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On June 25th, the Mahwah Pride Coalition will host the 5th Mahwah Pride Celebration from 5:30-9:00PM indoors at Ramapo College, Bill Bradley Center. This annual event welcomes everyone to come together to support the LGBTQ+ community who live, work and attend school here. Enjoy fabulous entertainment, inspiring speeches, an array of information booths, a family area, and, new this year, a vendor village. DJ Justin will bring the event alive at 5:30PM when all the booths open up to greet visitors.

Live entertainment will begin at 6:00PM. Featuring drag queen emcee JENNY HENNY as “Taylor Swift,” there will be live music headlined by pop sensation, and Montvale native, BRIANNA MUSCO. It will be quite a show with performances by the talented No Strings A Capella group, Mahwah’s own Broadway star Michael Demby Cain, singer Cate Fruscione, guitarist Adam Makofske and others.

Speakers include Lauren Albrecht, Garden State Equality’s Director of Advocacy and Organizing, Eddi Raymond, Director of the New Jersey GSA Coalition for the Campaign for Gender Inclusivity, Pastor Mary from the Mahwah Ramapo Reformed Church, and Mahwah Mayor James Wysocki.

Many thanks to main event sponsors Valley Health System, New Bridge Medical, Rockland Electric, Seven Souls Tattoo, Cereus Financial Services, the Bergen County Department of Children and Family, Inserra Supermarkets, and Wyckoff Bach to Rock. Special thanks to the many other donors and volunteers who help to make this event a reality.

In addition to the sponsors, information booths will be hosted by the Bergen County LGBTQ+ Alliance (BCLA), Bergen County Stigma Free, the Family Support Organization of Bergen County, Garden State Equality, the League of Women Voters, the Mahwah High School GSA, Mahwah Citizens for Gun Violence Awareness, the Names Project AIDS Quilt, NJ Buddies, Planned Parenthood, Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, and the Ramapo Reformed Church. Vendor booths will include many LGBTQ+ makers with a variety of unique items, along with many adorable and functional items and services attendees will love.

A wide variety of food will be available for purchase by the Whistle Stop Cafe. Bring a great Pride attitude, some friends, and some cash!

Look for more event information at www.MahwahPride.org

If you want to help us, volunteers can email MahwahPride@gmail.com.

Please join the fun. Everyone is Welcome!

Are you relatively new to Mahwah? A tradition from years ago will return soon.

MAHWAH, NJ — Are you new to Mahwah? A tradition from years ago will return this Tuesday.

The Recreation Department will host a "new resident meet and greet" with appetizers at the Mahwah pool. (There will be no swimming, just meeting and greeting.)

The department said, "Welcome to our NEW (ish) residents!For the first time in MANY years we will be hosting a New Resident Meet & Greet. If you are a new resident (moved in within the last 18 months) we welcome you to join us and learn more about our amazing town."

The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the new Mahwah Municipal Pool.

The event is for adults only, and registration is required via Community Pass: https://register.capturepoint.com/Mahwah

They said, "We will have light appetizers from our local restaurants, meet the mayor and Township Council, our department directors, police, fire, EMS, local businesses, and more."

For more information, click here or reach out to the recreation director at mduffy@mahwahtwp.org

2-minute read

MAHWAH — In back-to-back meetings, township agencies approved the Fourth-Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan with a stunning reduction from 629 affordable housing units, down to three required to be built over the next 10 years.

Municipal Planner Darlene Green first presented the 108-page proposal to the township's Planning Board on June 23 for adoption as an amendment to its master plan. She then repeated the presentation with the Township Council, which was also required to endorse the plan because it contemplates expenditures that are under council control.

The township is among municipalities statewide that are required to submit fourth-round affordable housing plans by June 30 or lose their immunity from so-called "builder's remedy" lawsuits. Under those suits, a municipality's master plan is set aside and it loses all control over development within its borders, market rate as well as affordable, "something we do not want to happen," Green advised both groups.

Under revisions to the state's affordable housing program, all municipalities were given new affordable housing quotas last year. Paramus topped Bergen County with 1,000 new units. Mahwah, the largest municipality in Bergen County, at 26.2 square miles, was second with 629 units.

Green said the preliminary calculation had "numerous flaws in the land capacity factor," including front and side yards of already-developed properties, and properties that were half in New York State.

Reviewing each proposed site, Green said, the municipality countered with 444 units. After mediation, the number was set at 495 units, a 21% reduction in requirements Green called "enormous," as most municipalities have won reductions of 5% or less.

Under new fourth-round regulations, the township had to submit a "buildout analysis" as a fully conforming preservation and planning participant with the Highlands Preservation area.

"Based on our analysis, our fourth-round obligation was reduced from 495 to three," Green said. "The remaining 492 units we have to address, but do not have to satisfy" with additional construction.

The plan relies on a complex system of credits from previously proposed development, including:

Township Council President Robert Ferguson called the three-unit proposal a "slam dunk."

"We've done affordable housing the right way in this town, and this plan shows we're doing it the right way," Ferguson said. “Unlike many towns that have ignored mandates or sued the state to delay their obligations, Mahwah has met the challenge head-on — providing affordable housing opportunities while preserving the small-town character that makes our community unique.”

Ferguson credited "the collaborative work by the Township Council, Councilman David May, chair of the Affordable Housing Subcommittee, Mayor James Wysocki, our administration, and Mahwah’s team of outside professionals with playing key roles in achieving this result.”

The approved plan will now move forward for submission to the relevant state agencies and the courts for final review and certification.

The 108-page Fourth-Round 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan can be viewed through the Planning, Zoning and Property Maintenance page of the township's website, mahwahtwp.org, under "Master Plans." Links to videos of the June 23 presentations before the Planning Board and Township Council can be found on the website under Live Meetings Video.

The former Mahwah High School baseball standout and first-round draft pick was promoted to the Chicago White Sox from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on June 5.

The No. 2 prospect in the White Sox organization, the lefty catcher had been a consistent presence in the Knights' lineup, batting .295 with eight home runs, 30 RBIs, 10 doubles, 34 runs scored and seven stolen bases in 50 games.

The 23-year-old has reached base in 38 of 39 games, boasting a .326 average with six home runs, eight doubles, 21 RBIs and 29 runs scored since April 10.

A first-round pick (14th overall) of the Boston Red Sox in the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Virginia, Teel was the centerpiece of a five-player trade last December that sent lefty pitcher Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.

Teel made his professional debut on Aug. 3, 2023 in the Florida Complex League (FCL) with the FCL Red Sox. He was promoted to the High-A Greenville Drive a few days later on Aug. 9.

He began the 2024 season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, ranked as the Red Sox' No. 3 minor-league prospect by Baseball America. Last August, Teel was promoted to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.

The Bergen County native was the first player from North Jersey to be selected in the first round since Rob Kaminsky of St. Joseph (Montvale) was chosen 28th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013.

In three seasons playing for Virginia, Teel turned in one of the great seasons in program history. As a left-handed hitting catcher, he hit 13 home runs and batted .407, the sixth-highest batting average ever for a Virginia hitter at the time. He racked up a school-record 25 doubles and drove in 69 runs all while starting each of the Cavaliers 65 games behind the plate.

As a four-year starter at Mahwah High School, Teel was named Gatorade New Jersey High School Player of the Year in 2020. In his final season at Mahwah, his junior year, he batted .574 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs. He was rated as New Jersey’s top prospect in the class of 2020 by multiple organizations.

A dual-sport athlete, Teel was also a three-year starter at quarterback for the Thunderbirds' football team. He signed with Virginia in late fall 2019 after verbally committing to the Cavaliers as a freshman.

Teel likely would have been drafted high out of high school, but opted out of the 2020 Draft that April after the high school and NCAA seasons were canceled due to the COVID pandemic. At the time, Teel was a senior at Mahwah and projected to be picked in the top three rounds.

The White Sox open a three-game weekend homestand against Kansas City on June 6.

2-minute read

MAHWAH — After the kaboom, what's next for the Sheraton Crossroads site?

The 250-foot-tall, 25-story building was demolished by implosion on May 10 in a matter of seconds. Following a series of loud booms, the hotel collapsed inward to a cheering and clapping audience, leaving only a cloud of dust where the building had once stood.

The hotel had stood at the crossroads of routes 17, 287 and 202 for 37 years and had been closed for good since December 2023.

Story continues below photo gallery.

Township Business Administrator Ben Kezmarsky said on May 12 that Danco General Contracting, which handled the demolition, will handle the refuse cleanup of the site, which is expected to take four to six months.

"I don't know about the glass and steel, but the plan for the concrete, at least, is to crush and utilize it as fill on the site," Kezmarsky said.

Danco owner Danny Matarese said the walkway and parking garage were not part of the implosion and will be dismantled separately.

"You don't implode a parking deck that's only two stories tall, you just tear it down mechanically," Matarese said. "The glass and concrete will stay on site as aggregate that will be reused for the redevelopment of the site. So the steel will be removed and recycled."

Mayor James Wysocki posted thanks to Danco "for their professionalism and for including us in the demolition event" in a statement on the township's Facebook page, facebook.com/mahwahtownship.

"They were gracious in addressing our concerns and placed safety as their top priority," Wysocki said. "The Mahwah Sheraton Crossroads lived up to the true meaning of Mahwah, it was a welcoming sight and a meeting place for all. The demolition is step one in developing a future that we can all be proud of."

But what that future is remains in question.

The 172-acre site has been through a number of proposals, from a mixed-use residential/commercial site to some 800 units of multi-family housing. In December 2023 developers proposed replacing the Crossroads building with two warehouses.

In August 2024, the Township Council approved amendments to the warehouse proposal that increased the warehouse buildings' potential maximum square footage from 1.7 million to 4 million square feet on 140 acres. By way of comparison, the One World Trade Center building is 3.5 million square feet.

But so far, Crossroads Hotel Developers LLC has not made any public announcement about developing the site.