Newark is divided into five political wards (East, West, South, North and Central).[32] The majority of Black residents reside in the South, Central, and West Wards of the city, while the North and East Wards are mostly populated by Latinos.[33]Ras Baraka has served as mayor of Newark since 2014.
Newark was settled in 1666 by ConnecticutPuritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony.[34][35] It was conceived as a theocratic assembly of the faithful, though this did not last for long as new settlers came with different ideas.[36] On October 31, 1693, it was organized as a New Jersey township based on the Newark Tract, which was first purchased on July 11, 1667. Newark was granted a royal charter on April 27, 1713. It was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature's Township Act of 1798, as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships. During its time as a township, portions were taken to form Springfield Township (April 14, 1794), Caldwell Township (February 16, 1798; now known as Fairfield Township), Orange Township (November 27, 1806), Bloomfield Township (March 23, 1812) and Clinton Township (April 14, 1834, remainder reabsorbed by Newark on March 5, 1902). Newark was reincorporated as a city on April 11, 1836, replacing Newark Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on March 18, 1836. The previously independent Vailsburg borough was annexed by Newark on January 1, 1905. In 1926, South Orange Township changed its name to Maplewood. As a result of this, a portion of Maplewood known as Ivy Hill was re-annexed to Newark's Vailsburg.[37]
The name of the city is thought to derive from Newark-on-Trent, England, because of the influence of the original pastor, Abraham Pierson, who came from Yorkshire but may have ministered in Newark, Nottinghamshire.[38][39][40] But Pierson is also supposed to have said that the community reflecting the new task at hand should be named "New Ark" for "New Ark of the Covenant"[41] and some of the colonists saw it as "New-Work", the settlers' new work with God. Whatever the origins, the name was shortened to Newark, although references to the name "New Ark" are found in preserved letters written by historical figures such as David A. Ogden in his claim for compensation, and James McHenry, as late as 1787.[42]
During the American Revolutionary War, British troops made several raids into the town.[43] The city saw tremendous industrial and population growth during the 19th century and early 20th century, and experienced racial tension and urban decline in the second half of the 20th century, culminating in the 1967 Newark riots, which led to an increase in white flight, with 100,000 white residents leaving the city in the 1960s, though the exodus of white residents from the city had started after World War II as housing availability was limited in the city, while white residents were able to buy homes in the western suburbs of Essex County, where the population grew rapidly.[44]
The city has experienced revitalization since the 1990s, with major office, arts and sports projects representing $2 billion in investment.[45] The city's population, which had dropped by more than a third from 1950 to its post-war low in 2000, has since rebounded, with 38,000 new residents added from 2000 to 2020.[46]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 25.89 square miles (67.1 km2), including 24.14 square miles (62.5 km2) of land and 1.74 square miles (4.5 km2) of water (6.72%).[2][3] It has the third-smallest land area among the 100 most populous cities in the U.S., behind neighboring Jersey City and Hialeah, Florida.[47] The city's altitude ranges from 0 (sea level) in the east to approximately 230 feet (70 m) above sea level in the western section of the city for an average elevation of 115 feet (35 m).[48][49] Newark is essentially a large basin sloping towards the Passaic River, with a few valleys formed by meandering streams. Historically, Newark's high places have been its wealthier neighborhoods. In the 19th century and early 20th century, the wealthy congregated on the ridges of Forest Hill, High Street, and Weequahic.[50]
Until the 20th century, the marshes on Newark Bay were difficult to develop, as the marshes were essentially wilderness, with a few dumps, warehouses, and cemeteries on their edges. During the 20th century, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was able to reclaim 68 acres (28 ha) of the marshland for the further expansion of Newark Liberty International Airport, as well as the growth of the port lands.[31]
Newark is surrounded by residential suburbs to the west (on the slope of the Watchung Mountains), the Passaic River and Newark Bay to the east, dense urban areas to the south and southwest, and middle-class residential suburbs and industrial areas to the north. The city is the largest in New Jersey's Gateway Region, which is said to have received its name from Newark's nickname as the "Gateway City".[51]
Newark is the second-most racially diverse municipality in the state, behind neighboring Jersey City.[55] It is divided into five political wards,[56] which are often used by residents to identify their place of habitation. In recent years, residents have begun to identify with specific neighborhood names instead of the larger ward appellations. Nevertheless, the wards remain relatively distinct. Industrial uses, coupled with the airport and seaport lands, are concentrated in the East and South wards, while residential neighborhoods exist primarily in the North, Central, and West Wards.[57]
State law requires that wards be compact and contiguous and that the largest ward may not exceed the population of the smallest by more than 10% of the average ward size. Ward boundaries are redrawn, as needed, by a board of ward commissioners consisting of two Democrats and two Republicans appointed at the county level and the municipal clerk.[58] Redrawing of ward lines in previous decades have shifted traditional boundaries, so that downtown currently occupies portions of the East and Central wards. The boundaries of the wards are altered for various political and demographic reasons and sometimes gerrymandered.[59][60][61]
In the 19th century, the Central Ward was inhabited by Germans and other white Catholic and Protestant groups. The German inhabitants were later replaced by Jews, who were then replaced by African Americans. The increased academic footprint in the University Heights neighborhood has produced gentrification, with landmark buildings undergoing renovation. Located in the Central Ward is the nation's largest health sciences university, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. It is also home to three other universities – New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Rutgers University – Newark, and Essex County College. The Central Ward forms the present-day heart of Newark, and includes 26 public schools, two police precincts, including headquarters, four firehouses, and one branch library.[62]
The North Ward is surrounded by Branch Brook Park. Its neighborhoods include Broadway, Mount Pleasant, Upper Roseville and the affluent Forest Hill section.[63] Forest Hill contains the Forest Hill Historic District, which is registered on state and national historic registers, and contains many older mansions and colonial homes. A row of residential towers with security guards and secure parking line Mt. Prospect Avenue in the Forest Hill neighborhood. The North Ward has lost geographic area in recent times; its southern boundary is now significantly further north than the traditional boundary near Interstate 280. The North Ward had its own Little Italy, centered on heavily Italian Seventh Avenue and the area of St. Lucy's Church; demographics have transitioned to Latino in recent decades, though the ward as a whole remains ethnically diverse.[63]
The West Ward comprises the neighborhoods of Vailsburg, Ivy Hill, West Side, Fairmount and Lower Roseville. It is home to the historic Fairmount Cemetery. The West Ward, once a predominantly Irish-American, Polish, and Ukrainian neighborhood, is now home to neighborhoods composed primarily of Latinos, African Americans, and Caribbean Americans.[64] Relative to other parts of the city, the West Ward has for many decades struggled with elevated rates of crime, particularly violent crime.[65]
The South Ward comprises the Weequahic, Clinton Hill, Dayton, and South Broad Valley neighborhoods. The South Ward, once home to residents of predominantly Jewish descent, now has ethnic neighborhoods made up primarily of African Americans and Hispanics. The city's second-largest hospital, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, is in the South Ward, as are seventeen public schools, five daycare centers, three branch libraries, one police precinct, a mini-precinct, and three fire houses.[66]
The East Ward consists of much of Newark's Downtown commercial district, as well as the Ironbound neighborhood, where much of Newark's industry was in the 19th century. Today, the Ironbound (also known as "Down Neck" and "The Neck")[67] is a destination for shopping, dining, and nightlife.[68] A historically immigrant-dominated section of the city, the Ironbound in recent decades has been termed "Little Portugal" and "Little Brazil" due to its heavily Portuguese and Brazilian population, Newark being home to one of the largest Portuguese speaking communities in the United States. In addition, the East Ward has become home to various Latin Americans, especially Ecuadorians, Peruvians, and Colombians, alongside Puerto Ricans, African Americans, and commuters to Manhattan. Public education in the East Ward consists of East Side High School and six elementary schools. The ward is densely packed, with well-maintained housing and streets, primarily large apartment buildings and rowhouses.[57][69][70]
Climate
Newark lies in the transition between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate (KöppenCfa/Dfa), with cold winters and hot humid summers. The January daily mean is 32.8 °F (0.4 °C),[71] and although temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) are to be expected in most years,[72] sub-0 °F (−18 °C) readings are rare; conversely, some days may warm up to 50 °F (10 °C). The average seasonal snowfall is 31.5 inches (80 cm), though variations in weather patterns may bring sparse snowfall in some years and several major nor'easters in others, with the heaviest 24-hour fall of 25.9 inches (66 cm) occurring on December 26, 1947.[71] Spring and autumn in the area are generally unstable yet mild. The July daily mean is 78.2 °F (25.7 °C), and highs exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average 28.3 days per year,[71] not factoring in the often higher heat index. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year with the summer months being the wettest and fall months being the driest.
The city receives precipitation ranging from 2.9 to 4.6 inches (74 to 117 mm) per month, usually falling on 8 to 12 days per month. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −14 °F (−26 °C) on February 9, 1934, to 108 °F (42 °C) on July 22, 2011.[71] The January freezing isotherm that separates Newark into Dfa and Cfa zones approximates the NJ Turnpike.
Climate data for Newark, New Jersey (Newark Liberty Int'l), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present
From 2000 to 2010, the increase of 3,594 inhabitants (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted in the 2000 U.S. census marked the second census in 70 years in which the city's population had grown from the previous enumeration.[88][89][94][95] This trend continued in 2020, where Newark had an increase of 34,409 (12.4%) from the 277,140 counted in the 2010 census, the largest percentage increase in 100 years.
After reaching a peak of 442,337 residents counted in the 1930 census, and a post-war population of 438,776 in 1950, the city's population saw a decline of nearly 40% as residents moved to surrounding suburbs. White flight from Newark to the suburbs started in the 1940s and accelerated in the 1960s, due in part to the construction of the Interstate Highway System.[96] The 1967 riots resulted in a significant population loss of the city's middle class, many of them Jewish, which continued from the 1970s through to the 1990s.[97] On net, the city lost about 130,000 residents between 1960 and 1990.
At the 2010 census, there were 91,414 households, and 62,239 families in Newark. There were 108,907 housing units at an average density of 4,552.5 per square mile (1,757.7/km2).[32] In 2000, there were 273,546 people, 91,382 households, and 61,956 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,495.0 inhabitants per square mile (4,438.2/km2). There were 100,141 housing units at an average density of 4,208.1 per square mile (1,624.6//km2).[21]
The U.S. Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $35,659 (with a margin of error of +/- $1,009) and the median family income was $41,684 (+/- $1,116). Males had a median income of $34,350 (+/- $1,015) versus $32,865 (+/- $973) for females. The per capita income for the township was $17,367 (+/- $364). About 22% of families and 25% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.9% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over.[98]
The median income for a household in 2000 was $26,913, and the median income for a family was $30,781. Males had a median income of $29,748 versus $25,734 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,009. 28.4% of the population and 25.5% of families were below the poverty line. 36.6% of those under the age of 18 and 24.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The city's unemployment rate was 8.5%.[86][87]
Newark, New Jersey – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
From the 1950s to 1967, Newark's non-Hispanic white population shrank from 363,000 to 158,000; its black population grew from 70,000 to 220,000.[105] The percentage of non-Hispanic whites declined from 82.8% in 1950 to 11.6% by 2010.[100][106][46] The percentage of Latinos and Hispanics in Newark grew between 1980 and 2010, from 18.6% to 33.8% while that of Blacks and African Americans decreased from 58.2% to 52.4%.[107][108][109][110]
In 2010, 35.74% of the population was white, 58.86% African American, 3.99% Native American or Alaska Native, 2.19% Asian, .01% Pacific Islander, 10.4% from other races, and 10.95% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 33.39% of the population at the 2010 U.S. census.[32]
The racial makeup of the city in 2000 was 53.46% (146,250) black or African American, 26.52% (72,537) white, 1.19% (3,263) Asian, 0.37% (1,005) Native American, 0.05% (135) Pacific Islander, 14.05% (38,430) from other races, and 4.36% (11,926) from two or more races. 29.47% (80,622) of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[86][87] 49.2% of the city's 80,622 residents who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino were from Puerto Rico, while 9.4% were from Ecuador and 7.8% from the Dominican Republic.[112] There is a significant Portuguese-speaking community concentrated in the Ironbound district. 2000 census data showed that Newark had 15,801 residents of Portuguese ancestry (5.8% of the population), while an additional 5,805 (2.1% of the total) were of Brazilian ancestry.[113]
In advance of the 2000 census, city officials made a push to encourage residents to respond and participate in the enumeration, citing calculations by city officials that as many as 30,000 people were not reflected in estimates by the Census Bureau, which resulted in the loss of government aid and political representation.[114] It is believed that heavily immigrant areas of Newark were significantly undercounted in the 2010 census, especially in the East Ward. Many households refused to participate in the census, with immigrants often reluctant to submit census forms because they believed that the information could be used to justify their deportation.[115]
St. Lucy's Church in the Old First Ward is home to the National Shrine of St. Gerard where followers continue to seek the Catholic saint's intercession on fertility and safe delivery in childbirth.Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal ChurchCongregation Ahavas Sholom, a Newark synagogue
Judaism and Islam were tied as the second-largest religious community (3.0%). Up to 1967, Jewish Americans formed a substantial portion of the middle class. Sunni, Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims are the largest Islamic denominational demographic, though some Muslims in the area may be Quranists. Most Sunni mosques are members of the Islamic Society of North America. The Nation of Islam had a former mosque in Newark presided by Louis Farrakhan.
More than 100,000 people commute to Newark each workday,[128] making it the state's largest employment center with many white-collar jobs in insurance, finance, import-export, healthcare, and government.[129] As a major courthouse venue including federal, state, and county facilities, it is home to more than 1,000 law firms. The city also has a significant number of college students, with nearly 50,000 attending the city's universities and medical and law schools.[130][131] Its airport, maritime port, rail facilities, and highway network make Newark the busiest transshipment hub on the U.S. East Coast in terms of volume.[132][133]
Though Newark is not the industrial colossus of the past, the city does have a considerable amount of industry and light manufacturing.[134] The southern portion of the Ironbound, also known as the Industrial Meadowlands, has seen many factories built since World War II, including a large Anheuser-Busch brewery that opened in 1951 and distributed 7.5 million barrels of beer in 2007. Grain comes into the facility by rail.[135] The service industry is also growing rapidly, replacing those in the manufacturing industry, which was once Newark's primary economy. In addition, transportation has become a large business in Newark, accounting for more than 17,000 jobs in 2011.[136]
After the election of Cory Booker as mayor, millions of dollars of public-private partnership investment were made in Downtown development, but persistent underemployment continue to characterize many of the city's neighborhoods.[141][142][143][144][145][146] Poverty remains a consistent problem in Newark. As of 2010, roughly one-third of the city's population was impoverished.[147]
Portions of Newark are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone. The city was selected in 1983 as one of the initial group of 10 zones chosen to participate in the program.[148] In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the 6+5⁄8% rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants.[149] Established in January 1986, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in December 2023.[150]
The UEZ program in Newark and four other original UEZ cities had been allowed to lapse as of January 1, 2017, after Governor Chris Christie, who called the program an "abject failure", vetoed a compromise bill that would have extended the status for two years.[151] In May 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that reinstated the program in these five cities and extended the expiration date in other zones.[152]
Newark is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority. Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of a train station are eligible for pro-rated tax credit.[153][154]
Technology industry
The technology industry in Newark has grown significantly after Audible, an online audiobook and podcast company, moved its headquarters to Newark in 2007. The company was later acquired by Amazon.[155]Panasonic moved its North America headquarters to the city in 2013.[156] Other technology-focus companies followed suit. In 2015, AeroFarms, a developer of an aeroponic technology for farming moved its headquarters from Finger Lakes to Newark.[157] By 2016, it had built the world's largest vertical farm in a Newark warehouse.[158] The company was recognized in 2019 by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative companies in data science.[159]Broadridge Financial Solutions, a public FinTech company, announced a relocation of 1,000 jobs to Newark in 2017.[160] In 2021, WebMD, an online publisher, announced that it will relocate and create up to 700 new jobs in the city.[161]
In 2018, Newark was selected as one of 20 finalists for the location of Amazon HQ2, a new headquarters of Amazon. The advantages of Newark included proximity to New York City, lower land costs, tech labor force and higher education institutions, a major airport, and fiber optic networks.[162] The extensive fiber optic networks in Newark started in the 1990s when telecommunication companies installed fiber optic network to put Newark as a strategic location for data transfer between Manhattan and the rest of the country during the dot-com boom. At the same time, the city encouraged those companies to install more than they needed.[163] A vacant department store was converted into a telecommunication center called 165 Halsey Street.[164] It became one of the world's largest carrier hotels.[165] As a result, after the dot-com bust, there were a surplus of dark fiber (unused fiber optic cables). Twenty years later, the city and other private companies began utilizing the dark fiber to create high performance networks within the city.[163]
In the fall of 2023, in an effort to stimulate rental of empty storefronts along a parallel strip of Broad, Halsey and Washington streets, the city launched the Newark Retail Reactivation Initiative.[168] The program makes monetary grants to certain qualifying businesses opening on Halsey and on other streets within the zone bordered by Broad Street to the east, Washington Street to the west, Washington Place to the north and William Street to the south.[169] The district has a mix of residential, commercial and office spaces.[170]
In 2018, the city had an average property tax bill of $6,481, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $12,248 in Essex County and $8,767 statewide.[173][174]
Prior to the opening of the performing arts center, Newark Symphony Hall was home to the New Jersey Symphony, the New Jersey State Opera, and the Garden State Ballet, which still maintains an academy there.[177] The 1925 neo-classical building, originally built by the Shriners, has three performance spaces, including the main concert hall named in honor of famous Newarker Sarah Vaughan, offering rhythm and blues, rap, hip-hop, and gospel music concerts, and is part of the modern-day Chitlin' Circuit.[178]
The Newark Boys Chorus, founded in 1966, performs regularly in the city. The African Globe Theater Works presents new works seasonally. The biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival took place in Newark for the first time in 2010.[179]
Newark is known as an innovator in the house music and garage house genres and scene.[181] Newark's Club Zanzibar, along with other gay and straight clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, was famous as both a gay and straight nightlife destination. Famed DJ Tony Humphries helped "spawn the sometimes raw but always soulful, gospel-infused subgenre" of house music known as the New Jersey sound.[182][183] The club scene also gave rise to the ball culture scene in Newark hotels and nightclubs.[184]Brick City club, a dance-oriented electronic music genre, is native to the city.[185]
The Newark Museum of Art, formerly known as the Newark Museum, is the largest museum in New Jersey. Its art collection is ranked 12 among art museums in North America with highlights on American and Tibetan art.[186] The museum also contains science galleries, a planetarium, a gallery for children's exhibits, a fire museum, a sculpture garden and an 18th-century schoolhouse. Also part of the museum is the historic John Ballantine House, a restored Victorian mansion which is a National Historic Landmark.
The city is also home to the New Jersey Historical Society, which has rotating exhibits on New Jersey and Newark. The Newark Public Library has eight locations.[187] The library houses more than a million volumes and has frequent exhibits on a variety of topics, many featuring items from its Fine Print and Special Collections.[188] The library also hosts daily programs including ESL classes, yoga classes, arts and crafts, history talks, and more.[189]
Since 1962, Newark has been home to the Institute of Jazz Studies, the world's foremost jazz archives and research libraries.[190] Located in the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers-Newark, the Institute houses more than 200,000 jazz recordings in all commercially available formats, more than 6,000 monograph titles, including discographies, biographies, history and criticism, published music, film and video; over 600 periodicals and serials, dating back to the early 20th century; and one of the country's most comprehensive jazz oral history collections, featuring more than 150 jazz oral histories, most with typed transcripts.[191]
The Jewish Museum of New Jersey, located at 145 Broadway in the Broadway neighborhood, opened in December 2007.[192] The museum is dedicated to the cultural heritage of New Jersey's Jewish people. The museum is housed at Ahavas Sholom, the last continually operating synagogue in Newark.[193][194] By the 1950s there were 50 synagogues in Newark serving a Jewish population of 70,000 to 80,000, once the sixth-largest Jewish community in the United States.[195][196]
Since 2009, the Newark Planning Office, in collaboration with local arts organizations, has sponsored Newark Murals, and seen the creation of dozens of outdoor murals about significant people, places, and events in the city.[199]
The Portraits mural, a massive multi-artist painting the length of 25 football fields created in 2016, is the longest continuous mural on the East Coast, and the second longest in the country.[200] Seventeen artists contributed sections to the mural, including Adrienne Wheeler, Akintola Hanif, David Oquendo, Don Rimx, El Decertor, GAIA, GERA, Kevin Darmanie, Khari Johnson-Ricks, Lunar New Year, Manuel Acevedo, Mata Ruda, Nanook, Nina Chanel Abney, Sonni, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, WERC and Zeh Palito.[201] "Portraits" begins roughly at the intersection of Poiner Street and McCarter Highway in the South Ironbound district and stretches northwards 1.39 miles (2.24 km) along the century-old stone walls supporting the Northeast Corridor and PATH tracks facing Newark's McCarter Highway (New Jersey Route 21).[202]
Festivals and parades
Festivals and parades held annually or bi-annually include the Cherry Blossom Festival (April) in Branch Brook Park and the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival (October, biennial) at various venues and the citywide Open Doors (October),[203]
Military Park in Downtown Newark, the town commons since 1869 and home to the Wars of America sculpture by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and the casual restaurant, Burg.[210] As of 2018, the park is privately operated. Managed by a nonprofit corporation, the Military Park Partnership, which is staffed by Dan Biederman and Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, credited with transforming Manhattan's Bryant Park. The Military Park Partnership manages the programs, events, operations, security, and horticulture of the park.
Lincoln Park in the Arts District, one of three original colonial-era commons in Newark. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Lincoln Park was at the southern end of Newark's jazz and nightlife strip known as "The Coast."
Branch Brook Park is home to Newark's annual Cherry Blossom Festival.[218] The park is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the nation's largest collection of cherry blossom trees, numbering over 5,000.[219][220][221][222] The park also features a lake and a pond. It was designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm, who carried on the firm of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.[223]
Independence Park is in the Ironbound district.[224][225][226]
Weequahic Park, also designed by Olmsted Brothers, located in the South Ward in the Dayton section, east of the formerly heavily Jewish[233]Weequahic neighborhood. It features 80-acre (320,000 m2) Weequahic Lake, an anthropogenic lake formed out of a marsh.[234] Author Philip Roth describes the park in his historical fantasy novel The Plot Against America (2004). The non-profit Weequahic Park Sports Authority helps maintain the park.[235][236]
West Side Park is a 30.36-acre (12.29 ha) park in the West Side neighborhood.[237][238]
Jesse Allen Park, in the Central Ward. The 8-acre (3.2 ha) Jesse Allen Park is Newark's second-largest city-owned park and is named for a former member of the Municipal Council of Newark.[239][240]
The Greater Newark Conservancy maintains the Judith L. Shipley Urban Environmental Center,[241][242] and the Prudential Outdoor Learning Center.[243][244] It offers urban farming and gardening displays and instruction and also includes a small pond.
Nat Turner Park. Dedicated in July 2009, Newark's largest city-owned park is located in the Central Ward. It is named for the famous 19th-century American slave rebellion leader, Nat Turner.[246]
Golf and other recreational facilities
Sharpe James/Kenneth A. Gibson (Ironbound) Recreation Center.[247]
Weequahic Golf Course is an 18-hole public course.[248] The facility was described in 2016 by the Golf Channel as a "hidden gem".[249] Home to The First Tee Program of Essex County and golf pro Wiley Williams, who was one of the first African-American golfers to win a major New Jersey golf event and works to introduce city youth to the sport.[250][251]
The state's leading newspaper, The Star-Ledger, owned by Advance Publications, is based in Newark. The newspaper sold its headquarters in July 2014, with the offices of the publisher, the editorial board, columnists, and magazine relocating to the Gateway Center.[254]The Newark Targum is a weekly student newspaper published by the Targum Publishing Company for the student population of the Newark campus of Rutgers University.
Other news outlets
TAP Into Newark is an online news site devoted to Newark.[255]
Newark Patch is a daily online news source dedicated to local Newark news.[256]
Local Talk is a local paper on Newark and the surrounding area.[257]
The Newarker is a quarterly journal about culture, history, and society in Newark and surrounding areas.[258]
The Newark Times is an online news media platform dedicated to Newark lifestyle, events, and culture.[259]
The Newark Metro covers metropolitan life from Newark to North Jersey to New York City and is a journalism project at Rutgers Newark.[260]
RLS Media covers breaking news from Newark and surrounding municipalities.[261]
The City of Newark shares news and events via its official Twitter account.[262]
The Pod, developed by Black Owned New Jersey, is a weekly podcast that helps small businesses build, grow, and maintain their business.
Radio
With a studio on the 6th floor and showy antenna on the roof, Bamberger's launched WOR to sell more radios.
Pioneer radio station WOR was started by Bamberger Broadcasting Service in 1922 and broadcast from studios at its retailer's downtown department store. Today the building serves telecom, colocation, and computer support industries known as 165 Halsey Street.[263]
Radio station WJZ (now WABC) made its first broadcast in 1921 from the Westinghouse plant near Broad Street Station. It moved to New York City in the 1920s. Radio station WNEW-AM (now WBBR) was founded in Newark in 1934 and later moved to New York City. WBGO, a National Public Radio affiliate with a format of standard and contemporary jazz, is at 54 Park Place in downtown Newark. WNSW AM-1430 (formerly WNJR) and WQXR (which was formerly WHBI and later WCAA) 105.9 FM are also licensed to Newark.[264]
Telephone
In 1915, the Bell System under ownership of American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) tested newly developed panel switching technology in Newark when they cutover the telephone exchangesMulberry and Waverly to semi-mechanical operation on January 16 and June 12, respectively. The Panel system was the Bell System solution to the big city problem, where an exchange had to serve large numbers of subscribers on both manual as well as automatically switched central offices, without negatively impacting established user convenience and reliability. As originally introduced in these exchanges, subscribers' telephones had no dials and customers continued to make calls by asking an operator to ring their called party, at which point the operator keyed the telephone number into the panel equipment, instead of making cord connections manually.[265]
1948 telephone set from the historic Bigelow Panel exchange in Newark, the last Panel office in existence when it was dismantled in 1983.
Most Panel installations across the country were replaced by modern systems during the 1970s and the last Panel switch was decommissioned in the BIgelow central office in Newark in 1983.[266]
While Newark, like all of New Jersey, had area code 201 assigned for long-distance calling since 1947, the rate center was reassigned to area code 973 in 1997, which was overlaid with area code 551 in 2001. With cellular service proliferating in Northern New Jersey in the 21st century, central office prefixes from the adjacent New Jersey NPAs (201, 551, 732/848, 908) were made available in the Newark rate center for cellular and voice over IP (VoIP) services.[20]
New Jersey's first television station, WATV Channel 13, signed-on May 15, 1948, from studios at the Mosque Theater known as the "Television Center Newark." The studios were home to WNTA-13 beginning in 1958 and WNJU-47 until 1989.[267]
WNET, the successor to WATV, is flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service serving the New York market. Spanish-language WFUT-TV Channel 68, a UniMásowned-and-operated station, is also licensed to Newark. Tempo Networks, producing for the pan-Caribbean television market, is based in the city.[268] NwkTV has been the city's government access channel since 2009 and broadcast as Channel 78 on Optimum.[269][270] The company has a high-tech call center in Newark, employing over 500 people. PBS network NJTV's main broadcasting studios (NJTV is also a sister station of the Newark-licensed WNET) are also in the Gateway Center Office Complex.[271]
Film
The Newark Black Film Festival has been held annually since in 1974. The Newark International Film Festival is an annual event that has hosted screenings, workshops and stunt exhibitions in Newark since 2015. They are held under the auspices of the North to Shore Festival.[272]
There have been several film and TV productions depicting life in Newark. Life of Crime was originally produced in 1988 and was followed by a 1998 sequel.[276]New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about the city when it was considered the "car theft capital of the world".[277]Street Fight is an Academy Award-nominated documentary film which covered the 2002 mayoral election between incumbent Sharpe James and challenger Cory Booker. In 2009, the Sundance Channel aired Brick City, a five-part television documentary about Newark, focusing on the community's attempt to become a better and safer place to live, against a history of nearly a half century of violence, poverty and official corruption. The second season premiered January 30, 2011.[278]Revolution '67 is a documentary which examines the causes and events of the 1967 Newark riots. The Once and Future Newark (2006) is a documentary travelogue about places of cultural, social and historical significance by Rutgers History Professor Clement Price.[279] The HBO television series The Sopranos filmed many of its scenes in Newark.[280]The Many Saints of Newark is a Sopranos prequel by David Chase set in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[281]Heart of Stone (2009) reflects on white flight in the heavily Jewish Weequahic section and Weequahic High School.[282]Rob Peace, is a film adaptation of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, the life story of a Newark native murdered in 2011.[283]
Numerous movies, television programs, and music videos have been shot in Newark, its period architecture and its streetscape seen as an ideal "urban setting". In 2012 the city hosted the seventh season of the reality show competition America's Got Talent.[284]
Among the films shot in Newark are Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989),[285]Joker (depicting the abandoned movie palace known as the Newark Paramount Theatre),[286]Cat Person, and the 2022 horror movie, Smile, with several locations, including Murphy Varnish Lofts and Rutgers Medical School.[287] The movie The Perfect Find also had scenes filmed in Newark as did the movie, The Greatest Beer Run Ever.[288] Scenes for the movie Bros were filmed throughout the city in 2021, including at the Newark Museum, exterior of the which are shown as the LGBT museum.[287]
Studios
In 2009, the Ironbound Film & Television Studios, the only "stay and shoot" facility in the metro area opened, its first production being Bar Karma.[289]
Newark Theatre was built in 1853 as the first theater at the location of 138 Market Street and Halsey Street. In 1880s, operated as a vaudeville house named Fred Waldmann's Opera House
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Newark had many theaters and movie houses that were vaudeville or burlesque style. As innovation occurred in film, Newark contributed to the development to the American film industry with local inventors' innovation of celluloid and its use as movie film.[293] The Newark movie theatres during this early part of the 20th century had established a large audience, with 62 movie houses in the city by 1922.[294]
Hill Theatre was located at 100 Springfield Avenue from 1917 to about 1930 as a vaudeville and movie theater. George Burns and Gracie Allen had their first performance here
Later, many of these locations were used for live performances of notable actors prior to becoming renowned. The introduction of television for entertainment during the 1940s and 1950s was the start of a decades-long decline in attendance in movie theaters. The last two downtown movie theatres were the Adams and the Newark Paramount Theatre, which both closed in 1986.[295] Attempts for movie theatre revivals were established in the 1990s. As of 2024, the CityPlex 12 Newark movie theatre, located off Springfield Avenue and Bergen Street, is the only theater in operation in the city. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, located at 1 Center Street, is currently operating as theatre production and concerts.[296] The 2,800-seat Newark Symphony Hall located at 1020 Broad Street has been in operations since 1925.[297]
Downtown was also home to Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, which was a 6,200-seat baseball park built near the Passaic River to house the Newark Bears, an independent minor league baseball team, and opened in 1999. Also serving as the home stadium for Rutgers-Newark and NJIT's college baseball teams, Riverfront Stadium closed in 2014 after the Bears ceased operations.[302] In 2016, the stadium was sold to a developer, and three years later it was demolished.[303]
The city is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council Plan C form of local government, which became effective as of July 1, 1954, after the voters of the city of Newark passed a referendum held on November 3, 1953.[8][312] The city is one of 79 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.[313] The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the City Council, who are elected concurrently on a non-partisan basis to four-year terms of office at the May municipal election. The mayor is directly elected by the residents of Newark. The city council comprises nine members, with one council member from each of the city's five wards and four council members who are elected on an at-large basis.[314] The structure of the council was established after a 1953 referendum, in which more than 65% of voters approved a change from a five-member commission.[315]
As of 2023[update], the mayor of Newark is Ras Baraka, who is serving a third term of office ending on June 30, 2026;[4] Baraka first took office as the city's 40th mayor on July 1, 2014.[316] Members of Newark's Municipal Council are Council President LaMonica McIver (Central Ward), Luis A. Quintana (at-large), Patrick O. Council (South Ward), C. Lawrence Crump (at-large), Carlos M. Gonzalez (at-large), Dupré L. Kelly (West Ward), Anibal Ramos Jr. (North Ward), Louise Scott-Rountree (at-large) and Michael J. Silva (East Ward), all serving concurrent terms of office ending June 30, 2026.[317][318][319][320][321]
Federal, state, and county
Newark is split between the 8th and 10th Congressional Districts[322] and is part of New Jersey's 28th and 29th state legislative districts.[323][324][325][326] Prior to the 2010 census, Newark had been split between the 10th Congressional District and the 13th Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.[326] As part of the split that took effect in 2013, 123,763 residents in two non-contiguous sections in the city's north and northeast were placed in the 8th District and 153,377 in the southern and western portions of the city were placed in the 10th District.[322][327]
Essex County is governed by a directly elected county executive, with legislative functions performed by the Board of County Commissioners. As of 2024[update], the County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. (D, Roseland), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2026.[336] The county's Board of County Commissioners is composed of nine members, five of whom are elected from districts and four of whom are elected on an at-large basis. They are elected for three-year concurrent terms and may be re-elected to successive terms at the annual election in November.[337] Essex County's Commissioners are:
Constitutional officers elected countywide are:
Clerk Christopher J. Durkin (D, West Caldwell, 2025),[351][352]
Register of Deeds Juan M. Rivera Jr. (D, Newark, 2025),[353][354]
Sheriff Armando B. Fontoura (D, Fairfield, 2024),[355][356] and
Surrogate Alturrick Kenney (D, Newark, 2028).[357][358]
Politics
On the national level, Newark leans strongly toward the Democratic Party. As of March 23, 2011, out of a 2010 census population of 277,140 in Newark, there were 136,785 registered voters (66.3% of the 2010 population ages 18 and over of 206,253, vs. 77.7% in all of Essex County of the 589,051 ages 18 and up) of which 68,393 (50.0% vs. 45.9% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,548 (2.6% vs. 9.9% countywide) were registered as Republicans, 64,812 (47.4% vs. 44.1% countywide) were registered as Unaffiliated and there were 30 voters registered to other parties.[359]
In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 90.8% of the vote (77,112 ballots cast), ahead of Republican John McCain who received 7.0% of the vote (5,957 votes), with 84,901 of the city's 140,946 registered voters participating, for a turnout of 60.2% of registered voters.[360] In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 95.0% of the vote (78,352 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 4.7% (3,852 votes), and other candidates with 0.4% (298 votes), among the 82,030 ballots cast by the city's 145,059 registered voters for a turnout of 56.5%.[361][362] In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat Hillary Clinton received 90.7% of the vote (69,042 cast); Republican Donald Trump received 6.7% of the vote (5,094 cast); and other candidates received 1.5% of the vote (1,139 cast).[363]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 80.8% of the vote (29,039 cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 17.9% (6,443 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (437 votes), among the 37,114 ballots cast by the city's 149,778 registered voters (1,195 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 24.8%.[364][365] In the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 90.2% of the vote (36,637 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie who received 8.3% of the vote (3,355 votes), with 40,613 of the city's 134,195 registered voters (30.3%) participating.[366]
Political corruption
Newark has been marred with political corruption throughout the years. Five of the previous[when?] seven mayors of Newark have been indicted on criminal charges, including the three mayors before Cory Booker: Hugh Addonizio, Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James. As reported by Newsweek: "... every mayor since 1962 (except one, Cory Booker) has been indicted for crimes committed while in office".[367]
Addonizio was mayor of Newark from 1962 to 1970. A son of Italian immigrants, a tailor and World War II veteran, he ran on a reform platform, defeating the incumbent, Leo Carlin, whom, ironically, Addonizio characterized as corrupt and a part of the political machine of the era. In December 1969, Addonizio and nine present or former officials of the municipal administration in Newark were indicted by a Federal grand jury; five other persons were also indicted.[368] In July 1970, the former mayor, and four other defendants, were found guilty by a Federal jury on 64 counts each, one of conspiracy and 63 of extortion.[369] In September 1970, Addonizio was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and fined $25,000 by Federal Judge George H. Barlow for his role in a plot that involved the extortion of $1.5 million in kickbacks, a crime that the judge said "tore at the very heart of our civilized society and our form of representative government".[370][371]
His successor was Kenneth Gibson, the city's first African American mayor, elected in 1970. He pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion in 2002 as part of a plea agreement on fraud and bribery charges. During his tenure as mayor in 1980, Gibson was tried and acquitted of giving out no-show jobs by an Essex County jury.[372]
Sharpe James, who defeated Gibson in 1986 and declined to run for a sixth term in 2006, was indicted on 33 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud by a federal grand jury sitting in Newark. The grand jury charged James with spending $58,000 on city-owned credit cards for personal gain and orchestrating a scheme to sell city-owned land at below-market prices to his companion, who immediately re-sold the land to developers and gained a profit of over $500,000. James pleaded not guilty on 25 counts at his initial court appearance on July 12, 2007. On April 17, 2008, James was found guilty for his role in the conspiring to rig land sales at nine city-owned properties for personal gain. The former mayor was sentenced to serve up to 27 months in prison, and was released on April 6, 2010, for good behavior.[373]
In the 2013–2017 American Community Survey, 13.6% of Newark residents ages 25 and over had never attended high school and 12.5% did not graduate from high school, while 74.1% had graduated from high school, including the 14.4% who had earned a bachelor's degree or higher.[381] The total school enrollment in Newark was 77,097 in the 2013–2017 ACS, with nursery and preschool enrollment of 7,432, elementary / high school (K–12) enrollment of 49,532 and total college / graduate school enrollment of 20,133.[382]
The Newark Public Schools, a state-operated school district for two decades and until 2018,[383] is the largest school system in New Jersey. The district was one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke[384] which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.[385][386] As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of 65 schools, had an enrollment of 40,423 students and 2,886.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.0:1.[387]
Science Park High School, which was the 69th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 50th in 2008 out of 316 schools. Technology High School has a GreatSchools rating of 9/10 and was ranked 165th in New Jersey Monthly's 2010 rankings. Newark high schools ranked in the bottom 10% of the New Jersey Monthly 2010 list include Central (274th), East Side (293rd), Newark Vocational (304th), Weequahic (310th), Barringer (311th), Malcolm X Shabazz (314th) and West Side (319th).[388] Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg donated a challenge grant of $100 million to the district in 2010, choosing Newark because he stated he believed in Mayor Cory Booker and Governor Chris Christie's abilities.[389]
Charter schools in Newark include the Robert Treat Academy Charter School, a National Blue Ribbon School drawing students from all over Newark. It remains one of the top performing K–8 schools in New Jersey based on standardized test scores.[390]University Heights Charter School is another charter school, serving children in grades K–5, recognized as a 2011 Epic Silver Gain School.[391]Gray Charter School, like Robert Treat, also won a Blue Ribbon Award.[392] Also, Newark Collegiate Academy (NCA) opened in August 2007 and serves 420 students in grades 9–12. It will ultimately serve over 570 students, mostly matriculating from other charter schools in the area.[393]
Link Community School is a non-denominational coeducational day school that serves approximately 128 students in seventh and eighth grades. The Newark Boys Chorus School was founded in the 1960s.[395] University Heights Charter School, which opened in 2006, taught 614 students in grades Pre-K–8 in 2014–2015.[396]
Public safety
Newark Department of Public Safety
In 2016, under Mayor Ras Baraka's direction, the city consolidated the then-separate departments of Fire, Police, and Office of Emergency Management as divisions under the newly created Department Of Public Safety.[397]
Fire department
Former Engine 8 firehouse in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood
The city is protected by more than 700 full-time, paid firefighters of the Newark Fire Division (NFD). Founded in 1863, the NFD operates out of 16 firehouses throughout the city that are organized into 4 firefighting battalions (Battalions 1,3,4, and 5), with each Battalion Chief under the command of a deputy chief/tour commander. There is also a Safety Battalion Chief, Battalion 2, and a Special Operations Battalion Chief, Battalion 6, on duty 24/7. The NFD operates 16 engine companies, 8 ladder companies, 1 rescue company, an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Collapse Rescue Unit (Rescue 2), a USAR Collapse Rescue Shoring Unit, 2 fire boats, a scuba diving unit, a mobile medical ambulance bus, an air cascade unit, a foam unit, a quick attack response vehicle (QRV 1), a mobile command unit, 3 HazMat units, and numerous special, support, and reserve units. The NFD responds to approximately 45,000 emergency calls annually. In 2006, the NFD responded to 2,681 fire and hazardous condition calls. The department is a member of the Metro USAR Strike Team, which includes nine North Jersey fire departments.[398]
The Newark Police Division is a city-operated law enforcement agency. As of January 2014, the force had 1,006 officers in its ranks. The Director of Public Safety is Brian A. O’Hara.[399]
In 2018, the Newark Police began a de-escalation training program, which they credit for the achievement of no officer firing their weapon on duty in all of 2020.[404]
Emergency management
The city's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) purpose is to facilitate coordination of emergency response activities and provide available emergency management resources for support of emergency response activities within the city. The OEM establishes policies, procedures, and mechanisms for the centralized coordination and emergency management of response efforts and the effective collection, processing, and dissemination of pertinent information during potential or actual emergency situations. OEM coordinates the distribution of commodities between the county and municipal agencies and ensures all emergency management capabilities are tested, evaluated, and updated for immediate implementation.[405]
Emergency Medical Services
University Hospital EMS (UH-EMS) operates the EMS system for the city. The department operates a fleet of six BLS units staffed with two EMTs 24/7, supplemented by four 12-hour "power" units (operated during peak demand time hours), five ALS units staffed with two paramedics (one of which is stationed at Newark International Airport and covers the airport and Port Newark-Elizabeth, and frequently responds into the City of Elizabeth), and a critical care unit staffed by a paramedic and an RN. With distinction they also staff the only hospital based heavy rescue truck in the country, known as University EMS Rescue 1. The EMS system is one of the busiest systems per unit in the nation. On average, a BLS unit may be sent to 20–25 dispatches in a 12-hour shift. They also provide the medical staffing for Northstar and Southstar, which are the two NJ State Police medevac helicopters, staffing one flight nurse and a flight medic around the clock. The EMS system in Newark handles upwards of 125,000 requests for service annually.[406] The Ironbound Volunteer Ambulance Squad helps by handling BLS calls in the East Ward when members are on duty and has been in operation since 1969. The Vailsburg Volunteer Rescue Squad helps by handling BLS calls in the West Ward when members are on duty and has been in operation since 2019.
Crime
In 1996, Money magazine ranked Newark "The Most Dangerous City in the Nation."[407] By 2007, the city recorded a total of 99 homicides for the year, representing a significant drop from the record of 161 murders set in 1981.[408][409][410][411] The number of murders in 2008 dropped to 65, a decline of 30% from the previous year and the lowest in the city since 2002 when there were also 65 murders.[412]
In 2010, Newark recorded 90 homicides.[413] March 2010 was the first calendar month since 1966 in which the city did not record a homicide.[414] Overall, there was a 6% increase in crime numbers over the previous year, including a rise in carjackings for the third straight year, with the 337 incidents raising concerns that the city was returning to its status as the "car theft capital of the world".[415] Along with the increase in crime, the Newark Police Department increased its recovery of illegally owned guns in 2011 to 696, up from 278 in 2010.[416] The Federal Bureau of Investigation recorded 94 homicides in 2011 and 95 in 2012.[417] In 2012 CNNMoney ranked Newark as the 6th most dangerous city in the United States, based on numbers by FBI Crime in the United States 2011 report.[418] The city had 10 murders in 10 days during the period ending September 6, 2013, a statistic largely attributed to the reduction of the police force.[419][420] In 2013 Newark recorded 111 homicides, the first year ending in triple digits in seven years[421] and the highest tally since 1990, accounting for 27% of all murders statewide.[422] In 2014, the total number of homicides in Newark was 93,[423] while Essex County as a whole had 117 murders.[424]The Star-Ledger reported that there were 105 homicides in the city in 2015.[425] The city had 72 homicides in 2017, a statistic described as a "historic low",[426] and a sharp drop from the 96 murders recorded in the city in 2016.[427] The Newark Police reported 69 homicides for 2018.[428] As of August 13, 2019, after a period of 50 consecutive days without a homicide, a total of 34 had been recorded.[429] In 2022, there were 51 homocides; in 2023, there were 47.[430]
In Newark, lead concentrations in water accumulated for several years in the 2010s as a result of inaccurate testing and poor leadership. Newark's problem came from a negligence of officials who the city relied on to ensure clean water.[431] The decrease in the quality of the water was due to several factors that were all somewhat interconnected. Lead service pipes that carry water were installed in Newark.[432]
When this was recognized, the city had CDM Smith, a construction company that specializes in water systems, conduct a study to determine whether or not the water quality was safe enough to drink. The results revealed that the water was in fact safe to drink, but the results were severely skewed.[433] This is because the city receives water from two water supplies: the Pequannock Treatment Plant and the Wanaque Treatment Plant.[433] In some sampling rounds, only areas served by Pequannock were sampled, and in other rounds, only areas served by Wanaque were sampled, and each had different contaminant control systems in place that varied in their effectiveness. The Pequannock supply uses pH adjustments and silica for its corrosion control method, which worked for two decades before losing its effectiveness in 2016, while the Wanaque supply uses orthophosphate, a much more effective precaution.[434][433]
In addition to this, the EPA requires that samples of drinking water be taken after no one has turned on a faucet for at least eight hours. Therefore, if high levels of lead do not show up in that initial sample, no further samples are required.[433] This sample only represents the water closest to the faucet, that has not been stagnant in lead service lines, whereas the stagnant water in the lead piping may not be drawn until much later.[433][432]
Top officials in Newark denied that their water system had a widespread lead problem, declaring on their website that the water was absolutely safe to drink.[431] Even after municipal water tests revealed the severity of the problem Mayor Ras Baraka mailed a brochure to the cities residents that the water meets all federal standards.[434] Although the city called an emergency declaration to allow them to purchase and distribute water filters for faucets but many of these were faulty.[434] The city has received three noncompliance notices for exceeding lead levels since 2017 and continues to fight its lead problem.[433]
In October 2024, it was announced that the company contracted to replace a portion of the lead service lines in Newark, JAS Group Enterprise, Inc. lied and falsified reports while not conducting the work they were hired to do at 1,500 Newark properties. From 2020 to 2022, the company falsified reports by submitting photographs to inspectors of copper pipes and claimed that they were the new replacement pipes they had installed. The company "deliberately instructed workers to leave lead pipes in the ground" and where copper pipes already existed, workers were allegedly instructed to polish and clean them to make them look like newly installed replacement lines. Mayor Baraka claimed the health of Newark residents isn't in danger due to the orthophosphate that was added to the water to prevent lead leaching and that it is working as intended. City officials stated that they excavated 400 sites where the company claimed to have performed work and 28 of those sites still had lead pipes. The EPA stated that any lead pipes that were discovered have been replaced.[435][436]
Newark Trolley line on Market Street near Newark's present day courthouse
The Morris Canal, stretching 102 miles (164 km) to Newark from Phillipsburg on the Delaware River, was completed in 1831 and allowed coal and other industrial and agricultural products from Pennsylvania to be transported cheaply and efficiently to the New York metropolitan area. The canal's completion led to increased settlement in Newark, vastly increasing the population for years to come. After the canal was decommissioned, its right of way was converted into the Newark City Subway, now known as the Newark Light Rail. Many of the subway stations still portray the canal in its original state, in the form of mosaic works.[440]
As the city became increasingly congested further means of transportation were sought, eventually leading to horse-drawn trolleys. These, in turn, were replaced by electric trolleys that traveled down the main streets of downtown Newark, including Broad Street, and up Market Street near the courthouse.[441] The trolley cars did not last long as the personal motor vehicle quickly gained popularity and slowly made the trolley system seem like a burden.[442]
As of May 2010[update], the city had a total of 368.21 miles (592.58 km) of roadways, of which 318.77 miles (513.01 km) were maintained by the municipality, 17.61 miles (28.34 km) by Essex County, 22.66 miles (36.47 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 9.17 miles (14.76 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.[443]
Local streets in Newark conform to a quasi-grid form, with major streets radiating outward (like spokes on a wheel) from the downtown area. Some major roads in the city are named after the towns to which they lead, including South Orange Avenue, Springfield Avenue, and Bloomfield Avenue, as well as Broadway, which had been renamed from Belleville Avenue.[445]
In a city extensively served by mass transit, 44.2% of Newark residents did not have a car as of the 2000 Census, ranked second in the U.S. to New York City in the proportion of households without an automobile among cities with more than 250,000 people.[446] According to the 2016 American Community Survey, the number of households without an automobile has decreased to 39.2%. The same year, the average Newark household owned .89 cars compared to a national average of 1.8 cars per household.[447]
According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 53.7% of working city of Newark residents commuted by driving alone, 9.3% carpooled, 27.3% used public transportation, and 6.5% walked. About 5% used all other forms of transportation, including taxicab, motorcycle, and bicycle. About 5.7% of working Newark residents worked at home.[453]
Healthcare
Newark is home to five hospitals. University Hospital, an independent institution that is a teaching hospital of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences,[454] has been the busiest Level I trauma center in the state.[455]Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is the largest hospital in the city and is a part of Barnabas Health, the state's largest system of hospital and health care facilities.[456] Beth Israel is also one of the oldest hospitals in the city, dating back to 1901. This 669-bed regional facility is also home to the Children's Hospital of New Jersey. Catholic Health East operates Saint Michael's Medical Center. Columbus Hospital LTACH is a longterm acute care hospital designed to focus on patients with serious and complex medical conditions that require intense specialized treatment for an extended period of recovery time.[457] Hospitals which have been closed in recent years include the Saint James Hospital, Mount Carmel Guild Hospital and the United Hospitals Medical Center.[458][459][460]
In 2016, annual testing of the water in Newark's public schools revealed elevated lead levels; more than 30 schools shut off their water fountains and turned to bottled water. In August 2019 the crisis over lead contamination in drinking water resurfaced because of new warnings from federal environmental officials. It is believed that the contamination was caused by aging lead pipes and changes in the water supply that makes the water more corrosive, causing lead from the pipes to be spread to the water inside.[461][462] In August 2019, New Jersey began supplying water bottles to Newark residents in certain designated neighborhoods.[463] On August 26, 2019, Newark officials announced a $120 million plan to expedite replacing the city's lead service lines in under three years.[464] The 29,000 families affected by the contaminated water were provided with filters and bottled water.[465] After testing in September, it was found that the filters were successful in 97% of homes tested, though bottled water would still be made available to those who request it. Long term-plans include the replacement of lead service lines from the water supply to homes.[466]
Quijos, Ecuador (a canton, not a municipality)[484]
In March 2023, the city held an official ceremony with its sister city in the Hindu nation of Kailaasa. It was later reported that that nation did not actually exist.[485][486]
^ abcSturken, Barbara. "Newark Airport Gains In International Travel"Archived December 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, February 11, 1990. Accessed June 25, 2012. "The oldest airport in the New York metropolitan region, Newark opened in 1928 on 68 acres (28 ha) of reclaimed swampland. It underwent a major overhaul in 1973, when an immense $400 million complex opened to replace an outmoded 20-year-old terminal."
^Astudillo, Carla. "10 maps that show Newark's dramatic change since the riots"Archived April 10, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, July 14, 2017. Accessed April 10, 2024. "While Newark’s white population dramatically declined, the city’s black population expanded, especially in the Central, West and South wards.... The other big demographic change is the dramatic increase in the Hispanic population. The percent of Hispanics living in Newark more than doubled from 1970 to 2010. These residents mostly settled in the North and East wards."
^Hartman, David; and Lewis, Barry. "History of Newark"Archived June 28, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, WNET. Accessed March 17, 2024. "In May of 1666, Puritan settlers led by Treat purchased the land directly from the Hackensack Indians for goods -- including gunpowder, one hundred bars of lead, twenty axes, twenty coats, guns, pistols, swords, kettles, blankets, knives, beer, and ten pairs of breeches -- valued at $750, a percentage of which was assessed upon every family that arrived in the new colony within the first year of its settlement."
^1666 - The Founding of NewarkArchived March 17, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, Descendants of Founders of New Jersey. Accessed March 17, 2024. "In 1666, Captain Robert Treat, after scouting several locations, successfully completed arrangements with Governor Carteret to settle a plantation on the Passaic River, in the northern section of what was known as the Elizabethtown purchase."
^Miller, Andy. Puritans in Search of a New Haven: 1630–1668
^Staff. "Newark on Trent Shows Interest in Newark, New Jersey", p. 123. Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Volume VI, 1921. Accessed September 10, 2015. "It seems to be understood that the name of Newark, New Jersey, is traceable to the influence of the first pastor of the settlement, Rev. Abraham Pierson, who was a native of Yorkshire, England, and is said to have probably ministered first to a church in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire."
^Princeton Alumni Weekly vol. 78; The Puritans in America: a narrative anthology, by Andrew Delbanco, Alan Heimert
^National Archives, Kew, England, T 1/65261-64; Bernard C. Steiner and James McHenry, The life and correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: Burrows Brothers Co., 1907)
^O'Dea, Colleen. "Newark Before the Comeback: A City Marked by White Flight, Poor Policy"Archived June 28, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Spotlight News, September 4, 2019. Accessed January 3, 2024. "It's unclear where people who left Newark after the war went — Hughes said some suggest many from Newark and its neighboring towns moved down to Ocean County. But the suburbs along the north and western edges of Essex County experienced tremendous growth during the period. From 1950 to 1970, the population more than doubled in Roseland and West Caldwell, and it more than tripled in Fairfield, Livingston and North Caldwell.... 'The riots certainly accelerated' white flight, Hughes said. It drove some of the whites who had remained in Newark out to the suburbs. While the exact timing of when people left is unknown, another 100,000 whites left Newark between 1960 and 1970, and the city lost more than 5 percent of its population, according to U.S. Census data.
^Riche, Patrick. "Newark's Prudential Center: A Key Player in Newark's Re-Branding Efforts"Archived November 17, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Forbes, January 10, 2012. Accessed June 25, 2012. "Newark is currently undergoing a major revitalization. The Prudential Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The Newark Symphony, Riverfront Stadium and Red Bull Park in nearby Harrison and home to Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls represent just part of the nearly $2 billion in construction underway."
^Report on the Social statistics of Cities, p. 708. United States Government Printing Office, 1886. Accessed September 24, 2019. "Newark lies in latitude 40° 44' north, longitude 74° 10' west from Greenwich on the Passaic river, 3 above Newark bay, and 9 miles west of New York by railroad, or 18 miles by water. The elevation of the part of the city is 30 feet above high water, the lowest point being the salt meadows, on a level with high water, and the highest point 230 feet above this."
^A View of Mt. ProspectArchived April 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, NewarkHistory.com. Accessed June 25, 2012. "Of the upper class districts of Old Newark – High Street, Lincoln Park, Weequahic and Forest Hill – Forest Hill is the most famous and best preserved."
^Erminio, Vinessa. "Gateway? Renaissance? A reviving city earns its nicknames"Archived October 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The Star-Ledger, December 8, 2005. Accessed June 25, 2012. "Newark also was known as the Gateway City about 1960. This may have been because of a statewide tourism campaign in which regions of the state were designated with names. Newark, Jersey City and the surrounding communities were called Gateway."
^ abLiving Here: NeighborhoodsArchived October 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Brick City Development Corporation for Newark, New Jersey. Accessed June 25, 2012. "The city is divided into five wards, each with distinct neighborhoods. Residential neighborhoods exist primarily in the North, Central and West Wards, while industry is concentrated largely in the East and South Wards near the airport and seaport.... East Ward. The most densely populated section of Newark, the East Ward, is home of one of the largest Portuguese-speaking communities in the country."
^Reock Jr., Ernest C. Redistricting New Jersey After the Census of 2010Archived August 5, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Rutgers University Center for Government Studies, March 2008, pp. 7–9. Accessed September 10, 2015. "The law requires that wards be formed of compact and contiguous territory. The most precise requirement is that the population of the largest ward may not exceed the population of the smallest ward by more than 10% of the mean average population of the wards."
^Hernandez, Roger. "Hispanics Deserve a Slice of the Pie"Archived May 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Rocky Mountain News, May 31, 1991. Accessed June 25, 2012. "In Newark, New Jersey, Hispanic leaders are considering a lawsuit to reverse a decision that chops a heavily Hispanic ward among three legislative districts..."
^"Station: Newark INTL AP, NJ". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
^Raum, John O. The History of New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 1, p. 245, J. E. Potter and company, 1877. Accessed August 6, 2013. "Newark is now the largest city in the state and is extensively engaged in manufacturing. The population in 1850 was 38,894; in 1860 71,941; and in 1870, 105,059. The city is divided into fourteen wards."
^2010–2015 HUD Consolidated Plan & 2010–2011 Annual Action PlanArchived May 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine City of Newark, New Jersey. Accessed November 21, 2012. "The City of Newark has been the most populous city in New Jersey for many years, with a peak population of 442,337 reported in the 1930 Census. Since that peak, however, the City's population has declined as residents migrated to suburban areas."
^Dolan, Thomas. "Newark and Its Gateway Complex – Part 2: Old Newark, New Newark"Archived April 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Newark Metro. Accessed April 7, 2015. "Even prior to the riots, Newark was on a steady decline as residents began to leave the city. 'White flight' from Newark to the suburbs, which started in the '40s and accelerated in the '60s, meant that an increasing number of people who worked in the city no longer lived there."
^Burr, Ty. "Heart of Stone: Seeing the good one man can do"Archived May 15, 2012, at the Wayback MachineThe Boston Globe, October 22, 2009. Accessed February 15, 2012. "The twin forces of light at Weequahic are principal Ron Stone and the school's alumni association, the latter made up almost entirely of white middle-class Jews. Until the Newark riots and ensuing white flight crippled the neighborhood in the late 1960s, Weequahic was one of the country's finest schools..."
^Delgado, Samuel A. "Newark could be a real college town"Archived December 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Star-Ledger, February 3, 2012. Accessed April 7, 2015. "With 60,000 students and faculty at six colleges and universities, Newark has the fifth-highest concentration of higher education on the East Coast, after Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C."
^Newark The Living Downtown Development PlanArchived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine City of Newark, 2008. Accessed May 10, 2016. "Downtown Newark is the largest downtown in the state of New Jersey. Its assets include nearly 50,000 office workers, the headquarters of five major corporations, five university campuses with nearly 50,000 students and faculty, two hospital campuses, one of the best public transit systems in the nation among mid-sized cities, and important sports, cultural, and entertainment destinations...In 2000, the daytime population of Newark was estimated at over 330,000, including a workforce of 47,000 people within one half-mile of the intersection of Broad and Market Streets, Newark's legendary Four Corners."
^Morley, Hugh R. "Anheuser-Busch announces 60 NJ jobs cuts"Archived August 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, January 20, 2015. Accessed June 14, 2016. "A company spokesman declined to say how many employees work at the plant, which was opened in 1951 and makes Budweiser, Bud Light and other company brands. In 2007, there were 800 workers at the brewery, which at that time shipped 7.5 million barrels of beer annually."
^Luxenberg, Stan. "Developers Rediscover Newark"Archived October 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine National Real Estate Investor, May 18, 2011. Accessed August 15, 2012. "Downtown Newark accounts for 50,000 jobs. The city is the third largest insurance center in the U.S. after New York City and Hartford, Conn."
^Wilwohl, Joshua. "Report: Newarkers Among New Jersey's Poorest"Archived November 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Newark Patch, September 26, 2011. Accessed May 10, 2016. "U.S. Census Bureau statistics reveal there are 79,243 people living in poverty in the city of Newark. Those numbers, which were part of the census' American Community Survey released last Thursday, mean roughly one in three residents of New Jersey's largest city are poor."
^Urban Enterprise Zone Tax Questions and AnswersArchived December 27, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, May 2009. Accessed October 28, 2019. "The Urban Enterprise Zone Program (UEZ) was enacted in 1983. It authorized the designation of ten zones by the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority: Camden, Newark, Bridgeton, Trenton, Plainfield, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Kearny, Orange and Millville/Vineland (joint zone)."
^Racioppi, Dustin. "Christie vetoes urban enterprise zone extension"Archived March 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, February 10, 2017. Accessed November 19, 2019. "Gov. Chris Christie on Friday conditionally vetoed the Legislature's attempt to extend the Urban Enterprise Zone status for its five charter communities, calling the economic revitalization program an 'abject failure' with a 'devastating impact' on state revenue.... The Legislature returned with what it called a compromise bill, A-4189, to extend the designation for two years instead of 10 for the first five UEZs – Bridgeton, Camden, Newark, Plainfield and Trenton – which expired on Jan. 1."
^"Notice: Law Reinstates Five Urban Enterprise Zones And Also Extends The Expiration Date Of 12 Other UEZs"Archived September 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of the Treasury Division of Taxation, May 30, 2018. Accessed November 19, 2019. "On May 30, 2018, Governor Murphy signed Senate Bill 846 (A3549). The law reinstated five expired Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZs). If your business is located in one of these zones, you may file an application to establish qualified business status. (Past certifications are no longer valid in these five zones). The five UEZs are in: *Bridgeton *Camden *Newark *Plainfield *Trenton. The UEZs in the five locations listed above expire on December 31, 2023."
^Lipton, Eric. "New York Port Hums Again, With Asian Trade"Archived May 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, November 22, 2004. Accessed September 13, 2011. "New York is not the only seaport lifted by the tide of Asian imports. No one expects it to regain its status as the world's busiest container port – a title it held until 1985 – or the nation's. Today it is ranked 15th in the world, 3rd in the United States."
^Marcus, Samantha. "These are the towns with the lowest property taxes in each of N.J.'s 21 counties"Archived November 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, April 30, 2019. Accessed November 7, 2019. "New Jersey's average property tax bill may have hit $8,767 last year — a new record — but taxpayers in some parts of the state pay just a fraction of that.... The average property tax bill in Newark was $6,481 in 2018, the lowest in Essex County."
^Ahearn, James. "Opinion: Mission accomplished, NJPAC chief moves on"Archived April 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, October 26, 2010. Accessed April 7, 2015. "The first project, on a 1.2-acre lot across the street from the center, is conceived as a high-rise, multi-use tower, which at 44 stories would be the tallest building in the city.... The sixth-largest performing arts center in the country, home to the increasingly respected New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, NJPAC attracts more than 400,000 patrons annually."
^AboutArchived June 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Newark Symphony Hall. Accessed June 13, 2016. "Newark Symphony Hall enjoys a long and rich cultural history as New Jersey's oldest and largest showcase for the arts, education and entertainment programming. This multi-facility edifice was built by the Shriners, a Masonic order, in 1925 and known as the Salaam Temple."
^Sanneh, Kelefa. "A Brand-New Arena and a Not-So-New Rock Star", The New York Times, October 27, 2007. Accessed June 26, 2012. "And to celebrate the grand opening, the center – which may or may not come to be known by its publicist-approved nickname, the Rock – booked New Jersey's most indefatigable rock band, Bon Jovi, to play a 10-night stand."
^Levinson, Jay. "This City is Just Memories"Archived August 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Jewish magazine. Accessed June 28, 2012. "The Jewish community of Newark, New Jersey is a page in history. The era of some 50 synagogues and 70,000 Jewish residents in the city during the 1950s is long over. Today there is just one remaining synagogue building which is owned by Jews, and it operates only on Shabbat."
^Carter, Barry. "Murals bring vibrant colors, culture to Newark neighborhoods"Archived January 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The Star-Ledger, June 24, 2016. Accessed January 7, 2018. "Murals are not new to Newark. There are at least 40 scattered throughout the city's five wards in the program that started seven years ago.But Mayor Ras Baraka's administration made a push this past year to target neglected neighborhood corridors with an infusion of art as the anchor for economic growth and social transformation."
^Mazzola, Jessica. "N.J. is now home to 2nd longest mural in the U.S."Archived August 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 27, 2016. Accessed June 11, 2018. "Stretching 1.39 miles on the walls underneath the Amtrak train tracks along Route 21, the newly-painted mural is about the length of 25 football fields, city officials said in a recent announcement. It is the longest continuous mural on the East Coast, and the second longest in the U.S., city officials confirmed. The 'Portraits' mural, part of the larger 'Gateways to Newark' beautification effort, was painted by 17 different artists."
^Newark Black Film FestivalArchived October 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Newark Museum. Accessed June 13, 2016. "Since its inception in 1974, the Newark Black Film Festival (NBFF) has become known among its peers as the longest running black film festival in the United States."
^Sobko, Katie. "Halsey, Demi Lovato coming to music and tech event North to Shore Jersey Festival"Archived March 13, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, March 13, 2023. Accessed March 13, 2023. "The North to Shore Jersey Festival will be a music and technology event taking place over the course of three consecutive weekends at three cities across the state. Events will happen in Atlantic City from June 7 to 11, in Asbury Park from June 14 to 18, and in Newark from June 21 to 25. There will be a variety of entertainment events, including concerts, comedy shows and movies, as well as presentations from tech and business entrepreneurs."
^Joseph G. Minish Passaic River Waterfront Park and Historic AreaArchived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, United States Army Corps of Engineers. Accessed June 11, 2018. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, is partnered with the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and City of Newark to construct the Minish Park Project which will reduce riverbank erosion and lay the foundation for waterfront park development and return of public access to the Passaic River in Newark, NJ. Phase I of the project includes 6,000 linear feet of bulkhead construction, and 3,200 linear feet of riverbank grading and native plantings."
^Strunsky, Steve. "Opening of weeklong Cherry Blossom Festival in Newark was sunny and pink"Archived February 13, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, April 2, 2022, updated February 16, 2023. Accessed February 12, 2024. "Newark’s pinkish rite of Spring was blessed with blue skies and sunshine Saturday, the opening day of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park. The free festival, which will last through April 10, is timed to showcase what is said to be largest collection of cherry blossom trees in North America, a gem of the Essex County park system that includes a variety of species blooming in March and April in colors ranging from a light pink to deep fuchsia."
^Ivy Park includes hard surface tennis courts, softball/baseball fields, a combination football/soccer field, a lighted basketball court, a playground, a shelter and a band concert area.
^Ivy Hill ParkArchived April 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Accessed June 11, 2018.
^Vailsburg ParkArchived April 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Accessed June 11, 2018.
^Riverbank ParkArchived April 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Accessed June 11, 2018.
^Weequahic ParkArchived April 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Accessed June 11, 2018.
^West Side ParkArchived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. Accessed June 11, 2018.
^Staff. "Newark receives federal grant to complete Jessie Allen Park"Archived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, TAP into Newark, July 24, 2017. Accessed June 11, 2018. "Newark has received a $750,000 federal grant from the National Park Service to build the final phase of Jesse Allen Park in Newark's Central Ward that will replace the existing baseball, football, and soccer fields with a synthetic three-season turf."
^"Golfer Of The Week: Wiley Williams"Archived April 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, African American Golfer's Digest. Accessed June 11, 2018. "Wiley Williams is a Weequahic Golf Course legend and outstanding New Jersey golf Pro. At Weequahic, the oldest public golf course in the state of New Jersey, Wiley almost single handedly put this course on the map with his stellar golf game and sharp ball striking skills."
^Sherman, Ted. "Newark headquarters of Star-Ledger sold to New York real estate development firm"Archived September 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, The Star-Ledger, July 24, 2014. Accessed September 10, 2015. "The Star-Ledger has sold its long-time home in Newark, where the state's largest daily newspaper was headquartered for nearly 50 years, according to publisher Richard Vezza. The company would not disclose a sale price for the 177,000-square-foot building – many of the offices already vacant because of layoffs, attrition and the move of some operations to new offices in Woodbridge and Secaucus."
^Colburn, Robert. "Your Engineering Heritage: Newark's Past and Future as a High-Technology Center"Archived October 22, 2016, at the Wayback MachineIEEE, December 15, 2015. Accessed October 21, 2016. "Large-scale field trials of semiautomatic telephone switching were another Newark high-tech advance. Two switching offices, Mulberry (3,640 lines) and Waverly (6,480 lines), went into commercial service on 16 January 1915 and 12 June 1915, respectively."
^Western Electric, The Last Panel Office, WE Magazine 1983 No. 1, page 22
^Model, Eric. "Remembering Channel 13—New Jersey's first television station"Archived September 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine NewJerseyNewsroom.com, August 8, 2011. Accessed September 11, 2014. "Initially the station was known as WATV, and was a commercial television station owned by Atlantic Television, a subsidiary of Bremer Broadcasting Corporation. It started broadcasting on May 15, 1948 on Channel 13. Bremer also owned two northern New Jersey radio stations, WAAT (970 AM, now WNYM) and WAAT-FM (94.7 MHz, now WNSH). The three stations were in the Mosque Theater at 1020 Broad Street in Newark."
^Kannapell, Andrea. "City Life; Giving Away a Film's Ending: It's Not Happy"Archived August 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, December 13, 1998. Accessed January 19, 2012. "And the backdrop to these unhappy lives, the Ironbound – a residential and industrial section outlined in Newark's southeast corner by various train lines – emerges as a vicious trap of a neighborhood, a painful counterpoint to downtown Newark's spreading veneer of investment and municipal energy."
^Quinn, Zachary. "Analysis of New Jersey Drive"Archived February 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, University of Minnesota Duluth. Accessed January 19, 2012. "The story takes place in Newark, New Jersey, the car theft capital of the world. And in this urban setting we find the young African American teens involved in stealing cars and dodging police in what can be described as empty lives, no goals, no focus and no direction. The only thing that these young men are interested in is the ride."
^"The Newark Paramount Theatre"Archived October 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, After the Final Curtain, September 28, 2011. Accessed February 6, 2024. "The Paramount Theatre opened on October 11, 1886 as H.C. Miner’s Newark Theatre. It was originally a vaudeville house managed by Hyde & Behman Amusement Co., a Brooklyn based theater Management Company.... The Paramount Theatre closed on March 31, 1986 due to an increase in insurance rates. This increase also led to the closing of the nearby Adams Theatre."
^"Mission & History". www.njpac.org. NJPAC. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
^AboutArchived February 6, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, Newark Symphony Hall. Accessed February 6, 2024. "Born as the Salaam Temple in 1925, Newark Symphony Hall has been the home of almost a century of arts and culture in what is now New Jersey’s oldest and largest arts and entertainment venue."
^Hague, Jim. "Ridiculous auction last sad chapter for Newark Bears"Archived August 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The Observer Online, April 30, 2014. Accessed June 14, 2016. "After all, it was the kind of Saturday in April where baseball was played at the ballpark every year since 1999, when the Newark Bears rose from the ashes of an era long gone and brought professional baseball back to the Brick City for the first time in almost 50 full years. Sure, Rutgers-Newark and NJIT have also called Riverfront Stadium home since the $34 million facility was opened 15 years ago."
^Ivers, Dan. "Former Newark Bears stadium sold to NYC developer for $23M"Archived November 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, March 20, 2016. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The former home of the Newark Bears minor league baseball team – left to languish along Broad Street since the hard-luck franchise folded in 2013 – has been sold to a New York-based developer for $23.5 million.The site at the corner of Broad Street and Orange Street has been sold to the Lotus Equity Group, city officials confirmed this week. Lotus plans to demolish Riverfront Stadium and build a mixed-use, high-rise tower in its place."
^Mazzeo, Mike. "Chris Christie: No love lost for Nets"Archived September 26, 2024, at the Wayback Machine, ESPN New York, April 24, 2012. Accessed June 26, 2012. "The New Jersey Nets are playing their final game in New Jersey on Monday night and leaving for Brooklyn at the end of this season, but the governor of New Jersey isn't about to get all nostalgic over it."
^Fowlkes, Ben. "UFC Not the First on Network TV, but Can It Learn From Others' Mistakes?"Archived December 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, mmafighting.com, November 9, 2011. Accessed July 9, 2015. "On May 31, 2008, EliteXC brought a live MMA event to primetime network television for the first time in American TV history. The aptly named Primetime event went down in Newark's Prudential Center, and was loaded with EliteXC's most marketable stars, including Kimbo Slice, Gina Carano, Robbie Lawler, and Phil Baroni."
^Nix, Naomi. "Original Vince Lombardi trophy comes home to Newark", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 7, 2014. Accessed June 13, 2016. "The first-ever Vince Lombardi trophy, which was made in Newark, arrived this week at the Newark Museum."
^City Council City of Newark. Accessed April 7, 2015.
^"Bingo For Charity Is Voted In Jersey; Margin Exceeds 2-1 -- Newark Approves Shift to a Mayor and Nine Councilmen", The New York Times, November 4, 1953. Accessed March 8, 2023. "In Newark, the city electorate voted to change the municipal form of government from five commissioners to a Mayor and nine Councilmen. Complete returns showed 53,739 for the charter amendment and 28,142 against. The vote means that Newark must hold a special election some time next summer to replace the five commissioners who were elected to four-year terms in May. A citizens committee on municipal government and the Newark Charter Commission had recommended the change. Five of the Councilmen will be elected from wards in the city, and the four others will be chosen at large."
^General Information, Essex County, New Jersey. Accessed July 20, 2020. "The County Executive, elected from the County at-large, for a four-year term, is the chief political and administrative officer of the County.... The Board of Chosen Freeholders consists of nine members, five of whom are elected from districts and four of whom are elected at-large. They are elected for three-year concurrent terms and may be re-elected to successive terms at the annual election in November. There is no limit to the number of terms they may serve."
^Brady, Thomas F. "Addonizio and 4 Convicted Of Extortion by U.S. Jury", The New York Times, July 23, 1970. Accessed November 13, 2016. "Hugh J. Addonizio, former Mayor of Newark, and four other defendants were found guilty by Federal jury tonight on 64 counts each, one of conspiracy and 63 of extortion."
^Sullivan, Ronald. "Addonizio Given a 10-Year Term", The New York Times, September 23, 1970. Accessed November 13, 2016. "Former Mayor Hugh J. Addonizio of Newark was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $25,000 in Federal Court here today for conspiracy and extortion. Convicted of sharing in the proceeds of extorted kickbacks totaling $1.5 million from contractors on city water and sewer lines, Addonizio stood impassively with his head bowed as Judge George H. Barlow declared that his crimes were of 'monumental proportion' that 'tore at the very heart of our civilized society and our form of representative government.'"
^Barbanel, Josh. "Hugh J. Addonizio, 67, Ex-Mayor Of Newark Jailed 5 Years, Dead", The New York Times, February 2, 1981. Accessed April 7, 2015. "Hugh J. Addonizio, a former Congressman and two-term Mayor of Newark who was sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison and fined $25,000 for conspiracy and extortion died early this morning at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, N.J."
^Narvaez, Alfonso A. "Gibson Acquitted Of A Conspiracy In 'No Show' Case", The New York Times, October 22, 1982. Accessed September 10, 2015. "Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson was found not guilty today of conspiracy in connection with charges that he had helped create a 'no show' job for a former city official. But the Superior Court jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a charge of official misconduct."
^Martin, John. "Judge, prosecutors clash over James' 27-month jail term", NJ.com, July 29, 2008. Accessed April 7, 2015. "Former Newark mayor Sharpe James was ordered Tuesday to serve 27 months in prison and pay a $100,000 fine for fraud and conspiracy – a sentence that capped a spectacular downfall for one of New Jersey's political titans, but one that incensed prosecutors who thought it was too light."
^Delgado, Samuel A. "Newark could be a real college town", The Star-Ledger, February 3, 2012. Accessed May 20, 2017. "With 60,000 students and faculty at six colleges and universities, Newark has the fifth-highest concentration of higher education on the East Coast, after Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.... With the recent burst in construction, Newark's universities off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Central Ward are increasingly becoming residential campuses, as more students want the experience of living and studying in a big city."
^What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
^Steadman, Andrew. "Bayonne firefighters participate in mock disaster drills in Newark", The Jersey Journal, May 1, 2012. Accessed August 22, 2018. "According to the press release, the Metro USAR Strike Team is made up of nine fire departments from Bayonne, Elizabeth, Hackensack, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Morristown as well as the five-municipality North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Agency."
^Queally, James (January 7, 2014). "Newark to hire 100 more cops after deadliest year since 1990"". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved April 7, 2015. The department was hammered by layoffs in 2010, during a statewide budget crunch that also led to mass cutbacks in Camden and Trenton. Newark lost 167 officers that year, and only has 1,006 officers in its ranks now.
^Lueck, Thomas J. "As Newark Mayor Readies Crime Fight, Toll Rises", The New York Times, January 8, 2007. Accessed October 6, 2007. "For all of 2006, the police said, Newark had 104 homicides, far below its record of 161 in 1981, but more than in any other year since 1995."
^Murr, Andrew; and Noonoo, Jemimah. "A Return To The Bad Old Days?", Newsweek, August 17, 2007. "Murders rose 27 percent in Newark (population 280,000) in the past two years, as killings rose from 83 in 2004 to 104 last year. So far, the pace this year is slower—61 deaths since January."[dead link]
^Schweber, Nate. "Newark Murder Rate Dropped 30 Percent in 2008", The New York Times, January 3, 2009. Accessed February 15, 2012. "Newark recorded 67 homicides in 2008, according to the police, the fewest since 2002, when there were 65. In 2007, there were 97 homicides; in 2006, just over 100."
^Queally, James. "Newark records first homicide-free month in more than 40 years", The Star-Ledger, April 1, 2010. Accessed July 9, 2015. "For the first time in more than 40 years, an entire calendar month has come and gone without a homicide in the state's largest city. It's been 32 days since a homicide took place in Newark, marking the first time there has been a slay-free calendar month in the city since 1966."
^Queally, James. "Newark carjackings rise for 3rd straight year", The Star-Ledger, February 3, 2012. Accessed July 9, 2015. "The increases have sparked concerns among business leaders and residents that the state's largest city is once again becoming the 'car theft capital of the world,' a dubious monicker it earned in the 1990s."
^Samaha, Albert. "Newark's 10 Day Stretch of 10 Homicides Reflects Drop in Cop Numbers"Archived December 17, 2013, at the Wayback MachineThe Village Voice, September 6, 2013. Accessed July 9, 2015. "And after three years, the cuts to the police budget produced a sad crescendo: In a 10 day stretch, from Monday August 26 to Wednesday September 4, there were 10 homicides in the city, as well as three more non-fatal shootings and one non-fatal stabbing."
^Johnson, Anthony. "Newark murders hit triple digits", WABC-TV, December 27, 2013. Accessed July 9, 2015."Murders in Newark hit triple digits this year for the first time in seven years.... So far in 2013, there have been 102 murders. The last time the murder rate was in triple digits was in 2007 when there were 107 murders."
^Queally, James. "N.J. homicides soared to seven-year high in 2013 after surges in Newark, Trenton", The Star-Ledger, January 1, 2014. Accessed July 9, 2015. "A Star-Ledger survey of county prosecutors' offices found at least 409 people died violently last year. More than a quarter of those killings took place in Newark, where a spate of Christmas season slayings pushed the homicide total to 111, including one in the final hours of the year. The tally is the highest since 1990."
^Ivers, Dan. "Declines in Newark, Camden drive N.J. homicides to 5-year low in 2014", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 1, 2015, updated January 5, 2015. "More than a third of those incidents took place in Essex County, where Newark and Irvington accounted for all but five of the county's 117 homicides. The state's largest city totaled 93 for the year – by far the highest in the state, but a sizeable reduction from the 111 it recorded last year."
^Ivers, Dan. "Despite progress in cities, N.J. homicides jump 4 percent in 2015", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 1, 2016, updated January 14, 2016. Accessed June 13, 2016. "More than a quarter of those slayings took place in Newark, where a bloody finish to the year, which included 25 homicides over November and December, drove the city's total to 105*, according to police department statistics – an uptick of 12 over 2014."
^Cohen, Noah; and Iati, Marisa. "Homicides dropped by 7 percent in 2017. Here's how many each county had.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 8, 2018. Accessed June 11, 2018. "Newark saw homicides fall to a historic low this year, city officials said at a December press conference. The state's largest city saw 72 murders in 2017, a roughly 25 percent decline from the year prior."
^Yi, Karen. "Homicides hit a low but shootings on the rise in N.J.'s largest city", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 14, 2017. Accessed June 11, 2018. "There were 70 homicides to date this year – about a 28 percent drop from the year prior, Mayor Ras Baraka said during a press conference on the city's year-end crime statistics at the police-fire communications center. That's 26 fewer murders than last year's 96, officials said."
^McGeehan, Patrick. "Commuters Feel Pinch as Christie Tightens", The New York Times, May 16, 2011. Accessed June 26, 2012. "Without the Port Authority money, Mr. Simpson said, New Jersey would have to spend about $30 million a year just to keep the Pulaski Skyway – a 70-year-old bridge that serves as a link between Newark Liberty International Airport and the Holland Tunnel – from falling down. Now, it will invest about $900 million over five years to 'basically rebuild the whole bridge.'"
^On Broadway, NewarkHistory.org. Accessed June 26, 2012. "Newark's Broadway was called Belleville Avenue in the Nineteenth Century. Like Springfield Avenue, Bloomfield Avenue, and South Orange Avenue, Broadway is one of Newark's great radial streets. The name of the street, for reasons unknown to me, was changed from Belleville Ave to Broadway in the early Twentieth century."
^What Is, Columbus Hospital LTACH. Accessed August 30, 2015.
^Heininger, Claire. "Two Newark hospitals to close under deal; Mayor Booker 'furious'", The Star-Ledger, January 10, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2016. "Two struggling Newark hospitals – Saint James and Columbus – will close their doors this spring, while the city's third Catholic hospital will receive an infusion of cash under an agreement reached tonight."
^Yi, Karen; and Warren, Michael Sol. "Newark says no more need for bottled water, but it's unclear why some homes fail tests", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 23, 2019. Accessed September 23, 2019. "Newark residents can go back to using 38,000 city-distributed filters to reduce lead in the water, state officials announced on Monday, citing preliminary testing that found 97% of filters were working as expected. The city, however, will continue offering free bottled water for those who remain concerned until the state launches a new $1 million program to provide door-to-door to assistance with filter installation."
^Home Page, Consulado de Colombia en newark. Accessed July 9, 2015.
^Haddon, Heather. "Saying Arrivederci to N.J.'s Consulate", The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2013. Accessed July 9, 2015. "The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to close its consulate in Newark, the only full-fledged office in a state renowned as the home of Italian-American pop-culture fixtures such as Frank Sinatra and The Sopranos."
^Rose, Liza. "Planned closure of Italian consulate in Newark sparks criticism", The Star-Ledger, September 20, 2013. Accessed July 9, 2015. "The Italian consulate in Newark is slated to close in March, passing its jurisdiction over to New York. Although 13 other Italian consulates worldwide are being shuttered due to fiscal woes, the New Jersey office is the only location in the United States that is getting the boot."
^Home PageArchived February 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Consulate of Italy in Newark. Accessed July 9, 2015. "The Consulate Of Italy In Newark, New Jersey Is Closed As Of February 28, 2014."
^Piazza, Jo. "Dalai Lama's Latest Peace Project: Newark", The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2011. Accessed July 9, 2015. "The Tibetan spiritual leader has been to 62 countries on six continents in his 75 years on Earth, but until Thursday, he had never had an extended stay in Newark, save for a brief stop in 1990 to consecrate a Buddhist altar at the Newark Museum."
Rabig, Julia. The Fixers: Devolution, Development, and Civil Society in Newark, 1960–1990. (U of Chicago Press, 2016). viii, 333 pp
Shales, Ezra (2010). Made in Newark: Cultivating Industrial Arts and Civic Identity in the Progressive Era. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rivergate Books/Rutgers University Press.
Strummer, Helen M. (1994). No Easy Walk: Newark, 1980–1993. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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