New Jersey

Our big list of things to do on Memorial Day in North Jersey

Published

2 years ago

May 18, 2024

Our big list of things to do on Memorial Day in North Jersey

While the season technically doesn’t start until June 20, Memorial Day marks the official start of summer in New Jersey. And, between parades, festivals, markets and more, there’s plenty of ways to start the season off right here in North Jersey.

So, if you haven’t quite figured out how you’d like to spend your Memorial Day weekend — besides just relaxing, which is a great option — we have some suggestions for you.

Here are three Memorial Day weekend events taking place in North Jersey, and a big list of other parades, commemorations and more.

L.E.A.D. Fest Carnival at Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus

Each year, L.E.A.D. — Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence — holds its annual carnival at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus. The event, which is open most days from May 23 to June 9, kicks off on Memorial Day weekend, making it the perfect place to celebrate the start of summer.

At the event, there will be amusements available like rides and carnival games, as well as an array of classic theme park foods like pretzels, popcorn, hot dogs, cheesesteaks and more. Plus, there will be live entertainment taking place during each night of the carnival. Admission to the carnival is $5 per person, and ride tickets must be purchased separately. MegaPasses are also available for $25 when purchased online, which include admission and unlimited rides from open until close during one day of the event.

Hours: 5 p.m. until close Wednesday through Friday, and 3 p.m. until close Saturday, Sunday and Memorial Day.

Go: One Garden State Plaza, Paramus; theleadfest.com/events/garden-state-plaza.

The Ridgewood Run, Ridgewood

If you’re looking for a healthy and active start to the summer season, while also supporting some good causes, considering participating in The Ridgewood Run on Memorial Day.

The 47th year of this Memorial Day celebration, The Ridgewood Run has several family-focused activities throughout the day, including a 10K, 5K, the Ridgewood YMCA Kid’s Fun Run, a competitive mile and a mile community run. The event is also home to the Kessler Foundation Wheelchair 10K, where some of the world’s fastest wheelchair athletes are set to compete.

The cost to signup for the event varies based on the type of run, and prices are discounted when you sign up online. And, proceeds from the event go towards supporting the Special Olympics of New Jersey, the Kessler Foundation, the Ridgewood YMCA and several other local organizations.

Go: Veterans Memorial Field, 156-158 Northern Parkway, Ridgewood; runsignup.com/race/NJ/Ridgewood/TheRidgewoodRace.

Hopatcong Monthly Market, Hopatcong

The Hopatcong Monthly Market is held on the last Sunday of each month from May through November. And, the first Sunday of the market’s season falls over Memorial Day weekend.

During the market, there will be an array of vendors available for you to explore, including farms, food vendors, crafters, artisans, artists, direct-sale vendors, local businesses, vintage dealers, non-profits, community groups and much more. The market is free to visit, pending any purchases from their unique vendors, of course.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the last Sunday of each month from May through November.

Go: 120 River Styx Road, Hopatcong; jjvendorevents.square.site/2024-hopatcong-monthly-market.

And, if that’s just not enough for you: Here’s a list of some other Memorial Day weekend activities in North Jersey:

Bergen County

Emerson

The Borough’s ceremony will be at 9 a.m. May 27 at Monument Park, across from Villano School. American Legion Post 269 and the Emerson Mayor and Council will honor and remember those members of the Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Light refreshments will be donated by Dunkin Donuts on Kinderkamack Road.

Fort Lee

The Annual Memorial Day Parade will be held at 10 a.m. May 27, beginning at the Jack Alter Community Center, 1355 Inwood Terrace. The parade will proceed north on Center Avenue, west on Main Street, then south on Anderson Avenue to the community center for a ceremony and refreshments. All residents are encouraged to join at the end of the parade to honor those who served our nation.

Glen Rock

The Memorial Day Commemoration will begin with opening remarks at the Rock at 10 a.m. on May 27, then proceed up Rock Road to the memorial at Borough Hall for the ceremony. Any groups wishing to march should form up on Concord beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Mahwah

The parade will be at 10 a.m. May 27 at Veterans Park.

Midland Park

The parade will be at 10 a.m. May 25, followed by a service at Veterans Plaza at 11 a.m.

Montvale, Park Ridge, Woodcliff Lake

The Tri-Boro Memorial Day Parade, 10:30 a.m. to noon May 27, will start at the Montvale Fire Department and end at the Woodcliff Lake Fire Department.

Oakland

A parade, followed by the American Legion ceremony in Veterans Park, will be May 26 starting at 1 p.m. After the ceremony, the legion will serve refreshments at its Post building on 65 Oak St.

Old Tappan

The parade on May 27 lines up at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Northern Valley Old Tappan High School and step off at 9:30 a.m. It will end at Oakes Park on Central Avenue around 10:15, where a ceremony will be conducted. The ceremony will include parading the colors, the national anthem, invocation, the mayor’s address, a memorial wreath placement, a rifle salute and Taps.

In the event of inclement weather, the fire department siren will be sounded at 8:15 a.m. advising that the parade is canceled. In that event, the ceremony will be held in the Charles DeWolf School gym at 9:30.

Ridgefield

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on May 27 at the intersection of Route 5 and Elm Avenue, and will concludeat Veteran’s Memorial Park. All are invited to stay as the marching bands perform in front of the viewing stand. Refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Ridgefield Park

The annual service will take place at 11 a.m. May 27 at the Veterans Memorial, Mt. Vernon Street and Euclid Avenue.

River Edge

The Borough, American Legion Post 226 and VFW Post 876 will host a ceremony at 11 a.m. May 27 at the Veterans Memorial. The rain location is Roosevelt Elementary School. Headstone dedication: Senior Airman Elliott Goff.

Wallington

Participants will assemble at the Church of the Transfiguration on Hathaway Street at 9 a.m. on May 27. Members of the Pavlick Foster VFW Post 2640 will march at 9:30 a.m. along Union Boulevard to the Veterans Memorial (Hartmann/Tursik Veterans Plaza) for a service to begin at 10 a.m.

Wood-Ridge

A remembrance honoring our deceased military service men and women will be held on May 22 at 6 p.m. at the Walk of Freedom, located at the corner of Hackensack Street and Highland Avenue.

Essex County

Glen Ridge

On May 27, the Memorial Day Parade will assemble at the intersection of Sherman Avenue and Baldwin Street at 10:30 a.m. and at 11 a.m. will march to the memorial in front of the Ridgewood Avenue School where the traditional service of remembrance will be held. In the event of rain, the service will be held in the auditorium. Following the service, weather permitting, all residents are invited to the town picnic at the train station for food and amusements.

Montclair

Services will be held at Edgemont Memorial Park at 10 a.m. May 27. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held indoors at the Montclair Municipal Building.

Millburn

Presented by the Township and American Legion Post 140, the parade will be at 11 a.m. May 27, from Millburn High School to Taylor Park. Write to administrator@millburntwp.org for information.

Morris County

Dover

The annual Memorial Day Parade & Ceremony will be held on May 27 at 10 a.m. The parade will march down Blackwell Street to Hurd Park where the ceremony will follow.

Kinnelon

Honor past, present and future soldiers at the Memorial Day Celebration on the Kinnelon Green at 10 a.m. May 27.

Long Hill

The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. May 27 at Main Avenue and Mercer Street, then proceed north to Central School, where there will be an observance. Local groups can contact the Recreation Department at recreation@longhillnj.gov or 908-647-8000 ext. 219 for information about joining the parade.

Mine Hill

There will be a ceremony and barbecue, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 27 at Veteran and First Responders Memorial Park, 12 Baker St., organized by the Mine Hill Community Committee. For information, contact 973-366-9031 ext. 6 or KWild@minehill.com.

Netcong

The American Legion parade will begin at 1 p.m. May 27 at Netcong Elementary School with a ceremony at Lake Musconetcong. The parade will proceed through Main Street in Stanhope and end at the A.L. post on Route 183 in Stanhope.

Parsippany

The parade will be held at noon May 27 on Route 202.

Rockaway Township

The parade at 11:30 a.m. May 27 will begin at Edith Drive and proceed down Fleetwood Drive to Mt. Hope Road, ending at McKinley Place.

Roxbury

The township will have its traditional Memorial Day parade and ceremony on May 27. Lineup for parade participants is at 9:15 a.m. at 25 Meeker St., Succasunna, and the parade starts at 10. The ceremony at the Veterans Memorial on the Horseshoe Lake Island begins at 11.

Stand along the parade route to cheer on the veterans. The parade starts at the corner of Meeker Street and Hillside Avenue in Succasunna (near Roosevelt School), travels south on Hillside, turns left onto Main Street, travels past the library and churches, turns right onto Eyland Avenue, crosses over Route 10, passes Eisenhower Middle School, enters the Horseshoe Lake recreation complex at 72 Eyland Ave., and ends at the War Memorial.

The ceremony at the War Memorial is presented by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2833 and the Township. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. In case of rain, check the Township’s website and Facebook page for announcements the morning of the event. If the parade is cancelled, the ceremony will still be held at 11 a.m. at the Horseshoe Lake picnic pavilion. In case of wind-driven rain, the ceremony will be inside the Senior Center.

Passaic County

Clifton

The Clifton Veterans Avenue of Flags will raise more than 2,100 flags on May 26 at 6 a.m. and lower them on May 27 at 6 p.m., weather permitting. Volunteers are needed for this tradition that honors those who served our country making the ultimate sacrifice. Visit cliftonnj.org search under “Avenue of Flags” to learn how to support this ongoing project.

The Fire Department memorial service will start the day at Firehouse 5, 8 a.m. May 27 at 51 Brighton Road. Led by the Clifton Mustang Band, the parade will begin at 9 a.m. at Valley Bank on Allwood Road, as Scouts, ROTC, baseball teams and Passaic County Sheriff’s officers proceed down Allwood Road. The parade will bear left at Market Street to Merrill Road and end at Chelsea Park, where the Allwood memorial service will be at 9:30. The city-wide ceremony will be at 11 at Main Memorial Park. At noon, the Military Order of Purple Heart service will take place at City Hall/Flag Barn. At 2 p.m., a service will be held at Athenia Veterans Post on Huron Avenue.

To donate to the Clifton Parade Committee, send a check payable to City of Clifton, earmarked for Clifton Parade Committee, to City of Clifton Parade Committee, 900 Clifton Ave., Clifton, NJ 07013.

Hawthorne

The Memorial Day service and parade will take place on May 27. Services begin at noon at Borough Hall, with the parade commencing at 1:30 p.m. from the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Rea Avenue.

Little Falls

On May 25 at 10 a.m., the American Legion Singac Post 108 and the Township of Little Falls will hold its annual Memorial Day Parade. The parade will start at the American Legion Post 108, 591 Main St. All participants will march down Main Street to Wilmore Road Park to complete the parade which will conclude around 11:15 a.m. After the parade, a ceremony at Wilmore Road Park hosted by the American Legion Singac Post 108 will take place to honor those who died while serving in the armed forces, with an expected start time of 11:30 a.m.

North Haledon

A ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. May 25 at American Legion Post 428, 512 High Mountain Road. Co-sponsored by the North Haledon Mayor & Council and the Public Events Committee.

Pompton Lakes

The Amazing Bloomingdale Big Band will perform from 1 to 3 p.m. May 25 on the lawn of the Pompton Lakes Free Public Library, 333 Wanaque Ave., remembering our fallen veterans,

Sussex County

Andover Borough

A wreath ceremony will be held at May 27 at 9 a.m. at Andover Borough Park.

Hopatcong

A parade and celebration will be held at 10 a.m. May 25, rain or shine. The parade route will be from the Municipal Building, 111 River Styx Road, Hopatcong, to Veteran’s Field Memorial Park, 351 Flora Ave., Stanhope. A memorial celebration will follow. For information, call Roseann at 862-217-6938.

Montague

A service remembering and honoring all who served will take place at 11 a.m. May 27 , at the Township Community Center, 275 Clove Road.

Newton

A parade will take place on Spring Street on May 27 at 10 a.m., followed by a remembrance of fallen heroes at Memory Park. To participation in the parade, applications must be submitted to the Greater Newton Chamber of Commerce by May 15. Visit newtontownhall.com for the application.

Stanhope

The Musconetcong American Legion Post 278 will be celebrate with a parade on May 27 at 1 p.m, with a ceremony to follow. The parade will begin at the Netcong School on College Road in Netcong and will end at the American Legion on Route 183 in Stanhope.

Stillwater

The Township’s Memorial Day Service will be at 10 a.m. May 27 at Veterans Memorial Park, Pond Brook Road, rain or shine. Honor and remember all those who have sacrificed and served our country to ensure our rights and liberties as Americans. All veterans are encouraged to participate. Call Lou at 862-268-3553 with questions.

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Chemistry Class | DEVILS NOW | New Jersey Devils

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8 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Chemistry Class | DEVILS NOW | New Jersey Devils

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The first of Paramus’ three big mall makeovers is nearly complete

Published

20 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

The first of Paramus’ three big mall makeovers is nearly complete

One of three massive redevelopment projects at Paramus’ biggest shopping malls will finish construction this summer. Another will have to wait until 2027.

The two projects will bring hundreds of apartments and thousands of feet of additional retail space to Bergen Town Center and Paramus Park Mall, two of Bergen County’s biggest retail destinations. Both projects are the work of Carlstadt-based Russo Development LLC, which is also building a new headquarters in the borough.

The biggest mall redevelopment in town — a multiyear plan that could bring as many as 1,400 homes to Westfield Garden State Plaza — is also underway under the direction of a different developer. That project is expected to hold an official groundbreaking in the coming weeks.

The construction is “an opportunity for affordable housing to get built, which is certainly a big priority for almost every municipality in New Jersey right now,” Russo Development CEO Ed Russo said in a recent interview. He credited borough officials for making sure “there was additional investment and vibrance that was being added” to Paramus’ commercial center.

Paramus Park housing almost done

First in line for completion is Vermella Paramus, two mixed-use buildings with 360 one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments under construction next to the Paramus Park Mall, west of the Garden State Parkway.

The project will also have 8,000 square feet of onsite retail space. It will be built adjacent to the mall and the new Valley Hospital, according to a description on the company’s website.

One of the buildings will be finished next month, while the second is scheduled to finish construction in June, Russo said last week.

Bergen Town Center project has new name, timeline

The developer, alongside KRE Group, also plans to build two five-story buildings with 426 units and 5,000 square feet of retail at Bergen Town Center, off of Route 4. The project will be called Bergen Chapters, Russo said.

The housing will include 147 one-bedroom apartments to be sold at market rate and another 12 reserved as affordable. The project will also have 1,572 parking spaces, including lots from other areas of the mall property and two parking garages.

A building on the east side of the Bergen Town Center property that currently contains a former Kirkland’s, Red Robin and Recreational Equipment Inc will be knocked down for the project. Recreational Equipment Inc. closed in late January, so the property has only become vacant in the last month, said Russo. He expects the work to finish in late 2027.

Story continues after gallery.

Living at the mall

Paramus’ three big projects fueled speculation that other shopping centers in North Jersey would follow the example, as mall owners looked for ways to survive the rise of online retail.

But there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of mall redevelopment in New Jersey, Russo said.

Paramus’ situation is unique, he noted, with “three good size malls” all within the same town. Spurred in part by state affordable housing mandates, the borough council adopted zoning in 2016 that allowed for mixed-use development along its highway corridor. That was the impetus for the three mall makeovers, Russo said.

Other factors also made the borough’s commercial corridor especially suited for this type of hybrid development, he added.

“Paramus has always been considered, for many decades, as a shopping mecca between the malls, Route 17, Route 4 and the proximity to New York City,” said Russo. “It’s really been a vibrant retail community for many years.”

In addition to fulfilling affordable housing obligations, the zoning helped the borough attract new investment around the malls, boosting their long-term success, he added.

“The retail market has been affected in a larger part of New Jersey over the last number of years,” said Russo. “I think Paramus was very forward-thinking in the zoning that they did years ago.”

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New Jersey to Use AI to Score Standardized Writing Tests

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

New Jersey to Use AI to Score Standardized Writing Tests

(TNS) — Artificial intelligence will be used to score most of the writing New Jersey students do on the new statewide standardized tests set to debut this spring, state education officials said.

The AI system will be used to grade student essays and short answers on the English Language Arts section of the statewide exams, according to a state-approved testing proposal. The “artificial intelligence” will be trained using scores generated by human scorers on practice tests that were given to students in October and November.

New Jersey is debuting a new type of state tests — called the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments-Adaptive — this spring. It will be given to students in grades 3 through 10 to test their knowledge of English, math and science.

There will also be a new version of the state’s high school exit exam for high school juniors, now called the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment-Adaptive.

Like the previous version of the test, known as the NJSLA, the exams will be given via computer. But the new version will be “adaptive,” meaning students will get different questions based on their previous answers on the exam — a practice that is supposed to make scoring the tests more precise.

The AI system will be used to score the essays and written questions, but there will still be some human scorers, state Department of Education Spokesperson Michael Yaple said.

If a student’s written response is identified as “unusual” or “borderline” it will be “flagged for human review,” Yaple said.

“The system regularly conducts quality assurance checks to ensure that the scores assigned by the automated scoring engine match human scores through strict quality controls,” he added.

Cambium, the company overseeing the new tests, does not use generative AI — the version of artificial intelligence used in ChatGPT-type platforms that can create something new and are known to sometimes hallucinate false or inaccurate information, Yaple said.

Instead, the automated scoring system will have strict parameters “with proven consistency, and human scoring remains the foundation of the process, validating accuracy at multiple checkpoints throughout the scoring workflow,” state education officials said in a statement.

Computerized scoring of New Jersey’s state tests is nothing new. Last year, about 90 percent of student essays on the NJSLA and the state high school exit exams were scored solely by an automated scoring system, Yaple said.

But some educators have concerns about the extensive use of AI to grade the new version of the tests that will eventually be taken by nearly all of New Jersey’s 1.3 million public school students.

Using a version of AI to score student writing is risky, said Steve Beatty, president of the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union.

He said he would hate to see “some student fail on a computer-graded test only to find out later on that there was some sort of error.”

The NJEA is against high stakes testing in general, Beatty said. But if the tests are going to continue “then we want trained educators — humans — doing” the scoring.

If a student fails the AI-scored sections of the exams, there should be a plan to have the writing reassessed by a human, he said.

“They should go back to a person to be verified,” Beatty said.

NEW TESTING CONTRACT

New Jersey students will begin taking the new NJSLA-Adaptive exams during a month-long testing window between April 27 and May 29. The tests are usually given over several consecutive days.

The testing window for the new NJGPA-Adaptive high school exit exam for high school juniors will be from March 16 to April 1, according to a state Department of Education testing schedule.

The new statewide NJSLA and NJGPA tests were developed by Cambium Assessment, a company that won a $58.7 million, two-year contract with the state.

According to the Cambium proposal, Measurement Incorporated, a company located in Durham, North Carolina, will be responsible for providing and training the people who will do the human “handscoring” when AI-generated essay and written response scores are flagged for review.

In its proposal to the state, Cambium said the company assumes “25 percent of the overall responses will be routed for trained handscoring.”

New Jersey officials said AI was not used to create test items on the new version of the tests and artificial intelligence will not be used to determine which questions students see on the adaptive assessments.

Jeffrey Hauger, who served as director of assessments for the state Department of Education from 2010 to 2018, said New Jersey has a long history of using computers to help score the written portion of state tests. He later worked as an adviser to Pearson, the company that previously had the contract to provide the state NJSLA tests.

Around 2016, Hauger said the state started implementing a system that used one human and one automated scorer to assess each piece of student writing.

If a large discrepancy between the two scores was found, the essay would be read by a second human, he said.

“It was a tool for efficiency, but the human was always involved throughout the process back then,” Hauger said.

AI scoring is now more sophisticated, he said.

“Technology has improved. And so, it’s not as big of a leap now as maybe people think it is,” Hauger said.

During Gov. Phil Murphy’s time in office, the department started relying more on automated scoring and moving away from having each piece of writing evaluated by both a machine and a human, he said.

FLAGGING PROBLEMS

AI scoring has been controversial in other states.

In Massachusetts, AI grading errors were blamed for 1,400 incorrect scores on the state’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, known as the MCAS, last year.

In Texas, several districts questioned whether AI grading was fair on its statewide tests in recent years.

The Dallas Independent School District has challenged thousands of AI generated essay scores on Texas’ statewide STAAR standardized tests over the past two years.

Cambium and Pearson, the companies involved in New Jersey’s testing, both contributed to Texas’ standardized testing system.

In 2024, the Dallas school district asked the state to rescore 4,600 tests, sending them to the state to be rescored by humans.

About 44 percent of the rescored tests came back with higher scores after a human read them, said Jacob Cortez, Dallas’ assistant superintendent in charge of evaluation and assessment.

The district also sent thousands of AI-scored tests for rescoring last year and nearly 40 percent came back with higher scores from humans, the district said.

The accuracy rate for the AI-scored third grade tests was the most troubling, with 85 percent of those sent back showing an improved score when humans read the students’ work.

“That is not okay,” Cortez said.

The Dallas school district, which serves about 139,000 students, limited the number of tests it sent back for rescoring because it had to pay $50 for each test that did not receive an improved score, local officials said.

Cambium officials did not respond to requests for comment about the Dallas accuracy issues or the company’s AI scoring practices.

New Jersey officials declined to comment on questions about AI scoring accuracy in other states.

“New Jersey cannot comment on another state’s assessment and scoring process,” Yaple said.

Lily Laux, New Jersey’s new commissioner of education, also did not respond to a request to comment. In her previous job as Texas’ deputy commissioner of school programs, she helped design the state’s standardized testing system, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The problems with AI scoring in Dallas raise questions about the system, said Scott Marion, principal learning associate at the Center for Assessment, a nonprofit, nonpartisan consulting firm.

“Is it not being trained well? Is it not being trained on a diverse enough population?” Marion asked.

AI scoring makes financial sense but states also need to be careful not to overly rely on it, he said. He’s comfortable with about 80 percent AI-scored writing because systems still need human backups.

“We’ve been doing this for so long,” he said referring to the use of AI to score student writing.

Many students, teachers and parents may be surprised to know how much of writing in school is already scored by AI, education advocates said.

Many “parents have no idea this is a thing,” said Julie Borst, executive director of community organizing for Save Our Schools New Jersey, a statewide advocacy group.

She is concerned that students with unique writing styles might end up with lower scores on tests because AI is looking for specific words and phrases or a standard number of sentences for top scores.

Borst, whose organization has long-opposed high stakes standardized testing, said in the end, it will still be up to teachers to know where students are doing well and where they are struggling.

“The teacher is going to know where those weaknesses are. They’re going to know where those strengths lie,” she said. “You cannot tell that — at the student level — from a standardized test.”

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