Bogota, New Jersey
Encyclopedia
As of the 2010 Census, Bogota had a population of 8,187. The median age was 38.6. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 61.0% White, 9.4% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 9.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, 14.8% some other race and 4.1% reporting two or more races. 38.7% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 8,249 people, 2,874 households, and 2,126 families residing in the borough. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 10,841.3 people per square mile (4,190.7/km2). There were 2,915 housing units at an average density of 3,831.1 per square mile (1,480.9/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 75.72% White, 5.73% African American, 0.15% Native American, 7.75% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.76% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 3.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.32% of the population.

There were 2,874 households out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the borough the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $59,813, and the median income for a family was $69,841. Males had a median income of $49,347 versus $36,406 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the borough was $25,505. About 2.6% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Local government

Bogota is governed under the Borough
Borough (New Jersey)
A borough in the context of New Jersey local government refers to one of five types and one of eleven forms of municipal government....

 form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.

The Mayor is elected to serve a four-year term and may succeed that term by re-election. The Mayor is empowered as head of the municipal government to: Provide for the proper execution of local and State laws; Recommend to the Borough Council measures deemed in the best interest of the Borough; Nominate and, with the advice and consent of the Council, appoint most subordinate officers of the Borough; and Maintain peace and order. Although the Mayor presides over meeting of the Borough Council, the Mayor votes only in the case of a tie. State law also requires the Mayor to be a member of the Planning Board and Board of Trustees of the municipal Public Library.

The six Council members are elected at-large for terms of three years on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year. The Council exercises general legislative powers conferred upon it by State law to protect and promote the general welfare of the Borough. Among these are: The right to enact ordinances; Approve resolutions; Approve mayoral appointments; and Adopt the annual budget and determine tax levy.

, the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of the Borough of Bogota is Pat McHale (D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, term ends December 31, 2011). Members of the Bogota Borough Council are Michael Brophy (D, 2011, serving an unexpired term), Tito Jackson (D, 2012), Arthur Konigsberg (D, 2013), Joseph Noto (D, 2013), Jorge Nunez (D, 2011) and Tara Sharp (D, 2011).

In the 2010 General Election, Councilmen Joseph Noto and Michael Brophy won reelection, while first-time candidate Arthur Konigsberg also captured a seat. They defeated Councilwoman Anne Marie Mitchell and challengers Jared Geist and Guillermo Martinez. Brophy led the way with 1,235 votes, followed by Noto with 1,072 and Konigsberg with 1,060. Mitchell received 966 votes, while Geist and Martinez earned 847 and 775 votes, respectively. Noto and Konigsberg won three-year terms, while Brophy — who was appointed to fill a vacancy last year — will serve for an additional year to finish the uncompleted term.

In July 2006, then-Mayor Lonegan created a controversy when he engineered a Borough Council resolution requesting the removal of a Spanish-language billboard in town advertising McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

 iced coffee. Lonegan said the billboard was "divisive." The story received national publicity, occurring concurrently with a national debate on illegal immigration.

Federal, state and county representation

Bogota is in the 9th Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 37th state legislative district. The legislative district was kept unchanged by the New Jersey Apportionment Commission
New Jersey Apportionment Commission
The New Jersey Apportionment Commission is a constitutionally-created ten-member commission responsible for apportioning the forty districts of the New Jersey Legislature. The commission is convened after each decennial U.S. Census, and the districts are to be in use for the legislative elections...

 based on the results of the 2010 Census.




Politics

As of Election Day, November 4, 2008, there were 4,149 registered voters. Of registered voters, 1,511 (36.4% of all registered voters) were registered as Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, 745 (18.0%) were registered as Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 and 1,893 (45.6%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties.

On the national level, Bogota leans strongly toward the Democratic Party. In the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

, Democrat Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 received 63.9% of the vote here, defeating Republican John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

, who received 35.1% of the vote, with 83.0% of registered voters participating. In the 2004 election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

, Democrat John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 received 56% of the vote here, defeating Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, who received 43%.

Education

Students in grades Kindergarten through 12 are educated in the Bogota Public Schools
Bogota Public Schools
The Bogota Public Schools are comprehensive community public school district serving students in Kindergarten through 12th grade from the Borough of Bogota in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States....

. Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...

.) are E. Roy Bixby School with 345 students in grades K - 6,
Lillian M. Steen School which served 290 students in grades K - 6, and
Bogota High School
Bogota High School
Bogota Jr./Sr. High School is a comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Bogota, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Bogota Public Schools...

 with an enrollment of 572 students on grades 7 through 12.

Saint Joseph's School is a Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...

 serving students in grades pre-k - 8 operating under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
The Archdiocese of Newark is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Union, Hudson and Essex .-History:Originally established as the Diocese of...

.

Transportation

While no major highways travel through the borough, Interstate 80
Interstate 80 in New Jersey
Interstate 80 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States, running from the New York City Metropolitan Area westward to San Francisco, California...

 is accessible at Exit 67 in Ridgefield Park
Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 12,729 at the 2010 United States Census. Of 566 municipalities statewide, Ridgefield Park is only one of three with a village type of government in New Jersey, along with Loch Arbour and Ridgewood.The...

, just south of Bogota, and Route 4 is accessible in Teaneck to the north in Teaneck
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....

. These highways provide access to the George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 cross the river via the bridge. U.S...

, the New Jersey Turnpike
New Jersey Turnpike
The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...

, the Garden State Parkway
Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway is a 172.4-mile limited-access toll parkway that stretches the length of New Jersey from the New York line at Montvale, New Jersey, to Cape May at New Jersey's southernmost tip. Its name refers to New Jersey's nickname, the "Garden State." Most New Jersey residents refer...

 and other portions of the area's transportation network. Several bridges span the Hackensack River to Hackensack
Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....

.

Several New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...

 bus lines travel through Bogota between Hackensack, Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...

, Paramus
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 26,342. A suburb of New York City, Paramus is located between 15–20 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan and approximately west of Upper Manhattan.Paramus is one of...

 and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...

 bus service is available to the Port Authority Bus Terminal
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan in New York City...

 in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...

 on the 155 and 168 routes; to the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal
George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal
The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is a commuter bus terminal located at the east end of the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan in New York City, New York....

 on the 182 route; and to other New Jersey communities served on the 83 (to Jersey City
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...

), 751 and 755 routes.

There is no passenger rail service, but the CSX
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...

 freight line is on the edge of the borough.

Popular culture

The 2005 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 Anytown, USA
Anytown, USA (film)
Anytown, USA is a 2005 documentary film produced by director Kristian Fraga on the mayoral race in Bogota, New Jersey. The mayoral race was between Republican Steve Lonegan, Democrat Fred Pesce and independent Dave Musikant....

focused on the 2003 mayoral race between Republican Steve Lonegan, Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Fred Pesce and independent Dave Musikant. The film was screened at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival
The Minneapolis–St. Paul International Film Festival is a springtime film festival in the U.S. state of Minnesota that has been held since the early 1980s. Known as the largest film event in the Upper Midwest, the festival invites numerous films from all corners of the globe, and attracts a large...

 on April 9, 2005, where it won the award for Best Documentary.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Bogota include:
  • Steve Lonegan
    Steve Lonegan
    Steven M. Lonegan was mayor of Bogota, New Jersey from 1995–2007 and a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2005 and 2009. He is the Director of the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity....

     (born 1956), conservative activist; served for twelve years as Mayor of Bogota and candidate for Governor of New Jersey
    Governor of New Jersey
    The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...

     in 2005 and 2009.
  • Stanley Foster Reed
    Stanley Foster Reed
    Stanley Foster Reed was an entrepreneur, inventor, and publisher who founded Reed Research Inc. in 1940, “Mergers & Acquisitions” journal in 1965, and “Campaigns & Elections” magazine in 1980....

     (1917–2007), entrepreneur.
  • Pat Schuber
    Pat Schuber
    William "Pat" Schuber is an American Republican Party politician, who served for four years as Mayor of Bogota, New Jersey, represented his district in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1982 to 1990 and served 12 years as the County Executive of Bergen County.Schuber received a BA from Fordham...

    , served for four years as Mayor of Bogota, represented the district in the New Jersey General Assembly
    New Jersey General Assembly
    The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...

     from 1982 to 1990 and served 12 years as the County Executive
    County executive
    A county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position...

     of Bergen County
    Bergen County, New Jersey
    Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...

    .
  • Vin Scully
    Vin Scully
    Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...

     (born 1927), sportscaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers
    Los Angeles Dodgers
    The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

    .

Sources

  • "History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923;" by "Westervelt, Frances A. (Frances Augusta), 1858-1942."
  • "Municipal Incorporations of the State of New Jersey (according to Counties)" prepared by the Division of Local Government, Department of the Treasury (New Jersey); December 1, 1958.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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