Newark ( , ) is the most populous

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

and the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

of Essex County and the second largest city within the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

.New Jersey County Map

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as ...

. Accessed July 10, 2017. The city had a population of 311,549 as of the

2020 U.S. census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, and was calculated at 307,220 by the

Population Estimates Program The Population Estimates Program (PEP) is a program of the U.S. Census Bureau that publishes annual population estimates and estimates of birth, death, and international migration rates for people in the United States. In addition to publishing th ...

for 2021, making it the nation's 66th-most populous municipality.Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2021 Population: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, May 2022. Accessed December 1, 2022. Settled in 1666 by

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

from New Haven Colony, Newark is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Its location at the mouth of the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

(where it flows into

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, ...

) has made the city's waterfront an integral part of the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable wate ...

. Today, Port Newark–Elizabeth is the primary

container shipping Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...

terminal of the busiest seaport on the U.S. East Coast.

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Cou ...

was the first municipal commercial airport in the United States, and today is one of its busiest. Several companies have their headquarters in Newark, including Prudential, PSEG, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Audible.com, IDT Corporation,

Manischewitz Manischewitz (; he, מנישביץ) is a brand of kosher products based in the United States, best known for its matzo and kosher wine. Founded in 1888, it became a public corporation in 1923 and remained under family control until January 199 ...

and AeroFarms. A number of higher education institutions are also in the city, including the Newark campus of

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

(which includes law and medical schools and the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies); University Hospital (formerly the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey which included the schools of medicine and

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

now under Rutgers University); the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Seton Hall University's

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. The

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

is also located in the city. Local cultural venues include the

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors ...

Newark Symphony Hall Newark Symphony Hall is a performing arts center located at 1020 Broad Street in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. Built in 1925, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was known for many years as The Mosque Theat ...

, the Prudential Center,

The Newark Museum of Art The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

, and the New Jersey Historical Society. Newark is divided into five political wards (East, West, South, North and Central) and contains neighborhoods ranging in character from bustling urban districts to quiet suburban enclaves.Neighborhoods and Wards
, Newark Community Economic Development Corporation. Accessed September 24, 2019. Newark's Branch Brook Park is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the nation's largest collection of

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

trees, numbering over 5,000.

History

Newark was settled in 1666 by

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

s led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony. It was conceived as a

theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fr ...

assembly of the faithful, though this did not last for long as new settlers came with different ideas. 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 A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

on April 27, 1713. It was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

'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.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 130. Accessed February 14, 2012. The name of the city is thought to derive from

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road bypasses the town on the line ...

, England, because of the influence of the original pastor, Abraham Pierson, who came from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

but may have ministered in Newark, Nottinghamshire. 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" 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 Ogden in his claim for compensation, and

James McHenry James McHenry (November 16, 1753 – May 3, 1816) was a Scotch-Irish American military surgeon, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. McHenry was a signer of the United States Constitution from Maryland, initiated the recomme ...

, as late as 1787. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, British troops made several raids into the town. 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. The city has experienced revitalization since the 1990s.

Geography

According to the

, the city had a total area of , including of land and of water (6.72%). It has the third-smallest land area among the 100 most populous cities in the U.S., behind neighboring

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hialeah, Florida. The city's altitude ranges from 0 (sea level) in the east to approximately

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

in the western section of the city.The Official Website of the City of Newark, NJ
2005. Accessed May 28, 2012. Newark is essentially a large basin sloping towards the

, 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. Until the 20th century, the

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...

es on

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 The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

was able to reclaim of the marshland for the further expansion of

, as well as the growth of the port lands.Sturken, Barbara
"Newark Airport Gains In International Travel"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', February 11, 1990. Accessed June 25, 2012. "The oldest airport in the New York metropolitan region, Newark opened in 1928 on 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." 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". The city borders the municipalities of Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood and South Orange in Essex County;

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

, East Newark, Harrison,

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Kearny in Hudson County; and Elizabeth and Hillside in Union County.

Neighborhoods

Newark is the second-most racially diverse municipality in the state, behind neighboring

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.wards, 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.Living Here: Neighborhoods
, 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." 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. 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 In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

. Newark's Central Ward, formerly known as the old Third Ward, contains much of the city's history including the original squares

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, ...

, Military Park and Washington Park. The ward contains the University Heights, The Coast/Lincoln Park, historic Grace Episcopal Church, Government Center, Springfield/Belmont and Seventh Avenue neighborhoods. Of these neighborhood designations only University Heights, a more recent designation for the area that was the subject of the 1968 novel ''Howard Street'' by Nathan Heard, is still in common usage. The Central Ward extends at one point as far north as 2nd Avenue. In the 19th century, the Central Ward was inhabited by

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and other

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

Catholic and Protestant groups. The German inhabitants were later replaced by

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, who were then replaced by African Americans. The increased academic footprint in the University Heights neighborhood has produced

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

, 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 Essex County College (ECC) is a public community college in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. History In August 1966, the Essex County Board of Freeholders approved the creation of Essex County College and in September 1968, more tha ...

. 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. The North Ward is surrounded by Branch Brook Park. Its neighborhoods include Broadway, Mount Pleasant, Upper Roseville and the affluent Forest Hill section.North Ward
City of Newark, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

as of April 5, 2014. Accessed August 30, 2015. 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. 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 Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the ...

. The West Ward has struggled in recent years with elevated rates of crime, particularly violent crime. The South Ward comprises the

Weequahic Weequahic (pronounced , or WEEK-wake "when spoken rapidly") is a neighborhood in the city of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Part of the South Ward, it is separated from Clinton Hill by Hawthorne Avenue on the north, and bord ...

, Clinton Hill,

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, 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 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 for ...

. The city's second-largest hospital, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, can be found in the South Ward, as can seventeen public schools, five daycare centers, three branch libraries, one police precinct, a mini-precinct, and three fire houses. The East Ward consists of much of Newark's

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

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") is a destination for shopping, dining, and nightlife. 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 Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-et ...

, especially Ecuadorians, Peruvians, and Colombians, alongside Puerto Ricans, African Americans, and commuters to

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 ...

. Public education in the East Ward consists of East Side High School and six elementary schools. The ward is largely composed of densely packed but well maintained housing and streets, primarily large apartment buildings and

rowhouses In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

Climate

Newark lies in the transition between a humid subtropical and

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

( Köppen ''Cfa/Dfa''), with cold winters and hot humid summers. The January daily mean is , and although temperatures below are to be expected in most years, sub- readings are rare; conversely, some days may warm up to . The average seasonal snowfall is , though variations in weather patterns may bring sparse snowfall in some years and several major

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

s in others, with the heaviest 24-hour fall of occurring on December 26, 1947. Spring and autumn in the area are generally unstable yet mild. The July daily mean is , and highs exceed on an average 28.3 days per year, not factoring in the often higher

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is al ...

. 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 per month, usually falling on 8 to 12 days per month. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on February 9, 1934 to on July 22, 2011. The January freezing isotherm that separates Newark into ''Dfa'' and ''Cfa'' zones approximates the NJ Turnpike.

Demographics

Newark had a

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

-tabulated population of 311,549 in 2020, making it the 62nd-most populous municipality in the United States,Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2019 Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019

. Accessed May 21, 2020. after being ranked 67th in 2010 and 63rd in 2000.Gaquin, Deirdre A.; Ryan, Mary Meghan
''Places, Towns, and Townships 2012''
p. xvii. Bernan Press, 2012. . Accessed August 6, 2013.The Counties and Most Populous Cities and Townships in 2010 in New Jersey: 2000 and 2010

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north ...

. Accessed May 12, 2017. From 2000 to 2010, the increase of 3,594 inhabitants (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted in the

2000 U.S. census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

marked the second census in 70 years in which the city's population had grown from the previous enumeration. This trend continued in 2020, where Newark had an increase of 34,409 (12.4%) from the 277,140 counted in the 2010 U.S. census, the largest percent increase in 100 years. After reaching a peak of 442,337 residents counted in the

1930 census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...

, 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 White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...

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 The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

. The

1967 riots 1967 riots may refer to: * Long, hot summer of 1967, marked by race riots and civil disorder throughout the United States ** Avondale riots of 1967, June 12–18, Cincinnati, Ohio ** Buffalo riot of 1967, June 27–July 1, Buffalo, New York ** 1 ...

resulted in a significant population loss of the city's middle class, many of them

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, which continued from the 1970s through to the 1990s. On net, the city lost about 130,000 residents between 1960 and 1990. At the 2018 estimates there were 114,061 housing units and 101,689 households. Approximately 61,667 families lived in the city. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.45. The median household income was $37,642 and the mean income was $53,587. 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 square kilometers). 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 per square mile (4,437.7/km²). There were 100,141 housing units at an average density of 4,208.1 per square mile (1,624.6//km²). The U.S. Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

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 Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the township was $17,367 (+/- $364). About 22% of families and 25% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 34.9% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over. 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%.

Race and ethnicity

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. The percentage of non-Hispanic whites declined from 82.8% in 1950 to 11.6% by 2010.Gibson, Campbell; and Jung, Kay
"Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States"

, February 2005. Accessed May 12, 2017.State & County QuickFacts for Newark (city), New Jersey

. Accessed April 7, 2015. 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%. At the

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

's 2018 estimates, non-Hispanic whites made up 8.9% of the population. Black or African Americans were 47.0% of the population,

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...

were 2.1%, some other race 1.6%, and

multiracial Americans Multiracial Americans are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of multiracial people, mixed race ancestry who ethnic group, self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. the ...

1.1%. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 39.2% of the city's population in 2018. 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. 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. 49.2% of the city's 80,622 residents who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino were from

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, while 9.4% were from

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and 7.8% from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. 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. In advance of the 2000 census, city officials made a push to get 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 from the

, which resulted in the loss of government aid and political representation. 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.

Religion

Roughly 60% of Newarkers identified with a religion as of 2020. The largest Christian group in Newark is the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

(34.3%), followed by

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

(5.2%). The city's Catholic population are divided into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and Eastern Catholics. The Latin Church-based

Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jers ...

, serving

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, Hudson and Union counties, is headquartered in the city. Its

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

is the

Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the fifth-largest cathedral in North America, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. It is located at 89 Ridge Street in the Lower Broadway neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey. ...

. Eastern Catholics in the area are served by the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark, an

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

of the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in ...

, and by the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Baptist churches in Newark are affiliated with the

American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...

Progressive National Baptist Convention The Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC), incorporated as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., is a mainline predominantly African-American Baptist denomination emphasizing civil rights and social justice. The headquar ...

, the

National Baptist Convention of America The National Baptist Convention of America International, Inc., (NBCA Intl or NBCA) more commonly known as the National Baptist Convention of America or sometimes the Boyd Convention, is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is ...

, and

National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. Following, 2.4% identified with

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

and

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

and

AME Zion #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

churches. 1.6% of Christian Newarkers are

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

and 1.3% identified as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

and Presbyterian Church in America. The Pentecostal community is dominated by the

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness– Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly ...

and

Assemblies of God USA The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of white Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas (with e ...

. 0.9% of Christians in the city and nearby suburbs identify as Anglican or Episcopalian. Most are served by the Newark Diocese of the

Episcopal Church in the United States The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

. The remainder identified with Continuing Anglican or Evangelical Episcopal bodies including the

Reformed Episcopal Church The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The REC is a founding member of ...

and Anglican Church in North America. ACNA and REC-affiliated churches form the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. 0.6% of Christians are members of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

, followed by

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

(0.2%). 3.0% of the city's Christian populace were of other Christian denominations including the Eastern and

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...

churches, Independent sacramental churches, the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

, non-denominational Protestants, and the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

. The largest Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in Newark include the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Archbishop On May 11, 2019, the church's H ...

(

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

) and the

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and New Jersey (

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...

). The largest Oriental Orthodox bodies include the

Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

and

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

were tied as the second-largest religious community (3.0%). Up to 1967, Jewish Americans formed a substantial portion of the middle class. As of 2020, Orthodox,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, and

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

were the most prevalent denominations affiliated with in Newark and suburban communities.

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

, and

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

Muslims are the largest Islamic denominational demographic, though some Muslims in the area may be Quranists. Most Sunni

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s are members of the

Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a nonprofit organization based in Plainfield, Indiana. It provides a number of programs and services to the Muslim community and broader society. ISNA holds an annual convention which is generally re ...

. The Nation of Islam had a former mosque in Newark presided by

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader, Black supremacy, black supremacist, Racism, anti-white and Antisemitism, antisemitic Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist, and former singer who hea ...

. A little over 1.2% practiced an eastern religion including

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. There are at least 10

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

s in Newark's surrounding area. The remainder of Newark was

spiritual but not religious "Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable ...

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

, deistic, or

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, though some Newarkers identified with

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

religions including

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

and other smaller

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in ...

s. There is one Wiccan group in the city. Devotees of Santa Muerte are also in the city. Followers of afrodiasporic religions live in the city and surrounding area, primarily practicing

Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism. There i ...

or Santeria.

Economy

More than 100,000 people commute to Newark each workday, making it the state's largest employment center with many white-collar jobs in insurance, finance, import-export,

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pro ...

, and government. As a major courthouse venue including federal, state, and county facilities, it is home to more than 1,000 law firms. The city is also a

college town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...

, with nearly 50,000 students attending the city's universities and medical and law schools. 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. Though Newark is not the industrial colossus of the past, the city does have a considerable amount of industry and light manufacturing. The southern portion of the Ironbound, also known as the Industrial Meadowlands, has seen many factories built since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, including a large

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

brewery that opened in 1951 and distributed 7.5 million barrels of beer in 2007. Grain comes into the facility by rail. 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. NJ Transit HQ Newark

Newark is the third-largest insurance center in the United States, behind New York City and

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...

, Mutual Benefit Life, Fireman's Insurance, and American Insurance Company all originated in the city, while Prudential still has its home office in Newark. Many other companies are headquartered in the city, including IDT Corporation,

NJ 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 ...

, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG),

Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey is the only licensed Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association plan in New Jersey, providing health insurance coverage to over 3.2 million people throughout all of New ...

, and

Edison Properties Edison Properties is a privately owned real estate holding and development firm based in Newark, New Jersey founded in 1956. The company has holdings in New Jersey, New York City, and Baltimore including many parking lots marketed under ParkFas ...

. After the election of Cory Booker as mayor, millions of dollars of public-private partnership investment were made in

development, but persistent underemployment continue to characterize many of the city's neighborhoods. Poverty remains a consistent problem in Newark. As of 2010, roughly one-third of the city's population was impoverished.Wilwohl, Joshua
"Report: Newarkers Among New Jersey's Poorest"
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." 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. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125%

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

rate (half of the % rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in January 1986, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in December 2023. 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 Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

, who called the program an "abject failure", vetoed a compromise bill that would have extended the status for two years. 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. 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 of a train station are eligible for pro-rated

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

Technology industry

Technology industry in Newark has grown significantly after Audible, an online

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

company, moved its headquarters to Newark in 2007. The company was later acquired by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

moved its North America headquarters to the city in 2013. Other technology-focus companies followed suit. In 2015, AeroFarms, a developer of an aeroponic technology for farming moved its headquarters from

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

to Newark. By 2016, it had built the world's largest

vertical farm Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. It often incorporates controlled-environment agriculture, which aims to optimize plant growth, and soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and ae ...

in a Newark warehouse. The company was recognized in 2019 by

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

as one of the world's most innovative companies in

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and unstructured data, and apply knowledge from data across a br ...

Broadridge Financial Solutions Broadridge Financial Solutions is a public corporate services and financial technology company founded in 2007 as a spin-off from management software company :Automatic Data Processing. Broadridge supplies public companies with proxy statements ...

, a public FinTech company, announced a relocation of 1,000 jobs to Newark in 2017. In 2021,

WebMD WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites. It was fou ...

, an online publisher, announced that it will relocate and create up to 700 new jobs in the city. In 2018, Newark was selected as one of 20 finalists for the location of

Amazon HQ2 Amazon HQ2 is Amazon's corporate headquarters in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia and is an expansion of the company's headquarters in Seattle, Washington. HQ2 was announced in September 2017, when Amazon submitted request for proposals to g ...

, a new headquarters of Amazon. The advantages of Newark included proximity to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, lower land costs, tech labor force and

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

institutions, a major airport, and fiber optic networks. 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

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. A vacant department store was converted into a telecommunication center called

165 Halsey Street 165 Halsey Street, formerly known as the Bamberger Building, is a 14-story, office tower in Downtown Newark, New Jersey. Built in 1912–1929, it was designed by Jarvis Hunt. The building spans the entire block between Halsey Street, Market Stre ...

. It became one of the world's largest

carrier hotel A colocation center (also spelled co-location, or colo) or "carrier hotel", is a type of data centre where equipment, space, and bandwidth are available for rental to retail customers. Colocation facilities provide space, power, cooling, and ...

s. As a result, after the dot-com bust, there were a surplus of

dark fiber A dark fibre or unlit fibre is an unused optical fibre, available for use in fibre-optic communication. Dark fibre may be leased from a network service provider. Dark fibre originally referred to the potential network capacity of telecommunic ...

(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. As a concentration of technology workforce increased and investments grew in the city, it created an ecosystem for technology startups. Newark Venture Partners, an early-stage

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

and

startup accelerator Startup accelerators, also known as seed accelerators, are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. While traditional business incubators are often ...

launched in 2017, invested $42 million in its first funding round in 97 portfolio companies. In 2021, its second funding round raised up to $85 million. VentureLink@NJIT, the state's largest startup

incubator An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to: Biology and medicine * Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures * Incubator (egg), a de ...

, is located in New Jersey Institute of Technology campus. It has partnerships with international organizations such as National Association of Software and Services Companies of India. In 2021, HAX Accelerator, an early stage accelerator focused on hard tech startups, announced that it will create its US headquarters in Newark and build out a facility for

industrial engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information an ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

and

systems integrator A systems integrator (or system integrator) is a person or company that specializes in bringing together component subsystems into a whole and ensuring that those subsystems function together, a practice known as system integration. They also sol ...

s to fund industrial, healthcare, and green tech startups.

Port Newark

Port Newark is the part of Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and the largest

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tra ...

facility in the

. On

, it is run by the

and serves as the principal

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

facility for goods entering and leaving the

and the northeastern quadrant of North America. The Port moved over $100 billion in goods in 2003, making it the 15th busiest in the world at the time, but was the number one container port as recently as 1985. Plans are underway for billions of dollars of improvements–larger cranes, bigger railyard facilities, deeper channels, and expanded wharves.

Property taxes

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.

Arts and culture

Architecture and sculptures

There are several notable Beaux-Arts buildings, such as the Veterans' Administration building,

, the Newark Public Library, and the Cass Gilbert-designed Essex County Courthouse. Notable

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

buildings include several 1930s era skyscrapers, such as the

National Newark Building The National Newark Building (Formerly the National Newark and Essex Bank Building) is a neo-classical office skyscraper in Newark, New Jersey. It has been the tallest building in Newark since 1931 and was tallest in New Jersey until 1989. At th ...

and

Eleven 80 Eleven80 is a tall residential skyscraper in Newark, New Jersey. Named for its address at 1180 Raymond Boulevard, Eleven 80 is located in Downtown Newark, just north of Four Corners across from Military Park. A hallmark of the Newark skyline ...

, the restored Newark Penn Station, and Arts High School.

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

can be found at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart by Branch Brook Park, which is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the United States. It is rumored to have as much stained glass as the

Cathedral of Chartres Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly co ...

. Newark also has four public works by Mount Rushmore sculptor

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georg ...

in Newark, which include '' Seated Lincoln'' (1911), '' Indian and the Puritan'' (1916), '' First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark'' (1916), and ''

Wars of America ''Wars of America'' is a "colossal" bronze sculpture by Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his assistant Luigi Del Bianco containing "forty-two humans and two horses", located in Military Park, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United ...

'' (1926).

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

buildings include

and the

Prince Street Synagogue Prince Street Synagogue (Oheb Shalom), in the Springfield/Belmont neighborhood, is the oldest synagogue building still standing in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States.oldest synagogue buildings in New Jersey.

Performing arts

The

, near Military Park, opened in 1997, is the home of the

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

and the New Jersey State Opera, The center's programs of national and international music, dance, and theater make it the nation's sixth-largest performing arts center, attracting over 400,000 visitors each year. Newark Symphony Hall & Boys Chorus School

Newark Symphony Hall & Boys Chorus School

Prior to the opening of the performing arts center,

was home to the New Jersey Symphony, the New Jersey State Opera, and the Garden State Ballet, which still maintains an academy there. 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 Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and " The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Award ...

, offering

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

, rap, hip-hop, and

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...

concerts, and is part of the modern-day

Chitlin' Circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

. The

Newark Boys Chorus The Newark Boys Chorus is a boys' choir based in Newark, New Jersey. The choir was founded as the New Jersey Symphony Boys Choir in 1966. In 1969, the choir led to the establishment of the Newark Boys Chorus School. The group tours regularly in ...

, 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. Venues at the universities in the city are also used to present professional and semi-professional theater, dance, and music. Since its opening in 2007, the Prudential Center has presented

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a t ...

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originato ...

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and ...

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in ...

Metro Station A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in t ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series '' Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for p ...

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he became ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, and ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

'' Live!, among others.

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

broadcast their last show on their 50th anniversary tour live on pay-per-view from the arena on December 15, 2012.

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

performed a series of ten concerts to mark the venue's opening. In the

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

and

garage house Garage house (originally known as "garage"; local terms include "New York house" and New Jersey sound) is a dance music style that was developed alongside Chicago house music. The genre was popular in the 1980s in the United States and the 199 ...

genres and scene, Newark is known as an innovator. Newark's

Club Zanzibar Club Zanzibar was a dance club that opened in 1979 at 430 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. Its presence in Downtown Newark was noted for its influence on house music and garage house genres and scene. Club Zanzibar, along with other gay and s ...

, 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 "Jersey sound. The club scene also gave rise to the ball culture scene in Newark hotels and nightclubs. House music producer, DJ and writer Junior Sanchez started making house music in his teens growing up in the Ironbound district. Brick City club, a dance-oriented electronic music genre, is native to the city.

Museums, libraries, and galleries

(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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and Tibetan art. 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 The John Ballantine House is a historic house museum at 49 Washington Street in the Washington Park section of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1884 to a design by George Edward Harney and little altered since 1900, i ...

, a restored Victorian mansion which is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

. The museum co-sponsors the Newark Black Film Festival, which has premiered numerous films since its founding in 1974. 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. 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. The library also hosts daily programs including ESL classes, yoga classes, arts and crafts, history talks, and more. Since 1962, Newark has been home to the Institute of Jazz Studies, the world's foremost jazz archives and research libraries. 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. Ahavas Sholom Newark Front

On December 9, 2007, the

Jewish Museum of New Jersey The Jewish Museum of New Jersey, at Ahavas Sholom, is located at 145 Broadway in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The Museum was founded in 2003 and the museum's inaugural opening was in 2007. The historic building in the Broadw ...

at 145 Broadway in the Broadway neighborhood, held its grand opening. 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. 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. GramMusExPruCtrMulberry

The

Grammy Museum Experience The Grammy Museum Experience is an interactive, experiential museum devoted to the history and winners of the Grammy Awards which opened at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on October 20, 2017. It is first instance of the Grammy Museum ...

is an interactive, experiential museum devoted to the history and winners of the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

which opened at the Prudential Center on October 20, 2017. Newark is also home to numerous art galleries including the Paul Robeson Galleries at

Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's State University. It is located in Newark. Rutgers, founded in 1766 in New Brunswick, is the eighth oldest college in the United States and a ...

, as well as Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, City Without Walls, Gallery Aferro and Sumei Arts Center.

Newark Murals

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. 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. 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. "Portraits" begins roughly at the intersection of Poiner Street and McCarter Highway in the South Ironbound district and stretches northwards along the century-old stone walls supporting the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...

and PATH tracks facing Newark's McCarter Highway ( New Jersey Route 21).

Festivals and parades

Festivals and parades held annually or bi-annually include the Cherry Blossom Festival (April) in Branch Brook Park, the Portugal Day Festival (June) in the Ironbound section, the

McDonald's Gospelfest The McDonald's Gospelfest is an annual gospel music festival, talent competition, and fundraiser in Newark, New Jersey. The event, inaugurated in 1983, and sponsored by McDonald's, takes place in spring and has been held at the Prudential Center s ...

(spring) at Prudential Center, the Lincoln Park Music Festival (July) at

, the Newark Black Film Festival (summer) and Paul Robeson Awards (biennial),Newark Black Film Festival

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

. 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." the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival (October, biennial) at various venues and the citywide Open Doors (October), the Afro Beat Fest (July) at Military Park, and the James Moody Jazz Festival, named for James Moody, the jazz artist raised in Newark (week-long event in November). St. Lucy's Church, a historically Italian parish in what was Newark's Little Italy, features an annual October procession and festival for St.

Gerard Majella Gerard Majella (; 6 April 1726 – 16 October 1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. His intercession is sought for childre ...

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

in the Ironbound hosts its annual Italian Street Festival every July.

Parks and recreation

Colonial commons

* Military Park in

Downtown Newark Downtown Newark is the Central Business District of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Downtown is the site of the original Puritan settlement of Newark located at a bend in the Passaic River. The first settlers, led by Robert ...

, the town commons since 1869 and home to the ''

'' sculpture by Mt. Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and the casual restaurant, Burg. 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 Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Th ...

. The Military Park Partnership manages the programs, events, operations, security, and horticulture of the 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." * Harriet Tubman Square, the northernmost of the three original colonial-era commons in Newark. Formerly known as Washington Park, the equestrian statue of George Washington by J. Massey Rhind was dedicated here in 1912.

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

's narrator in ''

Goodbye, Columbus ''Goodbye, Columbus'' is a 1959 collection of fiction by the American novelist Philip Roth, comprising the title novella "Goodbye, Columbus"—which first appeared in ''The Paris Review''—and five short stories. It was his first book and was ...

'' visits the park, saying "Sitting there in the park, I felt a deep knowledge of Newark, an attachment so rooted that it could not help but branch out into affection."

Passaic River waterfront

* Riverfront Park, which stretches along the

, includes the "Orange Boardwalk" & paths with views of the water. * Riverbank Park in the Ironbound along the

Other parks

* Branch Brook Park, home to Newark's annual Cherry Blossom Festival and the largest collection of

trees in the United States. It also features a lake and a pond. It was designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

firm, who carried on the firm of landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

. It is a county park run by the Essex County Park System. * Weequahic Park, also designed by Olmsted Brothers, located in the South Ward in the

section, east of the formerly heavily Jewish

neighborhood. It features Weequahic Lake, an anthropogenic lake formed out of a marsh. Author

describes the park in his historical fantasy novel '' The Plot Against America'' (2004). Weequahic is a county park in Newark that is maintained by the Essex County Park System. The non-profit Weequahic Park Sports Authority helps maintain the park. * Independence Park, in the Ironbound district.

, the Ironbound's first Italian parish, faces the park. The church holds an annual July pageant and processional where a statue of the Virgin Mary is carried through the streets. * Ivy Hill Park in Ivy Hill * Jesse Allen Park, in the

Central Ward Central Ward was a former ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It originally consisted of the part of the city between Bank Street and the Rideau Canal. It was first known as Centre Ward. It was created when Wellington Ward Wellington W ...

. The Jesse Allen Park is Newark's second-largest city-owned park. It is located near several schools and youth facilities, including a well-liked Boys & Girls Club of Newark facility. As of 2017, it offered new amenities including new sports fields, skateboarding, basketball, Fitness Zone exercise stations, a water play spray area, and climate-resilient garden features. * The

Greater Newark Conservancy Greater Newark Conservancy is a non-profit organization headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, with the stated goal of promoting "environmental stewardship to improve the quality of life in New Jersey's urban communities." It offers programs for yout ...

maintains the Judith L. Shipley Urban Environmental Center, and the Prudential Outdoor Learning Center. It offers urban farming and gardening displays and instruction and also includes a small pond. *

Mulberry Commons Mulberry Commons is a public park in Newark, New Jersey. It was first proposed in 2005 to be the centerpiece of of the city's Downtown surrounded by Gateway Center, Newark Penn Station, Government Center and Prudential Center, a 19,000 sea ...

is a park between Prudential Center and Penn Station near what was once the heart of Newark's Chinatown. * Nat Turner Park. Dedicated in July 2009, Newark's largest city-owned park is located in the

. It is named for the famous 19th-century American slave rebellion leader, Nat Turner. * Vailsburg Park, covering , is in the Vailsburg neighborhood. * Veterans Memorial Park is a county park operated by the Essex County Park System. * West Side Park is a park in the West Side neighborhood.

Golf and other recreational facilities

* Sharpe James/Kenneth A. Gibson (Ironbound) Recreation Center. *John F. Kennedy Recreation & Aquatic Center *Rotunda Recreation & Wellness Center *Marquis "Bo" Porter Recreation & Aquatic Center *Hayes Park West Recreation Center *Bradley Court Housing Complex *

Weequahic Golf Course Weequahic Golf Course (pronounced we-QWAY-ik) is an 18-hole public course located in the Dayton neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey. Designed in 1913 by George Low, it is the oldest public golf course in New Jersey. The word "Weequahic" is from the ...

is an 18-hole public course. The facility was described in 2016 by the Golf Channel as a "hidden gem". 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. * Jesse Allen Skateboard Park.

Media

Newark is within the metro New York media market.

Newspapers

The state's leading newspaper, ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'', owned by

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, a ...

, 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. '' The Newark Targum'' is a weekly student newspaper published by the Targum Publishing Company for the student population of the Newark campus of

Other news outlets

*''TAP Into Newark'' is an online news site devoted to Newark * ''Newark Patch'' is a daily online news source dedicated to local Newark news. *''The Newarker'' is a quarterly journal about culture, history and society in Newark and surrounding areas. *''The Newark Times'' is an online news media platform dedicated to Newark lifestyle, events, and culture. * ''The Newark Metro'' covers metropolitan life from Newark to North Jersey to New York City and is a journalism project at Rutgers Newark. *''RLS Media'' covers breaking news from Newark and surrounding municipalities. * The City of Newark shares news and events via its official Twitter account. *''The Pod,'' developed by Black Owned New Jersey, is a weekly podcast that helps small businesses build, grow & maintain their business.

Radio

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

. 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 National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

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.

Telephone

In 1915, the

Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundr ...

under ownership of American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) tested newly developed panel switching technology in Newark when they cutover the

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

s ''Mulberry'' 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. 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.

Television

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.

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

, a flagship station of the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

now on channel 13, and Spanish-language

WFUT-TV WFUT-DT (channel 68) is a television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving as the UniMás outlet for the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WAMI-DT in ...

Channel 68, a

UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which i ...

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

, are licensed to Newark.

Tempo Networks Tempo Networks is a pan-Caribbean television channel that broadcasts Caribbean music and other cultural products. Its programming includes music videos, news, dramas, and documentaries about Caribbean life. Musical genres broadcast include Regg ...

, producing for the

pan-Caribbean The concept of a "pan-Caribbean" culture area refers to recent proposals by an international group of archaeologists to the effect that contacts among Pre-Columbian peoples of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Antilles, Central America, and northern So ...

television market, is based in the city. NwkTV has been the city's government access channel since 2009 and broadcast as Channel 78 on Optimum. 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.

Film

Numerous movies, television programs, and music videos have been shot in Newark, its period architecture and its streetscape seen as an ideal "urban setting". The Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission is in the city. In 2011, the city created the Newark Office of Film and Television in order to promote the making of media productions. Some months earlier the Ironbound Film & Television Studios, the only "stay and shoot" facility in the metro area opened, its first production being '' Bar Karma''. In 2012 the city hosted the seventh season of the reality show competition ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribu ...

''. 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. '' New Jersey Drive'' is a 1995 film about the city when it was considered the " car theft capital of the world". '' Street Fight'' is an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-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. ''

Revolution '67 ''Revolution '67'' is a 2007 documentary film about the black riots of the 1960s. With the philosophy of nonviolence giving way to the Black Power Movement, race riots were breaking out in Jersey City, Harlem, and Watts, Los Angeles. In 1967, bla ...

'' is a documentary which examines the causes and events of the 1967 Newark riots. The HBO television series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'' filmed many of its scenes in Newark, and is partially based on the life of Newark mobster Richard Boiardo. ''The Once and Future Newark'' (2006) is a documentary travelogue about places of cultural, social and historical significance by Rutgers History Professor Clement Price. Also: * '' The Many Saints of Newark'', a ''Sopranos'' prequel by David Chase set in the late 1960s. *'' The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace'' (in development). A film adaptation that has been attached to director Antoine Fuqua and his writing partner

Jamal Joseph Jamal Joseph (formerly Eddie Joseph; ...

* '' Heart of Stone'' (2009) on white flight in the heavily Jewish

section and

Weequahic High School Weequahic High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Weequahic section of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The school is operated by the Newar ...

. Produced by

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

. *'' Joker'' The Newark International Film Festival is an annual event that hosts screenings, workshops and stunt exhibitions in Newark since 2015.

Lionsgate Newark

In 2022, the city announced that a major new film and television production studio overlooking Weequahic Park and

, to be called " Lionsgate Newark," would open in 2024 on the 15-acre former

Seth Boyden housing projects The Seth Boyden Terrace, named after Seth Boyden, was a former public housing complex in the South Ward of Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the se ...

site at 101 Center Terrace in the

section of the city near Evergreen Cemetery. Lionsgate Newark will partner on public relations and community affairs with the

Sports

Newark has hosted many teams, though much of the time without an MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL team in the city proper. Currently, the city is home to just one, the NHL's

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kan ...

. As the second-largest city in the

, Newark is part of the regional

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

and media markets.Gale, Dennis E
''Greater New Jersey: Living in the Shadow of Gotham''

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 M ...

, 2006. . Accessed May 10, 2016. Two venues in the northeastern New Jersey metro region are in

: Prudential Center, a multi-purpose indoor arena designed by HOK Sport that opened in October 2007 with a

concert and a hockey game. Known as "The Rock", the arena is the home of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

and the NCAA's

Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball The Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. The team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in the P ...

team, seating 18,711 for basketball and 16,514 for hockey. Riverfront Stadium was a 6,200-seat

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

that was home to the baseball teams of the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders, who play in the New Jersey Athletic Conference as part of NCAA Division III, and the

NJIT Highlanders The NJIT Highlanders, formerly the New Jersey Tech Highlanders, are the varsity sport members of the Division I NCAA-affiliated sports teams of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). There are ten men's teams, seven women's teams, and three ...

, who play in the Atlantic Sun Conference as part of

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

. The stadium opened in July 1999 as the home of the Newark Bears, who played in the stadium until the team folded in 2014. The site of the stadium was sold in March 2016 to a developer who plans a mixed-use residential high rise project. Red Bull Arena, home of the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, opened in 2010 just across the Passaic River in Harrison. The home of NFL football teams Giants and Jets

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants a ...

is less than from Downtown and can be reached with the

Meadowlands Rail Line The Meadowlands Rail Line, branded as the BetMGM Meadowlands Rail Line as part of a naming rights agreement, is a rail line in New Jersey, United States, operated by NJ Transit Rail Operations (NJT). Trains run between the Meadowlands Sports Com ...

via Newark Penn Station or Broad Street Station. Pudcentnewarkjeh

The New Jersey Nets played two seasons (2010–2012) at the Prudential Center until moving to the

Barclays Center Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...

. The

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...

(WNBA) also played there for three seasons (2011–2013) during renovations of

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

. The center has hosted the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting spons ...

, and the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. EliteXC: Primetime, a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

(MMA) event which took place on May 31, 2008, was the first MMA event aired in primetime on major American network television. Newark was a host city and its airport a gateway for Super Bowl XLVIII which was played on February 2, 2014. The game took place at

, home of the hosting teams

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

. Media Day, the first event leading up to the game, took place on January 28 at the Prudential Center. The original

Vince Lombardi Trophy The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to vi ...

, produced by Tiffany & Co. in Newark in 1967 and borrowed from the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

, was being displayed at the

from January 8 until March 30, 2014.

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

's annual Super Bowl weekend mixed martial arts event, UFC 169: Cruz vs. Barao, took place on February 1 at the Prudential Center.

Government

Local

The city is governed within the

Faulkner Act The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor ...

, 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.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 125. The city is one of 79 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the City Council, who are elected concurrently on a

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers s ...

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 is comprised of 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 At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

basis.City Council
City of Newark. Accessed April 7, 2015. , the Mayor of Newark is

Ras Baraka Ras Jua Baraka (born April 9, 1970) is an American educator, author, and politician who is the 40th and current Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He was previously a member of the Municipal Council of Newark and the principal of the city's Central ...

, who is serving a third term of office ending on June 30, 2026.About the Mayor
City of Newark. Accessed May 12, 2022. Members of Newark's

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

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.Essex County Directory

Essex County, New Jersey Essex County is located in the northeastern part of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 863,728, making it the state's second-most populous county, behind Bergen and Middlesex Counties.

. Accessed July 20, 2022.Municipal Election May 10, 2022 Official Results

, updated May 18, 2022. Accessed July 1, 2022.Newark Municipal Run-Off June 14, 2022 Unofficial Results

, updated June 22, 2022.Accessed July 1, 2022. After becoming acting mayor on October 31, 2013, Luis A. Quintana, born in Añasco, Puerto Rico, was sworn in as Newark's first Latino mayor on November 4, 2013, assuming the unexpired term of Cory Booker. He was selected unanimously at a council meeting to replace the previously elected Booker, who resigned and was sworn in on October 31, 2013, after winning the October 16 special election for U.S. senator to replace the seat held by Frank Lautenberg until his death.Sherman, Ted
"Luis Quintana sworn in as Newark's first Latino mayor, filling unexpired term of Cory Booker"
''

'', November 4, 2013. Accessed November 13, 2015.Lee, Eunice
"See Cory Booker's resignation letter as he bids farewell to Newark City Hall, goes to Washington"
''

'', October 30, 2013. Accessed June 13, 2016. Quintana's term ended on June 30, 2014. The Newark mayoral election took place on May 13, 2014, and was won by Baraka, who was sworn in as Newark's 40th mayor on July 1, 2014.

Federal, state, and county

Newark is split between the 8th and 10th Congressional DistrictsPlan Components Report
New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 28th and 29th state legislative districts.Municipalities Sorted by 2011–2020 Legislative District

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019.''2011 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, p. 62, New Jersey

. Accessed May 22, 2015. Prior to the 2010 census, Newark had been split between the 10th Congressional District and the , 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. 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.

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. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 90.8% of the vote (77,112 ballots cast), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

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. In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

received 95.0% of the vote (78,352 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...

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%. 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). In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

received 80.8% of the vote (29,039 cast), ahead of Republican

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%. In the 2009 Gubernatorial Election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 90.2% of the vote (36,637 ballots cast), ahead of Republican

who received 8.3% of the vote (3,355 votes), with 40,613 of the city's 134,195 registered voters (30.3%) participating.

Political corruption

Newark has been marred with political corruption throughout the years. Five of the previous seven mayors of Newark have been indicted on criminal charges, including the three mayors before Cory Booker: Hugh Addonizio, Kenneth Gibson and

Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...

. As reported by ''Newsweek'': "... every mayor since 1962 (except one, Cory Booker) has been indicted for crimes committed while in office". 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 In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...

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. 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. 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". 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 job A no-show job is a paid position that ostensibly requires the holder to perform duties, but for which no work, or even attendance, is actually expected. The awarding of no-show jobs is a form of political or corporate corruption. A no-work job is ...

s by an Essex County jury. Sharpe James, who defeated Gibson in 1986 and declined to run for a sixth term in 2006, was indicted on 33 counts of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

, mail fraud, and

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

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.

Education

Colleges and universities

Newark is the home of multiple institutions of higher education, including: a

Berkeley College Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle S ...

campus, the main campus of

, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the Newark Campus of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (formerly

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...

, Seton Hall University School of Law, and Pillar College.

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially establi ...

is located in adjacent Union, New Jersey. Most of Newark's academic institutions are in the city's University Heights district. The colleges and universities have worked together to help revitalize the area, which serves more than 60,000 students and faculty.

Public schools

In the 2013–2017

, 13.6% of Newark residents ages 25 and over had never attended high school and 12.5% didn't 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. 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. The Newark Public Schools, a state-operated school district, is the largest school system in New Jersey. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

in ''Abbott v. Burke'' 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 The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (commonly referred to as NJSDA or SDA) is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 New Jersey sch ...

. 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 Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 14.0:1.District information for Newark Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022. Science Park High School, which was the 69th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey. The magazine was started in 1976. It is based in Morristown. In addition to articles of general interest, the publication fe ...

'' 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 Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

(274th), East Side (293rd), Newark Vocational (304th),

(310th), Barringer (311th), Malcolm X Shabazz (314th) and West Side (319th). Facebook co-founder

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), of ...

donated a

challenge grant Challenge grants are funds disbursed by one party (the grant maker), usually a government agency, corporation, foundation or trust (sometimes anonymously), typically to a non-profit entity or educational institution (the grantee) upon completion ...

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. Charter schools in Newark include the

Robert Treat Academy Charter School Robert Treat Academy Charter School is a charter school that serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. One of the initial group of 17 charter schools approved in January 1997, the ...

, a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures ...

drawing students from all over Newark. It remains one of the top performing K–8 schools in New Jersey based on standardized test scores. University Heights Charter School is another charter school, serving children in grades K–5, recognized as a 2011 Epic Silver Gain School. Gray Charter School, like Robert Treat, also won a Blue Ribbon Award. 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.

Private schools

The city hosts three high schools as part of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jer ...

: the coeducational Christ The King Prep, founded in 2007, is part of the Cristo Rey Community;

Saint Benedict's Preparatory School St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictines. The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The school has been accred ...

is an all-boys

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

high school founded in 1868 and conducted by the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks of Newark Abbey, whose campus has grown to encompass both sides of MLK Jr. Blvd. near Market Street and includes a dormitory for boarding students; and Saint Vincent Academy which is an all-girls

high school founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and operated continuously since 1869. Link Community School is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

coeducational

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compa ...

that serves approximately 128 students in seventh and eighth grades. The Newark Boys Chorus School was founded in the 1960s. University Heights Charter School, which opened in 2006, taught 614 students in grades Pre-K–8 in 2014–2015.

Public safety

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. 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.

Fire department

The city is protected by more than 700 full-time, paid firefighters of the Newark Fire Department (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 is composed of nine North Jersey fire departments.

Law enforcement

The Newark Police Department 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. The Essex County Sheriff's Office, the New Jersey Transit Police Department (headquartered in

Penn Plaza East The Penn Plaza East complex takes its name for its location near Penn Station in Newark, New Jersey. Fronting Raymond Boulevard on the banks of the Passaic River, the two office buildings were constructed during a period in the late 1980s and ...

) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department are also within their

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

in the city, as are the

New Jersey State Police The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors. History As with other state police organizatio ...

. In April 2014, it was announced that the State Police would play a more prominent role in patrolling the streets of the city under the "TIDE-TAG" program. The

Police Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology Police Department and Rutgers University Police Department patrol their respective college campuses in the city.

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do bus ...

and Amtrak Police patrol their respective rail yards and property. 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.

Crime

In 1996, ''

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

'' magazine ranked Newark "The Most Dangerous City in the Nation." 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. 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.Schweber, Nate
"Newark Murder Rate Dropped 30 Percent in 2008"
''

'', 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." In 2010, Newark recorded 90 homicides. March 2010 was the first calendar month since 1966 in which the city did not record a homicide. 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". 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. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

recorded 94 homicides in 2011 and 95 in 2012. In 2012

CNNMoney CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Tim ...

ranked Newark as the 6th most dangerous city in the United States, based on numbers by FBI Crime in the United States 2011 report. 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. In 2013 Newark recorded 111 homicides, the first year ending in triple digits in seven years and the highest tally since 1990, accounting for 27% of all murders statewide. In 2014, the total number of homicides in Newark was 93, while Essex County as a whole had 117 murders. ''

'' reported that there were 105 homicides in the city in 2015. The city had 72 homicides in 2017, a statistic described as a "historic low", and a sharp drop from the 96 murders recorded in the city in 2016. The Newark Police reported 69 homicides for 2018. As of August 13, 2019, after a period of 50 consecutive days without a homicide, a total of 34 had been recorded.

Water contamination

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. 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. When this was realized, 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. This is because the city receives water from two water supplies: the Pequannock Treatment Plant and the Wanaque Treatment Plant. 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 Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...

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.Corosanti, Nick; Kilgannon, Corey; and Schwartz, John
"Tainted Water, Ignored Warnings and a Boss With a Criminal Past; How a long line of questionable decisions led to the crisis over lead contamination in Newark."
''

'', August 24, 2019, updated September 23, 2019. Accessed March 1, 2020. In addition to this, the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

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. 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. 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. 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. Although the city called an emergency declaration to allow them to purchase and distribute water filters for faucets but many of these were faulty. The city has received three noncompliance notices for exceeding lead levels since 2017 and continues to fight its lead problem.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Newark is a hub of air, road, rail, and ship traffic, making it a significant gateway into the

and the mid-Atlantic United States.

is the second-busiest airport in the New York metro area and the 15th-busiest in the United States (in terms of passenger traffic). Newark Airport was the New York City area's first commercial airport, opened in 1928 on land reclaimed by the Port Authority.

Port Newark A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

, on

, is the 15th-busiest port in the world and the largest container port on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. In 2003, the port moved over $100 billion in goods.

Early modes of transport

The Morris Canal, stretching to Newark from Phillipsburg on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

, was completed in 1831 and allowed coal and other industrial and agricultural products from

to be transported cheaply and efficiently to the

. 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 The Newark Light Rail (NLR) is a light rail system serving Newark, New Jersey and surrounding areas, operated by New Jersey Transit Bus Operations. The service consists of two segments, the original Newark City Subway (NCS), and the extension ...

, 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 A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

works. 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. 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.

Roads and highways

2022-09-09 17 12 32 UTC minus 4 will rename and categorize soon 004

, the city had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Essex County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

and by the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge T ...

New Jersey Transit Newark Light Rail Kinkisharyo104

Newark is served by numerous highways including the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not cons ...

(

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

), Interstate 280,

Interstate 78 Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland T ...

, the Garden State Parkway, U.S. Route 1/9, U.S. Route 22, and Route 21. Newark is connected to the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...

and

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

by the

Pulaski Skyway The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge-causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying an expressway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of . Its ...

, spanning both the

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...

and

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

s, which was first constructed in 1938 and recently underwent a $900 million renovation project. 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. 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. 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.

Public transportation

Newark Penn Station, situated just east of downtown, is the city's major train station. It is served by the PATH's interurban

Newark–World Trade Center Newark–World Trade Center is a rapid transit service operated by the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). It is colored red on the PATH service map and trains on this service display red marker lights. This service operates from Pennsylvania S ...

line to Jersey City and Manhattan, three NJ Transit Rail Operations (NJT) commuter rail lines, and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

intercity rail service. It was designed by

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

and completed in 1935. One mile north, the Newark Broad Street Station is served by two NJT commuter rail lines. The two train stations are linked by the Newark Light Rail system, which also provides services from Newark Penn Station to Newark's northern communities and into the neighboring towns of Belleville and Bloomfield. Built in the bed of the Morris Canal, the light rail cars run underground in Newark's downtown area. The city's third train station,

, connects the

to the airport via

AirTrain Newark AirTrain Newark is a monorail system connecting the terminals at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and trains at Newark Liberty International Airport Station on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), where transfers are possible to Amtrak and N ...

. Bus service in Newark is provided by NJ Transit, CoachUSA contract operators and DeCamp in North Newark. Newark is served by NJ Transit bus routes 1, 5, 11, 13, 21, 25, 27, 28, 29, 34, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 59, 62, 65, 66, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 90, 92, 93, 94, 96, 99, 107, and 108. The 107 and 108 routes run to New York City. Bus route

308 __NOTOC__ Year 308 ( CCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and (Galerius) Maximianus (or, less ...

is an express bus route to

Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located in Jackson, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelphia and includes a water park named Hurricane Harbor. It first o ...

from Newark Penn Station while

319 __NOTOC__ Year 319 ( CCCXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinius (or, less frequently, year 1 ...

is an express service to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

. The ''go bus 25'' and ''go bus 28'' are bus rapid transit lines through the city to Irvington, Bloomfield and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Modal characteristics

According to the 2016

, 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.

Healthcare

Newark is home to five hospitals.

University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following i ...

, an independent institution that is a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, has been the busiest Level I trauma center in the state. 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. 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 Saint Michael's Medical Center is a 358-bed hospital located at 111 Central Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. It was opened on May 13, 1867, by four members of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor as Hospital of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. ...

. 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. Hospitals which have been closed in recent years include the Saint James Hospital, Mount Carmel Guild Hospital and the United Hospitals Medical Center. 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. In August 2019, New Jersey began supplying water bottles to Newark residents in certain designated neighborhoods. On August 26, 2019, Newark officials announced a $120 million plan to expedite replacing the city's

lead service line A lead service line (LSL, also known as lead service pipe, and lead connection pipe) is a pipe made of lead which is used in potable water distribution to connect a water main to a user's premises. Lead exposure is a public health hazard as it ca ...

s in under three years. The 29,000 families affected by the contaminated water were provided with filters and bottled water. 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.

International relations

The Consulate-General of Ecuador in New Jersey is at 400 Market Street. The Consulate-General of Portugal in Newark is at the main floor of the Newark Legal Center at One Riverfront Plaza. The Consulate-General of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

is at 550 Broad Street. The Vice Consulate of Italy was at 1 Gateway Center, until it was closed in 2014 for economic reasons.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited the city in 1995, at which time he elevated the city's cathedral to a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

to become the

. In 2011, the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

was guest of honor at the Newark Peace Education Summit.

Twin towns—sister cities

Newark has 15 sister cities listed by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...

in 2022: * Aveiro, Portugal *

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, Gambia *

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, Brazil * Douala, Cameroon * Freeport, Bahamas *

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡ ...

, Azerbaijan * Governador Valadares, Brazil *

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

, Ghana *

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As t ...

, Liberia *

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, Brazil * Reserva, Brazil *

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil * Seia, Portugal *

Umuaka The Umuaka Autonomous Community is a city in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. Umuaka is situated almost mid way between Orlu and Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. ...

, Nigeria *

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

, China Other sources list additional sister cities: * Castlerea, Ireland *

Cuenca, Ecuador Santa Ana de los Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca, commonly referred to as Cuenca ( Kichwa: ''Tumipampa'') is the capital and largest city of the Azuay Province of Ecuador. Cuenca is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about above sea level, with an ur ...

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of ...

* Loja Canton, Olmedo Canton, Loja, Alausi, Ecuador *

Macará Macará is a city in the Loja Province of Ecuador. It is the seat of the Macará Canton and is on the border between Ecuador and Peru. The population as of a 1995 census was 11,841 and in 2009 it had an estimated population of 12,896. It is se ...

, Ecuador *

Machala Machala () is a city in south-west Ecuador. It is the capital of the El Oro Province, and is located near the Gulf of Guayaquil on fertile lowlands. Machala has a population of 241,606 (2010 census); it is the eighth-biggest city in the country, ...

Ecuador * Ribeira, Galicia, Ribeira, Spain * Quijos Canton, Quijos, Ecuador (a canton, not a municipality)

Notable people

References

Footnotes

External links

*
Greater Newark Convention & Visitor Bureau
{{Authority control Newark, New Jersey, 1666 establishments in New Jersey 1798 establishments in New Jersey Cities in Essex County, New Jersey County seats in New Jersey Faulkner Act (mayor–council) New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Cities in the New York metropolitan area Populated places established in 1666 Port cities and towns in New Jersey

History

Geography

Neighborhoods

Climate

Demographics

Race and ethnicity

Religion

Economy

Technology industry

Port Newark

Property taxes

Arts and culture

Architecture and sculptures

Performing arts

Museums, libraries, and galleries

Newark Murals

Festivals and parades

Parks and recreation

Colonial commons

Passaic River waterfront

Other parks

Golf and other recreational facilities

Media

Newspapers

Other news outlets

Radio

Telephone

Television

Film

Lionsgate Newark

Sports

Government

Local

Federal, state, and county

Politics

Political corruption

Education

Colleges and universities

Public schools

Private schools

Public safety

Emergency Medical Services

Fire department

Law enforcement

Crime

Water contamination

Infrastructure

Transportation

Early modes of transport

Roads and highways

Public transportation

Modal characteristics

Healthcare

International relations

Twin towns—sister cities

Notable people

See also

References

Footnotes

Further reading

External links