Image: Watchung Booksellers is a long-time fixture that anchors the second district’s commercial hub.
This is a guide to Montclair’s Second Ward, the central-northern pocket of town anchored by Watchung Plaza. After each federal census, Montclair reviews and, when necessary, redraws its four council wards to keep their populations reasonably even. This guide bridges both: the official Ward 2 map and the streets, schools, parks and restaurants that make up the area on the ground.
Ward 2 at a Glance
| Covers | Watchung Plaza and the west side, from the Cedar Grove and Verona lines down to the Bloomfield Avenue corridor |
| ZIP code | 07043 in the north, 07042 toward the southern edge |
| Council rep | Eileen Birmingham, Second Ward Councilor |
| Schools | Montclair High School, Watchung School, Edgemont Montessori School, Montclair Cooperative School, Montclair Kimberley Academy (middle school campus) |
| Library | No branch inside the ward; closest is the Bellevue Avenue Branch, just over the line in Ward 1 |
| Fire station | None inside the ward; closest is Fire Station #2, 588 Valley Road |
| Train station | Watchung Avenue (Montclair-Boonton Line) |
| Commercial hub | Watchung Plaza, a locally designated historic business district |
Not sure which ward your address falls in? Use the township’s interactive ward viewer for a direct answer.
Where Does Ward 2 Start and End?
Ward 2 is an irregular central swath of Montclair centered around Watchung Plaza and extending west toward the Verona/Cedar Grove side of town and south into portions of the Chestnut, Walnut and Forest Street areas. Its southern edge meets Wards 3 and 4 before reaching the Bloomfield Township line. The ward begins along the mountain side of town, encompassing the neighborhoods around Upper Mountain Avenue and North Mountain Avenue, then stretches eastward through Watchung Plaza and the Watchung Avenue train station. From there, it runs south through Edgemont Park, Erwin Park and Montclair High School, continuing into the residential blocks around Forest Street before reaching its southern boundary near Walnut and Chestnut Street.
Who Represents Ward 2 on the Township Council?
Eileen Birmingham holds the Second Ward seat. A physician, she sits on the council’s Finance, Mobility, and Human Services and Public Safety committees, and voted with the council majority in May 2026 to cap building heights at three stories along a stretch of Bloomfield Avenue. Montclair’s municipal elections are non-partisan, so candidates run without party labels.
Birmingham’s committee work touches everything from zoning to public safety, but for many families, the more immediate local institution is the school their kids attend.
Schools in Ward 2
Montclair High School, at 100 Chestnut Street, sits inside Ward 2, along with its freshman-year building, the George Innes Annex, across the street at 141 Park Street. It is the district’s only public high school, serving students townwide regardless of ward.
Ward 2 is also home to Watchung School and Edgemont Montessori School, both part of the district’s magnet system, along with Montclair Cooperative School, an independent school, and the Montclair Kimberley Academy middle school campus.
Renaissance at Rand, on North Fullerton Avenue, closed as a middle school in 2026 after the Board of Education voted to repurpose the building into a pre-K center amid the district’s budget crisis, folding its sixth and seventh graders into Buzz Aldrin and Glenfield.
As with every ward in Montclair, do not read this as a feeder pattern for the elementary grades. The district runs a townwide magnet system with no zoned neighborhood schools: families rank themed schools through the central office, and a district-wide balancing process assigns seats. Living in Ward 2 doesn’t determine which school your kid attends, aside from the high school itself.
The Library
Ward 2 does not have a library branch of its own. Residents typically use the Main Library at 50 S. Fullerton Avenue or the Bellevue Avenue Branch at 185 Bellevue Avenue, which sits just across the ward line in Ward 1, a short walk or drive from the northern end of Watchung Plaza.
The same is true of fire coverage.
Public Safety: No Firehouse of Its Own
The Montclair Fire Department runs three stations townwide: headquarters on Pine Street, Fire Station #2 at 588 Valley Road, and Station #3 on Harrison Avenue, which has been closed since 2023. Coverage for Ward 2 comes primarily from headquarters and Station #2, both a short response away.
Parks and Green Spaces
Ward 2 has a surprisingly varied collection of parks, from the 14.4-acre Essex County Anderson Park in the north to the smaller neighborhood parks scattered through the ward. Edgemont Park is the largest municipal park within Ward 2, covering 15.5 acres along Valley Road, with a pond, two softball diamonds, a playground, shelter house, walking paths and seasonal ice skating. Watchung Park and Watchung Plaza Park sit on either side of the Watchung Avenue station, forming part of the historic landscape of Watchung Plaza. Rand Park, on North Fullerton Avenue, provides tennis courts, basketball, a playground and parking, while Edgemont Road Park and Nassau Road Park add smaller pockets of public open space.
(Full list: the Pod’s guide to Montclair’s 23 parks.)
Restaurants and Cafes
Watchung Plaza, the crossroads of Watchung and North Fullerton avenues, Park Street and the Watchung Avenue train station, is the ward’s commercial center. Watchung Booksellers, at 54 Fairfield Street, was named 2026 Bookstore of the Year by Publishers Weekly, a milestone for a shop that’s been a fixture since 1991, first above the old Bradner’s Pharmacy at 33 Watchung Plaza, now run by Maddie Ciliotta-Young.
In the same building as the bookstore, Bánh Voyage took over the former Da Pepo space at 54 Fairfield Street, run by Kevin Zaballero and Deborah Wang, the same couple behind Local Coffee around the corner. The counter-service spot serves banh mi, vermicelli bowls and summer rolls alongside Vietnamese coffee.
A few doors down, Sushi Koshi has drawn a steady line at dinner time, tucked into a corner across from the century-old hardware store, with a room that feels more East Village than suburban Montclair. The sushi counter turns out a rotating menu alongside a complimentary serving of mochi at the end of every meal, a small touch that keeps regulars coming back. (Full visit: Farnoosh and Mike Eat Food: Sushi Koshi at Watchung Plaza.)
Across the plaza, La Couronne, 23 Watchung Plaza, has run on old-world Italian logic for more than 20 years under chef and owner Luis Dominguez, a BYOB spot where the pappardelle with shrimp and mussels and a weeknight prix fixe around $50 keep regulars coming back. Farnoosh and Mike featured it on the Pod’s food segment.
For breakfast, Sunrise Bagels, 29 Watchung Plaza, opens at 5 a.m. daily, and Bluestone Coffee Co., 123 Watchung Avenue, roasts its own beans on site and built a following around its smashed avocado and salmon Benedict. Nearby, Meet Me at Madison’s, 121 Watchung Ave., brings chef Saverio Stassi’s Latin-inflected weekend brunch to the plaza, named for owner Madeline Sanchez’s daughter, Madison, with a Sunday service that fills up fast enough to make a reservation worth it. (More: Best Brunch and Breakfast in Montclair.)
For pizza, Mr. Dino’s, 119 Watchung Ave., turns out wood-fired pies, calzones and hero sandwiches, a family-owned, BYOB standby that’s anchored this stretch for decades.
Beyond commuting and coffee, Watchung Plaza carries a distinction few other parts of Montclair can claim.
A Ward Built on Historic Districts
Watchung Plaza is not just a commercial strip. It is a locally designated historic district, developed in the early 20th century as a neighborhood shopping center around the Watchung Avenue railroad station. The district contains 24 historic structures, many of them two-story Tudor Revival commercial buildings, and is associated with architects Clifford C. Wendehack and Arthur Ramhurst. It also encompasses two small public spaces: Watchung Plaza Park, a 1918 landscape designed by Wendehack, and Watchung Park, dating to 1920.
One of the plaza’s most distinctive individual landmarks is Bradner’s Pharmacy at 33 Watchung Plaza, a Tudor Revival building constructed in 1926 and individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The commercial district is surrounded by two historic residential developments tied to the arrival of the railroad: Erwin Park to the west of the station and Marlboro Park to the east. Erwin Park developed beginning in 1897 as a planned neighborhood for commuters, while Marlboro Park was opened by the Montclair Realty Company in 1897. Both are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Bars and Wine Shops
Full liquor licenses are scarce in Montclair, capped by state law at one for every 3,000 residents, leaving only about 13 for roughly 300 restaurants and bars. That’s why so much of Ward 2, like the rest of town, runs BYOB.
Egan & Sons and Halcyon, next door to each other on Walnut Street right at Ward 2’s edge, get around the shortage with a workaround worth knowing about. The two restaurants share a single liquor license through an interconnecting hallway that legally links the buildings, letting one license cover both dining rooms. Egan & Sons opened first in 2005 as an Irish gastropub, all dark wood and draft beer and European football on the televisions. Halcyon came later as its seafood-and-cocktails counterpart next door, and the same ownership group now runs both under that shared hallway loophole, a more upscale option a few steps from the pub’s casual bar scene.
For wine and spirits to bring along to Ward 2’s BYOB restaurants, Town House Wine & Liquor, 115 Watchung Avenue, sits in the plaza corridor a short walk from Mr. Dino’s and Meet Me at Madison’s.
Getting Around
Watchung Avenue station, on the Montclair-Boonton Line, sits inside the ward and offers weekday direct service to Hoboken and New York Penn Station. On weekends and holidays, however, the Montclair-Boonton Line does not serve Watchung Avenue: trains operate only between Bay Street in Montclair and Hoboken.
The Watchung Avenue station has 93 municipal parking spaces, including four accessible spaces, as well as bike racks and a ticket vending machine. Parking is available for both residents and non-residents.
NJ Transit bus service also serves the Watchung Avenue station, including Route 28. By car, it’s a similar run to the rest of Upper Montclair, roughly 25 to 30 minutes to Midtown Manhattan outside of rush hour, though travel times vary considerably with traffic.
Know Your Ward, Then Use It
If you live near Watchung Plaza, use the township’s interactive ward viewer to confirm you’re in Ward 2. Curious how the ward next door compares? Read the Ward 1 guide next.
