Acupuncture in Netcong, NJ

any folks in the North Jersey area are familiar with Ron’s Landmark in Netcong. The restaurant is now celebrating 45 years of business, after first opening in 1978 as a pizza and brew spot. In fact, the Raphael family continues to own and operate the business to this day.

Though originally a pizza and brew restaurant, Ron’s Landmark is now a full-service Italian restaurant with a full bar. The cozy Italian eatery with classic decor can seat 75 diners and serves classic, approachable Italian American fare. They cook each dish to order using only the freshest ingredients available, and are open for both lunch and dinner.

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45 years later, Ron’s Landmark embodies the old adage, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. With this in mind, their most popular dishes are Italian classics such as chicken/veal/eggplant Parmesan. Other menu highlights include chicken francaise, penne vodka, pizza, calamari, and antipasto salad. (Antipasto salad at this spot means lettuce, vegetables, and meats under a layer of mozzarella cheese). In particular, Owner Ron Raphael’s favorite menu item is the Chicken Saltimbocca. This is chicken with a layer of prosciutto, spinach, and provolone in a brown sauce over pasta.

In addition to traditional Italian lunch and dinner entrees, Ron’s Landmark serves a variety of desserts. Some of their fan-favorite options include a cannoli trio, tiramisu, cheesecake, and chocolate brownie (with optional ice cream scoop). Meanwhile, their drink menu features Irish coffee, Mexican coffee, whiskey coffee, Jamaican coffee, and “Café ala Ron”. The latter mixes Amaretto with Baileys and coffee liquor. In addition, their full-service bar has six beers on tap and a special, rotating seasonal drink menu.

Besides hosting guests at their restaurant, Ron’s Landmark is also the catering partner for The Pond at Triplebrook in Blairstown. 2023 marks their fifth year as the in-house caterer for the wedding venue

Visit Ron’s Landmark at 85 Main St (Route 46) in Netcong. Look for them online to learn more.

Find the Latest Restaurants Open in New Jersey.

Do you accept Reservations?

Yes, they accept reservations.

Are there Gluten-free options?

Yes, they have gluten-free options.

Are there Vegetarian options?

Ron’s Landmark offers vegetarian options yes.

Do you offer Takeout?

They do offer takeout, yes.

Can you offer Delivery?

No, they do not offer delivery.

Do you have a Liquor license?

Yes, they have a liquor license and serve alcohol.

Is there a Kids’ menu?

They have a kids’ menu, yes.

All Photos: © Arielle Bookspan

A volunteer fire captain has been charged with uploading child pornography while at a firehouse in Netcong, officials said.

James T. Hess, 49, of Roxbury is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child by possessing and distributing child pornography materials, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.

Hess, a volunteer fire captain in Netcong, uploaded and viewed pornographic materials on Kik, a chat app, at the firehouse, authorities said. He also allegedly viewed child sex abuse materials on a cell phone.

The prosecutor’s office said it began investigating after authorities were tipped off about the video files by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Hess was arrested Dec. 21 and released the next day following a court appearance. He was released under several conditions, including monitoring and limited internet use.

He works for the New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, which provides long term care and residential health care services for firefighters. Hess has been suspended without pay, according to John Veras, the facility’s superintendent.

Veras declined to say how long Hess has worked at the firemen’s home or offer additional comment.

No one answered the phone at the Netcong Volunteer Fire Company on Tuesday morning.

Hess’ next court date is a pre-indictment conference scheduled for Jan. 31, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said.

He is represented by a public defender, whose office couldn’t immediately be reached Tuesday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of the Sex Crimes/ Child Endangerment Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6200.

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A construction project representing a major component of Netcong's redevelopment plan is underway at the southern tip of Forge Pond, where borough officials and developers broke ground last week on 126 units of housing.

The Bank Street complex, built on the site of the former Quirk Moving and Storage Company, will place new residents within walking distance of the Netcong train station.

About 10 percent of those residents will occupy units classified as low- or moderate-income housing, which will count toward Netcong's court-mandated affordable-housing obligations.

Township Administrator Ralph Blakeslee said the 4.8-acre property was a primary focus of a borough redevelopment plan dating back to 2008.

Developers interested in a previous transit village proposal became aware of the Quirk property, Blakeslee said, "started a dialogue with Mrs. Quirk, and that became the center of our attention in terms of economic development."

The project is a joint venture involving Circle Squared Alternative Investments, CrownPoint Group and The Hampshire Companies. When completed, the development will consist of four four-story buildings totaling 180,000 square feet of space, with parking garages on the first floor.

The buildings will include a paved terrace overlooking the Musconetcong River, a two-story great room with a kitchen area for entertaining, a business center, a billiards parlor and a fitness room.

“We see tremendous opportunity in the Morris County multifamily market," said Jon Hanson, chairman of The Hampshire Companies.

Blakeslee said some residents raised concerns during the approval process about increased traffic or increased student enrollment in the borough's single-school district.

"Traffic is something we will probably have to deal with, but we don't think it's going to be significant because it is being built right," he said. "These are being built right next to the train station. The kind of residents who will be attracted here are people who use trains to commute. That's the whole idea of having a transit-oriented development."

"The majority [of units] are one- and two-bedroom, so I don't think it will have a significant impact on the school," Blakeslee added.

The redevelopment plan also stipulates a minimum setback of 25 feet from Furnace Pond.

Kickoff time:Boonton launches Morris County high school football season with resounding victory

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William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; [email protected].

NETCONG, NJ—A joint venture of CrownPoint Group, The Hampshire Companies and Circle Squared Alternative Investments has secured a $19.88-million loan for its 34 Bank transit-oriented multifamily project here.

The 36-month, floating rate construction loan was provided by M&T Bank and arranged by JLL for the 126-unit luxury project that broke ground on Aug. 28. The complex will comprise approximately 180,000 square feet on a 4.8-acre site located at 34 Bank St.

34 Bank will contain a total of 126 luxury units, of which 113 are market rate. Market-rate units will feature a mix of one- and two-bedroom floor plans and affordable units will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom options.

The property will be situated within walking distance to the Netcong Train Station and downtown Netcong and offers accessibility to all of the region’s major roadways, including Interstate 80 and Routes 206 and 46, all of which are within 1.5 miles of the development.

The development is due for completion in 2020 and will provide an affordable luxury option to supplement the area’s current supply of vintage, garden-style apartments, according to JLL. The property’s amenities, include a great room with business stations, communal kitchen, gas fireplace, large-screen TVs, billiards room, fully equipped fitness facility and electric car charging stations.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the borrower was led by senior managing director Jon Mikula and managing director Michael Klein.

“JLL is pleased to have been able to secure financing for CrownPoint Group as it continues to expand its portfolio of multifamily properties throughout the state,” Klein said.

“M&T put together very attractive terms and was able to accommodate the borrower as the deal continued to evolve throughout the closing process,” Mikula added.

Outdoor features of the development include a community gathering space with fire pit and a walking path along the Musconetcong River. The community will also offer on-site parking and optional private garages.

At the groundbreaking ceremony late last month, Jeff Sica, president and CEO of Circle Squared Alternative Investments, said, “When analyzing multi-family projects, location is such a critical factor to consider, and along with our partners we collectively agreed that Netcong has a lot to offer.”

He noted that the property is located just over 40 miles outside of Manhattan, and will be within walking distance to rail service–to New York City–as well as restaurants, supermarkets and other popular retailers.

“The beautiful views and recreational opportunities afforded by Lake Hopatcong and the Musconetcong River will also surely place this multi-family complex in high demand by families looking to call Morris County home,” he added.

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Winning the game Netcong-based AdMagic helps independent game designers bring their ideas to market

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When Shari Spiro gets a business call, she lights up and turns on. It’s all business, sure. But she clearly loves what she does.

Spiro said that, on her best days, she’s a dream maker. Her company, AdMagic in Netcong, helps tabletop game designers take their ideas and bring them to life, either through publishing or helping them get into retail outlets.

“The best phone call I made yesterday was to one of my designers,” she said. “I said, ‘Your game is going into the Barnes & Noble.’

“That was one of the best phone calls I’d had in a long time because he basically said, ‘Thank you for making my dream come true.’”

But that wasn’t always the case. Spiro started AdMagic in 1997 as an advertising and promotional firm.

“We started out in ad specialties and did that for a number of years,” she said.

One day in 2003, some custom cards came across Spiro’s desk and, taken by the design possibilities, she decided to start printing custom playing cards.

“I started in custom playing cards because I liked them,” said Spiro, whose business cards are printed on the back of playing cards. “They came across one day, I looked at them and said, ‘A rectangle: That’s really easy.’

“You can print anything on a rectangle.”

Then, in 2011, AdMagic had a new client ask it to print a new card game they had been developing. It was a small run, just enough to fulfill orders the game designers had received on Kickstarter as they were trying to fund further development.

“We ran the Kickstarter run for them where I was lucky if I made $50,” she said.

That game was Cards Against Humanity. In two years, it would be well on its way to slicing out its own comfortable spot in the cultural zeitgeist.

“(Cards Against Humanity) is our flagship client,” she said. “We promote them and also fulfill some of the roles of a publisher, but they’ve really created their own culture.”

The company operates in two arms: one as AdMagic, and the other as its publishing wing, called Breaking Games.

“We bring games to shows and move stuff into retail, but it’s basically ‘indie,’” she said. “On our publishing side, which is Breaking Games, some games we do from scratch where a designer will come to us with an idea, we build the art, we test the mechanics, publish it, put it in stores and test it at conventions.

Biz in Brief
Company: AdMagic
Founder: Shari Spiro
Headquarters: Netcong
Employees: 13
One more thing: Aside from being passionate about games, Shari Spiro is also a musician who plays bass, keyboards and sings.

“Other games will come to us already made and we’ll take them to different levels by working with those people. We have a very much custom model based on both manufacturing and publishing.”

The manufacturing aspect of the business is still the largest revenue driver. It’s brought the company major growth, but the sudden demand for Cards Against Humanity, the drive that started it all, presented some real challenges for Spiro and her then four-person company.

“That first year and a half was spent just trying to keep Cards Against Humanity in production,” she said. “But it was like stepping into where I should’ve been from the beginning; it was like going home.”

Then, sitting in the audience for a panel of the designers of Cards Against Humanity, Spiro had an “a-ha!” moment: This is where she was supposed to be.

The company spent the next 18 months working to keep up with the demand for Cards Against Humanity, but one fact was clear: AdMagic was now a gaming company.

“It completely changed my path because I fell in love with games,” she said. “I went and saw one of (Cards Against Humanity’s) panels and I was laughing because they’re so funny.

“I just thought, ‘Oh, my God: This is my job now.’ This is the greatest job in the world.”

Array

Bull—-!
Shari Spiro loves a good challenge. The founder and CEO of AdMagic is passionate about her love for games and is always looking to help her clients bring new and exciting products to market.
This last Black Friday, that included “Bull—-” for Cards Against Humanity.
“It actually has (expletive) in it,” she said. “You could buy bull—- for $6 that, by the way, probably costs $7. They didn’t make any money, but they got a tremendous amount of publicity.”
The custom box included genuine bull excrement from Texas that was specially dried under UV lights.
As for Spiro’s role in taking her client’s idea and helping to make it a logistical reality?
“I did everything,” she said.

AdMagic’s products are now in major retailers across the country and continuing to spread.

“We have Cards Against Humanity going back into Target this year, along with five or six other games, and we’ll be in Barnes & Noble this year,” she said. “There’s a lot of exciting stuff going on.”

The company has distribution in Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as the United States.

“That came from traveling all over the world,” she said. “We basically just threw ourselves into it and said, ‘OK, let’s try it.’”

The company also recently purchased Print & Play in Vancouver, Washington. That new wing of the company does small runs of specialized manufacturing for the company’s Kickstarter campaigns.

“We do the prototypes and small game runs in Washington,” she said. “Designers can use it if they have an idea and want to print a prototype.”

And the company just expanded to a new warehouse space in Stanhope, the next town over.

“We have our own warehouse now, which is pretty big,” she said.

But, with all this expansion, Spiro doesn’t plan on leaving the state anytime soon. In fact, the new warehouse was purchased specifically because it was within walking distance to the company’s current location.

“I grew up in New Jersey,” she said. “I love New Jersey, and I’m not planning on leaving.”

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On Twitter: @sheldonandrewj