Pleasantville was originally incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 10, 1889, from portions of Egg Harbor Township, based on the results of a referendum held on December 15, 1888. Pleasantville was incorporated as a city on April 14, 1914, replacing Pleasantville borough, based on the results of a referendum held that same day.[24] the city was named by David Ingersoll for its surroundings.[25]
The city had the eighth-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 4.903% in 2020, compared to 2.560% in the county as a whole and a statewide average of 2.279%.[26]
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 7.28 square miles (18.86 km2), including 5.72 square miles (14.82 km2) of land and 1.56 square miles (4.05 km2) of water (21.46%).[1][2]Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the city include Mount Pleasant, Risleyville and Smiths Landing.[27]
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
The 2010 United States census counted 20,249 people, 6,661 households, and 4,569 families in the city. The population density was 3,556.5 per square mile (1,373.2/km2). There were 7,219 housing units at an average density of 1,267.9 per square mile (489.5/km2). The racial makeup was 24.33% (4,926) White, 45.94% (9,303) Black or African American, 0.83% (168) Native American, 2.42% (490) Asian, 0.03% (6) Pacific Islander, 22.00% (4,454) from other races, and 4.45% (902) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 41.06% (8,314) of the population.[20]
Of the 6,661 households, 34.3% had children under the age of 18; 33.3% were married couples living together; 26.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 31.4% were non-families. Of all households, 25.0% were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.99 and the average family size was 3.53.[20]
27.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.0 years. For every 100 females, the population had 92.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 87.2 males.[20]
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $39,560 (with a margin of error of +/− $4,092) and the median family income was $48,873 (+/− $5,405). Males had a median income of $32,494 (+/− $4,209) versus $29,961 (+/− $2,187) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,527 (+/− $1,356). About 12.2% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 32.3% of those age 65 or over.[40]
Economy
Portions of the city are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), one of 32 zones covering 37 municipalities statewide. Pleasantville was selected in 1994 as one of a group of 10 zones added to participate in the program and one of four of those chosen based on a competition.[41] In addition to other benefits to encourage employment and investment within the UEZ, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the 6+5⁄8% rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants.[42] Established in March 1995, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in March 2026.[43] By 2019, there had been 169 businesses that had been certified to participate in the city's UEZ program.[44]
Sports
In 1945, the Boston Red Sox held their spring training at Ansley Field in Pleasantville, rather than in Florida, due to travel restrictions related to World War II. The New York Yankees were based at Bader Field in Atlantic City and the two clubs played a series of eight exhibition games against each other with wartime restrictions in intercity travel in place.[45][46]
Laoma Byrd's Gym, formally known as the South Jersey Athletic Club, operated professionally from the mid-1940s to 1960s. This gym, which was located on West Wright Street, became a tourist destination after it was adapted as a boxing gym by top amateurs and pro fighters. Many noted boxers had trained there, including Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, Sonny Liston, Johnny Bratton, Johnny Saxton, Ike Williams, Ernie Terrell, and numerous professional fighters from the local area.[47]
Pleasantville operates under the City form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 15 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this traditional form of government.[49] The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the seven-member City Council, all of whom are elected in partisan elections as part of the November general election. The Mayor is elected to a four-year term of office. The City Council is comprised of one member elected at-large and six members elected from each of two wards to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with two seats up for election each year in a three-year cycle.[7][50]
Augustus Harmon was appointed in November 2011 to fill the seat of his brother, Johnson Harmon, who died before the election in which he had won a fifth term of office.[51]
In September 2016, the City Council appointed Nolan Q. Allen to fill the Ward 1 seat expiring in December 2017 that had been held by Lincoln Green Sr. until his death the previous month.[52] Nolan served on an interim basis until the November 2016 general election, when he was chosen to serve the balance of the term.[53]
As of 2022[update], the Mayor of the City of Pleasantville is Democrat Judy Ward, whose term of office ends December 31, 2024. Members of the City Council are Council President Ricky Cistrunk (D, 2023; Ward 1), Victor M. Carmona (D, Ward 2; elected to serve an unexpired term), Bertilio "Bert" Correa (D, 2024; Ward 2), Lawrence "Tony" Davenport (D, 2024; Ward 1), Joanne Famularo (D, 2023; Ward 2), Stanley C. Swan Jr. (D, 2022; Ward 1) and Carla Thomas (D, 2023; at-large).[3][54][55][56][57][58]
Federal, state, and county representation
Pleasantville is located in the 2nd Congressional District[59] and is part of New Jersey's 2nd state legislative district.[60][61][62]
Atlantic County is governed by a directly elected county executive and a nine-member Board of County Commissioners, responsible for legislation. The executive serves a four-year term and the commissioners are elected to staggered three-year terms, of which four are elected from the county on an at-large basis and five of the commissioners represent equally populated districts.[68][69] As of 2022[update], Atlantic County's Executive is Republican Dennis Levinson, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023.[70] Members of the Board of County Commissioners are:
Atlantic County's constitutional officers are: County Clerk Joesph J. Giralo (R, 2026, Hammonton),[81][82] Sheriff Eric Scheffler (D, 2024, Northfield)[83][84] and
Surrogate James Curcio (R, 2025, Hammonton).[85][86][87]
Politics
As of March 2011, there were a total of 9,193 registered voters in Pleasantville City, of which 4,693 (51.0% vs. 30.5% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 534 (5.8% vs. 25.2%) were registered as Republicans and 3,965 (43.1% vs. 44.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There was one voter registered to another party.[88] Among the city's 2010 Census population, 45.4% (vs. 58.8% in Atlantic County) were registered to vote, including 62.6% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 76.6% countywide).[88][89]
In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 5,675 votes (92.4% vs. 57.9% countywide), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 450 votes (7.3% vs. 41.1%) and other candidates with 23 votes (0.4% vs. 0.9%), among the 6,139 ballots cast by the city's 10,019 registered voters, for a turnout of 61.3% (vs. 65.8% in Atlantic County).[90][91] In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 5,945 votes (89.7% vs. 56.5% countywide), ahead of Republican John McCain with 597 votes (9.0% vs. 41.6%) and other candidates with 22 votes (0.3% vs. 1.1%), among the 6,628 ballots cast by the city's 10,572 registered voters, for a turnout of 62.7% (vs. 68.1% in Atlantic County).[92] In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 4,301 votes (80.9% vs. 52.0% countywide), ahead of Republican George W. Bush with 900 votes (16.9% vs. 46.2%) and other candidates with 31 votes (0.6% vs. 0.8%), among the 5,316 ballots cast by the city's 8,942 registered voters, for a turnout of 59.4% (vs. 69.8% in the whole county).[93]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 1,951 ballots cast (69.1% vs. 34.9% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 675 votes (23.9% vs. 60.0%) and other candidates with 32 votes (1.1% vs. 1.3%), among the 2,824 ballots cast by the city's 10,324 registered voters, yielding a 27.4% turnout (vs. 41.5% in the county).[94][95] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 2,146 ballots cast (82.0% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 370 votes (14.1% vs. 47.7%), Independent Chris Daggett with 45 votes (1.7% vs. 4.8%) and other candidates with 19 votes (0.7% vs. 1.2%), among the 2,617 ballots cast by the city's 9,844 registered voters, yielding a 26.6% turnout (vs. 44.9% in the county).[96]
As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,757 students and 314.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1.[101] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[102]) are
Decatur Avenue Early Childhood Center[103] with NA students in grade Pre-K, Leeds Avenue School[104] with 625 students in grades Pre-K–5, North Main Street School[105] with 372 students in grades Pre-K–5,
South Main Street School[106] with 491 students in grades Pre-K–5, Washington Avenue School[107] with 425 students in grades K–5, Pleasantville Middle School[108] with 760 students in grades 6–8, and Pleasantville High School[109] with 828 students in grades 9–12.[110][111][112] Students from Absecon attend the district's high school for ninth through twelfth grades as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Absecon Public School District.[113] Absecon has sought to end its agreement with Pleasantville and send its students to Absegami High School under a new sending/receiving relationship with the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District that Absecon argues would give its students a better education at a lower cost, without negatively impacting the demographics in Pleasantville High School. About 10% of Absecon's graduating students have been choosing to attend Pleasantville High School, for which the Absecon district has been paying $18,000 per student each year.[114]
On September 6, 2007, the FBI arrested five members of the Pleasantville school board as part of a federal corruption case that included several state lawmakers and other public officials. Included in the arrest sweep were Assemblymen Mims Hackett and Alfred E. Steele, and Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera.[117] Indictments were filed against four sitting members of the Board of Education, charging that they had accepted bribes to steer insurance or roofing business from the district. Charged were Jayson Adams (accused of accepting $15,000 in bribes), James McCormick ($3,500), James Pressley ($32,200) and Rafael Velez ($4,000). Former board member Maurice 'Pete' Callaway, a member of the Pleasantville City Council, was accused of accepting $13,000 in bribes as part of the scheme.[118][119]
Beginning in 1907, the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad provided electric interurban service to Pleasantville on its Atlantic City–Ocean City line. The railroad discontinued operation in 1948.[48]
^"Here are the 30 N.J. towns with the highest property tax rates", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, March 15, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2022. "The average equalized tax rate in New Jersey was 2.279 in 2020, according to data from the Department of Community Affairs. Here is the list of 30 New Jersey towns with the highest property tax rates.... 8. Pleasantville Equalized tax rate in Pleasantville City, Atlantic County, was 4.903 in 2020 Average equalized tax rate in Atlantic County: 2.560"
^Urban Enterprise Zone Tax Questions and Answers, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, May 2009. Accessed October 28, 2019. "In 1994 the legislation was amended and ten more zones were added to this successful economic development program. Of the ten new zones, six were predetermined: Paterson, Passaic, Perth Amboy, Phillipsburg, Lakewood, Asbury Park/Long Branch (joint zone). The four remaining zones were selected on a competitive basis. They are Carteret, Pleasantville, Union City and Mount Holly."
^Economic & Industrial Development, City of Pleasantville. Accessed November 19, 2019. "We have 169 Urban Enterprise Zone Certified Businesses Members"
^The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. Sterling Publishing. 2007. p. 1789. ISBN978-1-4027-4771-7.
^LeConey, Bill. "War games: When the Yankees, Red Sox trained in AC, Pleasantville", The Press of Atlantic City, March 23, 2017. Accessed November 19, 2019. "A year later, he worked out with both the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, who held spring training just down the road at Ansley Field in Pleasantville, next to the high school.... The two bitter rivals, brought so close together by the war, saw a lot of each other in the spring of 1945.... The Red Sox had settled on Pleasantville partly through the efforts of Larned, who was chairman of the property committee in charge of renovations at Ansley Field."
^Weinberg, David. "A Pleasantville woman ran one of the top boxing gyms on the East Coast", The Press of Atlantic City, March 18, 2019. Accessed November 19, 2019. "Byrd, who died at 98 in 2002, hosted some of the best boxers in the world while running the gym, officially called the South Jersey Athletic Club, on Wright Street in Pleasantville from the 1940s to the '60s. International Boxing Hall of Fame members Ezzard Charles, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis, Bob Montgomery and Jersey Joe Walcott trained there, along with other top fighters such as Wesley Mouzon, Ernie Terrell and Gil Turner."
^ abKlenk, Steffen. "On The Move: History of South Jersey Railroads", Shore Local, March 29, 2018. Accessed March 21, 2023. "The six-mile long Somers Point Bike Path, a six-mile long trail that stretches between Somers Point and Pleasantville, runs along the former Atlantic City and Shore Railroad. This railroad, also known as the Shore Fast Line, operated from 1907 until 1948 and provided service between Atlantic City and Ocean City."
^Stetser, Laura. "Augustus Harmon takes over brother's council seat", Shore News Today, November 8, 2011. Accessed November 19, 2013. "City Council appointed Augustus Harmon Monday, Nov. 7 to fill the unexpired term of his late brother Johnson Harmon, who died amid a re-election campaign for a fifth term and won the election by 96 percent of the vote."
^Staff. "Councilman sworn in to fill Lincoln Green's term", The Current of Pleasantville & Absecon, September 23, 2016. Accessed May 15, 2017. "Nolan Allen was sworn in Sept. 7 to City Council to fill the seat of 1st ward City Councilman Lincoln Green, who died Aug. 25 after a long illness.Allen, 26, of Pleasantville filled the unexpired three-year-term that began in January."
^Biography of Bob Menendez, United States Senate, January 26, 2015. "Menendez, who started his political career in Union City, moved in September from Paramus to one of Harrison's new apartment buildings near the town's PATH station.."
^Pleasantville Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Pleasantville Public Schools. Accessed June 11, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Pleasantville School District. Composition: The Pleasantville School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Pleasantville."
^What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
^Bogdan, Jennifer. "For the first time in decades, Absecon's students are choosing public schools over private schools", The Press of Atlantic City, April 5, 2011. Accessed June 11, 2020. "For the first time in at least 30 years, more than half of the school district's eighth-graders are choosing public high schools over private ones. In past years, as many as 90 percent of the district's students opted for private school. But about 55 percent of the district's 93 eighth-graders have plans to go on to publicly funded schools in September, including Pleasantville High School, Atlantic County Institute of Technology and Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts."
^Lowe, Claire. "Judge to hear Absecon schools request to leave Pleasantville, attorney says", The Press of Atlantic City, February 25, 2020. Accessed June 11, 2020 . "The Absecon School District will appear before a judge in July to argue why it should be allowed to leave its sending and receiving relationship with the Pleasantville School District.... The K-8 district submitted its request to the state Department of Education in August to sever its decades-old agreement with Pleasantville, citing the cost and quality of education there. The petition calls for students from Absecon to instead attend Absegami High School in neighboring Galloway Township."
^Frequently Asked Questions, Atlantic County Institute of Technology. Accessed May 17, 2017. "What does it cost to attend ACIT? As a public school, there is no cost to Atlantic County residents of high school age. New Jersey Title 18A:54-20.1 entitles students the right to choose ACIT for their high school education."
^Baldwin, Tom. "11 arrested in N.J. corruption probe", USA Today, September 6, 2007. Accessed September 6, 2007. "Among the arrested were state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Rev. Alfred Steele aides in their legislative offices acknowledged. Also reportedly arrested was Samuel Rivera, the mayor of Passaic, and Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark City Council President Mildred Crump."
^Sims, Gayle Ronan. "Horse-diver Sonora Webster Carver, 99", The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 24, 2003. Accessed December 3, 2007. "Sonora Webster Carver, 99, the first woman to dive off Atlantic City's Steel Pier while riding a horse - a stunt she continued for 11 years after she was blinded during a performance - died Sunday at Our Lady's Residence in Pleasantville, N.J."
^New Jersey Governor Walter Evans Edge, National Governors Association. Accessed December 24, 2017. "Walter E. Edge, the forty-seventh and sixtieth governor to serve New Jersey, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 20, 1873. His education was limited and attained in the common schools of Pleasantville, New Jersey, where his family moved to in 1877."
^Norment, Lynn. "Rodney Jerkins: music maestro on a mission.", Ebony, June 1, 2002. Accessed December 19, 2007. "Jerkins is pop music's newest and youngest hit-making wiz. At age 24, the Pleasantville, N.J., native is a fascinating coming-of-age success story and stands out among hundreds of rags-to-riches tales."
^Overmyer, James. Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles, p. 53. Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. ISBN9781538139851. Accessed June 11, 2020. "Max Manning was also a New Jersey boy, from Pleasantville, near Atlantic City. Manning was a tall, thin, bespectacled righthanded pitcher who became a regular pitcher the year after joining the team, winning nine and losing four in his second season."
^Ockershausen, Janice Iacona. "Monique Samuels – Real Housewives of Potomac and Not for Lazy Moms", Our Town with Andy Ockershausen, May 7, 2019. Accessed May 11, 2022. "Andy Ockershausen: Monique you’re so unique and I use that word and you’re not from Washington D.C. I found out in your resume you’re from Pleasantville New Jersey. M Samuels: Yeah."
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