Weehawken resident Charu Suri fuses Jazz and Sufi music

Weehawken resident Charu Suri fuses Jazz and Sufi music

Hudson Report, January 2, 2020

By Daniel Israel

Standing at the intersection of jazz and Islamic Sufi music is Charu Suri.

Born in Madurai, India, Suri began learning the piano at age of 5. By age 15, she’d won an international piano competition.

Suri says her love and feel for music inspired her to continue playing piano.

“I just love music, it was basically everything that kept me going,” Suri said. “It was the vehicle that kept me inspired and motivated.”

Suri said music brings her comfort when she needs it. She always turned to music when she had a bad day.

“It was the one thing in my life from a very, very early age that made sense to me.” Suri recalled. “It was the only thing that made complete sense.”

To attend Princeton University, Suri moved to New Jersey, settling in Weehawken. At Princeton, she composed several pieces for orchestra and chamber orchestra, but never recorded commercially until recently.

From the classics to jazz and Sufi

While Suri has been a pianist for most of her life, she didn’t always play jazz. Trained as a classical pianist, Suri recalls her natural transition into jazz followed by her jazz-sufi music fusion.

Her sound came from longing to do something more modal. For most of her career, Suri had been playing western classical harmonic music using tonal music.

“I wanted to create something more modal because it was very nostalgic, more ancient sounding, and I love the ancient sounds,” Suri said. “I majored in the classics in college and also did music, so I’ve always been drawn to history and to historical sounds.”

“The use of the raga scales to create jazz work was something that has been on my mind since I listened to the modal experiments of Miles Davis,” Suri said, referring to the albums “Kind of Blue” and “Bitches Brew” by Davis.

Suri said her musical inspirations beyond Davis include Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck. She describes them as her triumvirate of inspiration, alongside Oscar Peterson and Canadian pianist Kris Davis.

These jazz artists, in addition to her Carnatic music upbringing in India, laid the groundwork for Suri to breakthrough into jazz-Sufi fusion music. Carnatic music is a style native to southern India that focuses on voice, with instruments mimicking singing.

“I discovered [Peterson’s] work fairly late because I wasn’t a jazz musician,” Suri said. “I was a classical musician, and I just fell in love with his virtuosity because I’m a virtuoso performer on the piano, or I like to think I am. But he made everything make sense; it wasn’t too over the top, but just right.”

Suri’s first album, “Lollipops for Breakfast,” was scored for a traditional jazz trio and won a Global Music Award. Her next traditional jazz album, “The New American Songbook,” has been well received, Suri said.

The album, featuring vocals by Danielle Erin Rhodes, focuses on traditional jazz. Suri said she’s always loved Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

Then Suri met Apoorva Mugdal, her vocal counterpart throughout the album “The Book of Ragas.” The duo connected through a gig, and Suri discovered that Mugdal was a specialist in ghazals, or Arabic poems, and Sufi music. This is where Suri began her journey into newer, fresher jazz.

Sufi music is traditional devotional prayer music based on Sufi Islam and its poems. Suri had heard of the music, but never thought it was possible to create jazz using it.

“The journey of ‘The Book of Ragas’ was one of discovery,” said Mudgal, who chose the text and improvised sargams based on the musical framework. A sargam is when a vocalist sings a musical note instead of the words of a composition.

Suri said her favorite piece so far in her career is from “The Book of Ragas.” The composition is titled Raag Kalyani, featuring guest guitarist David Ellenbogen.

In Indian translation, Suri explained that Kalyani means “Queen of Indian ragas.” Kalyani inspired the piece “Raag Kalyani,” written in response to the quiet beauty of the countryside, with the sounds evoking a deep sense of calm and peace.

The poetry is “Ae Ri Aali,” a traditional bandish, or composition whose lyricist is not known. It embodies the yearning for the beloved in this surreal peace-inducing raga.

“It’s very, very peaceful because the core of Carnatic music and Hindustani music is to find that peace.” Suri said of the composition. “When you listen to the ‘Raag Kalyani,’ just at the end after finishing it, you are so at one with yourself. It’s a momentous journey from the beginning to the end. That raga is what people turn to for the ultimate experience or for peace.”

The album artwork was created by Upasana Asrani, an abstract artist based in Chennai, India. A friend of Suri, Arsani’s works are a reflection of a journey of self-discovery expressed throughout “The Book of Ragas.”

“The album artwork has been receiving a lot of praise, and that has been done by my longtime high school friend, who is an amazing artist herself,” Suri said. “I think she nailed the moods of the ragas in the cover. My other friends who have seen it say that they are getting the spirit and the vibe of India just from the cover.”

Making history at Carnegie Hall

Suri became one of the first Indian-American women to premier at Carnegie Hall with her double bill “Book of Ragas” and “The New American Songbook.”

“First of all, to perform at Carnegie Hall is a dream,” Suri said, describing the surreal nature of her performance. “But to perform one’s own music at Carnegie Hall is sensational.”

She hopes to inspire other jazz musicians to follow their passion and pursue their dreams through her performance.

“A couple of people have written me and said this is just a wonderful inspiration,” Suri said. “I think jazz in India is definitely taking off, but it’s very hard to find female composers and female jazz artists in India. I didn’t know of any growing up. Maybe it’s my own ignorance, or maybe this will inspire more women.”

Suri said that she and her band received a standing ovation, demonstrating that the audience enjoyed the show as much as she enjoyed performing.

“Honestly, [it was] a thrilling experience,” Suri said. “It’s very intimate. Weill [Recital Hall] is perfect for jazz. I felt completely connected to the piano, and to the audience. It was very freeing and not stuffy, and the Steinway concert grand there gets tuned daily, so the tones were velvety and perfect.”

During the show, Suri said that she was trying to just have fun, noting that she didn’t want her performance to feel like a “stuffy experience.”

“For me, it was the best stage I’ve performed on, and a lot of audience members felt the same way,” Suri said. “You can hear just about everything. My band was really thrilled to play on that stage.”

2020 World Tour

Next stop, India.

Suri said she plans on taking her music home during a potential 2020 tour, first making stops in Miami for Valentine’s Day as well as Chicago.

“We’re looking at September for a tour to India,” Suri said. “Right now it’s tentative, but we are looking at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore which are great music cities. We 1000 percent are going to tour India and take our albums, ‘The Book of Ragas’ and ‘The New American Songbook’ on the road.”

Weehawken resident donates $10 million to Palisades Medical Center

Weehawken resident donates $10 million to Palisades Medical Center

Hudson Reporter, 17-Jan-19

By Mike Montemarano

John C. Meditz has donated $10 million to Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center, the largest gift to date.

Hackensack Meridian Health is the parent company of Palisades Medical center. Meditz serves on the boards of both Hackensack Meridian Health and Palisades Medical Center.

Meditz, a Weehawken resident, is co-founder of Horizon Kinetics, investment advisers.

The Weehawken residents’ contribution will go toward expanding the Palisades Medical Center Emergency Department.

“I am committed to making a positive difference on behalf of Palisades Medical Center’s patients and their families as the medical center expands even further though Hackensack Meridian Health,” Meditz said. “It is my pleasure and privilege to do what I can to help.”

“We are deeply grateful for John’s motivational leadership and inspirational generosity,” said Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert C. Garrett. “John cares deeply about leading by example in order to elevate and enhance the health and well-being of others.”

Years of service

Meditz was appointed to the Palisades Medical Center Board of Governors in 1997, serving as chair from 2009 until 2011. He helped establish the Palisades Medical Center Foundation, which relies on volunteers and contributions made by residents and local businesses to establish new clinical programs.

Meditz is currently on the boards of two foundations that raise funds for healthcare services: The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation and the Palisades Foundation.

In 2014, in recognition of Meditz’s role in establishing the hospital’s philanthropic arm, Palisades Medical Center renamed its main building the John C. Meditz Medical Pavilion.

“John’s leadership and outstanding example will strengthen our outreach as we work to fund our strategic priorities,” said Joe Burt, Palisades Medical Center’s vice president of Development.

Weehawken Schools Superintendent Earns 'Thought Leader' Honor

Weehawken Schools Superintendent Earns 'Thought Leader' Honor

The Jersey Journal, 23-May-18

By Ron Zeitlinger

Weehawken schools superintendent Robert R. Zywicki has been named a "District Thought Leader" by Future Ready Schools (FRS), the first superintendent from New Jersey to earn the distinction.

The honor, which installs Zywicki as a member of the FRS Advisory Team, is conferred on educators who have demonstrated expertise and proven track record of implementing digital learning practices in their school districts.

"A recognition like this is indicative of the forward progress the Weehawken Township School District is making," Weehawken Board of Education President Richard Barsa said in a statement.

Zywicki is just one of 16 superintendents across the country to earn the recognition.

Future Ready Schools is a non-profit organization dedicated to maximizing student-centered learning opportunities and helping school districts leverage technology to prepare students for college and career.

As a member of the FRS Advisory Team, Zywicki said he "hopes to help promote the adoption of the Future Ready Framework in other districts, so they too can leverage technology to meet the needs of all learners."

The Weehawken school district has also been named an "Innovative District" by the International Center for Leadership in Education for the second year in a row, one of only 10 districts nationwide so named this year. The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) is an educational research center that studies the nation's most rapidly improving schools and districts.

In November 2017, Weehawken was one of only three districts in New Jersey to have all their schools certified as Future Ready by NJIT and the New Jersey School Board's Association.

Benny Ricciardi of Weehawken Earns a Living Playing & Writing About Fantasy Football

Mayor Turner Takes $90K 6-month Contract with Town of West NY

N.J. mayor with $90K contract in neighboring town an 'expert' in local government, he says

14-Nov-15, NJ.com

By Laura Herzog

Since Nov. 1, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner has been working as a consultant in West New York, charged with not just mold remediation, but cutting costs, overseeing other projects, and applying for road-paving and open space funds.

Turner said the $90,000, six-month contract he's landed with the nearby town isn't a conflict of interest, and said it is aimed at saving money.

"I will save West New York more than what they're paying me. We already hit the (roughly $60,000) mark (in savings)," Turner, 65, said. "There's not a question in my mind they'll save more than what they're paying."

He said he already started working for the town this fall, without pay, offering advice on different projects to officials he knows in West New York. Turner also said he is taking a six-month unpaid leave of absence from his other job, as district director for U.S. Congressman Albio Sires (D), to take on this job.

In addition to handling mold remediation, Turner said he will oversee a fix of city hall's "major water infiltration issue," which he said will need costly renovations to repair the damage and prevent further water seepage, likely more than $100,000.

He said he is also managing requests for proposals to find an architectural firm to determine how to seal the outside of the building to prevent more water from coming in, and going out to bid to hire a contractor to fix the roof.

Though Turner called himself an "expert" who could help manage these projects in West New York, several residents said they had questions about his contract.

"The fact that we accept that as a viable reality flies in the face of (rationality)...The reality in which these people live is so skewed and so corrupt," said West New York resident Jon Evans. "Why is this man necessary?"

Turner's appointment seems like political patronage, he said: "(Local politicians) nurture each other, they owe each other, and then they give each other jobs that they're not necessarily qualified to do."

Ronald Scheurle, who recently ran against an administration-backed slate in the West New York school board elections on Nov. 3, said he plans to speak to the town about the contract.

"Turner was a capable business administrator, but I have questions to ask the mayor and the commissioners," he said.

West New York Mayor Felix Roque declined comment on Turner's role.

Turner, who has been the mayor of Weehawken for 25 years and said he is collecting an $8,000 a year salary as mayor, is retired after 25 years of public service in N.J. He noted that his service included spending 1995 to 2006 working in West New York as a business administrator when Sires was the town's mayor. Turner is currently collecting a pension of around $70,000 a year, he said.

He also volunteered as a consultant in West New York for several months when Roque was elected, he said, and Roque and several commissioners approached him this year about the new contract work.

"I work basically 24/7 in one role or another and it all gets done," Turner said. "I have become an expert in how local government works."

Despite the recent resignation of West New York's former business administrator, Turner is not acting in that role, a town spokeswoman said. Turner agreed, and added that his role will come at a cheaper cost than replacing the administrator would.

"They're saving the fringe benefits, and (my contract fee is) less than they were paying the previous administrator (at $196,000 a year)," he said. "This can be indeed more complicated and more intricate (than business administration)."

Weehawken appoints new schools superintendent

Weehawken appoints new schools superintendent

Hudson Reporter, 25-Nov-2015

Dr. Robert R. Zywicki was unanimously appointed at the Nov. 24 meeting of the Board of Education as Weehawken Township’s new superintendent of schools. He will be responsible for the operations of the PreK­12 school district.

Dr. Zywicki currently serves as the assistant superintendent of the High Point Regional School District in Sussex, and previously served as High Point’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology. 

He began his career as a middle school social studies teacher in the Bayonne Public Schools. He taught history and coached lacrosse at Voorhees High School in Northern Hunterdon County. Dr. Zywicki gained recognition as an AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics teacher at Montgomery High School in Skillman. 

While an AP Economics teacher at Montgomery, he was selected to serve as an AP Reader for The College Board, contributed to the Council for Economic Education’s AP Macroeconomics Teacher's Manual, and developed assessments for Paul Krugman’s Economics for AP.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers College of Rutgers University and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Education degrees from Saint Peter’s University.

Currently, he serves on the Governor's Standards Review English Language Arts Committee that is tailoring the Common Core State Standards to meet the needs of New Jersey’s students. 

Dr. Zywicki is an adjunct at Saint Peter’s University and has taught at Rutgers University’s Center for Effective School Practices. He is a frequent presenter for the Foundation for Educational Administration on project based and blended learning and a consultant to several districts to train educators on how to increase blended learning via Google Apps for Education.

He and his wife, Melanie, have four children. Dr. Zywicki will start his new position in Weehawken when released from his current school district. 

Dr. Zywicki regularly leverages social media to engage students, parents and community stakeholders. He can be followed on Twitter at @ZywickiR.

Weehawken Leaders Profile - Mayor Richard Turner

25 years of Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner

26-July-2015, NJ.com

By Kathryn Brenzel

Three decades ago, Weehawken's waterfront was an industrial wasteland and the fulcrum of government corruption. Much has changed in the wake of the township's darkest days—but not the person at the mayor's desk. 

Richard F. Turner, 65, has been mayor for the past 25 years, facing little opposition to keep the job. His tenure is marked by dramatic changes in the township, most visibly the transformation of the waterfront. 

Hallmarks of his administration include the introduction of NJ Transit's Light Rail, new parks and a new ferry station. He helped consolidate four municipal agencies to form the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue, and also pushed for Weehawken to receive its own zip code, which the township shared with Union City until 2001.

The mayor credits members of his team and the length of his term, in part, for his effectiveness. His consecutive terms have given him the time to plan out "mammoth" projects like the $2 billion redevelopment of Port Imperial and see them through to near completion. 

"I think in an older urban area, there's a lot to be said for continuity," he said. "I'm sure there's people that think there's downfalls in that, having the same person in charge for 25 years. I'm not a believer in term limits because I think the public sets the terms. If the public doesn't want you around, they'll vote for someone else."

What critics say

Some complain that Turner's two decades in office have allowed him to consolidate his authority in every realm of the township. Turner counters that he's a hands-on mayor, just like any leader of an urban municipality who must address myriad issues.  

"When you're mayor, you're like the town ombudsman. Whenever someone is told 'no' they make a beeline for their mayor," he said. "And so you're dealing with a variety of personal problems, and employment problems and housing problems and infrastructure problems."

Luis Zayas, an attorney well known for lobbing lawsuits at Hudson County municipalities and their leaders, has gone to bat against Turner numerous times. Zayas is currently representing Lt. Richard DeCosmis in a lawsuit that alleges that Turner and his political allies employ "mob-like" tactics to quash corruption allegations against the administration. In May 2014, the township settled a lawsuit filed by Zayas for $120,000. The township's former tax collector, John Fredericks, accused Turner in the lawsuit of overreaching his mayoral authority by illegally ordering high assessments of waterfront properties.

"Whenever anyone opposes him, he retaliates," Zayas said. "The mayor essentially controls and makes decisions on everything involving Weehawken."

David Corrigan, an attorney for the mayor, called the allegations false and said the court has rejected personal attacks launched by Zayas. He added that Turner is an effective mayor. 

"How do you think he's stayed mayor for 25 years?" Corrigan said. "He's an effective leader of the town."

Intro to Weehawken

Turner started his career with the state Department of Community Affairs as an intern at age 23, eventually rising the ranks to serve as acting deputy director of the division of local governmental services. It was his role in Trenton that first brought him to Weehawken as the state-assigned township manager, and at the time, the township was a mess, plagued by financial troubles and a corrupt mayor.

In 1983, Weehawken Mayor Wally Lindsley was convicted of trying to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers who planned to build factories—including a chicken processing plant—along the waterfront. A former close friend, state Sen. David Friedland, testified against Lindsley, saying the mayor had threatened to kill the chicken-plant developer, according to a New York Times article from the time. If politics in the county already seemed like mobster-movie fodder, Friedland went on to fake his own death in a scuba diving accident and remained on the lam until federal authorities tracked him to an island in the Indian Ocean.

It was in this climate that Turner moved to Weehawken, in the neighborhood known as the Heights, from Hazlet in Monmouth County. The state took control of Weehawken's finances in 1982, replacing its entire council.

"The waterfront was in chaos," Turner said. "There was an administration from '78 to '82 that put the town into fiscal jeopardy, nearly bankruptcy."

Weehawken was released from state control in 1983, and Turner stayed on as town manager through 1985. He served as business administrator in North Bergen, and then returned as township manager in 1989. When Mayor Stanley Iacono opted not to run for reelection in 1990, Turner stepped in. 

"When you're involved you want to have some continuity, you want to have some stability," he said. "So the thinking back then was, if Stanley wasn't going to run again, then we would ask me to stay since I had been part of the whole process of restructuring the town and putting the town on the right path, along with a lot of good people. When you've got a good team going, you don't want to lose momentum."

Though he's been in Weehawken for more than two decades, he keeps a relatively low public profile. He's a fixture at local press conferences, but often plays a supportive role as others take the podium. He doesn't openly discuss his wife, Eileen, and their two children, Richard and Kaitlyn, wanting to keep their lives together private. But once he starts talking about the township, he becomes personable and will speak at length, his responses measured and informed by years of working in government.

His connections in Hudson County run deep. He's served as business administrator in North Bergen and West New York, and currently works as Congressman Albi Sires' district director. Turner said networking is essential to his job as mayor, and over the years he's built strong relationships with neighboring municipalities. 

"If you want some advice for what's going on, you make a phone call to Richard Turner," said North Bergen Mayor and state Sen. Nick Sacco. "I know I can trust his judgment, and he knows he can trust mine."

Sires called Turner one of the "brightest" people in politics and a pro at municipal budget matters. He said Turner is a very "hands-on mayor" who has worked hard to make positive changes in the township. 

"The continuity is very obvious. The town has moved forward," he said. "People that want a term-limit mayor, I always find them to be wannabes."

The congressman, however, did have one criticism for Turner: his penchant for tardiness. 

"Which drives me crazy because I'm always punctual," he said. "I'm going to buy him a watch so he can be on time."

Pros and cons of long-term mayors

The only time Turner faced a full-slate opposition was in 2002. The election—like many Hudson County municipal elections —was ugly, with much of the tension surrounding plans for Port Imperial. The challengers, the Weehawken Initiative Now slate, criticized the scale of the development plan as excessive for the township's size. The team at the time also criticized Turner for exercising too much power over the township, according to a Jersey Journal article from the time. 

Turner's team swept the elections, winning by more than a 3-to-1 margin. 

Ben Goldman, who ran against Turner in 2002, didn't have much to say about Turner 13 years later. He said the mayor is well-liked in the township and particularly adept at providing services to residents.   

"He's extraordinarily effective. It's obviously easier to be effective when you have no opposition," he said. "He's a very effective politician. He knows how to get in power and stay in power."

Weehawken isn't alone in having the same person in charge for an extended period of time. The state's longest-serving mayor, Gerald Calabrese, ran Cliffside Park for 51 years. Surf City Mayor Leonard Connors has served nearly 50 years, and Elmwood Park Mayor Richard Mola comes close with 44 years in office.

Benjamin Dworkin, political science professor at Rider University and director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, said that Hudson County has a tradition of long-term mayors. Nick Sacco has clocked in 24 years as North Bergen's mayor, and Brian Stack has been mayor of Union City for nearly 15 years. Frank Hague, one of Jersey City's most powerful mayors, ran the city for 30 years. Frank Rodgers was mayor of Harrison for 48 years.

"It's part of the political culture," Dworkin said. "It's a very intense job to be mayor and not everybody wants to do it forever. In Hudson County, the mayors are strong mayors where they really run the show. So, once you're there, it may be hard to give up."

Mayors who can stay in office for an extended period of time are in touch with their constituents, Dworkin said. Someone who has a deep knowledge of a community can enact change but also maintain a sense of stability. Yet a long-term mayor may discourage newcomers from taking a shot at leading the municipality, he said. 

Turner said he still enjoys the position and will let residents decide when it's time for him to leave office. 

"As long as you're current, you're moving things forward, you stay involved, people will support you," Turner said. "When the day comes that they think that's not going to happen, they'll support someone else."

Weehawken Students Win $1,000 and Give to Special Olympics NJ

Weehawken Students Win $1,000 and Give to Special Olympics

NJ.com, 16-Apr-15

By Laura Herzog

Weehawken High School's basic technology teacher Laura Sciortino has been volunteering for the Special Olympics since she was a teenager, "all the way back in '89," she said.

So, to her, it was especially heartwarming to see her students receiving a $1,000 check on Wednesday from a Cablevision charity program - only to present it to a board member from the Special Olympics of New Jersey.

The students were all in the Weehawken High School Peer Leadership club that Sciortino has advised for 13 years.

The Special Olympics is "just something that I always felt close to. It was part of my church," she said. "There's this unity there."

The money comes through Cablevision's Optimum Community initiative Charity Champions, which "promotes volunteerism and encourages high schools to raise funds for a charity of their choice," according to a press release.

This is the second year that the students have won money from Cablevison's now six-year-old program, formerly called "Power to Learn," the release stated. Selected schools receive $500 "in seed money" to put towards future fundraising efforts, in addition to a $1,000 donation to their charity of choice.

Based on their annual fundraising efforts, which are submitted to Cablevision in April, a school will be chosen for a grand prize winner in each of the six tri-state regions to receive an additional $5,000 for their charity, according to Cablevision.

Besides independently raising $800 this year for the Special Olympics prior to receiving this check, Weehawken students in the peer leaders club are learning about learning about cooperation and teamwork, Sciortino said.

But most importantly, she said, the students pledge to stay off drugs and alcohol.

Making "a difference in the community makes them busy, so that they're not going to be involved with drugs and alcohol," Sciortino said.

Fond retirement farewell for Weehawken five

Fond retirement farewell for Weehawken five

Hudson Report, 5-Apr-15

By Jim Hague

When administrators in a town or a school retire, they finally get their much needed free time, but the move also causes sadness for the students and community and a challenge for the district or township to fill their shoes.

Recently, Weehawken lost five influential leaders of government and the schools at the same time. Five well respected and dedicated men have decided to retire almost simultaneously, taking more than a collective 150 years of experience with them.

Weehawken Township Manager James Marchetti has retired after spending a quarter-century working for the town, the last 23 as Mayor Richard Turner’s right-hand man and daily caretaker of township responsibilities.

Then, Dr. Peter Olivieri put in his retirement papers after spending an incredible 50 years in the school district, the last 41 as the Weehawken High School principal.

Also, Kevin McLellan retired after 27 years in the school district, the last 20 as the superintendent of schools.

Fred Lorenz, who already had a 30-year career in the Weehawken Police Department and retired as a captain, retired once again after spending the last 20 years as the chief attendance officer for the school district.

And Tom Rovito, the proprietor of the old Gennaro’s bar and nightclub in the Weehawken Shades area, retired after 33 years in the school district as a custodian and eventually the buildings and grounds superintendent and educational facilities manager.

Collectively, they’ve got a lot of stories to tell and history to share.

Men of honor

Mayor Turner praised the men for their service to the township and the school district.

“It’s very unusual to have so many retire together,” Turner said. “In today’s day and age, it’s unusual for them to have them stay at the same job and retire. They all had their hearts in the right place. They served the town and the schools well. It’s part of that small town feel, where everyone knows each other. There was always continuity. They were always there.”

Of course, Turner had a special feel for Marchetti, who has been replaced as township manager by former assistant manager Gio Amad.

“I’ve been the mayor for 24 years and Jimmy has been my right hand man for all that time,” Turner said. “We fit together like a hand in the glove. Whatever had to be done, Jimmy did it. I knew Jimmy’s style and Jimmy knew mine. We always complemented each other.”

Marchetti worked in the private sector at places like Chase & Sanborn coffee, Coca-Cola and Great Bear Water before getting a break from former Weehawken Mayor Stanley Iacono to do some special projects.

That led to Marchetti becoming assistant township manager under Turner, who had held that role before being elected to the Township Council and eventually being selected as mayor in 1990. When Turner became mayor, Marchetti became township manager.

Since 1989, Marchetti has not only served as township manager, but he also serves on the boards for the Housing Authority and Housing Resource Center.

“I was very honored to take the job back then,” Marchetti said. “It’s been a pleasure and an honor to serve the town. I was able to witness tremendous development on the waterfront. I’m proud of what we did with recreation and the facilities. We also had good senior citizen programs. I was just carrying out the policies of the mayor and township council. I always made it my practice to treat everyone fair, whether it was the residents, the employees or the elected officials.”

Marchetti thanked the workers of the township, who helped him along.

“I have to thank the employees, the little guys, who supported me every day,” Marchetti said. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do my job. I’m very proud of the position I held and the work I did. I tried my best over the years. I think I had a good relationship with everyone and I got great guidance from Mayor Turner. I’ll always be proud of Weehawken.”

Watching the kids grow up

Olivieri began as a science teacher at the old Woodrow Wilson School (now part of the Union City cluster of schools), then became the assistant principal at Wilson and in 1977, moved on to become the principal at Weehawken High.

“I’ve been here almost through four generations of kids,” Olivieri said via a phone interview from Florida. “When I wrote my letter, I said I was doing it with mixed emotions, because I felt like I’d always be here. But after 50 years, I’m getting a little older. I want to spend a little more time with my wife and kids. It’s hard to leave, but I’m leaving the school in good hands.”

Steve Spinosa, who was the long-time band director at the school, is now the principal.

“I was mentoring him and I felt good about him replacing me,” Olivieri said. “I know I’m going to remember all the kids. They’ve done so many great things. I think I helped improving their education and the overall mentality of the school. We were ranked No. 29 among New Jersey high schools last year. I loved seeing the kids succeed and go on to some great schools. I was able to do some good things as an educator and a social worker and you can’t do that selling widgets.”

Olivieri said that he may try his hand at a new career – acting.

“My son is an actor,” Olivieri said. “He said that they’re always looking for older guys to play bit parts. He said he was going to introduce me to some people, so if I get bored, I’ll try that.”

McLellan came to Weehawken from Union City after serving as a teacher there for seven years. He was hired as an assistant principal to Olivieri in 1988, then served as the Board of Education secretary from 1992 through 1995 and became the superintendent of schools when Joseph Wisniewski retired in 1995.

“I think it’s time,” McLellan said. “I needed a change. It was a personal thing that told me it was time. This was as far as I could take the district. I feel one of the biggest accomplishments was having a full day Pre-K [for 4-year-olds]. I think the technology component was critical. We were one of the first in the county to offer technology curriculum. I think our test scores reflected that we were very competitive with our districts our size. I think the quality of college acceptances and scholarships is tremendous.

Added McLellan, “We expanded our performing arts program and started with Inside Broadway, a private firm that helped teach our students. We made a constant commitment to drama and fine arts and were well rounded there. We also instituted grade clustering and that has been successful.”

Since 1995, all of the district’s Pre-K through third grade students attend one school (Webster) and fourth through sixth attend another (Roosevelt). The seventh and eighth graders go to a portion of Weehawken High School.

McLellan said that he will serve as a mentor to other school superintendents in the state as a certified state mentor.

“We can help other people in the business,” McLellan said.

Lorenz became involved in the field of education as basically a truant officer, but that role expanded over the years.

“I went around and checked addresses to see if the students were legitimate residents,” Lorenz said. “I found kids in Little Ferry, Elizabeth, even New York City. We had to weed out the ones who weren’t living here.”

Lorenz also spent 15 years on the Board of Education, serving both as president and vice-president.

Rovito, who is Lorenz’s brother-in-law, said that he will always remember the role the Weehawken schools played during the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy.

“We had to all pull together as a community,” Rovito said. “We had to provide shelter for the refugees, feed them and medicate and care for the injured. We put in generators to make sure we were ready for anything further and they came in handy for Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. You never realize what you’re doing until you do it.”

Turner said that it’s never easy replacing people who dedicated their lives to the betterment of the township.

“We’ve replaced them with less experienced people, so there’s a transition period of about four-to-five months,” Turner said. “We also have a tremendous turnover in our police and the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue. We lose a little bit of the knowledge that these people had in the town and school district. We lose a little momentum.”

Added Turner, “But we’re not crippled by it. It’s a learning experience. It’s a little bit of a burden to lose so many people at once, but we’ll survive. It’s hard to find the same sense and feel that these people had.”

Not to mention the sense of love and loyalty to the residents and students of Weehawken.

Weehawken resident opens video advertising studio

Weehawken resident opens video advertising studio

Hudson Reporter, 1-Mar-15

By Art Schwartz

When theater major Steve Day moved to New York City from Kansas, his goal was to become a Broadway director. As is so often the case, it didn’t quite work out that way. Instead he wound up founding a group of companies at the forefront of the exploding industry of online video advertising.

His companies – Motion Capture NYC and ideaMachine among them – have worked with Starbucks, DC Comics, Intel, Verizon, and many other leading corporations, creating award-winning animated ads for the Internet and other applications. His Whiteboard Animation Studio creates the familiar ads depicting a hand rapidly drawing an image and bringing it to life.

“We are part of a movement that as of five years ago didn’t exist, which is online video advertising,” said the 38-year-old Weehawken resident. “Five years ago you couldn’t stream a video very well, nor could you even stream it on your Blackberry. Now all these devices came out, so online video advertising is exploding. One out of two people on the internet right now is on YouTube. It’s on course to surpass Google. Everybody is on the internet and they’re all watching videos, and business is behind the curve in realizing that eyeballs are going in that direction. Viewership is growing 30 percent faster than advertising spending. That puts us in a great place.”

Recently his companies animated the Avengers characters for The Marvel Experience, a traveling theme park. They motion-captured Elmo for an Xbox game. They provided animation for ESPN’s Espy Awards.

None of this was what he planned.

The road to animation

With an undergraduate theater degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and an MFA from Baylor, Day and his wife moved east in the mid-2000s to help a Baylor acquaintance with some productions in New York.

“I came to New York for theater, but it was hard to make a living in the theater,” he said. “I was doing web design and graphics design to make a living.”

That lasted about three years. Then his father-in-law asked Day to help out by directing a series of interactive videos for a company called Vertical Learning Curve. That’s an online program that allows people to earn a master’s degree in business by participating in a series of courses they design themselves, much like a choose-your-own-adventure video game. The VLC project took Day about five years to complete.

Creating the videos involved extensive work with motion capture – the process of filming live action and turning it into animation. After the project ended, “I had a motion capture system, a really skilled crew, and we wanted to keep it going so we would just take jobs here and there,” he said. “One of the jobs we took was whiteboard animation.”

With all the pieces in place and the industry growing at an astonishing rate, he doubled-down on creating video ads, establishing sister companies for the various services they offered: whiteboard, motion capture, animation.

“The funny thing is that my experience creating a masters-in-business program prepared me very well to start a business,” he said.

At the same time, he had experience in directing for the theater. How did that translate to directing for video?

“The skill set of the director is still the same,” he said. “There are a lot of similarities between theater and animation: music and even dance or movement, character journeys, costumes, design, sound effects. To communicate the message and the story is the most important thing.”

That said, there were some key differences. One is that time moves much slower in creating animation. Also, “I was surprised to discover that these [video] artists had never experienced a [live] audience before,” said Day. “In the theater when we would tell a joke we would immediately know if the joke was funny or not. If we did something dramatic, people would laugh or cry. In the theater you have a direct relationship with the audience. With animation you have the most indirect relationship with the audience you can imagine.”

The golden place

Day bought a home in Weehawken about four years ago, around the same time he founded his studios. “It’s a great town,” he said. “I like to say it’s the closest thing to suburban living that’s 15 minutes from midtown.”

His intertwined companies operate out of Brooklyn, with 22 employees currently. Day said his ambition is “To dominate the online video advertising market. Historically it didn’t exist and I have no doubts it is exploding right now so we really want to take advantage.”

“Other aspirations would be directing for an animated film or TV show,” he added.

What about live theater?

“Theater doesn’t pay.”

Fair enough. Recently his companies have dabbled in live action and special effects work, in addition to animation. Is that a direction he sees them going in?

“We’re getting a bit more into that but these are highly competitive arenas,” said Day. “The other thing is that in animation, believe it or not, there are still things that nobody’s ever seen before, and that’s a huge competitive advantage. So that’s why my focus is there. I realize I’m in this golden place, this golden opportunity.”

Celebrity Weehawken Couple "Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy"

'Donnie Loves Jenny': Lovebirds Land in Weehawken for New Reality Series

NJ.com, 7-Jan-15

By  Vicki Hyman

Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy seem like a relatively well-adjusted, down-to-earth couple who are genuinely in love — lovely for them, but that doesn't make the most compelling reality show, at least for viewers who prefer trainwrecks a la "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic" or "Being Bobby Brown."

The couple met in 2013 as guests on Bravo's "Watch What Happens," got engaged in 2014 and married in August outside McCarthy's hometown of Chicago, and the wedding serves as the appetizer for their new reality series, "Donnie Loves Jenny," which premieres Wednesday night at 10 p.m. on A&E.

The couple now make Weehawken their home — Wahlberg shoots the police drama "Blue Bloods" in New York, and McCarthy co-hosted "The View" from the Big Apple until being unceremoniously dumped last year — and they share their large but not over-the-top townhouse with McCarthy's 12-year-old son Evan and her father Macky.

Wahlberg and McCarthy are producing the show along with 44 Blue Productions, which produces the other Wahlberg family reality show "Wahlburgers," also on A&E, about Donnie and Mark Wahlberg's brother Paul's burger joint. 

The hour-long premiere is, obviously, heavy on the wedding prep, with Wahlberg tasked with transporting McCarthy's wedding gown from New Jersey to Illinois (as if), and special appearances by the rest of New Kids on the Block but sadly no impromptu reprise of "Hangin' Tough." (Wahlberg's brother, the performer previously known as Marky Mark, could not attend due to his daughter's birthday).

The episode establishes the couple's chemistry nicely as well as McCarthy's clearly close, caring relationship with Evan, who has autism, but it never mawkishly lingers on his diagnosis. As you might expect from a wedding episode, it is a bit on the shmaltzy side, although I admit I nodded in agreement when Jenny's mother Linda likened finding her true love this way: "It was like walking in stilettos, then putting on a pair of slippers." McCarthy: "I feel I've found my slippers." Aw.  

Snippets from the rest of the season suggest much more wackiness (and a bit more lewdness) to come, with the couple teaching Evan about the birds and the bees, giving Macky a disastrous facial before a date, and accidentally setting the bedroom linens on fire during a moment of intimacy ... or as intimate as it can get with a cameraman, a producer and a couple of production assistants in the room. 

Throwback Thursday - Weehawken High School Hires a New Football Coach

Former University of Cincinnati defensive end Zach Naszimento starting fresh as new Weehawken High School football coach

The Jersey Journal, 12-Aug-11

By Patrick Villanova

Sitting behind his new desk in the basement of Weehawken High School, Zach Naszimento speaks fervently about the leaps and bounds the school's once downtrodden football team is making.

Naszimento, who is entering his first season as the school's football coach and athletic director, has a plan for transforming the Indians football program into a successful one.

But the first-year head coach won't be going it alone. Across from him sits his best friend, his mentor and his new assistant coach -- his father Bruce.

"My father was the first person I contacted to come with me, because I couldn't do it without him," said Zach, adding that Bruce will serve as the team's offensive coordinator.

"On top of him being my father, he's my best friend. For us to be together doing something like this, it's exciting, it's fun."

The father-son tandem's top priority is reshaping the culture of a program that has won a combined four games over the last three seasons.

"He's just relentless. He's changing the climate and the culture of the team," said Bruce.

Naszimento, 33, graduated from Secaucus High School in 1996 and earned a scholarship to play defensive end at the University of Cincinnati, he graduated in 2000.

For the last three years, Naszimento has been at the right hand of former Hoboken High School coach Ed Stinson at Queen of Peace in North Arlington, from 2008 to 2009, and last season at Hackensack High School, where Stinson now serves as an assistant coach.

While Stinson has been one of his chief mentors, Naszimento said his father has brought credibility and stability to a program in transition.

"There's nothing out there that he hasn't seen," Naszimento said of his father, who spent the last 12 seasons coaching with Charlie Voorhees at Secaucus High School. "I constantly use him for guidance."

Structure and discipline are no doubt the bedrock of Naszimento's approach, from his regimented practices that are filmed each day to grueling workouts in the school's newly updated weight room.

"He has a plan and we all follow it," said Bruce Naszimento. "He's ready. There's no doubt about that. He's ready.

Make no mistake, as close as the father and son are, emotions often run high between this fiery duo.

"I definitely fired him a couple of times, but it's usually over dinner," the son joked. "I've fired you twice, but rehired you at least three times."

Despite the effort and time Naszimento has put into the football team, he's looking forward to his duties as the school's athletic director, as he replaces longtime administrator Richard Terpak.

He'll apply the same standards he has set for the football team to the rest of the school's athletic programs, Naszimento said.

"Everything that Weehawken was in the past has nothing to do with what we're going to do today.

"People looking at Weehawken as an (automatic) win, those days are done, those days are over," Naszimento said.

Weehawken Mayor Uses 'mob' Tactics to Intimidate Cop, Attorney Says

Weehawken Mayor Uses 'mob' Tactics to Intimidate Cop, Attorney Says

NJ.com, 26-Nov-14

By Kathryn Brenzel

A Weehawken police officer says Mayor Richard Turner is trying to intimidate him as well as witnesses in order to silence his seven-year-old corruption claims against the township.

The attorney for Lt. Richard DeCosmis filed a motion on Nov. 14, claiming that the township is trying to fire DeCosmis from the township police department as "leverage to negotiate a favorable settlement," of his civil rights lawsuit or to drain him of his finances as court proceedings drag on, according to court documents.

The motion, filed in New Jerset federal court by attorney Louis Zayas, seeks to bar the township from firing DeCosmis and from disciplining witnesses who plan to testify in his trial, which will likely begin early next year. Zayas alleges that Turner and his "circle of political cronies" are trying to quash his client's corruption allegations by taking bogus disciplinary actions against DeCosmis and potential witnesses.

“This is outrageous. It’s not a matter of civil proceedings anymore. It’s criminal. It’s a mob,” Zayas said on Wednesday. “Mayor Turner and his political cronies are using government resources to go after those who report corruption.”

An attorney for the township, David Corrigan, called the motion "frivolous."

"These allegations are false. There's nothing to this," he said. "The only person who's trying to intimidate anyone is Mr. DeCosmis for filing this frivolous and false lawsuit."

He added that Zayas is well known for slinging mud at Hudson County officials. (He's represented several clients in litigation against Hudson County towns. He represents Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia in his latest lawsuit against Hoboken.)

"He says outlandish, reckless things to get his name in the newspaper," Corrigan said.

Turner would not comment on the case.

The motion is the latest development in litigation that has spanned seven years. DeCosmis filed his lawsuit in 2007, alleging that he faced retaliation after filing his first corruption lawsuit against the township.

In his 22 years on the force prior to 2007, DeCosmis hadn't faced any major discipline, Zayas said. But since he became involved in litigation against the township, he's faced three major disciplinary charges, the most recent of which claims he took excessive sick leave in 2012, according to the motion.

The motion seeks to bar Weehawken from taking any further action against DeCosmis and any township employee identified as a witness in his lawsuit. It also asks that independent investigators and hearing officers be appointed to review the disciplinary charges, alleging that they are "entirely retaliatory and without any scintilla of legitimacy."