Bergen County's blue laws close certain categories of goods on Sundays, and Paramus takes its Sunday shape from that list. Most of the mall space goes dark, but a specific set of restaurants, grocery stores and entertainment spots keeps running, usually through doors on the outside of the buildings. The borough is now in Bergen County Superior Court defending that arrangement, and the reason it gives has more to do with Route 17 than with shopping.
The Law Is a List of Goods
Bergen County's restrictions name what can't be sold on Sunday, not which buildings have to close. As the Borough of Wyckoff's clerk explains, the county framework works from two lists:
- Can't be sold on Sunday: clothing and apparel, building and lumber supplies, furniture, home, business or office furnishings, and household, business and office appliances.
- Allowed: drugs, meals and prepared food, agricultural and horticultural products, beverages, tobacco, milk products, newspapers, recreational activities, gasoline and emergency motor-vehicle repairs, personal-care and selected small retail goods, and real estate sales.
That's why the Paramus Sunday has a shape. A mall full of apparel stores sits closed, while a seafood restaurant with its own outside entrance opens for lunch at 11:30. Voters have kept it that way. The same county FAQ cites referendums in 1980 and November 1993 in which Bergen voters declined to abolish the Sunday restrictions.
Garden State Plaza Opens From the Outside In
Westfield Garden State Plaza's official hours page lists Sunday as "Closed." The same company also keeps an Open Sundays guide under the tagline "Eat. Drink. Play." It lists 16 Handles, AMC Theaters, Bourbon Street Grill, California Pizza Kitchen, Charleys Philly Steaks, Chili's, Chipotle, Dopamine Land, Dumpling Cafe, Dunkin', Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Five Guys and Fogo de Chão, among others.
The sit-down restaurants are where Sunday plans tend to start, and their own pages list the hours:
- Eddie V's is open Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its outside entrance sits between Macy's and AMC.
- Seasons 52, at 1 Garden State Plaza, Suite A14, runs the same Sunday hours, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Fogo de Chão splits the day into Sunday brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
AMC Garden State Plaza 16, at 4000 Garden State Plaza, covers the "play" part. Its schedule for Sunday, October 18 shows seven films, with the first showtimes at 11 a.m. If you're pairing dinner with a movie, Eddie V's location between Macy's and AMC is the practical reason to know where that door is.
The Grocery Map Runs Along Routes 4 and 17
Grocery stores can stay open under the county rules, NJ Spotlight News notes, so the Sunday grocery run works like any other day's. What makes it local is how the stores sit inside or beside centers whose retail is closed. Paramus Park's official calendar marks Sunday, October 18 as "closed," for example, while Stew Leonard's at 700 Paramus Park keeps its seven-day hours.
| Where | Address or access | Sunday hours, per official page |
|---|---|---|
| Stew Leonard's | 700 Paramus Park | 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; wine and spirits noon to 9 p.m. |
| Whole Foods Market | 300 Bergen Town Center; outside entrance at Whole Foods Plaza | 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| ShopRite of Paramus | 224 Route 4 East at Forest Ave | 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Trader Joe's | 404 Route 17 North | 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| First Watch | Bergen Town Center, outside building on the Route 4 side | 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. |
| H Mart | 60 NJ-17 | Location confirmed; hours not listed on the store finder |
The hours range widely. ShopRite runs until 11 p.m. and Whole Foods until 10 p.m., while First Watch closes at 2:30 in the afternoon. At Bergen Town Center, the center lists three ways into Whole Foods: the outside entrance at Whole Foods Plaza, mall entrance door 4, or parking garage entrance C. Bergen Town Center's general hours page didn't show a Sunday schedule when we checked, so the store-level hours above are the reliable ones. For H Mart, call ahead or check the store directly before you go.
Van Saun Picks Up the Afternoon
"Recreational activities" are on the allowed list, so Van Saun County Park doesn't change on Sundays. The Bergen County Zoo lists itself as open seven days a week, weather permitting, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with last entry at 4 p.m. The train and carousel run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting, with last entry at 4:45 p.m. and rides at $3 per person.
Check one thing before going this month. The zoo's page currently posts a Zoo Boo notice: the zoo is closed to general admission on October 16, 17 and 18 and open only to event ticketholders. Rain dates are October 23, 24 and 25. The notice doesn't print a year. Its weekend days do match this October's calendar, but confirm with the county before planning a regular Sunday visit on either weekend.
Why Paramus Went to Court Over a Mall in Another Town
All of this rests on everyone in Bergen County following the same rule. On August 25, 2025, Paramus filed a four-count complaint in Bergen County Superior Court over American Dream in East Rutherford, which opens its retail stores on Sundays, NJBIZ reported. The suit names American Dream's developer Ameream, Bergen County, the Borough of East Rutherford and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. It asks the court to enforce the blue laws, declare the Sunday retail operations unlawful, and grant nuisance relief and fines.
NJ Spotlight News laid out the borough's reasoning in May 2026. Paramus, a town of roughly 26,000 about 12 miles west of the George Washington Bridge, supports the Sunday ban for the quiet it brings. On other days, the Garden State Parkway and Routes 4 and 17 typically jam with traffic to and from the regional malls, and residential neighborhoods deal with the overflow, the noise and the emissions. The borough also argues that American Dream gains an unfair advantage by selling on Sundays while Paramus businesses stay closed. Rutgers Law School professor Sarah Swan told the outlet that Paramus isn't seeking money damages. It wants a court order keeping the mall's retail stores closed on Sundays.
Each side's position has been on the record since the filing. In the NJBIZ report, Mayor Christopher DiPiazza called the suit a matter of "standing up for our business." An American Dream spokesperson called it a "meritless political stunt" and argued the mall sits on state land, where the county blue laws don't apply. Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco called himself a "steadfast defender" of the blue laws. The county's position in court is more complicated. NJ Spotlight reported that Bergen County has asked for the case to be dismissed. Swan explained that the county wants the mall closed on Sundays but doesn't believe it has the power to enforce the blue laws. The Sports and Exposition Authority, the mall's landlord, says in filings that enforcing the county's blue laws isn't within its jurisdiction.
The motions to dismiss were argued in June. CoStar reported that lawyers for American Dream and the authority asked Superior Court Judge Gregg Padovano to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it would be closed for good. Paramus's attorney argued that American Dream's retail side, with more than 100 stores, was flouting the law. After the arguments in Hackensack, the judge reserved judgment.
He told attorneys in Hackensack on Tuesday that he "would get an opinion out shortly."
We found no published report of a ruling between that June hearing and mid-October 2026, so as of the latest coverage the case is unresolved. Swan told NJ Spotlight the outcome could serve as a temperature check on how Bergen County residents feel about blue laws, while noting that voters have repeatedly approved measures to keep them.
Holiday Sundays, as Far as the Calendars Go
Holiday season is when Sunday hours get the most questions, and the official calendars are still thin. When we checked this month, Garden State Plaza hadn't posted 2026 holiday hours. Paramus Park's visible schedule runs through the week of December 7 to 13, with Sundays marked closed and no special holiday entries. The most recent county holiday announcement for Van Saun is dated November 7, 2025 and covers last season, so it isn't a guide to this year's schedule.
Until those calendars fill in, the hours on this page are the latest published ones. Check each restaurant or store's own page as December gets closer.
Real estate sales are also on Bergen County's Sunday allowed list, so open houses can go ahead on Sundays. If you'd like to know how a quiet-Sunday town affects scheduling, showings or your own plans, Doreen Darquea is glad to talk it through, any day of the week the law allows.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
