About Bayonne

Bayonne, New Jersey 

Bayonne (pronounced bay-OWN) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 63,024.

Bayonne was originally formed as a township on April 1, 1861, from portions of Bergen Township. Bayonne was reincorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 10, 1869, replacing Bayonne Township, subject to the results of a referendum held nine days later.

The city lies at the heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, east of Newark, the state's largest city, and west of Brooklyn. It shares a land border with Jersey City to the north and is connected to Staten Island by the Bayonne Bridge. While somewhat diminished, traditional manufacturing, distribution, and maritime activities remain important to the economy of the city. 

History 

Originally inhabited by Native Americans, the region presently known as Bayonne was claimed by the Netherlands after Henry Hudson explored the Hudson River which is aptly named after him. According to Royden Page Whitcomb's 1904 book, First history of Bayonne, New Jersey, the name Bayonne is speculated to have originated with Bayonne, France, from which Huguenots settled for a year before the founding of New Amsterdam. However, there is no empirical evidence for this notion, which is considered apocryphal. Whitcomb gives more credence to the idea that Erastus Randall, E.C. Bramhall and B.F. Woolsey, who bought the land owned by Jasper and William Cadmus for real estate speculation, named it Bayonne for purposes of real estate speculation, because it was located on the shores of two bays, Newark and New York. 

Geography 

Bayonne is located at 40 Degrees 39'54"N 74Degrees 6'37"W(40.666552, 8722;74.117680), south of Jersey City on a peninsula earlier known as Bergen Neck surrounded by Upper New York Bay to the east, Newark Bay to the west, and Kill van Kull to the south.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.2 square miles (29.1 km Squared), of which, 5.6 square miles (14.6 km Squared) of it is land and 5.6 square miles (14.6 km Squared) of it (50.04%) is water.

Communities within Bayonne include Bergen Point and Constable Hook. 

Demographics 

As of the census of 2000, there were 61,842 people, 25,545 households, and 16,016 families residing in the city. The population density was 10,992.2 people per square mile (4,241.1/kmฒ). There were 26,826 housing units at an average density of 4,768.2 per square mile (1,839.7/kmฒ). The racial makeup of the city was 78.8% White, 5.50% African American, 0.2% Native American, 4.1% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.46% from other races, and 4.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.81% of the population.

As of the 2000 census, the ancestry of Bayonne residents was: Italian (20.1%), Irish (18.8%), Polish (17.9%), German (6.1%), Arab (3.8%), American (2.5%).

There were 25,545 households out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.3% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,566, and the median income for a family was $52,413. Males had a median income of $39,790 versus $33,747 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,553. About 8.4% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over. 

Government 

Local government

The City of Bayonne is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government.

As of 2011, the Mayor of Bayonne is Mark Smith, who was elected in a Special Election in November 2008 to fill out the term of former Mayor Joseph Doria, who was appointed by then-Governor Jon Corzine to head the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs; Smith won an election for a full term of office in May 2010. Members of the Bayonne City Council are Council President Terrence Ruane (At-large), Debra Czerwienski (At-large), Agnes Gillepsie (First Ward), Joseph Hurley (Second Ward) and Raymond Greaves (Third Ward).

Mayors of Bayonne
* Mayors have been governing the community since Bayonne was established in 1869.
* The first mayor of Bayonne was Henry Meigs, who served from 1869–1879.
* The mayor with the longest term in office was Dennis P. Collins, who served from 1974–1990.
* Pierre P. Garven served two non-consecutive terms from 1906–1910 and 1915–1919
* Dr. Bert J. Daly served three non-consecutive terms from 1914–1915, 1927–1931 and 1943–1947.

1.Henry Meigs, Jr. 1869–1879
2.Stephen K. Lane 1879–1883
3.David W. Oliver 1883–1887
4.John Newman 1887–1891
5.William C. Farr 1891–1895
6.Egbert Seymour 1895–1904
7.Thomas Brady 1904–1906
8.Pierre P. Garven 1906–1910
9.John J. Cain 1910–1912
10.Matthew T. Cronin 1912–1914
11.Dr. Bart J. Daly 1914–1915
12.Pierre P. Garven 1915–1919
13.W. Homer Axford 1919–1923
14.Robert J. Talbot 1923–1927
15.Dr. Bert J. Daly 1927–1931
16.Lucius F. Donohue 1931–1939
17.James J. Donovan 1939–1943
18.Dr. Bert J. Daly 1943–1947
19.Charles A. Heiser 1947–1951
20.Edward F. Clark 1951–1955
21.G. Thomas DiDomenico 1955–1959
22.Alfred V. Brady 1959–1962
23.Francis G. Fitzpatrick 1962–1974
24.Dennis P. Collins 1974–1990
25.Richard A. Rutkowski 1990–1994
26.Leonard P. Kiczek 1994–1998
27.Joseph V. Doria, Jr. 1998–2007
28.Terrance Malloy 2007–2008
29.Mark Smith 2008–present

Federal, state and county representation

Bayonne is split between the 10th and 13th Congressional districts and is part of New Jersey's 31st state legislative district.The legislative district was kept unchanged by the New Jersey Apportionment Commission based on the results of the 2010 Census. Bayonne is part of Hudson County's 1st freeholder district.

New Jersey's Tenth Congressional District is represented by Donald M. Payne (D, Newark). New Jersey's Thirteenth Congressional District is represented by Albio Sires (D, West New York). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

31st District of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D, Jersey City) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Jason O'Donnell (D, Bayonne) and Charles Mainor (D, Jersey City). The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham) The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).

Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders District 1, which comprises Bayonne and Country Village in Jersey City, is represented by Doreen McAndrew DiDomenico. The Hudson County Executive, elected at-large, is Thomas A. DeGise. 

Education 

Bayonne public schools

The Bayonne Board of Education serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are the ten K-8 elementary schools (Henry E. Harris No. 1, Phillip G. Vroom No. 2, Dr. Walter F. Robinson No. 3, Mary J. Donohoe No. 4 , Lincoln Community School No. 5, Horace Mann No. 6, Midtown Community School No. 8, George Washington Community School No. 9,Woodrow Wilson School No. 10, and John M. Bailey School No. 12,) and Nicholas Oresko School, #14, an advanced school for gifted and talented students in academics, the arts, and physical education, for students in grades K-8th (as of 2008); and Bayonne High School. Bayonne High School is the only public school in the state to have an on-campus ice rink for its hockey team.

For the 2004–05 school year, Mary J. Donohoe No. 4 School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. It is the fourth school in Bayonne to receive this honor. The other three are Bayonne High School in 1995–96, Midtown Community School in 1996–97 and P.S. #14 in the 1998–99 school year. During the 2008–09 school year, P.S. #14 was also recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education. Washington Community School No. 9 received the Blue Ribbon School award during the 2009–2010 school year.

Beginning with the 2006–07 school year, the Board of Education implemented a dress code for students in pre-K through eighth grade. Under this code students wear a school logo shirt and a variety of pants, skirts, shorts, and other prescribed items. The plan was intended to "increase student identification with their schools and the district, eliminate many of the distractions associated with differences in social or economic status, allow the children, their teachers and the Board of Education to concentrate on shared pursuit of educational excellence [and] instill a sense of belonging and school pride".The decision prompted a battle between the Board, and parents upset at the manner in which the policy was imposed, the cost of the uniforms, the loss of freedom of expression to students in choosing the clothing they wear and issues regarding the manner in which the contract was awarded.

Other schools

Private schools in Bayonne include Holy Family Academy, Marist High School, All Saints Catholic Academy, and Yeshiva Gedola of Bayonne. 

Transportation 

The Bayonne Bridge connects south to Staten Island over the Kill van Kull. Kennedy Boulevard is a major thoroughfare along the west side of the city from the bridge north to Jersey City and North Hudson.

The Newark Bay Extension (I-78) of the New Jersey Turnpike northbound travels to Jersey City and, via the Holland Tunnel, Manhattan. Westbound, the Newark Bay Bridge provides access to Newark, Newark Airport and the rest of the turnpike (I- 95).

Route 440 runs along the east side of Bayonne, and the West Side of Jersey City, partially following the old Morris Canal route. Although it has traffic lights it is usually the quickest route north-south within Bayonne. It connects to the Bayonne Bridge, I-78, and to Route 185 to Liberty State Park.

Bus

Bus transportation is provided on three main north-south streets of the city: Broadway, Kennedy Boulevard, and Avenue C, both by the state-operated New Jersey Transit and several private bus lines. The Broadway line runs solely inside Bayonne city limits, while bus lines on Avenue C and Kennedy Boulevard run to various end points in Jersey City. One Kennedy Boulevard service (the Coach USA 99S) runs to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and rush hours peak direction the NJ Transit 120 runs between Avenue C in Bayonne and Battery Park in Downtown Manhattan, while the 81 provides service to New Jersey. There is also bus service to Staten Island on the S89 route operated by MTA New York City Bus, which provides service between the 34th Street light rail station and the Eltingville neighborhood on Staten Island, making it the first interstate service operated by New York City Transit Authority. 

Light Rail 

The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail has stops throughout Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City and North Bergen. The stations in Bayonne, originally stops on the former Central Railroad of New Jersey, are 45th Street, 34th Street, 22nd Street, all just east of Avenue E, and 8th Street at Avenue C.

Northbound service from Bayonne runs through Jersey City, mostly near the waterfront, to Hoboken Terminal. Other parts of the system can be accessed via transfers. The Tonnelle Avenue (in North Bergen) and other stations north of Hoboken Terminal can also be reached by transferring at stations between Liberty State Park and Pavonia-Newport for the West Side Avenue-Tonnelle Avenue route, or at Hoboken Terminal for the Tonelle Avenue-Hoboken route. The Liberty State Park station is a transfer point for travel between Bayonne and stations on the West Side Avenue (Jersey City) line. Paid transfers to PATH trains to Newark, Harrison, and downtown Manhattan are available at Exchange Place. Connections to PATH trains to midtown Manhattan and to New Jersey Transit commuter train service are available at Hoboken Terminal, and connections to PATH trains to midtown Manhattan are available at the Hoboken Terminal and Newport stations. 

Commerce 

Portions of Bayonne are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3ฝ% sales tax rate (versus the 7% rate charged statewide).

The Bayonne Town Center, located within the Broadway shopping district, includes retailers, eateries, consumer and small business banking centers. The Bayonne Medical Center anchors the northern end of the Town Center. It is the city’s largest employer, with over 1,200 employees.

Bayonne Crossing, which is currently under construction on Route 440 in Bayonne, will include a Lowe’s, New York Sports Club, and Wal-Mart.

On the site of the former Military Ocean Terminal, the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor includes new housing and businesses. One of them, Cape Liberty Cruise Port is located at the end of the long peninsula with Royal Caribbean. Also found is a memorial park for the Tear of Grief, commemorating September 11th, 2001 and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. 

Points of Interest 

* Bayonne Bridge
The Bayonne Bridge is lit in red, white and blue in the evenings

* Bergen Point

* Constable Hook
The Bayonne Golf Club at New York Harbor, a private links style golf course that was constructed on marshland at Constable Hook. A flagpole, displaying a large American flag that is visible from Manhattan and other surrounding communities, stands next to the golf course's clubhouse, which also marks the highest point of elevation in the city of Bayonne

* Hackensack RiverWalk
Bayonne's section of the Hackensack RiverWalk (Bergen Point to Bellman's Creek in North Bergen), if fully completed, would run from the southwest corner of Bergen Point where the Kill Van Kull meets the Newark Bay and connect to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. A plaque unveiled on May 2, 2006 for the new Richard A. Rutkowski Park, a wetlands preserve on the northwestern end of town that is part of the RiverWalk. Also known as the Waterfront Park and Environmental Walkway, it is located immediately north of the Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Park

 

* National Registered Historic Places and Museums
Bayonne Truck House No. 1, home to Bayonne Firefighters Museum
Bayonne Trust Company, home to Bayonne Community Museum
First Reformed Dutch Church of Bergen Neck
Robbins Reef Light

* Hudson River Waterfront Walkway

* Shooters Island 

Media and culture 

Bayonne is located within the New York media market, with most of its daily papers available for sale or delivery. Local, county, and regional news is covered by the daily Jersey Journal. The Bayonne Community News is part of The Hudson Reporter group of local weeklies. Other weeklies, the River View Observer and El Especialito also cover local news. Bayonne-based periodicals include the Bayonne Evening Star-Telegram (B.E.S.T.).

Bayonne's local culture is served by the Annual Outdoor Art Show, which was instituted in 2008, in which local artists display their works.

Jackie Gleason, a former headliner at the Hi-Hat Club in Bayonne, was fascinated by the city and mentioned it often in the television series The Honeymooners.

Films set in Bayonne include the 2000 drama Men of Honor, starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr., the 2002 drama Hysterical Blindness, and the 2005 Tom Cruise science fiction film War of the Worlds, which opens at the Bayonne home of the lead character, and depicts the destruction of the Bayonne Bridge by aliens. Films shot in Bayonne include the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind, scenes of which were filmed at the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, and the 2008 Mickey Rourke drama The Wrestler, which was partially filmed in at the Color & Cuts Salon and the former Dolphin Gym, both of which are on Broadway in Bayonne.

The November 16, 2010, episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart parodied former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's reality television series, Sarah Palin's Alaska, in the form of a trailer for a fictional reality show called Jason Jones' Bayonne, New Jersey, whose portrayal of the city was characterized by prostitution, drugs, crime, pollution and a stereotypical Italian-American population. Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith criticized the sketch, saying, "Jon Stewart's unfortunate and inaccurate depiction of Bayonne represents a lame attempt at humor at the expense of a rock solid, all-American community." 

Notable residents 

(B) denotes that the person was born there
* Ben Bernie (1891–1943), bandleader, author, violinist, composer and conductor who wrote Sweet Georgia Brown.(B)
* Tammy Blanchard (born 1976), actress who won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
* Joe Borowski (born 1971), professional baseball player for the Cleveland Indians.
* Kenny Britt (born 1988), wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans.(B)
* George Cummings (born 1938), guitarist for the 1970s iconic pop band, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show.
* Sandra Dee (1942–2005), actress best known for her role as Gidget.(B)
* Rich Dimler (born 1956), former nose tackle for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers.(B)
* Barney Frank (born 1940), member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts since 1981.(B)
* Rick Gomez (born1972), actor who portrayed Sgt. George Luz, in the HBO television miniseries Band of Brothers.
* Herman Kahn (1922–1983), military strategist.
* Brian Keith (1921–1997), film and TV actor who appeared in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and as Uncle Bill in Family Affair.(B)
* Frank Langella (born 1940), actor who has appeared in over 70 productions including Dave and Good Night, and Good Luck..(B)
* Jammal Lord (born 1981), former safety for the Houston Texans.
* George R. R. Martin (born 1948), author and screenwriter of science fiction, horror, and fantasy.
* Gene Olaff (born 1920), early professional soccer goalie.(B)
* Peter George Olenchuk, United States Army Major General.[81]
* Shaquille O'Neal (born 1972), all-star basketball player for various NBA teams.
* Nicholas Oresko (born 1917), United States Army Master Sergeant and recipient of the Medal of Honor.(B)
* Dick Savitt (born 1927), tennis player ranked # 2 in the world.(B)
* Corey Stokes (born 1988), college basketball player for Villanova University nicknamed "The Bayonne Bomber".(B)
* James Urbaniak (born 1963), film and TV actor best known for his role as the voice of Dr. Thaddeus Venture in The Venture Bros..(B)
* Chuck Wepner (born 1939), hard-luck boxer who was known as "The Bayonne Bleeder".
* Zakk Wylde (born 1967), hard rock and heavy metal guitarist.(B) 

Information on Bayonne, New Jersey from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 

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