New Jersey
The first of Paramus’ three big mall makeovers is nearly complete
Russo Development CEO talks finishing Paramus NJ projects
Edward Russo, CEO of Russo Development, speaks to NorthJersey.com about their newest projects and opportunities for developers in Paramus.
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.”
New Jersey
Exclusive | NJ grandma with heart of gold goes viral for making salami sandwich for her mailman
This is one first class hero.
A New Jersey granny with a big heart recently went viral for making a salami and cheese sandwich for her mailman — who thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Antoinette Giancamilli, better known as Nonna Netta, has a tradition of presenting her postman, Kyle Frankenfield, with homemade food when he delivers the mail to her Alpha, NJ home, just east of the Pennsylvania border.
“It started out when I was roasting chicken and I gave him a chicken leg,” Giancamilli, 83, told The Post.
“Sometimes I just give him scones or a muffin or a piece of pizza. Whatever I have, I give him … But he loves a bagel with salami and cheese, that’s his favorite.”
The viral clip, which got close to 9 million combined views, started with the octogenarian in her kitchen, putting together the Genoa salami and provolone cheese on a bagel and toasting it.
“Got a sandwich for you, Kyle,” Giancamilli announces when she sees him approaching.
“This is like the third time this week,” the grateful mailman answers incredulously.
Once she hands him the sandwich, he gushes, “Anything you ever make is the best thing I’ve ever had. Thank you so much. You’re like a third grandmother to me.”
After the sandwich became so popular online, Giancamilli started to share it with other visitors.
“The guy just came to change our water heater tank and I said, ‘Do you want the mailman special?’ and I gave it to him too,” she said.
The mom of four and grandma of nine has more than 2 million combined followers on social media thanks to her grandson, Luke Hardin.
The idea to share his nonna, which means “grandmother” in Italian, with the world came in 2023 when he would visit her for lunch during his summer internship and post photos of the meals she would make him on TikTok.
“It would be a steak sandwich, hamburgers,” Giancamilli said. “And people commented, ‘Boy, I wish I had a grandma like that.’”
Now, the native of Rome, who immigrated to New Jersey in 1956 at 14 and started working as a seamstress for 75 cents an hour at 16, cannot leave the house without being recognized.
“Every time she goes to the grocery store, there’s at least a couple people that she doesn’t know that recognize her,” Hardin, 24, said.
“Even all my neighbors, they all know me,” Giancamilli added. “They say, ‘I watch you all the time, especially when I’m hungry.’”
The beloved nonna’s most popular videos have been the one of her roasting tomatoes for sauce, which racked up 110 million views, making cinnamon buns, which garnered 95 million, and whipping up pasta with pesto and shrimp, which got more than 21 million.
Her recipes are in such high demand that she’s even releasing a cookbook.
“She’s really seeing the impact that she’s having, all these people saying that they cooked cutlets for the first time or made pizza with their family,” Hardin said.
The spry senior, who is celebrating her 70th anniversary of moving to America next month, cooks for her family of 20 every Sunday.
“She has a saying, ‘If you feed them, they will come,’” Hardin said.
New Jersey
New Jersey Devils named fit for a surprising… and expensive star forward
The New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are going in very different directions. Well, we hope they are going in different directions. Both teams are currently in the same spot: home. Watching the playoffs on TV. Both also ended the tenure of their GMs, although Jim Rutherford is still in the seat.
The Canucks seem like they know what the path forward is, and it involves a rebuild. Quinn Hughes was traded for a haul. Elias Pettersson has been on the trade block for two years. Everything in Vancouver is available, as long as they hit the cap floor.
One player who is really interesting is Brock Boeser. He’s a former 40-goal scorer who hasn’t been that guy for two years. He seems very similar to Timo Meier, who is also a 40-goal scorer who has struggled to get back to 30 goals.
One might think that the Devils should have no interest in another player who is paid like he’s a 40-goal scorer when he’s actually a 25-goal scorer. That’s Boeser.
The difference is that Meier is a hard-nosed player who adds more than scoring to the lineup. Boeser isn’t a one-trick pony, but he’s also not a “lot of tricks” pony. Boeser needs to score to be effective, and he’s not scoring enough.
That’s why, one year after signing him to a seven-year deal worth a little more than $7 million per season.
Many believe the Canucks only re-signed Boeser in a last-ditch effort to keep Quinn Hughes, but it was never going to work. Now, they are stuck with a pretty bad contract. Boeser still has some value, so many are looking at who might trade for him.
Brock Boeser still doesn’t make sense for the New Jersey Devils
Michael DeRosa with the Sporting News says the Devils are one of three teams that could trade for Boeser. His reasoning includes the Devils’ disappointing finish and Boeser’s possible fit on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
Boeser does have a similar impact profile as Tyler Toffoli, who has been the best fit next to Hughes since he joined the league.
However, the Devils can’t afford to pay Boeser his price, even if the Canucks retain $1 million for the life of the deal. The only way this works is if the Devils essentially sell on a lost asset. If the Devils can trade Jacob Markstrom for Boeser, maybe Sunny Mehta would consider it.
Without a considerable trade going the other way, the Devils wouldn’t even consider trading for Boeser. This isn’t how to start the Mehta era in New Jersey.
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New Jersey
How are public libraries funded in New Jersey? ⋆ Princeton, NJ local news %
In New Jersey, public libraries are treated as civic infrastructure under state law. They are primarily funded by a mandatory municipal tax under N.J.S.A. 40:54-8, known as the “1/3 mill” formula: 33 cents for every $1,000 of a municipality’s equalized, or true, property value. This minimum must be raised annually for library operations, regardless of local budget pressures.
Many municipalities choose to fund their libraries above this minimum. Libraries often receive additional support from grants, donations, and Friends of the Library groups.
But in municipalities like Princeton, where developers are receiving tax abatements known as PILOTs, or Payments in Lieu of Taxes, that baseline funding can be slowly and quietly eroded.
Under a PILOT agreement, a developer pays the municipality an annual fee instead of conventional property taxes. These agreements can last up to 30 years. The fee is typically far less than what full taxation would generate, and it flows directly to the municipality. The county receives 5 percent. The library receives nothing.
That matters because the 1/3 mill formula runs on equalized property valuation, which is the total taxable value of assessed property in a municipality. When a large apartment complex receives a PILOT, the building’s value is exempt from assessment. Only the land beneath it remains on the tax rolls. A development worth $60 million might contribute the taxable equivalent of a modest vacant lot.
The result: as a town grows — new buildings rising, new residents moving in, new cardholders walking through the library’s doors — the funding formula can stagnate. The tax base the library depends on reflects a version of the town that no longer exists.
The gap has drawn some legislative attention. A 2022 bill proposed adding the value of PILOT-exempt properties back into the equalized valuation used for state aid funding calculations, an acknowledgment that the standard formula fails to account for the full scale of development in PILOT-heavy municipalities. The bill never made it out of committee.
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