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TOM BROSSFrom its historic neighborhoods to a revitalized downtown, the city has undergone a makeover.
NEWARK, N.J. - Arrufadas. Serradura. Massa Folhada. Castanhas de Ovos. Which to choose?
I'm in Coutinho's pastelaria, scanning a display case filled with about four-dozen types of bakery delicacies, each with a neatly scripted name card. But I forgot my Portuguese-English dictionary, and the aproned ladies behind the counter are too busy with Sunday's after-church crowd to do any translating.
So I just point at a card inscribed "Bolo de Cenoura." Lucky guess, for that turns out to be a tasty, icing-topped wedge of carrot cake. With a cup of strong coffee, I sat at one of the bakery's little tables and have a pleasant late-morning break.
Here, in Newark's Ironbound neighborhood, the Ferry Street signposts are subtitled Portugal Avenue. Vendors sell copies of the Luso Americano newspaper. New bossa nova and samba CDs draw customers to the Impacto music store.
Dominating Raymond Plaza, Art Deco-style Penn Station separates Ferry Street's starting point from Newark's downtown core. In fact, it is an encirclement of railroad tracks that accounts for the Ironbound nickname.
The neighborhood is sometimes called Down Neck because it borders a sharp-curving "neck" of the Passaic River.
Local industry, from Benjamin Moore paints and Ballantine's beer to finely crafted Tiffany sterling-silver jewelry, meant work for Italian, German, Polish and Irish immigrants. They settled into double-decker Ironbound houses during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The neighborhood's predominant Portuguese flair dates from the 1970s. Brazilian families, also speaking Portuguese, began arriving later.
Commerce and venues new and old
This exuberant east-end section of New Jersey's biggest city covers merely 2.5 square miles, compact enough for a leisurely walkabout. What's to be seen includes Brasileiro cafes and clothing stores, the Riviera pastry and coffee shop (directly across Ferry Street from Coutinho's and just as crowded on Sunday mornings) and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic church.
Close to Penn Station, Progress Street's Sagres Bar & Grill - embellished with a Portuguese navigator's mural - competes with Ferry Street's Vila Nova as an essential gathering place for chitchat and food. Among the dishes: solha grelhada (grilled flounder), frango frito (fried chicken), bife (beef choices) and polvo a lagareiro (octopus and potatoes). Thin-sliced picanha barbecued sandwiches are lunchtime favorites.
The Passaic flows past Riverbank Park. Four blocks away, Independence Park interrupts the Ironbound's tight street grid. Both swatches of greenery become launching pads for a rollicking, flag-waving, Portuguese Festival (June 12 and 13 this year).
Over on the downtown side of Raymond Plaza and Penn Station, Gateway Center typifies Newark's revitalization. Passengers disembarking at the Station from a train or bus need only look up to view a Hilton hotel, sleek office buildings and the Seton Hall Law School complex.
But the "new Newark" really shines over toward the Broad Street side of Military Park. I walked that way for a concert at the magnificent New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Completed seven years ago, it is a modernistic, acoustically fine-tuned showplaces.
A few blocks from there, the Newark Museum has been a cultural stalwart since opening in 1909. This landmark exhibits the largest collection of Tibetan art in the Western world; the Dalai Lama consecrated an ancient Buddhist altar. The "Picturing America" galleries are significant, too, encompassing 18th- to 20th-century paintings and sculptures.
The museum includes a planetarium, garden walkways leading to an authentic Early American schoolhouse and even a kid-friendly mini-zoo.
People who'd willingly swap concert halls and museums for recreation appreciate north-side Newark's Branch Brook Park, 4 miles long. That's ideal terrain for inline skating (rentals available). With or without wheels on your feet, Essex County's Olmsted-designed open space becomes a "must-see" each April, when about 3,000 Japanese cherry trees reach their full bloom.
"Wall Street West"
Eastward across Newark Bay, N.J. Transit's Hudson-Bergen light-rail line connects Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken. Skyscrapers clustered around Jersey City's Exchange Place house financial-services companies that moved from Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of 9/11. An evocative, flower-bedecked memorial to that tragedy has been installed on a Hudson River plaza.
A walkable distance away, studios and lofts fill Lorillard's immense 19th-century Tobacco & Snuff Manufactory. It dominates Jersey City's Powerhouse Arts District, buzzing with creativity the past 15 years.
Reachable via the light-rail loop, Liberty State Park includes an interactive science center and overlooks two icons: Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Exploring formerly blue-collar Hoboken, I saw Hudson Street brownstones being rehabbed into restaurants and boutiques on Washington Street. The Hoboken Shipyard, where On the Waterfront was filmed, has been rebuilt as a swanky condo complex with great views of midtown Manhattan.
The riverfront road has a familiar name: Frank Sinatra Drive commemorates Hoboken's most famous "born-right-here" personality.
- Freelance writer Tom Bross can take a train from his home in Boston to Newark's Penn Station.
If you go
GETTING THERE: US Airways, Continental and Northwest airlines offer direct service, and several other airlines offer connecting service, from Tampa International Airport to Newark.
FOR MORE INFORAMTION: Gateway Tourism Council & Convention Bureau provides information on the Newark-Jersey City Hoboken metro region; call toll-free 1-877-428-3930 or go to www.visitnj.org