[22][23] Cresskill was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 8, 1894, from portions of Palisades Township.

[24][26] Railroads provided access from Cresskill to customers in New York City, including a chicken hatchery that was the world's largest by 1897.

[22] Railroad access established the former Camp Merritt as a major debarkation point for more than a million American troops being sent abroad to fight in World War I.

To commemorate the fact, a large obelisk memorial (referred to by locals as "The Monument"[27]), or "The Circle Monument" was dedicated in 1924, set in the center of the Camp Merritt Memorial Circle at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Knickerbocker Road (CR 505).

[34][35] The borough, a suburb of New York City, borders the Bergen County municipalities of Alpine, Bergenfield, Demarest, Dumont and Tenafly.

[6] The borough form of government used by Cresskill is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie.

The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council.

[50][51] As of 2024[update], the mayor of the Borough of Cresskill is Republican Benedict Romeo, whose term of office ends December 31, 2027.

Members of the Cresskill Borough Council are Leslie Kaplan (D, 2025), Arthur J. McLaughlin (D, 2026), Hector Olmo (R, 2026), Kathleen Savas (D, 2024), Kathy M. Schultz-Rummel (R, 2024) and Mark Spina (R, 2025).

The Police Department is open 24/7, and is located at 67 Union Avenue, in the rear of Borough Hall.

[61] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 5th congressional district is represented by Josh Gottheimer (D, Wyckoff).

[64] For the 2024–2025 session, the 39th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Holly Schepisi (R, River Vale) and in the General Assembly by Robert Auth (R, Old Tappan) and John V. Azzariti (R, Saddle River).

As of 2025[update], the county executive is James J. Tedesco III (D, Paramus), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2026.

[66] Bergen County's Commissioners are: Thomas J. Sullivan Jr. (D, Montvale, 2025),[67] Chair Germaine M. Ortiz (D, Emerson, 2025),[68] Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee, 2026),[69] Vice Chair Mary J. Amoroso (D, Mahwah, 2025),[70] Rafael Marte (D, Bergenfield, 2026),[71] Steven A. Tanelli (D, North Arlington, 2027)[72] and Tracy Silna Zur (D, Franklin Lakes, 2027).

[73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80] Bergen County's constitutional officials are: Clerk John S. Hogan (D, Northvale, 2026),[81][82] Sheriff Anthony Cureton (D, Englewood, 2027)[83][84] and Surrogate Michael R. Dressler (D, Cresskill, 2026).

[94] Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 57.2% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 78.1% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).

[113][114] Despite efforts by parents, the Academy of Saint Therese of Lisieux, which opened in 1957, was shuttered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark at the end of the 2019–20 school year, in the wake of declining enrollment and an unsustainable subsidy from the diocese of more than $300,000 per year.