It's a saucy little
town (technically a borough), mischievous yet unpretentious.
History
Suburb of New York City, across the Passaic River from Paterson, New Jersey. Founded and settled by the little-known Lenni-Lenape Indians, it was established as a farming community. It was originally a part of nearby Saddle Brook, New Jersey until it gained sovereignty from the agricultural town (mainly for financial reasons) in 1924. Its structure became most familiar to todays in the 1940’s, when farms began to dissolve in favor of creating single-family homes. This housing boom also helped to create the unique city-within-a-city concept of Radburn, New Jersey that is a revolutionary concept in urban planning. Radburn served as the basis for Long Island’s famous post-war Levittown.
Population
According to the last census in 2000, Fair Lawn’s population is 31,637. It has a relatively large Jewish population, including several synagogues, in addition to a large Russian population. In some areas, storefronts and signs are entirely in Russian.
Pop Culture References
Aside from the previously mentioned Taxi Driver, Fair Lawn has also been referenced more recently in The Sopranos, where Tony tells Chris to pay a visit to a Russian man who lives, coincidentally, also on Hopper Avenue.
Politics
Fair Lawn is part of the 9th Congressional District, represented as of November 2010 by Steven Rothman, a resident of Fair Lawn. In local politics, our mayor, David Ganz, is a professional coin collector. Our borough council is composed of five members that are elected every four years.
Corporate Residents
The borough is also home to a Nabisco factory that you can smell if the wind is blowing in a certain way, and a Kodak factory. The later shut down its operations in spring 2004, as part of Kodak's job outsourcing policy.
All things considered, its a fine place that has great public schools and a public library system that is extraordinary. This is all in addition to a low crime rate and its own community television station.