Home Care In Lincoln Park, NJ

Some restaurants, including Italian American red sauce joints, are so embedded in this country’s dining culture that the food comforts nearly all who eat it. That nostalgia runs through the menu at DeNuccis, a new Italian restaurant and pizzeria from the team behind Gemini and Old Pueblo Cantina.

The team from Ballyhoo Hospitality took over the former Four Farthings Tavern & Grill which is right across the street from their first restaurant, Gemini, which opened in 2009. The team has accrued a legion of loyal customers over the last 14 years which is why they pursued this second venture at 503 W. Dickens Avenue.

The restaurant at Lincoln and Dickens opened over the weekend and was open for takeout in July serving the same pizza as Pizza by Sal’s, Ballyhoo’s take-out operation in suburban Wilmette. There’s even a pickup window on Dickens where customers can pick up their orders without venturing inside.

The Lincoln Park crowd shares much of the same demographics as the suburbs. So DeNuccis is family friendly with an all-day lineup that plays the hits. There are 16-inch white and red pizzas with a tinge of New York style — topping options include New Haven clams and spicy pepperoni, respectively — and Sicilian gluten-free pies created by pizzaiolo Salvadore “Sal” Lo Cascio (Forno Rosso). A notable portion of the menu is devoted to pasta such as lobster mezzaluna and Ragù alla Joe, red sauce pasta studded with beef short rib, meatballs, and Italian sausage. The pasta won’t be made on-site, as Ballyhoo founder Ryan O’Donnell told Eater in April that his team is sourcing the best dried pasta available.

The gravy train keeps rolling with a handful of entrees such as veal scallopini (piccata, marsala, or parm) and branzino livornese, supplemented by a rotating daily entree special. Mondays, for example, portend eggplant parmesan, while Fridays will feature lobster fra diavolo.

O’Donnell had long eyed Four Farthings, founded in 1963 with a name lifted from Lord of the Rings, from his vantage point across the street at 13-year-old neighborhood standby Gemini. The tavern changed hands several times throughout its tenure before closing permanently during the early stages of the pandemic. His patience paid off when he snagged the lease on the corner space that workers have since gutted aside from the bar’s old millwork. They also moved the entrance from Cleveland to Dickens and created a 96-seat outdoor patio.

Ballyhoo hopes that DeNuccis will be able to replicate what Gemini has achieved — a loyal contingent of customers in the area who stop in once, or even several times, per week. O’Donnell has even referred to the restaurant as an “Italian Gemini.”

This is Ballyhoo’s ninth restaurant.

DeNuccis, 503 W. Dickens Avenue, open 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and Sunday; 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

LINCOLN PARK — A plan to demolish the Wexford Inn, Town and Country Cat Hospital and a home on Main Street at Station Road to make room for a three-story mixed-use building is under review by the Planning Board.

Meridia Capodagli Property began presentations for the three-story retail and apartment building proposed for the new Lincoln Park Station Redevelopment Plan Area.

The board is also reviewing a recently revealed plan for a new downtown streetscape.

The proposed three-story building would have retail space for a bar/restaurant and perhaps a coffee shop on the first floor along with nine apartment units on the ground level. The second and third stories would consist of 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments per floor. Retail tenants have not been announced. Hearings will continue Dec. 20.

Meridia Capodagli Property is known as a first-in developer in New Jersey downtowns, attracting others to invest and redevelop. The company has redevelopment projects in Pompton Lakes, Dover, Linden and elsewhere.

The Meridia Transit Village project is the first of two mixed-use buildings planned for the borough. A sister project with 175 luxury apartment units, referred to as "Upper Main," will be reviewed at a later date.

Originally envisioned as a five-story building with 92 units, Meridia Transit Village was reworked and downsized.

"That five-story building was probably too big at its current location," said Paul Ricci, the board's planner.

The residential entrance is planned for Station Road just feet away from the train station where tenants would park. Parking and traffic studies are expected to be reviewed at a future hearing.

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Under the current plan, 20 of the apartment units would be designated Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) units. The rest would be rented at market rates.

The restaurant retail space is 3,790 square feet and the smaller space is 854 square feet. The initial restaurant layout places the entrance on the corner, opening to a dining room and barstools for a seating capacity of 180.

Overhead doors that can open during summer months would also be installed. They would give the restaurant an indoor/outdoor feeling, said Avelino Martinez, the architect. Twenty-five outdoor seats are planned for the sidewalk, but that number may be reduced, Martinez said.

Ricci acknowledged that the outdoor seating would protrude into the right-of-way but said he wants "to encourage that type of environment in the downtown. People like to eat outside."

The predominant exterior building materials are brick with portions of Hardiplank, or fiber and cement siding.

The architecture is a classical three-part building with a base, middle and top. The roof is a combination of gabled and mansard.

The intent with the mansard roof was to "tuck the top story of the building into the roof so it doesn't appear as one large mass," Martinez said.

Different-sized dormers introduce architectural variety and visual interest, he said.

He said the intent was to break up the building through a combination of horizontal and vertical demarcations and bump-outs and changes in materials. Modulating the facade will keep it from appearing as one large building, he said.

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Planning Board Engineer Thomas Boorady and others raised several questions about the project, including garbage disposal and recycling, ventilation and roof HVAC systems. The building would use private trash collection.

Boorady requested revised plans to include several of the items discussed by the board before the next meeting.

He pointed out that one of the two-bedroom COAH units is undersized and said that's something the Planning Board should consider.

"Just for perspective, you have a one-bedroom market unit that's 671 square feet," he said. "This is a two-bedroom COAH unit that's 668. There's a difference there in size that you should be aware of."

This "deviation" or "exception" from the 750 feet the redevelopment plan calls for occurs in eight of the units, Martinez said.

Each unit would have a washer and dryer. There is no tenant storage area or communal storage area.

Sewer and water will be addressed at a future hearing.

Downtown streetscape

During the planning meeting Meridia Capodagli Property proposed a preliminary streetscape plan for the downtown.

Civil Engineer David Beesley presented a colorized plan with street trees, shrubs and other plantings.

He described tan concrete sidewalks with a 4-foot brick band. Light fixtures with acorn-style lamp posts, seating, bike rakes and trash receptacles are included.

Exactly how much of Meridia Capodagli Property's streetscape design will be implemented is unclear. Ricci said some of the street lighting proposed is at odds with what the borough is planning. Ricci said the Planning Board needs to work with the local governing body on its streetscape ordinance.

The key is codifying exact specifications so there is consistency throughout the downtown as other projects move forward, Ricci said.

Follow Jai Agnish on Twitter: @JaiAgnish.

Email: [email protected].

LINCOLN PARK — What impact will a new three-story mixed-use building have on the downtown area's parking?

Traffic and parking for downtown and the intersections near the train station and the Comly Road Bridge were the main focus of talks at Thursday's Planning Board hearing on Meridia Capodagli Property's Meridia Transit Village project.

The proposal calls for the Wexford Inn, Town and Country Cat Hospital and a home on Main Street at Station Road to be demolished and replaced by the new building that will house a bar/restaurant and possibly a coffee shop on the ground level. Forty-five apartment units will take up the rest of the first, second and third floors.

Retail tenants have not been announced and the developer is trying to secure a liquor license. Hearings will continue Feb. 21 and are expected to span several months.

The developer is in talks with NJ Transit to allow tenants to use the nearby train station lot for parking. The project hinges on such an agreement, and without it, the project won't move forward, officials said.

The plan is to use 130 of the 226 NJ Transit parking lot spaces available on each side of the tracks, Meridia's traffic expert, Craig Peregoy, said.

"Why this works so well is we have a shared parking phenomenon here," he said.

According to his report, parking for residents peaks overnight. For the restaurant it's in the evening and at lunchtime. For a coffee shop the peak parking time is in the morning.

"Whereas the train station peaks in the middle of the day so it really balances out nicely and is a good utilization of that parking," Peregoy, said.

The restaurant retail space is 3,790 square feet and the smaller space is 854 square feet. The initial restaurant layout calls for a dining room and barstools for a seating capacity of 180.

The proposal calls for one parking space for every three seats in both the restaurant and the coffee shop. The ratio for the 45 apartment units is 1.2 spaces per unit.

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"If you do the math that's 54 spaces for the residential, 62 spaces for the restaurant and the coffee shop," Peregoy said. "So still below the 130."

Peregoy said there were 139 vacant spaces in the lot during the busiest time, according to his study.

"Even if all 130 were used the math still works out," he said. "You're still OK with extra spaces."

Several board members said they were concerned with how a shift in parking patterns in the NJ Transit lot may impact area roads and intersections. If residents of the new apartment complex begin to park on the south side of the NJ Transit lot, commuters would be pushed to the north side of the tracks, Peregoy agreed.

Board members said they fear traffic would back up on Park Avenue and on Comly Road at the traffic light, which would make it difficult for drivers to turn left from the Beaver Brook Gardens apartments onto Comly Road.

Peregoy said he doesn't foresee a significant amount of cars accessing the north lot.

"At 5 p.m. there were 75 vacant spaces on the south side," he said. "We're talking about 54 for the residential so you may not even displace any. Are some people going to park on the other side because it's going to be a little bit tougher to find a space? Yes. But is it going to be enough that it will create any substantial impact on that side? No, I don't think so."

Officials say the project needs a crossing over the tracks near Station Road for people who park in the northern lot. A legitimate crossing there will keep people from hopping over guardrails and bypassing fences, they said.

"That's not good," said John Desch, the borough's traffic engineer. "We really have to have that as one of the components of this project. There must be another approved crossing."

Peregoy agreed another crossing makes sense and that Meridia will request one.

The Meridia Transit Village project is the first of two mixed-use buildings planned for the borough. A sister project with 175 luxury apartment units, referred to as "Upper Main," will be reviewed at a later date.

Originally envisioned as a five-story building with 92 units, Meridia Transit Village was reworked and downsized.

The residential entrance is planned for Station Road just feet away from the train station where tenants would park.

Under the current plan, 20 of the apartment units would be designated Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) units. The rest would be rented at market rates.

LINCOLN PARK — School officials shut down in-person learning at Lincoln Park Middle School due to COVID-19.

All seventh-grade students switched to remote learning on Monday, with the rest of the school going remote on Wednesday.

The seventh-grade families were notified after several students tested positive. On Tuesday, School District Superintendent Michael Meyer sent an email to all parents confirming the cases among seventh graders as well as students in other grades.

"In consultation with the health department, we have decided to switch the entire middle school to remote learning for ten days," wrote Meyer in an email to parents.

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Due to the number of cases, all middle school students will start remote learning on Nov. 24 and return to in-person learning on Dec. 6. All classes will be live-streamed according to the assigned bell schedule. Students will still follow an early dismissal schedule on Wednesday and will attend their normal classes virtually.

Students who have been identified as being in close contact with someone who tested positive will receive a call. Any student who is experiencing symptoms should quarantine and get tested.

"While this is an inconvenience, we hope that it will prevent any potential spread of the virus that may take place," Meyer wrote in his email.

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The school will continue to hold parent-teacher conferences as scheduled this week. Middle school parents who have tested positive for COVID-19, experiencing any symptoms or were in close contact with someone who tested positive are asked to request a virtual conference with teachers.

Lincoln Park Elementary School will continue with in-person learning. As of Monday, 1,341 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Township since the start of the pandemic last year. In Morris County, 808,159 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to residents, according to New Jersey.

Jessie Gomez is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com and NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: [email protected]

Gro-Rite Greenhouse & Garden Center in Lincoln Park is closing its doors to the public after being in operation since 1973.

In a message to customers on its Facebook page, the garden center said it will focus on its wholesale agriculture.

“Gro-Rite Garden Center will be closing our doors to our Retail Garden Center. We will be focusing on the Wholesale Agriculture Division and will no longer be open to the public after 01/15/2022,” the post said.

Gro-Rite, which sprawls over more than 100 acres at two locations, operates a wholesale business that supplies supermarkets, among other retail businesses.

Owner Ken VandeVrede said in an interview in 2018 that he had started a company called Hillview Med to grow cannabis to meet increasing demand. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

In October, Hillview Med was one of 14 applicants granted licenses to operate cannabis businesses by the state of New Jersey.

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Gro-Rite was a staple supplier of plants and vegetables. "We carry the area's best selection of plant material from colorful annuals, hanging baskets, herbs and vegetable plants to perennials and planters, trees, shrubs and evergreens,” the company said in a social media post.

Dave and Gerda VandeVrede opened the garden center in 1973 and eventually expanded their greenhouse growing space, creating opportunities for wholesale.

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In 2018, Ken VandeVrede said, "The background of our family has been in the agriculture space for over 50 years.” He called Hillview Med "an evolution of where agriculture and pharmaceutical are coming together.”

Before the garden officially closes its doors to the public, it will host a customer appreciation day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, with special sales, coffee and refreshments, and free crafts for the kids.

Longtime customers responded to Gro-Rite's Facebook post with sadness. "Thank you for all of the wonderful flowers, shrubs and garden accessories over the years,” wrote one.

Shaylah Brown is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.