Ammon News - TEANECK, N.J - A Muslim and an Orthodox Jew have become mayor and deputy mayor in Teaneck, N.J., a town they jointly call a "nurturing incubator."

Mohammed Hameeduddin and Adam Gussein told ABC News their big problem is bridging the budget gap, not the religious divide. They attended the same middle school and were students at Rutgers University together.

But they do think their election to the township council and the council's decision last week to give them the two top spots in municipal government says something about Teaneck.

"Nowhere else is this possible," Hameeduddin said. "The opportunity to bring two communities together and break down stereotypes that have belittled our nation is both monumental and humbling."

Teaneck, an affluent New York suburb a few miles west of the George Washington Bridge, has long had a large Orthodox Jewish community and many black residents. In 1965 Teaneck voters supported a voluntary integration plan for the public schools.

*UPI