22 / matters magazine / home&garden 2018 N ew neighbors don’t always bond so quickly. Unless, that is, they happen to have been old friends to start with. Nine of them recently settled on Rutgers Street, and didn’t need to travel far to get together in the nine-degree weather on an uncharac- teristically arctic Saturday afternoon in January. Scarves and hats were unfurled, hands were un- gloved and coats were gathered up in the corner. While the unpeeling of cold-weather layers took a little time, the conversation among these three fami- lies was immediately warm and familiar. The DeMontes – Terry, Dan and their two-year- old daughter Winnie – arrived on Rutgers Street in early November of 2017. The Sloans – Katy, John and their 19-month-old son Liam – moved to Rut- gers Street a few days after Thanksgiving. The Egals – Brian, Kerrie and their 4-month-old son Nolan – unpacked their bags on Rutgers Street at the end of January 2018. While the three couples have been close friends for more than seven years, they never envisioned actually winding up in the exact same town on the exact same street. But indeed, that is what happened on Rutgers Street in Maplewood. The interconnections can be dizzying at times. Katy Sloan and Terry DeMonte grew up together. “We’ve known each other since sixth grade,” Katy says. “It’s odd, I just can’t get away from her.” Terry and Dan DeMonte, as well as Brian Egal attended Penn State together. And Terry later introduced Brian and Kerrie Egal to each other. After Katy met John, he became part of the mix as well. These six friends developed a strong bond and subsequently moved to Hoboken and Jersey City. As their families began to grow, the group started to discuss the idea of moving. “We joked for the longest time that we should just buy a cul-de-sac,” Dan says. “We actually con- sidered a piece of property in West Orange,” adds Brian. “It had a stone house and you could knock it down and then divide it into three lots.” The group laughed, incredulous that, in the end, they pulled it off. “We started out looking in Montclair and Maplewood – the usual suspects,” explains Dan. But And to Think That I Saw It on RUTGERS STREET Three new Maplewood families reveal their unusual bond BY DONNY LEVIT