Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake
PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
VOLUME 25 ISSUE 51
Survivor speaks
MARCH 7, 2022
DICK BOZZONE DAY IN BOROUGH American Legion Post 153 powerhouse is 90
WESTWOOD
SPENT GUN RANGE EYES NEW LIFE AS OPEN SPACE
Council seeks $167,000 grant to help remediate part of Westvale Park
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Valley Chabad presents an evening with Westwood’s Agnes Adler, a Holocaust survivor, in Woodcliff Lake on March 6. SEE PAGE 18
HILLSDALE
COUNCIL WELCOMES NEW BA IN 4-3 VOTE
Mayor breaks tie; David Troast replaces Christopher Tietjen; contract covers 2022 BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
At the meeting of the mayor and council of March 1, the governing body approved the hiring of David Troast, of Hawthorne, as Hillsdaleʼs borough administrator, effective March 3. Troastʼs gross pay is $129,000. His contract is through the end of the year. He opted out of medical benefits but gets four weeks of vacation. He replaces Christopher Tietjen who resigned effective Feb 17. Voting against were John Escobar, Abby Lundy, and Anthony DeRosa.
See HILLSDALE on page 274
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Front to back, left to right: Post 153 Auxiliary members Linda Mackey, Annie Whitney, Barbara Musso, and Tammy Levinson; post members Tom Madru, Jerry Alexander, Al Quackenbush, Jim Miller, and Dick Bozzone; Mayor Keith Misciagna; Auxiliary member Marcia Eisen; Bob Kelly, Commander Robert Oppelt; Junior Auxiliary member Katelyn Levinson; and the council’s post liaison, Robert Metzdorf. ber to be so honored. BY JOHN SNYDER Moreover, heʼs the Park Ridge Police OF PASCACK PRESS Departmentʼs first veteran named in its new quarONGRATULATIONS AND a sharp salute to tlery veteran spotlight program. Dick Bozzone, one of the hardest-workBozzone, a past commander and the historiing veterans in the valley, recognized an of the post, is a 63-year member of the Legion. with a day in his honor, Feb. 24, on the occasion He was a security policeman in the United of his 90th birthday. States Air Force in the Korean War era, At the Feb. 22 council meeting, Park Ridge 1951–1952, and is widely known in the valley Mayor Keith Misciagna surprised Bozzone with and Bergen County as a stalwart veterans activist a proclamation declaring Thursday, Feb. 24 and champion of the cause of youth education on “Dick Bozzone Day” in the borough. Among the sacrifices of Americaʼs fighting men and those looking on was Councilman Robert Metz- women. dorf, Cpl. Jedh C. Barker American Legion Post The boroughʼs proclamation notes that Boz153 liaison and a U.S. Army veteran of the war in zone was born in Jersey City on Feb. 24, 1932 Vietnam. Bozzone is believed to be the first post memContinued on page 28 PHOTO VIA TAMMY LEVINSON
The former police pistol range on a quarter-acre slice of Westvale Park, at Harrington Avenue and Sand Road, will be permanently deeded as open space and converted into a passive park following remediation, according to an ordinance up for public hearing March 15 before Borough Council. Ordinance 22-6 authorizes a deed restriction on the land in exchange for a 75% cost reimbursement grant for required soil remediation. The ordinance notes the borough will receive a $167,438.06 grant from the stateʼs Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund (HDSRF) for remediation and redevelopment of the site, which was estimated to cost “at least $223,250.75.” Borough Administrator Durene Ayer said the grant will pay for remediation and that the remediated property — once deeded as permanent open space — will be used as a passive park. If the ordinance is approved by council March 15, Ayer said it was unclear how long it would take the state DEP to provide funds for the remediation. The HDSRF is funded through a constitutionally dedicated portion of the New Jersey Corporate Business Tax, and is administered through a partnership between the DEP and the
See SPENT on page 184
WINNING MOVES
B ck in time...
Your Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team is a national champ, having placed first out of 31 teams in the Small Varsity Pom Division and second in the Large Team Performance Division. SEE PAGE 14
Kinderkamack Road in Emerson looked much different — and was a whole quieter — in 1928, as assistant editor Kristin Beuscher shows us.
SEE PAGE 4
