North Haledon residents sign petition to help keep giant star on High Mountain shining

A northern New Jersey mayor is digging in for a fight to save a 25-foot-tall star that shines high above the town.
The star was first erected in the 1950s atop High Mountain. It was down for decades and then came back when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and became a symbol of hope.
But the town does not own the land where the star sits any longer, and the current owners want the star to come down.
Mayor Randy George has vowed to fight for the star, and held a special meeting Monday night.
“The star’s not coming down,” George says.
He says about 1,000 of the town’s 9,000 residents have signed a petition backing him. And a couple of dozen people showed up at Monday’s meeting to voice their support.
The land where the star sits is owned by the Nature Conservancy. The director of the conservancy says the star is bad for several rare plants and is putting them in danger.
“There are plants up there, but they’re not surrounding anywhere near the star,” George says.
He says he paid his environmental engineer to check. And his report shows the mountain is preserved.
The town gave the land to the conservancy about 20 years ago to stop development in the mountain.
“That’s one of my proudest accomplishments working with the council to make that happen,” says George.
The director of the conservancy in New Jersey was invited to the meeting, but did not attend. The mayor says he is hopeful they will meet soon to hash things out.