Looks like the property was sold:
Access denied along Greenway on Teaneck sideWednesday, July 13, 2011
BY HOWARD PROSNITZ
STAFF WRITER
Teaneck Suburbanite
TEANECK - The Hackensack River Greenway is the site of a clash between private property ownership and public access as new owners of a historic house have placed signs blocking entrance to the portion of the Greenway that lies behind their house, claiming that it is on private property.
In a letter to the Friends of the Hackensack River Greenway dated May 31, Gideon and Claire Karlick wrote that they purchased the property at 1286 River Road on Nov. 8, 2010. The deed for purchase includes the riverfront and does not indicate any easement, the Karlick's wrote. They requested that the Friends group change its website and brochures to indicate that there is no public Greenway Trail at 1286 River Road, and that the National Park Service be informed of the same.
The Hackensack River Greenway, a riverfront trail extending along the Teaneck side of the Hackensack River, was begun with a no-mow zone at Terhune Park. The goal of the Friends is to create a continuous trail along the entire 3.5 mile Teaneck side of the river from Terhune Park to Brett Park at the northern end. However, approximately 15 private properties are located along the route and the trail is currently discontinuous.
In July 2009 the U.S. Department of Interior designated the Hackensack River Greenway as a National Recreation Trail, one of only four in New Jersey and 1,200 in the United States.
The Karlick's letter goes on to state that private property signs they have put up have been removed, their garden art has been moved or trashed and logs and branches placed on the path to obscure it have been removed. In addition, they claim that individuals have removed vegetation from the property for personal use.
"Some of the individuals we greet along our path in our backyard claim a right of passage based on your organization's designating our property as being part of the Greenway trail," the Karlick's wrote.
In a subsequent letter to Louis Osman, president of the Friends of the Hackensack Greenway, the Karlicks said that they would consider allowing "very limited" access to the property for walks sponsored by the Friends after the current issue is resolved.
Attempts to reach the Karlicks by phone were unsuccessful.
Jordan Wouk, chair of the Hackensack River Greenway Advisory Board, said that in June the board sent a memo to the council recommending that the council contact the property owners. Wouk said that the council has not replied to the memo.
He noted that the propriety's previous owner, a Buddhist organization, allowed access to the path.
"In all the years that the Buddhists owned the property, there was never any complaint or trouble," Wouk said in an interview. "The path has been there a very long time. When the new owners bought the property, they must have known there was a path there."
Wouk noted that a township zoning ordinance 33-23 (f)(3)(c) requires a 50-foot buffer from the mean high water mark on all riverfront land. The buffer is to consist of natural plants and a pathway, including benches, lighting and waste receptacles.
Osman said that the group is no longer leading any walks on that portion of the Greenway.
"We still want to accomplish the ultimate goal of having a contiguous pathway along the full 3.5 miles. There is a disappointment in our attempt to reach that goal," he said.
According to the 1996 book, "A Guide to the Historic Landmarks of Teaneck, New Jersey," the John Ackerman House, known for many years as the Old River House, was built in 1734 with an addition put on in 1787. John Ackerman was a decedent of David Ackerman, who came to the New World from Holland in 1662. The Ackerman family owned and farmed the property until the 1920s. Prior to the Buddhist ownership the house was the residence of the president of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
E-mail:
prosnitz@northjersey.com 
