Welcome to our Holiday Nostalgia issue! Holiday times are stressful for everyone, especially this year. We wanted to bring you an issue of some of our readers fond memories of Holiday times in Teaneck. We will return to our normal topics in the new year.
We want to wish all of our readers and supporters a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year.
Stay safe!
Teaneck Voices
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1999, the year Nicholas Cage came to Teaneck! That's right, holiday movie, modern remake of "Its a Wonderful Life" was filmed right here in Teaneck, NJ.
In this movie, Nicholas Cage's character goes to sleep as a single, high ranking banking professional in midtown Manhattan, and wakes up with his college girlfriend married with kids in suburban Teaneck, NJ.
Residents may remember walking through the fake snow and Christmas decorations the production crew put down along Cherry Lane in the Spring. We thought readers would enjoy these photographs, compliments of former Teaneck residents, Richie and Ellen Gertler. Why not stream The Family Man this Holiday season and see if you can pick out Teaneck landmarks!
Enjoy!
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Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! No Coke, Pepsi!
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"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came..." That is what Louie's Charcoal Pit was to Teaneck. The 24/7 diner which was formerly in the Walgreens location on Cedar Lane, was a Teaneck staple since at least 1972, when the Stamatelatos family purchased Louie's Charcoal Pit, and kept the name. It was such a hit, not only we Teaneck residents would go there for a meal, but stars such as Bill Murray frequented Louie's for Spaghetti and Meatballs. During Bill Murray's time on Saturday Night Live, they even based their "Cheeseburger Cheeseburger No Coke Pepsi Skit" on our very own Louie's!
I didn't know anyone who didn't have a standard Louie's order. Mine was Tuna on a toasted bagel. My late night order was disco fries. Gerry and Dino literally watched generations of Teaneck residents grow up in their booths, including me. Some regulars ate dinner there every single night, some ate there multiple times a week. I never walked into Louie's and didn't see someone I knew. Louie's was always my first stop when I came home from college and wanted a taste of home. As a child, all I ever wanted to do was use their old fashioned cash register, which was in place until the day they closed.
Every Saturday night for years, the movie theatre ran a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which meant a huge 3 am rush for coffee and french fries. Overnight waiters Mike and Rah not only joined diners for a cup of coffee, they knew us, they cared about every one of us.
Louie's had a very large clock on the wall of their smoking section; I always remember staring at it. In 1999 on New Years Eve, my friends and I decided Louie's was where we were going to bring in the year 2000. If the computers were all going to crash and the lights were going to go out, at least we would be home. I remember that night sitting in the booths (we were a large group and took up 2-3 booths), the whole diner counted down to midnight. Then nothing happened, and we laughed.
As our downtown Teaneck became more empty storefronts, and many of the regulars sadly died or moved out of town, Louie's was unable to stay afloat any longer. In December 2012, Louie's announced they were closing. When I heard the news I was 3 hours away on a family vacation at Rocking Horse Ranch with my then husband and infant son. I turned to my husband and said "sorry, we have to go to Teaneck, NOW". So we did. I walked in, gave hugs to Dino, took pictures, cried, and ordered my final tuna on a toasted bagel and coffee. I watched as Dino smoked his last cigar behind the bar, and did his last round of shots with counter patrons. I left with a menu and a coffee mug.
That was what Louie's was, the place that people dropped what they were doing to go one last time. It was a place where we all came together. A place I miss greatly.
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Teaneck: Episode IV, The Return of the Christmas Lights
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A not so long time ago, in a Galaxy not so far away (possibly right here), there grew a medium-sized suburban town, known far and wide for its diversity. Diversity meant that within the town were people with different colors of skin, many different religious beliefs, ethnicities from all over the world. While it was a Galaxy of smart and hardworking people, they all did not value the same things or want to spend their collective dollars (called taxes) in the same ways.
In that Galaxy, as in so many galaxies, there was a holiday every winter called Christmas. One special way that Christmas was celebrated in most municipal galaxies was with ropes of many-colored lights, candles, and wreathes strung above community streets or high on light or telephone poles (with permission of the gas and electric companies). These joy-filled decorations were to be paid for with some collective dollars.
In this particular galaxy the majority of the deciders did not celebrate Christmas. But they knew that those who did, expected some decoration hung in the public marketplace. So they decided to spend the collective dollars on greenery with white lights – decorations to not “upset” anybody. These decorations were pretty, but to those who celebrated Christmas, they didn’t look or make anybody feel like Christmas.
Requests for green and red lights from the many, many Christmas celebrants to the deciders went unheeded, so the celebrants, recognized that they could be deciders for what mattered to them. There was a long, long road called Teaneck Road that was recognized as the Gateway to the Galaxy. There were shops where clothing was sold, hair was cut, children learned to dance, and wonderful international foods were enjoyed. These merchants were represented by the Teaneck Road Business and Community Alliance, most of whose members celebrated Christmas. Three intrepid women decided to take matters into their own hands, They marched up and down Teaneck Road collecting however much each merchant wanted to donate. And lo and behold, they collected enough to buy festive decorations that looked like Christmas, felt like Christmas and cast a joyous merry Christmas glow over the Teaneck Road community. Beautiful wreathes, sparkling with green and red lights, with three simple candles in their centers, were hung by the public utility on their poles all up and down the street.
This fable does not have a simple moral. Decisions made amidst diversity, should be made by the people who are affected (in this case, celebrators of Christmas), especially when the choice does not hurt anyone else. And if collective dollars are to be spent, they should be spent for the benefit of those affected. But the joy of the Christmas lights lining the Gateway into the Galaxy Teaneck, glowing over shoppers and carolers, is still a happy ending. To keep true to the spirit of Christmas, the Teaneck Road Community bestowed on all the people in that “diverse” Galaxy a beautiful and profound gift. And that is what Christmas is all about.
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Noah's Ark Restaurant: Annual Latke Eating Contest
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When people think of eating contests, usually the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island comes to mind. Every year, our very own Noah's Ark on Cedar Lane has a Latke Eating Contest!
Latkes are potato pancakes, and a traditional Chanukah food. Personally, I can eat 1 and am full. Apparently, for many others in Teaneck they eat a lot more, 16+ to take the win.
For many years, prepared food store Ma'adan was home to Teaneck's annual greased- filled event, however, Cedar Lane Management Group moved it to Noah's Ark.
Participants are given 5 latkes per plate, and have to eat as many as they can, being given more plates of 5 as they go. Don't forget, these are no baked or air fried, but traditionally fried in oily goodness, as are all traditional Chanukah Foods.
How many latkes can you eat?
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Santa Lives
You’re twelve years old. Stop talking about Santa.
“Mom , he is embarrassing me. There is no Santa. Make him stop talking about what Santa is going to bring him for Christmas. The son speaking was sixteen years old at the time and his younger brother delighted in embarrassing him by proclaiming a belief in Santa.
“Mom, make him stop. Tell him there is no Santa Claus. He is too old to believe in Santa and he is embarrassing me in front of all my friends.” My advice to the older son, Carter, was to not react to his brother’s proclamations. I told him the declarations were just teasing with the goal of getting a reaction. Stop complaining and he will stop teasing.
I reminded the two men now 41 and 37 about this memory in a recent Zoom call.
I have to admit my strategy didn’t work
because the younger son, Mark, said “Mom, the verdict on Santa is still out. No one has proven he is not real.” Sibling rivalry seems to be infinite.
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What's in a Name?
Many years ago Neil and Eileen Guiney began naming their Christmas Tree. In 1976 when we still lived on the upper west side of Manhattan, we decided to name our Christmas Tree and the custom has continued every year since.
Now our three children and their spouses all send in nominations close to the Christmas season or at any time during the year so that we have a list to vote on prior to Christmas Eve. The name is usually inspired by some national event, famous
person or family occurrence. Some examples include L’ENFANT in 1981 for the expected birth of our third child and TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STARS in 2010 for the birth earlier that year of our twin grandchildren. SOCKS was requested by our daughter to honor the cat-elect of the Clinton Administration. In honor of some famous people, we had MY WAY in 1998 to honor the death of Frank Sinatra and SPLENDID SPLINTER for Ted Williams who died in 2002.
It frequently is an easy chore, but can also involve a complex “legislative history” with differing opinions and wishes. Now four of our 6 grandchildren are 9 years or older and can also add their suggestions. On a few yearly attempts at naming the tree we were unsuccessful and so our long list also has NO NAME 1 in 1980 and NO NAME 2 in 1994!
This custom is ongoing and as long as there are Christmas trees to buy and decorate our family will continue to get together and give them a name!
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Having a winter birthday is not a happy thing. Too many birthday parties snowed out. Having a mid-December birthday close to Hanukah and Christmas is even less happy. We’re Jewish so we celebrate Hanukah; my grandma’s birthday was December 25th, so we celebrated the secular side of Christmas as her birthday event. But a mid-December birthday means one gift suffices for all special events.
It was my first birthday party in Teaneck, having moved from the Bronx a few months before. My few new Teaneck friends were invited, but I didn’t know them so well. But my friends from my Bronx apartment building were all coming out to Teaneck to celebrate with me.
The night before the party, we had a blizzard. I was devastated. My mother had fixed my hair in sausage curls, I had a new taffeta dress – and only two new friends from around the corner trudged through the snow to my party. None of my old friends could make it – busses from New York were all cancelled.
I was devastated. To make up for the almost friendless birthday party. My parents suggested a special trip to Davis Toy Store where I could pick out the most beautiful doll in the world for my birthday/holiday gift. I found her – blonde hair, blue eyes, velvet dress with two little pieces of real ermine (fur) and long white and gold gloves.
Her picture, painted by my mother, still lives with me. My most beautiful doll is the essence of a joyful holiday season, and still, despite whatever may be happening, makes everything okay for the moments I share with her.
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What topics do you want to see us cover in 2021? E-mail us!
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