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===Development in the 21st Century===
===Development in the 21st Century===
Union City has historically been a family-oriented city predominantly made up of [[brownstone]]s, two-family homes and locally owned businesses. Beginning approximately in 2003, it underwent a period of development of modestly-sized residences, spurred by similar development in neighboring [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], itself a formerly solid blue-collar town. This development continued for several years, reaching a milestone in 2008 with the completion of Union City's first high-rise [[condominium]] tower, The Thread, a former [[embroidery]] factory whose name evokes the city's historical association with that industry.<ref>''The Union City Reporter''; March 28, 2008; Page 9</ref><ref>[http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2008863/article-Housing-in-Hudson-In-slow-economy--smaller--better-spaces-lure-buyers-from-across-the-river-? Carroll, Timothy J. "Housing in Hudson" ''The Hudson Reporter'' 2009; Accessed January 21, 2010.]</ref><ref name=Thread>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/realestate/09njzo.html Martin, Antoinette. "Hoboken Comes to Union City" ''The New York Times'' March 9, 2008]</ref>
Union City has historically been a family-oriented city predominantly made up of [[brownstone]]s, two-family homes and locally owned businesses. Beginning approximately in 2003, it underwent a period of development of modestly-sized residences, spurred by similar development in neighboring [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], itself a formerly solid blue-collar town. This development continued for several years, reaching a milestone in 2008 with the completion of Union City's first high-rise [[condominium]] tower, The Thread, whose name evokes the city's historical association with that industry.<ref>''The Union City Reporter''; March 28, 2008; Page 9</ref>


==Commerce==
==Commerce==

Revision as of 20:28, 31 January 2010

Union City, New Jersey
City
Union City highlighted in Hudson County. Inset: Location of Union County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Union City highlighted in Hudson County. Inset: Location of Union County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Census Bureau map of Union City, New Jersey
Census Bureau map of Union City, New Jersey
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountyHudson
IncorporatedJanuary 1, 1925
Government
 • MayorBrian P. Stack
Area
 • Total1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
 • Land1.3 sq mi (3.3 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation
[1]
194 ft (59 m)
Population
 (2007)[2]
 • Total62,715
 • Density52,977.8/sq mi (20,395.9/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern (EDT))
ZIP code
07087
Area code201
FIPS code34-74630Template:GR[3]
GNIS feature ID0881349Template:GR
Websitehttp://www.ucnj.com/
For sites of same name, see: Union City. Note that Union City is not in Union County, New Jersey.

Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 80,589,[4] living on a land area of 3.28 km² (1.27 sq mi). It is the most densely populated city in the United States and in the Americas,[a] with a density of 52,977.8 per square mile.[5][6][7] Union City was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 1, 1925, with the merger of Union Hill and West Hoboken Township.[8] Two major waves of immigration, first of German-language speakers and then of Spanish-language speakers, greatly influenced the development and character of Union City. Its two nicknames, "Embroidery Capital of the United States" and "Havana on the Hudson", reflect important aspects of that history. Thousands make a pilgrimage to Union City each year to see the nation's longest running passion play.

Geography

Union City is located at 40°46′4″N 74°1′55″W / 40.76778°N 74.03194°W / 40.76778; -74.03194Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (40.767651 , -74.031833).Template:GR Part of the New York metropolitan area[9] it is one of the municipalities which comprise North Hudson, New Jersey. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 sq mi (3.3 km²), all of it land. Located atop the ridge of the lower Hudson Palisades (just south of the highest point in the county),[10] many of its streets offering glimpses and views of the surrounding municipalities, the New York City skyline, and the New Jersey Meadowlands.

The city is bisected by New Jersey Route 495, a vehicular cut built in conjunction with the Lincoln Tunnel. Soon after its construction, many streetnames were abandoned in favor of numbering in most of North Hudson starting at 2nd Street, just north of Paterson Plank Road, which runs through the city's only major park and creates its border with Jersey City. 49th Street is the northern boundary with West New York. Apart from a small section between Bergen Turnpike and Weehawken Cemetery, Kennedy Boulevard, a major north-south thoroughfare, creates the western border with North Bergen. A former colonial road and previous border between the merged municipalites takes three names as it diagonlly crosses the city's urban grid: Hackensack Plank Road, 32nd Street, and Bergen Turnipke. Most of the city north of the street, formerly Union Hill, shares its eastern border along Park Avenue with Weehawken. The southern section of the city, formerly West Hoboken, is indeed west of Hoboken,[8] which it overlooks and is connected by the road which creates their shared border, the Wing Viaduct.[11]

Climate data for Union City
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: Weather Channel[12]

History

Civic boundaries

Sign marking Union City's southern border with Jersey City.

The area of what is today Union City was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape.[13][14][15][16] It became part of the European New Netherland settlement of Pavonia, later founded as Bergen. During the colonial era it was part of Bergen Township. Three years after the formation of Hudson County in 1840, North Bergen Township was established. It was later divided in various municpalities[8] which included Union Township and West Hoboken Township (both created on February 28, 1861), Union Hill town (March 29, 1864)[8] Union City was incorporated on June 1, 1925 by merging the two towns of West Hoboken and Union Hill.[8] The name of one of the city's schools, Union Hill Middle School, recalls the former town.[17]

Immigration and industry

In the 18th century, Dutch and English merchants first settled the area. Later, German immigrants immigrated from Manhattan. Irish, Polish, Armenians, Syrians, eastern European Jews and Italians followed.[18] In 1851, Germans moved across the Hudson River from New York City in search of affordable land and open space. During the Civil War a military installation, Camp Yates, covered an area now bounded by Bergenline and Palisade Avenues from 22nd to 32nd Street. Kerrigan Avenue, which starts at 14th Street and ends 24th Street takes its name from Kerrigan Farm.[19] From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, German Americans and Dutch dominated the area. Along with Swiss and Austrian immigrants, they founded the European-style lace making industries, for which they were famous. The introduction of Schiffli lace machines in North Hudson[20] made Union City the "embroidery capital of the United States". The trademark of industry is on the Union City Seal.[19][21][22]

By the turn of the 20th Century, the area's domination by Germans was reflected in the fact that the minutes of town meetings were recorded in German.[23] By this time, the area was witnessing a period of urbanization, as an extensive trolley system was developed by the North Hudson County Railway, spurred by both electrification in 1890 and the arrival of Irish and Italian immigrants, which dominated the city until the late 1960s. Successive waves of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the Near East and Latin America contributed to the embroidery industry in subsequent years. "The Cultural Thread"/"El Hilo", an exhibit highlighting this industry, is on display at Union City's Park Performing Arts Center.[24]

Embroidery and lace exhibit at Union City's Park Performing Arts Center.

The town was also home to the rowdy Hudson Burlesque.[25]

The first Cubans immigrated to Union City from New York City in the 1940s, having been attracted to the city in search of work after hearing of its famed embroidery factories. A majority of these Cubans hailed from small towns or cities, particularly Villa Clara Province in central Cuba.[18][26] After World War II, veterans relocated to Bergen County, causing a short-lived decline in the population. In the late 1960s, a large migration of Cuban refugees fleeing Fidel Castro's regime came and settled in Union City, making Union City for many years the city with the largest Cuban population in the U.S. after Miami, hence its nickname, "Havana on the Hudson."[27] Following the Mariel boatlift in 1980, 10,000 Cubans settled in New Jersey, leading to a second wave of Cubans to Union City, which totaled 15,000 by 1994.[28][29][22]

Development in the 21st Century

Union City has historically been a family-oriented city predominantly made up of brownstones, two-family homes and locally owned businesses. Beginning approximately in 2003, it underwent a period of development of modestly-sized residences, spurred by similar development in neighboring Hoboken, itself a formerly solid blue-collar town. This development continued for several years, reaching a milestone in 2008 with the completion of Union City's first high-rise condominium tower, The Thread, whose name evokes the city's historical association with that industry.[30]

Commerce

Bergenline Avenue then and now: Facing south toward 32nd Street, circa 1900 (left), and in 2007 (right).

Until the 1880s, the primary commercial area of Union City was Palisade Avenue. An influential citizen named Henry Kohlmeier who lived there objected to the noise created by horse-drawn public coaches, which led to the route being transferred two blocks west to what is now Bergenline Avenue (formerly Lewis Street), which runs parallel to Palisade Avenue, and which remains the city's main commercial thoroughfare.[19][18] Currently the longest commercial avenue in the state, boasting over 300 retail stores and restaurants, Bergenline runs through not only the entire length of Union City from north to south, but also through West New York, Guttenberg and North Bergen, making it the main commercial strip for Northern Hudson County. Also known as the "Miracle Mile", Bergenline's largest concentration of retail and chain stores begins at the intersection of 32nd Street and continues north until 92nd Street in North Bergen, and while it is a narrow one-way, southbound street throughout most of Union City, it becomes a four lane, two-way street at 48th Street, just one block south of the town's limit. Bergenline Avenue is also used as the route for local parades, such as the annual Memorial Day Parade. At its southern end Bergenline becomes less commercial, the shopping district concentrated at Summit Avenue and Transfer Station.

Union City is in a state-established "Urban Enterprise Zone", which was implemented in February 1995 through a program designed to assist businesses in economically distressed communities across New Jersey. Businesses within the zone apply for a variety of incentives, including a sales tax reduction to customers of 3½% from the mandated 7% statewide sales tax, with no tax on purchases made by merchants related to running their businesses. Revenue generated from the reduced sales tax is maintained in a special fund dedicated for use within the zone for specific economic development and physical improvement projects.[31] Between 1995 and 2000, over 150 businesses participated in the tax incentives and other advantages offered by the program.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union City's unemployment rate as of September 2009 was 15%, the highest in the state, compared with the lowest, Hoboken, at 6.3%, and a state rate of 9.8%.[32]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
193058,659—
194056,173−4.2%
195055,537−1.1%
196052,180−6.0%
197057,3059.8%
198055,593−3.0%
199058,0124.4%
200067,08815.6%
2007 (est.)62,715[2]
Population 1930 - 1990.[33]

The population of the city is 80,589,[4] up from 67,088 in 2000. The population density was 20,395.9/km² (52,977.8/sq mi), extremely high for an American municipality, and in fact twice as high as New York City, although slightly less than Manhattan alone. Union City is the most densely populated city in the United States,[34][6] though neighboring Guttenberg (a town) is more densely populated.[5]

There were 23,741 housing units at an average density of 7, 217.7/km² (18,747.7/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city was 58.38% White, 3.64% African American, 0.70% Native American, 2.15% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 28.19% from other races, and 6.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 82.32% of the population.

In the early days of the post-Revolution era, Union City boasted the nation's largest Cuban population, second only to Miami, Florida, leading to the nickname Havana on the Hudson.[27][35] Aspects of the enclave are explored in the 2009 publication The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community.[36] In the ensuing decades, Cuban residents have spread out to other communities of North Hudson County. West New York, at 19.64%, now has the highest percentage of Cubans in New Jersey, with Union City in second place, with 15.35%. These two municipalities having the highest Cuban population percentage in the United States, outside of Florida.[37] Because of the still-high Cuban population, the major New York City television news outlets will invariably journey to Union City to interview citizens when news items involving Cuba or Raúl Castro arise. Moreover, Union City still boasts the largest Hispanic population percentage in New Jersey. It also has a very diversified Hispanic population with Cubans, Dominicans, and the more recent groups, such as South Americans and Central Americans, Haitians, Asian Indians, Koreans and Arabs.[38] As of the 2000 census, 5.94% of Union City's residents identified themselves as being of Ecuadorian ancestry, which was the third highest of any municipality in New Jersey and the seventh highest percentage of Ecuadorian people in any place in the United States with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.[39] Almost 55.4% of the population is foreign born, 38.3% of which are naturalized citizens. 19.3% speak English at home, whereas 73.7% speak Spanish at home.[4]

Although Hispanics remain the dominant ethnic group in the city, their percentage of the population has decreased in recent years. As of the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, Hispanics and Latinos made up 78.1% of Union City's population; down from 82.3% in the 2000 Census. Non-Hispanic whites made up 17.7% of the city's population; up from 13.3% in the 2000 Census. Blacks made up 5.1% of the city's population; up from 3.3% in the 2000 Census.[40][41][42]

There are 29,000 houses and condominiums in Union City, and 22,827 renter-occupied apartments. Renters account for 79% of the population. Of the 80,237 households, family households account for 66.3%, with the average household size 2.8 people, compared with a statewide size of 2.7. There are 5,900 two-person households, and 4,844 three-person households, with the rest numbering four or more. Nonfamily households number 12,513.[4]

In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

As of 2000, Union City's employment breakdown is thus: 27% Manufacturing, 15% Professional, 15% Retail, 8% Transportation, 8% Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, 8% Wholesale Trade, 6% Business and Trade, 5% Construction, 4% Personal Service, 3% Public Administration, 3% Communications, and 1% Entertainment/Recreation. About 17% of the city's employed residents work in New York City.[43]

The median income for a household in the city was $30,642, and the median income for a family was $32,246. Males had a median income of $25,598 versus $19,794 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,997. About 18.6% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.3% of those under age 18 and 19.3% of those age 65 or over. The Brookings Institute studies rank Union City among the 92 most economically depressed localities in the United States, with 18.1% of the population and 27.5% of the children falling below the poverty line. In 1997, the New Jersey Municipal Distress Index, which is based on social, economic, fiscal and physical indicators, ranked Union City as the 3rd most distressed community in the state.[26] Advocates for the homeless counted 2,227 people without homes in Hudson County as of January 2008.[44]

Government

File:UnionCityCityHall.jpg
Union City Town Hall
Mayor Brian P. Stack

Union City's City Hall is located at 3715 Palisade Avenue. The mayor of Union City also serves as a commissioner on the five-member Board of Commissioners, as per the city's Walsh Act form of government, which has been in place since 1930.[45]

The current mayor of Union City is Brian P. Stack, who became mayor in 2000 after a recall election forced the resignation of then-mayor Raúl "Rudy" Garcia. He also serves in the New Jersey State Senate.

Five members comprise the Union City Board of Commissioners and serve in both administrative and legislative capacities. Each commissioner acts as the director of one of the five major departments of the City, administering the daily operations of his or her department. The five commissioners and their departmental assignments are:[46]

Union City is in the Thirteenth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 33rd Legislative District.[47] West New York, Hoboken, Weehawken, and part of Jersey City form the other parts of the district. The mayors of both Union City and West New York represent the 33rd legislative district in the State Assembly.

Union City is in Freeholder District 6 of the County's Board of Chosen Freeholders, and is represented by Tilo Rivas.

Union City is one of five cities in Hudson County served by North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, along with North Bergen, Weehawken, West New York, and Guttenberg.[48]

Transportation

The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station on Bergenline Avenue at 48th Street.

Union City is two miles from New York City via the Lincoln Tunnel, its main approach road, Route 495 bisecting it. Within a mile to the west are U.S. Route 1/9, Route 3, and the New Jersey Turnpike.[11]

The Bergenline Avenue Station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail is located at 49th Street near the city line with West New York and North Bergen.[49]

Bergenline Avenue and the marginal highway of New Jersey Route 495 are major public transportation corridors. New Jersey Transit bus service transportation is available to points in Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic counties and to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Routes which stop in the city are the 111, 121, 123, 124, 125, 127, 129, 154, 156, 159, 144, 190 (and the 108, 160, 161, 163, 167, 191, 192 by passenger request for travel to the Port Authority Bus terminal only), and the 195 (Saturdays only). The George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal is served by the 181. Jersey City can be reached on the 22, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88 and 89 routes.[50] Additional public transportation service is augmented by dollar vans to the Hudson County Courthouse, Newport Mall, 42nd Street in Manhattan, and Paterson, New Jersey.

Newark Liberty International Airport is located 12.5 miles away in Newark / Elizabeth. LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens is 12.3 miles away. John F. Kennedy Airport is also in Queens, New York. The Colombian airline Avianca operates a private bus service from to Union City and Elizabeth for passengers on Avianca flights departing from and arriving to JFK.[51]

Education

The student population was 9,730 as of November 2009.[52]

Historically, Union City schools have ranked among the highest in Hudson County in reported incidents of violence compared to the size of the student population more than once, most recently in a November 2009 report by the New Jersey Department of Education, which annually records incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons and substance abuse or possession. According to the report, such incidents declined statewide between the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 school years, but rose slightly in Hudson County, with Union City schools having the second highest number of reported incidents behind Jersey City.[52]

Public

Union City High School and Athletic Complex, which opened for students September 3, 2009.

Union City Board of Education operates public schools in Union City. The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide.[53]

The city is served by a single high school, Union City High School, which opened September 3, 2009,[54] which was built on the site of the former Roosevelt Stadium.[55] The $178 million school, whose signature feature is an athletic field on its second floor roof, replaced the former Emerson High School and Union Hill High School, which converted to middle schools.[56]

Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[57]) are Thomas A. Edison School (PK-8; 1,362), Sara M. Gilmore School (PK-5; 346), Hudson School (PK-5; 436), Jefferson School (PK-5; 341), Roosevelt School (K-8; 1,028), Veteran's Memorial School (PK-5; 420), Washington School (K-8; 937), Robert Waters School (PK-8; 1,254) and Woodrow Wilson School (1-8; 325) for elementary school, José Martí Middle School (599) for grades 6-8; and Emerson High School (1,495), Union Hill High School (1,505) and Union City Career Academy for grades 9-12.[58]

The site of the Hudson County Community College North Hudson Center is adjacent to the Bergenline Station complex on Kennedy Boulevard.[59]

Mother Seton Interparochial School (left) and Miftaahul Uloom Academy, a Pre-K to 12th grade Islamic school (right), are both located on 15th Street.
  • Mother Seton Interparochial School

Private

  • St. Francis Academy
  • Union City Daycare Program School
  • St. Augustine's School
  • Miftaahul Uloom Academy[60]

Notable landmarks

Hudson Presbyterian Church.

Hudson Presbyterian Church Formerly known as Saint Michael's Monastery Church,[61] the largest Roman Catholic church in Hudson County, the grounds of Hudson Presbyterian Church are located between 21st and 18th Streets, bound by Summit Avenue and West Street. It formally opened in 1869.[19] Due to lack of finances, the entire complex was closed in 1981, and Saint Michael's Parish merged with nearby Saint Joseph's Parish, whose school and church were on the corner of Central Avenue at 14th Street, becoming Saint Joseph and Michael's Parish. (That school later closed following the graduation of its 1986 class, and was rebuilt in 2005 as Veterans Memorial School.) The monastery and church were purchased by a Korean Presbyterian congregation from Palisades Park, who maintain it to this day. It is the one landmark on the National Register of Historic Places in Union City,[62] and one of several locations which have been designated by New Jersey Register of Historic Places.[63]

José Martí Freshman Academy and Union City Public Library.

In its lifetime, the church/monastery has survived two fires, one in 1934 that nearly destroyed it, and another in August 1994 that destroyed the actual monastery section behind the church, and the third of three condominium buildings built adjacent to it. The surrounding park grounds, which had been used in the past for sports activities by citizens, were sold. The southern portion along 18th street is now occupied by two condominium buildings and a low-to-moderate income housing complex that replaced the portion of the monastery destroyed by fire in 1994. The José Martí Freshman Academy (formerly José Martí Middle School), which was completed in late 2004, and the public library are housed in a building on the southwestern corner of the former church property.

Park Performing Arts Center Located at 560 32nd Street, the Center was built in 1931 by the German congregation of a Catholic parish to house their cultural and educational programs. Its most outstanding feature is the Park Theater (sometimes used as the name of the Center itself[64]), which seats 1,400 people. It belongs to Holy Family Church and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, and was incorporated in 1983 as a non-profit arts center dedicated to presenting and producing programs for the surrounding communities. It is identified as "the only institution in the County solely dedicated to the performing arts" by the Hudson County Urban Complex Strategic Revitalization Plan. An addition was built to the theater in 2000. The theater is currently administered by John Penn Lewis. The theater's two longest-running regular events are Union City's annual Multi-Arts Festival and the annual Passion play, the longest running in the United States.[25][65][66]

In 1986 the bands Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. filmed the groundbreaking video for their single "Walk This Way" at the theater. Other noteworthy performers at the theater include Johnny Cash, and comedian George Carlin, who filmed his 1988 HBO special George Carlin: What Am I Doing in New Jersey? there.[64]

The Multi-Arts Festival is an exhibition of artwork, musical performances and workshops held every May since 1981, in which students and alumni of the various schools of Union City display their artwork, put on musical performances in the Park Theater, and put on free demonstrations of sculpture, portraiture and caricature for attendees. It was organized by Chairperson Agnes Dauerman, a Union Hill High School art teacher, for 25 years before she retired in 2005.

The Park Theater's Passion play made headlines in March 1997 when a black actor, Desi Arnaz Giles, was cast to play the part of Jesus Christ. This created an uproar that resulted in death threats directed at the theater, and as a result, cancellations by five tour groups. The theater also received hundreds of calls and faxes from around the world expressing support, and Daniel Quinn, assistant director of the play, opined that reaction to the play was 99% positive. Ticket sales actually increased as a result of the controversy, which was covered in the New York Post, and the opening day's audience of 700 gave Giles a standing ovation for his portrayal of Jesus. The play was also attended by conservative political strategist Ralph Reed in April of that year.[67][68]

File:RooseveltStadium1.jpg
The former Roosevelt Stadium in Union City.

Roosevelt Stadium This sporting arena (not to be confused with Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium) opened November 25, 1937 as part of the New Deal's federally-funded Works Progress Administration Project. Originally the site of the Hudson County Consumers Brewery Company, the art deco[69] stadium was bounded on the east by Summit Avenue and on the west by Kerrigan Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard between 24th and 26th Streets. Roosevelt Stadium stood 15 rows deep, seated 18,000 people, and housed events in football, soccer, track, boxing, and semi-pro baseball, as well as numerous special events, from carnivals and Fourth of July fireworks shows to an exhibition baseball game featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The stadium's most noteworthy annual event was the Thanksgiving football "Turkey Game," held between rivals Emerson High School's Bulldogs and Union Hill High School's Hillers. Its last Turkey Game took place on November 25, 2004, with Emerson victorious 21-0. It was demolished in the fall of 2005 to make way for the new Union City High School and Athletic Complex, which opened in September 2009.[70]

Emerson Middle School Named for writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, this school, home to the Bulldogs, was opened in April 1915 as West Hoboken High School. After the merge of West Hoboken and Union Hill into Union City in 1925, it became Emerson High School. Located on New York Avenue at 18th Street, the school's most unusual physical feature is the bridge that connects the original building with the gym building across the street, which was built in the 1980s, allowing students to cross New York Avenue from one building to the other on the second floor. Following the opening of Union City High School in September 2009, Emerson, along with Union Hill High School, converted into middle schools for grades 6 - 8.

File:9.25.06CeliaCruzParkUnionCityByLuigiNovi.jpg
Tribute to Cuban-American salsa singer Celia Cruz, and other Latin stars.
Spectators viewing the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks from the Union City Boxing Club.

Carnegie Libraries Union City is home to two libraries funded by donations by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Both are considered historically and architecturally significant by the city.[71] The first was built in 1903 with a $25,000 donation by Carnegie in what was once West Hoboken on 15th Street between Bergenline Avenue and New York Avenue. The second was built in 1905 at the corner of 43rd Street and New York Avenue in what was once Union Hill,[72][73] and is the main branch. The 15th Street library retains its original stained glass, but was closed in 2004 upon the completion of a new library on the corner of Summit Avenue and 18th Street, housed in the same building as José Martí Middle School.[74]

Celia Cruz Park (also known as Celia Cruz Plaza) On June 4, 2004, nearly a year after the death of Cuban-American salsa singer Celia Cruz (who lived in nearby Fort Lee), Union City heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz's widower, Pedro Knight, present. The park featured a sidewalk star in Cruz's honor, and an 8' x 10' mural by Union City's Edgardo Davila, a collage of Cruz's career throughout the decades. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world.[75] Stars were later added to the park in honor of Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer and Johnny Pacheco. The park was again refurbished by the Latin American Kiwanis Club in early June 2006. The mural was replaced with a backlit photograph of Cruz, and seven more stars were added in honor performers such as merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cuban musician Israel "Cachao" Lopez, and Cuban tenor Beny Moré. The park is located adjacent to the facilites of the Kluasenburg Hasidic community.

Firefighters Memorial Park In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks people gathered in the courtyard of the Union City Boxing Club to view the event's aftereffects. That location was demolished and rebuilt as Firefighters Memorial Park in August 2009, and a memorial to local firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty now stands in that park's entrance.[76]

Media

Union City is located within the New York media market, most of it daily papers available for sale or delivery. Until its closing in 1991 the Hudson Dispatch, a morning daily newspaper that once had a circulation of 39,132, was based in Union City for 117 years.[77] Local, county, and regional news is covered by the daily Jersey Journal. The Union City Reporter is part of the Hudson Reporter group of local weeklies. Other weeklies, the River View Observer and El Especialito[78] also cover local news.

Among the films set or shot in the city are Out of the Darkness, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Far from Heaven, and the eponymous Union City (released in conjunction with the song "Union City Blue"). The low-budget film directed by former Guttenberg mayor Peter Lavilla, Oak Hill, features local institutions including Union City's Palisades Emergency Residence Corporation homeless shelter and a synagogue in North Bergen.[79]

Notable residents

Notes

^ a: Guttenberg, New Jersey is more densely populated, but not incorporated as a city.

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Union City, Geographic Names Information System, accessed April 13, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Census data for Union City city, United States Census Bureau. Accessed November 9, 2008.
  3. ^ A Cure for the Common Codes: New Jersey, Missouri Census Data Center. Accessed July 14, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d 07087 Zip Code Detailed Profile at City Data, accessed January 30, 2010.
  5. ^ a b United States Census Bureau
  6. ^ a b "The Transformation of Union City: 1989 to Present", Center for Children and Technology, August 15, 2000. Accessed June 10, 2007. "The following facts describe the demographics of Union City, NJ: It is the most densely populated city in the U.S."
  7. ^ Al Sullivan. "Stand up and be counted" The Union City Reporter; January 17, 2010; Page 4
  8. ^ a b c d e "The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 148. Cite error: The named reference "Story" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and their components
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References

  • History of West Hoboken and Union Hill by Ella-May Ryman (1965)
  • The Historical Background of Union City: A Monograph, Prepared for the Commemoration of New Jersey's Tercentenary 1664-1964 and As a Teaching Material and Aid in the Union City School System by Daniel A. Primont, William G. Fiedler and Fred Zuccaro (1964)
  • The City of Union City (A 1996 calendar)
  • Union City Reporter (Various issues)

External links

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