[Thundertubs]

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Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, with a population of about 283,000. It peaked in the 1940’s at over 450,000. Puritans from the New Haven Colony founded the city in 1666.

This tour covers downtown. Welcome to the Brick City.

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Newark was a major early industrial center, in 1870 producing 90% of the nation’s leather products, as well such things as iron, celluloid, and carriages. Newark is the birthplace of the zipper and the stock ticker.

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After WWII, Newark fell harder than perhaps any other large American city. It remains one of the poorest and most violent cities in the nation. At one time it had the largest percentage of residents in public housing of any US city. The mass construction of superblock public housing sped the flight from neighborhoods already besieged by substandard housing and poverty. Many of the notorious hi-rises have since been razed.
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The American Insurance Company Building of 1930
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Looking south on Broad St.
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Broad St
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The Griffith Building of 1928, on the northern end of Military Park
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Military Park had the nation’s first public electric lamps.
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The 21-story Military Park Building was New Jersey’s tallest when completed in 1926.
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It was soon overtaken by the Lefcourt-Newark Building (1930, center) and the National Newark Building (1931,right).
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Overlooking the south end of Military Park
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Military Park Building
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Looking east toward Broad from Park St
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Halsey St at New St
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Lefcourt-Newark Building
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The Gibraltar Building of 1927, formerly part of the Prudential Insurance complex, now home to the Superior Court of New Jersey.
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South on Washington toward Market St
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Rowhouses on Linden St
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Looking east on Raymond Boulevard
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A tree grows on the Griffith Building
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Businesses on Market St
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Abraham Lincoln hanging out in front of the Essex County courthouse, where Springfield Avenue begins off of western Market Street. Springfield Avenue was a bustling thoroughfare through the city’s Central Ward, and was the center of the 1967 riot. The street was largely destroyed.
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The late 1960’s saw riots in most American cities. The Newark riot stands with those of Detroit‘s 12th Street, Chicago’s Madison Street, and Watts as being the most famous and devastating.
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Through suburban flight, Newark became a black-majority city in 1966, years before any other northern city.
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Market St
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Branford Pl
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Washington St, north to Market
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Commuter parking lots. The Prudential Center, the 2-year old home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils looms overhead.
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North on Broad St from William St. Note the Prudential Building. Newark is the nation’s 3rd largest insurance center after New York and Hartford. Newark and neighboring Elizabeth, NJ are home to the largest container port on the eastern seaboard and one of the nation’s busiest airports.
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The retail in Downtown Newark is quite tacky and gaudy, but I like the density and energy of it. Many American cities do not have this level of hustle and bustle downtown.
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An old RR building
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Market St
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The “Four Corners” at Market and Broad is the bustling heart of black New Jersey. During the 1920's it was among the two or three busiest intersections in the nation. It remainds a very active place during the day.
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South on Broad
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West on Market
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Market St, east of the Four Corners
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Looking up at the Lefcourt-Newark Building, now known as Eleven80, for it‘s address on Raymond Boulevard. It had been vacant since 1986, but has recently undergone a $110 million renovation into luxury apartments. It is the first unsubsidized rental housing to hit the market in downtown Newark since 1960.
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On the right is the Fireman’s Insurance Building, tallest in New Jersey from 1910 until the completion of the Military Park Building in 1926. It’s good to see scaffolding, because it is a beautiful building and has been vacant for some time.
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Detail on the Newark Paramount theatre
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Back to Military Park
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The National Newark Building, at right, was the tallest building in New Jersey from 1931 up to the completion of the Exchange Place tower in Jersey City in 1989. The top of the building is modeled after the mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
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Newark is served by the PATH system, connecting the city with Jersey City, Hoboken and Manhattan, as well as the Newark City Subway and the Newark Light Rail, which head northwest from downtown out to the suburb of Bloomfield, NJ. It passes under the Olmstead-designed Branch Brook Park, home to the nation’s largest collection of Cherry Blossoms (larger than the infinitely more famous DC bloom).
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Wars of America, by Gutzon Borglum
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Military Park
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Broad St
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Trinity Church
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8 miles east…
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The Passaic River
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Newark is a culture factory. It has given us:

Queen Latifah
Jerry Lewis
Gloria Gaynor
Ice-T
Whitney Houston
Lauryn Hill
Shaquille O’Neil
Redman
Wayne Shorter (saxophonist and primary songwriter in Miles Davis’ legendary 2nd quartet)
Larry Young
Paul Simon
Jason Alexander
Frankie Valli
Sarah Vaughan
Naught By Nature
Ed Koch
Connie Francis
Stephen Crane (Red Badge of Courage)
Philip Roth

[ady26]

We rarely see NY's little neighbour!

[ShadowMaster]

Wow! When I refreshed the page I was never expecting to see Newark listed. Fantastic job kind sir, it's gritty, it has potential and it has plenty of older and interesting brick-stone masonry structures of various proportions along with density and urbanity.

It's only a few minutes hop away from New York City, depending where in NYC you are situated in. It is a satellite city of NYC also. Thanks for showing!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Very fun tour. Love the grit! :tup:

[Mille Sabords]

Sad to see so many old and majestic buildings either abandonexd or run down. As was said, lots of potential there, not least because of the direct subway connection with Manhattan. The old Paramount Theatre is a gem, I'd love to have a look inside and see what's left. Was it used in the movie "12 Monkeys" by any chance?

Just out of interest, has the NHL arena made a difference for downtown Newark?

[Evergrey]

Would this be considered a green roof?
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Great job with Newark, 'Tubs... a rare treat...



It is a satellite city of NYC also.

I think that's part of the problem you see here in Newark... what happens to a major urban city when it gets swallowed up by a MUCH larger neighbor and its phalanx of suburbs?

[jowens]

Love the pics of Newark. The only time i've spent there has been going in and our of Liberty Intl. Only seen the DT area from there.

The new arena was supposedly a new "shot in arm" for the Downtown urban scene. Has this happened?

[jowens]

Just out of interest, has the NHL arena made a difference for downtown Newark?


Sorry Mille, you beat me to the question. Didn't mean to be reduntant. :)

[ColDayMan]

Awesome shots!

[ShadowMaster]

I think that's part of the problem you see here in Newark... what happens to a major urban city when it gets swallowed up by a MUCH larger neighbor and its phalanx of suburbs?


Probably and likely, then again probably not. For instance there are several satellite "smaller tier" cities (as Newark) within the outer boundaries of NYC. Jersey City, New Rochelle, White Plains and Stamford seem to be "progressive" in terms of development, refurbishment, investment and and overall interest. I would personally want to see the same done for Newark.

Across the Passaic River from Newark, in Hudson County, has seen it's share of redevelopment and interest. In Harrison, right across the Passaic from where Newark is situated, the new Major-League-Soccer "Red Bull Arena" is being built also.

[Crawford]

I have been to the new arena, and I would say that it has helped, but has yet to transform the area.

The arena was placed within a larger redevelopment district, but the plans for surrounding retail, residential and hotel uses are all currently on hold, just like basically every other project on earth.

There's also a "modern" part of downtown Newark that is not shown. It's to the south of these pics.

The area around Newark Penn Station is a complex of 1970's and 1980's-era office towers and hotels, all of which are linked by skywalks to Newark Penn. It's called Gateway Center.

Gateway Center has an indoor shopping concourse that serves the white- collar demographic of this complex, while the old shopping district (shown in the pics) serves a poorer demographic.

Finally, there's a developing arts district to the north of these pics, centered around Newark Broad Street Station and NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center). There are sizable redevelopment plans for this area, but, again, the credit crisis has everything on hold.

[OhioGuy]

I'm not someone that cares for grit, but Newark certainly has good bones. And I definitely appreciate these photos. It's nice to have some good Newark photos on this forum. :tup:

[10023]

Thank you for showing us more of Newark than I ever cared to see again.

I was there once for a meeting at Prudential's offices. Some guy pushing a coat rack on wheels came up to our hire car and tried to sell us used shirts. Frankly I don't even like flying out of that airport.


I think that's part of the problem you see here in Newark... what happens to a major urban city when it gets swallowed up by a MUCH larger neighbor and its phalanx of suburbs?
I don't think that's Newark's problem at all. If anything it should have a huge advantage, sitting in the midst of a very wealthy metropolitan area (with some quite affluent New Jersey suburbs nearby), where a lot of people are priced out of Manhattan or even Brooklyn. Proximity to New York at least gives it hope, otherwise it would be like, I don't know, New Haven without Yale. But Newark is almost too big and too far from the show to get a lot of "urban pioneers" interested in moving there.

[Minato Ku]

I always wanted to visit the outer part of New York (Bronx, Queens, Brooklyns, Newark, Hoboken, New Jersey city...) This increase this idea.

[Crawford]

I should add that while Newark is in rough shape, some of the commentary is a bit outdated or inaccurate. In fact, I would say it's in equal or maybe even better shape than many cities with better reputations (not naming names).

Yes, Newark has high crime, but it is no longer among the worst. Not even close.

Newark's population has been growing for almost 20 years now. Modest growth, but growth nonetheless. How many older American cities show consistent population growth? Not too many.

Newark is also now fairly diverse, and an immigration gateway.

African Americans, who dominated the population 20 years ago (and still dominate the central parts of the city), now are around 50% of the city population, or even less. Newark could be the first major American city that became majority black, and then lost this designation. Latinos make up about 30% of the population and whites (almost all Brazilians or Portugese) make up 25%.

The Northern section of the city is majority Latino. The Southern section of the city is majority Portuguese/Brazilian.

And the black population is now much more diverse. The city has many West African immigrants.

Finally, their (relatively) new mayor Corey Booker is considered a rising young star.

I would not be shocked to see a turnaround in the near future, as the growth in adjacent Jersey City and Harrison spills over into Newark.

[DeBaliviere]

I find this city very appealing.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures. Newark is a city with some great history, and some great buildings to show it's wonderful past.

[Crawford]

I don't think that's Newark's problem at all. If anything it should have a huge advantage, sitting in the midst of a very wealthy metropolitan area (with some quite affluent New Jersey suburbs nearby), where a lot of people are priced out of Manhattan or even Brooklyn.

Agreed; not only is Newark part of a wealthy region, but it's immediate suburbs are generally very wealthy. Some of the richest suburbs in the U.S. are directly to the west (Summit, Millburn, Madison, Short Hills, etc.) These are commuter suburbs for high-end Manhattan workers, and are super-desirable.

And to the north are upper middle-class "progressive" suburbs like Montclair, Bloomfield, West Orange, etc. These suburbs are more urban/suburban hybrids and are pretty desirable.

Unfortunately, Newark has been unable to capitalize on its location and transit links. Part of the problem has been horrible leadership for 30+ years, including some amazingly corrupt "leaders" (former mayor is currently in prison).

I hope that Mayor Booker can turn things around.

[stepper77]

I agree that it is sad to see some many good looking buildings under such disrepair. Hopefully, that will change in the coming years. Definitely nice to see Newark and thanks for all the commentary!

[SouthJersey7]

Great set of photos, I always like seeing what's going on in places like Newark. Seems like there's still a lot of commercial buildings there, and most of them are in use. Can't say the same thing about certain other cities... I think Newark could be the next city in the state to make a turnaround. It would help if the city could land some big industry or commercial sector. Maybe Corey Booker can turn things around.

Oh and you forgot one famous Newark native - Joe Pesci ;)

[ItsConanOBrien]

Great tour and thanks for the commentary. I am always fascinated by these places around NYC and can't wait to see them in person someday.

[Wheelingman04]

I think Jersey City is going to pass up Newark in population soon though.

[ls1z28chris]

It is sad to see such a beautiful city fall into disrepair. Glad to see it is heading towards some better days.

Thanks for the tour. :tup:

[themaguffin]

Nice tour and some great old buildings. I would think the outragious cost of NY would make Newark poised to real get some momentum and build upon its current progress.

[dktshb]

I like it very much. Reminds me of NY in the 1970's in a way. Great photos! Thanks for sharing.

[Sekkle]

great tour. Thanks!

[koolkid]

I like it very much. Reminds me of NY in the 1970's in a way. Great photos! Thanks for sharing.
We don't even have to go that far back. Newark reminds me of NY from the early 90s. Newark has some really great neighborhoods, i got some relatives living in near the ironbound. É realmente agradável...

[holladay]

I could totally live there.

Love this photo!
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[Jularc]

So thats that city in NJ with those nice old towers. ;) Great shots! :tup:

[Hayward]

Great shots. The natural rooftop trees remind me of Detroit.

[ShadowMaster]

Hudson County and Newark should be merged and become the 6th borough of New York City. ;)

Let's not forget the Ironbound area, it has seen noticeable redevelopment previously and plenty of lofts and conversions occurred. Some property were features on a "home buyer" show we have on cable or satellite television.

[ChrisLA]

Yep, this pretty much sums up what I remember seeing the few times I've passed through the city. It always seems to be a day when it was overcast just as in these photos. It just seems so depressing, and not one of my favorite areas around the NY metro.

I do have to say even though the downtown area was dirty and decayed, it still was vibrant and full of pedestrians each time I passed through.

[STLgasm]

There's nothing NEW about NEWARK!

Love every bit of it.

[JivecitySTL]

This thread has changed my life.

[Thundertubs]

Hudson County and Newark should be merged and become the 6th borough of New York City. ;)

Let's not forget the Ironbound area, it has seen noticeable redevelopment previously and plenty of lofts and conversions occurred. Some property were features on a "home buyer" show we have on cable or satellite television.

Actually, since the Hudson River and Erie Canal havn't been economically viable trade routes for ages, New York City should be ceeded to New Jersey. It actually makes a lot of sense culturally, economically, and geographically. NYC could be the 22nd-26th counties of New Jersey!

I was going to hit the Ironbound, but didn't have enough time/was too lazy. I'll definately try to get there when I'm back down in July.

[kcexpress69]

I agree that it is sad to see some many good looking buildings under such disrepair. Hopefully, that will change in the coming years. Definitely nice to see Newark and thanks for all the commentary!

I think it has a good chance of coming back. I remember how downtown Kansas City looked back in the 80s and mid 90s, before the loft revolution took off. I thought there was no hope. Thankfully I was wrong, and now, most every old building has either been renovated, or in the works to be. I know the two cities are much different, and even though Newark will always be in the shadow of New York City, I think it's comeback is more of an eventual reality than just a pipe dream!! Great work Thundertubs!! :tup:

[stormkingfan]

Newark is a city with character, rich in history & culture, and very photogenic. It gets more bad rap than it deserves & needs some TLC. Great pics. I like Newark.

[Jibba]

Wow. Great look at an oft-overlooked city. NYC's urbanity looks like it rubbed off on this one, especially the retail strips.

[gonygonygo]

GREAT photos! I spent many summers in Newark as a young'n back in the 90's. The place doesn't look much different now as it did in those days.

I happen to have family members living there right off of Bergen St.

I have to wonder if you were getting many odd looks from the people downtown as you were taking your photos...

[plinko]

Seriously excellent thread!

I took the time to explore DT Newark in '99 and '00 and found a city with great infrastructure, but something seriously off. I even got offered a job with one of the largest architectural firms in town (totally by accident). Didn't work for me at the time, but I don't regret it.

[KillerIman]

great pics!

love newark

[Roaming]

Awesome! I don't think I ever see this city before! Some great old towers.

[stormkingfan]

Newark is a culture factory. It has given us:

Queen Latifah
Jerry Lewis
Gloria Gaynor
Ice-T
Whitney Houston
Lauryn Hill
Shaquille O’Neil
Redman
Wayne Shorter (saxophonist and primary songwriter in Miles Davis’ legendary 2nd quartet)
Larry Young
Paul Simon
Jason Alexander
Frankie Valli
Sarah Vaughan
Naught By Nature
Ed Koch
Connie Francis
Stephen Crane ([I]Red Badge of Courage)
Philip Roth


Joe Pesci
John Amos
Paul Greco
Ray Liotta
Carla Dunlap (one bad-ass bodybuilder as well as an actress)

[mrherodotus]

Great great thread!

[jodelli]

Looks like Detroit with more eclectic street level retail. Nice shots!

[pwright1]

I remember the days when my mother use to take us downtown to Bamberger's dept store to see Santa Claus, get ice cream cones on Market, shop at S. Klein on the square or even get a delicious kosher hot dog at Kresge. I was born there and have nothing but great memories about Newark. I love that city. Thanks for the wonderful pics.

[Nantais]

A great gritty city with a true soul.

Somewhat, it reminds me of how NYC looked like in these movies from the 1980's.

On a side note : how do you pronouce "Newark" ?
Each time I tries to say "Newark", I end up saying "New York".

[Thundertubs]

I remember the days when my mother use to take us downtown to Bamberger's dept store to see Santa Claus, get ice cream cones on Market, shop at S. Klein on the square or even get a delicious kosher hot dog at Kresge. I was born there and have nothing but great memories about Newark. I love that city. Thanks for the wonderful pics.

When my parents moved to New Jersey in 1973, Newark was already considered "gone". Most New Jerseyites consider it 'that scary place with the airport'. I love to hear of people with genuine connections to the place.



On a side note : how do you pronouce "Newark" ?
Each time I tries to say "Newark", I end up saying "New York".

"NEW-irk", or sometimes locally, "Nork".

Edit: one more point about Newark. A few people have asked about the impact of the new arena. It seems to have a positive, but limited affect on downtown. The biggest factor by a long shot in the revitalization of downtown has been Rutgers-Newark. The campus has been expanding and has noticably livened up the western edge of downtown.

[boden]

A giant of a thread.

[Wheelingman04]

I hate to ask this question but: Doesn't anyone think Jersey City could catch up to Newark in size and importance? I am not really sure but I think it could be possible.

[pwright1]

Wow I had to look at these pics again. I had so many great memories about my birthplace. I remember my parents getting dressed up and going down on Bergen Street to the many jazz clubs. We use to walk to Weequahic Park and ride the swings and seesaw. S. Kleins on the Square use to look like Las Vegas with bright flashing lights. We recently visited and walked in my old Maple Avenue School. I could not believe the auditorium still had the same built in wooded folding chairs from when I attended. Wow!!

[tech12]

Sweet! nice pics, Newark is impressive.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Great job! Been a while since I've been there.

[Crawford]

I hate to ask this question but: Doesn't anyone think Jersey City could catch up to Newark in size and importance? I am not really sure but I think it could be possible.

In importance, yes, in size, maybe.

Jersey City is actually quite expensive, so many immigrants have been heading to Newark in recent years, so even though JC has tons more condos, brownstone neighborhoods, and other yuppie trappings, the two cities are growing at a similar rate.

Basically, JC is growing due to Manhattan overflow, while Newark is growing due to (mostly Latino) immigration.

[phillyskyline]

An oldie but goodie!

[wolkenkrabber]

neat photos! newark looks allot bigger than any city of the same population in sweden or for that case scaindinavia would look. It's sad that buildings get run down...

I saw this reportage about these old abandonedhouses in this east-german city where the landlords had joined together with the city to let young entrepreneurs live and run their buisness paying no rent the first years to help get them started, as long as they did the renovation on their own. It was apparently quite sucessful.

[LSyd]

great tour.

a lot of the pics remind me of south London; gritty but vibrant. the National Newark Building reminds me of the Sterick Building in Memphis.

-

[Thundertubs]

I should add that while Newark is in rough shape, some of the commentary is a bit outdated or inaccurate. In fact, I would say it's in equal or maybe even better shape than many cities with better reputations (not naming names).

Yes, Newark has high crime, but it is no longer among the worst. Not even close.

Newark's population has been growing for almost 20 years now. Modest growth, but growth nonetheless. How many older American cities show consistent population growth? Not too many.

Newark is also now fairly diverse, and an immigration gateway.

African Americans, who dominated the population 20 years ago (and still dominate the central parts of the city), now are around 50% of the city population, or even less. Newark could be the first major American city that became majority black, and then lost this designation. Latinos make up about 30% of the population and whites (almost all Brazilians or Portugese) make up 25%.

The Northern section of the city is majority Latino. The Southern section of the city is majority Portuguese/Brazilian.

And the black population is now much more diverse. The city has many West African immigrants.

Finally, their (relatively) new mayor Corey Booker is considered a rising young star.

I would not be shocked to see a turnaround in the near future, as the growth in adjacent Jersey City and Harrison spills over into Newark.

The Portuguese area is the East Ward, not South. The Central, South and West wards are still almost entirely black. Since the Central Ward has essentially bottomed out and is starting to be rebuilt (with crappy suburban condos, but that's another story...), the South Ward has replaced it as the cities most violent and unstable.

I'm a big supporter of Corey Booker. He's a bright guy and very dedicated. It depresses me, though, how a lot of the city has rejected him for trying to change and improve things. Folks just want things to stay the same.
One criticism leveled against him that may or may not have merit is the notion that he's using Newark as a springboard towards bigger things, possibly national office. Even if that's the case, Newark should be fortunate enough to have someone as energetic as Booker working for them in the mean time, instead of the next corrupt, self-serving Sharpe James-type, of which I'm sure there's dozens of waiting in the wings.

[jodelli]

Red Badge of Courage[/I])
Philip Roth

I know he's from NYC but Dutch Schultz was gunned down near the foot of the Military Park Building in 1935 near the left edge of the picture:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj282/fraz11nj/NewarkNJ/P1030481.jpg

[Ex-Ithacan]

I kept meaning to click on this thread, and am glad I finally did. I didn't realize how many vacant buildings there are in downtown, and many of them look like possible gems. Glad to hear some progress is being made.

I remember seeing the gun battles on TV during the riots in '67. Police behind their vehicles firing indiscriminately at "snipers" in the public housing hi-rises. Scary stuff.

btw, Corey Booker gave a speech at Cornell this year and impressed the heck out of everyone.

Great set Tt, thanks.

[Tom In Chicago]

A truly awesome tour. . . thanks for posting!!!

. . .

[Nexis4Jersey]

Newark is my second favorite city after Jersey City. Newark has turned it self around the past 10 years. new Projects have turned most of the city into a nicer and safer place. Some of those neglected will get renovated this year & the rest in the near future. New Transit Projects like the 2 Light Rail lines are on hold for now , but when the economy picks up again later this year i'm sure they be back. Also some Scrapers were planned for the Downtown , but they were either scraped or put on hold. Cory Booker has lowered the Crime Rate & Brought the city Closer.

~Corey