Exploring Edgewater, NJ: A Hidden Gem by the Hudson

Edgewater New Jersey, is the Bergen County borough bordering  Hudson County. It has a completely different vibe than most of Bergen County's more bucolic, and quiet Villages. River Road is the main thoroughfare and basically it is where you go to shop, to eat and maybe, if you have the time, take a walk on the riverwalk.  It was not always like this. Before the massive building of condos and apartments. one could drive on River Road and enjoy the breathtaking New York skyline. and see the Hudson River.  The skyline, by the way, is also not what it used to be. But that is another story. In between then and now there was a lot going on. During the early part of the 20th century, Edgewater became an industrialized little city.  A Ford assembly plant, Alcoa, Valvoline, and the American Can Company all had plants along the shoreline.  It was overwhelming for this tiny borough. Eventually these all closed down due to globalization and obsolete factories. Many of the large vacant lots that we see along River Road were victims of those times. The land became contaminated, and full of PCBs. A lot of clean up has taken place, but it seems there are still "brownfields" along and between the road and the Hudson.

Edgewater was once populated, as was most of Bergen County, by Native Americans, the Lenape. Then, in the 17th century came the colonists. Edgewater was turned into a resort town, a fishing village and an industrialized city.  It had so many different identities. Looking at Edgewater today it is hard to imagine this being called, "a sleepy, bucolic" town.  Now it is a shopping destination. Strip malls, populated by big chain stores. There is Target, the Gap stores, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Mitsuwa, which serves the very large Japanese population, and the many aficionados of Japanese cuisine,   TJ Maxx and on and on.  Every time there is an open space where one is sure that nothing can be built, someone finds a way to build the smallest condo buildings. Parking lots are so tight, one wishes they were on a bike. There is very little thought about population control.  The buses into NYC are overcrowded and very little seems to be being done about it.  The bus lines in the morning are incredibly long.  Last I looked there were still not enough buses to serve this population. I hate thinking about the sewers.

​Aside from the many condos and apartment buildings built on the east side of River Road, and full of mostly new residents, there are the streets sitting high on the West Hill.  These streets were full of older homes, Victorians, Dutch colonials and two family homes. It was the old versus the new. But that seems to be changing and many of the older buildings are being torn down and with glitzy, expensive duplexes replacing them  Gentrification rears its ugly head.  Once again the middle class disappears.

The population of Edgewater is just about the largest in Bergen County, between 14,000 and 15,000 people with almost half being of Japanese descent. So lucky for everyone from near and far, there is Mitsuwa, the great Asian supermarket mentioned above.

Edgewater is full of recreational facilities, beautiful parks catering to young and old. The most astonishing of all is Veteran's Field. Cleaning up the PCB contamination was a huge undertaking and it took years. The park was closed to the public in 2011 and reopened in 2017. The cost, for all, was way into the  millions.  It now has three baseball diamonds, a soccer field, a spray park, a splash pool,  two playgrounds, walking paths, a picnic grove and more.There is also a comfort zone with restrooms.  It is an extraordinary facility for the community.  

Edgewater has some great and diverse restaurants, American fusion, Greek, Tex-Mex, Cuban, and Korean, At many of these you can sit on their patio, at the water's edge, and enjoy the daunting views.

This is a village that is hard to define.  Even calling it a village feels wrong. Too small to be a city, too overcrowded to be a small town, but, it is interesting. Visit and make your own decision.