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Bayonne Information
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the
United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 61,842.
According to tradition, the city derives its name from the city of Bayonne in
France. It is said that French Huguenots settled there some time before New
Amsterdam was founded. However, there are no historical records to prove this;
it is perhaps more likely that, when the land was purchased for real estate
speculation, it was named Bayonne because it is on the shores of two bays,
Newark and New York, hence Bay-on, or "on the Bays." Bayonne is a diverse city,
with large Italian American (20.1%), Irish American (18.8%), and Polish American
(17.9%) communities. Bayonne is connected to Staten Island, New York by the
Bayonne Bridge.
The Bayonne Board of Education serves students from pre-kindergarten through
twelfth grade. Schools in the district are the ten K-8 elementary schools (
Henry E. Harris No. 1, Phillip G. Vroom No. 2, Dr. Walter F. Robinson No. 3,
Mary J. Donohoe No. 4, Lincoln No. 5, Horace Mann No. 6, Midtown Community
School No. 8, George Washington School No. 9, Woodrow Wilson No. 10 and John M.
Bailey No. 12), P.S. #14 (an advanced school for more intelligent students, who
must take a test in 3rd grade to enter. It holds grades 4th-8th.) and Bayonne
High School. Bayonne High School is the only public school in the state to have
an on-campus ice rink for its hockey team.
For the 2004-05 school year, Mary J. Donohoe No. 4 School was named a "Star
School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New
Jersey school can achieve. It is the fourth school in Bayonne to receive this
honor. The other three are Bayonne High School in 1995-96, Midtown Community
School in 1996-97 and P.S. #14 in the 1998-99 school year.
The Board of Education has implemented a dress code that will take effect in the
2006-07 school year for students in Pre-K through eighth grade. Under this code
students will wear a school logo shirt and a variety of pants, skirts, shorts,
and other prescribed items. The plan is intended to "increase student
identification with their schools and the district, Eliminate many of the
distractions associated with differences in social or economic status, Allow the
children, their teachers and the Board of Education to concentrate on shared
pursuit of educational excellence [and] Instill a sense of belonging and school
pride". A heated battle is currently being fought between enraged parents and
the Board, with parents upset at the manner in which the policy was imposed, the
cost of the uniforms, the loss of freedom of expression to students in choosing
the clothing they wear and issues regarding the manner in which the contract was
awarded.
Currently, the city of Bayonne is working on building projects on the former
Military Ocean Terminal (MOTBY). Plans for the site include new housing and
businesses.
Bayonne Golf Club, a private Irish/Scottish-links style golf course is planned
to be constructed on the site of the former city dump. A flagpole, displaying a
large American flag that is visible from Manhattan and surrounding communities,
has been erected at the site where the clubhouse will be built in 2007.
The long-planned Power Center Mall on Route 440 in Bayonne has finally gotten
the green light to begin construction, according to a statement made by Michael
O'Connor, executive director of the Bayonne Economic Development Corp. The
project will be built on land formerly belonging to AGC Chemicals America.
Cameron Group, the conditional developer for the site, will soon begin
construction on two large anchor stores of 140,000 and 90,000 square feet, three
mid-size anchors of between 30,000 and 50,000 square feet, and several smaller
shops and restaurants, O'Connor said. Completion is expected in fall 2007.
Proposed projects include construction of the September 11th memorial park for
the Tear of Grief monument, and completing Bayonne's section of the 18-mile
Hackensack RiverWalk, stretching from Newark Bay in Bayonne to Bellman's Creek
in North Bergen.
The RiverWalk section in Bayonne, if fully completed, would run from the
southwest corner of the town in an area where the Kill Van Kull meets the Newark
Bay, to the northwestern point of the area. That is according to Joseph Ryan,
spokesperson for Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria.
The ribbon was cut and the plaque unveiled on May 2, 2006, for the new Richard
A. Rutkowski Park in Bayonne, a wetlands preserve on the northwestern end
of Bayonne, which will be part of the future River Walk. Also known as the
Waterfront Park and Environmental Walkway, it is located immediately north of
the Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Park.
Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine joined a contingent of state and federal
officials to announce on May 6, 2006. that funding was in place to extend the
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system to Eighth Street in Bayonne. With the
engineering work nearly complete, work on the rail line and the station is
expected to start by 2008 and should be complete by 2009.