Bergenline Avenue is a major commercial district in the North Hudson section of

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

, New Jersey, United States. The north–south streets passes through Union City,

West New York West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates ...

, Guttenberg,

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

. Its southern end is at Union City's Second Street, the north boundary of Washington Park. From there north to 47th Street, the street is one-way southbound; New York Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard serve northbound traffic. Between 48th and 49th Streets,

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

s on the west side provide access to the underground Bergenline Avenue station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. After passing through West New York and Guttenberg and into North Bergen, the street meets North Hudson Park, running along its west side from 79th Street to the Bergen County line through the community of

Nungesser's Nungessers is the name of the confluence of roads that meet at the Hudson and Bergen county line at North Bergen and Fairview in northeastern New Jersey. The area is the former site of the Nungesser's Gutenberg Racetrack, a late 19th-century gam ...

and crosses Kennedy Boulevard. The northernmost of the route from Kennedy Boulevard to the Bergen County line is designated as County Route 721. North of the county line the street name becomes Anderson Avenue, which is the major commercial district for Fairview,

Cliffside Park Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 23,594,Fort Lee.

Route description

Currently the longest commercial avenue in the state, boasting over 300 retail stores and restaurants, many of which became the outlet for Cuban entrepreneurs who had immigrated to Union City,Perez-Stable, Marifeli (December 3, 2009)
"That other Cuban community"
''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.two-way street A two-way street is a street that allows vehicles to travel in both directions. On most two-way streets, especially main streets, a line is painted down the middle of the road to remind drivers to stay on their side of the road. Sometimes one por ...

at 48th Street, just one block south of the town's limit. It is used as the route for local parades, including the annual

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

Parade, Cuban Day Parade, and

Dominican-American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

Parade. The street is also a major transportation corridor, served by

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es to local points ( 22, 22X, 84, 86, and 89) and to the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 buse ...

(

156 Year 156 (Roman numerals, CLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silvanus and Augurinus (or, less frequently, year 90 ...

and 159) and

George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal The George Washington Bridge Bus Station is a commuter bus terminal located at the east end of the George Washington Bridge in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan in New York City. The bus station is owned and operated by the Port Authori ...

(

181 Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 '' Ab urbe condi ...

) in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The portion along the west side of North Hudson Park sees almost 300 buses in each direction on a normal weekday, an average of one every five minutes.

History

Originally, Bergenline Avenue was the width of a cowpath, and was not regarded as a business center. Street car tracks were expected to be laid on Palisade Avenue, where the Union Hill's Town Hall was located. However, an influential citizen named Henry Kohlmeier, who had just built his residence on Palisade Avenue, did not wish to be disturbed by the noise of the passing cars, and proposed that the tracks be laid on Bergenline Avenue, two blocks to the west, and before those who would have objected to this became aware of this change, the motion was approved. The continuous line of retail stores that appeared Bergenline Avenue made it a major shopping thoroughfare for North Hudson County, one of the leading shopping centers in Northern New Jersey, and the longest commercial avenue in the state. By the early part of the twentieth century, Bergenline Avenue was an Italian-American strip, but by 1981 it was predominantly Cuban. By the early 2000s it remained the heart of the

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...

community in North Hudson, and home to many other

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

s. Among members of that community, it earned the nickname La Avenida.

Notable residents

Esther Salas Esther Salas (born December 29, 1968) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey sitting in Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most popul ...

, the first Hispanic woman to serve as a United States magistrate judge in the District of New Jersey, and the first Hispanic woman to be appointed a U.S. District Court judge in New Jersey. *

Erick Morillo Erick Morillo (March 26, 1971 – September 1, 2020) was a Colombian-American disc jockey, music producer, and record label owner. Having produced under a number of pseudonyms, including Ministers de la Funk, The Dronez, RAW, Smooth Touch, RBM, D ...

(1971–2020), DJ and music producer known for the single "

I Like to Move It "I Like to Move It" is a song by American solo project Reel 2 Real ( Erick Morillo), featuring ragga vocals by Trinidad and Tobago rapper The Mad Stuntman (Mark Quashie). Released in 1993, as the second single from their debut album, '' Move It! ...

", grew up in an apartment at 1406 Bergenline. That portion of Bergenline, between 14th and 15th Streets, was renamed in his honor on October 12, 2012.Machcinski, Anthony J (October 12, 2012)
"House music superstar Erick Morillo returns to Union City for emotional street naming ceremony"

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

References

{{AttachedKML, display=title,inline Streets in Hudson County, New Jersey Transportation in Hudson County, New Jersey Neighborhoods in Hudson County, New Jersey North Hudson, New Jersey

Route description

History

Notable residents

See also

References