A gap of unclaimed land between Nutley and Belleville has been declared a town, and the man behind it is someone Montclair already knows. John Cozzarelli, who owns Cozz Coffee, the mobile espresso truck that supplies several Montclair shops and helps fund the town’s skate park, calls it Beltley. In six days, it went from a joke video to a News 12 segment, thousands of views online and, according to Cozzarelli, conversations with state officials about making it official.
“I was just walking down the street one day and I noticed one side’s here, one side’s there,” Cozzarelli said. “In between was nothing. So I just made a video about it and it’s kind of taken off. It’s got a whole life of its own now.”
He isn’t the mayor. He’s not sure he wants to be. “So far I’m just the founder of Beltley. We haven’t declared a mayor yet. I’m still debating on whether or not I want to run for mayor… The pressure of being the mayor is kind of a lot. And I like the idea of being the founder of a town,” he said.
Who Is Cozz, the Montclair Coffee Truck Owner Behind Beltley?
Before Beltley, Cozzarelli was already a familiar name to anyone who orders coffee around town, but his relationship with Montclair goes beyond caffeine…