Hudson County, New Jersey

Hudson County is a Democratic stronghold. It has only supported a Republican for president six times since 1896, all in large victories for Republicans nationwide. However, Democratic vote share and margins have been shrinking since 2016. In 2024, the Democratic margin was the smallest since 1992, and Democrats' 62.34% was the lowest for the party since 1992 as well. The county has backed a Republican for governor twice in its history. As of October 1, 2021, there were a total of 418,233 registered voters in Hudson County, of whom 230,912 (55.2%) were registered as Democrats, 44,736 (10.7%) were registered as Republicans and 136,327 (32.6%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 6,258 voters (1.5%) registered to other parties.

State elections

Municipalities

There are 12 municipalities in Hudson County, listed with area in square miles and 2010 Census data for population and housing. North Hudson and West Hudson each comprise municipalities in their distinct areas.

thumb|upright=1.15|left|Hudson County municipalities index map

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Municipality

! Map key

! Mun. type

! Pop.

! Housing units

! Total area

! Water area

! Land area

! Pop. density

! Housing density

! School district

|Bayonne || 1 || city || 71,686 || 27,799 || 11.08 || 5.28 || 5.80 || 10,858.3 || 4,789.4 || Bayonne

|East Newark || 10 || borough || 2,594 || 794 || 0.12 || 0.02 || 0.10 || 23,532.1 || 7,765.8 || Harrison (9–12) (S/R) East Newark (K-8)

|Guttenberg || 6 || town || 12,017 || 4,839 || 0.24 || 0.05 || 0.20 || 57,116.0 || 24,730.2 || North Bergen (9–12) (S/R) Guttenberg (PK-8)

|Harrison || 9 || town || 19,450 || 5,228 || 1.32 || 0.12 || 1.20 || 11,319.3 || 4,344.9 || Harrison

|Hoboken || 3 || city || 60,419 || 26,855 || 2.01 || 0.74 || 1.28 || 39,212.0 || 21,058.7 || Hoboken

|Jersey City || 2 || city || 292,449 || 108,720 || 21.08 || 6.29 || 14.79 || 16,736.6 || 7,349.1 || Jersey City

|Kearny || 8 || town || 41,999 || 14,180 || 10.19 || 1.42 || 8.77 || 4,636.5 || 1,616.0 || Kearny

|North Bergen || 11 || township || 63,361 || 23,912 || 5.57 || 0.44 || 5.13 || 11,838.0 || 4,657.8 || North Bergen

|Secaucus || 7 || town || 22,181 || 6,846 || 6.60 || 0.78 || 5.82 || 2,793.7 || 1,175.9 || Secaucus

|Union City || 4 || city || 68,589 || 24,931 || 1.28 || 0.00 || 1.28 || 51,810.1 || 19,436.9 || Union City

|Weehawken || 12 || township || 17,197 || 6,213 || 1.48 || 0.68 || 0.80 || 15,764.6 || 7,801.9 || Weehawken

|West New York || 5 || town || 52,912 || 20,018 || 1.33 || 0.32 || 1.01 || 49,341.7 || 19,870.5 || West New York

|Hudson County || || county || 724,854 || 270,335 || 62.31 || 16.12 || 46.19 || 13,731.4 || 5,852.5 ||

Education

Tertiary education

thumb|upright|Edwin A. Stevens Building at the [[Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken]]

The colleges and universities in Hudson County are Hudson County Community College (HCCC), New Jersey City University (NJCU), Saint Peter's University (all in Jersey City) and Stevens Institute of Technology (in Hoboken). Rutgers University also offers classes within the county. The Christ Hospital School of Nursing was established in 1890 and has run a cooperative program with HCCC since 1999. As of 2014, it was set to merge with the Bayonne Medical Center School of Nursing.

School districts

Each municipality has a public school district. All but two have their own public high schools. East Newark students attend Harrison High School and Guttenberg students attend North Bergen High School. Hudson County Schools of Technology is a public secondary and adult vocational-technical school with locations in Secaucus, Jersey City, Union City and Harrison. There are public and private elementary and secondary schools located throughout Hudson, many of which are members of the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association.

School districts, all classified as K-12 (except as indicated), include:

Bayonne School District
East Newark School District (K–8)
Guttenberg Public School District (K–8)
Harrison Public Schools
Hoboken Public Schools
Hudson County Schools of Technology (9–12)
Jersey City Public Schools
Kearny School District
North Bergen School District
Secaucus Public Schools
Union City School District
Weehawken School District
West New York School District

Transportation

The confluence of roads and railways of the Northeastern U.S. megalopolis and Northeast Corridor passing through Hudson County make it one of the Northeast's major transportation crossroads and provide access to an extensive network of interstate highways, state freeways and toll roads, and vehicular water crossings. Many long-distance trains and buses pass through the county, though Amtrak and the major national bus companies – Greyhound Lines and Trailways – do not provide service within it. There are many local, intrastate, and Manhattan-bound bus routes, an expanding light rail system, ferries traversing the Hudson, and commuter trains to North Jersey, the Jersey Shore, and Trenton. Much of the rail, surface transit, and ferry system is oriented to commuters traveling to Newark, lower and midtown Manhattan, and the Hudson Waterfront. Public transportation is operated by a variety of public and private corporations, notably NJ Transit, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and NY Waterway, each of which charge customers separately for their service. Hudson is the only county in New Jersey where more residents (127,708) used public transportation than drove (124,772).

Hubs

Hoboken Terminal, Bergenline Avenue at 32nd Street, 48th Street, and Nungessers in North Hudson, and Journal Square Transportation Center and Exchange Place in Jersey City are major public transportation hubs. The Port Authority Bus Terminal and New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and Newark Penn Station also play important roles within the county's transportation network. Secaucus Junction provides access to eight commuter rail lines.

Rail

thumb|left|[[Bergenline Avenue (HBLR station)|Bergenline Station at 49th Street between Bergenline Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard at the border of Union City, West New York and North Bergen]]

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail serves Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, and North Hudson at the Weehawken waterfront, Bergenline Avenue and Tonnelle Avenue.
NJ 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, all via Secaucus Junction; Montclair-Boonton Line and Morris and Essex Lines; North Jersey Coast Line (limited service as Waterfront Connection); Raritan Valley Line (limited service), and Meadowlands Rail Line
Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne is one of three passenger terminals in the port.
Port Jersey is one of four container shipping terminals in the port.

Roads and highways

, the county had a total of of roadways, of which are maintained by the local municipality, by Hudson County, by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Major highways include New Jersey Routes 3, 7, 139, 185, 440, 495, Interstates 78, 95, and 280, and U.S. Routes 1/9 and 1/9 Truck, as well as the New Jersey Turnpike and the Pulaski Skyway. Automobile access to New York City is available through the Lincoln Tunnel (via Weehawken to Midtown Manhattan) and the Holland Tunnel (via Jersey City to Lower Manhattan), and over the Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island. County Route 501 runs the length of Hudson as Kennedy Boulevard.

In 2013, two main thoroughfares in Hudson County, Kennedy Boulevard and U.S. Route 1/9, were included among the Tri-State Transportation Campaign's list of the top ten most dangerous roads for pedestrians in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Kennedy Boulevard was ranked #6 for the six pedestrian fatalities that occurred on it from 2009 to 2011, while Route 1/9 was tied for the #10 place on the list for the five pedestrian deaths during the same period. Route 1/9 is monitored by state police, while Kennedy Boulevard is patrolled by the Hudson County Sheriff's Office and the respective municipalities through which that road runs. In total, 37 pedestrians – 12 in 2009, 14 in 2010 and 11 in 2011 – were killed on Hudson County roads. According to state police statistics there were nine pedestrian fatalities in the county in 2012, which was not included in the study. From 2010 through 2012, 25 people were killed each year in Hudson County motor vehicle accidents.

Air

Most airports which serve Hudson County are operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), away in Newark, is the closest airport with scheduled passenger service.
LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is away in Flushing, Queens.
John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) is away on Jamaica Bay in Queens.
Teterboro Airport, in the Hackensack Meadowlands, serves private and corporate planes.
Essex County Airport, in Fairfield, is a general aviation airport serving the region.

Parks and points of interest

The Hudson County Park System includes Hudson County Park, Mercer Park, Lincoln Park, Washington Park, Columbus Park, and North Hudson Park, West Hudson Park and the newest, Laurel Hill. Some of the city's municipal parks and plazas, were developed as "city squares" during the 19th century, such as Hamilton Park, Church Square Park and Ellsworth (locally known as Pigeon) Park.

The German-American Volksfest has taken place annually since 1874 at Schuetzen Park This private park and the many nearby cemeteries-Flower Hill Cemetery, Grove Church Cemetery, Hoboken Cemetery, Macphelah Cemetery and Weehawken Cemetery that characterize the western slope create the "green lung" of North Hudson County.

thumb|right|[[Jersey City Reservoir No. 3]]

Jersey City Reservoir No. 3 and Pershing Field constitute one of the largest "green spaces" in the county. The reservoir, no longer in use, is site of a passive recreation area/nature preserve. Hackensack Number Two, the other remaining reservoir in Weehawken Heights, is not accessible to the public. Extensive athletic fields opened in 2009 in Weehawken and Union City, the latter on the site of the former Roosevelt Stadium.

Promenades are being developed along the rivers. The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway and Hackensack RiverWalk. Sections of the Secaucus Greenway are in place and eventually will connect different districts of the town including the North End, site Schmidts Woods (which contains an original hard wood forest) and Mill Creek Point Park, and Harmon Meadow Plaza. Kearny Riverbank Park runs along the Passaic River. The future of the Harsimus Stem Embankment is uncertain, though many community groups hope the landmark will be opened to the public as elevated greenway, possibly as part of East Coast Greenway.

Liberty State Park, the county's largest, is sited on land that had once been part of a vast oyster bed, was filled in for industrial, rail, and maritime uses, and was reclaimed in the 1970s. Ellis Island and Liberty Island, a national protected area and home to the Statue of Liberty National Monument, lie entirely within Hudson's waters across from Liberty State Park, from which ferry service is available.

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission has designated several areas within its jurisdiction as wetlands preservation zones including the Riverbend Wetlands Preserve, Eastern Brackish Marsh, and Kearny Marsh, an extension of De Korte Park, home of the Meadowlands Environment Center.

Hudson County is home to Skyway Golf Course, the 8th ranked 9 hole golf course in the country (Golf Advisor 2019), Bayonne Golf Club and Liberty National Golf Club, ball located on Upper New York Bay.

See Historic districts in Hudson County, New Jersey
See Odonyms in Hudson County, New Jersey
See List of cemeteries in Hudson County, New Jersey
See List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey
See List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey

Museums, galleries, exhibitions

thumb|[[Liberty Science Center in Liberty State Park, Jersey City]]

There are several museums and other exhibitions spaces throughout the county, some of which maintain permanent collections. Other are focused on local culture, history, or the environment. There are events throughout the year where architecture, local artists or ethnic culture are highlighted. There are also private galleries. The venues include:

Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum
Bayonne Community Museum
Bayonne Firefighter's Museum
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
Cultural Thread/El Hilo, history, diversity and craft of embroidery
Danforth Avenue Station, excavated objects
Dixon Mills, site of the former Joseph Dixon Crucible Company
Drawing Rooms, a contemporary art center and gallery in a former convent in downtown Jersey City
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Five Corners Branch Library Gallery, specializing in music and fine arts
Hoboken Artists Studio Tour
Hoboken Fire Department Museum
Hoboken Historical Museum, history and local contemporary artists
Hoboken House Tour, private and public buildings shown annually in October
Hoboken Public Library, local history and local artists
Hudson County Courthouse, permanent murals depicting early history and contemporary work
Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, displays, plaques, panels of history of environment and development
Kearny Museum
Hudson County YAM
Jersey City Artists Studio Tour
Jersey City Museum
Liberty Science Center, science education, environment, health, invention
Liberty State Park, interpretive center, nature and urban environment
Museum of Russian Art
New Jersey Room of Jersey City Public Library Main Branch, public archives including historical documents and photos
Mana Contemporary
Martin Luther King Station, memorial to civil rights leader and movement
Meadowlands Exposition Center, trade shows and cultural fairs
Monroe Center
New Jersey City University
Lemmerman Gallery
Visual Arts Gallery
Sculpture Garden
Saints Peter's College Art Gallery
Statue of Liberty National Monument
William V. Musto Cultural Center

References

External links

Hudson County Government
Hudson County Directory
Hudson Historic Sites and Districts