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

2-minute read

NorthJersey.com

LYNDHURST — Late on Saturday night, faced with a possible municipal code violation fine, a couple asked their Facebook community for help. At about 11 p.m., just 10 minutes later, they got it from Joaquim "Jack" Matias.

Robert and Mary Ann Bonomo had received a notice that an overgrown tree on their property violated township code and they needed to trim it or face fines. The notice said they were in violation because "landscaping must not be overgrown and unsightly," Mary Ann said Monday.

She said that even though her husband has medical issues and has been disabled for a decade, the lawn is always cut and neat. She said the tree in question was in need of a trim, but it was not unsightly. She attributes the fine notice to an overzealous municipal code enforcer.

Asking for help

The couple, using Robert's Facebook page, posted a message for help on the Positively Lyndhurst page.

"I have lived in Lyndhurst for over 30 years and have never had any issues or problems," the Bonomos' post reads. "I have taken great care of my home and have been happy living here. Unfortunately, in the last 10+ years, I have become permanently disabled and unable to take care of many things around the house myself."

The couple then explained that their "finances are an issue, as medical bills are exorbitant," and asked if anyone in town or close by might be able to help trim the tree for a "nominal fee." They wrote that help would be "greatly appreciated."

A good deed

Matias responded that he would help.

"Good evening Robert. My name is Jack and I am the owner of J. Matias Landscaping from Lyndhurst. I would love to come out and help you out. Please message me."

The next day, on Sunday, Matias went to the Bonomo home on Page Avenue and, after assessing the situation, told them he would trim their tree — a $600 job — for free.

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"Jack was real genuine and not looking for anything in return," Mary Ann said.

On Monday, after completing their regular jobs, Matias and two of his employees completed the pruning.

"Jack was amazing, just amazing, to go so out of his way and above and beyond," Mary Ann said. "They came and worked hard until it was done," she said, adding that she offered to give Matias some money, but he refused it. "He's just the nicest guy," she said.

Matias, the father of two young girls, said "being generous is important." Some day, the 36-year-old said, "we will be old ... I go to church with the family every weekend. This is how I was raised."

Matias said he covered the labor for his workers. He said he told his "guys, let's do it out of the goodness of our hearts," and added, "It's not like it's going to break my bank."

The community responds

His good deed did not go unnoticed. The post garnered hundreds of responses, many from other individuals who also offered to help, but most from those who wanted to praise the good deed and the many responses to the couple's original message.

"Wow…Just looking at all the people offering assistance is heartwarming. It makes me proud to be living in Lyndhurst," wrote Salvatore DeCarlo.

Roberta Flynn was also touched by the response. "That is so nice. There are people in Lyndhurst that care. God Bless All of you who help this couple. God will repay you."

Mary Ann, who works in the mental health field and takes care of the home and her husband, said the responses from the community, and especially the one from Matias, turned a very stressful situation into one that brought love and gratitude.

The landscaping ordinance

The town's ordinance on landscaping reads that "premises shall be kept landscaped and lawns, hedges, bushes shall be kept trimmed and from becoming overgrown and unsightly."

Matias said the tree was somewhat overgrown and the cuttings filled his truck.

The Bonomos reached out to town and elected officials, but they received responses only from Commissioners John Montillo and Louis DeMarco. Montillo helped the couple get an extension to give them more time to find help. Montillo and DeMarco did not respond to emails from NorthJersey.com asking for more information.

The mayor's office referred inquiries to the municipal property maintenance department, which did not immediately respond.

Newark, NJ (September 21, 2023) – Artemisia Morley, a cast member at the Lyndhurst, NJ, location of Medieval Times, has submitted a Request for Review to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C., defending her and her coworkers’ right to vote unwanted officials of the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) union out of the workplace. Morley is receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

Morley’s Request for Review challenges NLRB Region 22’s hurried dismissal of a petition she filed on behalf of her coworkers seeking an election to remove the AGVA union (also known as a “decertification election”). Her petition contained the signatures of a strong majority of her coworkers, but the Regional Director dismissed it “without any hearing, and without citing any evidence that there was a ‘causal nexus’ between the Employees’ disaffection from the Union” and unproven allegations that union officials had levied against the employer.

Because New Jersey lacks Right to Work protections for its private sector workers, AGVA union officials have the power to force Morley and her coworkers to pay union fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. In contrast, in states with Right to Work laws, union bosses can’t enter agreements with employers that force employees to fork over a portion of their paychecks to the union just to get or keep a job.

“Secretive” and “Self-Interested” AGVA Union Officials Tried to Stifle Worker-Requested Vote

The Request for Review notes that AGVA union officials were “secretive, self-interested, and divisive,” and “regularly advocated that the [Medieval Times] employees go on strike, something that had no support among the unit employees.” After waiting out the statutory one-year bar on union elections that follows a union’s certification, Morley filed the petition requesting a union decertification vote.

According to the Request for Review, instead of processing the petition as NLRB rules dictate, NLRB Region 22 issued a complaint against the employer and dismissed Morley’s petition based on unproven “blocking charges” AGVA union officials filed against Medieval Times management. The Request for Review argues that the hasty dismissal violated NLRB election rules, the Administrative Procedure Act, and well-established NLRB precedent requiring a hearing to demonstrate whether union allegations of employer misconduct actually caused employee discontent with the union.

“None of the alleged unfair labor practice allegations…concern the Employees’ collection of the decertification signatures or the Employer’s domination of the Union. Thus…an election should be held and the votes immediately counted,” the Request for Review contends. “Even if the Board determined the allegations warranted consideration under [NLRB rules], its plain terms prohibit dismissing a petition prior to an election.”

Case May Be Used to Push Radical Agenda of Biden-Appointed NLRB General Counsel

In 2020, the NLRB adopted Foundation-backed reforms that made it less difficult for workers to eliminate an unwanted union. One reform pared back union officials’ ability to use “blocking charges” to stop worker-requested decertification elections from happening. The reform instead created a process in which charges surrounding an election are litigated after employees have gotten to exercise their right to vote. Instead of applying this rule, NLRB Region 22 dismissed Morley and her coworkers’ requested election.

The Request for Review notes that NLRB Region 22’s complaint, which incorporated AGVA union officials’ unproven allegations against the employer, does not appear designed to help workers “but rather to twist the law and facts beyond recognition in order to aid the current [NLRB] General Counsel’s ideological crusade to overturn decades of settled Board law about bargaining obligations and employer free speech.” Biden-appointed NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a former union lawyer, has thrown her weight behind other recent cases to uproot longstanding NLRB precedent, often to give more power to union bosses at the expense of workers’ freedom.

“Aided by regional NLRB officials, AGVA union officials seem determined to send the individual rights of Medieval Times workers back to the Dark Ages,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “NLRB election rules clearly forbid union officials from using completely unproven charges of employer misconduct to derail workers’ ability to have a vote on whether they want continued union representation.”

“Federal labor law is supposed to protect the fundamental right of workers to freely decide who will speak for them in workplace matters, and Foundation staff attorneys will fight for Morley and her coworkers as AGVA bosses try to turn this commonsense principle on its head,” Mix added.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.

Driving to Lee’s Hawaiian Islander for the first time earlier this year for a friend’s birthday celebration, I admit I was skeptical. I knew nothing about the restaurant, other than that one of our group had grown up in Bergen County and frequented Lee’s decades ago.

After a few wrong turns, we pulled into the parking lot on a dark, run-down commercial street in Lyndhurst. Inside, the kitschy decor looked unchanged from its opening more than a half-century ago, in 1972, with glowing Tiki masks, a rock waterfall wall, tree branches with fake birds, plastic flowers on the tables and white Christmas lights everywhere.

It took only one drink—I can’t remember if it was a Mai Tai or a Zombie, served in a Tiki mug with an umbrella, of course—to convert my skepticism into something like joy. By the time the requisite Pu Pu platter arrived, a few of our group of ten had grabbed microphones and were belting out “It’s Raining Men” alongside Bill, our spry, white-haired karaoke DJ, who sported a spangly “That Guy” hat and a black sequin-studded jacket.

Increasingly raucous renditions of “Thriller,” “Single Ladies” and golden oldies like “LeRoy Brown” and “Band of Gold” followed. Even the shyest among us hammed it up at the mike, and other patrons took turns, too; before long we were all on our feet, mingling and dancing. One couple invited us to their monthly karaoke night in Newark; a middle-aged business man circulated among us, handing out his business card and asking for dances.

We went home laughing and woke the next morning giggling, as photos and videos of our escapades pinged from phone to phone.

Lee’s Hawaiian is for sale but is slated to stay open until it finds a buyer.

When I heard recently that Lee’s Hawaiian is for sale (for $2.3 million), I wasn’t too surprised. It was less than a third full the Friday night we were there, the food is mediocre, the drinks are so strong that you only need one, and it isn’t exactly on anybody’s list of hot new restaurants.

But I sure hope it doesn’t sell soon, and was glad to learn from an employee that they plan to stay open until they have a buyer. There are hundreds of places in New Jersey where you can get a better meal in a modern, gleaming restaurant. There’s only one I know of where you can sing and dance with new and old friends and time-travel back to a simpler, happier time.

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4-minute read

Mary Ann Koruth

NorthJersey.com

A game of "Trashketball" — answer a review question right and you get extra points for tossing a ball into a bin — kicked off a recent morning in Maria Maloupis’ English literature class. An eighth grader in the Lyndhurst Middle School classroom walked up to the whiteboard, turned, took aim and tossed a makeshift ball made of plastic bags into an empty black trash can.

A group of noisy but attentive teammates cheered their classmate on. “OMG we finally scored! We’re tied for second!” said one student. Their teacher grinned.

Maloupis, one of four public school teachers who won this year's Princeton Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching, awarded by Princeton University, had always known she wanted to teach kids — provided she was also doing something with books. “I always loved reading and writing. I always wanted to share it with other people and talk about books all day,” she said.

“Empathizing” with her students and “seeing them as full human beings” is the secret behind the easy yet productive engagement she elicits from the class. “I like the age group,” she said of middle schoolers, whom experts call the more sensitive end of adolescence.

Making the rounds among the four teams of students who alternately complained, laughed and couldn't wait for the next question, Maloupis was calm and nonplussed by their banter and energy. “This is when they seem to have the most potential,” she said of the teens.

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With a teaching degree in English from Montclair State University, the Hasbrouck Heights native started her career seven years ago in Lyndhurst Public Schools.

Pascack Valley high school teacher also a winner

Pascack Valley Regional High School’s Nancy Ricca, a self-taught C++ programmer, also won the Princeton Prize this year, for developing "rich lessons and experiences" for her students. Ricca teaches math and coding in grades nine through 12. The school credits her for building up the computer science department from scratch while also running clubs like Girls Who Code and designing innovative ways to draw students to coding.

Two other teachers, Wahab Ashraf, an AP Biology teacher at a Newark magnet school and Bob Fenster, a history teacher in Hillsborough High School, also won the Princeton Prize this year.

From Ecuador to the New York City

Ecuadorean-born Maloupis was 9 years old when she began learning English as a second language in New York City’s public schools after her parents, who she says were avid readers, moved the family to the U.S. from Ecuador. A fourth grade teacher of English as a second language planted a seed that grew into a love for literature and was Maloupis’ inspiration to become a teacher herself.

She remembers that books were her refuge when she first arrived in the U.S. “When I came here, I became very shy because I did not speak the language," she said. "I turned to books very naturally.”

Her elementary ESL teacher coaxed her to read more by starting out with such books as Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Having fun while reading was key to those early lessons, said Maloupis. "She would make me feel very comfortable, very accepted. We would sing songs."

The Princeton prize committee noted a similar quality in Maloupis, noting comments made by a former student of hers. “I felt like I could always talk to her, and she would be there to guide me through school and life," the student said. "She always listens to you, which is sometimes all you need."

How the awards are decided

Princeton University’s prizes honoring middle and high school teachers “represent the finest secondary teachers in the state” and are awarded annually through its 64-year-old teacher preparation program, which grants certificates in middle and high school teaching.

“What sets these teachers apart is the impact that they have on students, and their impact on the school community,” said Todd Kent, director of Princeton's Teacher Preparation program. In addition to looking for exceptional teachers, the prize selection committee looks for individuals who are “leaders" in their schools.

“There’s no magic formula. We look at each teacher in the context of their teaching. We look at the whole picture," he said, about the criteria for the prize. “Every teacher is unique, and every teacher is in a unique context. We’re looking at teachers who work in underserved communities and we’re looking at teachers in some of the best private and public schools in the state."

Applicants are nominated by their school administrators, and program staffers review the applications in the fall. A staff member from the Princeton teaching program visits the classrooms of the 10 finalists, and awardees are picked in April by a selection committee consisting of Kent, Princeton faculty members and a public school principal.

Winners are dressed in full regalia and honored with a citation during the university’s commencement exercises, which this year are May 30. Each winner receives a $5,000 check and a $3,000 gift to the school library. The prize is funded by an anonymous gift from an alumnus.

Advocates for more students to learn coding

Ricca, a Totowa resident, teaches four classes at Pascack Valley High. She was the only computer science teacher in the high school when she started out, and now is one of three. Ricca said she has advocated to have more students learn coding since she began teaching math at the high school 24 years ago.

She taught her first class in C++ programming in 2000 at the school's request, teaching herself the language before bringing it to her students. “I had to teach myself," she said. "I was literally two weeks ahead of the kids, teaching myself while teaching my students how to code. But I fell in love with it.”

Ricca got her undergraduate degree at William Paterson University and a master's from Montclair State University. During the summer, she plans to pursue a certificate in teaching cybersecurity.

How does she engage students in coding courses that intimidate so many? “We have fun," she said. "I try to bring in the creative aspect of computer science and show the students how CS education goes along with any education right now … and all the different types of fields out there.”

Students in her AP Computer Science class will host a "game day" on June 6 during lunch. “A few of my students coded bingo animations, so they’re all going to be playing bingo,” she said.

“The kids have a lot of choice, and she sets the parameters,” said Ricca’s colleague Paul Zeller.

LYNDHURST — Get the image of your sweet grandma knitting you a sweater, maybe with one sleeve slightly longer than the other, when you think of yarn?

Then your concept of the fashion fundamental needs an update. It has evolved, especially during the pandemic, much as the Lion Brand Yarn Company has in the 145 years since it was founded.

Lion Brand, headquartered in Lyndhurst, calls itself the nation's oldest yarn company. It manufactures and distributes yarn products and "has continually responded to evolving consumer needs and trends throughout the years," said its CEO Adam Blumenthal. "Whether it’s pop culture, nascent trends or fashion, we’ve always looked for inspiration that we can translate into the yarn category."

The ability to spot and stay on top of trends has been a big part of the company's success, Blumenthal said.

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Lion Brand introduced the "hugely popular Fun Fur," which is very furry-looking yarn, and socially conscious lines, including sustainable yarns made from renewable and recycled fiber, and Skein Tones, a line of yarns that "complements a wide spectrum of skin tones" created in partnership with Black crochet artist Aniqua Wilkerson, Blumenthal said.

Like any company with a long history, he said, Lion Brand "weathered many challenges over the years." He said the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains but also sparked a boom in home hobbies, including knitting and crocheting.

The beginning

Lion Brand Yarn Company is a fifth-generation, family-owned business founded in North Jersey in 1878 by Blumenthal's great-great-grandfather Reuben, before the automobile, motion pictures, the Hershey Bar and Coca-Cola, reads a company release.

Today Lion Brand yarns are sold online and in stores across North America and in more than 100 countries.

Staying current

The pandemic lockdowns and stress that came with them made knitting and crocheting a cool thing once more, this time for people of all ages. It helped relieve the stress "through the soothing, repetitive motions" and by helping people be creative, a company spokesperson said in the release.

Today's yarn enthusiasts are of all ages, demographics and locations. The company interacts with yarn buyers and users and works to nurture those relationships by giving away thousands of free patterns on its website. Lion Brand even has bloggers and influencers as well as webpages on how to crochet and knit and weave.

"You may be surprised to learn that ⅓ of knitters and crocheters are 18-34 years old," Blumenthal said via email. "The last few years especially have seen an explosion in knitting and crocheting interest from young, diverse audiences," he said, adding that celebrity knitters, social media trends and the "increasing awareness around the mental health benefits of knitting" for all ages attract new users.

Sustainable yarns and natural fibers are the most recent trends, along with chunky yarns, which are a great choice for beginners, Blumenthal said. Chunky yarn works well for blankets, scarves and other large projects, the company said.

Lion Brand products

Lion Brand produces a wide range of yarns in various colors, thicknesses and materials, including cotton, acrylic, wool and specialty fibers. Legacy lines, including Wool-Ease, Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, Hometown, Heartland, Homespun and Pound of Love, are the best sellers, according to Blumenthal. There's also a Vanna’s Choice line, created and introduced by company spokesperson Vanna White, who has publicly talked about her love of crocheting. That line has raised more than $2 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Story continues below video.

The corporate offices are in Lyndhurst, but wool and yarns come from an array of partner farms and mills globally. The distribution center is in Savannah, Georgia.

Notable company milestones

The company shared some of its notable milestones: