Glen Rock Council to Hold Town Hall on Basketball Court Usage

GLEN ROCK, NJ - The council will be hosting a town hall meeting in September to discuss the Wilde Memorial Park basketball court safety and usage after the May 21 shooting, and residents complained they were not being heard at the work session on July 24.

Council President Jill Orlich presided over the work session while Mayor Kristine Morieko, who has COVID, participated over the phone. Council members Amy Martin and Regina Viadro were absent.

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Orlich reviewed the results of the survey which was sent out shortly after the May 21 shooting in Wilde Park at the basketball court.

According to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, on May 21, 2024, at approximately 7:30 p.m., there was a shooting at Wilde Memorial Park where a large crowd was gathered playing basketball. A 23-year-old Paterson resident sustained a single gunshot wound. There have been no arrests, according to Mayor Morieko.

Residents and council members alike said children, along with their parents, who were utilizing the fields at the time of the shooting, were traumatized as they heard the gunshots and watched individuals scatter in between the area homes.

Residents voiced their concerns at subsequent council meetings, prompting the survey, which received 1,200 responses. See results here .

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The court is currently open to the public. It reopened the last week of June as borough officials moved forward to gather information about park usage.

Orlich said there is a county camera now monitoring the park, and the borough is working on installing two donated cameras.

The Public Safety committee met several times since the shooting, discussing safety options with the police and council members. After reviewing the results of the survey, Orlich said limiting court capacity, setting time limits for play, and requiring permits for tournaments were options under discussion.

Limiting the court capacity to 20 people within the fenced-in basketball court was the first safety option discussed. But more individuals seemed concerned about the survey and how it may have been directed, intentional or not, to automatically keep the courts open for basketball.

"If 70 percent of the respondents don't use the court, why are we automatically thinking about using them for basketball," one individual said. "Why not think about repurposing them for tennis or pickleball?"

Councilmember Mary Barchetto said the survey was devised by local officials, not professionals, who were interested in expediency and results.

After 90 minutes, the council decided to schedule a special town hall meeting in which the public could ask questions and discuss solutions for increased safety and control in the park. No date was set.

After the work session, at the public meeting, a woman said she was concerned the basketball court would be closed permanently and wanted to know the rationale for such a decision.

"I hope race was not a consideration," she said.

"I can assure you," Orlich said, "we're not going to make any decisions based on race."

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