Principal Attacked, Teen Gets Heart, Area 5 West Approval Top News

Police charged Joseph Dimino with aggravated assault and a litany of other charges, including violating a restraining order, after he allegedly punched Fort Lee School No. 3 principal Robert Kravitz in the head Tuesday morning outside the school.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich Thursday talked about two events—one tragic, and one a triumph—that he said “eclipsed” what would, in any other week, have been the biggest news in Fort Lee.

The Fort Lee Planning Board Monday approved the “Hudson Lights” project, Tucker Development Corporation's plan for the western half of Redevelopment Area 5, which now sets in motion a process Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich says could end with a groundbreaking by the end of September.

The Fair Share Housing Center filed a complaint regarding FLRA’s approval for the eastern half of Redevelopment Area 5, saying Fort Lee did not provide “a realistic opportunity for affordable housing,” but borough officials say the case should be dismissed, saying it is "without merit."

With Interim Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle’s “interim” status set to expire at the end of June, the Fort Lee Board of Education has to make a decision soon. Their choices are to appoint a permanent superintendent—whether Engravalle or someone else—or extend Engravalle’s interim status.

Rossana Surace made the decision not to run even though the Bergen County Republican Organization, which is tasked with filling the vacancy left by Peter B. Campbell bowing out, would have considered her.

Mayor Mark Sokolich “on Fort Lee News,” an annual event sponsored by the United Homeowners of the Borough of Fort Lee, was Wednesday at the public library. The group also swore in new board members and honored Dr. Nina Levinson.

Three of the eight educators retiring from the Fort Lee School District in 2012 were recognized by their respective principals Monday, and the Fort Lee Board of Education also honored the 2012 “educators of the year” at each of the district’s six schools.

The Fort Lee Film Commission hosted its eighth annual “Battle of the High School Bands” at the Fort Lee Community Center last Friday, and the winner was a band from Bogota called Doomsday Diaries.

The new facility, which replaces one that was about 20 years old, features a safety surface and is divided in sections for older and younger kids. The co-op’s board president described the project as “a dream of the board for 10 years.”

Members of the Sisterhood of The New Synagogue received awards for their many contributions, as well as a mayoral proclamation at a dinner dance in Rockleigh last Sunday.

Seven dedicated law enforcement officers from the Fort Lee Police Department recently participated in the 29th Annual Torch Run for Special Olympics New Jersey. The athletes from the local police department ran a four-mile leg of the Torch Run from Leoina through Fort Lee, down Anderson Avenue to North Bergen.

The Week in Review appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.

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