The Riding Academy of NJ History

The Riding Academy of NJ opened for business in July of 2008 inside Big Boyz Toy Box located at 2 Shady St in Paterson. The motorcycle safety training school was formed by Ray Noreika and Shari Ives. The classroom sessions were held inside the Toy Box on the second floor and the riding sessions were conducted in the back parking lot at the KMart in Elmwood Park. Two years later, Ives resigned. The school continued under Noreika's guidance and quickly became the best motorcycle safety training school in NJ. Noreika retired in 2017 and the school continued under the guidance of Dave Bellizzi, who was the Program Coordinator for the school since 2010. When Bellizzi took over the school in 2017, he moved the classroom and riding sessions to Montclair State University because KMart lost its lease and eventually closed. When the Covid pandemic hit, Bellizzi started conducting the classroom sessions online. The school continues to be the best motorcycle safety training school in NJ and one of the best in the country under Bellizzi's guidance and his top-level, elite instructors.