title: Common house gecko

text: Within the testes, mature sperm are found in the male geckos year-round and are able to be stored within the oviduct of the female. Sperm can be stored for a period of time as long as 36 weeks. This provides a significantly increased chance of colonisation of new habitats, requiring smaller populations to be transplanted for a chance of success. However, longer storage time of sperm within the female is associated with negative survival outcomes and hatching, possibly due to sperm age. Sperm is specifically stored between the uterine and infundibular components of the oviduct. The capacity to store sperm enables a degree of asynchrony between ovulation, copulation and laying of eggs. The capacity to store sperm is useful in island colonisation events, providing females which may be isolated the capacity to reproduce even if they have been separated from a male for some time. In laboratories, one mating event may produce as many as seven viable egg clutches. This eliminates the need for parthenogenesis and allows the young to include both male and female offspring, with one mating event leading to multiple clutches of eggs being laid. This reduced need for asexual reproduction increases the fitness of young through hybrid vigour and increased diversity. As well as this, sexually reproducing geckos are reported to be more robust and have higher survival rates than those which reproduce asexually.


title: Common house gecko

text: There is a positive correlation between size and viability of eggs, with larger geckos having eggs which were more likely to survive. There is also a correlation between warmer year-round temperatures and consistent food supply with reproductive seasonality, with Geckos with constant food and temperatures being less likely to develop fat deposits on their stomach, and more likely to be constantly reproductive.


title: Common house gecko

text: Two distinct karyotypes of the common house gecko appear to exist, one with 40 chromosomes and one with 46 chromosomes. This could be explained through an intraspecific variation of karyotype, or the possibility of two distinct species being misidentified. Morphological analysis seems particularly congruent with the suggestion that they indeed are different species. Taxonomic revision may be required as a greater understanding of phylogenetic trees and population structures is developed.


title: Common house gecko

text: House geckos can be kept as pets in a vivarium with a clean substrate, and typically require a heat source and a place to hide in order to regulate their body temperature, and a system of humidifiers and plants to provide them with moisture.


title: Common house gecko

text: The species will cling to vertical or even inverted surfaces when at rest. In a terrarium they will mostly be at rest on the sides or on the top cover rather than placing themselves on plants, decorations or on the substrate, thus being rather conspicuous.


title: Common house gecko

text: In Southeast Asia, geckos are believed to be carriers of good omen. In the Philippines, geckos making a ticking sound are believed to indicate an imminent arrival of a visitor or a letter. But in Thailand, if a common house gecko chirps when someone leaves the house, that's a bad omen. In Thai idioms, it is called "greeting gecko".


title: Common house gecko

text: An elaborate system of predicting good and bad omens based on the sounds made by geckos, their movement and the rare instances when geckos fall from roofs has evolved over centuries in India. In some parts of India, the sound made by geckos is considered a bad omen; while in parts of India, Assam, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Nepal, it is considered to be an endorsement of the truthfulness of a statement made just before, because the sound "tik tik tik" resembles the expression "thik thik thik" (Assamese: ঠিক ঠিক ঠিক), which in many Indian languages (e.g. Bengali and Assamese) means "correct correct correct", i.e., a three-fold confirmation. The cry of a gecko from an east wall as one is about to embark on a journey is considered auspicious, but a cry from any other wall is supposed to be inauspicious. A gecko falling on someone's right shoulder is considered good omen, but a bad omen if it falls on the left shoulder. In Punjab, it is believed that contact with the urine of a gecko will cause leprosy. In some places in India, it is believed that watching a lizard on the eve of Dhanteras is a good omen or a sign of prosperity.


title: Common house gecko

text: In Sri Lanka, It's believed that it's inauspicious if a gecko makes a sound while someone is going out of the house. And, there is a art of divination based on gecko's falling into one's body, different body parts indicates different predictions. This art of divination can be observed throughout the Indian subcontinent.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 159,732, rendering it New Jersey's third-most-populous city. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 157,794 in 2021, ranking the city as the 163rd-most-populous in the country.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is known as the Silk City for its dominant role in silk production during the latter half of the 19th century. It has since evolved into a major destination for Hispanic immigrants as well as for immigrants from Turkey, the Arab world, and South Asia. Paterson has the nation's second-largest per capita Muslim population, and between 75 and 100 languages are spoken in Paterson, many of them Arabic dialects.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The area of Paterson was inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking Native American Acquackanonk tribe of the Lenape, also known as the Delaware Indians. The land was known as the Lenapehoking. The Dutch claimed the land as New Netherlands, followed by the British as the Province of New Jersey.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In 1791, Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), first United States Secretary of the Treasury, helped found the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which helped encourage the harnessing of energy from the Great Falls of the Passaic River to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. The society founded Paterson, which became the cradle of the industrial revolution in America. Paterson was named for William Paterson, statesman, signer of the Constitution and Governor of New Jersey, who signed the 1792 charter that established the Town of Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Architect, engineer, and city planner Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant (1754–1825), who had earlier developed the initial plans for Washington, D.C., was the first planner for the S.U.M. project. His plan proposed to harness the power of the Great Falls through a channel in the rock and an aqueduct. The society's directors felt he was taking too long and was over budget, and he was replaced by Peter Colt, who used a less complicated reservoir system to get the water flowing to factories in 1794. Eventually, Colt's system developed some problems and a scheme resembling L'Enfant's original plan was used after 1846.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson was originally formed as a township from portions of Acquackanonk Township on April 11, 1831, while the area was still part of Essex County. It became part of the newly created Passaic County on February 7, 1837, and was incorporated as a city on April 14, 1851, based on the results of a referendum held that day. The city was reincorporated on March 14, 1861.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The high Great Falls and a system of water raceways that harnessed the falls' power provided power for the mills in the area until 1914 and fostered growth of the city. The district originally included dozens of mill buildings and other manufacturing structures associated with the textile industry and, later, the firearms, silk, and railroad locomotive manufacturing industries. In the latter half of the 19th century, silk production became the dominant industry and formed the basis of Paterson's most prosperous period, earning it the nickname "Silk City."


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In 1835, Samuel Colt began producing firearms in Paterson, but within a few years he moved his business to Hartford, Connecticut. Later in the 19th century, Paterson was the site of early experiments with submarines by Irish-American inventor John Philip Holland. Two of Holland's early models—one found at the bottom of the Passaic River—are on display in the Paterson Museum, housed in the former Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works near the Passaic Falls.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Behind Newark and New York, the brewing industry was booming in Paterson in the late 1800s. Braun Brewery, Sprattler & Mennell, Graham Brewery, The Katz Brothers, and Burton Brewery merged in 1890 to form Paterson Consolidated Brewing Company. Hinchliffe Brewing and Malting Company, founded in 1861, produced 75,000 barrels a year from its state-of-the-art facility at 63 Governor Street. All the breweries closed during Prohibition.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The city was a mecca for immigrant laborers, who worked in its factories, particularly Italian weavers from the Naples region. Paterson was the site of historic labor unrest that focused on the six-month-long Paterson silk strike of 1913 that demanded the eight-hour day and better working conditions. It was defeated, with workers returning at the end of the strike without having negotiated any changes.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: According to the New Jersey Historical Commission, Paterson’s industrialism ended “as the economy and technological needs of the United States changed. By 1983, Paterson was the fifth poorest city in the United States. The town that had called itself Silk City, the Iron City, and the Cotton City, was in economic ruin.” Once millwork and production left the city, Paterson’s poverty became reminiscent of what occurred in the towns surrounding the Appalachian Mountains once the coal mining industry ended. In 2020, 25.2% of Paterson residents lived in poverty.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: From 1932 to 1933, Paterson constructed Hinchliffe Stadium, an Art Deco concrete stadium. Originally called City Stadium, it was renamed in honor of Mayor John V. Hinchliffe and his uncle John Hinchliffe. The New York Black Yankees of the Negro National League played at the stadium from 1933 to 1937 and from 1939 to 1945. Professional football teams, including the Paterson Panthers, Newark Bears, and Jersey City Giants, played here. The stadium was also a venue for other professional and high school athletic competitions, boxing matches, fireworks displays, and music concerts. The comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello performed at Hinchliffe before boxing matches (Abbott was from the coastal New Jersey city of Asbury Park and Costello was a Paterson native). The stadium was acquired by Paterson Public Schools since 1963 and closed in 1996. It has fallen into disrepair, although preservation and restoration efforts have taken place. The stadium is one of two surviving Negro league baseball stadiums, the other being Birmingham, Alabama's Rickwood Field. Hinchliffe Stadium is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The stadium is currently home to the New Jersey Jackals minor league baseball team.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: During World War II Paterson played an important part in the aircraft engine industry, but by the end of the war urban areas were in decline and Paterson was no exception. Since the late 1960s the city has suffered high unemployment rates and white flight.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Competition from malls in upscale neighboring towns like Wayne and Paramus have forced the big chain stores out of Paterson's downtown. The biggest industries are now small businesses, with the decline of the city's industrial base. But the city still attracts many immigrants, who have revived its economy, especially through small businesses.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The downtown area has been struck by massive fires several times, most recently on January 17, 1991. In this fire nearly a whole city block (bordered on the north and south by Main Street and Washington Street and on the east and west by Ellison Street and College Boulevard, a stretch of Van Houten Street dominated by Passaic County Community College) was engulfed in flames due to an electrical fire in the basement of a bar at 161 Main Street and spread to other buildings. Firefighter John A. Nicosia, 28, of Engine 4 went missing in the fire, having gotten lost in the basement. His body was recovered two days later. A plaque honoring his memory was later placed on a wall near the area. The area was so badly damaged that most of the burned buildings were demolished, with an outdoor mall standing in their place. The most notable of the destroyed buildings was the Meyer Brothers department store, which closed in 1987 and had since been parceled out.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson includes numerous locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including museums, civic buildings such as City Hall, Hinchliffe Stadium, Public School Number Two and the Danforth Memorial Library, churches (Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church), individual residences, such as Lambert Castle, and districts of the city, such as the Paterson Downtown Commercial Historic District, the Great Falls/Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures Historic District and the Eastside Park Historic District.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In August 2011, Paterson was severely affected in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, particularly by flooding of the Passaic River, where waters rose to levels unseen for 100 years, leading to the displacement of thousands and the closure of bridges over the river. Touring the area with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared, "This is as bad as I've seen, and I've been in eight states that have been impacted by Irene." The same day, President Obama declared New Jersey a disaster area, and announced that he would visit the city.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is at the bottom part of Passaic County, which is near the north edge of New Jersey, as a county that spans some hilly areas and has dozens of lakes. The county covers a region about . The region is split by major roads, including portions of Interstate 80, which runs through Paterson (see map "at left)". The Garden State Parkway (GSP) cuts across the south of Paterson, near Clifton, New Jersey. The Passaic River winds northeast past Totowa into Paterson, where the river then turns south to Passaic town, on the way to Newark, further south.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 8.71 square miles (22.55 km), including 8.41 square miles (21.79 km) of land and 0.29 square miles (0.76 km) of water (3.38%).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the city include Riverside and Totowa.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The city borders the municipalities of Clifton, Haledon, Hawthorne, Prospect Park, Totowa and Woodland Park (formerly West Paterson) in Passaic County; and both Elmwood Park (formerly East Paterson) and Fair Lawn in Bergen County.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Great Falls Historic District is the most famous neighborhood in Paterson because of the landmark Great Falls of the Passaic River. The city has attempted to revitalize the area in recent years, including the installation of period lamp posts and the conversion of old industrial buildings into apartments and retail venues. Many artists live in this section of Paterson. A major redevelopment project is planned for this district in the coming years. The Paterson Museum of Industrial History at Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works is situated in the Historic District.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Downtown Paterson is the main commercial district of the city and was once a shopping destination for many who lived in northern New Jersey. After a devastating fire in 1902, the city rebuilt the downtown with massive Beaux-Arts-style buildings, many of which remain to this day. These buildings are usually four to seven stories tall. Downtown Paterson is home to Paterson City Hall and the Passaic County Courthouse Annex, two of the city's architectural landmarks. City Hall was designed by the New York firm Carrere and Hastings in 1894, and was modeled after the "Hôtel de Ville" (city hall) in Lyon, France, capital of the silk industry in Europe.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The former Orpheum Theatre located on Van Houten Street has been converted to a mosque by the Islamic Foundation of New Jersey. The massive structure, now known as Masjid Jalalabad, can accommodate 1,500 worshipers.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: As with many other old downtown districts in the United States, Downtown Paterson suffered as shoppers and retailers moved to the suburban shopping malls of the region. Many historic buildings are in disrepair or are abandoned after years of neglect. In addition, Downtown Paterson is an Urban Enterprise Zone. The city has, in recent years, begun initiatives in hopes of reviving the downtown area with the centerpiece being the Center City Mall, constructed on a large parking lot spanning Ward Street from Main to Church Streets and features retail, entertainment, and commercial space. Downtown Paterson is located in the city's 1st Ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Eastside Park Historic District consists of about 1,000 homes in a variety of architectural styles, including Tudors, Georgian colonials, Victorians, Italianate villas and Dutch colonials. It is located east of downtown. Once the home of the city's industrial and political leaders, the neighborhood experienced a significant downturn as industry fled Paterson. In recent years, gentrification has begun to occur in the neighborhood and some of the area's historic houses have been restored.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Eastside Park Historic District is a state and nationally registered historic place. The jewel of the neighborhood is Eastside Park and the mansions that surround it. This section of Paterson once had a large Jewish population that reached 40,000 at its peak; a synagogue still remains. Eastside Park and what is commonly known as the Upper Eastside are located in Paterson's 3rd Ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: East River Section is a section that is referred to by locals roughly bordering Riverside at 5th Avenue and extending south to Broadway, sandwiched in by Madison Avenue to McClean Boulevard (Route 20). However, the neighborhood's layout unofficially extends to the "Paterson-Newark/Hudson Route" of River Road in the Paterson-Memorial Park section of Fair Lawn whose house addresses are in alignment with the now-defunct Jewish synagogue on the corner of 33rd Street and Broadway, which connects Paterson to Newark/Hudson, and at one time was the main route through River Drive, which starts in Elmwood Park and rides north to south along the East Bank of the Passaic River in Paterson's original county.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Built when Paterson was still Bergen County, River Drive changes to River Road in the greater Eastside Sections of Upper Eastside-Manor Section, East River, and Riverside Sections, and turns into Wagaraw Road north of 1st Avenue / Maple Avenue in the old Bunker Hill extension of Columbia Heights in Fair Lawn an indication of not only entering the Industrial Section but also entering the foothills of the Ramapo Mountains in Hawthorne.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: River Drive then turns into East Main Street to indicate that you have entered the Northside Section. The East River neighborhood which was and still maintains its "blue-collar" working-class identity, was at one time known for its large Jewish community, as well as a Neapolitan/Italian population and more recently other Mediterranean and Adriatic Europeans, Caribbean and South Americans, and other modern immigrant groups from all over the world, as well as African-Americans.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Manor Section is a residential neighborhood in Paterson. It is located east of East 33rd Street, north of Broadway, and south-west of Route 20 and the Passaic River. The Manor section of Paterson is located in the city's 3rd Ward. The layout and culture of the Manor Section also extends into the neighboring Lyncrest and Rivercrest sections of Fair Lawn, with all the addresses aligning themselves to the now-defunct Jewish Temple, located at the corner of 33rd and Broadway.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: South Paterson, also known as Little Istanbul or Little Ramallah, is a diverse neighborhood with a growing number of immigrants from the Middle East, with significant Turkish and Arab communities. The neighborhood is located in the 6th Ward, east of Main Street and west of West Railway Avenue. A majority of the city's Arabs live in this section of Paterson. Many of the retail shops and restaurants cater to this community. The neighborhood is characterized by Halal meat markets which offer goat and lamb, and shop signs are in Arabic. South Paterson's Arab community is mostly made up of Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Lakeview is situated in the southern part of the city, and is a middle class neighborhood. Interstate 80 runs north of this district. Lakeview is home to the Paterson Farmers Market, where many people from across North Jersey come to buy fresh produce. The neighborhood is roughly 65% Hispanic, although this neighborhood also has sizable European, Middle-Eastern, African-American, and Asian populations, including a significant Filipino presence. Lakeview also shares some of the same characteristics as neighboring Clifton as they both share a neighborhood bearing the same name. The Lakeview section of Paterson is located in the city's 6th ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Hillcrest is a largely residential, middle class enclave, to the west of the downtown area. Its borders' limits are Preakness Avenue to the east, Cumberland Avenue to the west, and Totowa Avenue along with West Side Park and the Passaic River to the south. Hillcrest is one of Paterson's most desirable neighborhoods. The neighborhood is very diverse having significant Italian, Arab, and Asian populations. The Hillcrest section of Paterson is located in the city's 2nd Ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: People's Park is a neighborhood located north of 23rd Avenue and south of Market Street. Twenty-First Avenue, or "La Veinte y uno", as it is known by most of Paterson's Spanish-speaking community, is located in the People's Park section of Paterson. It is an active and vibrant retail strip featuring a variety of shops and services catering to a diverse clientele. Twenty-First Avenue used to have a large Italian population. Although there is still a significant Italian presence left in the neighborhood, it also has a large first-generation Hispanic population, particularly Colombian.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Wrigley Park is a neighborhood that has suffered from years of poverty, crime, and neglect. It is mostly African-American. Poverty, crime, open-air drug markets, prostitution, vacant lots, and boarded-up windows are all common in this area. However, new houses are being built, and crime has dropped in recent years. This neighborhood is located north of Broadway. It is also known as the '4th Ward'. It was named for a Paterson paper manufacturing family.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Sandy Hill is a neighborhood in the Eastside located roughly west of Madison Avenue, north of 21st Avenue, south of Park Avenue, and east of Straight Street. Due to Paterson's significant population turn-over, this neighborhood is now home to a large and growing Hispanic community, mostly first-generation Dominicans. The Sandy Hill section of Paterson is located in the city's 5th Ward. Roberto Clemente Park, which was originally known as Sandy Hill Park, is located in this neighborhood.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Part of the 5th Ward is called Near Eastside by residents to differentiate it from the Eastside Park Historic District to its immediate east.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Northside, located north of Downtown, suffers from many of the social problems facing the Wrigley Park neighborhood, but to a lesser extent. This neighborhood borders the boroughs of Haledon and Prospect Park and is known for its hills and sweeping views of the New York City skyline. The Northside section of Paterson is located in the city's 1st Ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Totowa section is a large neighborhood located west of the Passaic River, south-west of West Broadway and north-east of Preakness Avenue. As the name implies, it borders the town of Totowa. It is mostly Hispanic but with an increasing South Asian community, mainly Bangladeshi. Many Bengali grocery and clothing stores are located on Union Avenue and the surrounding streets. Masjid Al-Ferdous is located on Union Avenue, which accommodates the daily Bangladeshi pedestrian population.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: A large Italian presence remains in this neighborhood. Many Peruvian and other Latin American restaurants and businesses are located on Union Avenue. Colonial Village and Brooks Sloate Terraces are located in this neighborhood. The Totowa Section is located in parts of the 1st and 2nd Wards of Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Stoney Road is Paterson's most south-west neighborhood, bordering Woodland Park to the south and Totowa across the Passaic River to the west. This neighborhood is home to Pennington Park, Hayden Heights, Lou Costello Pool, the Levine reservoir, Murray Avenue, Mc Bride Avenue, and Garret Heights. A strong Italian presence remains in this neighborhood. The Stoney Road section of Paterson is located in the city's 2nd Ward.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Riverside is a larger neighborhood in Paterson and, as its name suggests, is bound by the Passaic River to the north and east, separating the city from Hawthorne and Fair Lawn. Riverside is a working-class neighborhood. The neighborhood is mostly residential with some industrial uses. Madison Avenue cuts through the heart of this district. Route 20 runs through the eastern border of Riverside, providing an easy commute to Route 80 East and New York City. This section is ethnically diverse with a growing Hispanic community concentrating mostly north and along River Street. Many Albanians make their home in the East 18th Street and River Street areas. River View Terrace is located in this neighborhood. Riverside is located in parts of the 3rd and 4th Wards of Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Westside Park located off Totowa Avenue and best known as the site of the Holland submarine, Fenian Ram, which was built from 1879 to 1881 for the Fenian Brotherhood. It became the target of graffiti artists because the fence surrounding it was too low and too close to the submarine itself. The sub is now located in Paterson Museum.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool to cold winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Paterson has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps. Despite the size of the city, it has no weather reporting station, and thus, no historic climate data. Paterson uses Newark's airport for its local weather.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: According to then-Mayor Jose Torres, Paterson had 52 distinct ethnic groups in 2014. By 2020, Paterson had the second-largest Muslim population in the United States by percentage, and nearly 100 languages were spoken in Paterson, many of them Arabic dialects. Paterson's rapidly growing Bangladeshi American, Turkish American, Arab American, Albanian American, Bosnian American, Dominican American, and Peruvian American communities are among the largest and most prominent in the United States, the latter owing partially to the presence of the Consulate of Peru. Paterson's Muslim population has been estimated at 25,000 to 30,000. Paterson has become a prime destination for one of the fastest-growing communities of Dominican Americans, who have become the city's largest ethnic group. The Puerto Rican population has established a highly significant presence as well.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Demographic surveys and census data find Paterson has the highest percentage of disabled persons of any city with more than 100,000 residents, with about 30% of males and 29% of females not classified as poor listed as having a disability.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $34,086 (with a margin of error of ±$1,705) and the median family income was $39,003 (±$2,408). Males had a median income of $30,811 (±$825) versus $28,459 (±$1,570) for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,543 (±$467). About 24.1% of families and 26.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.0% of those under age 18 and 25.4% of those age 65 or over.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: As of the 2000 United States census there were 149,222 people, 44,710 households, and 33,353 families residing in the city, for a population density of 17,675.4 per square mile (6,826.4/km). Among cities with a population higher than 100,000, Paterson was the second most densely populated large city in the United States, only after New York City.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: There were 47,169 housing units at an average density of 5,587.2 per square mile (2,157.8/km). The racial makeup of the city was 32.90% African American, 13.20% White, 0.60% Native American, 1.90% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 27.60% from other races and 6.17% from two or more races. Latino people of any race were 50.1% of the population. The majority of Latinos are Puerto Rican 14%, Dominican 10%, Peruvian 5% and Colombian 3%.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: There were 44,710 households, out of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 26.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.25 and the average family size was 3.71.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.8% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The median income for a household in the city was $30,127, and the median income for a family was $32,983. Males had a median income of $27,911 versus $21,733 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,257. About 19.2% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.0% of those under age 18 and 19.4% of those age 65 or over.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Waves of Irish, Germans, Dutch, and Jews settled in the city in the 19th century. Italian and Eastern Europe immigrants soon followed. As early as 1890, Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian immigrants also arrived in Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In addition to many African Americans of Southern heritage, more recent immigrants have come from the Caribbean and Africa. Paterson's black population increased during the Great Migration of the 20th century, but there have been Patersonians of African descent since before the Civil War. However, Paterson's black population declined between the years 2000 and 2010, consistent with the overall return migration of African Americans from Northern New Jersey back to the Southern United States. A house once existing at Bridge Street and Broadway was a station on the Underground Railroad. It was operated from 1855 to 1864 by abolitionists William Van Rensalier, a black engineer, and Josiah Huntoon, a white industrialist. There is a memorial located at the site.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Many second- and third-generation Puerto Ricans have called Paterson home since the 1950s, including an estimated 10,000 who participated in the 2014 mayoral election, which was won by Jose "Joey" Torres, a Puerto Rican American who was one of three Hispanic candidates vying for the seat. Today's Hispanic immigrants to Paterson are primarily Dominican, Peruvian, Colombian, Mexican, and Central American, with a resurgence of Puerto Rican migration as well. In 2014, more than 600 business people attended the annual Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey Convention in Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Western Market Street, sometimes called Little Lima by tourists, is home to many Peruvian and other Latin-American businesses. In contrast, if one travels east on Market Street, a heavy concentration of Dominican-owned restaurants, beauty salons, barbershops, and other businesses can be seen. The Great Falls Historic District, Cianci Street, Union Avenue, and 21st Avenue have several Italian businesses. To the north of the Great Falls is a fast-growing Bangladeshi population. Park Avenue and Market Street between Straight Street and Madison Avenue are heavily Dominican and Puerto Rican.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Main Street, just south of downtown, is heavily Mexican with a resurgent Puerto Rican community. Broadway, also called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is significantly black, as are the Fourth Ward and parts of Eastside and Northside, although Paterson's African American population is declining. Costa Ricans and other Central American immigrant communities are growing in the Riverside and Peoples Park neighborhoods. Main Street between the Clifton border and Madison Avenue is heavily Turkish and Arab. 21st Avenue in the People's Park section is characterized by Colombian and other Latin American restaurants and shops.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Every summer, Patersonians conduct an African-American Day Parade, a Dominican Day Parade, a Puerto Rican Day Parade, a Peruvian Day Parade, and a Turkish-American Day Parade; budget cuts in 2011 have forced parade organizers to contribute to cover the costs of police and other municipal services.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is widely considered the capital of the Peruvian diaspora in the U.S. Little Lima, a Peruvian enclave in Downtown Paterson, is the largest Peruvian enclave outside of South America, home to approximately 10,000 Peruvian immigrants. Paterson has named an area bordered by Mill, Market, Main, and Cianci streets "Peru Square". Paterson's rapidly growing Peruvian community celebrates what is known as Señor de los Milagros ("Our Lord of Miracles" in English) on October 18 through 28th each year and every July participates in the annual Passaic County Peruvian Day Parade, which passes through Market Street and Main Street in the Little Lima neighborhood of Downtown Paterson. In the 2000 Census, 4.72% of residents listed themselves as being of Peruvian American ancestry, the third-highest percentage of the population of any municipality in New Jersey and the United States, behind East Newark with 10.1% and Harrison with 7.01%. The community includes both Quechua and Spanish speakers.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is home to the third-largest Dominican-American Community in the United States, after New York City and Lawrence, Massachusetts. In the 2000 Census, 10.27% of residents listed themselves as being of Dominican American ancestry, the eighth highest percentage of the population of any municipality in the United States and the third-highest percentage in New Jersey, behind Perth Amboy's 18.81% and Union City's 11.46%. Paterson renamed a section of Park Avenue in Sandy Hill to Dominican Republic Way to recognize the Dominican community, which is the largest Hispanic community in the city.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is home to the largest Turkish-American immigrant community in the United States (known as Little Istanbul) and the second largest Arab-American community after Dearborn, Michigan. Paterson has been also nicknamed "Little Ramallah" and contains a neighborhood with the same name in South Paterson, with an Arab American population estimated as high as 20,000 in 2015, serving as the center of Paterson's growing Syrian American and Palestinian American populations. The Paterson-based Arab American Civic Association runs an Arabic language program in the Paterson Public Schools that serves 125 students at School 9 on Saturdays. Paterson is also home to the largest Circassian immigrant community in the United States.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Greater Paterson area which includes the cities of Clifton and Wayne and the boroughs of Haledon, Prospect Park, North Haledon, Totowa, Woodland Park, and Little Falls, is home to the nation's largest North Caucasian population, mostly Circassians, Karachays, and small Chechen and Dagestani communities. Reflective of these communities, Paterson and Prospect Park public schools observe Muslim holidays.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson has incorporated a rapidly growing Bangladeshi American community, which is estimated to number 15,000, the largest in the United States outside New York City. Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman was ultimately certified as the winner of the 2012 city council race in the Second Ward, making him North Jersey's first Bangladeshi-American elected official.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: A branch of the Sonali Exchange Company Inc. has opened on Union Avenue in the Totowa section of town (not to be confused with the Passaic County municipality Totowa); the Sonali Exchange Company is a subsidiary of Sonali Bank, the largest state-owned commercial bank in Bangladesh.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Portions of the city are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), one of 32 zones covering 37 municipalities statewide. The city was selected in 1994 as one of a group of 10 zones added to participate in the program. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the UEZ, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the % rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in September 1994, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in September 2025. The UEZ program plays a pivotal role in the city's economic revitalization.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson has a significant parks and recreation system, including larger areas such as Eastside, Westside, and Pennington Parks, as well as neighborhood parks such as Wrigley, Robert Clemente, and People's. The Great Falls of the Passaic are part of the national park system.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Paterson Museum, in the Great Falls Historic District, was founded in 1925 and is owned and operated by the city of Paterson. Its mission is to preserve and display the industrial history of the city. Since 1982, the museum has been housed in the Thomas Rogers Building on Market Street, the former erecting shop of Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, a major 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Belle Vista, locally known as Lambert Castle, was built in 1892 as the home of Catholina Lambert, the self-made owner of a prominent silk mill in Paterson. After Lambert's death in 1923, his family sold the building to the city, which in turn sold it to the County of Passaic a few years later. The county used the building for administrative offices, and in 1936, provided one room to the fledgling Passaic County Historical Society to serve as its historical museum. As time went by the museum grew, room by room until the entire first floor became the historical museum.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In the late 1990s, the Castle underwent a multi-million-dollar restoration and all four floors of the building were developed into a museum and library. Today, Passaic County remains the owner of the building and supports the facilities' operation; however, the Passaic County Historical Society is solely responsible for the operation and management of Lambert Castle Museum with its historical period rooms, long-term and changing exhibition galleries, educational programs for elementary and middle-school students, and research library/archive.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Above Lambert Castle stands a observation tower, located at the peak of Garret Mountain, which while technically standing in Woodland Park, was constructed when the property was considered part of Paterson. The tower is part of the Garret Mountain Reservation and renovations were completed in 2009 to restore the tower to the original condition as built in 1896 by Lambert, who used the tower to impress guests with its view of the New York City skyline.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Attempts were being made to fund the restoration of the Paterson Armory as a recreation and cultural center, but the building was destroyed by fire before these could bear fruit.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The City of Paterson operates within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under a Plan-D Mayor-Council form of government, which was adopted in 1974 in a change from a 1907 statute-based form. The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Under the Mayor-Council plan, the Mayor is the chief executive and is responsible for administering the City's activities. The Mayor is elected at-large for a four-year term by the citizens and is responsible for them. The mayor enforces the charter and the ordinances and laws passed by the City Council. The Mayor appoints all department heads including the business administrator, with the advice and consent of the Council and may remove any department heads after giving them notice and an opportunity to be heard. With the assistance of the business administrator, the Mayor is responsible for the preparation of the municipal budget. The Mayor submits the budget to the Council along with a detailed analysis of expenditures and revenues. The Council may reduce any item or items in the budget by a majority vote, but can only increase an item by a two-thirds vote.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The City Council is comprised of nine members. Of these, six are elected through the use of the ward system, where candidates run to represent a certain area of the city. The other three seats are elected using the at-large system, where each candidate is voted upon by the entire voting population of the city. Municipal elections are held in even-numbered years, are non-partisan, and take place on the second Tuesday in May. The six members of the City Council representing their wards are elected in the same years as presidential elections, while the mayoral election and the at-large Council elections are held in the same years as the mid-term Congressional elections.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: , the Mayor of Paterson is Andre Sayegh, whose term of office ends June 30, 2026. The previous mayor was Jane Williams-Warren, who was serving on an interim basis following the resignation of José "Joey" Torres. Torres was in his third non-consecutive term as Mayor of Paterson, having first been elected by defeating incumbent Martin G. Barnes in 2002 and then winning re-election in 2006 against Lawrence Spagnola. After losing his bid for a third consecutive term by a margin of 600 votes to City Council President Jeffery Jones in 2010, Torres defeated Jones in a rematch four years later. Torres pleaded guilty to corruption charges in September 2017 that required him to leave office and to serve a prison term of five years. According to city law, the President of the City Council is the next in line to succeed a Mayor who is removed from office for any reason and serves as Acting Mayor until the next election, unless the Council appoints someone else to fill the post within 30 days of the creation of the vacancy. City Council President Ruby Cotton immediately became Mayor upon Torres' resignation


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Members of the City Council are Council President Shahin Khalique (Second Ward; 2024), Council Vice President Alex Mendez (Third Ward; 2024), Alaa "Al" Abdelaziz (Sixth Ward; 2024), Ruby N. Cotton (Fourth Ward; 2024), Maritza Davila (at-large; 2026), Michael Jackson (First Ward; 2024), Dr. Lilisa Mimms (at-large; 2026), MD Forid Uddin (at-large; 2026) and Luis Velez (Fifth Ward; 2024).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In July 2018, Alaa "Al" Abdelaziz was selected to fill the Sixth Ward seat expiring in June 2020 that had been held by Andre Sayegh until he stepped down to take office as mayor. In the November 2018 general election, Abdelaziz was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In 2018, the city had an average property tax bill of $8,087, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $10,005 in Passaic County and $8,767 statewide.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The 2020 election for Paterson's Third Ward city council was invalidated after allegations of voter fraud vote-by-mail. More than 24% of ballots failed to meet the standard for mail-in ballots.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is located in the 9th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 35th state legislative district. Prior to the 2010 Census, Paterson had been part of the , a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Passaic County is governed by Board of County Commissioners, comprised of seven members who are elected at-large to staggered three-year terms office on a partisan basis, with two or three seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle. At a reorganization meeting held in January, the board selects a Director and Deputy Director from among its members to serve for a one-year term.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Director Bruce James (D, Clifton, term as commissioner ends December 31, 2023; term as director ends 2022),


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Deputy Director Cassandra "Sandi" Lazzara (D, Little Falls, term as commissioner ends 2024; term as deputy director ends 2022),


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 68,324 registered voters in Paterson, of which 27,926 (40.9% vs. 31.0% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,100 (4.5% vs. 18.7%) were registered as Republicans and 37,285 (54.6% vs. 50.3%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 13 voters registered to other parties. Among the city's 2010 Census population, 46.7% (vs. 53.2% in Passaic County) were registered to vote, including 64.8% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.8% countywide).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 93.6% of the vote (41,662 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 6.1% (2,696 votes), and other candidates with 0.3% (152 votes), among the 45,050 ballots cast by the city's 78,194 registered voters (540 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 57.6%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 38,085 votes (86.7% vs. 58.8% countywide), ahead of Republican John McCain with 4,098 votes (9.3% vs. 37.7%) and other candidates with 150 votes (0.3% vs. 0.8%), among the 43,946 ballots cast by the city's 70,925 registered voters, for a turnout of 62.0% (vs. 70.4% in Passaic County). In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 28,896 votes (79.2% vs. 48.3% countywide), ahead of Republican George W. Bush with 5,959 votes (16.3% vs. 50.7%) and other candidates with 151 votes (0.4% vs. 0.96%), among the 36,470 ballots cast by the city's 64,151 registered voters, for a turnout of 56.9% (vs. 69.3% in the whole county).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 78.5% of the vote (15,726 cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 20.6% (4,123 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (179 votes), among the 20,787 ballots cast by the city's 80,140 registered voters (759 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 25.9%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 17,334 ballots cast (85.7% vs. 50.8% countywide), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 2,213 votes (10.9% vs. 43.2%), Independent Chris Daggett with 264 votes (1.3% vs. 3.8%) and other candidates with 129 votes (0.6% vs. 0.9%), among the 20,233 ballots cast by the city's 66,603 registered voters, yielding a 30.4% turnout (vs. 42.7% in the county).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Paterson Fire Department, headed by Chief Brian McDermott, operates out of seven fire stations with a total of 400 employees and is also responsible for the city's emergency medical services division and ambulance units. The department is part of the Metro USAR Strike Team, which consists of nine North Jersey fire departments and other emergency services divisions working to address major emergency rescue situations.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In addition to local services, Paterson is home to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office Courts Division in the Passaic County Courthouse and Correctional Division in the Passaic County Jail. The jail, originally constructed in 1957, can accommodate 1,242 inmate beds.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In April 2011, Paterson laid off 125 police officers, nearly 25% of the total force in the city, due to severe budget constraints caused by a $70 million deficit. At the same time, the Guardian Angels, a New York City-based volunteer citizen safety patrol organization, began operating in Paterson at the invitation of the Mayor.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center is a large institution providing comprehensive emergency services as well as non-emergency medical care to Paterson and the surrounding community.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: , the city had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Passaic County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: By road, Paterson is served directly by Interstate 80, as well as State Routes 4, 19, and 20. The Garden State Parkway, U.S. Route 46, State Routes 3, 17, 21, and 208 are also nearby and serve as feeder roads to the community.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson also served as the terminus for numerous major secondary roads in northern New Jersey. Paterson Plank Road linked the city to Jersey City and eventually, the Hudson River waterfront in Hoboken, while the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike connected the city with Sussex County along what is now parts of State Route 23.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The city is served by the NJ Transit Main Line commuter rail service to Hoboken, with the station located in Downtown Paterson. Plans are being developed for a new commuter rail service on the existing NYS&W line, which is currently single-tracked. The Passaic-Bergen Rail Line plans to have five stops in Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Bus service to locations in Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties is provided by NJ Transit, making the city a regional transit hub. The Broadway Bus Terminal, also in downtown, is the terminus for many NJ Transit bus lines.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Service to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan is offered on the 161 and the 190, by the 171 to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Washington Heights, Manhattan, on the 72 to Newark, with local service provided on the 74, 702, 703, 704, 707, 712, 722, 742 (Saturday only), 744, 746, 748, 770, 970 and 971 routes. Many buses stop at or near City Hall, going to various points in the area, including New York and the neighboring communities.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Private, independent jitney buses (guaguas or dollar vans) connect Paterson with neighboring communities along Route 4 and provide transportation to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Manhattan. These buses run at high frequency but do not have formal, published schedules.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Paterson Public Schools serve students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in "Abbott v. Burke" which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of 51 schools, had an enrollment of 27,601 students and 2,053.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.4:1. District enrollment in Paterson surged at the start of the 2015–16 school year, creating a public school enrollment of 700 students higher than expected and putting the school district in a situation of needing to hire teachers rapidly not long after the district had laid off 300 positions.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In 2011, all of Paterson's high schools were changed to theme schools, as part of a goal to give students a better choice in areas they wanted to pursue. Among the 594 students who took the SAT in 2013, the mean combined score was 1120 and there were 19 students (3.2% of those taking the exam) who achieved the combined score of 1550 that the College Board considers an indicator of college readiness, a decline from the 26 students (4.3%) who achieved the standard the previous year.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology is a charter school serving students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Other charter schools include Community Charter School of Paterson (K–8), John P. Holland Charter School (K–8) and Paterson Arts and Science Charter School (K–7).


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: In 2021, Governor Murphy announced the approval of a new charter, Brilla NJ, to be opened in 2023. It was the first approved charter in his first term as governor.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The city is host to the state's annual robotics competition held at Passaic County Community College. The North Jersey Robotics Competition was created to place high educational merit on the students of Paterson. The competition draws schools from around New Jersey. Three events make up the meet which takes place on two different days. The competition's tenth-anniversary event in 2011 was won by Paterson's Panther Academy.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Blessed Sacrament School and St. Gerard Majella School are elementary schools that operate under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. In the face of declining enrollment and financial difficulties, Paterson Catholic High School, the city's last remaining Catholic high school, was closed by the Diocese of Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson hosts the main campus of Passaic County Community College, established in the 1970s, which serves 13,000 students at its main campus and at satellite programs in Passaic, Wanaque and at the Public Safety Academy.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: There is a pact of friendship with the town of Montescaglioso (Matera, Basilicata, Italy), as testified by mutual naming of two streets in their city centers. Paterson was a place of Italian emigration in the late nineteenth century and today houses a large community of citizens of Montescaglioso who emigrated in those years.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The San Rocco Society was founded in Paterson, an association whose main purpose is to maintain sales relationships with the Italy, and in some ways the traditions.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Paterson is the subject of William Carlos Williams' five-book epic poem "Paterson", a cornerstone work of modern American poetry. Paterson is also mentioned in the twelfth line of Part 1 of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl". In the novel "On the Road" by Ginsberg's friend Jack Kerouac, the protagonist Sal Paradise lives with his aunt in Paterson. Kerouac may have chosen Paterson as a stand-in for his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, also a mill town with a waterfall. Paterson is the setting of many of Junot Diaz's short stories and novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", and John Updike's 1997 novel "In the Beauty of the Lilies."


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The controversial arrest and conviction of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose conviction was overturned in 1985, was dramatized in the 1999 Denzel Washington film, "The Hurricane", and was partially shot in the city. The lyrics of the Bob Dylan song "Hurricane" include ""In Paterson that's just the way things go / If you're Black you might as well not show / Up on the street / Unless you want to draw the heat"". The film "Lean On Me", while sensationalized, is based on events that occurred in Paterson's Eastside High School. "Alice, Sweet Alice" (1976) with Brooke Shields was filmed entirely in Paterson, the director's hometown, as was "State Property". Its sequel, "State Property 2", and "Far from Heaven", "The Preacher's Wife" and "Purple Rose of Cairo" are among other films that were partially shot in Paterson. The city was also a filming location for the 1995 drama film, "New Jersey Drive", which is primarily based on Newark's automobile theft rate at the time, with the city being considered "the car theft capital of the world".


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The 2016 film "Paterson", directed by Jim Jarmusch, is set in Paterson and was largely filmed there. The movie is about a bus driver named Paterson who writes poetry in his free time.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: Lou Costello often referred to his hometown of Paterson in his comedy routines with Bud Abbott. The plot of the June 28, 1945, episode of the Abbott & Costello radio show is about the City of Paterson inviting him back for "Lou Costello Day" to launch a new garbage scow. Three Abbott and Costello films had their world premieres at the Fabian Theater in Paterson, which could accommodate a crowd of 3,000: "One Night in the Tropics" (1940), "Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1952). Costello was honored with a larger-than-life statue in Federici Park in 1992.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The Great Falls were featured in the first season of the HBO crime drama "The Sopranos", both in the pilot and in the episode "Pax Soprana" as the place where Junior Soprano's friend's grandson committed suicide after taking poor designer drugs; as a favor, Junior Soprano had Mikey Palmice and another individual toss the dealer, Rusty Irish, off the bridge over the falls. Other locations throughout the city were used in the series, as much of the show was shot on location in North Jersey.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The New Jersey-based band Suit of Lights pays tribute to Paterson in their song "Goodbye Silk City". The 1983 music video "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood makes reference to Paterson in its opening sequence.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The first marketable revolver was produced in Paterson by Samuel Colt starting in 1836, and was known as the Colt Paterson.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: The first steam-powered and first electric-powered model trains were both invented in Paterson. Eugene Beggs made the first steam-powered train in the city around 1871. Beggs' employee, Jehu Garlick, invented the first electric-powered model train that consisted of a tinplate toy locomotive with four aluminum wheels. A 2016 exhibit at the New Jersey State Museum titled "Toy World" highlighted the history of New Jersey's toy-making industry and prominently featured Paterson's contribution to the history of toys.


title: Paterson, New Jersey

text: People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Paterson include: ( (B) denotes that the person was born in Paterson).


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris (abbreviated to VY CMa) is an extreme oxygen-rich (O-rich) red hypergiant (RHG) or red supergiant (RSG) and pulsating variable star from the Solar System in the slightly southern constellation of Canis Major. It is one of the largest known stars, one of the most luminous and massive red supergiants, and one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: No evidence has been found that it is part of a multiple star system. Its great infrared (IR) excess makes it one of the brightest objects in the local part of the galaxy at wavelengths of 5 to 20 microns (µm) and indicates a dust shell or heated disk. It is about times the mass of the Sun (). It is surrounded by a complex asymmetric circumstellar envelope (CSE) caused by its mass loss. It produces strong molecular maser emission and was one of the first radio masers discovered. VY CMa is embedded in the large molecular cloud Sh2-310, a large, quite local star-forming H II region—its diameter: 480 arcminutes (′) or .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The radius of VY CMa is very roughly 1,420 times that of the Sun (), which is close to the modelled maximum, the Hayashi limit, a volume nearly 3 billion times that of the Sun. Taking this mid-point estimate as correct, an object travelling at the speed of light would take 6 hours to go around its surface, compared to 14.5 seconds for the Sun. If this star replaced the Sun its surface would, per this approximation, be beyond the orbit of Jupiter.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The first known-recorded observation of VY Canis Majoris is in the star catalogue of the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1801, which lists it as a 7th order of magnitude star. Further quite frequent studies of its apparent magnitude imply the light of the star as viewed from Earth has faded since 1850, which could be due to emission changes or a denser part of its surrounds becoming interposed (extinction).


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Since 1847, VY Canis Majoris has been described as a crimson star. During the 19th century, observers measured at least six discrete components, suggesting that it might be a multiple star. These are now known to be bright zones in the host nebula. Observations in 1957 and high-resolution imaging in 1998 all but rule out any companion stars.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Giving spectral lines in brackets, the star is a strong emitter of OH (1612 MHz), (22235.08 MHz), and (43122 MHz) masers, which has been proven to be typical of an OH/IR star. Molecules, such as , , , , , , , and have been detected.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The variation in the star's brightness was first described in 1931, when it was listed (in German) as a long-period variable with a photographic magnitude range of 9.5 to 11.5. It was given the variable star designation "VY Canis Majoris" in 1939, the 43rd variable star of the constellation Canis Major.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris is surrounded by an extensive and dense asymmetric red reflection nebula, with a total ejected mass of and a temperature of , based on a DUSTY model atmosphere that has been formed by material expelled from its central star. The inner shell figures as 0.12 ″ across, corresponding to for a star 1,200 parsecs away, whereas that of the outer one is at 10″, corresponding to . This nebula is so bright that it was discovered in a dry night sky in 1917 with an 18 cm telescope, and its condensations were once regarded as companion stars. It has been extensively studied with the aid of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), showing that the nebula has a complex structure that includes filaments and arcs, which were caused by past eruptions; the structure is akin to that around post-red supergiant (Post-RSG) or yellow hypergiant (YHG) IRC +10420. The similarity has led at least two professional articles to propose a model that the star might evolve blueward on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (HR diagram) to become a yellow hypergiant, then a luminous blue variable (LBV), and finally a Wolf–Rayet star (WR star).


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Combining data from the mentioned telescope with others from the Keck in Hawaii it was possible to make a three-dimensional reconstruction of the envelope of the star. This reconstruction showed that the star's mass loss is much more complex than expected for any red supergiant or hypergiant. It became clear that the bows and nodules appeared at different times; the jets are randomly oriented, which prompts suspicion they derive from explosions of active parts of the photosphere. The spectroscopy proves the jets move away from the star at different speeds, confirming multiple events and directions as with coronal mass ejections. Multiple asymmetric mass loss events and the ejection of the outermost material are deduced to have occurred within the last 500 to 1,000 years, while that of a knot near the star would be less than 100 years. The mass loss is due to strong convection in the tenuous outer layers of the star, associated with magnetic fields. Ejections are analogous to—but much larger than—coronal ejections of the Sun.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: In 1976, Lada and Reid published observations of the bright-rimmed molecular cloud Sh2-310, which is 15″ east of the star. At its edge bordered by the bright rim, an abrupt decrease in the CO emission and an increase in brightness of the emission were observed, indicating possible destruction of molecular material and enhanced heating at the cloud-rim interface, respectively. They assumed the distance of the cloud is approximately equal to that of the stars, which are members of the open cluster NGC 2362, that ionize the rim. NGC 2362 could be anywhere in the ranges of (kpc) or (ly) away as determined from its color-magnitude diagram. This star is projected onto the tip of the cloud rim, strongly suggesting its association. Furthermore, all the vectors of velocity of Sh2-310 are very close to those of the star. There is thus a near-certain physical association of the star with Sh2-310 and with NGC 2362 in all standard models.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Distances can be calculated by measuring the change in position against very distant background objects as the telescope orbits the Sun. However, this star has a small parallax due to its distance, and standard visual observations have a margin of error too large for a hypergiant star with an extended CSE to be useful, for example, the Hipparcos Catalogue of 1997 gives a purely notional parallax of (mas), in which the "central" figure equates to (). Parallax can be measured to high accuracy from the observation of masers using a long baseline interferometry. In 2008, such observations of masers using VERA interferometry from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan gave a parallax of , corresponding to a distance of (about ). In 2012, observations of masers using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) from Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) independently derived a parallax of , corresponding to a distance of (about ). These imply the cloud (Sh2-310) is less remote than thought or that the star is a foreground object.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The Gaia mission provides highly constrained parallaxes to some objects, but the data release 2 value of for this star is not meaningful.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris is a variable star that varies from an apparent visual magnitude of 9.6 at minimum brightness to a magnitude of 6.5 at maximum with an estimated pulsational period of 956 days. In the General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) it is classed a semiregular variable of sub-type SRc, indicating a cool supergiant, although it is classed as a type "LC" slow irregular variable star in the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) Variable Star Index. Other periods of 1,600 and 2,200 days have been derived.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY CMa is sometimes considered as the prototype for a class of heavily mass-losing OH/IR supergiants, distinct from the more common asymptotic giant branch OH/IR stars.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The spectrum of VY Canis Majoris is that of a high-luminosity M-class star. The hydrogen lines, however, have P Cygni profiles fit for luminous blue variables. The spectrum is dominated by TiO bands whose strengths suggest a classification of M5. The H-alpha (H) line is not visible yet and there are unusual emission lines of neutral elements such as sodium and calcium. The luminosity class as determined from different spectral features varies from bright giant (II) to bright supergiant (Ia), with a compromise being given: as M5eIbp. Old classifications were confused by the interpretation of surrounding nebulosity as companion stars.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The present spectral classification system is inadequate to this star's complexities. The class depends on which of its complex spectral features are stressed. Further, key facets vary over time as to this star. It is cooler and thus redder than M2, and is usually classified between M3 and M5. A class as extreme as M2.5 appeared in a study of 2006. The luminosity class is likewise confused and often given only as I, partly because luminosity classes are poorly defined in the red and infrared portions of the spectrum. One study though, gives a luminosity class of Ia which means a hypergiant or extremely luminous supergiant.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: A very large and luminous star, VY CMa is among the most extreme stars in the Milky Way and has an effective temperature below . It occupies the upper-right hand corner of the HR diagram although its exact luminosity and temperature are uncertain. Most of the properties of the star depend directly on its distance.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The bolometric luminosity (L) of VY CMa can be calculated from spectral energy distribution or bolometric flux, which can be determined from photometry in several visible and infrared bands. Earlier calculations of the luminosity based on an assumed distance of gave luminosities between 200,000 and 560,000 times the Sun's luminosity (). This is considerably very close or beyond the empirical Humphreys–Davidson limit. One study gave nearly at a distance of . In 2006 a luminosity of was calculated by integrating the total fluxes over the entire nebula, since most of the radiation coming from the star is reprocessed by the dust in the surrounding cloud. More recent estimates of the luminosity extrapolate values below based on distances below 1.2 kpc.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Most of the output of VY CMa is emitted as infrared radiation, with a maximum emission at , which is in part caused by reprocessing of the radiation by the circumstellar nebula. Many older luminosity estimates are consistent with current ones if they are re-scaled to the distance of 1.2 kpc. Despite being one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way, much of the visible light of VY CMa is absorbed by the circumstellar envelope, so the star needs a telescope to be observed. Removing its envelope, the star would be one for the naked eye.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Since this star has no companion star, its mass cannot be measured directly through gravitational interactions. Comparison of the effective temperature and bolometric luminosity compared to evolutionary tracks for massive stars suggest its initial mass was for a rotating star but current mass —or at first if non-rotating falling to present-day , and an age of 8.2 million years (Myr). Older studies have found much higher initial masses (thus also higher current masses) or a progenitor mass of based on old luminosity estimates.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY CMa has a strong stellar wind and is losing much material due to its high luminosity and quite low surface gravity. It has an average mass loss rate of per year, among the highest known and unusually high even for a red supergiant, as evidenced by its extensive envelope. It is thus an exponent for the understanding of high-mass loss episodes near the end of massive star evolution. The mass loss rate probably exceeded /yr during the greatest mass loss events.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The star has produced large, probably convection-driven, mass-loss events 70, 120, 200, and 250 years ago. The clump shed by the star between 1985 and 1995 is the source of its hydroxyl maser emission.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The effective temperature of this star is uncertain. Some signature changes in its spectrum correspond to temperature variations. Early estimates of the mean temperature assumed values below 3,000 K based on a spectral class of M5. In 2006, its temperature was calculated to be as high as , corresponding to a spectral class of M2.5, yet this star is usually considered as an M4 to M5 star. Adopting the latter classes with the temperature scale proposed by Emily Levesque gives a range of between 3,450 and 3,535 K.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The calculation of the radius of VY CMa is complicated by the extensive circumstellar envelope of the star. VY CMa is also a pulsating star, so its size changes with time. Earlier direct measurements of the radius at infrared (K-band = 2.2 µm) wavelength gave an angular diameter of , corresponding to radii above at an assumed distance of 1.5 kpc, considerably larger than expected for any red supergiant or red hypergiant. However, this is probably larger than the actual size of the underlying star and the angular diameter estimate appears exceedingly large due to interference by the circumstellar envelope. In 2006–2007 radii of have been derived from the estimated luminosity of and temperatures of 3,450–3,535 K.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: On 6 and 7 March 2011, VY CMa was observed at near-infrared wavelengths using interferometry at the Very Large Telescope. The size of the star was calculated using the Rosseland Radius, the location at which the optical depth is , with two modern distances of and . Its angular diameter was directly measured at , which corresponds to a radius of at a distance of . The high spectral resolution of these observations allowed the effects of contamination by circumstellar layers to be minimised. An effective temperature of , corresponding to a spectral class of M4, was then derived from the radius and a luminosity of which is based on the distance and a measured flux of . In late 2013, a radius of was determined, based on a rather cool adopted temperature of 2,800 K and a luminosity of .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Most radius estimates of the VY CMa are considered as the size for the optical photosphere while the size of the star for the radio photosphere is calculated to be twice that of the size of the star for the optical photosphere. Despite the mass and very large size (though some estimates give smaller sizes), VY CMa has an average density of 5.33 to 8.38 mg/m (0.00000533 to 0.00000838 kg/m), it is over 100,000 times less dense than Earth's atmosphere at sea level (1.2 kg/m).


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris has been known to be an extreme object since the middle of the 20th century, although its true nature was uncertain. In the late 20th century, it was accepted that it was a post-main sequence red supergiant. Its angular diameter had been measured and found to be significantly different depending on the observed wavelength. The first meaningful estimates of its properties showed a very large star.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Early direct measurements of the radius at infrared (K-band = 2.2 µm) wavelength gave an angular diameter of , corresponding to radii above at a still very plausible distance of 1.5 kiloparsecs; a radius dwarfing other known red hypergiants. However, this is probably larger than the actual size of the underlying star—this angular diameter estimate is heightened from interference by the envelope. In 2006–07, radius between has been derived from the preferring luminosity of and the still-preferred temperature range of .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: In contrast to prevailing opinion, a 2006 study, ignoring the effects of the circumstellar envelope in the observed flux of the star, derived a luminosity of , suggesting an initial mass of and radius of based on an assumed effective temperature of 3,650 K and distance of . On this basis they considered VY CMa and another notable extreme cool hypergiant star, NML Cygni, as normal early-type red supergiants. They assert that earlier very high luminosities of and very large radii of (or even ) were based on effective temperatures below 3,000 K that were unreasonably low.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Almost immediately another paper published a size estimate of and concluded that VY CMa is a true hypergiant. This uses the later well-reviewed effective temperature , and a luminosity of based on SED integration and a distance of .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: In 2011, the star was studied at near-infrared wavelengths using interferometry at the Very Large Telescope. The size of the star was published at its Rosseland Radius, outside of which optical depth falls below , given the mean of two most modern, similar but distinct distances. Its angular diameter was directly measured at , thus radius of given a distance of . The high spectral resolution of these observations allowed the effects of contamination by circumstellar layers to be minimised. An effective temperature of , corresponding to a spectral class of M4, was then derived from the radius and a luminosity of which is based on the distance and a measured flux of .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: Most such radius estimates are considered as the size for the mean limit of the optical photosphere while the size of the star for the radio photosphere is calculated to be twice that. Despite the mass and very large size (though some estimates give smaller sizes), VY CMa has an average density of 5.33 to 8.38 mg/m (0.00000533 to 0.00000838 kg/m). It is over 100,000 times less dense than Earth's atmosphere at sea level (1.2 kg/m).


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: In 2012 the size was calculated more accurately to be somewhat lower, for example , which leaves larger sizes published and in-date for other galactic and extragalactic red supergiants (and hypergiants) such as Westerlund 1-26, WOH G64, and Stephenson 2-18. Despite this, VY Canis Majoris is still often described as the largest known star, sometimes with caveats to account for the highly uncertain sizes of all these stars. A 2013-made estimate based on the Wittkowski radius and the Monnier radius put mean size at .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: In late 2013, Matsuura and others put forward a competing method of finding radius within the envelope, putting the star at , based on a cool-end of estimates adopted temperature of 2,800 K and a luminosity of .


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris is a highly evolved star yet less than 10 million years (Myr) old. Some old writings envisaged the star as a very young protostar or a massive pre-main-sequence star with an age of only 1 Myr and typically a circumstellar disk. It has probably evolved from a hot, dense O9 main sequence star of (solar radii). The star has evolved rapidly because of its high mass. The time spent to the red hypergiant phase is estimated to be between 100,000 and 500,000 years, and thus VY CMa most likely left its main sequence phase more than a million years ago.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The future evolution of VY CMa is uncertain, but like the most cool supergiants, the star will certainly explode as a supernova. It has begun to fuse helium into carbon en masse. Like Betelgeuse, it is losing mass and is expected to explode as a supernova within the next 100,000 years — it will probably revert to a higher temperature beforehand. The star is very unstable, having a prodigious mass loss such as in ejections.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: VY Canis Majoris is a candidate for a star in a second red supergiant phase, but this is mostly speculative and unconfirmed.


title: VY Canis Majoris

text: The explosion could be associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRB), and it will produce a shock wave of a speed of a few thousand kilometers per second that could hit the surrounding envelope of material, causing strong emission for many years after the explosion. For a star so large, the remnant would be probably a black hole rather than a neutron star.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted staff and civilians). 600 personnel also serve their draft period in the RNoAF. After mobilization, the RNoAF would consist of approximately 5,500 personnel.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The infrastructure of the RNoAF includes seven airbases (at Ørland, Rygge, Andøya, Evenes, Bardufoss, Bodø and Gardermoen), one control and reporting centre (at Sørreisa) and three training centres at Værnes in Stjørdal, 32.7 km north of Trondheim, where Trondheim airport now lies, Kjevik in Kristiansand and at KNM Harald Haarfagre/Madlaleiren in Stavanger.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Military flights started on 1 June 1912. The first plane, , was bought with money donated by the public and piloted by Hans Dons, second in command of Norway's first submarine HNoMS "Kobben" (A-1). Until 1940 most of the aircraft belonging to the Navy and Army air forces were domestic designs or built under license agreements, the main bomber/scout aircraft of the Army air force being the Dutch-originated Fokker C.V.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Before 1944, the Air Force were divided into the Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flyvevaaben) and the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service (Marinens Flyvevaaben).


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In the late 1930s, as war seemed imminent, more modern aircraft were bought from abroad, including twelve Gloster Gladiator fighters from the UK, and six Heinkel He 115s from Germany. Considerable orders for aircraft were placed with United States companies during the months prior to the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The most important of the US orders were two orders for comparatively modern Curtiss P-36 Hawk monoplane fighters. The first was for 24 Hawk 75A-6 (with 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G Twin Wasp engines), 19 of which were delivered before the invasion. Of these 19, though, none were operational when the attack came. A number were still in their shipping crates in Oslo harbour, while others stood at the Kjeller aircraft factory, flight ready, but none combat ready. Some of the Kjeller aircraft had not been fitted with machine guns, and those that had been fitted still lacked gun sights.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The ship with the last five 75A-6s that were bound for Norway was diverted to the United Kingdom, where they were taken over by Royal Air Force (RAF). All 19 Norwegian P-36s that were captured by the German invaders were later sold by the German authorities to the Finnish Air Force, which was to use them to good effect during the Continuation War.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The other order for P-36s was for 36 Hawk 75A-8 (with 1200 hp Wright R-1820-95 Cyclone 9 engines), none of which were delivered in time for the invasion, but were delivered to "Little Norway" near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There they were used for training Norwegian pilots until the USAAF took over the aircraft and used them under the designation P-36G.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Also ordered prior to the invasion were 24 Northrop N-3PB float planes built in on Norwegian specifications for a patrol bomber. The order was made on 12 March 1940 in an effort to replace the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's obsolete MF.11 biplane patrol aircraft. None of the type were delivered by 9 April and when they became operational with the 330 (Norwegian) Squadron in May 1941 they were stationed at Reykjavík, Iceland performing anti-submarine and convoy escort duties.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The unequal situation led to the rapid defeat of the Norwegian air forces, even though seven Gladiators from the fighter wing () defended Fornebu airport against the attacking German forces with some success—claiming two Bf 110 heavy fighters, two He 111 bombers and one Junkers Ju 52 transport. lost two Gladiators to ground strafing while they were rearming on Fornebu and one in the air, shot down by Future "Experte" Helmut Lent, injuring the sergeant pilot. After the withdrawal of allied forces, the Norwegian Government ceased fighting in Norway and evacuated to the United Kingdom on 10 June 1940.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Only aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service had the range to fly all the way from their last remaining bases in Northern Norway to the UK. Included amongst the Norwegian aircraft that reached the British Isles were four German-made Heinkel He 115 seaplane bombers, six of which were bought before the war and two more were captured from the Germans during the Norwegian Campaign. One He 115 also escaped to Finland before the surrender of mainland Norway, as did three M.F. 11s; landing on Lake Salmijärvi in Petsamo. A captured Arado Ar 196 originating from the German heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper" was also flown to Britain for testing.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: For the Norwegian Army Air Service aircraft the only option for escape was Finland, where the planes would be interned but at least not fall into the hands of the Germans. In all two Fokker C.V.s and one de Havilland Tiger Moth made it across the border and onto Finnish airfields just before the capitulation of mainland Norway. All navy and army aircraft that fled to Finland were pressed into service with the Finnish Air Force, while most of the aircrew eventually ended up in "Little Norway".


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The Army and Navy air services established themselves in Britain under the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Norwegian air and ground crews operated as part of the British Royal Air Force, in both wholly Norwegian squadrons and also in other squadrons and units such as RAF Ferry Command and RAF Bomber Command. In particular, Norwegian personnel operated two squadrons of Supermarine Spitfires: RAF 132 (Norwegian) Wing consisted of No. 331 (Norwegian) Squadron and RAF No. 332 (Norwegian) Squadron. Both planes and running costs were financed by the exiled Norwegian government.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In the autumn of 1940, a Norwegian training centre known as "Little Norway" was established next to Toronto Island Airport, Canada.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) was established by a royal decree on 1 November 1944, thereby merging the Army and Navy air forces. No. 331 (Norwegian) Squadron defended London from 1941 and was the highest scoring fighter squadron in South England during the war.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In 1947, the Surveillance and Control Division acquired its first radar system, and around the same time the RNoAF got its first jet fighters in the form of de Havilland Vampires.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In 1949 Norway co-founded NATO, and soon afterwards received American aircraft through the MAP (Military Aid Program). The expansion of the Air Force happened at a very rapid pace as the Cold War progressed. Throughout the Cold War the Norwegian Air Force was only one of two NATO air forces—Turkey being the other—with a responsibility for an area with a land border with the Soviet Union, and Norwegian fighter aircraft had on average 500–600 interceptions of Soviet aircraft each year.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In October 2002, a tri-national force of 18 Norwegian, Danish, and Dutch F-16 fighter-bombers, with one Dutch Air Force KC-10A tanker, flew to the Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, to support the NATO ground forces in Afghanistan as a part of the Operation Enduring Freedom. One of the missions was Operation Desert Lion.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: On 27–28 January, Norwegian F-16s bombed Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Fighters in the Adi Ghar Mountains during the beginnings of Operation Mongoose.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Beginning from February 2006, eight Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s, joined by four Royal Norwegian Air Force F-16s, supported NATO International Security Assistance Force ground troops mostly in the southern provinces of Afghanistan. The air detachment is known as the 1st Netherlands-Norwegian European Participating Forces Expeditionary Air Wing (1 NLD/NOR EEAW).


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In 2011, a detachment of F-16s were sent to enforce the Libyan no-fly zone. In a statement, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre condemned the violence against "peaceful protesters in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen", saying the protests "are an expression of the people's desire for more participatory democracy. The authorities must respect fundamental human rights such as political, economic and social rights. It is now vital that all parties do their utmost to foster peaceful dialogue on reforms". On 19 March 2011, the Norwegian government authorized the Royal Norwegian Air Force for deployment in Libya. Norway approved six F-16 fighters and personnel. The deployment started on 21 March and operated from the Souda Air Base in Souda Bay on Crete.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: On 24 March 2011, F-16s from the Royal Norwegian Air Force were assigned to the United States Africa Command during Operation Odyssey Dawn. On 25 March 2011, laser-guided bombs were launched from F-16s of the Royal Norwegian Air Force against Libyan tanks and during the night towards 26 March an airfield was bombed. Forces were also deployed to Operation Unified Protector on 26 March 2011.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: By July 2011, the Norwegian F-16's had dropped close to 600 bombs, some 17% of the total bombs dropped at that time. It was Norwegian F-16s that on the night towards 26 April, bombed Gaddafi's headquarter in Tripoli.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: From September to December 2011, the Air Force contributed personnel and one P-3 Orion to Operation Ocean Shield. Operating from the Seychelles, the aircraft searched for pirates in the Somali Basin.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In April 2016 the life of a patient, at the hospital in Bodø, was saved when specialised medical equipment was ferried halfway across Norway, in less than half an hour, by an Air Force F-16 jet from Værnes Air Station.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In March 2021, RNoAF participated in Icelandic Air Policing with four F-35A Lightning II and 130 military personnel.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: On 2 December 2021, RNoAF announced that twelve F-16As have been sold to Draken International. Transfer of the F-16As is expected to happen in 2022, pending formal approval by the US and Norwegian governments. In December 2021, Romania expressed their interest to purchase the rest of 32 F-16As.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: On 6 January 2022, the F-35 officially took over the Quick Reaction Alert mission, ending the F-16 fleet’s 42 year-long mission.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In June 2022, Norway terminated a contract to acquire 14 NH90 helicopters, claiming that the supplier could not deliver and sustain the availability of combat capable aircraft that Norway required. All NH90 flight operations are discontinued, all acquired aircraft are planned to be returned to the manufacturer, and in due course Norway intends to acquire a new aircraft.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: In 2016, research was started to consider the Boeing P-8A Poseidon MMA to replace the aging six P-3C Orion and two Falcon 20 aircraft by 2020 - 2025. In November 2016 the intention to acquire five was confirmed. On 5 March 2018, United States Department of Defense announced the award of a contract to Boeing that includes five P-8A Poseidons for RNoAF.


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: The RNoAF is organized in five Air Wings. These are divided into a total of one Control and Reporting Centre, nine flying squadrons as well as two ground based air defense units. The former distinctiontion between a Main Air Station () and an Air Station () was replaced by a new distinction between an Air Force Station () and an Air Force Base ().


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: NOTE: Norway is participating in three NATO programs giving them access to a Airbus A330 MRTT, 3 C-17’s and 5 RQ-4 Global Hawk's


title: Royal Norwegian Air Force

text: Previous aircraft flown included the F-16 Fighting Falcon, North American F-86K, Republic F-84G, F-104 Starfighter, Northrop F-5, Lockheed T-33, Fairchild PT-26, Catalina PB5Y-A, Douglas C-47, DHC-3 Otter, Noorduyn Norseman, Cessna O-1, Bell UH-1B, Bell 47G and the NHIndustries NH90 helicopter.


title: Too big to fail

text: "Too big to fail" (TBTF) and "too big to jail" is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected that their failure would be disastrous to the greater economic system, and that they therefore must be supported by governments when they face potential failure. The colloquial term "too big to fail" was popularized by U.S. Congressman Stewart McKinney in a 1984 Congressional hearing, discussing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's intervention with Continental Illinois. The term had previously been used occasionally in the press, and similar thinking had motivated earlier bank bailouts.


title: Too big to fail

text: The term emerged as prominent in public discourse following the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. Critics see the policy as counterproductive and that large banks or other institutions should be left to fail if their risk management is not effective. Some critics, such as economist Alan Greenspan, believe that such large organisations should be deliberately broken up: "If they're too big to fail, they're too big." Some economists such as Paul Krugman hold that financial crises arise principally from banks being under-regulated rather than their size, using the widespread collapse of small banks in the Great Depression to illustrate this argument.


title: Too big to fail

text: In 2014, the International Monetary Fund and others said the problem still had not been dealt with. While the individual components of the new regulation for systemically important banks (additional capital requirements, enhanced supervision and resolution regimes) likely reduced the prevalence of TBTF, the fact that there is a definite list of systemically important banks considered TBTF has a partly offsetting impact.


title: Too big to fail

text: Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke also defined the term in 2010: "A too-big-to-fail firm is one whose size, complexity, interconnectedness, and critical functions are such that, should the firm go unexpectedly into liquidation, the rest of the financial system and the economy would face severe adverse consequences." He continued that: "Governments provide support to too-big-to-fail firms in a crisis not out of favoritism or particular concern for the management, owners, or creditors of the firm, but because they recognize that the consequences for the broader economy of allowing a disorderly failure greatly outweigh the costs of avoiding the failure in some way. Common means of avoiding failure include facilitating a merger, providing credit, or injecting government capital, all of which protect at least some creditors who otherwise would have suffered losses. ... If the has a single lesson, it is that the too-big-to-fail problem must be solved."


title: Too big to fail

text: Prior to the Great Depression, U.S. consumer bank deposits were not guaranteed by the government, increasing the risk of a bank run, in which a large number of depositors withdraw their deposits at the same time. Since banks lend most of the deposits and only retain a fraction in the proverbial vault, a bank run can render the bank insolvent. During the Depression, hundreds of banks became insolvent and depositors lost their money. As a result, the U.S. enacted the 1933 Banking Act, sometimes called the Glass–Steagall Act, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure deposits up to a limit of $2,500, with successive increases to the current $250,000. In exchange for the deposit insurance provided by the federal government, depository banks are highly regulated and expected to invest excess customer deposits in lower-risk assets. After the Great Depression, it has become a problem for financial companies that they are too big to fail, because there is a close connection between financial institutions involved in financial market transactions. It brings liquidity in the markets of various financial instruments. The crisis in 2008 originated when the liquidity and value of financial instruments held and issued by banks and financial institutions decreased sharply.