The Observer newspaper officially began operation on May 14, 1887 as The Arlington Observer. It has published every week since its inception 135 years ago.
In 2002, under the new leadership of the late President Mary Tortoreti, General Manager Robert Pezzolla and current Advertising Director and Co-owner Lisa Feorenzo, the newspaper began a period of time where it saw unprecedented growth.
In the last two decades, numerous, beneficial changes happened behind the scenes as well, including a fully-digitized production process, the expansion of the newspaper’s website [which has been in operation since 1996], the inclusion of an e-Newspaper since 2012 for people around the globe to see [the e-Newspaper is a digital version of the printed newspaper], a full sports section, breaking news as it happens with live video and audio and so much more.
The Observer’s current editorial staff represents more than 100 years of combined newspaper experience. Our writers have previously and currently write for publications such as the New York Daily News, The Jersey Journal, The Hudson Dispatch, DiversityInc magazine, the Associated Press [AP] and others. Most have had decades of experience covering Hudson County and other towns The Observer covers.
We promise to continue to work diligently to make The Observer a must-read for the communities of Kearny, Harrison, East Newark, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Belleville, Bloomfield and Nutley. Our doors are always open — so never hesitate to let us know how we can better serve you, our readers and advertisers.
And as always, thank you for reading The Observer newspaper.
Meet our editorial staff
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer. He’s been with the newspaper since 2006 (except for 2009-2011) He also had stints with The Jersey Journal, The Bloomfield Independent Press [managing editor], DiversityInc.com and DiversityInc magazine [managing editor] and with Elauwit Media in South Jersey, where he was managing editor of 15 weekly newspapers.
From 1998 to 2005, Canessa was a teacher in the Archdiocese of Newark. From 1998 to 2002, he was the campus minister, teacher and PA announcer for boys basketball at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City [under legendary coach Bob Hurley Sr.] After St. Anthony’s, he taught until 2005 and was campus minister at Oratory Preparatory School in Summit. He also spent a year on the staff of St. Helen’s Parish Community, Westfield.
Kevin is a 1992 graduate of St. Peter’s Prep and a 1997 graduate of Salve Regina University, Newport, R.I., where he got his bachelor’s degree in journalism and an associate degree in the administration of justice. He’s a huge fan of the New Jersey Devils and the New York Mets — and was, for a time, a producer for The Sid Rosenberg Show (Sid, formerly a sports-talk host at WFAN and sports reporter for Imus in the Morning, is currently hosting morning drive at WABC in New York City.) He’s been the webmaster of Rosenberg’s website since 2008 and in 2009-2011, co-hosted a sports and politics show with Rosenberg on the now-defunct Shovio Broadcasting Network.
Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny from 1985 to 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie, Florida — yes, that Port St. Lucie, the spring home of the New York Mets — from 2012 to 2016 and returned to West Hudson in 2016. He now lives in Harrison.
Sports Writer Jason Bernstein joined The Observer in March 2022, replacing the since-retired Jim Hague. Bernstein brings with him a wealth of sports-writing experience with New Jersey Advance Media, the publishers of The Star-Ledger and The Jersey Journal.
Several years ago, we moved our office from Kearny Avenue to 39 Seeley Ave. If you have trouble finding our office, here’s what it looks like. Our office is the first door on the left upon entrance. Stop by any time!