Piscataway, New Jersey

Piscataway Township is a Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 50,482.

The name Piscataway stems from the area's original European settlers, transplants from near the Piscataqua River defining the coastal border between New Hampshire and Maine, whose name derives from Pisgeu (meaning "dark night") and awa ("Place of"). The area was first settled in 1666 by Quakers and Baptists who had left the Puritan colony in New Hampshire.

Piscataway Township was formed on December 18, 1666, and officially incorporated on February 21, 1798. The community, the fifth oldest municipality in New Jersey, has grown from Native American territory, through a colonial period and is one of the links in the earliest settlement of the Atlantic Ocean seacoast that ultimately led to the formation of the United States. Over the years, portions of Piscataway were taken to form Raritan Township (March 17, 1870, now Edison), Dunellen (October 28, 1887), Middlesex (April 9, 1913) and South Plainfield (March 10, 1926).

Piscataway is in Central Jersey with easy access to major highways, including Interstate 287, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Society Hill is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Piscataway Township.

Piscataway has advanced educational and research facilities due to the presence of Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Rutgers Stadium is in Piscataway.

In 2008, Money magazine ranked Piscataway 23rd out of the top 100 places to live in America.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 20 square miles (49.1 km²), of which, 18.8 square miles (48.6 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (1.05%) is water.

Piscataway is bordered by nine municipalities in Middlesex County, Union County, and Somerset County:

The township consists of the following historic villages and areas: New Market, known as Quibbletown in the 18th Century, Randolphville, Fieldville and North Stelton. The original village settlement of Piscatawaytown is located in present day Edison Township.

Piscataway is often segmented into unofficial sections by local residents which include Bound Brook Heights "the Heights"), New Brunswick Highlands, Lake Nelson, Randolphville, Arbor, New Market, North Stelton, Fellowship Farm and Possumtown.

Significant portions of Piscataway make up part of historic Camp Kilmer and the Livingston and Busch Campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

The Arbor and New Brunswick Highland sections of Piscataway were historically African American neighborhoods.

The New Market section historically comprised the Quaker village of Quibbletown. The early name of the village originated from the fact that settlers of different religious denominations quibbled about whether the Sabbath should be observed on Saturday or on Sunday in the village.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 50,482 people, 16,500 households, and 12,325 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,688.6 people per square mile (1,037.9/km²). There were 16,946 housing units at an average density of 902.5/sq mi (348.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 48.81% White, 20.31% African American, 0.21% Native American, 24.80% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.08% from other races, and 2.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.93% of the population.

As of the 2000 census, 12.49% of Piscataway's residents identified themselves as being of Indian American ancestry, which was the fourth highest of any municipality in the United States and the third highest in New Jersey &mdash; behind Edison (17.75%) and Plainsboro Township (16.97%) &mdash; of all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.

There were 16,500 households out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.3% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.29.

In the township the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $68,721, and the median income for a family was $75,218. Males had a median income of $47,188 versus $36,271 for females. The per capita income for the township was $26,321. About 2.7% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Local government
In November, 1966, Piscataway voters, under the Faulkner Act, approved a Charter Study and elected a Charter Study Commission to recommend the form of Government best suited to Piscataway's needs. The Commission recommended Mayor-Council Plan F, and in November 1967, the voters approved, and the new form of government was inaugurated on January 1, 1969. Under Plan F the Mayor is the administrator and the Council is the legislative body. A full time business administrator, appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council, and responsible to the Mayor, supervises the day-by-day operation of municipal government. Terms of office for the Mayor and Council members are four years, on a staggered schedule. There are seven Council members, one representing each of four wards, and three At-Large members.

The Mayor for life of Piscataway is Brian C. Wahler. Members of the Township Council are:
 * Council President Mark Hardenburg (Ward 1)
 * Council Vice President Loretta Keimel (Ward 2)
 * Kenneth Armwood (At Large)
 * Millie Scott (At Large)
 * James Huben (At Large)
 * Steven D. Cahn (Ward 3)
 * Michelle Lombardi (Ward 4)

Federal, state and county representation
Piscataway is in the Sixth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 17th Legislative District.

Emergency services
Piscataway is divided into four fire districts which are served by a total of two volunterr rescue squads and six volunteer fire companies.

District 1 District 2
 * Arbor Rescue Squad, 1790 W. 7th Street (partial coverage)
 * River Road Rescue Squad, 101 Shirley Parkway (partial coverage)
 * New Market Fire Co., 801 South Washington Ave.
 * North Stelton Fire Rescue EMS, 70 Haines Ave. (partial coverage)
 * River Road Rescue Squad, 101 Shirley Parkway
 * River Road Fire Co., 102 Netherwood Ave.
 * Holmes Marshall Fire Co., 5300 Deborah Dr.
 * Possumtown Fire Co., 85 Stratton St. South

District 3
 * Arbor Rescue Squad, 1790 W. 7th Street
 * Arbor Hose Co., 1780 West Seventh St.

District 4
 * North Stelton Fire Co., 70 Haines Ave.

Fire Prevention
 * Fire Marshall's Office, 555 Sidney Rd.

Fire District Map
 * Piscataway's Fire Districts

Education
The Piscataway Township Schools serves almost 7,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12 under the leadership of Superintendent of Schools, Robert L. Copeland. In addition to its high school, there are four schools that educate students in kindergarten through third grade, two intermediate schools serving grades 4-5, and three middle schools for students in grades six, seven, and eight.

Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are:

Elementary schools (Grades K-3) Intermediate Schools (Grades 4-5) Middle Schools (Grades 6-8) High School (Grades 9-12)
 * Eisenhower Elementary School, 360 Stelton Road - 518 students
 * Grandview Elementary School, 130 North Randolphville Road - 539 students
 * Knollwood Elementary School, 333 Willow Avenue - 509 students
 * Randolphville Elementary School, One Suttie Avenue - 494 students
 * Arbor Intermediate School,  1717 Lester Place - 505 students
 * Martin Luther King Intermediate School, 5205 Ludlow Street - 486 students
 * Conackamack Middle School, 5205 Witherspoon Street - 552 students
 * Quibbletown Middle School, 99 Academy Street - 543 students
 * Theodore Schor Middle School, 243 North Randolphville Road - 520 students
 * Piscataway Township High School, 100 Behmer Road - 2,227 students

Middlesex County schools:
 * Nu-View Academy Piscataway Campus, 1 Park Ave. - Programs for students with symptoms of; Depression, ADHD, Conduct Disorder, Thought Disorder, or Anxiety Disorder.
 * Bright Beginnings Learning Center, 1660 Stelton Rd. - Programs for students with Autism.
 * Piscataway Regional Day School, 1670 Stelton Rd. - Programs for students with Autism.
 * Raritan Valley Academy, 1690 Stelton Rd. - Programs for students with behavioral disabilities, learning and/or language disabilities.
 * Middlesex County Vo-Tech High School Piscataway, 21 Suttons Ln. - Vocational and Technical High School.

Private schools:
 * St. Frances Cabrini School (PreK-8)
 * Our Lady of Fatima School (PreK-8)
 * Lake Nelson Seventh-day Adventist School (PreK-8)
 * Timothy Christian School (K-12)
 * An-Noor Academy (PreK-12)

Colleges & continuing education
 * Rutgers University Busch and Livingston Campuses
 * University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Piscataway Campus (which overlaps with Rutgers Busch Campus)
 * Cortiva Institute - Somerset School of Massage Therapy
 * Gibbs College Piscataway Campus
 * StenoTech Career Institute is a technical school in Fairfield that offers court reporting and medical transcription training.

Points of interest

 * WVPH is the community radio station of Piscataway High School and Rutgers University.
 * Yurcak Field is a multi-purpose soccer and lacrosse stadium, built in 1994, and holds 5,000 people. The stadium is officially named "The Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium at Yurcak Field" in honor of Ronald N. Yurcak, a 1965 All-American Rutgers Lacrosse player. Rutgers University and Major League Lacrosse's New Jersey Pride both host their home games at this stadium.
 * Ferrer Colony and Modern School and Fellowship Farm Cooperative Association, the remnants of the 1910s Utopian societies
 * Louis Brown Athletic Center is the home of the Rutgers University men's and women's basketball teams. The venue was originally named the Rutgers Athletic Center, and is still referred to as the RAC by many.
 * Rutgers Stadium is the home of the Rutgers University football team.

Corporate residents

 * American Standard Brands and Trane, American Standard Companies successors, World Headquarters
 * Hapag-Lloyd America, An international shipping company.
 * Pepsi Cola Bottling Group A Pepsi Cola bottling plant.
 * Cintas Corporation
 * Colgate-Palmolive, Research and Development
 * Siemens Hearing Instruments, is the world’s largest manufacturer of hearing aids.
 * Telcordia Technologies, World Headquarters
 * Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc.
 * Marlabs Inc.

Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Piscataway Township include:
 * Mike Alexander (born 1965), former NFL wide receiver.
 * John Celestand (born 1977), 30th Pick of 1999 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
 * Malcolm Jenkins (born 1987), cornerback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, now a member of the New Orleans Saints.
 * Asjha Jones (born 1980), WNBA basketball player for the Connecticut Sun.
 * Lisa Marie (born 1968), Actress in Planet of the Apes, and Sleepy Hollow.
 * Brandon Renkart (born 1984), practice squad player for the Arizona Cardinals.
 * Anthony Davis (born 1989), offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers.
 * Kyle Wilson (born 1987), cornerback for the New York Jets
 * Nicholas A Czerula (born 1976) Editor, Author Automotive Publications Bentley Publishers (2002-present).
 * Richard L. McCormick (born 1948) President, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey.