Home Care In Wayne, NJ

2-minute read

Philip DeVencentis

NorthJersey.com

WAYNE — A fast-food franchisee that was already mired in bankruptcy court left its deteriorating restaurant open for months until health officials stepped in to shut it down.

The Burger King and Popeyes drive-thru restaurant at 1046 Hamburg Turnpike ceased operations in November after numerous violations were found related to food safety and, as stated in a health inspection report, “overall deteriorating conditions” of the building itself.

Mary Ann Orapello, the township health officer, said Thursday that the business remains closed.

“Should they decide to reopen,” she said, “we’ll definitely be reinspecting them.”

Health officials visited the business for a routine inspection in May 2023, and its evaluation was “conditionally satisfactory.”

LEISURE PURSUITS:Largest indoor pickleball center in NJ coming to Willowbrook Plaza in Wayne

However, public documents suggest the restaurant was neglected in the ensuing months.

At the November 2023 inspection, health officials found an “accumulation of dust, food splatter and spilled oil.” There was also a “heavy presence of flies,” plus broken light fixtures, faulty sinks, holes in the wall, missing ceiling tiles and roof leaks.

The inspector noted that, on the Burger King side of the restaurant, the leaks trickled directly into cooking oil in a deep fryer and onto a table where meals were prepared.

“Roof water was observed splashing onto and contaminating foods,” the inspector wrote during a nearly three-hour visit.

A different inspector simultaneously examined the adjacent Popeyes, where further violations were discovered.

Inspection notes describe a container of “old grease” dripping on the floor of a room where food and utensils were stored. The ooze was an inch deep, the report said.

An “egg mixture” was kept at 54 degrees Fahrenheit, the inspector found, noting a violation of the state code that requires “potentially hazardous food” to be stored in a refrigerator at retail establishments.

The inspectors found 28 violations of the state code — 11 for Burger King and 17 for Popeyes — during the November visit.

No one reported a foodborne illness to the Health Department before the restaurant was forced to close, Orapello said.

Less than two weeks later, the restaurant manager scheduled a reinspection. A report detailing that visit indicated the situation only worsened as mouse droppings were found with “strong sewage-like odors” throughout the premises.

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The franchisee, JFM Hamburg, a Paterson-based limited liability company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023.

It owed more than $480,000 in combined debts and obligations to 22 creditors, according to its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark.

John DiIorio, an attorney representing the company in the bankruptcy case, did not respond to an inquiry about the health officials’ findings.

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Court records show that, in August, a judge approved JFM Hamburg to sell its assets and business interests to PN Restaurants, a Rutherford-based limited liability company, for $1.2 million.

But that deal fell through last week, court records show, when the buyer’s investors “backed out of the transaction.”

Philip DeVencentis 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.

3-minute read

Philip DeVencentis

NorthJersey.com

WAYNE — Voters in less than two months will decide the fate of a $169.8 million bond proposal to improve facilities at all 15 schools in the K-12 district.

School officials said the “no-frills” projects included in the cost are needed to protect an investment in public buildings that are several decades old.

The 61 projects, they said, will enhance security, save energy and take care of an anticipated rise in enrollment — a situation that the Board of Education has closely monitored for years.

“This isn’t a Cadillac that you’re buying,” said Donald Pavlak Jr., the school board president. “This is a referendum that’s addressing dire needs of our buildings.”

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The district would receive $39 million in state aid to spend toward the cost of the projects if the bond proposal is approved.

Coming soon:Aldi, a fast-growing German grocer, to open a location in Wayne

The referendum on March 12 will ask whether the average property owner, with a home assessed at $229,473, is willing to pay an estimated $370 annually in school debt taxes for 25 years, the lifetime of the bond.

District administrators walked the public through a slideshow covering many of the projects at a school board meeting Thursday night.

Expand early childhood at Preakness School

Expansion of the early childhood center at Preakness School is the largest project in the bond proposal. It is important, school officials said, because the Hamburg Turnpike building is in the 5th Ward, where multiple housing developments are due to pop up in the coming years.

The new wing would have 24 classrooms, six of which would be dedicated to pre-K. The project would essentially convert the century-old building to the district’s 10th elementary school.

Donna Reichman, the assistant schools superintendent, said enrollment at Preakness School has nearly tripled since the district reopened it in September 2020. “It’s a premier and state-of-the-art preschool,” she said. “The vision that we set is the vision we met.”

But it is crucial to continue that growth, Reichman said, because the public is clamoring for more space.

Under the bond proposal, six buildings — George Washington Middle School, A.P. Terhune School, James Fallon School, Lafayette School, Packanack School and Theunis Dey School — would get two-stage vestibules. The entrances would ensure that visitors are properly screened.

All other buildings in the district have secure entrances.

Anthony Wayne Middle School on Garside Avenue would benefit through a project to fix cracks that were detected in its foundation.

Renovate locker rooms at Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley

Additional work would target renovations to boys and girls locker rooms at Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley high schools. The bond proposal also calls for replacing bleachers at both football fields, a safety issue that has concerned some parents.

Other high school projects include installation of a new elevator at Wayne Valley and modernization of the cafeteria and replacement of an elevator at Wayne Hills.

Some items in the bond proposal, such as plumbing upgrades and roof repairs, are relatively minor in scope, but school officials said they are still as consequential because they would “keep costs in check.”

Ending debt payments for Anthony Wayne construction

School officials have stressed for months that the timing of the bond proposal is advantageous because taxpayers are just now paying off the final installment of debt service for the construction of Anthony Wayne, which voters approved by referendum in January 2003.

That investment, they said, can be supplanted by a new one.

“I think we’d agree that roof work, replacement of windows and doors — it all has to be done at some point anyway,” said Mark Toback, the schools superintendent. “If the referendum passes, it comes with a $39 million discount.”

Philip DeVencentis 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.

Email: [email protected]

Key dates

Feb. 15: Community forum on bond proposal at 7 p.m. at Wayne Hills, at 272 Berdan Ave.

Feb. 20: Deadline to register to vote.

March 5: Deadline to apply for vote-by-mail ballot, which must be postmarked by day of referendum.

March 12: In-person voting from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

2-minute read

Philip DeVencentis

NorthJersey.com

WAYNE — A Long Island-based owner of gyms and racket clubs will open the largest indoor facility dedicated to pickleball in New Jersey at a local shopping center next year, the company said.

The 50,000-square-foot arena will offer 20 courts, including a stadium-style court, on the third floor of Willowbrook Plaza, at 77 Willowbrook Blvd. It will be big enough to host national tournaments, and it will have a concession stand and space for corporate events.

Sportime Clubs, headquartered 51 miles east of Manhattan, announced the new club in a statement released Tuesday. It is expected to open in the spring of 2025.

Claude Okin, the chief executive officer of Sportime Clubs, said the facility will serve “ever-growing masses of pickleball lovers” and many others who will join “those legions” in the coming years. “We’re proud to be a racket sports leader in our region since 1994,” he said.

The Wayne facility is part of an expansion of operations for Sportime Clubs, which also announced this week that it will open 13 pickleball courts at Merrick Avenue Athletic Center, a multisport complex in Westbury, New York.

The company hopes to have at least a dozen pickleball centers open by the end of 2027.

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Pickleball, invented by three men from Bainbridge Island, Washington, almost 60 years ago, is played on a 20-foot-by-44-foot court — the same dimensions as a badminton court — with a perforated plastic ball and wooden paddles.

The popularity of the sport is soaring.

According to U.S.A. Pickleball, a nonprofit and the national governing body of the sport, the number of known places to play in the country is 11,864 — including an increase of 1,140 locations last year. There are an estimated 8.9 million players vying for court time.

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New Jersey is ranked 19th out of all states, the organization said, with 211 places to play and 951 total courts.

Philip DeVencentis 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.

Philip DeVencentis

WAYNE — A new grocery store specializing in halal meats and Mediterranean food will open soon near the Little Falls border.

Anatolia Market will sell fresh fruits and vegetables and more than 6,000 other products in a standalone building at 29 Route 23 south. A countdown timer on its website is ticking away each second to opening day, which may come as early as next week, according to recent posts on its Instagram account.

Halal, by definition, is meat permitted to be eaten under Islamic law.

Shopping center:Last tenant and opening date announced for The Yard, a new retail strip in Wayne

Pork is an example of a non-halal meat. But the term also refers to the way in which an animal is slaughtered.

The market will carry more than 100 international brands, such as Halwani Brothers Co., Sadaf Foods and Zwanenberg Food Group, a Dutch company that exports canned luncheon meats.

The market, steps away from a former Hooters bar and restaurant, is set back more than 300 feet from the highway.

The 2.2-acre property was purchased for $1.5 million by a West Milford-based limited liability company in March 2021.

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In February of the following year, the new owner opened a health food store called Green Life Market. While the township location shut down, it still has locations in Andover Township and Butler. It is also affiliated with Healthy Thymes Market on Route 94 west in Vernon Township.

The 13,500-square-foot building dates to September 1982, when it was built for Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre.

The premises has seen considerable turnover in the decades since. No fewer than four restaurants have opened there to serve Chinese or Japanese food.

Philip DeVencentis 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.

Email: [email protected]

Wind gusts may get above 40 miles per hour, and rainfall could be heavy at times as a coastal storm sweeps through the region.

Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Patch Staff

WAYNE, NJ — A windy, wet Wednesday is in store for Wayne Township and around Passaic County as a coastal storm system moves through the area, forecasters said. Wind gusts may get above 40 miles per hour, and rainfall could be heavy at times, per the National Weather Service.

Periods of rain are expected to continue through Wednesday night, with showers also likely Thursday afternoon and evening. In total, forecasters say that Wayne is predicted to get between one and three inches of rain from this storm system.

The National Weather Service listed a wind advisory and a flood watch going into effect for Wayne later Wednesday: The wind advisory lasts from 11 a.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday. The flood watch is in effect from 4 p.m. Wednesday until 1 a.m. Thursday.

Minor flooding is possible along rivers and streams across northeastern New Jersey, said forecasters. Minimal property damage is expected, but some roads may get inundated, the NWS added.

Wednesday’s rain could charge to wet snow in the Poconos and northwestern New Jersey as temperatures drop into the 30s. In fact, the entire Northeast is likely to see persistent chill (with temperatures 5 to 15 degrees below average) and frosty mornings mid- to late-week, AccuWeather said.

Find out what's happening in Waynewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Several days of cold winds will accompany and follow the storm that is likely to be a slow-mover," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "It may seem like winter finally showed up."

Here is the latest forecast for Wayne Township, from the National Weather Service:

Wednesday: Showers. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 43. Breezy, with an east wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Wednesday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 39. Breezy, with an east wind 18 to 23 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Thursday: Showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Thursday Night: Showers likely, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.