title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has three basic education institutions, the UST Junior High School, the UST Education High School which serves as a laboratory for the College of Education, and the UST Senior High School. The UST Elementary School used to offer primary education for children in the K-12 levels, but stopped accepting applications for the K-Level sometime in the 2010s.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST offers over 63 undergraduate programs in over 100 undergraduate specializations, 3 professional programs, over 50 master programs, and over 20 doctorate programs enrolling 40,375 students in 2019. The Graduate School (excluding the Faculties of Ecclesiastical Studies, Civil Law, and Medicine and Surgery) received the most freshmen with 1,371 students. In 2018, there were 371 foreign students, majority were from Asian countries. The UST Hospital offers 21 residency training programs.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST holds the University of Santo Tomas Entrance Test (USTET) annually. The results are released on January 28, feast of day of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2020 and 2021, the USTET was replaced by the UST Admission Rating (USTAR) because of the COVID-19 situation in the country. The USTAR is a score that computes a number of parameters obtained primarily from the academic records of the applicant. In 2021, the university received 48,411 applications for the USTAR, admitting 7,772 college freshmen. The Faculty of Engineering had the most freshmen for 3 consecutive years with 1,071 students. The USTET resumed in 2022 for the 2023–2024 school year.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery separately conducts a psychological examination for the first-year Doctor of Medicine program as part of the admission process. However, the scholastic standing and NMAT score are given the biggest weight in accepting applicants. Applicants must have a GWA score of at least 2.00/B+/86% and an NMAT score of at least 85%ile. About 480 candidates are accepted out of 1,700 to 1,900 applicants annually. No entrance examination was held in 2021. For the B.S. in Basic Human Studies (LEAPMed) program, the faculty shortlists the top 200 USTET college applicants using the UST Predictive Scoring. It comprises the USTET score or USTAR rating, the LEAPMed examination score, and the IQ score. After an interview and a psychological examination, only the top 90 applicants are accepted.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Faculty of Civil Law also conducts a separate entrance examination for the degree of Juris Doctor.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: As of 2019, UST has 2,164 faculty members, the most among private institutions and second in the country. The faculty comprises 1,160 master's degree holders (largest among private institutions) and 333 doctoral degree holders.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The academic year is divided into 2 terms. The academic performance is graded through the use of the 5-point numerical grading system: 1.00 as excellent, 3.00 as passed, and 5.00 as failed. All bachelor's degrees in the university include theology courses in their curricula.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In response to COVID-19 pandemic, classes at the university were delivered through the “enhanced virtual mode” for school years 2020–2021 and 2021–2022.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) program offered by the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is a four-year post-graduate degree that consists of three years of academic instruction in the medical school and one year of clinical clerkship in the UST Hospital. The faculty implements a blended integrated approach, adopting problem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching model in appropriate teaching-learning scenarios, and recently, outcome-based education (OBE), a curriculum that emphasizes the achievement of expected learning outcomes.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Faculty of Civil Law offers a four-year professional law degree, which leads to Juris Doctor (J.D.). The curriculum mirrors the current model curriculum of the Legal Education Board. Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) are offered at the Graduate School of Law.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST is a comprehensive research university. It is a member of the Philippine Higher Education Research Network (PHERNET) and Higher Education Regional Research Centers (HERRC). The university spent ₱91 million and ₱116 million in research in 2017 and 2018 respectively.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The university has several research centers, namely Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences (RCNAS), Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities (RCCAH), Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSEd), Research Center for Health Sciences (RCHS), Center for Religious Studies and Ethics (CTRSE), Center for Health Research and Movement Science (CHRMS), Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET), and the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS).


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has recently discovered several plant species, namely "Vanda ustii", "Hedyotis papafranciscoi", "Mycetia dagohoyana", "Pyrostria arayatensis", and "Freycinetia nonatoi". The university established UST Herbarium in the 1870s as part of the requirement of the Spanish government before UST could offer science degrees. Today, the Herbarium holds more than 11,000 identified plant specimens. It is also involved in plant curation, storage, and identification through DNA barcoding that aides in taxonomy and conservation.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The UST Zooplankton Ecology, Systematics, and Limnology Laboratory is home to the first and only organized assemblage of zooplankton samples and specimens (UST Zooplankton Reference Collection) collected within the Philippines. The UST Collection of Microbial Strains, as of 2019, holds 224 collections of indigenous, clinical, and biotechnological microbial strains. The institute is a member of ASEAN Network on Microbial Utilization (AnMicro), World Federation for Culture Collections and the Asian Consortium for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Microbial Resources.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST Eco Tigers I, a team composed of mechanical and electrical engineering students and faculty members from the Faculty of Engineering, ranked first in the prototype diesel category of the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia (SEMA) 2019 held in May 2019 in Selangor, Malaysia. The team also ranked 8th in Asia from 26 participating teams under the prototype category with energy source internal combustion engine (ICE).


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: College of Science professors Nicanor Austriaco and Bernhard Egwolf are members of the OCTA Research team that is associated with forecasts and analyses of the country's COVID-19 situation. They also developed an epidemiological model, UST CoV-2 Model, which released COVID-19 cases and death projections in Metro Manila. In the early part of the pandemic, the study recommended the need to increase the daily testing capacity that would potentially control the outbreak. Austriaco is currently conducting experiments on a yeast-based oral COVID-19 vaccine. A study group from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery proposed a strategy to the government entitled, War Plan Mayon, to combat the pandemic through herd immunity. Faculty of Engineering professor Anthony James Bautista invented the LISA robot (Logistic Indoor Service), a telepresence and service assistant robot that delivers medicine and allows medical workers to manage isolated patients in the UST Hospital.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The university and the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched the DOST–TOMASInno Center, a technology business incubator (TBI), in 2019. The center was made possible through a research grant from the DOST.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET) provides researches, training, and cultural mapping of various national cultural heritage. It assisted in the development of San Pablo City Heritage District conservation guidelines, rehabilitation of Immaculate Conception Parish Church in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and churches in Bohol and Leyte, cultural mapping of cities and municipalities in Baguio, Pampanga, Iloilo City, Samar, and Leyte, among others.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Several publications include "Acta Manilana", the "Antoninus Journal", "The Asian Journal of English Language Studies", "Boletin Ecclesiastico", "Journal of Medicine", "Tomas", "UST Law Review", "Philippine Journal of Allied Health Sciences", and "Unitas". Established in 1922, "Unitas" is the oldest extant university-based academic journal in the country.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: "Acta Manilana", founded in 1965, is a multidisciplinary journal that features research papers from the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences. The university journals has been available in a web portal since 2018.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST is tenth in the country in the 2022 Alper-Doger Scientific Index, an institutional ranking system based on the performance and productivity of affiliated scientists. Thirty-nine Thomasian scientists placed in the ranking system.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: As of 2017–2018, the Miguel de Benavides Library held over 360,000 books and logged 10,948,882 access to electronic resources remotely. In 2018–2019, it received over 1,100,000 visitors. The main library is located in a six-storey building along Alberto Drive. It has sixteen sections and five branch libraries: Ecclesiastical, Health Science, Education High School, Junior High School, and Senior High School.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: As of 2017, the Health Sciences Library had 20,904 titles and 25,311 volumes. It was assessed to have sound and good-quality collections based on Doody's Core Titles (DCT) among five select medical libraries in the Philippines.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Antonio Vivencio del Rosario UST Heritage Library keeps some 30,000 volumes published between 1492 and 1900. Among the collections are "La Guerra Judaica" (1492) by Josephus Flavius, "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (1543) of Nicolaus Copernicus, and the first book ever printed in the Philippines, "Doctrina Christiana" (1593).


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In partnership with the Union Bank of the Philippines, the library launched the "Lumina Pandit" (spreading the light) rare books exhibit in 2011. The partnership included a three-phase program: the conservation, digitization, and publication of the university's archives and historical collections. In 2015, Unionbank gave another ₱30 million to fund the digitization of historical collections from 1492 to 1900 as part of the "Lumina Pandit II". In 2017, the conservation efforts continued with "Semper Lumina" (always the light). The project launched a 6-volume catalogue of rare books and periodicals and the UST Digital Library. As of the launching, 1.5 million pages have been scanned by the library for restoration and online publication, including the first-edition of José Rizal's "Noli Me Tángere".


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The university received the annual prize in the category of education and science in Awards 2021 in Spain. The library was also recognized for its efforts in preserving its heritage and digitizing its collections.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1871 as the "Gabinete de Fisica" (Cabinet of Physics), is the oldest museum in the Philippines. It houses the oldest zoological collection in the Philippines, with over 100,000 specimens collected and curated in the 19th century by Castro de Elera, a Dominican priest and professor. De Elera also published "Catalogo Sistematico de toda La Fauna de Filipinas" (Catalog of Philippine Fauna) in 1895. It was the first systematic work in zoology in the country. The museum also holds 4,899 species and subspecies of Philippine mollusks, the most among all mollusk museums in the world. Two of the five chairs used by the popes who visited the university are in permanent display.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The UST Hall of Visual Arts features restored paintings from various foreign and local artists, as well as works from several national artists. The collection includes a portrait of José Rizal by Victorio Edades, "El Studio Natural" of Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, and four masterpieces of Fernando Amorsolo. The museum's restoration project was funded by grants from the early editions of the UST Christmas Concert Gala.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Hall of Philippine Religious Images houses images collected from the various provinces of the country. Part of its collection includes the largest ivory crucifix ever made in the Philippines, which was controversially featured in the October 2012 issue of the "National Geographic."


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Other museums include the UST Medicine Museum, Dr. Julieta Hayag-Manchanda UST Anatomy Gallery, and UST Beato Angelico Art Gallery. The Anatomy Gallery serves as a showcase of all the teaching materials in anatomy. It features thick glass containers that holds dissected specimens for gross anatomy, neuroanatomy, and embryology.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The "Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas" (AUST) houses old books, various "incunabula", papal bulls, university records, and original documents relevant to the university foundation. AUST holds the biggest collection of extant ancient Baybayin scripts in the world. Two 17th-century deeds of sale documents in Baybayin, the oldest of their kind, were declared National Cultural Treasure by the National Archives of the Philippines. The scholastic records of José Rizal in Ateneo Municipal de Manila and UST are also preserved in the archives.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The archives’ collection of ancient Baybayin scripts were declared as National Cultural Treasures by the National Archives of the Philippines in 2014. The "Dictionario Hispanico-Sinicum" or "Vocabulario de la Lengua Chio Chiu" (A Lexicon of the Changzhou Language), an early 17th century Spanish-Chinese dictionary, was discovered by Spanish and Taiwanese scholars in the archives in 2017.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The UST Publishing House (USTPH) was established in 1996 through the merger of the Santo Tomas University Press and the UST Printing Office. USTPH evolved from the UST Press, which was founded in 1593 by Francisco de San Jose. It is one of the oldest continuing press in the world today, only next to Cambridge University in England.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The publishing house maintains a bookstore which is located at the ground floor of the UST Main Building. Regular publications include "Academia", the international bulletin of university, and "The Varsitarian", the student newspaper.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST is one of only three private universities granted with the five-year autonomous status by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). It is the highest grant given by CHED, which allows universities to implement programs and increase tuition fees with less government regulation.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Twenty-six programs in the university were declared as Centers of Excellence (COE) and Centers of Development (COD) by CHED, the most of any private educational institutions and second in the country. COE status was granted to 13 programs, and COD status was also given to 13. UST is one of the only three Philippine universities recognized as Center of Excellence in the Doctor of Medicine program. The architecture program was one of the only two architecture programs in the country recognized as Center of Excellence.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has been cited by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) as the university with the highest number of accredited programs in the country since 2011. As of December 2021, PACUCOA has accredited 59 programs of the university. UST also has the most Level IV accredited programs, with 26, and has the highest number of candidate programs.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST is the first Philippine university to be awarded by the Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) Stars with four stars and five stars as an institution in 2015 and 2021 respectively. The university achieved 5 stars for teaching, employability, internationalization, and facilities while scoring 4 stars for academic development. QS also gave a 5-star rating to the Doctor of Medicine program. It has been ranked in the QS Asian University Rankings 2021 (186), QS World University Rankings 2021 (801–1000), QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 (251–300), and THE Impact Rankings 2020 (301–400).


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Four master's degree programs of the UST Graduate School were ranked as among the best in Far East Asia by Eduniversal in 2021. The Masters in Human Resource Management was ranked 20th in Far East Asia and 3rd in the Philippines. The Masters in Communication and Masters in Economics were ranked 30th in Far East Asia and 3rd in the country. The Masters Public Administration placed 40th in the region and 2nd in the Philippines. UST was also recognized as one of the top 1,000 institutions in the world that offers programs in business and allied fields.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST became an associate member of the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) group in 2016. In 2020, it was the first associate member to receive an institutional certification. AUN-QA also certified 18 programs from the university.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: All six engineering programs of the university, namely civil, chemical, electric, electronics, industrial, and mechanical, were accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 2020.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has partnerships and linkages with 171 foreign academic institutions in 32 countries. A dual-degree program in Ph.D. Built Environment/Architecture is offered in collaboration with the University of Reading. The university also offers a ladderised program in Master in Public Health (International) in partnership with the University of Leeds. The partnership between the university and the Duke University allow nursing students of both universities to attend global health courses and participate in clinical immersions. Select fourth year students from the B.S. Medical Technology program can participate in the International Internship Program at the Mahidol University in Thailand.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The university marks events with a variety of ceremonies largely influenced by the Hispano-Filipino Dominican Catholic culture and Philippine culture. This includes the "Misa de Apertura" and "Discurso de Apertura", the Mass and lecture opening the academic year. As one of the oldest traditions in the university, the "Discurso" began in 1866. The Thomasian Welcome Walk where freshmen pass under the Arch of the Centuries at the start of their education at the university. The "UST Paskuhan", a series of monthlong campus events that celebrate the significance and value of Christmas. It features reenactments of the Christmas story, a campus-wide banquet, live concerts, and light and pyrotechnic displays.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Just before graduation, the academic year ends with the campus-wide Baccalaureate Mass, the Ceremony of the Light, and send-off rites. The highlight of the closing ceremonies is the graduating students' recessional parade through the Arch of the Centuries, which signifies the culmination of their Thomasian life.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Despite the COVID-19 situation in the country, most of the traditional activities such as the "Misa de Apertura" and "Discurso de Apertura", the Thomasian Welcome Walk, "Paskuhan", and closing ceremonies continued virtually. The Welcome Walk, ROARientation, and Send-off Rites, in particular, were streamed live in a Minecraft server. In 2022, the university returned to holding these traditional festivities in person. The closing ceremonies for the classes of 2020 to 2022 were held in July, while the Welcome Walk for the classes 2026 and "homecoming rites" for the classes of 2024 and 2025 resumed in August.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: As is customary in many Catholic institutions, activities and traffic within the campus stop at 12:00 and 18:00 PST (GMT+8) for the Angelus and at 15:00 PST for the 3 o’clock Prayer to the Divine Mercy daily.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The tiger statue in Plaza Mayor, which was installed in 2022, gained media attention when it transformed into a wishing well as students filled its open mouth with coins. The statue was barricaded the following day.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: A sports competition among the university colleges is the annual Thomasian Goodwill Games, which was inaugurated in the school year 2002–2003. Sporting events include basketball, volleyball, and football.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST hosts hundreds of student organizations which include a wide range of disciplines: religious, cultural, performing, media, socio-civic, and student service.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Central Student Council is the highest governing student body of the university. The Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC), is the central body of all recognized organizations of the university.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The UST Singers is a mixed choral ensemble that has won Choir of the World twice and Choir of the World Champion of Champions in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Founded in 1927, the UST Symphony Orchestra, is composed of faculty and students that performs regularly as a resident company at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, both Cheer and Dance subteams, have won local and international competitions.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In the 1960s, the first LGBT organization, Tigresa Royal, was established but was never recognized by the university. In 2013, HUE, a new LGBT organization was established. Like Tigresa Royal, the university also denied HUE's recognition as a university organization. In 2015, the university ordered numerous organizations to take down all rainbow-themed profile pics of its members in social media after the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. The order was defied by numerous students of the university, marking the beginning of the UST Rainbow Protest. In July 2016, various student organizations supported the filing of the SOGIE Equality Bill. In March 2018, during the passage of the bill, numerous UST student organizations, including UST Hiraya, a feminist organization, backed the bill's passage.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: "The Varsitarian" is the student publication of the university. Established in January 1928 by students from the UST Literary Club led by Jose Villa Panganiban, it is the oldest Catholic newspaper in the Philippines. It is published fortnightly. The lampoon issue is called "The Vuisitarian", a portmanteau of "Buwisit", a Tagalog expression used for unlucky events, and Varsitarian. The publication hosts the annual Inkblots, a national campus journalism fellowship that gathers student journalists, journalism and communication enthusiasts, and media professionals. The UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies hosts the National Writers’ Workshop annually. The fellows are graduate students and professionals that are selected based on the merits of their submitted works. "The Academia" is the international bulletin of the university.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Tiger Media Network, the university's broadcasting arm, produces, content through the Tiger TV and the Tiger Radio with the use of IPTV and internet. DZST (860 kHz) was an AM radio station owned by the university from 1950 to 1963. The frequency eventually became the DZRV-AM or "Radyo Veritas". In 2013, in partnership with Radio Veritas, the university launched the Blessed Pope John Paul II UST–Radio Veritas electronic community board located at the corner of Espana Boulevard and Lacson Avenue.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The USTv Students’ Choice Awards was an annual award event that recognized TV programs and personalities that promoted Filipino Christian values.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Faculty of Civil Law and Faculty of Medicine and Surgery had several Greek organizations on campus, but in 2018, following the death of civil law student Horacio Castillo III, the UST Office of Student Affairs suspended the recognition of all fraternities and sororities. Tau Mu Sigma Phi, founded in 1946, is the oldest among the 10 Greek groups in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In 1920, UST and other catholic universities and colleges in Manila organized a sports league called "Liga Catolica". Four years later, members of the "Liga Catolica" organized themselves to form the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). UST won its first basketball championship and only NCAA championship in 1930. In 1932, the university seceded from the NCAA and formed the Big 3 League with the University of the Philippines and National University. The Big 3 League and Far Eastern University eventually formed the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in 1938.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The varsity sports teams, originally called the "Glowing Goldies", have since been renamed as the "Growling Tigers" beginning the 1992–1993 UAAP season. The women's teams are called the "Tigresses", while the juniors' (high school) teams are the "Tiger Cubs".


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has the most general championship titles among the 8 member schools. UST has won the seniors division 45 times in the 74 seasons that the title has been awarded, including the record high 14-year run. The juniors team yielded 21 titles out of 26 seasons. The university is one of the only four universities that participates in all the UAAP events. UST has the most championships in baseball, beach volleyball, judo, swimming, taekwando and poomsae, tennis, and table tennis, or 7 out of the 16 sports in the UAAP.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has won the men's basketball title 18 times in the UAAP since 1938 and one in the NCAA, bringing the total to 19. In 2006, the Tigers captured the basketball championship defeating the Ateneo Blue Eagles in two of the three games held. With the championship, the UST tied with the UE Red Warriors with 18 UAAP men's basketball titles, behind the league-leading FEU Tamaraws with 20. The Tigers reached the finals four times in the last decade. In 2012, the Tigers, led by Jeric Fortuna and Carmelo Afuang, finished second at the end of eliminations with a 10–4 record, but were swept by the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the finals. In 2013, the fourth seed Tigers defeated the top seed National Bulldogs in the semi-finals. The team, led by Jeric Teng and Karim Abdul, clinched the first game of the finals, but the DLSU Green Archers went on to win the title. In 2015, the Tigers finished the elimination round as the no. 1 seed with an 11–3 record. UST, led by mythical five members Kevin Ferrer and Ed Daquioag, lost in three games to FEU Tamaraws in the finals. In 2019, the Tigers entered the stepladder semifinals with an 8–6 card. It defeated the FEU Tamaraws in a one-game playoff for third seed. The Tigers, led by Renzo Subido and Soulemane Chabi Yo, swept the Kobe Paras-led UP Fighting Maroons in two games to face the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the finals. The Eagles won the series in two games. Chabi Yo and Mark Nonoy were recognized as the season Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year respectively.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Golden Tigresses, the women's volleyball team, is the UAAP's second-winningest team with 16 titles. Former players include national team members Mary Jean Balse, Aiza Maizo, Maika Angela Ortiz, Aleona Denise Santiago, Cherry Ann Rondina, and Ejiya Laure.. The men's and women's beach volleyball teams are the winningest team in the same league.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Tiger Jins, the taekwando and poomsae teams, have the most number of championships across all divisions in the UAAP.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The Salinggawi Dance Troupe and the UST Yellow Jackets have won 8 UAAP Cheerdance Competition titles from 1994 to 1996 and 2002 to 2006.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Thomasians cheer the "Go USTe!" chant in supporting the Thomasian athletes in the playing field. UST Yellow Jackets founder Michael Ismael Flores created the iconic chant in 1990, getting inspiration from Vanilla Ice's .


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: The university sports facilities include a football field, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a sand court and at least 9 basketball courts (3 courts at the Practice Gym, a covered court beside the Practice Gym, Education court, P. Noval court, Seminary gym and open courts, and Frassati gym). The Quadricentennial Pavilion houses a 5,792-seat arena, a fitness center, a two-lane overall track, and training halls for dance, badminton, fencing, judo, and table tennis.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Persons affiliated to the university, either as students, faculty members, or administrators, are known as "Thomasians". UST alumni and faculty include 11 canonised Catholic saints, the current master of the Order of Preachers, 2 cardinals (José Lázaro Fuerte Advíncula Jr., the 33rd and reigning Archbishop of Manila, and José Tomás Sánchez) 4 Presidents of the Philippines (Manuel L. Quezon, José P. Laurel, Sergio Osmeña, and Diosdado Macapagal), 9 Chief Justices, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, 20 national artists, a National Scientist, and 5 billionaires.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Thomasians in the field of medicine include at least 13 out of 28 previous Secretaries of Health, the current surgeon general, co-founders of Makati Medical Center (Mariano M. Alimurung, José Y. Forés, and Raúl G. Forés), founding chairman of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center Jorge García, Belo Medical Group foundress Vicki Belo, and Aivee Clinic foundress Aivee Teo. May Parsons, a UST Nursing alumna, administered the world's first COVID-19 vaccine to a patient in the United Kingdom.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Thomasians have played significant roles in the establishment of other educational institutions. These include the first Filipino president of the University of the Philippines Ignacio Villamor, the first Filipino dean of University of the Philippines College of Medicine Fernando Calderon, founder of FEATI University and De La Salle Araneta University, founder of Lyceum of the Philippines University José P. Laurel, co-founder of Manila Central University Alejandro M. Albert, founder of Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation Martín Posadas, founder of Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation Manuel Enverga, and founders of University of Perpetual Help System Jose G. Tamayo, Josefina Laperal Tamayo, Antonio Laperal Tamayo.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In sports, UST alumni include Olympians Jethro Dionisio in shooting, Donald Geisler and Tshomlee Go in taekwondo, and Ernest John Obiena in pole vault.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: Recipients of the "honoris causa" include Douglas MacArthur, Juan Carlos I, Jaime Sin, and Corazon Aquino.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: UST has been referenced in popular culture, including in works of film, television, and literature. In "One More Chance" (2007), lead couple Popoy (John Lloyd Cruz) and Basha (Bea Alonzo), are Engineering and Architecture graduates of UST, respectively. Basha is also a member of the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe. She wears the 2003 UAAP Cheerdance Competition costume. In Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (2011), Eunice (Eula Caballero), daughter of the lead character Maricel Soriano is a UST High School student and a member of the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe. She wears the high school uniform and the UST costume of the 2011 UAAP Cheerdance Competition. In Alone/Together (2019), Raf, played by Enrique Gil, attends UST as a Biology undergraduate. He is seen wearing the UST College of Science uniform. He also becomes a graduate of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Gil also appeared in a video cheering the Go USTe! chant as part of the movie's promotional campaign.


title: University of Santo Tomas

text: In "El Filibusterismo" (1891 novel), Father Millon and Placido Penitente are a professor and a student in the university respectively.


title: American Top Team

text: American Top Team (ATT) is one of the primary teams in mixed martial arts. The gym was founded by Dan Lambert, who brought in former members of Brazilian Top Team Marcus "Conan" Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio, but there is no formal affiliation between the two teams. ATT's main academy is in Coconut Creek, Florida, and there are affiliated academies throughout the United States. ATT features professional fighters who have competed in many major promotions, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), PRIDE Fighting Championships, DREAM, K-1, Strikeforce, Bellator, Professional Fighters League (PFL) and ONE Championship.


title: American Top Team

text: In 2017, ATT also became involved in professional wrestling, and its fighters appeared as part of the American Top Team stable in events of Impact Wrestling, Major League Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling.


title: American Top Team

text: American Top Team traces its lineage to Carlson Gracie. He was an influential Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor, as he and his students created various innovative techniques and strategies, and favored a style of jiu-jitsu that encouraged physical prowess and aggressiveness. He was also an MMA pioneer, having fought several Vale Tudo bouts and creating one of the first academies with a specialized MMA program. In 2000, after disagreements and disputes, some of his students left him to found Brazilian Top Team (BTT) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The academy was established with the objective of creating a world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu gym and to train in the nascent sport of Mixed martial arts. By the early 2000s, BTT became one of the top academies in the world.


title: American Top Team

text: Dan Lambert founded American Top Team in 2001. He became friends with Florida-based BJJ instructor and MMA fighter Marcus "Conan" Silveira and both were soon joined by Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Libório, one of the co-founders of Brazilian Top Team. All the three Brazilian masters were former BTT and Carlson Gracie black belts. Their vision was to build a world class training facility where MMA fighters could get all of their training under one roof, similar to the Brazilian Top Team. Although they shared founders and similar names, the ATT was not going to be the American branch of the BTT, but a new camp entirely. A businessman by trade and Brazilian jiu-jitsu enthusiast, Lambert oversaw American Top Team as it became one of the top MMA training facilities and martial arts academies in the world. Headquartered in Coconut Creek, Florida, American Top Team has produced numerous MMA world champions and highly notable competitors. It is widely considered one of the top MMA facilities in the world, and it won the Best Gym category at the World MMA Awards in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. There are currently over 40 American Top Team affiliates worldwide representing the ATT banner.


title: American Top Team

text: In 2021, Lambert and American Top Team started to appear regularly for professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, allying with Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, with UFC fighters Andrei Arlovski, Junior Dos Santos, Jorge Masvidal, and Paige VanZant, among others, making appearances. American Top Team had previously made minor appearances in Impact Wrestling in 2017 and 2018 as part of a storyline where ATT fighter and professional wrestler Bobby Lashley quit wrestling (in kayfabe) to focus on his MMA career.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 955,732, an increase of 50,616 (5.6%) from the 905,116 residents in the 2010 census, which in turn represented an increase of 20,998 (2.4%) from the 884,118 counted in the 2000 census. Located in the northeastern corner of New Jersey and its Gateway Region, Bergen County is part of the New York City metropolitan area next to the Hudson River; the George Washington Bridge, which crosses the Hudson, connects Bergen County with Manhattan.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County is divided into 70 municipalities but has no large cities. Its most populous place, with 43,010 residents as of the 2010 census, is Hackensack, which is also its county seat. Mahwah covered the largest area of any municipality, at .


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 2015, the county had a per capita personal income of $75,849, the fourth-highest in New Jersey and 45th highest among the nation's 3,113 counties. Bergen County is one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a median household income of $81,708 per the 2010 Census, increasing to an estimated $84,677 in 2014, which was almost 18% higher than the $71,919 median statewide. The county hosts an extensive park system with expansive greenways, totaling nearly . The county is part of the North Jersey region.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The origin of the name of Bergen County is a matter of debate. It is believed that the county is named for one of the earliest settlements, Bergen, in modern-day Hudson County. However, the origin of the township's name is debated. Several sources attribute the name to Bergen, Norway, while others attribute it to Bergen, North Holland in the Netherlands. Some sources say that the name is derived from one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York City), Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Norway, who arrived in New Netherland in 1633.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: At the time of first European contact, Bergen County was inhabited by Native American people, particularly the Lenape Nation, whose subgroups included the Tappan, Hackensack, and Rumachenanck (later called the Haverstraw), as named by the Dutch colonists. Some of their descendants are included among the Ramapough Mountain Indians, recognized as a tribe by the state in 1980. Their ancestors had moved into the mountains to escape encroachment by Dutch and English colonists. Their descendants reside mostly in the northwest of the county, in nearby Passaic County and in Rockland County, New York, tracing their Lenape ancestry to speakers of the Munsee language, one of three major dialects of their language. Over the years, they absorbed other ethnicities by intermarriage.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In the 17th century, the Dutch considered the area comprising today's Bergen and Hudson counties as part of New Netherland, their colonial province of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch claimed it after Henry Hudson (sailing for the Dutch East India Company) explored Newark Bay and anchored his ship at Weehawken Cove in 1609. From an early date, the Dutch began to import African slaves to fill their labor needs. Bergen County eventually was the largest slaveholding county in the state, with nearly 20% of its population consisting of slaves in 1800. The African slaves were used for labor at the ports to support shipping, as well as for domestic servants, trades, and farm labor.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Early settlement attempts by the Dutch included Pavonia (1633), Vriessendael (1640), and Achter Col (1642), but the Native Americans repelled these settlements in Kieft's War (1643–1645) and the Peach Tree War (1655–1660). European settlers returned to the western shores of the Hudson River in the 1660 formation of Bergen Township, which would become the first permanent European settlement in the territory of present-day New Jersey.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, on August 27, 1664, New Amsterdam's governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to the English Navy. The English organized the Province of New Jersey in 1665, later splitting the territory into East Jersey and West Jersey in 1674. On November 30, 1675, the settlement Bergen and surrounding plantations and settlements were called "Bergen County" in an act passed by the province's General Assembly. In 1683, Bergen (along with the three other original counties of East Jersey) was officially recognized as an independent county by the Provincial Assembly.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Initially, Bergen County consisted of only the land between the Hudson River and the Hackensack River, extending north to the border between East Jersey and New York. In January 1709, the boundaries were extended to include all of the current territory of Hudson County (formed in 1840) and portions of the current territory of Passaic County (formed in 1837). The 1709 borders were described as follows:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen was the location of several battles and troop movements during the American Revolutionary War. Fort Lee's location on the bluffs of the New Jersey Palisades, opposite Fort Washington in Manhattan, made it a strategic position during the war. In November 1776, the Battle of Fort Lee took place as part of a British plan to capture George Washington and to crush the Continental Army, whose forces were divided and located in Fort Lee and Hackensack. After abandoning the defenses in Fort Lee and leaving behind considerable supplies, the Continental forces staged a hasty retreat through present-day Englewood, Teaneck, and Bergenfield, and across the Hackensack River at New Bridge Landing, one of the few sites where the river was crossed by a bridge. They destroyed the bridge to delay the British assault on Washington's headquarters in the village of Hackensack. The next day, George Washington retreated to Newark and left Hackensack via Polifly Road. British forces pursued, and Washington continued to retreat across New Jersey. The retreat allowed American forces to escape capture and regroup for subsequent successes against the British elsewhere in New Jersey later that winter. Soon after the Battle of Princeton in January 1777, British forces realized that they couldn't spread themselves thin across New Jersey. Local militia retook Hackensack and the rest of Bergen County. Bergen County saw skirmishes throughout the war as armies from both sides maneuvered across the countryside.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Baylor Massacre took place in 1778 in River Vale, resulting in severe losses for the Continentals.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 1837, Passaic County was formed from parts of Bergen and Essex counties. In 1840, Hudson County was formed from Bergen. These two divisions took roughly 13,000 residents (nearly half of the previous population) from the county's rolls.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 1852, the Erie Railroad began operating major rail services from Jersey City on the Hudson River to points north and west via leased right-of-way in the county. This became known as the Erie Main Line, and is still in use for passenger service today. The Erie later leased two other railroads built in the 1850s and 1860s, later known as the Pascack Valley Line and the Northern Branch, and in 1881 built a cutoff, now the Bergen County Line. There were two other rail lines in the county, ultimately known as the West Shore Railroad and the New York, Susquehanna, and Western.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 1894, state law was changed to allow easy formation of municipalities with the Borough form of government. This led to the "boroughitis" phenomenon, in which many new municipalities were created in a span of a few years. There were 26 boroughs that were formed in the county in 1894 alone, with two more boroughs (and one new township) formed in 1895.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: On January 11, 1917, the Kingsland Explosion took place at a munitions factory in what is today Lyndhurst. The explosion is believed to have been an act of sabotage by German agents, as the munitions in question were destined for Russia, part of the U.S.'s effort to supply allies before entrance into World War I. After the U.S. entry into the war in April 1917, Camp Merritt was created in eastern Bergen County for troop staging. Beginning operations in August 1917, it housed 50,000 soldiers at a time, staging them for deployment to Europe via Hoboken. Camp Merritt was decommissioned in November 1919.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The George Washington Bridge was completed in 1931, linking Fort Lee to Manhattan. This connection spurred rapid development in the post-World War II era, developing much of the county to suburban levels. Two lanes were added to the upper level in 1946 and a second deck of traffic on the bridge was completed in 1962, expanding its capacity to 14 lanes.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 1955, the United States Army created a Nike Missile station at Campgaw Mountain (in the west of the county) for the defense of the New York Metropolitan Area from strategic bombers. In 1959, the site was upgraded to house Nike-Hercules Missiles with increased range, speed, and payload characteristics. The missile site closed in June 1971.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County is located at the northeastern corner of the state of New Jersey and is bordered by Rockland County, New York to the north; by Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City, as well as by Westchester County, New York, across the Hudson River to the east; and within New Jersey, by Hudson County as well as a small border with Essex County to the south, and by Passaic County to the west.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the county had a total area of , of which (94.5%) was land and (5.5%) was water.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County's highest elevation is Bald Mountain near the New York state line in Mahwah, at above sea level. The county's lowest point is sea level, along the Hudson River, which in this region is a tidal estuary.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The sharp cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades lift much of the eastern boundary of the county up from the Hudson River. The relief becomes less pronounced across the middle section of the county, much of it being located in the Hackensack River valley or the Pascack Valley. In the northwestern portion of the county, Bergen County becomes hilly again and shares the Ramapo Mountains with Rockland County, New York.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The damming of the Hackensack River and a tributary, the Pascack Brook, produced three reservoirs in the county, Woodcliff Lake Reservoir (which impounds one billion gallons of water), Lake Tappan (3.5 billion gallons), and Oradell Reservoir, which allows United Water to provide drinking water to 750,000 residents of northern New Jersey, mostly in Bergen and Hudson counties. The Hackensack River drains the eastern portion of the county through the New Jersey Meadowlands, a wetlands area in the southern portion of the county. The central portion is drained by the Saddle River and the western portion is drained by the Ramapo River. Both of these are tributaries of the Passaic River, which forms a section of the southwestern border of the county.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Southeastern Bergen County lies at the edge of the humid subtropical climate zone ("Cfa") according to the Köppen climate classification because its coldest month (January) averages above 26.6 °F / -3 °C. In part due to Bergen's coastal location, its lower elevation, and the partial shielding of the county from colder air by the three ridges of the Watchung Mountains as well as by the higher Appalachians, the climate of Bergen County is milder than in New Jersey counties further inland such as Sussex County. Bergen County has a moderately sunny climate, averaging between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Hackensack have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1934 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Average monthly temperatures at the interchange of Route 17 and MacArthur Boulevard in Mahwah range from 28.5 °F in January to 73.8 °F in July. Using the 0 °C January isotherm, most of Bergen has a hot-summer humid continental climate ("Dfa") except for higher areas in the Ramapo Mountains which are "Dfb" and along the Hudson River from Fort Lee down where "Cfa" exists. Due to its location and elevation span, Bergen is thus the only county in New Jersey to have all three of the state's Köppen climate zones.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: As of the Census of 2020, the county had 955,732 people, 343,733 households, and 242,272 families. The population density was . There were 367,383 housing units at an average density of . The county racial makeup was 56.90% White, 5.73% African American, 0.47% Native American, 16.59% Asian, and 10.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 21.41% of the population.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: There were 343,733 households, of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 24.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 13.9% had a male householder with no wife present and 29.5% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.18 and the average family size was 3.25.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: About 21.3% of the county's population was under age 18, 8.0% was from age 18 to 24, 36.7% was from age 15 to 44, and 17.0% was age 65 or older. The median age was 42.1 years. The gender makeup was 48.53% male and 51.14% female. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The median household income was $108,827, and the median family income was $122,981. About 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Given its location as a suburban extension of Manhattan across the George Washington Bridge, Bergen County has evolved a globally cosmopolitan ambience of its own, demonstrating a robust and growing demographic and cultural diversity with respect to metrics including nationality, religion, race, and domiciliary partnership. South Korea, Poland, and India are the three most common nations of birth for foreign-born Bergen County residents.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Italian Americans have long had a significant presence in Bergen County; in fact, Italian is the most commonly identified first ancestry among Bergen residents (18.5%), with 168,974 Bergen residents were recorded as being of Italian heritage in the 2013 American Community Survey.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: To this day, many residents of the Meadowlands communities in the county's south are of Italian descent, most notably in South Hackensack (36.3%), Lyndhurst (33.8%), Carlstadt (31.2%), Wood-Ridge (30.9%) and Hasbrouck Heights (30.8%). Saddle Brook (29.8%), Lodi (29.4%), Moonachie (28.5%), Garfield, Hackensack, and the southeastern Bergen towns were Italian American strongholds for decades, but their Italo-American demographics have diminished in recent years as more recent immigrants have taken their place. At the same time, the Italian American population has grown in many of the communities in the northern half of the county, including Franklin Lakes, Ramsey, Montvale, and Woodcliff Lake.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The diverse Hispanic and Latin American population in Bergen is growing in many areas of the county but is especially concentrated in a handful of municipalities, including Fairview (37.1%), Hackensack (25.9%), Ridgefield Park (22.2%), Englewood (21.8%), Bogota (21.3%), Garfield (20.1%), Cliffside Park (18.2%), Lodi (18.0%), and Bergenfield (17.0%). Traditionally, many of the Latino residents were of Colombian and Cuban ancestry, although that has been changing in recent years. Englewood's Colombian community is the largest in Bergen County and among the top ten by percent of population in the United States (7.17%); Hackensack, Fairview, Bergenfield, Bogota, and Lodi also have notable populations. The Cuban population is largest in Fairview, Ridgefield Park, Ridgefield, and Bogota, although the Cuban community is much bigger in Hudson County to the south. Since 2000, an increasing number of immigrants from other countries have entered the region, including people from Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Chile, as well as from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The diverse backgrounds of the local Latino community are best exemplified in Fairview, where 10% of the overall population hails from Central America, 7% from South America, and 9% from other Latin American countries, mainly the Caribbean. Overall, Bergen County's Latino population has demonstrated a robust increase from 145,281 in the 2010 census count to an estimated 165,442 in 2013.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Irish Americans and German Americans are the next largest individual ethnic groups in Bergen County, numbering 115,914 in 2013 (12.7% of the county's total population) and 80,288 (8.8%) respectively. As is the case with Italian Americans, these two groups developed sizable enclaves long ago and are now well established in all areas of the county.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County is home to the largest Jewish population in New Jersey. Many municipalities in the county are home to a significant number of Jewish Americans, including Fair Lawn, Teaneck, Tenafly, Closter, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, Bergenfield, Woodcliff Lake, Paramus, and Franklin Lakes. Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Englewood, and Bergenfield in particular have become havens for Bergen County's growing Orthodox Jewish communities, with a rising number of synagogues as well as supermarkets and restaurants offering kosher foods. The largest Israeli American communities in Bergen County were in Fair Lawn (2.5%), Closter (1.4%), and Tenafly (1.3%) in 2000, representing three of the four largest in the state. Altogether, 83,700 Bergen residents identified themselves as being of Jewish heritage in 2000, a number expected to show an increase per a 2014 survey of Jews in the county.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The top ten municipalities in the United States as ranked by Korean American percentage of overall population in 2010 are illustrated in the following table:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: One of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Bergen County is the Korean American community, which is concentrated along the Hudson River – especially in the area near the George Washington Bridge – and represented more than half of the state's entire Korean population as of 2000. As of the 2010 Census, persons of Korean ancestry made up 6.3% of Bergen County's population (increasing to 6.9% by the 2011 American Community Survey to an estimated 63,247 individuals), which is the highest percentage for any county in the United States; while the concentration of Koreans in Palisades Park, within Bergen County, is the highest density and percentage of any municipality in the United States, at 51.5% of the population. Per the 2010 Census, Palisades Park was home to the highest total number (10,115) of individuals of Korean ancestry among all municipalities in the state, while neighboring Fort Lee had the second largest cluster (8,318), and fourth highest proportion (23.5%, trailing Leonia (26.5%) and Ridgefield (25.7%)). All of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population in 2010 were located in Bergen County, including Palisades Park, Leonia, Ridgefield, Fort Lee, Closter, Englewood Cliffs, Norwood, Edgewater, Cresskill, and Demarest, closely followed by Old Tappan. Virtually all of the municipalities with the highest Korean concentrations are located in the eastern third of the county, near the Hudson River, although Ridgewood has emerged as a Korean American nexus in western Bergen County, and Paramus and River Edge in central Bergen County. Beginning in 2012, county election ballots were printed in the Korean language, in addition to English and Spanish, given the U.S Census Bureau's directive that Bergen County's Korean population had grown large enough to warrant language assistance during elections. Between 2011 and 2017, the Korean population of Fair Lawn was estimated to have more than doubled.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: South Korean "chaebols" have established North American headquarters operations in Bergen County, including Samsung, LG Corp, and Hanjin Shipping. In April 2018, the largest Korean-themed supermarket in Bergen County opened in Paramus. In January 2019, Christopher Chung was sworn in as the first Korean-American mayor of Palisades Park.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The political stature of Koreatown appears to be increasing significantly as well. Bergen County's growing Korean community was cited by county executive Kathleen Donovan in the context of attorney Jae Y. Kim's appointment to Central Municipal Court judgeship in nearby Hackensack in January 2011. Subsequently, in March 2012, leaders from Bergen County's Korean community announced they would form a grassroots political action committee to gain an organized voice in politics in the wake of the rejection of attorney Phillip Kwon to the New Jersey Supreme Court by a state legislative body, and in July 2012, Kwon was appointed instead as deputy general counsel of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Jacqueline Choi was then sworn in as Bergen County's first female Korean American assistant prosecutor in September 2012. According to "The Record", the U.S. Census Bureau has determined that the county's Korean American population has grown enough to warrant language assistance during elections, and Bergen County's Koreans have earned significant political respect. As of May 2014, Korean Americans had garnered at least four borough council seats in Bergen County. In November 2016, Ellen Park was elected to the borough council in nearby Englewood Cliffs, while namesake Daniel Park was elected to the borough council in nearby Tenafly in November 2013.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Polish Americans are well represented in western Bergen County and are growing as a community, with 59,294 (6.5%) of residents of Polish descent residing in the county as of the 2013 American Community Survey. The community's cultural and commercial heart has long been centered in Wallington, where 45.5% of the population is of Polish descent; this is the largest concentration among New Jersey municipalities and the seventh-highest in the United States. The adjacent city of Garfield has also become a magnet for Polish immigrants, with 22.9% of the population identifying themselves as being of Polish ancestry, the third highest concentration in the state.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The county's African American community is almost entirely concentrated in three municipalities: Englewood (10,215 residents, accounting for 38.98% of the city's total population), Teaneck (11,298; 28.78%), and Hackensack (10,518; 24.65%). Collectively, these three areas account for nearly 70% of the county's total African American population of 46,568, and in fact, blacks have had a presence in these towns since the earliest days of the county. In sharp contrast, African Americans comprise less than 2% of the total in most of Bergen's other municipalities. In Englewood, the African American population is concentrated in the Third and Fourth wards of the western half of the city, while the northeastern section of Teaneck has been an African American enclave for several decades. In 2014, Teaneck selected its first female African-American mayor. Hackensack's long-established African American community is primarily located in the central part of the city, especially in the area near Central Avenue and First Street. Bergen County's black population has declined from 52,473 counted in the 2010 Census to an estimated 50,478 in 2012. Other county municipalities with a sizeable minority of African-Americans include Bergenfield (7.7%), Bogota (9.4%), Garfield (6.5%), Lodi (7.5%) and Ridgefield Park (6.4%)


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Indian Americans represent a rapidly growing demographic in Bergen County, enumerating over 40,000 individuals in 2013, a significant increase from the 24,973 counted in the 2010 Census, and represent the second largest Asian ethnic group in Bergen County, after Korean Americans. The biggest clusters of Indian Americans are located in Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Paramus, Teaneck, Mahwah, Bergenfield, Lodi, and Elmwood Park. Within the county's Indian population is America's largest Malayali community, and Kerala-based Kitex Garments, India's largest children's clothing manufacturer, opened its first U.S. office in Montvale in October 2015. Glen Rock resident Gurbir Grewal, a member of Bergen County's growing Indian American Sikh community, was sworn into the position of county prosecutor in 2016, and an architecturally notable Sikh "gurudwara" resides in Glen Rock, while a similarly prominent Hindu "mandir" has been built in Mahwah. The public library in Fair Lawn began a highly attended Hindi language (हिन्दी) storytelling program in October 2013. The affluent municipalities of northern Bergen County are witnessing significant growth in their Indian American communities, including Glen Rock, into which up to 90% of this constituency was estimated by one member in 2014 to have moved within the preceding two-year period alone. In February 2015, the board of education of the Glen Rock Public Schools voted to designate the Hindu holy day Diwali as an annual school holiday, making it the first district in the county to close for the holiday, while thousands celebrated the first county-wide celebration of Diwali under a unified sponsorship banner in 2016. An annual "Holi in the Village" festival of colors has been launched in Ridgewood.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Fair Lawn, Tenafly, Alpine, and Fort Lee are hubs for Russian Americans, including a growing community of Russian Jews. Garfield is home to an architecturally prominent Russian Orthodox church. Likewise, Ukrainian Americans, Georgian Americans, and Uzbek Americans have more recently followed the path of their Russian American predecessors to Bergen County, particularly to Fair Lawn. The size of Fair Lawn's Russian American presence has prompted an April Fool's satire titled, "Putin Moves Against Fair Lawn". The Armenian American population in Bergen is dispersed throughout the county, but its most significant concentration is in the southeastern towns near the George Washington Bridge. The victims of the Armenian genocide are recognized annually at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergenfield, along with Paramus, Hackensack, New Milford, Dumont, Fair Lawn, and Teaneck, have become growing hubs for Filipino Americans. Taken as a whole, these municipalities are home to a significant proportion of Bergen County's Philippine population. A census-estimated 20,859 Filipino Americans resided in Bergen County as of 2013, embodying an increase from the 19,155 counted in 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the Filipino-American population of Bergenfield grew from 11.7%, or 3,081 residents, to 17.1%, or 4,569, and increasing further to 5,062 (18.4%) by 2016. Bergenfield is informally known as the "Little Manila" of Bergen County, with a significant concentration of Filipino residents and businesses. In the late 1990s, Bergenfield became the first municipality on the East Coast of the United States to elect a Filipino mayor, Robert C. Rivas. The annual Filipino American Festival is held in Bergenfield. The Philippine-American Community of Bergen County (PACBC) organization is based in Paramus, while other Filipino organizations are based in Fair Lawn and Bergenfield. Bergen County's culturally active Filipino community repatriated significant financial assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which ravaged the Philippines in November 2013. Between 2011 and 2017, Fair Lawn's Filipino population was estimated to have more than doubled. In 2021, the mulitnational conglomerate Jollibee restaurant chain based in Metro Manila, planned to open its first Bergen County location in East Rutherford.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Chinese American population is also spread out, with sizable populations in Fort Lee, Paramus, Ridgewood, River Edge, and Englewood Cliffs. Fort Lee and Paramus have the highest total number of Chinese among Bergen municipalities while Englewood Cliffs has the highest percentage (8.42%). Several school districts throughout the county have added Mandarin to their curricula.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Japanese community, which includes a significant number of Japanese nationals, has long had a presence in Fort Lee, with over a quarter of the county's total Japanese population living in that borough alone. Adjacent Edgewater has also developed an active Japanese American community, particularly after the construction of the largest Japanese-oriented commercial center on the U.S. East Coast in this borough. As of March 2011, about 2,500 Japanese Americans lived in Fort Lee and Edgewater combined; this is the largest concentration of Japanese Americans in New Jersey. The remainder of Bergen County's Japanese residents are concentrated in northern communities, including Ridgewood. The Japanese-American Society of New Jersey is based in Fort Lee.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Greek Americans have had a fairly sizable presence in Bergen for several decades, and according to 2000 census data, the Greek community numbered 13,247 county-wide. Greek restaurants are abundant in Bergen County. The largest concentrations of Greeks by percentage in the county are in Englewood Cliffs (7.2%), Alpine (5.2%), Fort Lee (3.7%), and Palisades Park (3.5%). Macedonian Americans and Albanian Americans have arrived relatively recently in New Jersey but have quickly established Bergen County enclaves, roughly in tandem, in Garfield, Elmwood Park, and Fair Lawn.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: A relatively recent community of Iranian Americans has emerged in Bergen County, including those in professional occupations scattered throughout the county.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Same-sex couples headed one in 160 households in 2010, prior to the commencement of same-sex marriages in New Jersey on October 21, 2013. On June 28, 2016, Bergen County officials for the first time raised the rainbow-colored gay pride flag at the county administration building in Hackensack to commemorate the gay rights movement.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County also has a moderate-sized Muslim population, which numbered 6,473 as of the 2000 census. Teaneck and Hackensack have emerged as the two most significant Muslim enclaves in the county, with the American Muslim Union's 18th annual brunch gathering held in Teaneck in 2016. Bergen's Muslim population primarily consists of Arab Americans, South Asian Americans, African Americans, and more recently, Macedonian Americans and Albanian Americans, although many members of these groups practice other religions. While Arab Americans have not established a significant presence in any particular municipality, in total there are 11,755 county residents who indicated Arab ancestry in the 2000 census. The overwhelming majority of Bergen's Arab American population (64.3%) is constituted by persons of Lebanese (2,576), Syrian (2,568), and Egyptian (2,417) descent. The county's diners provide late-night and pre-dawn dining options during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County has a highly developed road network, including the northern termini of the New Jersey Turnpike (a portion of Interstate 95) and the Garden State Parkway, the eastern terminus of Interstate 80, and a portion of Interstate 287. US Highways 1/9, 9W, 46, 202, and New Jersey state highways 3, 4, 17, 120, 208, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway also serve the region. With an average volume of 210,000 vehicles passing through each day, the intersection of Routes 4 and 17 is one of the busiest in the world.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The George Washington Bridge, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County across the Hudson River to the Upper Manhattan section of New York City, is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge. Access to New York City is alternatively available for motorists through the Lincoln Tunnel and Holland Tunnel in Hudson County. Access across the Hudson River to Westchester County in New York is available using the Tappan Zee Bridge in neighboring Rockland County, New York.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: , the county had a total of of roadways, of which are maintained by the municipality, by Bergen County, by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, by the Palisades Interstate Parkway Commission, by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Train service is available on three lines from NJ Transit: the Bergen County Line, the Main Line, and the Pascack Valley Line. They run north–south to Hoboken Terminal with connections to the PATH train. NJ Transit also offers connecting service to New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station at Secaucus Junction. Connections are also available at Hoboken Terminal to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and New York Waterways ferry service to the World Financial Center and other destinations.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Local and express bus service is available from NJ Transit and private companies such as Academy Bus Lines, Coach USA, DeCamp Bus Lines and Red and Tan Lines, offering transport within Bergen County, elsewhere in New Jersey, and to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Station in New York City. In studies conducted to determine the best possible routes for the Bergen BRT (bus rapid transit) system, it has been determined the many malls and other "activity generators" in the vicinity of the intersection of routes 4 and 17 would constitute the core of any system. While no funding has for construction of the project has been identified, a study begun in 2012 will define the optimal routes.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: There is one airport in the county, Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, which is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The three busiest commercial airports in the New York City metropolitan area, namely JFK International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, and LaGuardia Airport, are all located within 25 miles of Bergen County.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: For the main surface-street routes through the county, see List of county routes in Bergen County, New Jersey.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Rockleigh Borough School District is a non-operating school district. Teterboro Borough School District was a non-operating school district; it is now in the Hasbrouck Heights district.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: County-wide school districts include Bergen County Technical Schools and Bergen County Special Services School District. South Bergen Jointure Commission also has special education services for the south of the county.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen has some 45 public high schools and at least 23 private high schools. Three of the top ten municipal high schools out of 339 schools in New Jersey were located in Bergen County, according to a 2014 ranking by "New Jersey Monthly" magazine, including Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale (#3), Pascack Hills High School in Montvale (#7), and Glen Rock High School in Glen Rock (#8). The magazine's list did not include the Bergen County Academies, which as the county's public magnet high school in Hackensack has continued to be recognized by various rankings as one of the best high schools in the United States. In 2014, BCA had an average HSPA score of 294 out of 300 and an average SAT score of 2103 out of 2400.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 1987 there were five juku (Japanese-style cram schools) in the county, with two of them in Fort Lee.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Bergen Performing Arts Center (PAC) is based in Englewood, while numerous museums are located throughout the county. In September 2014, the Englewood-based Northern New Jersey Community Foundation announced an initiative known as ArtsBergen, a centralizing body with the goal of connecting artists and arts organizations with one another in Bergen County.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen has had a county executive form of government since voters chose the first executive in 1986, joining Atlantic, Essex, Hudson and Mercer counties as one of the 5 of 21 New Jersey counties with an elected executive. The executive oversees the county's business, while the seven-member Board of County Commissioners has a legislative and oversight role. The Commissioners are elected at-large to three-year terms in office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election each November in a three-year cycle. All members of the governing body are elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general elections. In 2018, Commissioners were paid $28,312 and the Commissioner chairman was paid an annual salary of $29,312.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Day-to-day oversight of the operation of the county and its departments is delegated to the County Administrator, Thomas J. Duch. Duch took the position in June 2021, succeeding Julien X. Neals who was appointed as a federal judge.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: , the county executive is Democratic James J. Tedesco III of Paramus, whose term of office ends December 31, 2022. Bergen County's Commissioners are (with terms for Chair and Vice-Chair ending every December 31st):


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Pursuant to Article VII Section II of the New Jersey State Constitution, each county in New Jersey is required to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Bergen County's constitutional officials are:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Bergen County Prosecutor is Mark Musella. Musella succeeded acting prosecutor Dennis Calo, who was sworn into office in January 2018 after Gurbir Grewal of Glen Rock left office to become New Jersey Attorney General. Bergen County constitutes Vicinage 2 of the New Jersey Superior Court, which is seated at the Bergen County Justice Center in Hackensack; the Assignment Judge for Vicinage 2 is Bonnie J. Mizdol.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 2014, Freeholder James Tedesco challenged incumbent Kathleen Donovan on a platform that highlighted his own plan to merge the Bergen County Police Department with the sheriff's office, as well as Donovan's connections to recent scandals in the New Jersey state government, including the nationally reported "Bridgegate" scandal and alleged campaign finance abuse among her staff. Election results showed Tedesco with 54.2% of the vote (107,958), ahead of Donovan with 45.8% (91,299), in a race in which Tedesco's campaign spending nearly $1 million, outspending Donovan by a 2–1 margin.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In November 2010, Republican County Clerk Kathleen Donovan won the race for County Executive, defeating Dennis McNerney in his bid for a third term. Three incumbent Freeholders, Chairman James Carroll, Freeholder Elizabeth Calabrese, and Freeholder John Hogan were all defeated by Republican challengers Franklin Lakes Mayor Maura DeNicola, former River Edge Councilman John Felice, and Cliffside Park resident John Mitchell. Incumbent Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire also failed in his bid for a third term as Emerson Police Chief Mike Saudino defeated him. As a result of the 2010 elections, Republicans controlled Bergen County government for the first time in nearly a decade, with County Executive Kathleen Donovan and a 5–2 majority on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Saudino would later face backlash over his remarks disparaging Black Americans and Sikhs — including remarks about Gurbir Grewal, who was the Bergen County prosecutor at the time — and resigned his position in 2018.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Negotiations to merge the Bergen County Police Department with the Sheriff's Office began in 2015, and were finally completed in 2021. The county Police Department had been created in 1917.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The Bergen County court system consists of a number of municipal courts handling traffic court and other minor matters, plus the Bergen County Superior Court which handles more serious offenses. Law enforcement at the county level includes the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Bergen County's first female police chief took office in September 2015, as police chief of Bergenfield. In August 2015, a branding campaign was launched to highlight county government services, with its centerpiece being the official seal of Bergen County, depicting a Dutch settler shaking hands with a Native American. The county's contemporaneous executive James Tedesco made an approximately $5,000 private donation to initiate the effort in the form of a nine-foot rendering of this seal woven into the carpet of the county executive's office.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The county is part of two Congressional Districts: the 5th District covering the northern portion of the county and the 9th most of the south.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The 70 municipalities of Bergen County are represented by seven separate state legislative districts.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The county is characterized by a divide between Republican communities in the north and northwest of the county and Democratic communities in its center and southeast. That dichotomy largely remained in place for quite a while, until 2020. Mirroring the "suburban revolt" against President Donald Trump, Democratic candidate Joe Biden made significant gains in the northern portion of the county, winning in many affluent and typically Republican voting communities, such as River Vale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ramsey, Allendale, Hillsdale, and Montvale, winning in Upper Saddle River by a mere 2 vote margin. He also won somewhat less affluent suburban towns such as Mahwah, Waldwick, and Midland Park. As of October 1, 2021, there were a total of 688,213 registered voters in Bergen County, of whom 265,251 (38.5%) were registered as Democrats, 150,811 (21.9%) were registered as Republicans and 265,186 (38.5%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 6,965 voters (1.0%) registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 61.4% were registered to vote, including 77.4% of those ages 18 and over.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden won the county by the largest margin for a Democrat since 1964, and marked the first time the county voted to the left of the state since 1904. In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 231,211 votes here (54.8%), ahead of Republican Donald Trump with 175,529 votes (41.6%) and other candidates with 19,827 votes (4.6%), among the 426,567 ballots cast by the county's 588,362 registered voters, for a turnout of 73%. In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 212,754 votes here (54.8%), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 169,070 votes (43.5%) and other candidates with 3,583 votes (0.9%), among the 388,425 ballots cast by the county's 551,745 registered voters, for a turnout of 70.4%). In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama received 225,367 votes here (53.9%), ahead of Republican John McCain with 186,118 votes (44.5%) and other candidates with 3,248 votes (0.8%), among the 418,459 ballots cast by the county's 544,730 registered voters, for a turnout of 76.8%. County CPVI:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 127,386 ballots cast (48.0%) in the county, ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 121,446 votes (45.8%), Independent Chris Daggett with 12,452 votes (4.7%), and other candidates with 1,262 votes (0.5%), among the 265,223 ballots cast by the county's 530,460 registered voters, yielding a 50.0% turnout. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 136,178 ballots cast (60.2%), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 87,376 votes (38.7%) and other candidates with 2,515 votes (1.1%), among the 226,069 ballots cast for governor by the county's 527,491 registered voters, yielding a 42.9% turnout. This is the only time Bergen County voted for a Republican in a gubernatorial election in the 21st century. In the 2017 gubernatorial election, Democrat Phil Murphy received 56.7% of the vote (129,265 votes) to Republican Kim Guadagno's 41.6% (94,904 votes). In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy received 52.5% of the vote (145,150 votes) to Republican Jack Ciattarelli's 46.9% (129,644 votes).


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In the last decades of the 19th century, Bergen County, to a far greater extent than any other county in the state, began dividing its townships up into incorporated boroughs; this was chiefly due to the "boroughitis" phenomenon, triggered by a number of loopholes in state laws that allowed boroughs to levy lower taxes and send more members to the county's board of freeholders. There was a 10-year period in which many of Bergen County's townships disappeared into the patchwork of boroughs that exist today, before the state laws governing municipal incorporation were changed.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The 70 municipalities in Bergen County (with 2010 Census data for population, housing units and area) are:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Over the history of the county, there have been various municipality secessions, annexations and renamings. The following is a partial list of former municipalities, ordered by year of incorporation.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bergen County had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $66.1 billion in 2018, which was ranked 1st in the state and represented an increase of 2.6% from the previous year.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: According to the Bergen County Economic Development Corporation, the largest employers in Bergen County as of November 2012, as ranked with at least 1,000 employees in the county, were as follows:


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In January 2015, Mercedes-Benz USA announced that it would be moving its headquarters from the borough of Montvale in Bergen County to the Atlanta, Georgia area as of July. The company had been based in northern New Jersey since 1972 and has had 1,000 employees on a campus in Montvale. Despite incentive offers from the State of New Jersey to remain in Bergen County, Mercedes-Benz cited proximity to its Alabama manufacturing facility and a growing customer base in the southeastern United States, in addition to as much as $50 million in tax incentives from Georgia governmental agencies, in explaining its decision to move. However, Mercedes-Benz USA also stated its intent to maintain its Northeast regional headquarters in Montvale and to build a "state-of-the-art" assemblage training center in the borough as well.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In 2011, Bergen County issued 1,903 new building permits for residential construction, the largest number in New Jersey.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: The retail industry, anchored in Paramus, is a mainstay of the Bergen County economy, with a combined payroll of $1.7 billion as of 2012.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: Bergen County enforces one of the last remaining blue laws in the United States that covers most retail sales, other than food and gasoline (among other limited items). The law enforced in the county is actually a state law that each county could reject by voter referendum, with 20 of the state's 21 counties having voted to reject the legal option to enforce the law. Thus one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the New York metropolitan area is almost completely closed on Sunday. Grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, hotels, restaurants, pharmacies, entertainment venues, and any other exempted establishments that do not sell clothing, shoes, furniture, electronics, hardware, and home appliances are among the businesses allowed to operate. Furthermore, Bergen County has significant populations of Jewish (2000 estimate of 83,700) and Muslim (2000 estimate of 6,473) residents whose observant members would not be celebrating the Sunday Sabbath with most of their Christian neighbors. The substantial Orthodox Jewish minority is placed in the position of being unable to shop either on Sunday (due to the blue laws) or on Saturday (due to religious observance).


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: However, repeated attempts by voters to reject the law have failed. A large part of the reason for maintaining the laws has been a desire by many Bergen County residents for relative peace and quiet, with less traffic, on one day of the week. This desire for relative peace is most apparent in Paramus, where most of the county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of Route 4 and Route 17, which are jam-packed on many Saturdays. Paramus has enacted blue laws of its own that are even more restrictive than those enforced by Bergen County, banning all forms of "worldly employment" on Sundays, including white collar workers in office buildings. Despite these strict blue laws, Paramus (07652) has become the top retail ZIP Code in the United States, with the municipality generating over US$6 billion in annual retail sales. Local blue laws in Paramus were first proposed in 1957, while the Bergen Mall (since renamed as The Outlets at Bergen Town Center) and Garden State Plaza were under construction. The legislation was motivated by fears that the two new malls would aggravate the already severe highway congestion caused by local retail businesses along the borough's highways seven days a week and to preserve one day on which the roads were less congested. In November 2012, Governor Chris Christie issued an executive order to temporarily suspend the blue law due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The blue law was suspended on November 11 but was back in effect one week later.


title: Bergen County, New Jersey

text: In November 2017, County Executive James Tedesco raised the minimum wage for full-time Bergen County workers to $15 per hour gradually increasing over a 6-year period, an increase from the prevailing state minimum wage at the time of $8.44 hourly. The raise constituted the first such hike in the minimum wage paid to employees of any New Jersey county.


title: Knee replacement

text: Knee replacement, also known as knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace the weight-bearing surfaces of the knee joint to relieve pain and disability, most commonly offered when joint pain is not diminished by conservative sources and also for other knee diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. In patients with severe deformity from advanced rheumatoid arthritis, trauma, or long-standing osteoarthritis, the surgery may be more complicated and carry higher risk. Osteoporosis does not typically cause knee pain, deformity, or inflammation and is not a reason to perform knee replacement.


title: Knee replacement

text: Other major causes of debilitating pain include meniscus tears, cartilage defects, and ligament tears. Debilitating pain from osteoarthritis is much more common in the elderly.


title: Knee replacement

text: Knee replacement surgery can be performed as a partial or a total knee replacement. In general, the surgery consists of replacing the diseased or damaged joint surfaces of the knee with metal and plastic components shaped to allow continued motion of the knee.


title: Knee replacement

text: The operation typically involves substantial postoperative pain and includes vigorous physical rehabilitation. The recovery period may be 12 weeks or longer and may involve the use of mobility aids (e.g. walking frames, canes, crutches) to enable the patient's return to preoperative mobility. It is estimated that approximately 82% of total knee replacements will last 25 years.


title: Knee replacement

text: Knee replacement surgery is most commonly performed in people with advanced osteoarthritis and should be considered when conservative treatments have been exhausted. Total knee replacement is also an option to correct significant knee joint or bone trauma in young patients. Similarly, total knee replacement can be performed to correct mild valgus or varus deformity. Serious valgus or varus deformity should be corrected by osteotomy. Physical therapy has been shown to improve function, and may delay or prevent the need for knee replacement. Pain often is noted when performing physical activities requiring a wide range of motion in the knee joint.


title: Knee replacement

text: To indicate knee replacement in case of osteoarthritis, its radiographic classification and severity of symptoms both should be substantial. Such radiography should consist of weightbearing X-rays of both knees: AP, lateral, and 30 degrees of flexion. AP and lateral views may not show joint space narrowing, but the 30-degree flexion view is most sensitive for narrowing. Full-length projections also are used in order to adjust the prosthesis to provide a neutral angle for the distal lower extremity. Two angles used for this purpose are:


title: Knee replacement

text: The patient is to perform range-of-motion exercises, and hip, knee and ankle strengthening as directed daily. Exercises that include strengthening of hip flexors, hip abductors and knee flexors helps to recover faster post operatively. Before the surgery is performed, pre-operative tests are done: usually a complete blood count, electrolytes, APTT and PT to measure blood clotting, chest X-rays, ECG, and blood cross-matching for possible transfusion. About a month before the surgery, the patient may be prescribed supplemental iron to boost the hemoglobin in their blood system. Accurate X-rays of the affected knee are needed to measure the size of components which will be needed. Medications such as warfarin and aspirin will be stopped some days before surgery to reduce the amount of bleeding. Patients may be admitted on the day of surgery if the pre-op work-up is done in the pre-anesthetic clinic or may come into hospital one or more days before surgery. Currently there is insufficient quality evidence to support the use of pre-operative physiotherapy in older adults undergoing total knee arthroplasty.


title: Knee replacement

text: Preoperative education is currently an important part of patient care. There is some evidence that it may slightly reduce anxiety before knee-replacement surgery, with low risk of detrimental effects.


title: Knee replacement

text: Knee replacement referrals are often blocked if a person is overweight because it is believed they may benefit less from surgery. However, knee replacements have been found to reduce pain and improve function, regardless of people’s weight. After 10 years, most people did not need repeat surgery. In addition, weight loss surgery before a knee replacement does not appear to change outcomes.


title: Knee replacement

text: The surgery involves exposure of the front of the knee, with detachment of part of the quadriceps muscle (vastus medialis) from the patella. The patella is displaced to one side of the joint, allowing exposure of the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia. The ends of these bones then are cut accurately to shape, using cutting guides oriented to the long axis of the bones. The cartilages and the anterior cruciate ligament are removed; the posterior cruciate ligament also may be removed but the tibial and fibular collateral ligaments are preserved. Whether the posterior cruciate ligament is removed or preserved depends on the type of implant used, although there appears to be no clear difference in knee function or range of motion favoring either approach. Metal components are then impacted onto the bone or fixed using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement. Alternative techniques exist that affix the implant without cement. These cement-less techniques may involve osseointegration, including porous metal prostheses. Finally, stability and range of motion are checked, followed by irrigation, hemostasis, placement of hemovacs, and closure.


title: Knee replacement

text: A round-ended implant is used for the femur, mimicking the natural shape of the joint. On the tibia the component is flat, although it sometimes has a stem that goes down inside the bone for further stability. A flattened or slightly dished high-density polyethylene surface is then inserted onto the tibial component so the weight is transferred metal to plastic, not metal to metal. During the operation any deformities must be corrected, and the ligaments balanced so the knee has a good range of movement, and is stable and aligned. In some cases the articular surface of the patella also is removed and replaced by a polyethylene button cemented to the posterior surface of the patella. In other cases, the patella is replaced unaltered.


title: Knee replacement

text: In recent years, there has been an increase in technology assistance with implantation of total knee replacements. Traditionally, knee replacements were performed using mechanical jigs, not unlike those used in carpentry. These mechanical jigs rely on vision and human judgment. Using computer assistance to provide navigation, navigated knee replacements provide assistance in more accurate placement of implanted knee replacements based on mechanical axis. While these implants are placed more accurately, there has not been much improvement in long-term outcomes. Similarly, sensor-based guidance provides accurate feedback to demonstrate soft-tissue tension to assist in guidance of insertion of knee replacements. Robotic-assisted knee replacements take into account both mechanical axis and soft-tissue balancing in order to assist the surgeon in placement of a knee replacement. Short-term outcomes of robotic-assisted knee replacements are promising.


title: Knee replacement

text: The regional analgesia techniques (neuraxial anesthesia or continuous femoral nerve block or adductor canal block) are used most commonly. Local anesthesia infiltration in the pericapsular area using liposomal bupivacaine provides good analgesia in the post-operative period without increasing the risk for instability or nerve injury. A combined approach of local infiltration analgesia and femoral nerve block to achieve multimodal analgesia is common.


title: Knee replacement

text: Introduced in 2018, a modified intervastus approach to the anterior knee may be used for total knee arthroplasty. The procedure is intended to preserve the quadriceps tendon and vastus medialis.


title: Knee replacement

text: The current body of evidence suggests if a tourniquet is used in knee replacement surgery, it probably increases the risk of severe side effects and postoperative pain. The evidence did not show any clear benefit on patient function, treatment success or quality of life.


title: Knee replacement

text: The femoral, tibial and patellar components of a total knee replacement are fixed to the bone by using either cement or cementless total knee replacement implants. Cemented fixation is performed on the vast majority of total knee replacements. However, short-term trials suggest that there may be relief of pain. There are concerns regarding tibial loosening after implantation, prohibiting widespread adoption of cementless knee replacements at this time.


title: Knee replacement

text: There is debate regarding denervating the patella. Anterior knee pain is thought to be related to the association of the patella and femoral component. Some surgeons believe that by using electrocautery to denervate the patella, it reduces the chance of anterior knee pain postoperatively.