Town guide

Filming in North Bergen, New Jersey

North Bergen documents its film permit process in detail but does not publish the fee schedule, and its Film Ready status is contradicted by the State list.

Everything below comes from the Township’s own Film Permit Application Process letter and application form, published together and read in full on September 17, 2026. Both are issued under Ordinance No. 678-25. Where the Township has not published something a producer needs — the fee amounts, a filing deadline — this page says so rather than filling the gap from a neighboring town’s ordinance.

Information checked September 17, 2026

Checked Sep 17 2026

County: Hudson County
Film Ready status: Not on the current State certified-localities list, checked September 17, 2026 — but the Township’s own film permit letter describes North Bergen as a recognized Film Ready Community. Both sources are official and they disagree; see the section below.
Controlling source: Ordinance No. 678-25, Film Ready Standards
Who decides: The Director of Community Improvements reviews; the Clerk’s Office invoices and issues
Published lead time: Not published. The only published clock is a three-business-day notice to affected residents and businesses
Permit fee: Set by Ordinance No. 678-25. The amounts are not published online; the Clerk’s Office invoices after approval and payment is due before filming
Insurance: $500,000 per person and $1,000,000 aggregate for bodily injury, plus $300,000 for property damage
Indemnification: A signed agreement holding the Township harmless is required
Neighbor notice: Written notice to affected residents or businesses at least three business days before filming, with proof attached to the application
Hours: Generally 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. unless otherwise approved
Police or fire: Reviewed per application; separate fees apply per the public safety plan
Last verified: September 17, 2026

Quick answer

North Bergen runs a documented film permit process under Ordinance No. 678-25, and the Township publishes both the process letter and the application form. Insurance limits, the neighbor-notice duty and the filming window are all stated.

The fee schedule is not published online. The Township’s own letter says fees are set by that ordinance and that the Clerk’s Office issues an invoice once the permit is approved, with payment due before filming. We are not going to guess at a number. Call the Clerk’s Office for the current schedule before you budget.

The route an application actually takes

This is the part North Bergen documents better than most municipalities on this site, and it is worth following in order, because the application does not stay in one office.

Collect the form from the Clerk’s Office during regular business hours. It is also posted on the Township website.
File it with the Building / Code Enforcement Office, not back with the Clerk, together with all required documentation.
The Director of Community Improvements reviews it.
After approval it is forwarded to the Clerk’s Office for invoicing and permit issuance.
Pay the invoice before filming. The Township states plainly that payment must be received before filming.
Keep the approved permit on site during all filming activity.

Two offices, two counters, and the handoff between them is where a schedule slips. Build the review step into your timeline as a step with a duration, even though the Township does not publish one.

Required documentation

The Township’s letter lists four items. Have all four ready when you file, because review will not start without them:

Item	What it requires
Proof of insurance	$500,000 per person and $1,000,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $300,000 for property damage
Indemnification	A signed agreement holding the Township harmless
Public Safety Plan	Required in some cases. The Township lists it as “if required” and does not publish the trigger, so ask whether yours needs one
Proof of neighbor notice	Written notice provided to adjacent residents and businesses at least three business days before filming, with proof attached

The insurance limits are the same figures Weehawken applies to wedding filming and lower than either Weehawken’s or Union City’s commercial requirement. If you are shooting across the Hudson waterfront on one certificate, build to the highest limit in the set rather than to North Bergen’s.

What the application asks you to disclose

The form itself is more detailed than the process letter suggests, and several fields will drive a public safety review rather than simply describing the shoot.

Type of filming: still photography, motion picture, television, commercial, student, or other.
Production detail: title, the product or company where it is a commercial, dates and hours, locations and a scene description.
Equipment and special effects: cranes, drones, firearms, pyrotechnics, animals, stunts, or other. Any of these should be raised in conversation before you file, not disclosed for the first time on paper.
Scale: number of cast and crew, number of vehicles, and vehicle types and license plates.
Street impact: street closure, sidewalk closure, reserved parking, intermittent traffic control, night filming, or none.
Police or fire assistance, with the form stating that separate fees apply per the public safety plan.
Insurance particulars: carrier, policy number, expiration date, coverage amount, agent name and phone.
Acknowledgment of receipt of the Film Ready Ordinance and agreement to comply with Township laws, regulations and directives.

Drones sit on that list alongside firearms and pyrotechnics. Aerial work in this part of Hudson County also runs into controlled airspace and separate federal rules, which are nothing to do with the Township permit — see our drone-filming guidance before you plan a shot list around one.

Hours and conduct

Filming is generally permitted between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., unless otherwise approved. That is a tighter evening cutoff than either Union City, which runs to 10:00 p.m., or Hoboken, which allows filming in residential areas until 11:00 p.m. with approval.

The Township states two further obligations directly: the permit holder must minimize interference with traffic, residents and businesses, and the approved permit must be kept on site during all filming activities.

Night filming appears as a checkbox on the application rather than as a separate process, which suggests it is handled case by case within the permit review. Ask about it rather than assuming the 9:00 p.m. cutoff is negotiable as a matter of course.

Film Ready: two official sources that disagree

This needs stating plainly, because a producer checking incentive or certification status will hit the contradiction immediately.

What the Township says

The Township’s film permit letter states that North Bergen “is proud to be recognized as a ‘Film Ready Community’ through the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission”. The application form is headed “Pursuant to Ordinance No. 678-25 – ‘Film Ready Standards’”.

What the State list says

North Bergen does not appear on the NJMPTVC’s published Film Ready certified localities list. We read that list in full on September 17, 2026: 67 entries in alphabetical order, with nothing between Newton and Ocean (Waretown).

Both are official publications and we cannot reconcile them from the outside. Several explanations are possible — certification completed but not yet published, a lapsed certification awaiting recertification, or a lag in the State page — and we have confirmed none of them, so we are not going to assert one.

What this means in practice: do not rely on North Bergen’s certification status for anything that depends on it. If certification matters to your project, confirm it with the NJMPTVC directly rather than with the Township, and get the answer in writing. For the separate question of whether you can film there, the answer is clearly yes: the Township has a published process, a published form and a named ordinance.

What is not published, and what to ask

Three things a producer needs are genuinely absent from the Township’s published material, and we would rather flag them than fill the gaps with inference.

What is missing	What we know	What to ask for
The fee schedule	Fees are set by Ordinance No. 678-25. The Clerk’s Office invoices after approval and payment is due before filming. No amounts are published on the Township website, and North Bergen’s code is not on eCode360 or Municode	The current film permit fee schedule under Ordinance 678-25, in writing, including any per-day or tier structure
A minimum filing period	Neither the process letter nor the form states one. The three-business-day neighbor notice is a notice duty, not an application deadline	How far ahead the Building / Code Enforcement Office needs the application, and how long review typically takes
When a Public Safety Plan is triggered	Listed as required documentation “if required”. The trigger is not published, though the form’s street-impact and police/fire questions suggest what drives it	Whether your specific footprint needs one, and what the associated public safety fees are

Ask all three in the same call. The Clerk’s Office handles fees and issuance; Building / Code Enforcement handles review and the safety plan.

Practical production planning

Call before you budget. The fee is real and the schedule is not online.
File with Building / Code Enforcement, not the Clerk. The form comes from the Clerk and goes back to the Clerk, but the middle step is a different office.
Send the neighbor notice early enough that proof of it can go in with the application. Three business days is a floor, and a Friday shoot pushes the notice into the previous week.
Disclose drones, firearms, pyrotechnics, animals and stunts in conversation first. They are explicit checkboxes and they will drive a public safety review.
Have vehicle types and license plates ready. That level of detail is asked for on the form and it is easy to be caught short on it.
Plan to wrap by 9:00 p.m. unless you have written approval to run later.
If certification status matters to your financing or your client, verify it with the NJMPTVC rather than relying on either the Township’s description or this page.
Ask whether the invoice can be paid ahead of the shoot day. Payment must clear before filming, and that is a hard gate.

Common questions

Do I need a film permit in North Bergen, NJ?

Yes. The Township of North Bergen issues film permits under Ordinance No. 678-25, and publishes both a process letter and an application form. The application is collected from the Clerk’s Office, filed with the Building / Code Enforcement Office for review by the Director of Community Improvements, then returned to the Clerk’s Office for invoicing and issuance.

How much does a film permit cost in North Bergen?

The Township has not published the amounts. Its own letter states that permit fees are set by Ordinance No. 678-25 and that the Clerk’s Office issues an invoice once the permit is approved, with payment required before filming. North Bergen’s code is not hosted on eCode360 or Municode and the Township website has no ordinance archive, so the schedule has to come from the Clerk’s Office directly. Separate fees also apply where a public safety plan requires police or fire assistance.

How far in advance do I apply for a North Bergen film permit?

No minimum filing period is published. The only published clock is the requirement to give affected residents or businesses written notice at least three business days before filming, with proof attached to the application — which is a notice duty rather than an application deadline. Ask the Building / Code Enforcement Office how long review takes before you fix a date.

What insurance does North Bergen require for filming?

Proof of coverage of $500,000 per person and $1,000,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $300,000 for property damage. A signed indemnification agreement holding the Township harmless is also required. These limits are lower than several neighboring Hudson County municipalities, so build a multi-town certificate to the highest limit in your set.

What hours can I film in North Bergen?

Filming is generally permitted between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., unless otherwise approved. Night filming appears as a checkbox on the application rather than as a separate process, so it is handled within the permit review. The approved permit must be kept on site during all filming activities.

Is North Bergen a Film Ready certified community?

The two official sources disagree, and we cannot reconcile them. The Township’s own film permit letter describes North Bergen as recognized as a Film Ready Community through the NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission, and its ordinance is titled “Film Ready Standards”. But North Bergen does not appear on the Commission’s published certified-localities list, which we read in full on September 17, 2026 — 67 entries, with nothing between Newton and Ocean (Waretown). If certification matters to your project, confirm it with the Commission directly and get the answer in writing. Either way, the Township clearly has a working permit process.

Do I need to notify neighbors before filming in North Bergen?

Yes, and you have to prove it. Written notice must be provided to adjacent residents and businesses at least three business days before filming, and proof of that notice is required documentation with the application. A Friday shoot therefore means the notice goes out the previous week.

Who do I contact about filming in North Bergen?

Two offices. The Building / Code Enforcement Office at Town Hall, 4233 Kennedy Boulevard, North Bergen, NJ 07047, on (201) 392-2051 or (201) 392-2052, Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., handles review. The Clerk’s Office handles the form, the invoice and issuance — note that the Township’s own film permit PDF gives two different numbers for it, (201) 392-2024 on the first page and (201) 392-2025 on the second, so try both.

Official sources

The Township’s film permit process letter and application form were read in full on September 17, 2026. Ordinance No. 678-25 itself is not published online and was not read; the fee schedule is therefore not reproduced here. Film Ready status was checked against the State certified-localities list the same day, and the discrepancy between that list and the Township’s own description is set out on this page. Confirm all requirements and fees with the Township before relying on them. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.

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Reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, producer & director of photography

This guide is researched and reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, a New Jersey-based producer and DP who runs BLL Films. Sam’s production and cinematography credits include work for Netflix, History Channel, Hulu, the NFL and Google. Every changing fact on this page carries a verification date; see how this site is researched for the full process.

More town production guides

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