THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2013
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Reflecting on those actions, Councilman Michael Nicosia said: “While it’s not our duty to help any one entity on preventing any competition, still, the hospital came before the council and expressed their concerns. And the council agreed that a hospital was not a good use.” Moreover, Nicosia added, “it’s not likely that the state [Department of Health] would grant a certificate of need for another hospital so close [to Clara Maass].” And, he said, allowing a chopper pad would be “burdensome on residents” who live nearby. Northwest of the Roche site are single-family detached homes along Montgomery Place, as noted in
Madden’s plan. What will happen now? “The next step is, hopefully, we’ll have a developer,” said Esposito. Asked if the township would solicit a Request for Proposal from prospective developers, Esposito said: “We’ll see what the mayor and council have to say about that.” When the same question was put to Nicosia, the councilman said he presumed the township would “go back to Roche [as the property owner] to find out their final intentions for the property. We’ll probably decide what to do next by September.” Roche Diagnostic (now known as Roche Molecular Systems, headquartered in California) spokesman Bob Purcell said the company has “had discussions” with Bel-
leville “regarding the next steps for the property.” Purcell said the company has been kept current on the newly amended redevelopment plan. “At this point,” he said, “no decisions have been made. We will provide more information as this process comes closer to resolution.” Roche acquired the land from the Andrew Jergens Co., which produced lotions, hand/ face creams and detergents from 1939 to 1975. Before that, the site was occupied by the Copper Rolling Mills. During its Belleville tenure, Roche did research and development, manufacturing, packing and repairing diagnostic kits until shutting down operations in 2008 and demolishing several on-site buildings in 2010.
One year prior, it initiated investigation of compromised soil and groundwater on the site. Between 2010 and 2012, the property’s assessment declined from $19.2 million to $2 million and taxes fell from about $520,000 to about $65,000. Meanwhile, Roche is continuing deliberations with members of the Joint Repurposing Committee on the disposition of the company’s 119-acre property on Rt. 3 West that straddles Nutley and Clifton “to determine the best [redevelopment] options for that site,” said Roche spokeswoman Darien Wilson. The Committee has picked international architects Perkins Eastman to help develop those options. Nutley is counting on the passage of state legislation to
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help compensate for the loss of tax revenues upon the final phase-out of Roche operations there. “We’re still downsizing at the Nutley/Clifton site,” Wilson said. “We’re down to about 500 employees and we plan to slowly decrease those numbers through the end of December. Our goal is to sell the property by 2015. We are still doing remediation of the site.” The company plans to send its findings and a plan for cleanup to the state Department of Environmental Protection by May 2014 and to carry out that plan between then and 2015, Wilson said. In April, Roche provided a $300,000 grant to the Committee to help pay for remediation costs, she added.
Bloomfield’s second annual Restaurant Week More than 20 local eateries are expected to offer budgetfriendly pricing on prix-fixe menu selections during the Township of Bloomfield’s second annual Restaurant Week, Sunday, Aug. 4, to Saturday, Aug. 10. After the event, the Township will conduct a random drawing for a $100 gift certificate to be redeemed at the participating restaurant of the winner’s choice. To enter the drawing, log onto Bloomfield Restaurant Week’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ pages/Bloomfield-RestaurantWeek and join the mailing list. “If you’re a foodie, Bloomfield is the place to be during our second annual Bloomfield Restaurant Week. You will get to see what our talented chefs have to offer,” promises Anthony Lauro, owner of
Anthony’s Cheesecakes, and a Bloomfield Restaurant Week committee member. The organizing committee is optimistic that this year’s event will yield an even greater turnout. Francesco Palmieri, an original committee member and owner of The Orange Squirrel, a top-rated restaurant pick by The New York Times and New Jersey Monthly, predicts, “With last year behind us, it will help us with a stronger progression for this year’s event. During Bloomfield Restaurant Week’s first year, we were 60% to 70% busier. Now that we’re going into year two, we’re excited that this is the first opportunity to use customer comments and feedback to grow. That’s the point of doing something annually.” Andres Quesada-Cascante, founding committee mem-
ber and owner of Señorita’s Mexican Grill, sees Bloomfield Restaurant Week as an opportunity to create awareness of Bloomfield’s dining scene. “We want to highlight all of the variety and different ethnic restaurants in town – there seems to be a misconception that there isn’t that level of diversity in Bloomfield. People were very happy with last year’s event -- with the price point, the great food selections and the level of customer service they received.” Bloomfield Restaurant Week’s extensive mix of participating eateries includes American, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Philippine, French and more, according to Quesada-Cascante. Rodgee Cao, owner of Spice Thai Cuisine, is equally enthusiastic about this event
and the opportunity to interact with the dining community. “For me, food is universal and that’s what excites me about Bloomfield Restaurant Week. As a restaurant owner, I get to meet all types of people from different backgrounds. During the first annual event, I met some new customers who had never eaten Thai food before and now they are regular customers.” Extensive advertising for Bloomfield Restaurant Week will reach local residents as well as the neighboring communities of Montclair, Nutley, Glen Ridge, Belleville, Clifton, East Orange, Newark and beyond. Palmieri commends Bloomfield’s local government, particularly Councilman Michael Venezia, for directly supporting Bloomfield Res-
taurant Week and encouraging restaurant growth in the community. “Restaurants are the driving force of a township because people go into a town to dine or for shopping. They’ll get a visual experience of a town as well – see what the town has to offer . . . it’s cross-promotional.” According to Palmieri, that’s why many Bloomfield businesses other than restaurants are getting involved with financial sponsorship and promotion of Bloomfield Restaurant Week, including individuals, small local businesses and larger corporations. Additional Information on Bloomfield Restaurant Week is available at www.BloomfieldRestaurantWeek.com; email inquiries can be sent to Bloomfieldrestaurantweek@ yahoo.com.
KPL has summer reading ebooks The Kearny Public Library announces the expansion of its eLibraryNJ collection of digital ebooks accessible through the library’s website, www.kearnylibrary.org. With a valid Kearny Library card, library patrons can use the site to download ebooks and audiobooks to a PC, laptop, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iPod / iPad and many other devices.
The library continues to build its own Overdrive Advantage library within eLibraryNJ, which will be available to only Kearny Library patrons. The library has focused on the Kearny schools 2013 summer reading lists. The library is offering at least one ebook option per grade for grades 4 to 12. Titles that may be checked out include: • “The Miraculous Journey
of Edward Tulane” by Kate DiCamillo (4th grade) • “All the Lovely Bad Ones” by Mary Hahn (5th grade) • “Masters of Disaster” and “Lawn Boy” by Gary Paulsen (5th grade) • “The Giver” by Lois Lowry (6th grade) • “Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan (6th grade) • “Crash and Milkweed” by Jerry Spinelli (7th grade) • “Ties That Bind, Ties
That Break” by Lensey Namioka (7th grade) • “My Brother Sam is Dead” by James Collier (8th grade) • “Thirteen Days to Midnight” by Patrick Carman (8th grade) • “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom (9th grade) • “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon (10th grade) • “The Book Thief” by
Markus Zusak (10th grade) • “Kindred” by Octavia Butler (11th grade) • “Animal Farm” by George Orwell (12th grade) • “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin (12th grade) Click on the eLibraryNJ logo at www.kearnylibrary.org and sign in with your card to explore the new collection. For more information, visit the Main Library, 318 Kearny Ave., or call 201-998-2666.