the borough. The median household income was $106,817 with a per capita income of $48,764. 5.8% of the population lived beneath the poverty threshold. 51.9% of persons 25 years and older had a bachelor's degree or higher. Same-sex couples headed 65 households in 2010, an increase from the 48 counted in 2000. The racial makeup of the borough was 77.57% (14,010) White, 2.92% (527) Black or African American, 0.07% (13) Native American, 13.08% (2,362) Asian, 3.01% (1) Pacific Islander, and 2.68% (664) from other races. Of the total population, 50.6% were female. There were 455 veterans living in the Borough and 24.5% were foreign born persons. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.17. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 90.2 males. The population density was 6,451.7 people per square mile (2.488.4/km²) The median age was 40.3 years. For each 100 females, the population had 92.7 males. About 3.6%. of families and 4.6. of the residents were below the poverty line.

Economy

Rutherford is the site of Architectural Window Manufacturing Corporation's plant and Blue Foundry Bank's corporate headquarters. The Highland Cross Development is a proposed project that is to consist of 800 units of housing, including 160 affordable units, two hotels and a large retail component. Rutherford officials have been working to get approval for the project in the face of opposition from the 14 mayors of the Hackensack Meadowlands Municipal Committee. The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission terminated its agreement with EnCap Golf Holdings, the company that had the contract to redevelop the site, after the company had missed targets to clean up the landfills as part of the project. On May 27, 2008, the N.J. Meadowland Commission terminated the contract with En Cap Golf Holdings. The company had been contracted to remediate the 785-acre (3.18 km²) site and construct homes and golf courses on top of the remediated site. The project was terminated on May 26, 2008. The Meadowlands commission has not yet decided whether or not to continue with the plan to build homes on the site. It has been proposed that the site be used for a golf course, but this has not been approved by the state. The site is also home to a number of other businesses, including a bank, a car dealership, a restaurant and a bowling alley. The town is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which was built in the early 20th century as a center for the development of New Jersey.

Arts and culture

The Rivoli Theatre was opened in 1922 as a vaudeville house but was quickly converted into a movie palace. The William Carlos Williams Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1981 and contains three movie screens as well as two performance halls. Rutherford Community Band was founded in 1941 and performs free concerts at venues throughout the borough, including the Hutzel Memorial Band Shell in Lincoln Park. The GFWC Woman's Club of Rutherford is a non-profit volunteer organization that was organized in 1889. The Meadowlands Museum, which focuses on local history, began as a project of parents of children in the public schools in 1961 and was originally based in a room at Sylvan School. The club is located in the former Iviswold carriage house. The museum moved to the Yereance-Berry House at 91 Crane Avenue in 1974 and is now located in a former carriage house on the corner of Park Avenue and Ridge Road. It was originally called the Meadowlands Children's Museum, but it was later renamed the Rutherford Children's History Museum. It is located on the second floor of a former car dealership on Ridge Road and is open to the public. It has a permanent collection of photographs of Rutherford and the surrounding area, including a collection of photos of the Rutherford High School football team from the 1930s. It also has an extensive collection of memorabilia from Rutherford and other areas of New Jersey, including photographs of the founder of the New Jersey Athletic Association. The Rutherford Community band was founded and is still in operation today.

Annual cultural events

Rutherford holds an annual street fair on Labor Day which is the longest running street fair in New Jersey and usually attracts 20,000 people. The Rutherford Multicultural Festival is an annual event that provides traditional entertainment and food from around the world. In 2017, the first annual Rutherford Downhill Derby provided kids and adults with the opportunity to design, build and race gravity powered race carts. In 2018, the Rutherford Pride Alliance was founded. A year later, the council unanimously approved of raising the LGBTQ flag to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. The town has also hosted the New Jersey State Fair, which is one of the largest state fairs in the United States. The state fair is held every year on the last Saturday of September. The fair is open to the public and is free to the general public. It is held in the town's West End section, which has a population of about 2,000. The city also hosts the annual Rutherford West End Festival, which was held October 3, 2009, in the West End area of the town. The festival is a family-friendly event that offers traditional entertainment, food and culture from all over the world, as well as entertainment from local bands and musicians. It was the first event of its kind in the state, and has been held ever since. It has also been the site of the Rutherford Downshill Derby, an annual gravity-powered race race. The event is held on the same day as the fair, and is the first of its type in the U.S.

Parks and recreation

Rutherford Memorial Park was set aside as parkland by the voters in 1951. Its 30 acres (120,000 m2) include two baseball diamonds, five softball diamonds, a Little League Baseball field, a football stadium, six tennis courts, two basketball courts, and three playgrounds. Other active recreation parks include Tamblyn Field, near Route 3. The Nereid Boat Club occupies a former boat sales building on the Passaic, at the foot of Newell Avenue. The rowing club, established in Nutley in 1875, relocated to Rutherford in 1996. The borough also has several smaller passive parks, including Lincoln Park across from borough hall, which was renovated in 2004. It includes a band shell and several monuments, including a cannon dating to the SpanishAmerican War, and is home to the borough's 9/11 memorial, containing a piece of steel debris recovered from the site of the attacks. Firefighters' Memorial Park is a pocket park located at the intersection of Park and Mortimer Avenues. The Rutherford Community Band plays concerts during the summer. Other summer concerts are sponsored by the borough, as well as several movie nights in the park. In the fall, it has hosted the Bergen County Cultural Festival, which is funded and run by the Civil Rights Commission. A plan to redesign the park is currently being developed. It has been host to town events, concerts, and memorials for decades. The town has a history of hosting cultural events, such as the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival.

Government

Rutherford is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide. The governing body is comprised of a Mayor and a Borough Council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. As of 2022, the Mayor of the Borough of Rutherford is Democrat Frank Nunziato, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Bergen County is governed by a directly elected County Executive, with legislative functions performed by a Board of County Commissioners. For the 117th United States Congress, New Jersey's Ninth Congressional District is represented by Bill Pascrell (D, Paterson). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Bob Menendez (Harrison, term end 2025). For the 2022-2023 session, the 36th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature isrepresented in the State Senate by Paul Sarlo (D, Wood-Ridge) and in the General Assembly by Clinton Calabrese (D, Cliffside Park) and Gary Schaer (D), all of whom are Democrats. The Borough operates with numerous committees to assist the government in carrying out its responsibilities. In addition to statutory bodies such as the planning board and zoning board of adjustment, dozens of volunteers staff other committees appointed annually, providing recommendations to the council. In November 2019, the Borough Council selected Raymond Guzman from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to complete the term expiring in December 2020.

Transportation

As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 46.84 miles (75.38 km) of roadways, of which 36.52 miles (58.77 km) were maintained by the municipality. Rutherford's train station, which was built by the Erie Railroad in 1898, serves passengers on NJ Transit's Bergen County Line. Service is also provided to Hoboken Terminal with connections to HudsonBergen Light Rail, PATH, and NY Waterway service, and customers can connect at Secaucus for trains to New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport, and points west and south along the Morris & Essex Lines, North Jersey Coast Line, Northeast Corridor Line, and Montclair-Boonton Line. The 163 offers rush hour service only, as Rutherford is not typically along its route. The 190 offers local service along Union Avenue and Orient Way. The 191, 192 and 195 routes all serve the portion of Rutherford that is adjacent to Route 3, as well as a portion of Route 17 that goes through Rutherford. The 76 bus provides service between Hackensack and Newark, and the 163 offers service to and from New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on several routes. The swing span of the Union Avenue Bridge over the Passaic was replaced in June 2002 as part of a $9.5 million project. A short portion of the New Jersey Turnpike Western Spur (Interstate 95) passes through the southern section of Rutherford, but the closest interchange is located in neighboring East Rutherford.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey = 15.3. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 40. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Rutherford = 3.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 18,834 individuals with a median age of 41.9 age the population dropped by -3.20% in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 6,772.4 residents per square mile of area (2,614.8/km²). There are average 2.5 people per household in the 6,889 households with an average household income of $82,279 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.90% of the available work force and has dropped -4.60% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 22.90%. The number of physicians in Rutherford per 100,000 population = 440.7.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Rutherford = 47.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 24.7 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 123. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 205. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 22.7 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 45, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey which are owned by the occupant = 63.41%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 65 years with median home cost = $364,820 and home appreciation of -17.54%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $21.97 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,712 per student. There are 14.1 students for each teacher in the school, 614 students for each Librarian and 501 students for each Counselor. 5.09% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 26.25% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 14.02% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).