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Police & Fire
PHOTOS: Fierce Fire Roars Through Three Passaic Homes, Displacing Dozens PHOTOS: Fierce Fire Roars Through Three Passaic Homes, Displacing Dozens
Photos: Fierce Fire Roars Through Three Passaic Homes, Displacing Dozens An off-duty firefighter alerted residents to a gas-fed blaze that ravaged three homes Saturday morning in Passaic, displacing nearly three dozen people. More than 120 firefighters responded to the fierce four-alarm blaze, which roared across the multi-family dwellings on Oak Street after breaking out shortly after 8 a.m., responders said. An off-duty firefighter helped get the buildings evacuated, Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said "There was a tremendous amount of fire through [two of ] the buildings, with a partial collapse," Trentacost said. Definitely one (middle) and possibly two…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Century 21 Files For Bankruptcy, Closing All 13 Stores Century 21 Files For Bankruptcy, Closing All 13 Stores
Century 21 Files For Bankruptcy, Closing All 13 Stores Liquidation sales are under way at all Century 21 stores after the company announced Thursday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The impetus was a non-payment of approximately $175 million declined by the company's insurance provider as a direct result of losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the off-price retail company said in a press release. In business for more than 60 years, Century 21 was left with "no viable alternative" to closing all 13 stores the company's co-CEO Raymond Gindi said.  Century 21 has four New Jersey locations: East Rutherford, American Dream…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Palisades Park PD: Detective Nabs FedEx Imposter Stealing Cellphones From Porches To Ship To DR Palisades Park PD: Detective Nabs FedEx Imposter Stealing Cellphones From Porches To Ship To DR
Palisades Park PD: Detective Nabs FedEx Imposter Stealing Cellphones From Porches To Ship To DR A Palisades Park detective captured a porch pirate from Paterson who posed as a FedEx worker to collect iPhones illegally shipped to residents throughout New Jersey and then send them to a storeowner in the Dominican Republic, authorities said. TMobile authorities alerted borough police to a package scheduled for delivery at a 4th Street address late last week, said Capt. Anthony Muccio, the officer in charge of the department. In the box were six iPhone 11s valued at $699 each, he said. Authorities suspected a bogus delivery because they were prepaid for with an American Express card on a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Woman Who Notoriously Hacked Husband Into 65 Pieces Granted Prison Release To Hackensack Woman Who Notoriously Hacked Husband Into 65 Pieces Granted Prison Release To Hackensack
Woman Who Notoriously Hacked Husband Into 65 Pieces Granted Prison Release To Hackensack A Bergen County woman who was sentenced to life in prison for the infamous hacking death of her husband in Rockland County was headed to live with her sister in Hackensack this week after a federal judge granted her a compassionate release. Rita Gluzman, 71, formerly of Upper Saddle River, was granted the release, with conditions, from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas after suffering multiple strokes, TV station WFAA reported. The Ukrainian-born activist made international headlines after an East Rutherford police officer found her cousin trying to dump garbage bags …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight firefighters were hospitalized with heat exhaustion Monday after rescuing 20 or so residents – several of whom were trapped – during a roaring Monday afternoon blaze that ravaged two homes and damaged others in Passaic. Seven of the firefighters are from the city and the eighth is from Wallington, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, he said. Firefighters rescued five people from two of the Passaic Street homes and got 15 out of another after the blaze broke out around 2 p.m. at 74 Passaic Street, the mayor said. Flames raced th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Business
Ulta Beauty Opening 5 New Stores As South Jersey Location Shutters Ulta Beauty Opening 5 New Stores As South Jersey Location Shutters
Ulta Beauty Opening 5 New Stores As South Jersey Location Shutters One Ulta Beauty store in New Jersey is set to close as five others open, a new report says. The cosmetics retailer said its Vineland store in the Cumberland Mall is among the 19 set to close by year's end. New Ulta Beauty stores, however, are coming to the following five New Jersey towns, according to NJ.com: Paramus Tom’s River East Rutherford Chester  Wayne Ulta Beauty top officials blamed COVID-19’s economic disruption as the reason for the 19 cuts. Timing and locations for the new stores have not yet been announced.

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary
Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary Carlstadt police chased down an ex-con from Newark and were searching for an accomplice after both climbed through a resident’s window, ransacked a bedroom and bolted out the back door, authorities said. Neighbors alerted police to the break-in on the 400 block of 8th Street, Police Chief Thomas Berta said. Lt. Thomas Negro and Officers James Ross and Matthew Smith quickly assembled a perimeter with help from East Rutherford police, Berta said. Ross and Smith captured one of the suspected burglars, Jose Andujar, 55, as he tried to flee through a Division Avenue backyard, the chief said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash
Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash A Jersey City ex-con who was freed after a fierce struggle with Hoboken police three months ago was ordered released by another judge barely 24 hours after authorities said he caused a pre-dawn DUI crash that injured six people on the New Jersey Turnpike in Bergen County. Lonnie Clark had served state prison time for a 2015 lewdness conviction involving children and, before that, for a 2007 conviction for selling drugs, NJ Department of Corrections records show. A judge released him last September pending trial following a sexual contact and weapons arrest, records show. He was arrested ag…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
New Milford PD: Porch Pirate Tied To More Than Dozen Thefts In Town, Bergenfield, Wyckoff New Milford PD: Porch Pirate Tied To More Than Dozen Thefts In Town, Bergenfield, Wyckoff
New Milford PD: Porch Pirate Tied To More Than Dozen Thefts In Town, Bergenfield, Wyckoff New Milford police arrested a porch pirate linked to 10 different thefts in town, as well as others in Bergenfield and Wyckoff, authorities said. Detective Sgt. Nelson Perez was following up Tuesday on a theft from a Boulevard home the day before when he spotted a car that matched one seen on surveillance video in connection with that theft, Detective Lt. Kevin Van Saders said. Anthony Mendoza, 39, of East Rutherford was seen in the video "taking a package and leaving the area in the vehicle," Van Saders said. Perez stopped the car, assisted by Lt. John Moroney, Detective Brian Carlino and…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Several Motorcyclists Injured In NJ Turnpike Crash With Tractor-Trailer Several Motorcyclists Injured In NJ Turnpike Crash With Tractor-Trailer
Several Motorcyclists Injured In NJ Turnpike Crash With Tractor-Trailer Several motorcyclists were involved in a crash with a tractor-trailer Friday night on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Rutherford, responders said. Five ambulances were initially requested following the crash at mile marker 115 on the turnpike's western spur shortly after 11:30 p.m. At least three motorcycles were involved, responders said. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
LIST: Bankrupt GNC Closing 248 Stores, Including 20 In NJ, NY LIST: Bankrupt GNC Closing 248 Stores, Including 20 In NJ, NY
List: Bankrupt GNC Closing 248 Stores, Including 20 In NJ, NY GNC on Wednesday released a list of stores that the company is closing in New Jersey and New York as part of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retailer, which had 5,200 stores in the U.S. and 7,300 worldwide at the end of March, said it expects to close anywhere from 800 to 1,200 of them, beginning with those listed below. GNC already was submerged in an estimated $700 million in debt and facing delisting on the New York Stock Exchange when COVID-19 struck. The coronavirus pandemic “created a situation where we were unable to accomplish our refinancing and the abrupt cha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Report: 100 American Dream Employees Laid Off Report: 100 American Dream Employees Laid Off
Report: 100 American Dream Employees Laid Off The American Dream Mall isn’t looking so dreamy after approximately 100 employees were laid off due to financial issues from the COVID-19 pandemic, reports say. In a letter sent to the megamall’s employees on June 1, officials cite the need for “organizational restructuring” following the pandemic as the cause of the layoffs, NorthJersey.com reports. "With the onset of COVID-19 in early March, life as we knew it changed dramatically and our new 'normal' is still undefined," the letter said. "This time has allowed us to look at our organizational structure, and what made sens…

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by Valerie Musson