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TWO-WAY TRAFFIC AHEAD: The blocks of Main Street between Sussex and Atlantic streets in Hackensack, above and below, were repaved and restriped, and opened to 2-way traffic on Monday night. Two-way traffic on State Street has made getting around the city much easier, and the same is anticipated on Main Street, the focus of downtown redevelopment.
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PULL-IN, PULL-OUT PARKING: Parking spaces have been created with enough spacing to allow drivers to pull in and pull out, instead of stopping and backing into spaces, which would cause congestion and interrupt the flow of traffic.
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By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Residents can be forgiven if they think unprecedented apartment construction, noise and street closings are the only activities downtown.
City officials opened 2 more blocks of Main Street to 2-way traffic on Monday night, and prepared to complete the conversion all the way to Passaic Street next year.
Meanwhile, at General Poor's Tavern, new business partners have refinished the bar and made other improvements inside and outside the historic watering hole, which closed in 2018 and reopened this April.
On Wednesday night, General Poor's is hosting Poor'N On The Laughs, a free comedy show with 7 comedians and a host, starting at 8:30. There will be no cover charge.
Laugh or cry
Residents will have the opportunity to cry in their beers or laugh hysterically over the many changes in downtown Hackensack, including the 30-year tax abatements given to Hekemian, Hanson and so many other big developers.
Among them are the wealthy Borg family, which moved The Record out of Hackensack, and sold the paper to Gannett Co. in 2016, leading to the loss of more than 350 jobs and turning a once-great local daily newspaper into a rag.
Former Publisher Stephen A. Borg, who laughed all the way to the bank, and his development partners leveled the newspaper's old headquarters at 150 River St., and now are planning to build more than 600 luxury apartments there.
The Record's departure in 2009, taking with it several hundred employees who patronized Main Street restaurants and other businesses, was one of the factors that sent downtown into a tailspin.
Atlantic Street to railroad
The next section of Main Street that will be opened to 2-way traffic will run from Atlantic Street to the railroad tracks just past Mercer Street, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino said this morning.
Officials expect to open Main Street to 2-way traffic all the way to Passaic Street by the early months of 2020.
Read: Ethnic restaurants
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FREE COMEDY SHOW: There is no cover charge for the comedy show on Wednesday night at General Poor's Tavern, 45-47 Main Street, near Sussex Street. See the poster, below.
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ON FACEBOOK: General Poor's Tavern has a Facebook page and a website, GeneralPoorsNJ.com. The owners of Choripan Rodizio at 10 Sussex St. are now partners in General Poor's.
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| RESTORATION: The bar at General Poor's Tavern, which was the go-to place for going-away parties for employees of The Record until the newspaper was moved out of Hackensack in 2009. |
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| WHO WAS ENOCH POOR? Historical details added to the interior of General Poor's Tavern include a portrait of Enoch Poor, a merchant turned brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, above, and a brief biography, below. |
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| DIED AFTER A DUEL: Gen. Poor died on Sept. 8, 1780, two days after a duel with a French officer near Hackensack. |
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| DON'T BLOCK THE BOX: Above and below, vehicles parked on Main Street on Monday blocked the box meant to separate them so drivers can pull into and pull out of spaces, and avoid stopping the flow of traffic by backing into spaces. |
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