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A video showing the contrast in activity during the week in downtown Englewood. The flow of traffic does not stop while customers enjoy walking in and out of shops.

A peaceful and serene Sunday afternoon with no traffic on South Dean Street, downtown Englewood

Blaring car horns and inescapable traffic encompass downtown Englewood on a typical weekday. Shoppers race to their favorite boutiques, with a Starbucks in hand, as they attempt to get the best sale. Once Sunday hits, the congestion ceases, silence takes over, and few customers are seen, a shift attributed to the blue laws.

“Englewood is a ghost town on Sundays,” said local resident, Lita Avitan. “Walking down Palisades Avenue you’ll only see people running to the grocery store or sitting at a café. The real action lies in the shopping.”

Of the 21 counties in New Jersey, Bergen County is the only one to preserve the blue laws. Enacted in New Jersey in 1854, the blue laws are designed to restrict commercial activities on Sundays and promote a Christian Sabbath, a day of rest or worship. The term “blue,” coined by Reverend Samuel Peters described Puritan laws and those who followed them, contrary to the belief that the laws were written on blue paper.

Where it once was used to encourage church attendance, today the blue laws are used as a matter of convenience—to reduce traffic. It is a day where a beautiful jacket, a frying pan, or a couch cannot be purchased as all clothing, furniture, and appliance sales are banned. The only shops left opened for business are the necessities: chic restaurants, local supermarkets, and gas stations.

Sundays are sacred to Englewood residents with the weekdays described as a nightmare of frantic shoppers, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and sheer chaos. Home to four shopping malls in a three mile radius, the jammed packed highways cause residents to desperately seek the peace and quiet found under the law. “The blue laws keep a sense of tradition as well as calmness in Bergen County,” said resident of 20 years, Oshrat Nachum. “Shopping is certainly accessible during the week and no longer a necessity on Sunday.” Others hope to eliminate the blue laws as a means to continue shopping and revitalize the town’s economy.

Englewood’s problem is stagnant as its Planning Board is unable to repeal the act since it’s under state and county jurisdiction. With the power to revoke the law in the hands of state and county boards, the tension proceeds to heighten among local residents and business owners who debate if stores should be open.

A Personal Sentiment

Residents appreciate the blue laws’ ability to keep Englewood a traditional suburban community on Sundays instead of one that is consumed by shopping. On a typical Sunday morning, resident of 38 years, Rafi Amirian steps outside of his home and sees kids riding bicycles, neighbors talking, and leaves falling on the pavement, a sight he doesn’t get to see during his hectic week.

“Sundays are my only days to be active, go for a nice walk in the park, or watch my sons’ baseball game,” he said. “I don’t want to sit in traffic all day just to buy a new shirt, that’s what the weekdays are for.”

Although this idea of relaxation and religious observance on Sunday serves the “greater good” with less traffic and materialistic distractions, the large Jewish community in Englewood would benefit from the removal of the blue laws.

Religious Orthodox Jews celebrate the Sabbath, their day of rest, on Saturday, where they are prohibited to work, use electric items, or spend money. In a study done in 2000, Bergen County estimated to have 83,700 Jews with 5,500 in Englewood while the largest synagogue in the area, Congregation Ahavath Torah, welcomed 98 new families in the years 2008 to 2012. Although Amirian is generally in favor of the laws, from a Jewish perspective he believes “the blue laws only take into account those who observe the Sabbath on Sundays,” he said. “As Jews, we can’t go out on Saturday and then again on Sunday, so we lose two days to run errands.”

An Economic Dilemma 

“Errand days,” commonly associated with Sundays for most shoppers, would create an opportunity to generate higher incomes and revenue for the city if stores were to open. Opening on Sunday or even in the late afternoon would please those who attend religious functions and those who rather shop according to resident, Esther Sasouness. “I don’t see the harm in getting rid of the blue laws or opening stores later than regular business days so workers can still have time to maintain their religious traditions,” she said. “People sleep in on Sundays so stores wouldn’t get a significant amount of customers until noon anyway.”

For many storeowners in Englewood, opening on Sunday would greatly improve business. It would add 3,200 jobs to Bergen County and more than $1.1 billion in retail sales according to CBSnews.com.

Moosavi Rugs & Home Furnishings, a rug company with 38 years of experience in the industry, hangs a large sign with the words “Going Out of Business,” in red bold letters on its front door. The owner has decided to retire at the end of this year but General Manager, Jose Cabrera, feels the blue laws hurt their business. “Everyday is money,” he said. “The weekends are the busiest days of the week so if we have to close on Sundays we’re losing money.”

Moosavi does not stand alone in the fight for greater business opportunities as fellow shop owner, Elanna Levy would like to have the power to decide if her store opens on Sunday or not, without a law forcing her to close. She owns Reve Boutique, a store where mothers come with their daughters to pick a perfect gown for any occasion. Since her store is closed on Sundays, some of her customers rather drive 20 minutes away to Manhattan to get the dresses they need.

“Most of my clients are young girls who go to school during the week,” she said. “They don’t have time to shop until Saturday or Sunday. If I could open on Sunday it would add an extra day of business.”

The battle to keep stores open continues, but some owners intend to keep the blue laws the way they are. The local pharmacy store, Buckley’s Drug Store and Compounding Center, remains closed on Sunday although technically drug stores are allowed to open as it is seen as a necessity for residents to get essential goods. Owner, Gil Dominguez, works six days of the week, giving himself and his workers only one day off to recover from the stressful week. “Since we all work so hard everyday, it’s important to have one day to rest,” he said. “If I opened on Sundays, I would have to hire and train a new staff, which would cost a lot of money.”

For the food industry, closing on Sunday would be unfathomable. It is the only industry that does not feel the pressure and inconvenience imposed by the blue laws. All seven days a week, restaurants are open, bringing in customers from near and neighboring towns to share in the experience of a lively atmosphere and delicious cuisine.

Owner of Hummus Elite, a place of traditional Israeli food, closes his restaurant on Saturday to observe the Sabbath. If Shlomo Cohenn could not open on Sundays too, his business would suffer. “Sunday nights are our busiest day of the week,” he said. “Families, couples, friends all come in and have dinner. I could never close on Sunday, it would hurt my business.”

A Test Trial For The Future

As an attempt to settle this issue, in 2010 Governor Chris Christie proposed a plan in which eliminating New Jersey’s Blue Laws would create $65 million in sales tax, strengthening the state’s economy. This proposal was quickly shut down as residents feared increased traffic and differed in their feelings of its effectiveness to boost the economy. Yet, in light of the devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, residents of Bergen County saw what it would be like to have their favorite stores open, but for one Sunday only.  Christie lifted the ban on November 11^th to recover the states economy as residents began to rebuild their homes with access needed to retail shops.

Resident Yael Sinai was left to question the future of her town. She said, “If the government has the ability to retract the blue laws for one Sunday to boost the economy, we can only imagine the difference if we completely abolished the law.”