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Cuban coffee windows, salsa from shop doorways and Spanish signs along Bergenline Avenue explain why Union City earned the nickname Havana on the Hudson. Cubans began arriving in the late 1940s for work in the embroidery mills that made this the Embroidery Capital of the United States, and the city still has one of the largest Cuban American communities outside Miami.
Union City was formed in 1925 by merging Union Hill and West Hoboken, two German-settled towns on the Palisades above Hoboken and Weehawken. That earlier era left grand churches such as the former Monastery Church of Saint Michael the Archangel and the 1931 Park Theater, where the nation's longest-running Passion Play is staged every Lent. Vaudeville once thrived here too: George Burns met Gracie Allen at a Union City theater.
Visitors come to eat and shop along Bergenline, pay respects at Celia Cruz Park and catch the Cuban Day Parade each June. Reservoir Park and Washington Park offer green space on the cliff top, and the Lincoln Tunnel puts Midtown Manhattan only minutes away by bus.
Known to Cuban Americans as La Avenida, this narrow one-way street is New Jersey's longest commercial avenue, lined with bakeries, cafeterías, botánicas, bridal shops and discount stores from Union City north into North Bergen. Order a cortadito at a takeout window and walk north from 30th Street.
A small plaza at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue dedicated in 2004 to the Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz, who lived nearby in Fort Lee. It has a sidewalk star in her honor and a mural tracing her career. It is the heart of community celebrations, especially around the June Cuban Day Parade.
A busy five-corner intersection where Summit Avenue meets Paterson Plank Road, named for its old trolley transfers. A 1910 trapezoid-shaped bank building anchors the corner, and the first O'Mahoney lunch wagon, an ancestor of the New Jersey diner, opened here in 1912. Look up at the bank's facade.
Built in 1931 by Holy Family parish, this arts center's 1,400-seat Park Theater stages the country's longest-running Passion Play each Lent, along with concerts, dance and Spanish-language shows the rest of the year. Passion Play performances sell out, so buy tickets early in the season.
The former Monastery and Church of Saint Michael the Archangel on West Street was once the largest Catholic church in Hudson County and is Union City's only National Register landmark. The domed church is now home to Hudson Presbyterian Church. Admire it from the street or attend a Sunday service.
A passive park opened in 2015 around the old Hackensack Reservoir on Palisade Avenue, on the border with Weehawken. Paths circle the water beneath rocky cliffs and trees, making it one of the quietest spots in crowded North Hudson. Hours are limited, so check opening times before you visit.
A 22-acre Hudson County park straddling the border with Jersey City Heights, with sports fields, playgrounds, tennis courts and shaded paths. Before it became a park, the grounds hosted circuses and Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in 1908. Weekday mornings are quiet for a walk or jog.
A central neighborhood park with a playground, ball courts and benches under mature trees, popular with local families on summer evenings. A memorial dedicated in 2022 honors residents lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a pleasant break between Bergenline Avenue shops and Palisade Avenue.
Held each year since 2000, this parade fills Bergenline Avenue with floats, Cuban flags, conga lines and live music as it travels south from North Bergen to finish in Union City. Spectators line the sidewalks for hours. Arrive early for a curbside spot and use transit, as streets close.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
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Photo: Nightscream, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
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Photo: Luigi Novi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
