Newark (pronounced Nu-ark) is the largest city in the US state
of New Jersey. The city owes its tourist importance and fame to
its location - it borders directly to the west of New York City.
It is also home to Newark Liberty International Airport, the
second busiest international airport in the New York
metropolitan area.
Before European colonization, the area
belonged to the settlement area of the Hackensack, a tribe of
the Lenni Lenape. Newark was founded in 1666 by Puritan settlers
from New Haven, Connecticut. The name is probably derived from
Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. This original
settlement was at what is now the intersection of Broad Street
and Market Street, the Four Corners. The initially theocratic
character of the strictly religious colony was soon lost due to
the influx of other settlers who had other religious ideas.
Newark received city rights in 1836. From this time the city
grew rapidly. It developed into an important center of industry
and the handling of goods, the latter significantly favored by
the 1869 opened rail connection with New York City. The brewing
industry played an important role, such as the breweries P.
Ballantine & Sons (once the third largest brewery in the USA)
and Krueger (the first manufacturer of canned beer). In the
second half of the 19th century, numerous immigrants from
various European countries, e.g. from Germany and Italy to the
booming industrial city. A large Jewish community also
developed. In the 1860s, the 100,000 mark was exceeded. Newark
is nicknamed "The Brick City" due to the fact that many of the
buildings of the period were made of brick. In 1885 the Newark
Technical School was founded, which became today's New Jersey
Institute of Technology.
Newark's importance as a
transportation hub was further enhanced by the construction of
the massive port of Port Newark-Elizabeth in the 1920s (at one
time the world's largest container port) and the opening of the
airport in 1928. The city's other nickname speaks for this: "The
Gateway". City"
From the middle of the 20th century,
Newark - like many major US cities - experienced a "white
flight", i. H. a large part of the ancestral European population
moved to the suburbs on the outskirts of the city, while
Afro-Americans and Latinos increasingly concentrated in the
actual city area. This was compounded by the riots of the summer
of 1967, which terrified and displaced many members of the
middle class. Between 1950 and 2000, the population shrank by
38%. Many parts of the city became impoverished. Since the
1990s, however, there has been a strong revitalization of the
inner city. Cultural offerings at the New Jersey Performing Arts
Center and sporting events at the Prudential Center are making
downtown attractive again for the middle class. Since 2000 the
number of inhabitants has increased again slightly. However, a
third of the city's population is still considered poor by US
standards. A good half of the residents are African American,
about a third Hispanic (mainly Puerto Rican) and 12%
"non-Hispanic white".
Philip Roth, one of the most
important American writers of the 20th and early 21st centuries,
was born and raised in Newark. Most of his novels take place in
the city.
The largest companies based in Newark include
the insurance group Prudential Financial, the audio book
provider Audible and the North American headquarters of the
Japanese technology group Panasonic.
By plane
Newark is home to Newark Liberty International Airport
(IATA: EWR), which, along with John F. Kennedy International Airport, is
the main international airport in the New York Metropolitan Area.
Manhattan is often quicker to get to from here than from JFK Airport. In
German-speaking countries it is sometimes referred to as "New
York/Newark", which is actually not correct.
Newark is primarily
important as a hub for United Airlines, which offers connections to/from
Berlin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Munich, Zurich and almost every airport in
the USA. Several European airlines fly direct to Newark through the Star
Alliance, including Lufthansa. The busiest are domestic flights to/from
Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago as well
as intercontinental connections with London.
A bus ride from here
to Manhattan, preferably Port Authority Bus Terminal, takes about half
an hour and costs $16 per person (2015). Alternatively, you can also
take the train. Both the Northeast Corridor Line and the North Jersey
Corridor Line run from Newark Int'l Airport to Penn Station, NY (journey
time 25-30 minutes, fare $13). More information is available on the New
Jersey Transit website. You can also take Amtrak Northeast Regional or
Keystone Service trains directly from the airport station to Trenton
(30-40 minutes), Philadelphia (just over an hour), Wilmington DE or
Stamford CT (1½ hours each), and New Haven or Baltimore (30 minutes
each). 2:20 hours) drive.
If you want to pick up a rental car
directly at the airport in order to drive a little overland, landing in
Newark is a good idea, since car rentals in New Jersey are significantly
cheaper than in New York. In addition, you do not have to drive through
the entire city on this way. Driving west often saves an hour's drive
this way.
By train
Amtrak long-distance trains stop at both
downtown Newark Penn Station (NWK) and the airport itself (see above).
Newark is on the busy Northeastern Corridor Boston-New
York-Philadelphia-Washington DC. It is a 15-20 minute drive from New
York Penn Station, a good hour from Philadelphia, a good 2½ hours from
Washington on the Acela Express bullet train, three hours on the
Regional, and between four and five hours from Boston depending on the
type of train.
In local transport, Newark is connected to the New
Jersey Transit System. There are regular services with Manhattan (New
York Penn Station), Hoboken, Elizabeth, the Jersey Shore (Point Pleasant
Beach, Asbury Park), Raritan Valley, Gladstone (Somerset County),
Morristown, Montclair and Hackettstown.
The PATH (Port Authority
Trans-Hudson) is a subway/elevated rail linking Newark with Jersey City
and the World Trade Center in Manhattan's Financial District. He stops
in Newark at Penn Station.
Public transit in Newark is operated by NJ Transit. There is the
Newark Light Rail with two lines and a length of 10 km, a kind of light
rail system that runs partly above and partly underground. There are
also city buses.
Newark is fairly pedestrian-friendly by American
standards. In particular, in the Central Business District and the
adjoining neighborhoods of Ironbound, University Heights and Seventh
Avenue (between Broadway and Branch Brook Park), most routes can be
covered on foot.
Newark was founded in 1666 by a group of English settlers from
Connecticut under the leadership of Robert Treat, making it the
third-oldest large city in the United States, after Boston and New York,
although it is not the third-oldest settlement. Newark is the second
name given to the city, having previously been called Milford, after
Milford, Connecticut, from where many settlers had migrated. The name
Newark comes from Newark-on-Trent, an English city from which some of
the first settlers.
Colonial period
Newark was a relatively
large city during colonial times, known for its good beer, cider, and
tanned leather goods. In the religious field, it remained loyal to the
old Puritan ways, even longer than the New England communities, and was
very receptive to the Great Awakening. When Yale and Harvard
universities dissented from the Great Awakening Pentecostal charismatic
movement, some Newark ministers, led by Aaron Burr (father of Vice
President Aaron Burr), founded the College of New Jersey, located in
Elizabeth and later known as Princeton University.
Industrial age
until World War II
Newark's rapid growth began in the early 1800s,
largely due to the arrival of Seth Boyden from Massachusetts. Boyden
arrived in Newark in 1815, and immediately made great changes to the
leather manufacturing industry. The advances introduced allowed that,
around 1870, Newark was the place where almost 90% of the leather in the
entire country was manufactured, and in that year the city alone had an
income of 8.6 million dollars. In 1824 Boyden found a way to produce
malleable iron. The city also prospered from the construction of the
Morris Canal in 1831. The canal connected Newark to inland New Jersey,
which at the time was a major agricultural and iron-producing area. The
railroad came in 1834 and 1835. It all resulted in a thriving shipping
business, and Newark became the center of an industrial area. In 1826,
the population reached 8,017 inhabitants, ten times more than in 1776.
In the mid-nineteenth century Newark continued to grow and there was
a diversification of the industrial sector: the first commercially
successful plastic (celluloid) was produced in a Newark factory by John
Wesley Hyatt. Celluloid was applied to the production of car parts,
billiard balls, and false teeth. Edward Weston perfected the process for
galvanizing zinc as well as improving arc lamps. Newark Military Park
had the first public electric lamps in the United States. At the end of
the 19th century, the industry continued to grow. Irish and German
immigrants who came to the city founded their own newspapers, and other
local ethnic groups followed suit, however, there were tensions between
the "natives" and the newcomers. In the mid-19th century, the city
incorporated insurance as a part of business: Mutual Benefit Insurance
was founded in 1845 and Prudential Insurance in 1873. Prudential
Insurance was founded by John Fairfield Dryden, who hailed from New
England, who found a niche market in the middle and lower social
classes. Today, Newark sells more insurance than any other city except
Hartford, Connecticut. In 1880, Newark's population reached 13,508, in
1890 181,830, in 1900 246,070, and in 1910 347,000, a jump of 200,000 in
three decades. As Newark's population approached half a million
(436,280) in the In the 1920s, the city's potential seemed limitless.
Newark was very active in the early 20th century. Market and Broad
streets served as the retail hub for the region, with major shopping
centers such as Hahne & Company, L. Bamberger and Company, L.S. Plaut
and Company, and Kresge's (later known as K-Mart).
In 1922,
Newark had 63 theaters, 46 movie theaters, and an active nightlife. In
1935 Dutch Schultz was murdered at the Palace Bar. Billie Holiday
frequently stayed at the Coleman Hotel. Both hotels no longer exist.
The intersection of Market and Broad streets (known as the Four
Corners) was the busiest intersection in the United States, by the
number of cars that circulated. In 1915 the public service accounted for
more than 280,000 pedestrians in a period of 13 hours. Eleven years
later, on October 26, 1926, the State Motor Vehicle Department
controlled the Four Corners counting 2,644 streetcars, 4,098 buses,
2,657 taxis, 3,474 commercial vehicles, and 23,571 private automobiles.
Traffic was so heavy that the city converted the old bed of the Morris
Canal into the Newark City Subway, making Newark one of the only cities
in the country to have a subway system.
New skyscrapers were
built every year, the tallest being the 40-story National Newark
Building in the Art Deco style and the Lefcourt-Newark Building. In
1948, just after World War II, Newark reached its population peak with
nearly 450,000 residents. The population was also growing with
immigrants from southern and eastern Europe settling there. Newark
witnessed neighborhoods that were very different from each other, such
as the large Jewish community concentrated on Prince Street.
Newark today has two neighborhoods where you can find a lot of people
speaking Spanish. North Newark, once home to many people of Italian
roots, today contains many Dominicans and Puerto Ricans. The Ironbound,
east of the city and the Pennsylvania train station (Penn Station in
English) is home to many Portuguese, Spanish and Latin American
immigrants.
The decline of Newark
Newark has suffered a
powerful decline, generated especially due to interracial conflicts,
segregation and fights between gangs, generating a negative vision of
the city in the rest of the country.
In the long hot summer of
1967, between July 12 and July 17, the city was the scene of violent
race riots that left 26 people dead, hundreds injured, $10 million in
damage ($77 million today) and many properties destroyed, many of which
remain abandoned. The riots were part of several race clashes that year
in the centers of large American cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles,
New York, and Detroit.
Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, 89 Ridge Street. The massive neo-Gothic Cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, built 1899-1954, is the fifth largest cathedral in North America and a major attraction in the city.
Pulaski Skyway. The 5.6 km long steel truss freeway bridge connects
Newark to Jersey City. It crosses both the Passaic and the Hackensack
River and the wetland in between (New Jersey Meadowlands). Dedicated in
1932, named after Revolutionary War General Casimir Pulaski, it is a
Newark/New Jersey landmark.
Pennsylvania Station - In addition to
being a transit point, the station building is also a listed landmark.
It was designed by the architecture firm McKim, Mead & White (who also
designed the old Penn Station in New York) in a mix of neoclassical and
art deco and inaugurated in 1935. In the lobby, wall medallions
illustrate the history of transportation. The ceiling chandeliers are
decorated with signs of the zodiac.
Branch Brook Park. The largest public park in Newark at 150 acres. A
special feature are the 5000 cherry trees (18 different species) that
bloom beautifully in April. During this time the park is also called
"Cherryblossomland" and is the scene of a big cherry blossom festival.
Lincoln Park. City park south of downtown. It was created in the
colonial period (18th century). The park features the historic Standard
of Democracy and Captive's Choice statues by Frederick Theodore
Frelinghuysen. The surrounding residential and business district is also
called Lincoln Park, or "The Coast". Here are some listed buildings
(including the striking 18-story Lincoln Park Towers) and cultural
institutions (e.g. Newark Symphony Hall, Newark School of the Arts).
The Ironbound (Down Neck; east of Penn Station; along Ferry St, Market St and Wilson Ave). Historic District, east of downtown, on a bend in the Passaic River. It arose in the industrial age at the end of the 19th century in connection with the metal factories that were booming at the time. Attracted by the jobs created there, immigrants from all over the world settled down, e.g. B. Germans, Italians, Lithuanians and Poles, later also Spaniards, Portuguese, Brazilians and Afro-Americans. They gave the district its multicultural character, which is expressed, among other things, in a large number of ethnic restaurants and special festivals and parades of the respective ethnic groups.
Prudential Center. Multi-purpose hall with space for around 19,000
spectators. It serves i.a. as the home ground of the New Jersey Devils
(ice hockey) and the Seton Hall Pirates (college basketball), for big
pop and rock concerts, for boxing, MMA and wrestling matches.
New
Jersey Devils. ice hockey team in the NHL. Three-time Stanley Cup
winner.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Cultural center with four
concert and theater halls. Here plays u. the New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra.
Fairfield Inn & Suites Newark Liberty International Airport, 618-50 US Highway 1 & 9 South, Newark. Phone: +1 973-242-2600. Fairly good mid-range hotel (Marriott chain) on the northern edge of the airport. airport shuttle; if this doesn't show up quickly at the airport, simply take the shuttle to the SpringHill Suites by Marriott, because they are directly opposite, only 50 meters away. All units with refrigerator and microwave. gym and indoor pool. Breakfast included in the price. The hotel is particularly suitable for air travelers. Trying to hit it in a car can easily become hell, especially if you don't have a good sat nav on board. The only access is a bit unfortunate on the exit lane that would take you from US Routes 1&9 (westbound) to I-78 (eastbound). Anyone who misses it will have to take a complicated detour of at least 6 minutes via Frontage Rd and then try again. Price: $123.
Rutgers University Newark, 249 University Avenue, Blumenthal Hall,
Newark, NJ, 07102 . One of three main campuses of the traditional New
Jersey State University, with a good 12,000 students. The Law School and
Medical School are particularly well known.
New Jersey Institute of
Technology, University Heights, Newark, NJ, 07102. University
specializing in engineering and natural sciences, but also architecture
and design, with around 11,000 students.
Seton Hall University, 400 S
Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ, 07079-2697. Traditional catholic private
university. The main campus is a few kilometers west of the city
Newark is located in northeastern New Jersey on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Passaic River with a large port. The city is 10 miles west of New York and about 15 miles south of Paterson, New Jersey. It has an area of 67.2 km², of which 61.6 km² is land and 5.6 km² (8.36%) is water.
Newark was and is an ethnically mixed city. Many Germans settled in
the center in the 19th century, followed by Eastern European Jews and in
the second half of the 20th century by Afro-Americans.
According
to the 2000 statistics, the city has 273,546 inhabitants, 91,382
households and 61,956 families. The population density is 4,400
inhabitants/km²; Newark occupies one of the top places among all cities
in the USA. The population is 26.52% White, 53.46% African American,
0.37% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 14.05% other
race, and 4.63% mixed race. 29.47% are Latin Americans of various races.
Of the 91,382 households, 35.2% have children under the age of 18.
31.0% of these consist of married couples living together, 29.3% are
single mothers, 32.2% are not families. 26.6% of all households consist
of single people, 8.8% are people over 65 living alone. The average size
of the households is 2.85. The average family has 3.43 people.
27.9% of the residents are under 18, 12.1% between 18 and 24, 32.0%
between 25 and 44, 18.7% between 45 and 64, 9.3% over 65. The average
age is 31 years. The ratio of women to men is 100:94.2. For the over 18
age group, the ratio is 100:91.1.
The median annual household
income is $26,913. The median family income is $30,781. Men have a
median income of $29,748, women $25,734. The city's per capita income is
$13,009. 28.4% of the population and 25.5% of families live below the
poverty line. Of these people, 36.6% are under 18 and 24.1% are over 65.
Between 1950 and 2000, Newark's population declined by more than a
third; especially members of the middle class left the city. Since
around the turn of the millennium, these trends have weakened and
partially reversed.
Newark is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. The main church of the Archdiocese is the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Subway: Port Authority Trans-Hudson subways have served New York
since 1908. The Newark City Subway is a former streetcar that has been
partially underground since 1935 and has been upgraded to a light rail
system.
Port: There is a large container port at the mouth of the
Passaic River.
Airport: Newark Liberty International Airport is an
international commercial airport; it was the first major airport in the
New York area.
Insurance company Prudential Financial, utility company PSEG and state transit company NJ Transit are all based in Newark.
Of the last eight mayors, who preceded the current incumbent, five
have been tried and convicted on corruption offenses.
Newark's
homicide rate ranks 20th among all US cities in 2009; in the 1980s and
1990s it was at times the number one.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology, a public university, is based in Newark. The University of Newark was incorporated into Rutgers University in 1946 and has been a subsidiary of the same since then.
Newark has been the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National
Hockey League (NHL) since October 2007. The venue is the Prudential
Center, a multi-purpose hall that can accommodate up to 19,500
spectators. It also hosted the New Jersey Nets' NBA basketball games
from 2010 to 2012.
From 1907 to 1930, Newark was home to what was
then the most important velodrome in the United States, where the 1912
World Track Championships were held.