Mayor and Council Name New Cinema "The Barrymore Theater"

Resolution passed to name the new three-screen cinema and film museum to be constructed in Redevelopment Area 5 on Main Street "The Barrymore Theatre."

The Mayor & Council passed a resolution to name the new three-screen cinema and film museum to be constructed in Redevelopment Area 5 on Main Street "The Barrymore Theatre" during their Feb. 14 public meeting.  The name is in honor of the Barrymore family, who not only lived in Fort Lee, but made lasting contributions to the town through their volunteer work and successful efforts to raise money for a firehouse in the Coytesville section of town. It was at the location of Area 5 that 18-year-old John Barrymore made his stage debut in 1900 in a production of A Man of the World to benefit the construction of a new firehouse for Co. 2 in Coytesville. The play was directed by his father, actor Maurice Barrymore, who was a volunteer captain in …

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Howard L. Pearl

8:19 pm on Saturday, February 23, 2013

Being the first first lady was not an accomplishment; at best, it was an accident. Martha was opposed to George being the First President of the U.S. and refused to attend his inauguration. She was a rich widow at the age of 25 and lived the "good life" from that point forward. History has been very kind to her memory.   more ›

New Movie Theater and Film Museum to be Named After the Barrymore Family

Mayor and Council recognize the contributions of the Barrymore family to Fort Lee and agree to name new theater and film museum to be built on Redevelopment Area 5 after them.

As part of the developer's agreement for the western parcel of Redevelopment Area 5, the Fort Lee Mayor & Council have secured the construction of a 13,000 square foot movie theatre and a film museum to commemorate the role of Fort Lee as the first American film town.  In recognition of their many contributions to the community of Fort Lee, the Mayor and Council agreed to name the theater and museum after the Barrymore family.  According to Tom Meyers, Executive Director of the Fort Lee Film Commission, the western parcel of Redevelopment Area 5 once housed Buckheister's Hotel, where an 18-year-old John Barrymore made his stage debut in a fundraiser for Fire Company 2. The fundraiser, organized by his father Maurice--a member of Fire …

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JohnJay

7:16 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Yes it is , Rite across from the plaza Dinner// prazza dina../ Where Ft. Lee Bagel, used to stand along with Fort Lee Deli, For the Best Bread Pudding !!!   more ›

Council to Consider Changing Name of Martha Washington Way, at Developer's Request

Mayor and Council discuss developer's request to chang name of Martha Washington Way to Park Avenue.

A discussion was held during the Mayor and Council's work session Thursday regarding the request by Fort Lee Redevlopement Associates to consider renaming Martha Washington Way to Park Avenue. According to Mayor Mark Sokolich, the biggest reason for requesting the name change is for marketing purposes.   The roughly eight-acre “East parcel” is the land upon which SJP, in partnership with Prudential Real Estate Investors, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Bergen County attorney James Demetrakis and investment firm Palisades Financial, plans to build two 47-story glass towers with 900 luxury rental apartments called “The Modern,” along with a public park, water features, a 7,000-square-foot restaurant with indoor and open-air …

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Fort Lee GOP Starts Petition to Stop Acquisition of Main Street Property

United Republican Club of Fort Lee official says in this Op-Ed that the goal is to collect 2,000 signatures by Dec. 28 and either a referendum on the roughly $2 million acquisition or a reversal of the governing body’s decision.

The Fort Lee Republican organization has created an online petition opposing a decision by the Mayor and Council to appropriate more than $2 million to acquire land at 183 Main St., the current location of Woori Bank, for a park on the West parcel of Redevelopment Area 5. “Fort Lee does not need more debt,” the wording of the petition begins. “If a private venture is interested in a property it should be purchased entirely by this entity. The municipality does not need to be in the speculative business of real estate.” United Republican Club of Fort Lee vice president Keith Jensen submitted the following Op-Ed regarding the acquisition of the land and the petition to stop it: Essentially, the Borough of Fort Lee is guising the subsidizing …

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Fort Lee to Acquire Main Street Property for $2M for Park

The Mayor and Council passed a resolution settling a lawsuit and an ordinance financing the acquisition of land at 183 Main St., the current location of Woori Bank, for a park on the West parcel of Redevelopment Area 5.

The Fort Lee Mayor and Council Wednesday passed an ordinance to acquire land at 183 Main St. that will ultimately become a park on the western half of Redevelopment Area 5. A resolution “amicably” settling a lawsuit over the property, which is currently occupied by Woori Bank, also passed unanimously, paving the way for the borough to purchase the land for $2,050,000, of which slightly more than $1.95 million will be financed through bonding. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich estimated that the property is worth nearly three times what the borough is paying for it and said that having the bank building there “would have a detrimental effect on the entire area.” Sokolich said Tucker Redevelopment Associates, the developer of the West parcel of …

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Ground Broken at Fort Lee’s ‘Redevelopment Area 5’

The developer of the eastern half of the 16-acre property held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $500 million development Wednesday. The western half may still be months away, according to Fort Lee’s mayor.

The long-awaited groundbreaking on the long-vacant, 16-acre property just south of the George Washington Bridge known most recently as Redevelopment Area 5 took place Wednesday, as local and county officials joined SJP Residential Properties for an event they hope will mark the beginning of what Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich called a “Renaissance” for the borough. The groundbreaking was for the roughly eight-acre “East parcel” upon which SJP, in partnership with Prudential Real Estate Investors, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Bergen County attorney James Demetrakis and investment firm Palisades Financial, plans to build two 47-story glass towers with 900 luxury rental apartments called “The Modern,” along with a public park, …

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Fort Lee Truth

11:21 pm on Friday, October 19, 2012

Yeah, great job. Already overcrowded schools will have more children and an area that's already a disaster during rush hour is going to bring more even more traffic. That's your definition of "booming"? If you really think that this was done for the good of the community, you do not understand Fort Lee politics as well as you think.   more ›

Area 5 East Groundbreaking Expected Oct. 1, Officials Say

Fort Lee’s Redevelopment Area 5, which has been a 16-acre vacant “eyesore” for more than 45 years, will soon become an active construction site, with developer Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates almost set to put shovels in the ground.

With only one hurdle left to clear—a closing, which Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich said he expects to happen within the next 10 days—the developer of the eastern half of the long-vacant, roughly 16-acre property now known as Redevelopment Area 5 should be ready to break ground on Oct. 1, borough officials said Thursday. Groundbreaking on the western half may take a little longer, according to Sokolich. “Fort Lee has never been closer to developing what’s been vacant and an eyesore for 45 years,” the mayor said at Thursday’s Mayor and Council regular meeting. “It’s the culmination of a lot of time and effort. There are arguments that it’s a great project; there are arguments that there could be a better project. But I think for Fort Lee, at …

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Report: Board ‘Memorializes’ West Parcel Approval

Tucker Development Corporation received Planning Board approval of a resolution for its “Hudson Lights” project Monday, which kicks off a 45-day appeal process.

School Officials to Deal With ‘Area 5’ Influx In Time

With two developers having received local Planning Board approval for their respective Redevelopment Area 5 projects, concern over the potential impact on an already overcrowded school system is on the rise.

It’s been no secret that Fort Lee public schools have been overcrowded for quite some time, and the problem is only increasing. The Fort Lee Board of Education has seen two referendums that would have expanded the school system fail, and only on a third attempt did voters approve a significantly scaled-back version that included little new construction and relatively few additional classrooms. But with two developers, Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates (FLRA) and Tucker Development Corporation, having received approval from the Fort Lee Planning Board to move forward with their development plans for the long-vacant, 16-acre plot of land known as Redevelopment Area 5, concerns over the potential impact on the local school system are on the …

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Report: Redevelopment Area 5 Memorialization Postponed a Week

The thick resolution document memorializing Tucker Development Corporation’s approval by the Planning Board came too late for some board members to read it, according to a report.