Gary Minkoff is Affirmed as the new Mayor of Highland Park
On Tuesday night Highland Park, New Jersey was sworn in affirmed – Mayor Gary Minkoff. I say affirmed because when past mayor now freeholder James Polos (on the left in the photo) said to Gary, do you solemnly swear, Gary corrected him and said “affirm.” I suspect this is for religious reasons, as Jews have strict rules about when we can “swear.”
Elsie Foster-Dublin, Councilperson and Steve Nolan, former Mayor
When Elsie Foster-Dublin (above left) was sworn in, she clearly said, I “solemnly swear.” Outgoing mayor Steve Nolan is pictured on the right. Twice in the evening he got a standing ovation for his work as mayor.
“I promise I will have everyone out of here by Friday.”
Thus began Gary as he gave an (acceptance?) speech on Tuesday night. And thus I will state that I can’t repeat everything everyone said that night, but I want to summarize a few of the annual reports. Another point about Gary (you can find him selling cheesecake on this post – he is multi-talented; and marching in the Memorial Day Parade here) is he likes to tell jokes, to be personable, to make people feel comfortable. It should be interesting having him as our mayor.
A few highlights of the Annual Reports
Each councilperson talked about their areas, and I will state briefly some highlights. Padriac Millet: Padriac talked about Raritan Avenue area improvements, such as rain gardens (? not sure what they are but we will find out) and living room areas (glass tiles, benches, lampposts, streetscape) and 75 new trees. There were also new regulations such as curb rules that caused delays in construction. Elsie Foster-Dublin: After twelve years there is finally a traffic light at the corner of Duclos Lane. The Senior Center has some great programs, including Chinese. Because of budget cuts, Sunday hours have been eliminated at the Senior Center. The library has shown an increase in programs and may be receiving new fiber optic connection (I remember how slow my connection became as I gave my recent talk about Facebook). Jon Erickson: Jon oversees the Highland Park Environmental Commission, Shade Tree Committee and Public Works. Highland Park now recycles once per week, and from this, the borough earns $35 per week (did I get that right? That doesn’t sound like a lot). One can now recycle pizza boxes and rigid plastics like laundry baskets. He also mentioned some Meadows trails repairs. Gayle Britt Mittler: Gayle talked about all the wonderful volunteers she has on her committees, like the Health and Welfare and the Board of Health. An anti-fracking resolution was passed by the Board of Health. The Human Relations Commission and the Food Pantry were also active; the Food Pantry may soon be able to stock meat in addition to the current soups and vegetables.
A bit of Gary’s remarks
Gary Minkoff talked about how Highland Park, Michigan had to remove street lights because of budget cuts, but Highland Park, New Jersey has managed financially, with budget cuts, even in these difficult economic times. Gary made it clear that he is a product of the public schools, and he supports the public schools. He also thanked the first responders (police, fire, first aid squad), mentioned a possible business breakfast and teen advisory council, and he said, we need focus. We can’t do anything without focus.
And with that, class is dismissed from reading this long post.
Last Sunday my daughter and I went to the dog park in Donaldson Park. She wanted to see the dogs, and I was happy to see the sunset. Donaldson Park is on the other side of Highland Park from where we live, and it is right next to the Raritan River. You can park right near the dog parks.
There is a dog park (a large caged in area) for little dogs and one for big dogs. There were a lot more big dogs. They romp around and play games with each other. My daughter was following the interactions carefully.
I enjoyed the oranges, reds, yellows of the sunset. The steeple you see is across the Raritan River in New Brunswick.
Judaica Gallery, broken window - photo taken December 1, 2011 Where were you in November 1938? Most of us weren’t born yet, but the mother of someone who spoke Tuesday night at Highland Park’s Borough Council meeting was in Vienna and witnessed the real Kristalnacht. The shattering of glass in Jewish storefronts in Highland Park terrified her, and as it did for many of us, the quick actions of the Highland Park police (in conjunction with New Brunswick police and Rutgers police) in arresting the culprit brought relief.
It did have a healing effect, the Borough Council meeting, at least I thought so. Elsie-Foster Dublin, councilwoman, led the meeting, and at one point she talked about how when the African American community had problems, Rabbi Malomet had sent her a helpful email. Now, when the Jewish community was upset by an incident, Rabbi Malomet again sent her a calming email. Several Jewish community members, including Rabbi Luban and Rabbi Kaufman, expressed their thanks to the police department for their swift action. And the police commissioner (who was thrilled with all the praise) was sure to point out that Rabbi Kaminetsky had come by the police department that day to find out how the police were doing (I think he operates as a chaplain for the police). And the meeting wasn’t just about the broken glass incident – one person who lives near Raritan Avenue has a terrible problem with noise and someone else has problems with broken sidewalks. The usual small town fare.
There was someone sitting next to me who appeared to be a journalist, as he was taking copious notes. I didn’t take any – my purpose in writing this post is just to say thank you to those who make this a nice community.
Photo by Mason Resnick: Smashed window of Park Place in Highland Park, New Jersey
Yesterday a friend posted online that she had just finished reading The Book Thief and then she discovered five Jewish businesses in Highland Park had their windows smashed overnight. Shortly thereafter Mason Resnick posted these Kristalnacht like photos on Facebook. The end of the story was a disturbed individual was arrested.
I will be visiting the Judaica Gallery today because I need to make a purchase for my daughter – at least those of us that are local can support the businesses that were targeted. Rutgers Hillel and Chabad in New Brunswick also were targeted with smashed glass, as well as the restaurant Maoz. The Highland Park businesses were Jerusalem Pizza, Park Place, Judaica Gallery, Trio Gifts and Jack’s Hardware. Maybe I should go buy some light bulbs at Jack’s.
A big thank you to the Highland Park police for their quick and decisive action regarding this crime.
Update: A Letter from Mayor Steve Nolan (it ends with: “As a community, we are much stronger than a pane of glass could ever be.” – bravo)
Update: An excerpt from a letter from Rutgers Hillel director Andrew Getrauer:
Wednesday morning at 2 AM a Jewish Rutgers student, very
involved in Hillel, was at the kosher Dunkin’ Donuts in Highland Park,
when a man approached him and started a conversation about Jewish
issues. He identified himself as Jewish. This deteriorated into a rant
where the man also declared himself a neo-Nazi and told the student he
should be in a camp and killed like his ancestors, and that he would
start a ‘second Kristalnacht.’ At this point the Dunkin Donuts staff
threw the man out of the store.
Wednesday morning Highland Park woke up to find 5 Jewish-owned
stores with windows broken; 2 Judaica stores, 2 kosher restaurants, and
a hardware store owned by an Orthodox man. A Jewish-owned falafel
restaurant in New Brunswick was also targeted. Hillel staff contacted
the student who had encountered the man at Dunkin Donuts and made sure
he was in touch with police. Hillel staff contacted the ADL and New
Brunswick police to help connect the dots between the various incidents.
There was wide spread anxiety throughout the local community, expressed
thru constant phone calls, emails, Facebook and twitter messages. To
give you a sense of the feeling at the time, people were calling it
“Kristalnacht in New Jersey.”
More details were reported in the Star Ledger, New Jersey Jewish News and other press.
Way back in May I took this photo of Uncle Sam at the Highland Park Street Fair. The fair always seems to announce, summer is coming, summer is coming.
My daughter and I enjoyed roaming Raritan Avenue and taking in all the many booths. As you can see from her pink sweater, it wasn’t exactly summer weather.
The highlight of my summer thus far is the nest of robins growing on our front porch. Here’s a shot of a baby from last week. This week the robins already have many feathers and don’t seem as scared as they did earlier.
What’s summer mean to you? Visit more Summer Stock photos:
Every week of the summer on Fridays there is a Highland Park Farmer’s Market. I often go to the organic stand first, and for the past few weeks I’ve been looking at the mizuna. This Friday I finally bought some, and I sauteed it in olive oil and a bit of sea salt. It was very tasty; however, I only washed it twice under the faucet. I should have let it soak – it was a bit gritty, the way leeks sometimes are. Now I know for next time.
Roof of house and second floor, too
I have been painstakingly working on a project to illustrate three roofs (typical of Highland Park house roofs). Before Pesach (way back in March?) I photographed many of the roofs on our block. I’ve been sketching them, and I finally “put up” one roof today in Illustrator (using the pen tool), and here is the result. My plan is to do three of these, each one unique but about the same size. Then I will play with them in Photoshop, adding color, texture and details. And maybe a watercolor look with a Photoshop watercolor brush or two.
As you, the readers of this blog, are my cheering squad, I decided I would share with you this one black and white frame of a roof.
Blues Brothers - Soul Man Performance at NJDS Recital
So sad – New Jersey Dance School, where my daughter has studied dance since she was four years old, is closing. Thursday night was her last recital. Anyone remember the Blues Brothers performing Soul Man? These two teens (yes, they are girls dressed like men) did a fabulous job of tap dancing Soul Man. Have you ever heard of a Wish Sandwich?
There is a path at the edge of Highland Park by the Edison border that leads to my children’s school. On one side are houses, but on the other side of the path are lots of brush and trees and weeds and who knows what else. The brook runs alongside all this woodsy brush.
Anyone able to identify these large leafy plants growing on the path?
I spotted a robin! There’s something green in the robin’s mouth: a worm, catepillar or a leaf?
These cigarette-box-sized pieces of art designed by Jill Caporlingua will go in an old cigarette machine. Folks can then purchase Jill’s art from the cigarette machine instead of buying cigarettes (see ArtoMat.org). Isn’t that an ingenious way of recycling? I suppose they could buy other artists’ art, too, but wouldn’t you want to own one of these luscious little multi-colored boxes? Jill is my daughter’s art teacher and a friend.
