Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey will podcast, learn robotics and experience indoor camping thanks to a new DreamLab that opened in Paramus on June 5.

The 12,000-square-foot DreamLab, the second of its kind in the state and 12th in the country, will offer a variety of labs, workspaces, meeting rooms and other multipurpose spaces to serve North Jersey’s 19,000 Girl Scouts. The organization, open to ages 5 to 18, serves Bergen, Passaic, Morris and Sussex counties and the northern half of Warren County.

The center held a ribbon-cutting on Friday morning with Girl Scout leadership and local dignitaries, including County Executive Jim Tedesco, Commissioner Tracy Zur and Assemblymembers Lisa Swain and Chris Tully.

The Girl Scouts owned the 300 Forest Ave. location for 50 years, primarily using it as office space, but decided to reimagine the space in a $3 million renovation to create new programming space for its members.

Seeing the DreamLab get off the ground was important to Tedesco, whose mother helped found the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey branch. During the opening ceremony, he recounted his days spent at Girl Scout camp in the summers.

“It actually shaped who I am today,” said Tedesco. “It was what helped make me realize that I wanted to give back to my community as I grew up.”

Tedesco said the space will act as a community hub not just for Girl Scouts, but for nonprofits, local schools and organizations.

A few older scouts lead a design team to help the organization plan activities that would best prepare their fellow members for the world, like investing in robotics and other STEM related activities.

“We worked together not only to design a space where girls of all ages can come to enrich themselves, but also select programs that we believe can be highly beneficial and educational,” said 18-year-old Yasmine Lalani, one of the Girl Scout design team ambassadors.

One scout alumni, 19-year-old Isabella Santa Cruz of Glen Rock, even worked with the center to help build a sensory room as a safe space for neurodivergent members.

“Inclusion isn’t just a feature, but a foundation of meaningful impact,” Santa Cruz said. “The sensory room provides a peaceful sanctuary to escape the noise, listen to their inner voices and develop the self-awareness they need to lead.”  

During the DreamLab’s first day, visitors could try out the space’s many features, including a podcast room, 3D printers, a kid-safe power tool called a Chomp Saw and test out Sphero BOLT, a robotic ball that is controlled and programmed with an app.

“I’m really excited for the girls to come in here,” said Nicole Ricci, 23, a Girl Scout alumni helping people try the Sphero BOLT. “It will be a great space for them to be creative and learn.”

Sandra Kenoff, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, is hopeful the DreamLab will inspire the next generation of leaders.

“From the beginning, we were committed to ensuring this space reflects the voices of the girls and the communities we serve,” said Kenoff.  

The first round of Saharan dust for summer 2026 is set to sweep over parts of the U.S. Southeast this weekend. AccuWeather expects it to hit Gulf Coast soon, and new waves are expected come all summer.

NEWARK (WABC) — New details were released about the close call at Newark Airport last month.

A United Jet flew about 15 feet above the busy New Jersey Turnpike on its approach to the runway.

The plane hit a light pole in the process and that pole hit a delivery truck.

“Low and slow,” those are the words used in a new NTSB report to describe the United flight that came close to catastrophe after hitting a light pole on the New Jersey Turnpike while landing at Newark airport.

The report found that the flight with more than 230 passengers and crew on board was flying dangerously low at just 15 feet above one of the busiest highways in the country.

Investigators say the pilots had been given multiple runway changes in the minutes before the incident, as they descended in strong winds and were eventually told to land at Newark’s shortest runway.

The first officer warned the captain, who was manually flying the plane, that the airspeed was slow, eventually saying, “You are still slow and a little low.”

Moments later, the plane hit the light pole, which crashed down onto a delivery truck, injuring the driver.

According to the NTSB, the captain said he “heard a thump” shortly before touchdown.

Passengers deplaned normally, but the plane suffered “substantial damage” with a gash in the side of the fuselage.

“The NTSB is gonna wanna go back and say what is it about this approach, this runway, how can we take out the possibility of error that almost led to tragedy in this case,” an expert said.

The driver’s father spoke out in the days after the accident

“Imagine that, struck by a plane, generally nobody walks away from a plane crash, nobody,” he said.

The first officer says he looked outside seconds before touching down and recalled thinking the plane looked too low above the turnpike, but at that point it was too late to change anything.

The Boeing 767 has not flown since the incident.

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