Gateway Region

The Gateway Region is located in northeastern New Jersey in the United States of America. The area encompasses Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic, Union and Middlesex counties. It is the most urban part of the state, with population of more than four million, and is home to most of its larger cities, though much housing was originally developed as suburbs as part of the New York metropolitan area. It is home to Ellis Island, the "gateway" through which many immigrants entered the United States, many of whom choose to stay in the region, which continues to be the port of entry and first home to many born abroad, making it one of the most ethnically diverse of the nation. It may also be the most socio-economically diverse, with some of the biggest pockets of poverty and most exclusive of suburbs in the state.

The designation has not caught on in local parlance, as the topography and self-identification of the residents tend not to correspond to the collective name. The terms North Jersey and Central Jersey are used in describing parts of the Gateway. The name may have been taken from the 1960s Newark nickname Gateway City after the newly developed Gateway Center downtown. Amtrak's high-speed rail project throughout the region is called Gateway. It is one of six tourism regions established by the New Jersey State Department of Tourism, the others being the Greater Atlantic City Region, the Southern Shore Region, the Delaware River Region, the Shore Region and the Skylands Region. The Gateway National Recreation Area, though not located inside the Gateway Region, is nearby.

Geography

The Gateway Region is home to New Jersey's six largest municipalities: Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Woodbridge Township, and Edison. Major rivers and the bays they flow into are the Hudson River/Upper New York Bay, the Hackensack River and the Passaic River/Newark Bay, and the Raritan. The topography of the area is quite varied, with the Palisades and the Meadowlands in the northeast, the hills and valleys of the Watchung Mountains in the west, the Ramapo Mountains in the north, and tidal plains of the Raritan to the south. The confluence of the roads and railways of the Northeast Megalopolis make the region very heavily traveled. Chemical Coast is a nickname for the heavily industrial area along the Arthur Kill. Though there are broad distinctions between cities, suburbs, heavy industry, light manufacturing, recreational "green spaces", nature preserves, and retail, transportation, and maritime infrastructure, the landscape is characterized by their close proximity to each other, as is typical of urban sprawl.

History

Lenape and New Netherland

The Gateway Region was the territory of the Lenape Native Americans. Later called Delaware Indian, this collection of Algonquian-language speaking people included the Hackensack, Raritan, and Tappan They are recalled in the countless number of place names given by them to towns, hills, and bodies of water. Much of the land was "purchased" by Dutch and English from the Lenape, though this concept of "ownership" was foreign to them. The Lenape retreated to the west as settlements grew, and "agreed" to re-locate in 1766 with the Treaty of Easton, though some became part of the Ramapough Mountain Indians.

Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Dutch East India Company anchored his ship the Halve Maen (Half Moon) at Sandy Hook and Weehawken Cove in 1609. The area became part of the colonial province of New Netherland with headquarters in New Amsterdam. In 1630 the patroonship Pavonia was established and 1660, after series of confrontations with the Lenape, that the first chartered village was established on the west bank of the North River at Bergen Square, creating the oldest municipality in the state. Descendents of the New Netherlanders spread across North Jersey, and influenced its development and character for generations.

Colonial America

When the English entered New York Harbor in 1664, a negotiated surrender (which guaranteed religious tolerance and protection of private property) was made to transfer control of the area to the British crown. Elizabethtown was founded as the capitol and became the first officially English-speaking settlement, named after the wife of the province's proprietor, Sir George Cateret. In 1666, Newark was established by Puritans from Connecticut. By 1675, the region become the proprietary colony of East Jersey (establishing a border with New York State, which was formalized in 1738). It was partitioned into four counties for administrative purposes: Bergen County, Essex County, Middlesex County and Monmouth County. Settlement remained sparse, though some towns were created within farming communities and along rivers and bays. Among them are Perth Amboy in 1684, Hackensack and Piscataway in 1693, and New Brunswick in 1736 (which later became home to Rutgers University). During the 18th century, migration inland increased along the Horseneck Tract and Raritan Valley. Slavery and indenture were encourage to populate the area. The third public reading of The Declaration of Independence took place in New Brunswick, but many East Jerseyans became Tories. Several battles of American Revolution took place in the region including those at Connecticut Farms, Bound Brook, and Paulus Hook.

Invention, industry and immigration

The first steam engine in America was introduced at the Schuyler Copper Mine on New Barbadoes Neck in 1755. In 1791, Alexander Hamilton help found the Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), which encouraged the harnessing of the water power of the Great Falls of the Passaic and to secure economic independence from British manufacturers. Paterson, which was founded by the society, became the cradle of the industrial revolution in America, supported in part by the Morris Canal built in the 1820s. A century later Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, made his mark. In 1872 the Singer Manufacturing Company of New York opened a factory in Elizabethport along Trumbull Street next to the intersection of the CNJ mainline with the Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Branch. Many discoveries and inventions, or application or mass production of them, were made in the Gateway Region including the steam engine, the revolver, the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, the rocket engine, and the electric railway. It is the site of the first automobile and first submarine in the United States. It can claim to the birthplace of baseball and the American film industry, Television to the home was first broadcast in the Gateway.

The latter half of the 19th century saw an explosion of the population. German immigration to the United States after 1848 gave the parts of the region a distinctly German flavor. Rail lines which still cross-cross the region, leading to the and the development of the shipping industry at the North River (Hudson River), Newark Bay, and Kill van Kull, and the beginnings of suburban developments such as Llewellyn Park. Streetcar suburbs also began to develop elsewhere.

The Bayway Refinery, started in 1907 is the nation's northernmost, is along the corridor with other heavy industry. It was at this time that the Chemical Coast began to be developed. The Paterson Silk Strike took place in 1913. The Hudson Waterfront became home to heavy industry and shipping. Among the industries that would prosper in the first half of the 20th century were Alcoa Aluminum, the Ford Motor Company, Lever Brothers, Valvoline Oil Co. and Archer-Daniels-Midland.

World Wars

While immigration to Ellis Island decreased the population continued to grow, in part due to the Great Migration. Upon entry to World War I the US government took the Hamburg-American Line piers in Hoboken under eminent domain, and which became the major point of embarkation for more than three million soldiers, known as "doughboys". Camp Merritt was established in Cresskill for troop staging. In 1916, an act of sabotage literally and figuratively shook the region when German agents set off bombs at the munitions depot in New York Bay at Black Tom. Another act of sabotage known as the Kingsland Explosion occurred on January 11, 1917. The T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion, though not considered sabotage, also caused tremondous damage.

The fore-runner of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was established on April 30, 1921. Huge transportation projects opened between the wars: The Holland Tunnel in 1927, The George Washington Bridge in 1931, The Bayonne Bridge in 1931, and The Lincoln Tunnel in 1937, allowing vehicular travel between New Jersey and New York City to bypass the waterfront. Hackensack River crossings, notably the Pulaski Skyway, were also built. Newark Airport was the first major airport in the New York Metropolitan Area, opening on October 1, 1928. At Houvenkopf Mountain crosses were burned by the Ku Klux Klan. Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age". The Kearney Works of Western Electric kept the plant running with "make work" program, similar to WPA projects.

The region played an import role in World War Two effort. PT boats were manufactured by Elco in Bayonne. Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY) was opened in 1942 as a U.S. military base (remained in operation until 1999). General Motors produced planes at Linden Assembly.The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company would produce over thirty ships before its closing in 1949. In 1946, the baseball color line was first crossed at Roosevelt Stadium by Jackie Robinson.

Post-war prosperity and urban decline

The Second Great Migration and the G.I. Bill changed the social geography as well as the physical geography of the Gateway. Planned and built during the 1950s Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal is the first and largest container port in the eastern United States. Direct distance dialing (DDD) was introduced on November 10, 1951 in Englewood The northern parts of the New Jersey Turnpike were opened between 1952 and 1956. The metropolitan section (north of the Driscoll Bridge) of the Garden State Parkway was completed in 1957. Bergen Mall was the first mall in New Jersey, opened in 1957, soon followed by Westfield Garden State Plaza. and The Mall at Short Hills. Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal became the nation's first container terminal in 1958, and was for many years its busiest. The Newark Riots and the Plainfield Riots took place in 1967.

Pre-/post Millennium

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission was established in 1969 to protect the delicate balance of nature, provide for orderly development, and manage solid waste activities in the New Jersey Meadowlands District, and the Meadowlands Sports Complex opened in 1976. Terminals A, B, and C at Newark Airport were completed in 1973. People's Express later made the airport it major hub, and passenger volumes increased. Liberty State Park opened in 1976. Gentrification of Hoboken and Downtown Jersey City nineteenth century districts began in the late 1970s, which led to the eventual re-development of the Hudson Waterfront. Secaucus Junction, Midtown Direct, and Hudsonâ€"Bergen Light Rail began service and changed commuting patterns. The Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act was passed in 2004 to protect the watershed which supplies much of the region. Cory Booker became mayor of Newark. The Prudential Center opened in downtown Newark in 2007. American Dream Meadowlands, a large commercial center, is currently under construction.

Transportation

The Gateway Regions has an extensive network of national highways, state freeways, and toll roads; commuter and long distance trains; an expanding light rail system; local and interstate bus routes; and is home to one of the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area's three major airports. Much of the rail and surface transit systems is operated by New Jersey Transit and the high transit ridership is mostly oriented to commuters traveling to downtown Newark, lower and midtown Manhattan, and increasingly, the Hudson Waterfront. Outside of the most "city-like" areas of Greater Newark, Elizabeth, Hudson County, and Greater Paterson, the automobile remains the most common means of intra-regional travel. The Port of New York and New Jersey is the busiest on the East Coast of the United States.

Rail

Air Train: monorail system connecting Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) with Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains
Amtrak: Northeast Corridor stations at Newark Penn Station (NWK), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Brunswick, and Metropark
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) serving Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and North Hudson at the Weehawken waterfront, Bergenline (Union City/West New York) and Tonnele Ave (North Bergen)
Newark City Subway/Newark Light Rail: serving downtown Newark, Branch Brook Park, Belleville, and Bloomfield
New Jersey Transit Hoboken Division: Main Line (to Suffern, and in partnership with MTA/Metro-North, express service to Port Jervis), Bergen County Line, and jointly with MTA/Metro-North, Pascack Valley Line (limited AM inbound and PM outbound service), all via Secaucus Junction; Montclair-Boonton Line and Morris and Essex Lines (with some service via Secaucus Junction as Midtown Direct); North Jersey Coast Line (limited service as Waterfront Connection); Raritan Valley Line (limited service)
New Jersey Transit Newark Division: Northeast Corridor Line, North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line
PATH: 24-hour rapid transit system serving Newark Penn Station (NWK), Journal Square (JSQ), Downtown Jersey City, Hoboken Terminal (HOB), midtown Manhattan (33rd) (along 6th Ave to Herald Square/Pennsylvania Station), and World Trade Center (WTC)
THE Tunnel (see article for details on recent development)

Air

Commercial scheduled passenger service:

Newark Liberty Airport (EWR), New Jersey's largest airport
LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in Flushing, Queens
John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on Jamaica Bay in Queens

General aviation:

Essex County Airport
Greenwood Lake Airport, Passaic County
Linden Airport
Teterboro Airport, Hackensack Meadowlands
Old Bridge Airport
Little Ferry Seaplane Base

Hubs

Bergenline Station
Paterson Broadway Bus Terminal
Hackensack Bus Transfer
Hoboken Terminal-
Exchange Place (Jersey City)
Journal Square Transportation Center
Newark Broad Street Station
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Penn Station
Secaucus Junction

Interstate crossings

Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island
Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth to Staten Island, Interstate 278, Staten Island Expressway
Holland Tunnel in Jersey City to Lower Manhattan, Interstate 78, U.S. Route 1/9
Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken to Midtown Manhattan, NJ 495, Route 3
George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee to Upper Manhattan, Palisades Interstate Parkway, U.S. Route 46, Interstate 95, Interstate 80
Outerbridge Crossing, from Perth Amboy to Staten Island

Major highways

Garden State Parkway
Interstate 78/278
Interstate 80/280
New Jersey Turnpike/Interstate 95/New Jersey Route 495 (formerly an interstate highway)
Palisades Parkway
Pulaski Skyway

Water

NY Waterway operates ferry service, from Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal, Hoboken Terminal, Weehawken Port Imperial, Edgewater Landing and other ferry slips in Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken to Battery Park City Ferry Terminal at World Financial Center and Pier 11 at Wall Street in lower Manhattan, and to West Midtown Ferry Terminal in midtown Manhattan, where free transfer is available to a variety of "loop" buses.
From Liberty State Park Hornblower Cruises operates ferries the Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island and Liberty Water Taxi runs routes to Paulus Hook and World Financial Center.
Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne is one of three passenger terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Seaports

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the nation's third busiest. Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, was the first in the nation to containerize, It and Port Jersey in Bayonne and Jersey City include large segments that are part of Foreign Trade Zone 49.

Media

The Gateway is part of the Greater New York media market.

Newspapers

Many communities have weekly local newspapers specific to their towns, while other daily newspapers have a broader readership and are commonly available in retail shops and for delivery. The following newspapers are daily newspapers serving the Gateway Region market.

Published in New Jersey

Herald News
Home News Tribune
The Jersey Journal
The Record
The Star-Ledger

Published in New York

Daily News
El Diario La Prensa
New York Post
The New York Times

Television

The region has ethnic market stations as well as commercial stations that mainly address the metropolitan New York City market as a whole. The WNJN network for New Jersey PBS affiliate stations provide New Jersey-specific news coverage.

Television stations located in and broadcasting from Gateway:

Cable and satellite

CNBC
TEMPO Networks

VHF stations (analog)

Channel 9: WWOR-TV - (My Network TV) - Secaucus (New York City)
Channel 13: WNET - (PBS) - Newark (New York City)

VHF stations (digital)

Channel 8: WNJB - (PBS) - New Brunswick - "N.J. Public Television"

UHF stations (analog)

Channel 34: WPXO-LD (low power) - (i) - East Orange
Channel 39: WDVB-CA - (The Pentagon Channel) - Edison
Channel 41: WXTV - (Univision) - Paterson (New York City)
Channel 47: WNJU - (Telemundo) - Linden
Channel 50: WNJN - (PBS) - Montclair - "N.J. Public Television"
Channel 58: WNJB - (PBS) - Newark - "N.J. Public Television"
Channel 68: WFUT-TV - (Telefutura) - Newark (New York City)

UHF stations (digital)

Channel 40: WXTV - (Univision) - Paterson (New York City)
Channel 53: WFUT-TV - (Telefutura) - Newark (New York City)
Channel 61: WNET - (PBS) - Newark (New York City)

Cuisine

Language

Annual events

There are re-occurring events throughout the year in the Gateway including street fairs, First Nights, Summer stock theatre, county fairs, fireworks, and other festivals. Among them are:

All Points West Music & Arts Festival
The Bamboozle
Black Maria Film Festival
Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park
Cuban Parade of New Jersey
Philippine Fiesta at Meadowlands Exposition Center
Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival
German-American Volksfest
Hambletonian, the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown, at Meadowlands Racetrack
Hoboken Film Festival
Hudson County Film and Video Festival
Hudson River Waterfront Marathon
Hungarian Festival
Jersey City Pride
Macy's Fireworks Spectacular on Independence Day
Newark Black Film Festival
New Jersey Jewish Film Festival, spring
New Jersey Film Festival
New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Fest
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
New Jersey Folk Festival
Passion Play at Park Theater
Portugal Day Festival also known as Portugal Day Feast or Chop Fest
Rutgers Agricultural Field Day
Santakrusan Procession
State Fair Meadowlands

Exhibitions and performances

Historic sites and exhibitions

The Gateway Region is home to many points of historical interest including districts, private homes, places of worship, train stations, civic and industrial architecture, and structures of engineering significance. The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal national symbols of mass immigration to the United States are all located on the Upper New York Bay. The Edison National Historic Site and the Great Falls of the Passaic River speak to the innovation of the region. Administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, The New Jersey Register of Historic Places, mirrors the National Register of Historic Places, and uses the same criteria for eligibility. Most counties have historical societies and many municipalities assign historic designation or preservation status. The New Jersey Historical Society maintains archives and promotes research. Additionally there are museums with thematic exhibitions.

Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island
Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum
American Labor Museum
Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart
Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey
Fort Lee Historic Park
Hoboken Historical Museum
Lambert Castle Museum
Jewish Museum of New Jersey
Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
Maywood Station Museum
Museum of African American Music (under construction)
New Bridge Landing
New Jersey Naval Museum
Paterson Museum at Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center
Whippany Railway Museum

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hudson County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places listings in Bergen County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places listings in Passaic County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, New Jersey

Science and natural history

AIDS Museum
Liberty Science Center
Nature Center & Observatory at Rifle Camp Park
Newark Museum
New Jersey Museum of Agriculture
Rutgers UniversityGeology Museum
William Miller Sperry Observatory

Visual arts

Albus Cavus
Bergen Museum of Art and Science
Clifton Arts Center & Sculpture Park
Hiram Blauvelt Wildlife Art Museum
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
Jersey City Museum
Jewish Museum of New Jersey
Montclair Art Museum
Newark Museum
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Soviet Nonconformist Art

Music and stage

Located near New York City, many residents and visitors take advantage of and contribute to performances in music, theater, and dance. There are many theater and dance companies throughout the region. Major companies, events, and performance venues include:

Bergen Performing Arts Center
DeBaun Center for Performing Arts
Stephen J. Capestro Theatre
George Street Playhouse
Hudson River Performing Arts Center (proposed)
Kasser Theater
Loew's Jersey Theater
Maxwell's
New Jersey Ballet
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
New Jersey Youth Symphony
New Jersey Youth Symphony
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at nearby Drew University
Newark Symphony Hall
Paper Mill Playhouse
Park Performing Arts Center
Premiere Stages
Players Guild of Leonia
Prudential Center, nicknamed the "Rock",
Meadowlands Stadium and Meadowlands Arena
State Theater
Union City Performing Arts Center
Union County Arts Center
William Carlos Williams Center for the Performing Arts

Sport teams and venues

The Gateway is home to five teams from major professional sports leagues playing in the state (though three teams identify as being from New York) as well as minor league teams. Since the 1970s several new stadiums and arenas have been built mostly near Downtown Newark or as part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which since 2009 can be reached with the Meadowlands Rail Line.

The teams are

National Hockey League-New Jersey Devils
Major League Soccer-New York Red Bulls
Major League Lacrosse-New Jersey Pride and Bergen River Dogs
National Football League-New York Giants and New York Jets
Great Lakes Indoor Football League-New Jersey Revolution
Minor League Baseball teams-New Jersey Jackals, Newark Bears and Bergen Cliff Hawks
Major Indoor Soccer League (2001â€"2008)-New Jersey Ironmen

The venues include:

Bergen Ballpark at the Meadowlands (proposed) at American Dream Meadowlands
Metlife Stadium
Meadowlands Racetrack
Izod Center, commonly called Meadowlands Arena
Riverfront Stadium
Prudential Center, nicknamed the "Rock"
Red Bull Arena
South Mountain Arena

Nature and outdoor recreation

Environmental centers

Flat Rock Brook Nature Center
Liberty State Park Interpretive Center
Meadowlands Environment Center
Nature Center & Observatory at Rifle Camp Park
Tenafly Nature Center
Trailside Nature & Science Center
Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary
Closter Nature Center
James A. McFaul Environmental Center (Wyckoff, New Jersey)
Lorrimer Sanctuary (Franklin Lakes, New Jersey)
Weis Ecology Center (Ringwood, New Jersey)

Horticulture

Branch Brook Park Cherry Blossom Festival
Cora Hartshorn Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary
Durand-Hedden House and Garden
New Jersey State Botanical Garden - Skylands, Ringwood State Park
Presby Memorial Iris Gardens - Montclair
Reeves-Reed Arboretum - Summit
Rutgers Gardens - Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Howard Van Vleck Arboretum - Montclair
Florence and Robert Zuck Arboretum - Drew University, Madsion
Greenwood Gardens

National natural landmarks

Great Falls-Garret Mountain
Great Swamp
Palisades of the Hudson
Pigeon Swamp State Park
Riker Hill Fossil Site

Parks, reserves, and forests

Bergen Parks
Hudson Parks
Essex Parks
Middlesex Parks
Union Parks
Watchung Mountain Reservations
Branch Brook Park
Cheesequake State Park
Eagle Rock Reservation
De Korte Park
Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook
Garret Mountain Reservation
Hackensack RiverWalk
Middlesex Greenway Trail Part of the planned East Coast Greenway trail.
High Mountain Park Preserve
Hudson River Waterfront Walkway
Liberty State Park
Lincoln Park/West Bergen
Mills Reservation
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
Palisades Interstate Park
Ramapo Mountain State Forest
Ringwood Manor State Park
South Mountain Reservation
Wawayanda State Park
Weequahic Park

Zoos

Bergen County Zoological Park
Newark Museum
Turtle Back Zoo

State prisons

Rahway State Prison
Northern State Prison

Superfund sites

Kin-Buc Landfill
Middlesex Sampling Plant

Universities and colleges

Bergen Community College
Berkeley College
Bloomfield College
Caldwell College
Essex County College
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Felician College
Gibbs College
Hudson County Community College

Kean University
Middlesex County College
Montclair State University
New Brunswick Theological Seminary
New Jersey City University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Passaic County Community College
Ramapo College
Raritan Valley Community College

Rutgers University
Saint Peter's College
Seton Hall University
Stevens Institute of Technology
Union County College
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
William Paterson University

References

External links

The Hub of New Jersey: The Gateway Region
Gateway Region Tourism Council
New Jersey Festivals

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