The Personal Injury Attorney in Tenafly, NJ, You Can Trust

The curtain has fallen at the Tenafly Cinema 4, where a demolition crew arrived this week to take down the 100-year-old movie house.

The theater, which closed during the pandemic, is being torn down to make way for a four-story, 18-unit apartment building with retail space on the ground floor.

Tenafly Mayor Mark Zinna said he hates to see the old movie house go, but the business is no longer viable in an age of home theaters and livestreams.

“For better or worse, we all have subscriptions for Netflix and Amazon Prime,” Zinna said.

A crew from Lombardo Excavating is tearing down the building from the rear forward. The mayor said the developer is donating the neon Tenafly Cinema 4 sign and two concrete plaques that decorate the facade to the borough.

Built in 1926, the theater drew people downtown for nearly 100 years. Restaurants and cafes appreciated the extra foot traffic, and now will feel the pinch.

Years before the theater closed, the Tenafly Historic Preservation Commission sought to designate the building a local landmark. But the owner at the time, Ben Ross, objected, and the Tenafly Borough Council ultimately voted against the landmark designation.

Thorin Tritter, the chairman of the Tenafly Historic Preservation Commission, said there was no way to stop the demolition. “There is no protection,” he said.

A local developer, Yoav Rettig of Bergen Pro Builders, bought the building after securing a $5 million loan, according to a published report. Rettig could not be reached for comment.

Although expected, we’ve seen this movie before in other towns. The neighborhood movie theater is an endangered species in New Jersey with online streaming services drawing attention from the big screen to tablets and phones.

Some, like the Tenafly Cinema 4, never reopened after the pandemic shutdown in 2020. Others, like the Warner Quad in Ridgewood, reopened but are now closed.

Other theaters have shut down in Ramsey, Maplewood, Caldwell, and Millburn. Last month, the South Orange Performing Arts Center closed its movie theater after its operator Cinema Lab, ended the lease. SOPAC says it is now looking for a new operator.

Although the Tenafly Cinema 4 will soon be gone with the wind, the mayor said the borough hopes to continue showing movies downtown in Huyler Park, across the street from the theater.

Thousands of people gathered at Huyler Park on May 12 to watch the release of Edan Alexander on a jumbo screen set up in the parking lot. Alexander, a 21-year-old Tenafly resident, joined the Israeli Defense Forces after graduating high school and had been held captive by Hamas for 583 days.

After the crowd cheered Alexander’s release, the mayor invited people to return that night and watch the Knicks play the Celtics in an NBA playoff game on the big screen.

“We had 400 people show up,” Zinna said. That sparked an idea to leave the screen up and show movies in the parking lot as the weather warms.

“That’s something that we intend to pursue,” he said.

TENAFLY − Edan Alexander's neighbors gathered at Huyler Park May 12 to watch as across the world his family arrived in Israel for the North Jersey native's long-awaited release from Hamas.

News of Alexander's release broke around 11:30 a.m. as Hamas said it has released Alexander from Gaza, according to multiple reports. The crowd remained cautious until they saw visual confirmation from the Red Cross that Alexander was finally free.

A huge crowd gathered in Tenafly as early as 5 a.m. with more people filtering in and out as the day progressed. A large screen in the park broadcasted the latest news while music and signs supporting Alexander adorned the area. Once the first photo of Alexander with Red Cross came on the screen the throng of hundreds of supported erupted into joyous cheer.

Alexander, a 21-year old New Jersey native, is believed to be the last living American hostage captured by Hamas in its 2023 terror strike on Israel. Alexander's mother, Yael, arrived at Re'im military base in southern Israel near the Gaza border, accompanied by U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler.

From Re'im, Alexander was expected to be transported to a hospital in Tel Aviv, ABC reported.

North Jersey residents celebrate Edan Alexander's release

Michael Berkowitz of Bergenfield came to Tenafly for the May 12 gathering and said his family was "so excited" to hear about Alexander's release. They have a sign in their yard supporting Alexander but hope to be able to finally take it down.

"This is history right here," he said.

Several high school students were among the group at Huyler Park May 12.

Tenafly resident and high school junior Adi said while he does not know Alexander personally it feels like he does.

"That just shows how our community is strong, together," said Adi, who did not give his last name, "and to miss someone that you never met is a feeling I never knew before."

"It's such a happy day for us," said Yonatan, another high school junior. "We stayed home from school. We came together and seeing everyone come and support him, it's amazing to see."

Lisa Schechter of Englewood said she's proud to be part of the community that shows up for each other.

"I think we all need some light in these dark times," Schechter said.

The family released a statement May 11 expressing their joy for Alexander's upcoming release.

"We express our deepest gratitude to President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the U.S. administration for their tireless work to make this happen," they wrote. Witkoff is Trump's envoy in Middle East peace talks.

"We urge the Israeli government and the negotiating teams: please don't stop," they added. "We hope our son's release begins negotiations for all 58 remaining hostages, ending this nightmare for them and their families. No hostage should be left behind."

Alexander grew up in New Jersey and made aliyah at the age of 18 to serve in the IDF, enlisting in the Golani Brigade.

MAY 12, 2025 13:15

Hundreds gathered in Edan Alexander’s hometown of Tenafly, New Jersey, on Monday to watch the live stream of his release from Hamas captivity.

The community gathered in Tenafly’s downtown, outside Cafe Angelique at Huyler Park, for a communal viewing of the events, with big screens set up to stream the release, alongside flags and posters.

Chabad’s Rabbi Menachem Mendel and Rebbetzin Mushky Gluckowsky of the nearby Closter community joined Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in its live-stream event at Huyler Park.

This was the moment “we’ve all been waiting for with full hearts and hopeful prayers,” Gluckowsky said.

Hundreds gather in Tenafly, New Jersey, ahead of the expected release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander. May 12, 2025. (Credit: Ohr Gutman).

Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey’s 6th District said he was “deeply grateful” Alexander was alive, but added that he would not believe it until the hostage was safely home in New Jersey with his family, given Hamas’s history of false claims.

“For more than 19 months since October 7, 2023, Edan and his family have endured unimaginable psychological torture, living every day with fear, grief, and uncertainty,” Pallone said.

He urged the public to “never look away from the cruelty of Hamas.”

Pallone added that he would “keep fighting until every last hostage is home.”

The Kaplen Jewish Community Center on the Palisades said the “Tenafly community, its whole Jewish community, and specifically Kaplen JCC, [are] overjoyed at the prospect of Edan’s release today and his reunion with his family.”

The JCC added that it was hopeful that Alexander’s release would set the precedent for a greater agreement to release all the hostages and a lasting ceasefire.

It also said that members of its community have done a weekly march for Alexander and the hostages, and that there were billboards at the JCC and around town.

“We all look forward to putting a ‘welcome home’ symbol on them soon.”

Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey's 6th district said he was "deeply grateful" Alexander is alive, but added that he would not believe it until he was safely home in New Jersey with his family, given Hamas's past history of false claims.

"For more than 19 months since October 7, 2023, Edan and his family have endured unimaginable pscyhological torturew, lining every day with fear, grief and uncertainty."

Pallone urged the public to "never look away from the cruelty of Hamas." He also emphasized that he would "keep fighting until every last hostage is home."

Alexander grew up in New Jersey and made aliyah at the age of 18 to serve in the IDF as a lone soldier, enlisting in the Golani Brigade.

He was on base on October 7, 2023, after he volunteered to stay on so his friends could celebrate the holiday with their families, despite his mother being on a visit to Israel at the time. He was subsequently kidnapped from the Gaza border area.

Hamas said on Sunday it would release Alexander after 584 days in captivity.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

Alonso Escalante has stepped down as Tenafly’s football coach to take a job as an assistant with the New York Jets.

Escalante is returning to the NFL after leading the Tigers to a 10-10 record the past two seasons, according to Tenafly athletic director Joe Carollo.

“It’s one of those things where we’re sad to see him go, because he did such a great job for us,” Carollo said. “But we’re so happy that he has this opportunity in front of him.”

Escalante did not return text messages requesting comment.

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The Jets hired former player Aaron Glenn as their new coach two weeks ago following a disheartening 5-12 season. Glenn continues to build his staff and the Jets have yet to officially announce all the new hires.

Escalante is a 2005 Glen Rock graduate who was hired as Tenafly’s coach in April of 2023 after spending a majority of the previous dozen years working in the NFL. He was an offensive assistant with the Giants and also had stints with the Raiders, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Browns and Panthers.

Escalante elevated Tenafly’s program during his two seasons. The Tigers went 6-4 in 2023 and 4-6 last season in the Super Football Conference, the nation's largest football-only league. The program had about 45 players last season, a promising number.

Tenafly had 14 freshmen in the program last season and played an impressive nine junior varsity games, Carollo said. As many as 20 eighth graders in town expressed interest in joining football for the fall of 2025.

“He’s this combination of endlessly patient and eternally optimistic,” Carollo said. “And you couple those two things, patient and optimistic, with positive, and he just has this magnetism that the kids gravitated to.”

Geissinger Field is being renovated, and Carollo said, “The program is in a really, really good place, in large part because of [Escalante].” The search for a successor begins this week.

“We’re going to hope to move quickly because ultimately we want to be able to continue the work that’s been going on,” Carollo said. "That’s the most important thing for me. When you have a program that’s moving in the right direction, we’ve got to make sure that we keep it moving in that direction.”