Covid-19: A showroom without Toyotas, need a mask to go home, outdoor dining

A CAR-LESS SHOWROOM: After I dropped off our 2010 Toyota Prius for service this morning, I walked through an empty showroom at Hackensack Toyota on River Street normally filled with the latest models. This dealer also has suspended a free shuttle service during the pandemic.

A short walk in Hackensack

shows changes from pandemic

THE CURRENT ON RIVER: A luxury apartment building across the street from the Toyota dealer is being marketed as The Current. Rents range from $1,950 for a studio to $3,500 for a 2-bedroom apartment.

MASKED TENANTS: This sign near the front door of The Current apparently means you need to wear a mask when you return home. The apartments were built on the former site of the Oritani Field Club and its tennis courts, and retain the club's 18 E. Camden St. address.

TWO-WAY WORK: Main Street in front of the Johnson Public Library was blocked for major infrastructure work as the city prepares to convert more of the street to 2-way traffic.

PHO ON MAIN: Pho Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant that occupies the space long occupied by Wondee's, is open for takeout and delivery.

WE STAND TOGETHER: The Main Street Business Alliance -- the force behind redevelopment of downtown Hackensack -- has posted signs rejecting racism. This one is in the window of Pho Saigon.

DELIVERY AND TAKEOUT: I glanced inside Pho Saigon before the restaurant opened for business, and saw the table where delivery and takeout orders are placed for pickup.

SHUTTERED BUSINESSES: The Riviera Lounge, above, where one customer praised the "beautiful ladies," and AMA Family Martial Arts Center, below, are just two of the shuttered business along Main Street.

PANDEMIC TO BLAME: Both businesses likely succumbed to restrictions put into place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NEW BUSINESS: Halal Boyz is one of the new businesses on Main Street. The fare includes falafel and fried fish, available for takeout or delivery.

EATING OUT, LITERALLY: Outdoor dining is available at Noches de Colombia on Main Street.

REDEVELOPMENT: Work has resumed on two of the apartment buildings along Main Street, above and below.

NAIL GUN OR REAL GUN? The construction worker at the top of the boom was using a nail gun, which can be mistaken for the sound of a real gun.

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS: Sears, a Main Street landmark for many decades, is "likely closing," NorthJersey.com reported on July 1. The store opened in 1932. (See more in the comments section below.)

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Hackensack builder to demolish damaged structure, resume work on apartments

The developer of  a 14-story apartment tower at Main and Mercer streets in downtown Hackensack has agreed to demolish a 2-story building at 142-48 Main St. that was damaged by construction work last summer, above.

Unresolved issues include compensation for the owner of the Rainbow Castle Preschool building after it is torn down, and when construction on the apartments will resume, above. 

 -- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Work on a 14-story apartment and retail building in downtown Hackensack is expected to resume after the developer tears down a preschool that was damaged 10 months ago.

City building officials stopped the construction last July after a pile-driving rig damaged and forced the evacuation of a 2-story, L-shaped building next to the site.

Now, Alkova Cos., the Edison-based developer, has agreed to tear down the damaged structure, which was condemned.

Other projects

Although the project was the biggest and most visible in the city's ambitious downtown redevelopment plan when it ground to a halt last July, work on several other residential and retail projects continued.

In the campaign leading up to Tuesday's municipal election, two slates of challengers have wrongly blamed Mayor John Labrosse and his running mates for the stalled construction at 150-70 Main St.

The Record of Woodland Park ignored the suspension of work on the 382-unit building until last month, when an uninformed high-rise resident brought it up at private forum on Prospect Avenue.

"The work site is just a bare foundation," Staff Writer Rodrigo Torrejon reported, even though the foundation hasn't been built.

A view from Moore Street of the preschool building that will be demolished.

Work continues on converting the old United Jersey Bank at 210 Main St. into apartments. The onetime office tower, built in 1926, will have 127 units crowned by an 11th floor with three duplex penthouse apartments.

An adjacent building on Moore Street also is being renovated.

On East Camden Street, this is all that's left of the Oritani Field Club, which was founded in 1887. The club closed in 2015, below. A 254-unit, 5-story apartment complex will be built on the site, which is across River Street from Hackensack Toyota.

Hekemian & Co., a Hackensack-based real estate development and management company, bought the club's 2.3 acres.