DARE Plans Own Carnival After Ouster From Garden State Plaza Fair

There will be a carnival this year at the , as there has been for the past seven years. But the annual summer event won't be run by DARE, all seven years.

The Garden State Plaza has instead partnered with a different carnival operator, senior general manager Deborah Mattes said.

The move by Westfield, which owns the mall, came as a shock, said Nick DeMorro, chair and chief executive for New Jersey DARE.

DeMorro asked the mayor and Council earlier this month to intercede on DARE's behalf, but said he received a mixed response from the governing body.

"We were anxiously awaiting our eighth year and obviously it adds more importance because of the suspension of the DARE program in this town," DeMorro said.

Instead, DARE applied on Tuesday to hold the carnival at from May 23 to 28. The carnival at Garden State Plaza traditionally starts the following weekend.

The Mayor and Council held off on approving the Paramus Park proposal until they can receive more information from both DARE and the Garden State Plaza on their plans. 

Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said that by being scheduled so close together, the DARE carnival could jeopardize the success of the Garden State Plaza event. He said the mall's proceeds could fund community programs like the Fourth of July fireworks.

"Do we want to support DARE or do we want to support the residents of Paramus?" he asked.

Garden State Plaza paid the entire $35,000 cost of the fireworks in 2011, LaBarbiera said, and the mall has said proceeds from the carnival could continue funding the Independence Day event this year. The mayor was skeptical that DARE funds could do as much good with the DARE program .

The borough didn't allow carnivals in Paramus until DARE proposed to hold a carnival at the mall and donate 50% of its proceeds back to the community. Over the past seven years, the carnival has allocated more than $150,000 to police and fire staffing, said

DARE and other New Jersey communities have received about $200,000 from the carnival over the seven years, DeMorro said.

Westfield has pledged to continue to donate part of the proceeds from the carnival back to the community.

"Westfield is pleased to continue to honor this contribution into Paramus community programs, and have already committed to the Paramus special needs program within Paramus Public Schools as one partner and will continue to identify additional programs in need within the Borough," Mattes, the senior general manager for the mall, said in an email.

Councilman Michael Rohdieck said the governing body shouldn't get involved in the conflict between DARE and the Garden State Plaza. 

"I don't think we can get in the middle of this if they both meet the requirements for having a carnival," he said.

Councilman Joseph Lagana said the Council had to be discerning about approving carnivals.

"I think we as a governing body do have a say in this," he said. "We don't want to become Carnival Town, USA."