Father Newton

When Father Newton arrived in New Jersey in 1984 on the heels of state investigations of his Straight program in Florida, he opened up shop in Bergen County outside New York City. Bergen County was one of the wealthiest counties in the country and his facility was provided for by a wealthy benefactor. In 1990 after the West 57th Street expose on KIDS of Bergen County, Father Newton changed the name to KIDS of North Jersey and opened up in this giant warehouse behind the Harmon Cove outlook stores in Secaucus in neighboring Hudson County. The address was 200 Seaview Ave. Notice the large tractor trailers at the loading docks on the left. Marker (a) on the right points to a blackened area which was the glass front for KIDS which occupied a small corner of this warehouse. Marker (b) points to a neighboring warehouse.

This is a close-up of KIDS' glass-front [ area "a" in the first photo].shot from the other end The sign on the opened gate warns "PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING" just as it did when Dr. Newton occupied the facility. The trash dumpster is out in front of the glass facade the same as it was when it was a medical facility. I do not recall seeing any sign identifying the area as KIDS of North Jersey so more than one truck driver must have been bewildered to see the sign on the wall reserving a special parking space which read, "RESERVED FOR MEDICAL DIRECTOR." If you were a parent with a kid in trouble and looked up KIDS of North Jersey in the phone book, it would list a P.O. box number. There was no street address given. If you called them and asked for the address they would not tell you.

In 1998 Dr. Newton moved KIDS out of the warehouse and into this store front outlet at 600 Meadowland Blvd in the Harmon Cove outlet zone. Dr. Newton closed down in 2000. This camera shot was made in March 2001. The venetian blinds are still drawn as they were when KIDS was there.