Church Street doesn’t look like it’s trying to be anything: a block of narrow storefronts a few steps off Bloomfield Avenue, quieter than the main strip and lined mostly with restaurants rather than shops. It’s also the commercial heart of Montclair’s Third Ward, the district Rahum Williams has represented on the Township Council since 2024. This guide sticks to what’s actually inside Ward 3: Church Street, Seymour Street and the Wellmont, the main library, Porter and Crane parks, Hillside School and the MC Hotel stretch of Bloomfield Avenue. It’s the third in our ward series, after our guides to the First Ward and the Second Ward.
Ward 3 At A Glance
| Covers | Church Street, Seymour Street and the Wellmont, the main library on South Fullerton Avenue and the MC Hotel stretch of Bloomfield Avenue |
| ZIP code | 07042 |
| Council rep | Rahum Williams, Third Ward councilor since 2024 |
| Schools | Montclair Kimberley Academy’s Upper School, Immaculate Conception High School, Hillside School, YCS Sawtelle Learning Center and Fusion Academy |
| Library | Montclair Public Library main branch, 50 South Fullerton Ave. |
| Fire station | None inside the ward; Fire Station 3, closed since 2023, sits just across Harrison Avenue in Ward 4 |
| Commercial hub | Church Street and the MC Hotel stretch of Bloomfield Avenue |
| Business district | Part of Montclair Center, the downtown business improvement district, which spans more than one ward |
Not sure which ward your address falls in? Check the township’s interactive ward map.
Where Does Ward 3 Start And End?
Ward 3 covers Montclair’s western and southwestern edge. West Orange forms its southwestern border and Verona its northwestern one. To the north, Claremont Avenue, Valley Road and Walnut Street separate it from Ward 2. To the east, it meets Ward 4 along an irregular line that runs down Greenwood Avenue and Lackawanna Plaza, then follows Gates Avenue, Hawthorne Place and Llewellyn Road before turning south on Harrison Avenue to the West Orange line, according to the township’s official ward boundaries. Downtown sits right along that eastern edge, which is why the Montclair Center business district spills across ward lines.
Who Represents Ward 3 On The Township Council?
Rahum Williams won the Third Ward seat in Montclair’s May 14, 2024, election. He and his family have lived in Montclair since 2015, and after nearly three decades in commercial finance he is a senior vice president at a national bank, managing commercial lending relationships, according to his township biography. On the council, he serves on the Finance, Communications, E-Governance and Operations committees, and he sits on the Montclair Center Business Improvement District’s board of directors.
Williams succeeded Lori Price Abrams, who won the seat in 2020; before her, Sean Spiller represented the Third Ward until his election as mayor in 2020.
Schools In Ward 3
Ward 3 is home to Montclair Kimberley Academy’s Upper School, Immaculate Conception High School, Hillside School, YCS Sawtelle Learning Center and Fusion Academy. Montclair’s public elementary and middle schools run on a district-wide magnet system with no zoned neighborhood assignments, so a family’s ward doesn’t determine where a child in the public system attends; the schools above are simply the ones physically located within the ward’s lines.
The Library Has $36.6 Million Coming, But Construction Is Years Away
Montclair Public Library runs two branches, and the main one, at 50 South Fullerton Ave., is in Ward 3. In June, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority selected the library to receive $36.6 million in tax credits through its Cultural and Arts Facilities Expansion program, money that will pay for renovations at both branches. The main library is slated for a gut renovation of its mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, while the Bellevue Avenue Branch, a Carnegie building that opened in 1914, will more than double in size.
Construction is set to begin in 2027, with both branches closing during the work and reopening projected for 2030, and the library is surveying residents on what they want first. Until then, the main library keeps its regular hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Public Safety: Fire Station 3
Ward 3 doesn’t have an operating fire station. Fire Station 3, at 151 Harrison Ave., is Montclair’s oldest firehouse, built in 1901, and it sits just across Harrison Avenue in Ward 4. It has been closed since 2023 because of a lack of funding for maintenance; the state put $200,000 toward renovations in 2025, but the station has not reopened. Coverage comes from the department’s other two locations, headquarters at 1 Pine St. in Ward 4 and Station 2 at 588 Valley Rd. in Ward 1.
Parks And Green Spaces
Ward 3’s green space runs from the edge of one of Essex County’s best-known parks down to small neighborhood pockets. Eagle Rock Reservation, the county park known for its Manhattan skyline views, sits along the ward’s western edge, mostly across the line in West Orange. Closer in, Porter Park, Crane Park and Graz Park are all inside the ward. For more, see our guide to Montclair’s parks.
Restaurants And Cafes
Between Church Street and the surrounding blocks, Ward 3 holds one of the densest concentrations of restaurants and cafes in Montclair Center, enough that it works as the ward’s town square as much as its dining scene. Franco Porporino runs Fresco Da Franco at 15 Church St., a full-bar Italian restaurant, next door to his Bar Franco at 5 Church St., a speakeasy-style lounge with a basement bar. Raymond’s, at 28 Church St., is a diner with a vintage look known for weekend brunch, and The Saint Clair, at 32 Church St., is a modern American restaurant from Top Chef Season 19 contestant Leia Gaccione, who took over the space Scala del Nonna left in 2025 after 11 years.
Dutch’s Sandwich Shop, at 16 Church St., handles the breakfast-sandwich crowd, and Montclair House Grill, at 12 Church St., and Napoli, at 11 Park St., round out the area with more casual options. Our breakfast and brunch guide has more on the morning spots. The lineup keeps shifting: newer arrivals include Toastique, a toast and smoothie-bowl cafe at 25 Church St., and Oggi Gelato, an Italian gelateria opening its first New Jersey location at 40 Church St. on Oct. 10.
Bars And Who Actually Has A Liquor License
Montclair has only 13 plenary retail consumption licenses, the state permits that let a bar or restaurant pour drinks by the glass, because state law caps them at one per 3,000 residents. Our liquor license explainer covers how the system works, and our guide to Montclair’s best bars covers where to drink.
Fresco Da Franco and Bar Franco share a single license: the restaurant acquired its license in 2022, and it covers two adjacent properties, which is how one license supplies both. Just Jake’s and Porta also run full bars, as do the MC Hotel’s restaurant and rooftop. The Clairidge, on Bloomfield Avenue, is a separate case: it serves alcohol under a nonprofit theater license made possible by a 2023 state law, which doesn’t count against the cap.
Getting Around: Buses, Car-Free Streets And A Train Walk
Ward 3 doesn’t contain a Montclair-Boonton Line station; Walnut Street and Bay Street stations both sit a short walk away in neighboring wards. Both normally offer weekday Midtown Direct service to New York Penn Station, but from Oct. 11 through Nov. 14, weekday Midtown Direct trains run to Hoboken instead during Portal North Bridge work. NJ Transit buses, including the 11, 28 and 29, run through downtown.
Church Street adds a car-free layer: on the third weekend of each month from June through October, the block between Bloomfield Avenue and South Park Street closes to traffic as part of a township pilot. Should it stay that way for good? We asked.
What Ward 3 Is Known For
Ask what this end of downtown is known for and the honest answer is a lot of small, overlapping things rather than one signature identity, and much of that comes down to who runs the place. Montclair Center, the downtown district Ward 3 shares with its neighbors, is managed by the Montclair Center Business Improvement District, a nonprofit founded by local businesses and property owners in 2002 that now represents more than 400 retailers and restaurants. The BID handles what a dense district needs and an ordinary commercial strip doesn’t get, from cleaning and beautification to marketing and events, work that earned it a Great American Main Street Award in 2015. Its executive director stepped down in September.
Church Street is the ward’s restaurant row, and it doubles as event space during the car-free weekends. The Wellmont Theater anchors the bigger events, as a Live Nation concert venue and a Montclair Film Festival stage each October; our Wellmont guide has its history. The ward also had a big 2026 moment from lodging rather than a stage: the MC Hotel hosted several World Cup teams during the tournament, while the BID ran its own watch party for the Final at Wellmont Arts Plaza. None of these is a must-see landmark on its own, but together they are why this stretch of Montclair feels busier.
Find Your Ward
Your ward determines which council member represents you and which community meetings apply to you, and downtown’s split across ward lines makes it worth double-checking on the township’s interactive ward map.
