Alpine, New Jersey

Updated on Oct 29, 2023

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Country United States County Bergen Named for The Alps Zip code 07620 Local time Sunday 6:23 PM		State New Jersey Incorporated April 8, 1903 Elevation 158 m Population 1,895 (2013)

Area rank 216th of 566 in state4th of 70 in county Weather 2°C, Wind W at 21 km/h, 42% Humidity

Alpine is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located 15 miles (24 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. Alpine is the easternmost community in the state of New Jersey.

Map of Alpine, NJ, USA

As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 1,849, reflecting a decline of 334 (−15.3%) from the 2,183 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 467 (+27.2%) from the 1,716 counted in the 1990 Census.

In 2012, Forbes ranked Alpine as America's most expensive ZIP code with a median home price of $4.25 million, after being ranked 4th in the magazine's 2010 listing of "America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes", with a median home price of $3,814,885. In 2009, Forbes ranked Alpine first, along with Greenwich, Connecticut, with a median home price of $4.14 million. Alpine was tied with Greenwich for first in both 2006 and 2007 on the ABC News list of most expensive ZIP codes, with a median home sale price of $3.4 million.

New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Alpine as its 15th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.

Alpine was formed by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1903, from portions of Harrington Township. The borough acquired a portion of Cresskill in 1904. The borough's name came from the wife of journalist Charles Nordhoff, who found the setting reminiscent of the Swiss Alps.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 9.232 square miles (23.910 km²), including 6.411 square miles (16.604 km²) of land and 2.821 square miles (7.307 km²) of water (30.56%).

The borough borders Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Norwood, Rockleigh and Tenafly in Bergen County. Across the Hudson River, the borough borders The Bronx in New York City, and in Westchester County the city of Yonkers and the village of Hastings-on-Hudson (within the town of Greenburgh). North of the New York State border, the borough borders the hamlet of Tappan (in the town of Orangetown) in Rockland County.

2010 Census

The 2010 United States Census counted 1,849 people, 611 households, and 529.1 families residing in the borough. The population density was 288.4 per square mile (111.4/km²). The borough contained 670 housing units at an average density of 104.5 per square mile (40.3/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 68.14% (1,260) White, 2.38% (44) Black or African American, 0.05% (1) Native American, 26.07% (482) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.30% (24) from other races, and 2.06% (38) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.81% (89) of the population.

Out of a total of 611 households, 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.4% were non-families. 11.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the borough, 22.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 16.0% from 25 to 44, 36.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48.2 years. For every 100 females the census counted 101.9 males, but for 100 females at least 18 years old, it was 100.4 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $172,054 (with a margin of error of +/- $23,256) and the median family income was $192,188 (+/- $56,076). Males had a median income of $124,375 (+/- $28,708) versus $56,719 (+/- $21,358) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $107,604 (+/- $18,758). About 2.3% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Same-sex couples headed four households in 2010, down from the eight counted in the 2000 Census.

2000 Census

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 2,183 people, 708 households, and 623 families residing in the borough. The population density was 343.5 people per square mile (132.5/km²). There were 730 housing units at an average density of 114.9 per square mile (44.3/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 77.37% White, 1.51% African American, 0.23% Native American, 19.10% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.52% of the population.

There were 708 households out of which 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.8% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.0% were non-families. 9.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the borough the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 20.9% from 25 to 44, 34.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough is $130,740, and the median income for a family is $134,068. Males have a median income of $87,544 versus $45,536 for females. The per capita income for the borough is $76,995. 6.2% of the population and 5.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 8.5% are under the age of 18 and 6.4% are 65 or older.

Government

Alpine is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The governing body consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The Borough form of government used by Alpine, the most common system used in the state, is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

As of 2016, the mayor of Alpine is Democrat Paul H. Tomasko, whose term of office ends December 31, 2018. Members of the Alpine Borough Council are Council President Vicki Frankel (D, 2018), Michael Cacouris (D, 2018), Arthur I. Frankel (D, 2017), Gayle Gerstein (D, 2016), John Halbreich (D, 2016) and Laurence A. Shadek (D, 2017).

Joan Ornstein was appointed by the Borough Council in February 2012 to fill the vacant seat of her husband Steve, who had died the previous month after being sworn in for a three-year term of office.

Federal, state and county representation

Alpine is located in the 5th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 37th state legislative district. Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Alpine had been in the 39th state legislative district.

New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District is represented by Josh Gottheimer (D, Wyckoff). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Cory Booker (D, Newark, term ends 2021) and Bob Menendez (D, Paramus, 2019).

For the 2016–2017 session (Senate, General Assembly), the 37th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Loretta Weinberg (D, Teaneck) and in the General Assembly by Valerie Huttle (D, Englewood) and Gordon M. Johnson (D, Englewood). The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham Township). The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).

Bergen County is governed by a directly elected County Executive, with legislative functions performed by a seven-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. As of 2015, the County Executive is James J. Tedesco III (D, Paramus; term ends December 31, 2018). The seven freeholders are elected at-large in partisan elections on a staggered basis, with two or three seats coming up for election each year, with a Chairman, Vice Chairman and Chairman Pro Tempore selected from among its members at a reorganization meeting held each January. Bergen County's Freeholders are Freeholder Chairwoman Joan Voss (D, 2017; Fort Lee), Vice Chairman Steve Tanelli (D, 2015; North Arlington) Chairman Pro Tempore John A. Felice (R, 2016; River Edge), David L. Ganz (D, 2017; Fair Lawn), Maura R. DeNicola (R, 2016; Franklin Lakes) Thomas J. Sullivan Jr., (D, Montvale, 2015; serving the unexpired term of office that had been occupied by James Tedesco before he was sworn in as County Executive) and Tracy Silna Zur (D, 2015; Franklin Lakes). Countywide constitutional officials are County Clerk John S. Hogan (D, Northvale), Sheriff Michael Saudino (R) and Surrogate Michael R. Dressler (D, Cresskill).

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 1,352 registered voters in Alpine, of which 341 (25.2% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 372 (27.5% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 638 (47.2% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party. Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 73.1% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 94.5% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).

In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 458 votes (49.7% vs. 54.2% countywide), ahead of Republican Donald Trump with 419 votes (45.5% vs. 41.1% countywide) and other candidates with 23 votes (2.5% vs. 3.0% countywide), among the 921 ballots cast by the borough's 1,480 registered voters for a turnout of 62.2% (vs. 73% in Bergen County). In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 522 votes (59.0% vs. 43.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 342 votes (38.6% vs. 54.8%) and other candidates with 9 votes (1.0% vs. 0.9%), among the 885 ballots cast by the borough's 1,416 registered voters, for a turnout of 62.5% (vs. 70.4% in Bergen County). In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 532 votes (54.0% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 434 votes (44.1% vs. 53.9%) and other candidates with 8 votes (0.8% vs. 0.8%), among the 985 ballots cast by the borough's 1,378 registered voters, for a turnout of 71.5% (vs. 76.8% in Bergen County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 588 votes (56.1% vs. 47.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat John Kerry with 451 votes (43.0% vs. 51.7%) and other candidates with 8 votes (0.8% vs. 0.7%), among the 1,048 ballots cast by the borough's 1,394 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.2% (vs. 76.9% in the whole county).

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 76.1% of the vote (348 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 23.2% (106 votes), and other candidates with 0.7% (3 votes), among the 465 ballots cast by the borough's 1,347 registered voters (8 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 34.5%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 328 votes (54.8% vs. 45.8% countywide), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 227 votes (37.9% vs. 48.0%), Independent Chris Daggett with 34 votes (5.7% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with 3 votes (0.5% vs. 0.5%), among the 599 ballots cast by the borough's 1,347 registered voters, yielding a 44.5% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).

Education

The Alpine Public School District is a community school district serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Alpine School. As of the 2014-15 school year, the district and its one school had an enrollment of 231 students and 22.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.2:1.

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students attend Tenafly High School in Tenafly as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Tenafly Public Schools under which the Alpine district paid tuition of $14,392 per student for the 2011-12 school year. As of the 2014-15 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,158 students and 102.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.3:1.

Public school students from the borough, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district.

Roads and Highways

As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 30.40 miles (48.92 km) of roadways, of which 16.12 miles (25.94 km) were maintained by the municipality, 2.40 miles (3.86 km) by Bergen County and 5.86 miles (9.43 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 6.02 miles (9.69 km) by the Palisades Interstate Parkway Commission.

U.S. Route 9W, the Palisades Interstate Parkway and County Route 502 all pass through Alpine.

Public transportation

Rockland Coaches provides service along Route 9W to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 9T / 9AT routes and to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal on the 9 and 9A routes.

Media

Alpine is home to the tower and laboratory built by Edwin Howard Armstrong after RCA evicted him from the Empire State Building. Armstrong's experimental FM station, W2XMN, used various frequencies to broadcast from the tower, first on 42.8 MHz; later on 44.1 MHz; and finally on 93.1 MHz in the modern FM band. The laboratory building and the tower still stand; the 400-foot (122-m) tower is home to many two-way radio users, one modern FM station (Fairleigh Dickinson University's WFDU), and backup transmitters for several of New York's television stations. The tower served as a primary tower for the stations after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center. There was some local opposition to this scheme, but the move was temporary, as the stations affected moved their primary broadcast facilities to the Empire State Building. The original lab building is home to a static display of historic communications equipment and offices; the USA Network cable channel operated from this building in the late 1970s.

Points of interest

Rio Vista is an upscale neighborhood in the southern section of Alpine. Rio Vista is home to Devil's Tower, a stone clock tower that is claimed to be haunted; it was originally designed by Charles Rollinson Lamb for sugar baron Manuel Rionda (1854–1943) in order to allow his wife to see New York from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. The legend has it that when his wife saw him with another woman, she committed suicide by jumping off the tower. After becoming upset over his wife's death, Rionda stopped all work on the tower. In reality Harriet Rionda died of natural causes in 1922 and was interred nearby for approximately 20 years; her coffin was moved to Brookside Cemetery, Englewood. The estate was later sub-divided into 197 housing sites consisting of miles of roadway, infrastructure, and related facilities in the mid-1980s.

The New Jersey Section of the Palisades Interstate Park runs the length of Alpine along the top of the New Jersey Palisades and along the Hudson River. The Alpine Boat Basin serves as both a public picnic area and small marina for private boats. The area is a scenic riverfront picnic area and boat basin, plus beach for car-top boat launches (canoe and kayak), with fishing, access to hiking trails and Henry Hudson Drive, restrooms, water, vending machines, and public phones. Alpine Pavilion, an open-air stone picnic pavilion built in 1934 by the Civil Works Administration and available for rental is located here, as well as the historic Blackledge-Kearney House, said to be the site where Lord Cornwallis and his troops landed on November 20, 1776, in their pursuit of the Continental Army following the rout of George Washington's forces in the Battle of New York.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Alpine include:

Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi and chairwoman of the Marconi Foundation.

J. Cleaveland Cady (1837–1919), architect.

Sean Combs (born 1969), rap artist.

Kellyanne Conway (born 1967), strategist, and pollster who was campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2016.

Johnny Damon (born 1973), outfielder who played for the New York Yankees from 2006 to 2009.

Damon Dash (born 1971), hip-hop entrepreneur.

Eddie Einhorn (born 1936), part owner of the Chicago White Sox.

Patrick Ewing (born 1962), former center for the New York Knicks.

Fabolous (born 1977), rap artist.

Henry Clay Frick II (1919–2007), physician and head of the Frick Collection.

Andre Harrell (born 1960), founder of Uptown Records.

Matt Herr (born 1976) ice hockey forward who played for part of four NHL seasons.

O'Kelly Isley Jr. (1937–1986), founding member of The Isley Brothers.

Sachin H. Jain (born 1980), physician and Obama Administration official.

Jay-Z (born 1969), rap artist.

Ilya Kovalchuk (born 1983), former right wing for the NHL New Jersey Devils.

Lil' Kim (born 1975), rap artist, who rapped about her new hometown in her song Aunt Dot ("Come on Shanice, I'm takin' you to my house in Alpine...").

Harold Lamb (1892–1962), historian, screenwriter, short story writer and novelist.

Eric Maskin (born 1950), co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Pierre McGuire (born 1961), ice hockey analyst who was head coach of the Hartford Whalers.

Peter Moraites (1922–2014), Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly who resigned from office in 1971 after facing charges that he accepted fees from a loan applicant.

Tracy Morgan (born 1968), comedian and actor.

Eddie Murphy (born 1961), comedian, actor who has appeared in the Beverly Hills Cop series and as the voice of Donkey in the Shrek series.

Charles Nordhoff (1830–1901), journalist.

Joe Piscopo (born 1951), actor, best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.

John Ringling (1866–1936), best-known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Brothers Circus to create the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, he built the Gray Crag estate in Alpine in the 1920s.

Manuel Rionda (1854–1943) was a Spanish-born, US-based sugar baron in Cuba.

Chris Rock (born 1965), comedian and actor, has described Alpine as "Beverly Hills with freaking snow."

Larry Robbins, (born 1971), founder of Glenview Capital Management.

Paul Rosenberg (born 1971), co-founder of the hip hop record label Shady Records and music manager known for his association with hip hop artists Eminem, Three 6 Mafia, The Knux and Blink-182.

CC Sabathia (born 1980), pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Norman Sas (1925–2012), inventor of electric football and former member of the Alpine borough council.

Gary Sheffield (born 1968), former baseball player.

Russell Simmons (born 1957), hip-hop entrepreneur.

Wesley Snipes (born 1962), actor.

Britney Spears (born 1981), singer.

Joseph A. Unanue (1925–2013), president of Goya Foods from 1976-2004.

Stevie Wonder (born 1950), musician.

Robert Zoellner (1932–2014), investor and stamp collector who was the second person to have assembled a complete collection of United States postage stamps.