Musician, small business owner, founding father. John “Cozz” Cozzarelli is a man of many talents. The one with the most Jersey chutzpah, though, may be his spontaneous decision to declare a patch of land between the “Welcome to Nutley” and “Welcome to Belleville” signs the new town of Beltley.
Cozzarelli, who owns and operates Belleville-based Cozz Coffee, stuck a sign in the grass in front of a park on Joralemon Street that read “Welcome to Beltley.” A series of videos announcing the town’s founding quickly went viral.
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Soon, visitors were adding “amenities” to the town: a bin of books became the Beltley Public Library, a dog crate became the Beltley Dog Park, and two sand buckets became the Department of Public Works. Cozzarelli’s sign disappeared, but the spirit of Beltley lives on.
“Beltley is more than a town. It’s really an idea of two things coming together and becoming one — similar to a belt. It holds everything up,” Cozzarelli said. “It’s just an idea of unity. That’s what Beltley is about.”
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Beltley vs. Nutville
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