New Jersey Latin Culture

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Latin New Jersey

New Jersey has many Latin communities. Bergenline is very Latin.

• There is an African American community in Newark, New Jersey. 🇺🇸
• There is Brazilian community in Newark, New Jersey. 🇧🇷
• Metro New York’s largest Cuban community is in Union City, New Jersey. 🇨🇺
• There is a Colombian community in Englewood, New Jersey. 🇨🇴
• There are many Indigenous Lenape communities in New Jersey. The State recognizes the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, Powhatan Renape Nation, and the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation. 🇺🇸
• America’s largest Peruvian community is in Paterson, New Jersey. 🇵🇪
• Metro New York’s largest Portuguese community is in Newark, New Jersey. 🇵🇹

Latin Festivals in New Jersey

• The Portuguese Festival and Portugal Day Parade in Newark, New Jersey is Metro New York’s big Portuguese festival. 🇵🇹
• The Peruvian Parade and Festival in Paterson, New Jersey is America’s largest Peruvian festival. 🇵🇪

Latin Music in New Jersey

• Bergen Performing Arts Center (Bergen PAC) presents Latin music in Englewood, New Jersey.
• New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents Latin dance and music in Newark, New Jersey.
• Prudential Center is an arena that presents Latin music stars in Newark, New Jersey. It is one of the most successful arenas in the entire United States.

Latin Parades in New Jersey

• The Portugal Day Parade in Newark, New Jersey is Metro New York’s big Portuguese festival. 🇵🇹
• The Cuban Parade in Union City is Metro New York’s big Cuban festival. 🇨🇺
• The Peruvian Parade and Festival in Paterson, New Jersey is America’s largest Peruvian festival. 🇵🇪

Latin Sports in New Jersey

• MetLife Stadium hosts international soccer games.
• Red Bull Arena is a state-of-the-art soccer stadium that is the home of the New York Red Bulls (Major League Soccer, MLS) and Gotham FC (National Women’s Soccer League, NWSL).

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New Jersey and New York City

North New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, is part of Metro New York.

New Yorkers like to make fun of New Jersey ~ until they have families and move there. “Bridge and Tunnel” is something in New York City that is popular with the New Jersey crowd. New York City’s 1970s club scene was very bridge and tunnel. Supposedly “real” New Yorkers go out on Thursdays and Mondays to avoid the B&T crowd that comes in on weekends. It’s all nonsense.

Bridges and Tunnels

New Jersey / New York bridges and tunnels include the:

• Lincoln Tunnel between Jersey City and Hudson Square / Tribeca in Lower Manhattan.
• Holland Tunnel between Lincoln Tunnel between Weehawken and Hell’s Kitchen.
• George Washington Bridge between Fort Lee and Washington Heights.

NJ Transit buses connects New Jersey with the Port Authority bus station in Hell’s Kitchen, and the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

NJ Transit and Amtrak trains connect to Pennsylvania Station New York.

PATH trains connect to Hoboken and Jersey City to Manhattan’s West Village and up to 33rd St.

There are also many ferries across the Hudson River, and on the East River to the Jersey Shore.

New Jersey Counties Facing New York City

These counties are on a peninsula formed by the Hackensack River.

• Bergen County starts in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
• Hudson County is Jersey City, Hoboken, and Union City.
• Essex County is centered on Newark, New Jersey.

New Jersey Demographics

New Jersey is about 22% Hispanic, 13% Black, 10% Asian, and 1% Indigenous. It has America’s fifth-largest Latin community.

New Jersey Towns

Bergenline Avenue in Union City and West New York is a very Latin street. It’s like Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. You can find all kinds of things from home there, wherever home used to be.

Paterson is the home of the biggest Peruvian community in the United States. Puerto Rican Salsa Romántica legend Frankie Ruiz was from there. 🇵🇪

Fort Lee, just across the George Washington Bridge is a very nice Korean community. Koreans have strong barbecue traditions so the Korean markets have good meat for parrilla. Celia Cruz and La Lupe both used to live in Fort Lee. Dizzy Gillespie used to live up the road in Englewood. 🇨🇺

Union City is the center of Metro New York’s Cuban community. 🇨🇺

Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood is the center of Metro New York’s Brazilian and Portuguese community. 🇧🇷🇵🇹

Elizabeth is the home of the Ritz Theatre, a restored 1920s movie palace that is booking some great Latin artists.

In Redbank, the Count Basie Theatre books some great Latin artists.