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Borough of Alpine, New Jersey
Map highlighting Alpine's location within Bergen County. Inset: Bergen County's location within New Jersey
Coordinates: 40°57′16″N 73°55′50″W / 40.95444, -73.93056
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
County	Bergen
Incorporated	April 8, 1903
Government
- Type	Borough (New Jersey)
- Mayor	Paul H. Tomasko
Area
- Total	9.2 sq mi (23.8 km²)
- Land	6.4 sq mi (16.5 km²)
- Water	2.8 sq mi (7.3 km²)  30.75%
Elevation [2]	509 ft (155 m)
Population (2006)[1]
- Total	2,429
- Density	343.5/sq mi (132.5/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	07620
Area code(s)	201
FIPS code	34-01090GR2
GNIS feature ID	0874320GR3

Alpine is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 2,183. According to Forbes, Alpine was ranked the first on its list of "Most Expensive ZIP Codes 2007", with a 20046 median home sale price of three million.^[3]

For the period between July 2006 and June 2007, Alpine ranked #1 in a tie with Fisher Island, Florida on the ABC News list of most expensive zip codes, with a median home sale price of $3.4 million.^[4][5]

Alpine was formed by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1903 from portions of Harrington Township. The borough gained a portion of Cresskill in 1904.^[6][7]

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Government 3.1 Federal, state and county representation 3.2 Politics 4 Education 5 Transportation 6 Media 7 Points of interest 8 Noted residents 9 Sources 10 References 11 External links

Alpine is located at 40°57′16″N, 73°55′50″W (40.954346, -73.930472)^GR1 less than 9 miles from Manhattan.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 9.2 square miles (23.8 km²), of which, 6.4 square miles (16.5 km²) of it is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²) of it (30.75%) is water.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1930	521		—
1940	626		20.2%
1950	644		2.9%
1960	921		43.0%
1970	1,344		45.9%
1980	1,549		15.3%
1990	1,716		10.8%
2000	2,183		27.2%
Est. 2006	2,429	[1]	11.3%
Population 1930 - 1990[8]

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, 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/sq mi (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 was $130,740, and the median income for a family was $134,068. Males had a median income of $87,544 versus $45,536 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $76,995. About 5.4% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

The current mayor of Alpine is Paul H. Tomasko (D, term ends December 31, 2010. Members of the Alpine Borough Council are Michael Cacouris (D, 2009), Vicki Frankel (D, 2009), Paul Garjian (D, 2008), Gayle Gerstein (D, 2007), Sidney Merians (D, 2007) and Ronny Siegel (D, 2008).^[9]

In elections held on November 6, 2007, incumbent Democrats Gayle Gerstein and Sidney Merians ran unopposed and were re-elected to the council to a second and third term respectively.^[10][11]

On Election Day, November 7, 2006, Democrats swept all three open seats unopposed, with Paul H. Tomasko (443 votes) reelected as Mayor, and Michael Cacouris (412) and Vicki Frankel (399) winning additional terms on the Borough Council.^[12][13]

Alpine is in the Fifth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 39th Legislative District.^[14]

New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District, covering the northern portions of Bergen County, Passaic County and Sussex County and all of Warren County, is represented by Scott Garrett (R, Wantage Township). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).

The 39th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Gerald Cardinale (R, Cresskill) and in the Assembly by John E. Rooney (R, Emerson) and Charlotte Vandervalk (R, Westwood). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).

Bergen County's County Executive is Dennis McNerney (D). The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Bergen County's Freeholders are Chairman Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge), Vice-Chairman Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington), David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn), James M. Carroll (D, Demarest), Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford), Julie O'Brien (D) and Connie Wagner (D).

Other countywide elected officials are Sheriff Leo McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Mike Dressler (D, Cresskill) County Clerk Kathleen Donovan (R, Rutherford).

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 2,340, there were 1,359 registered voters (58.1% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 184 (13.5% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 380 (28.0% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 794 (58.4% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There was one voter registered to another party.^[15]

On the national level, Alpine leans toward the Republican Party. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 56% of the vote here, defeating Democrat John Kerry, who received around 43%.^[16]

The Alpine Public School, is a K-8 community school district serving a total of 142 students at the Alpine School. Public school students attend Tenafly High School in Tenafly for grades 9 - 12, as part of a sending/receiving relationship.

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

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, broadcast from various locations on 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 September 11th when the World Trade Center was destroyed. 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.

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. The tower was originally built by 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.^[17] 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. The area also has Alpine Pavilion, an open-air stone picnic pavilion built in 1934 by the Civil Works Administration (available for rental), as well as the historic Blackledge-Kearney House.

• Damon Dash, hip-hop entrepreneur.^[18]
• Chingy, rap artist.^{[citation needed]}
• Eddie Einhorn (1936-), part owner of the Chicago White Sox.^[19]
• Patrick Ewing, former center for the New York Knicks.^[18]
• Fabolous, rap artist.^[18]
• Andre Harrell, founder of Uptown Records.^[18]
• Matt Herr (1976-) ice hockey forward who played for part of four NHL seasons.^[20]
• O'Kelly Isley, Jr. (1937-1986), founding member of the Isley Brothers.^[21]
• Jay-Z, rap artist.^[22]
• Lil' Kim, 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")^[23]
• Mitchell Modell, CEO of Modell's Sporting Goods.^{[citation needed]}
• P. Diddy, rap artist.^[23]
• Joe Piscopo, actor, best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.^[24]
• Chris Rock, comedian, movie star.^[18]
• Dr. Joseph Dello Russo, LASIK pioneer
• Gary Sheffield, baseball player.^[18]
• Russell Simmons, hip-hop entrepreneur.^[22]
• Wesley Snipes, actor.^[18]
• Joseph A. Unanue, President of Goya Foods from 1976-2004
• Brian "Baby" Williams of the Cash Money Millionaires
• Stevie Wonder, musician.^[25]
• Barry Weiss, President of Jive Records.^{[citation needed]}

• "History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923;" by "Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858-1942."
• "Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties)" prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958.

• Alpine Elementary School
• Alpine Elementary School's 2005-06 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• National Center for Education Statistics data for the Alpine Elementary School
• Tenafly High School

• Alpine, New Jersey is at coordinates 40°57′16″N 73°55′50″W / 40.954346, -73.930472Coordinates: 40°57′16″N 73°55′50″W / 40.954346, -73.930472
• [1]

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Bergen County, New Jersey
County seat: Hackensack
Boroughs	Allendale | Alpine | Bergenfield | Bogota | Carlstadt | Cliffside Park | Closter | Cresskill | Demarest | Dumont | East Rutherford | Edgewater | Elmwood Park | Emerson | Englewood Cliffs | Fair Lawn | Fairview | Fort Lee | Franklin Lakes | Glen Rock | Harrington Park | Hasbrouck Heights | Haworth | Hillsdale | Ho-Ho-Kus | Leonia | Little Ferry | Lodi | Maywood | Midland Park | Montvale | Moonachie | New Milford | North Arlington | Northvale | Norwood | Oakland | Old Tappan | Oradell | Palisades Park | Paramus | Park Ridge | Ramsey | Ridgefield | River Edge | Rockleigh | Rutherford | Saddle River | Tenafly | Teterboro | Upper Saddle River | Waldwick | Wallington | Westwood | Wood-Ridge | Woodcliff Lake
Cities	Englewood | Garfield | Hackensack
Townships	Lyndhurst | Mahwah | River Vale | Rochelle Park | Saddle Brook | South Hackensack | Teaneck | Washington Township | Wyckoff
Villages	Ridgefield Park | Ridgewood