| All interviews were taped and documented. They are available through the Reference Department of the Teaneck Public Library. The Library is not responsible for the accuracy of the statements nor does it necessarily endorse the opinions expressed. |
Audio recording of the interview with Metthew Feldman
| NARRATOR: | Senator Matthew Feldman |
| INTERVIEWER: | Clifton Cox |
| DATE OF INTERVIEW: | September 19, 1984 |
| TRANSCRIBER: | Jackie Kinney (12/85) |
(I) Senator, how did you originate in the town of Teaneck?
(N) I guess the housing shortage in Jersey City was the thing that motivated to move here. When I got out of the service, I am from Jersey City, born and raised, when I was discharged from the Armed Forces, I lived for a year and a half in Jersey City with my folks, with my one daughter and then there was another daughter coming, another child coming on her way and quarters were pretty cramped, housing was impossible in Jersey City and we made a demographic study of New Jersey to determine the best are, the best community to move to and Muriel and I decided on Teaneck for two very obvious reasons. The school system was second to none and being a father of one with another child coming, this was important to me. And number two, the type of government, the council/manager government, which is really non-partisan, you don’t have the heat of a general election on the municipal elections which are held in May and the general elections in the nation are held in November in the state so the climate, Teaneck’s climate, to me was what brought us to Teaneck plus the fact that the State Department classified Teaneck not as the typical American community but the “model” American community. The model American community. And these were the factors that brought the Feldmans to Teaneck back in 1947 or 48.
(I) Over the years, what do you think about the schools and what influence, if any, have you had on the systems?
(N) I believe very strictly in the philosophy of the separation of municipal government from the school board. They’re separate entities, they are autonomous and I only wanted to build a bridge when I became the mayor of Teaneck between the Board of education and the town government because most of our taxes are paid for school, the schools became the whipping boy of many frustrated citizens and they were the objects or the targets of criticism by township officials and I felt we had to work together and were bound together living in one community for a common purpose and a common goal. I never interfered. This is sort of a prologue Clifton, I never interfered with school politics. I voted for the people of my choice for the Board of Education. As I stated that I moved to Teaneck primarily because of this excellent school system that we have in Teaneck and I got myself involved for the first time as an elected official, the great moral issue confronting us was the integration of Teaneck schools, the central sixth grade, back in 1964 which has been documented, and Reg. Triumph in a White Suburb which has been documented there and this was really without a State Supreme Court decision, without state troopers on the streets of Teaneck, state police trying to foster or to oversee an orderly transition into the busing plan that was devised, that the people of Teaneck did it voluntarily by the ballot and to me that’s the most beautiful part of Teaneck. We voted in a Board of Education, members who ran on the platform that was carved out for us by Dr. Scribner of a school integration program and to me, it was most vital, most necessary to have people, we are a pluralistic society, we just can’t afford to be ghettoized in our school system, we have to know each other, this is what the world is about, this is what America is about, and we felt, I felt, that association should begin in childhood, during school hours, where people really get to know one another, young people, and to know that we are all the same, with the same hopes and aspirations and what best denominator is there than the school system.
(I) Very good Senator.
(N) Clifton, all this has been documented as I stated in this book entitled Triumph in a White Suburb by Reg Demarell. Reg now is teaching, I believe, at the University of Massachusetts and his book has been used as sort of a syllabus in a sense, a teaching book, for communities in America that wish to emulate Teaneck in their historic decision that was made back in 1964.
(I) Senator, as a leader and former councilman and mayor of Teaneck, what outstanding event other than the schools can you recall in its growth as a model community?
(N) Well we developed a, it was first called an Advisory Board on Community Relations, first it was the Mayor’s Committee on Community Relations because, they, nobody wanted to, those that were not for it thought it would never work out so they called it the Mayor’s Committee, they knew it was going to fail, they felt it was going to fail so it would be Matty Feldman’s fault but fortunately this Advisory Board on Community Relations has developed into a really a bridge between all the groups of Teaneck in this pluralistic society of ours. If there was any racial or religious incident, this Board of Community Relations moved right in and got the reasons and to the bottom of it and talked to the people that were involved. They have given over the years invaluable service in creating a harmonious aspect to our living here in Teaneck. This to me getting people to know each other was very, very, very important. Also the fact that the University and the community are now living in peace, side by side. At one time, the University of Fairleigh Dickinson was encroaching in the residential areas of Teaneck and I had to remind those who were in charge of the affairs of this very fine school that Teaneck was here before the University. Unlike Rutgers that was in New Brunswick before New Brunswick got developed or a Hanover, a Dartmouth that was in Hanover before Hanover developed, Teaneck was fully developed and we wanted to have an institution of higher learning here but we wanted friendship, we did not want acrimony, so we developed a plan that the township gave to the university the land that it owned on the west side of River Road, the F.D.U. gave the township the land that it owned on the east side of River Road, we made an exchange and we zoned the college area a college, we designated it in our planning, in the master plan, as a university or college area and there they could develop their cathedrals of learning and meanwhile that River Road, the east side of River Road, is as we can see today residential without gymnasiums, without other distractions, for the type of living that we want to have in our community.
(I) Senator, what do you think is needed for Teaneck to maintain this image of a quiet, suburban, all residential community and how can the people of Teaneck help in this endeavor?
(N) Well Teaneck is perhaps completely built up today thought at one time, what I’ve been concerned about and really I was shot down on it years ago, I wanted to have in the area where Glenpointe is a, not a high rise apartment but an apartment for middle income and upper middle income people and there was a great human cry in those days against this concept that we were to become another, again it was the fear of the unknown, we were to become like some parts of New York are, just big skyscrapers after skyscrapers of apartment house buildings and this was not so in my own conception of the plan because we have lost to many of our quality citizens to Hackensack and to Fort lee. Once children are educated, children are out of the house, mother and dad feel they don’t need a four bedroom house or a three bedroom house any longer but they wanted to stay in our community and there was no residences for them, no apartments, nothing for them to move into that was comparable to the area that they left. So therefore I call Fort Lee today, Teaneck, East, Hackensack and some areas, Teaneck West, and we could have had many fine people have moved, people that have contributed to this community have moved, were forced to move out, necessitated because there was no housing for them. Now we have this very lovely area, Glenpointe, but with townhouses, it seems to be the townhouses are not selling. The hotel is doing great, the office will be all filled, I guess people don’t like to spend a good deal of money for a lovely townhouse next to an office building or next to a hotel. So therefore they have to do a lot of marketing up there to merely get people to move into that area; hopefully they will because it is beautifully built, good environment there, and again, we have a lot to offer here. Very accessible to all areas of our state is Teaneck and the nation because of the Newark Airport but I wish we would have moved on this years ago where we could have kept more people in town without office complexes or hotels but just as living area.
(I) You partially answered my next question because I was going to ask you about what could be done to influence young people, especially our young people of Teaneck, to live here, to make it possible for them to live here due to the higher taxes and higher cost of property, they are usually forced to go elsewhere and I was wondering if there is anything…
(N) Well the cost of living Clifton is high anyplace. Of course Teaneck, we are not the highest tax rate in Bergen County, Englewood is, but I feel that the taxes we pay, we get great service. We have a professional Police Department, a professional Fire Department, an excellent school system, a very fine library, municipal services are second to none. We have a lot to offer. More than any other community has to offer. We have a hospital in the community with Holy Name Hospital. We have again a University that one can enroll for adult education courses as well as our own adult education But what will attract young people into an area, I guess is recreation which we have, great recreation system, outdoor facilities, but on the other hand, we have to, you just can’t build anymore in the community, and it is encouraging that I know at least a dozen young people, graduates of Teaneck High School, who have bought homes in Teaneck and are now raising their children who are now enrolled in our school system. Perhaps not enough but I know at least a dozen kids.
(I) Wonderful. Well Senator, I know you are a friend of all kinds of people and eager to listen and do what you can to help our town of Teaneck. Do you have a special message for our Oral History record?
(N) Well Teaneck was pioneered by men and women who were rose colored glasses and for them and for us, the air is still clear, the sunshine is bright and the horizons present exciting vistas. There was a great dream and in those years with the council/manager type or government, with the development of Teaneck or of the Teaneck that we know today, of parks and public areas and the only thing I can say is let’s keep it as perfect as we can. I mean we can’t live in yesterday, people move in, people out, but and people like Matty Feldman, this is where they are going to spend their entire life and the finality of their life will be here in Teaneck. I am not looking to move out. Many people like me love this community. And we have to build this up within our young people. If we are at fault someplace, let’s speak out or let’s talk like men and women, not friend and foe, to try to resolve our differences. I also never want to see the type of government change here. I happen to be a partisan political figure at this time but when it comes to Teaneck, I believe the non-partisan way of life is best for the community to have elections continuing in May, to elect people without political labels or partisan labels to our council as well as to our board of education. I think if we continue in this fashion, in this way, it will continue the greatness of Teaneck.
(I) Well thank you Senator for allowing us to have this interview for the Teaneck Oral History Project and I am deeply honored.
(END OF TAPE)
Interview 2 with Matthew Feldman by June Kapell, November 4, 1985
