New Brunswick is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Middlesex County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

.New Jersey County Map
,

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

. Accessed July 10, 2017. A regional commercial hub for

Central New Jersey Central Jersey, or Central New Jersey, is the middle region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation Central Jersey is a distinct administrative division, administrative toponymy, toponym. While New Jersey is often divided into North Je ...

, the city is both a

college town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

(the main campus of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, the state's largest university) and a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for residents commuting to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

within the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. New Brunswick is on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of

. The city is located on the southern banks of the

Raritan River The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the North Jersey, northern and Central Jersey, central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near ...

in the heart of the Raritan Valley Region. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,266, an increase of 85 (+0.2%) from the 2010 census count of 55,181, which in turn reflected an increase of 6,608 (+13.6%) from the 48,573 counted in the 2000 census. The

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

Population Estimates Program The Population Estimates Program (PEP) is a program of the U.S. Census Bureau that publishes annual population estimates and estimates of birth, death, and international migration rates for people in the United States. In addition to publishing t ...

calculated a population of 55,846 for 2023, making it the 719th-most populous municipality in the nation.Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 20,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2023 Population: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, released May 2024. Accessed May 30, 2024. Note that townships (including Edison, Lakewood and Woodbridge, all of which have larger populations) are excluded from these rankings. Due to the concentration of medical facilities in the area, including Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

, and Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick is known as both the ''Hub City'' and the ''Healthcare City''. The corporate headquarters and production facilities of several global

pharmaceutical companies The pharmaceutical industry is a Medicine, medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or Self-medicate, self-administered b ...

are situated in the city, including

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

and

Bristol Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Trade name, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies ...

. New Brunswick has evolved into a major center for the sciences, arts, and

cultural activities Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

. Downtown New Brunswick is developing a growing

skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

, filling in with new high-rise towers. New Brunswick is noted for its

ethnic diversity Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various ...

. At one time, one-quarter of the Hungarian population of New Jersey resided in the city, and in the 1930s one out of three city residents was Hungarian. The Hungarian community continues as a cohesive community, with the 3,200 Hungarian residents accounting for 8% of the population of New Brunswick in 1992. Growing Asian and

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

communities have developed around French Street near Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

History

Etymology

The area around present-day New Brunswick was first inhabited by the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Native Americans, whose Minisink Trail intersected the

and followed a route that would be taken by later colonial roads. The first European settlement at the site of New Brunswick was made in 1681. The settlement here was called ''Prigmore's Swamp'' (1681–1697), then known as ''Inian's Ferry'' (1691–1714). In 1714, the settlement was given the name New Brunswick, after the city of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

(''Brunswick'' in

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

), in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, now located in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Braunschweig was an influential and powerful city in the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

and was an administrative seat for the Duchy of Hanover. Shortly after the first settlement of New Brunswick in colonial New Jersey, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover, became

King George I of Great Britain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...

. Alternatively, the city gets its name from King

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; ; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Em ...

, the

Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Colonial and Early American periods

Centrally located between

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

along an early thoroughfare known as the ''King's Highway'' and situated along the

, New Brunswick became an important hub for Colonial travelers and traders. New Brunswick was incorporated as a town in 1736 and chartered as a city in 1784. It was incorporated into a town in 1798 as part of the

Township Act of 1798 The Township Act of 1798 ("An Act incorporating the Inhabitants of Townships, designating their Powers, and regulating their Meetings", PL 1798, p. 289) is an Act passed by New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, that formally incorporat ...

. It was occupied by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in the winter of 1776–1777 during the Revolutionary War. The ''

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

'' received one of its first public readings, by Colonel John Neilson in New Brunswick on July 9, 1776, in the days following its promulgation by the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

. A bronze statue marking the event was dedicated on July 9, 2017, in Monument Square, in front of the Heldrich Hotel. The Trustees of Queen's College (now

), founded in 1766, voted by a margin of ten to seven in 1771 to locate the young college in New Brunswick, selecting the city over Hackensack, in

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Matthew Leydt, and several freshmen at a tavern called the 'Sign of the Red Lion' on the corner of Albany and Neilson Streets (now the grounds of the

corporate headquarters); Leydt would become the university's first graduate in 1774 when he was the only member of the graduating class. The Sign of the Red Lion was purchased on behalf of Queens College in 1771, and later sold to the estate of Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh in 1791. Classes were held through the American Revolution in various taverns and boarding houses, and at a building known as ''College Hall'' on George Street, until

Old Queens Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, w ...

was completed and opened in 1811. It remains the oldest building on the Rutgers University campus."Old Queens Reigns at Rutgers for 200 Years The university celebrates the state's oldest, intact higher education building"
, ''Rutgers Today'', April 27, 2009. Accessed December 12, 2019. "The cornerstone of Old Queens was laid April 27, 1809. The building originally housed the university's preparatory school, college and theological seminary as well as residential units for faculty. Old Queens is now occupied by Rutgers’ central administrative offices." The Queen's College Grammar School (now

Rutgers Preparatory School Rutgers Preparatory School (also known as Rutgers Prep or RPS) is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1766. The school educates students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located on a campus along t ...

) was established also in 1766, and shared facilities with the college until 1830, when it located in a building (now known as

Alexander Johnston Hall Alexander Johnston Hall is a historic building located on the corner of Somerset Street and College Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey and is the second oldest building on ...

) across College Avenue from Old Queens. After Rutgers University became the state university of New Jersey in 1945, the Trustees of Rutgers divested itself of Rutgers Preparatory School, which relocated in 1957 to an estate purchased from

Colgate-Palmolive The Colgate-Palmolive Company, commonly known as Colgate-Palmolive, is an American multinational corporation, multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in ...

in Franklin Township in neighboring Somerset County. The

New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was fo ...

, founded in 1784 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, moved to New Brunswick in 1810, sharing its quarters with the fledgling Queen's College. (Queen's closed from 1810 to 1825 due to financial problems, and reopened in 1825 as Rutgers College.)''2016–17 Academic Catalog''
,

. Accessed August 29, 2017. "In 1796, the school moved to Brooklyn and in 1810 to New Brunswick, to serve better the church and its candidates for ministry. Since 1856, New Brunswick Seminary has carried on its life and work on its present New Brunswick campus." The Seminary, due to overcrowding and differences over the mission of Rutgers College as a secular institution, moved to a tract of land covering located less than to the west, which it still occupies, although the land is now in the middle of Rutgers University's College Avenue Campus. New Brunswick was formed by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

on December 30, 1730, within other townships in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

counties and was reformed by royal charter with the same boundaries on February 12, 1763, at which time it was divided into north and south wards. New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an act of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

on September 1, 1784.Snyder, John P
''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 171. Accessed May 30, 2024. Old Queens, New Brunswick, NJ - looking north, 2014.jpg,

, the oldest building at Rutgers University New Brunswick 393262530.jpg, Building the Streetcar line, Raritan River, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1903).jpeg, Albany Street Bridge, 1903 Aero view of New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1910 (cropped).png, Aerial view of New Brunswick, 1910

African-American community

Slavery in New Brunswick

The existence of an African-American community in New Brunswick dates back to the 18th century, when racial slavery was a part of life in the city and the surrounding area. Local slaveholders routinely bought and sold African American children, women, and men in New Brunswick in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century. In this period, the Market-House was the center of commercial life in the city. It was located at the corner of Hiram Street and Queen Street (now Neilson Street) adjacent to the Raritan Wharf. The site was a place where residents of New Brunswick sold and traded their goods which made it an integral part of the city's economy. The Market-House also served as a site for regular slave auctions and sales. By the late-eighteenth century, New Brunswick became a hub for newspaper production and distribution. ''The Fredonian'', a popular newspaper, was located less than a block away from the aforementioned Market-House and helped facilitate commercial transactions. A prominent part of the local newspapers were sections dedicated to private owners who would advertise their slaves for sale. The trend of advertising slave sales in newspapers shows that the New Brunswick residents typically preferred selling and buying slaves privately and individually rather than in large groups. The majority of individual advertisements were for female slaves, and their average age at the time of the sale was 20 years old, which was considered the prime age for childbearing. Slave owners would get the most profit from the women who fit into this category because these women had the potential to reproduce another generation of enslaved workers. Additionally, in the urban environment of New Brunswick, there was a high demand for domestic labor, and female workers were preferred for cooking and housework tasks. The

passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1804. Under the provisions of this law, children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1804, would serve their master for a term of 21 years (for girls) or a term of 25 years (for boys), and after this term, they would gain their freedom. However, all individuals who were enslaved before July 4, 1804, would continue to be slaves for life and would never attain freedom under this law. New Brunswick continued to be home to enslaved African Americans alongside a growing community of free people of color. The

1810 United States census The 1810 United States census was the third census conducted in the United States. It was conducted on August 6, 1810. It showed that 7,239,881 people were living in the United States, of whom 1,191,362 were slaves. The 1810 census included one ...

listed 53 free Blacks and 164 slaves in New Brunswick.''New Jersey's African American Tour Guide''
, New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth Commission. Accessed December 17, 2014. "At the southern edge of the Gateway Region is New Brunswick, a town with much culture to offer and African American history to explore. African Americans were living here as far back as 1790, and by 1810, the Census listed 53 free Blacks—and 164 slaves—out of the 469 families then living in town. One of the state's oldest Black churches, Mt. Zion A.M.E., at 25 Division Street, was founded in 1825."

African American spaces and institutions in the early 19th century

By the 1810s, some free African Americans lived in a section of the city called Halfpenny Town, which was located along the

by the east side of the city, near Queen (now Neilson) Street. Halfpenny Town was a place populated by free blacks as well as poorer whites who did not own slaves. This place was known as a social gathering for free blacks that was not completely influenced by white scrutiny and allowed free blacks to socialize among themselves. This does not mean that it was free from white eyes and was still under the negative effects of the slavery era. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, White and either free or enslaved African Americans shared many of the same spaces in New Brunswick, particularly places of worship. The First Presbyterian Church, Christ Church, and First Reformed Church were popular among both Whites and Blacks, and New Brunswick was notable for its lack of spaces where African Americans could congregate exclusively. Most of the time Black congregants of these churches were under the surveillance of Whites. That was the case until the creation of the African Association of New Brunswick in 1817. Both free and enslaved African Americans were active in the establishment of the African Association of New Brunswick, whose meetings were first held in 1817. The African Association of New Brunswick held a meeting every month, mostly in the homes of free blacks. Sometimes these meetings were held at the First Presbyterian Church. Originally intended to provide financial support for the African School of New Brunswick, the African Association grew into a space where blacks could congregate and share ideas on a variety of topics such as religion, abolition and colonization. Slaves were required to obtain a pass from their owner in order to attend these meetings. The African Association worked closely with Whites and was generally favored amongst White residents who believed it would bring more racial peace and harmony to New Brunswick. The African Association of New Brunswick established the African School in 1822. The African School was first hosted in the home of Caesar Rappleyea in 1823. The school was located on the upper end of Church Street in the downtown area of New Brunswick about two blocks away from the jail that held escaped slaves. Both free and enslaved Blacks were welcome to be members of the School. Reverend Huntington (pastor of the First Presbyterian Church) and several other prominent Whites were trustees of the African Association of New Brunswick. These trustees supported the Association which made some slave owners feel safe sending their slaves there by using a permission slip process. The main belief of these White supporters was that Blacks were still unfit for American citizenship and residence, and some trustees were connected with the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn peop ...

that advocated for the migration of free African Americans to Africa. The White trustees only attended some of the meetings of the African Association, and the Association was still unprecedented as a space for both enslaved and free Blacks to get together while under minimal supervision by Whites. The African Association appears to have disbanded after 1824. By 1827, free and enslaved Black people in the city, including Joseph and Jane Hoagland, came together to establish the Mount Zion

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

and purchased a plot of land on Division Street for the purpose of erecting a church building. This was the first African American church in Middlesex County. The church had approximately 30 members in its early years. The church is still in operation and is currently located at 39 Hildebrand Way. The street Hildebrand Way is named after the late Rev. Henry Alphonso Hildebrand, who was pastor of Mount Zion AME for 37 years, which is the longest appointment received by a pastor at Mount Zion AME. Records from the April 1828 census, conducted by the New Brunswick Common Council, state that New Brunswick was populated with 4,435 white residents and 374 free African Americans. The enslaved population of New Brunswick in 1828 consisted of 57 slaves who must serve for life and 127 slaves eligible for emancipation at age 21 or 25 due to the 1804 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. Free and enslaved African Americans accounted for 11% of New Brunswick's population in 1828, a relatively high percentage for New Jersey. By comparison, as of the 1830 United States census, African Americans made up approximately 6.4% of the total population of New Jersey.

Jail and curfew in the 19th century

In 1824, the New Brunswick Common Council adopted a curfew for free people of color. Free African Americans were not allowed to be out after 10 pm on Saturday night. The Common Council also appointed a committee of white residents who were charged with rounding up and detaining free African Americans who appeared to be out of place according to white authorities. New Brunswick became a notorious city for slave hunters, who sought to enforce the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was a law passed by the 31st United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one ...

. Strategically located on the Raritan River, the city was also a vital hub for New Jersey's

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. For runaway slaves in New Jersey, it served as a favorable route for those heading to New York and Canada. When African Americans tried to escape either to or from New Brunswick, they had a high likelihood of getting discovered and captured and sent to New Brunswick's jail, which was located on Prince Street, which by now is renamed Bayard Street.

Hungarian community

New Brunswick has been described as the nation's "most Hungarian city", with Hungarian immigrants arriving in the city as early as 1888 and accounting for almost 20% of the city's population in 1915. Hungarians were primarily attracted to the city by employment at Johnson & Johnson factories located in the city. Hungarians settled mainly in what today is the Fifth Ward and businesses were established to serve the needs of the Hungarian community that weren't being met by mainstream businesses. The immigrant population grew until the end of the immigration boom in the early 20th century. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the community was revitalized by the decision to process the tens of thousands refugees who came to the United States from the failed

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp in Central New Jersey that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Tra ...

, in nearby Edison. Even though the Hungarian population has been largely supplanted by newer immigrants, there continues to be a Hungarian Festival in the city held on Somerset Street on the first Saturday of June each year; the 44th annual event was held in 2019. Many Hungarian institutions set up by the community remain and are active in the neighborhood, including: Magyar Reformed Church, Ascension Lutheran Church, St. Ladislaus Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church, Hungarian American Athletic Club, Aprokfalva Montessori Preschool, Széchenyi Hungarian Community School & Kindergarten, Teleki Pál Scout Home, Hungarian American Foundation, Vers Hangja, Hungarian Poetry Group, Bolyai Lecture Series on Arts and Sciences, Hungarian Alumni Association, Hungarian Radio Program, Hungarian Civic Association, Committee of Hungarian Churches and Organizations of New Brunswick, and Csűrdöngölő Folk Dance Ensemble. Several landmarks in the city also testify to its Hungarian heritage. There is a street and a park named after

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (; ; ; ; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman and governor-president of the Kingdom of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, r ...

, one of the leaders of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

. The corner of Somerset Street and Plum Street is named Mindszenty Square where the first ever statue of Cardinal József Mindszenty was erected.Zinsmeister, James A
"New Brunswick Journal; Where Hungarian Pride Lives On"
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', June 28, 1992. Accessed December 12, 2019. "On one corner, a statue of Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, the late, beloved primate of Hungary, rises amid flowers before a large blue spruce. Across the way, a small granite monument bears a newly burnished bronze plaque that commemorates the Hungarian revolution.... While it is difficult to determine precisely how many Hungarian-Americans live in New Brunswick, Dr. August Molnar, director of the Hungarian Heritage Center, estimates that 3,200 do. That represents about 8 percent of the city's population, down from nearly 10 percent in 1980." A stone memorial to the victims of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution stands nearby.

Latino community

In the 2010 Census, about 50% of New Brunswick's population is self-identified as Hispanic, the 14th highest percentage among municipalities in New Jersey. Since the 1960s, many of the new residents of New Brunswick have come from Latin America. Many citizens moved from Puerto Rico in the 1970s. In the 1980s, many immigrated from the Dominican Republic, and still later from Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico.

Demolition, revitalization, and redevelopment

New Brunswick Gateway Project construction

New Brunswick is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority. Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within a half-mile of a train station are eligible for pro-rated

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "dis ...

. New Brunswick contains a number of examples of

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

in the United States. In the 1960s–1970s, the downtown area experienced

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

as middle class residents moved to newer suburbs surrounding the city, an example of the phenomenon known as "

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

." Beginning in 1975,

and the city's government collaborated through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to form the New Brunswick Development Company (DevCo), with the goal of revitalizing the city center and redeveloping neighborhoods considered to be blighted and dangerous (via demolition of existing buildings and construction of new ones). Johnson & Johnson announced in 1978 that they would remain in New Brunswick and invest $50 million to build a new world headquarters building in the area between Albany Street, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Route 18, and George Street, requiring many old buildings and historic roads to be removed. The Hiram Market area, a historic district that by the 1970s had become a mostly Puerto Rican and Dominican-American neighborhood, was demolished to build a

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

hotel and conference center, and upscale housing. Johnson & Johnson guaranteed the investment made by Hyatt Hotels, as they were wary of building an upscale hotel in a run-down area. Devco, the hospitals, and the city government have drawn ire from both

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

ists, those opposing

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

and those concerned with

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

abuses and tax abatements for developers. New Brunswick is home to the main campus of

and

, which in 1983 constructed its new

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in the city.Courtney, Marian
"Corporate Offices: New State Image"
, ''

'' October 23, 1983. Accessed December 12, 2019. "When Johnson & Johnson decided to build its new world headquarters in the city where it had been lodged for almost 100 years, it assumed a leadership role in New Brunswick Tomorrow, the government-industry alliance that is rebuilding a deteriorating central business district."Lane, Alexander
"Time to turn another corner; Next generation of builders has designs on New Brunswick"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'', June 30, 2002, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

as of November 9, 2014. Accessed December 12, 2019. Both work with Devco in a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sectors, private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Revie ...

to redevelop downtown, particularly regarding

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...

.Nurin, Tara
"Explainer: How Downtown New Brunswick Has Emerged from Its Doldrums"
, NJ Spotlight, January 13, 2015. Accessed December 13, 2019. "Now, however, Rutgers, the New Brunswick Development Corp. (Devco), the mayor's office, and influential private firms are redrawing the residential, academic and commercial landscape of the greater downtown area. They're building on the success of earlier urban-renewal projects; Rutgers’ rise in national academic and athletic standings; millennials’ desire for transit-friendly live-work-play destinations; and powerful economic incentives." Boraie Development, a real estate development firm based in New Brunswick, has developed projects using the incentives provided by Devco and the state.

Tallest buildings

Christ Church, originally built in 1742, was the tallest building at the time of construction. A steeple was added in 1773 and replaced in 1803. The six-story First Reformed Church, built in 1812, was long the city's tallest structure. One of the earliest tall commercial buildings in the city was the eight-story National Bank of New Jersey built in 1908. The four nine-story buildings of the New Brunswick Homes housing project, originally built in 1958, were demolished by implosion in 2000 and largely replaced by low-rise housing. While there are no buildings over , since the beginning of the new millennium, a number of high-rise residential buildings have been added to the city's

. clustered around the New Brunswick station have joined those built in the 1960s on the city's skyline.New Brunswick
,

SkyscraperPage SkyscraperPage is a website for skyscraper hobbyists and enthusiasts that tracks existing and proposed skyscrapers around the world. The site is owned by Skyscraper Source Media, a supplier of skyscraper diagrams for the publication, marketing, an ...

. Accessed December 13, 2019. Of the 16 buildings over , nine of them were built in the 21st century; several others are approved or proposed.

= Tallest buildings under construction, approved, and proposed

Geography

According to the

, the city had a total area of , including of land and of water (9.06%). New Brunswick is on the south side of Raritan Valley along with

Piscataway Piscataway may refer to: *Maryland (place) **Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community ** Piscataway Creek, Maryland ** Piscataway Park, historical park at the mouth of Piscataway Creek ** Siege of Piscataway, siege of Susquehannock fort sou ...

, Highland Park, Edison, and Franklin Township. New Brunswick lies southwest of Newark and New York City and northeast of Trenton and

. New Brunswick is bordered by the municipalities of Piscataway, Highland Park and Edison across the Raritan River to the north by way of the Donald and Morris Goodkind Bridges, and also by North Brunswick to the southwest,

East Brunswick East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to New Br ...

to the southeast, all in Middlesex County; and by Franklin Township in Somerset County. While the city does not hold elections based on a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

system it has been so divided.Kratovil, Charlie
"New Brunswick 101: Your Source For Facts About The Hub City; A Comprehensive List of Every Neighborhood, Apartment Building, or Other Development in Hub City"
, New Brunswick Today, June 15, 2015. Accessed July 13, 2016. "Though New Brunswick does not use a system of neighborhood-based elections (and whether or not it should has been a contentious issue for more than a century), the city is still divided into five political subdivisions known as wards. There is no Third Ward, as most of that area was destroyed and redeveloped into a hotel and corporate headquarters in the 1980s." There are several

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in the city, which include the Fifth Ward, Feaster Park,

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

, Raritan Gardens, and Edgebrook- Westons Mills.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, New Brunswick falls within either a

hot-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') if the isotherm is used or a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') if the isotherm is used. New Brunswick has humid, hot summers and moderately cold winters with moderate to considerable rainfall throughout the year. There is no marked wet or dry season. The average seasonal (October–April) snowfall total is around . The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds to the annual peak in

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

activity.

Demographics

2010 census

The 2010 United States census counted 55,181 people, 14,119 households, and 7,751 families in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 15,053 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 45.43% (25,071)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 16.04% (8,852) Black or African American, 0.90% (498) Native American, 7.60% (4,195) Asian, 0.03% (19)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 25.59% (14,122) from other races, and 4.39% (2,424) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 49.93% (27,553) of the population. Of the 14,119 households, 31.0% had children under the age of 18; 29.2% were married couples living together; 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present and 45.1% were non-families. Of all households, 25.8% were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.36 and the average family size was 3.91. 21.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 33.2% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 12.2% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23.3 years. For every 100 females, the population had 105.0 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 105.3 males. The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $44,543 (with a margin of error of +/− $2,356) and the median family income was $44,455 (+/− $3,526). Males had a median income of $31,313 (+/− $1,265) versus $28,858 (+/− $1,771) for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the borough was $16,395 (+/− $979). About 15.5% of families and 25.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census, there were 48,573 people, 13,057 households, and 7,207 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,893 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 51.7%

, 24.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.2% Native American, 5.9% Asian, 0.2%

, 21.0% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. 39.01% of the population were

or Latino of any race.Census 2000 Profiles of Demographic / Social / Economic / Housing Characteristics for New Brunswick city, New Jersey
,

. Accessed November 23, 2012.DP-1: Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 – Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data for New Brunswick city, Middlesex County, New Jersey

. Accessed November 23, 2012. There were 13,057 households, of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.6% were married couples living together, 18.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.8% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.23 and the average family size was 3.69. 20.1% of the population were under the age of 18, 34.0% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 11.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males. The

in the city was $36,080, and the median income for a family was $38,222. Males had a median income of $25,657 versus $23,604 for females. The

for the city was $14,308. 27.0% of the population and 16.9% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 25.9% were under the age of 18 and 13.8% were 65 or older.

Economy

Healthcare industry

City Hall has promoted the nickname "The

Health Care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

City" to reflect the importance of the healthcare industry to its economy. The city is home to the world headquarters of

, along with several medical teaching and research institutions.We Are the Healthcare City
, City of New Brunswick. Accessed December 13, 2019. "To be a distinguished center of medicine, you need the winning combination of the best research, human talent, and teaching. Leading in all three, New Brunswick has earned the reputation of being the region's "Healthcare City." The city has five nationally-recognized hospitals, global biotechnology and pharmaceutical corporations, internationally-recognized medical research facilities, and is part of the country's largest medical school." Described as the first

magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

secondary school program teaching directly affiliated with a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

and a medical school, New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School is a public high school, that operates as part of the New Brunswick Public Schools, focused on

health sciences The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences – those sciences that focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple a ...

Urban Enterprise Zone

Portions of the city are part of an

Urban Enterprise Zone An urban enterprise zone is an area in which policies to encourage economic growth and development are implemented. Urban enterprise zone policies generally offer tax concessions, infrastructure incentives, and reduced regulations to attract invest ...

(UEZ), one of 32 zones covering 37 municipalities statewide. New Brunswick was selected in 2004 as one of two zones added to participate in the program. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment and investment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125%

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

rate (half of the % rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in December 2004, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in December 2024.

Arts and culture

Theatre

The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center opened 2019. Three neighboring professional venues, Crossroads Theatre designed by Parsons+Fernandez-Casteleiro Architects from New York. In 1999, the Crossroads Theatre won the prestigious

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Crossroads is the first

theater to receive this honor in the 33-year history of this special award category.

George Street Playhouse George Street Playhouse is a theater company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the city's Civic Square, New Brunswick, Civic Square government and theater district and resident at the newly built New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The GSP is o ...

(founded in 1974) and the State Theatre (constructed in 1921 for vaudeville and silent films) also form the heart of the local theatre scene. Crossroad Theatre houses American Repertory Ballet and the Princeton Ballet School. Rutgers University has student-run companies such as Cabaret Theatre, The Livingston Theatre Company, and College Avenue Players which perform everything from musicals to dramatic plays to sketch comedy. New brunswick new jersey aerial george

Journalism

''New Brunswick Today'' is a print and digital publication launched in 2011 by Rutgers journalism alumnus Charlie Kratovil which uses the tagline "Independent news for the greater New Brunswick community." The publication has covered issues with the city's water utility among others and was featured on

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee ''Full Frontal with Samantha Bee'' is an American late-night talk and news satire television program that aired on TBS from 2016 to 2022. The show was hosted by comedian Samantha Bee, a former correspondent on ''The Daily Show''. In July 2 ...

. New Jersey alt-weeklies ''

The Aquarian Weekly ''The Aquarian Weekly'' is a regional alternative weekly newspaper based in Little Falls, New Jersey. Founded in 1969, it covers rock music and related news and events in New Jersey, New York City, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Penns ...

'' and ''NJ Indy'' cover music and arts in New Brunswick.

Museums

New Brunswick is the site of the

Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...

(founded in 1966), Albus Cavus, and the Rutgers University Geology Museum (founded in 1872).

Fine arts

New Brunswick was an important center for avant-garde art in the 1950s–1970s with several artists such as

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American performance artist, installation artist, painter, and assemblagist . He helped to develop the " Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as their theory. ...

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as '' Ship o ...

George Brecht George Brecht (August 27, 1926 – December 5, 2008), born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnso ...

Robert Whitman Robert Whitman (May 23, 1935 – January 19, 2024) was an American artist best known for his seminal theater pieces of the early 1960s combining visual and sound images, actors, film, slides, and evocative props in environments of his own makin ...

, Robert Watts,

Lucas Samaras Lucas Samaras (; September 14, 1936 – March 7, 2024) was a Greek-born American photographer, sculptor, and painter. Early life and education Samaras was born in Kastoria, Greece on September 14, 1936. He studied at Rutgers University and b ...

Geoffrey Hendricks Geoffrey Hendricks (July 30, 1931 in Littleton, New Hampshire – May 12, 2018) was an American artist associated with Fluxus since the mid 1960s. He was professor of art at Douglass College, Rutgers University, where he taught from 1956 to 2003 a ...

Wolf Vostell Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happenings and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are ...

and

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

; some of whom taught at Rutgers University. This group of artists was sometimes referred to as the "New Jersey School" or the "New Brunswick School of Painting." The ''YAM Festival'' was a venue on May 19, 1963, for actions and

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

s. For more information, see

Fluxus at Rutgers University The mid-20th-century art movement Fluxus had a strong association with Rutgers University. History Allan Kaprow and Robert Watts, both key figures in the movement, originally met while they were students at Columbia University; though only togethe ...

Music

New Brunswick's live music scene has been the home to many original rock bands, including some which went on to national prominence such as

The Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and bac ...

and

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

as well as other notable New Brunswick bands. Rock band

Looking Glass A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

, who had the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one hit "

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" is a 1972 song by American pop rock band Looking Glass from their debut album, '' Looking Glass''. It was written by Looking Glass lead guitarist and co-vocalist Elliot Lurie. The single reached No. 1 on both the ...

" in 1972, developed in the New Brunswick rock scene and dedicated their debut to "the people of New Brunswick." Filmmaker Paul Devlin's first documentary, ''Rockin’ Brunswick'' (1983), documented the New Brunswick rock scene of the 1980s. The city is in particular a center for local

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and underground music.

Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, and hardcore music have long been popular in the city's live music scene. Many alternative rock bands got radio airplay thanks to

Matt Pinfield Matthew Pinfield (born May 28, 1961) is an American television host, disc jockey, and music executive. He first reached national prominence as a VJ on MTV. He served two stints as the host of the alternative music program ''120 Minutes'', from ...

who was part of the New Brunswick music scene for over 20 years at Rutgers University radio

WRSU-FM WRSU-FM (88.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial college radio station serving the Central Jersey, greater Central New Jersey area, broadcasting from the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is a student and faculty ...

and at

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

radio station WHTG-FM. Local pubs and clubs hosted many local bands, including the

Court Tavern The Court Tavern is a long-standing live music venue and bar located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Home to local and national acts across all genres, including punk, hip-hop, indie, and hardcore, it temporarily stood closed at 124 Church Street be ...

and the Melody Bar during the 1980s and 1990s. The city was ranked the number 4 spot to see indie bands in New Jersey. The independent record label

Don Giovanni Records Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. Its also operated out of Lansing, Mic ...

originally started to document the New Brunswick basement scene. In March 2017,

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore reports that ...

wrote that "even if

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a dec ...

has recently returned as our state's musical nerve center, with the brick-and-mortar venues and infrastructure to prove it, New Brunswick remains as the New Jersey scene's unadulterated, pounding heart." A number of well-known local bands formed in the city's live music scene, including

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name Th ...

and

Ogbert the Nerd Ogbert the Nerd is an American emo band from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The band formed in 2018 and has released two albums, ''I Don't Hate You'' in 2020 and ''What You Want'' in 2024, an EP, and a few singles. History Named after a joke from ...

. Rutgers radio station WVPH 90.3 FM "The Core" hosts indie music festival " Corefest" on campus. A number of jazz organizations and jazz festivals are held in the city, including the Hub City Jazz Festival and the New Brunswick Jazz Project. The New Brunswick Jazz Project is dedicated to live jazz in the city and surrounding towns. New Brunswick also has a plethora of rappers including Trill Lik, Mello B and Amgjay and also GetBizzy Nino.

Film

New Brunswick is home to a number of

film festivals A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent date and depe ...

, two of which are presented by the

film society A film society is a membership-based Club (organization), club where people can watch Public and private screening, screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream Movie theater, cinemas. In Spain, Ireland and Italy, they are kn ...

, the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center: the New Jersey Film Festival (1982) and the United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival (~1988). The Rutgers Jewish Film Festival was established 1999. The New Lens Film Festival is an event at the

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts ("Mason Gross" or "MGSA") is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mason Gross offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theater. Ma ...

Grease trucks

The " Grease trucks" were a group of truck-based food vendors located on the College Avenue Campus at Rutgers. They were known for serving " Fat Sandwiches," sub rolls containing fried ingredients. In 2013 the grease trucks were removed for the construction of a new Rutgers building and were moved into various other areas of the Rutgers-New Brunswick Campus.

Government

New Brunswick City Hall, the New Brunswick Free Public Library, and the New Brunswick Main Post Office are located in the city's Civic Square government district, as are numerous other city, county, state, and federal offices.

Local government

The City of New Brunswick is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government. The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form. The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the five-member City Council, all of whom are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

on a partisan basis to four-year terms of office in even-numbered years as part of the November general election. The City Council's five members are elected on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election every other year and the mayor up for election at the same time that two council seats are up for vote. As the legislative body of New Brunswick's municipal government, the City Council is responsible for approving the annual budget, ordinances and resolutions, contracts, and appointments to boards and commissions. The Council President is elected to a two-year term by the members of the Council at a reorganization meeting held after election and presides over all meetings.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, March 2013, p. 81. ,

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

James Cahill is the 62nd mayor of New Brunswick; he was sworn in as mayor on January 1, 1991, and is serving a term that expires on December 31, 2026.Mayor's Office
City of New Brunswick. Accessed April 14, 2024. Members of the City Council are Council President Rebecca H. Escobar (D, 2026), Council Vice President John A. Anderson (D, 2024), Manuel J. Castañeda (D, 2024), Matthew Ferguson (D, 2026; appointed to serve an unexpired term), Glenn J. Fleming (D, 2024), Petra N. Gaskins (D, 2026) and Suzanne M. Sicora Ludwig (D, 2024).November 8, 2022 General Election Official Results

Middlesex County, New Jersey Middlesex County is a County (United States), county located in the North Jersey, north-Central Jersey, central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, extending inland from the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region to the northern portion of the ...

, updated November 22, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.Official Results of the 2020 General Election

. Accessed January 1, 2021. In January 2024, the city council appointed Matthew Ferguson to fill the seat expiring in December 2026 that had been held by Kevin Egan until he resigned earlier that month to take a seat in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. Ferguson will serve on an interim basis until the November general election, when voters will choose a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office. In January 2023, the City Council expanded from five to seven members. Gaskins was sworn in as the first black woman and youngest in history, and Castañeda was elected as the first Latino man.

Emergency services

Police department

The New Brunswick Police Department has received attention for various incidents over the years. In 1991, the fatal shooting of Shaun Potts, an unarmed black resident, by Sergeant Zane Grey led to multiple local protests. In 1996, Officer James Consalvo fatally shot Carolyn "Sissy" Adams, an unarmed prostitute who had bit him. The Adams case sparked calls for reform in the New Brunswick Police Department, and ultimately was settled with the family. Two officers, Sgt. Marco Chinchilla and Det. James Marshall, were convicted of running a bordello in 2001. Chinchilla was sentenced to three years and Marshall was sentenced to four. In 2011, Officer Brad Berdel fatally shot Barry Deloatch, a black man who had run from police (although police claim he struck officers with a stick); this sparked daily protests from residents. Following the Deloatch shooting, sergeant Richard Rowe was formally charged with mishandling 81 Internal Affairs investigations; Mayor Cahill explained that this would help "rebuild the public's trust and confidence in local law enforcement."

Fire department

The current professional city fire department was established in 1914, but the earliest volunteer fire company in the city dates back to 1764. The department operates out of three stations, with a total of approximately 90 officers and firefighters. In 2014, the city received criticism and public attention after fire director Robert Rawls, whose driving record included dozens of accidents and license suspensions, had struck three children in a crosswalk while driving a city-owned vehicle.

Federal, state and county representation

New Brunswick is located in the 6th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report
,

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 17th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011–2020 Legislative District
,

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019.

Politics

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 22,742 registered voters in New Brunswick, of which 8,732 (38.4%) were registered as Democrats, 882 (3.9%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 13,103 (57.6%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 25 voters registered to other parties. In the 2016 presidential election, Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

received 81.9% of the vote (8,779 cast), ahead of Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

with 14.1% (1,516 votes), and other candidates with 4.0% (426 votes), among the 10,721 ballots cast. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 83.4% of the vote (9,176 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

with 14.3% (1,576 votes), and other candidates with 2.2% (247 votes), among the 11,106 ballots cast by the township's 23,536 registered voters (107 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 47.2%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat

received 83.3% of the vote (10,717 cast), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

with 14.8% (1,899 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (140 votes), among the 12,873 ballots cast by the township's 23,533 registered voters, for a turnout of 54.7%.2008 Presidential General Election Results: Middlesex County
,

Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed November 24, 2012. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

received 66.5% of the vote (2,604 cast), ahead of Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

with 31.2% (1,220 votes), and other candidates with 2.3% (92 votes), among the 3,991 ballots cast by the township's 23,780 registered voters (75 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 16.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...

received 68.2% of the vote (4,281 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 20.9% (1,314 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 6.2% (387 votes) and other candidates with 2.0% (128 votes), among the 6,273 ballots cast by the township's 22,534 registered voters, yielding a 27.8% turnout.2009 Governor: Middlesex County
,

Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed November 24, 2012.

Education

Public schools

The New Brunswick Public Schools serve students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

. The district is one of 31 former

Abbott district ''Abbott'' districts are school districts in New Jersey that are provided remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with Constitution of New Jersey, the state constitution. They were created in 1985 as a resul ...

s statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

in ''Abbott v. Burke'' which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the

New Jersey Schools Development Authority The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (commonly referred to as NJSDA or SDA) is the State agency responsible for fully funding and managing the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in 31 New Jersey s ...

. The district's nine-member Board of Education is elected at large, with three members up for election on a staggered basis each April to serve three-year terms of office; until 2012, the members of the Board of Education were appointed by the city's mayor. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of 12 schools, had an enrollment of 9,690 students and 777.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 12.5:1.District information for New Brunswick School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 1, 2024. Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

) are Lincoln Elementary School (578; K-4), Livingston Elementary School (342; K-5), Lord Stirling Elementary School (490; PreK-5), McKinley Community Elementary School (640; PreK-8), A. Chester Redshaw Elementary School (784; PreK-5), Paul Robeson Community School For The Arts (665; K-8), Roosevelt Elementary School (609; K-5), Blanquita B. Valenti Community School (opened 2023-24: 569 in grades 4–8), Woodrow Wilson Elementary School (373; PreK-8), New Brunswick Middle School (1,259; 6–8) and New Brunswick High School (2,477; 9–12). The community is also served by the Greater Brunswick Charter School, a K–8

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

serving students from New Brunswick, Edison, Highland Park and Milltown. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 399 students and 32.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

of 12.3:1. Eighth grade students from all of Middlesex County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the

Middlesex County Magnet Schools The Middlesex County Magnet Schools, formerly known as the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools, is a public school district that provides a network of high schools serving the vocational and technical education needs of students i ...

, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at its schools in

, Edison,

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", re ...

and Woodbridge, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Higher education

has three campuses in the city: College Avenue Campus (seat of the university), Douglass Campus, and Cook Campus, which extend into surrounding townships. (The university's other two campuses are in

, just across the

from New Brunswick.)0 Rutgers has also added several buildings downtown in the last two decades, both academic and residential. * New Brunswick is the site to the

, a seminary of the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

, that was founded in New York in 1784, then moved to New Brunswick in 1810. *

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Health, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with Robert Wood Johnson University ...

, part of

, is located in New Brunswick and Piscataway. * Middlesex County College has some facilities downtown, though its main campus is in Edison.

Historic district

The Livingston Avenue Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

located along Livingston Avenue between Hale and Morris streets. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on February 16, 1996, for its significance in architecture, social history, and urban history from 1870 to 1929. With File:86–88 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ.jpg, John B. Drury House, Victorian style File:Roosevelt Intermediate School, New Brunswick, NJ.jpg, Roosevelt Intermediate School, Neo-Classical Revival style File:Ukrainian Catholic Church, New Brunswick, NJ.jpg, Ukrainian Catholic Church, Richardsonian Romanesque style

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the city had of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Middlesex County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transport ...

and by the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

. The city is crisscrossed a wide range of roads and highways. In the city is the intersection of

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort ...

and Route 18, and is bisected by Route 27. New Brunswick hosts less than a mile of the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

(

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

). A few turnpike ramps are in the city that lead to Exit 9 which is just outside the city limits in

. Other major roads that are nearby include the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May, New Jersey, Cape May north to the New York ...

in Woodbridge and I-287 in neighboring Edison, Piscataway and Franklin townships. The New Brunswick Parking Authority manages 14 ground-level and multi-story parking facilities across the city. CitiPark manages a downtown parking facility at 2 Albany Street.

Public transportation

New Brunswick is served by

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

trains on the

Northeast Corridor Line The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad ...

provides frequent service north to

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

, and south to Trenton, while

's ''

Keystone Service The ''Keystone Service'' is a 195 mile (314 km) regional passenger train service from Amtrak, that operates between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the P ...

'' and ''

Northeast Regional The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busie ...

'' trains service the New Brunswick Station. The Jersey Avenue Station is also served by Northeast Corridor trains. For other Amtrak connections, riders can take NJ Transit to New York Penn Station or Newark), Trenton, or Metropark. Local bus service is provided by NJ Transit's 810, 811, 814, 815, and 818 routes. Also available is the extensive Rutgers Campus bus network. Middlesex County Area Transit (MCAT) shuttles provide service on routes operating across the county, including the M1 route, which operates between Jamesburg and the New Brunswick Train Station. DASH/CAT buses, operated by Somerset County on the 851 and 852 routes connect New Brunswick and Bound Brook. Suburban Trails offers service to and from

on Route 100 between

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

and the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving ab ...

; on Route 500 between New Brunswick and along 42nd Street to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

; and Route 600 between East Windsor and

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

. Studies are being conducted to create the New Brunswick Bus Rapid Transit system. Intercity bus service from New Brunswick to

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, is offered by OurBus ''Prime''. New Brunswick was at the eastern terminus of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, of which there are remnants surviving or rebuilt along the river. Until 1936, the city was served by the interurban Newark–Trenton Fast Line, which covered a route that stopped in New Brunswick as it ran between

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

and Trenton. The

Raritan River Railroad The Raritan River Rail Road was a shortline railroad in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, Founded in 1888, it was based in South Amboy, New Jersey, South Amboy, from which it ran west as far as Ne ...

ran to New Brunswick, but is now defunct along this part of the line. The track and freight station still remain. Proposals have been made to use the line as a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

route that would provide an option for commuters now driving in cars on Route 18. Old Bridge Airport in Old Bridge supply short-distance flights to surrounding areas and is the closest air transportation services. The next nearest commercial airports are Princeton Airport located southwest (about 23 minutes drive); and

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

, which serves as a major hub for

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

and located north (about 31 minutes drive) from New Brunswick.

Healthcare

Saint Peter's University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital,

, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital are all located in the city of New Brunswick. The city is aptly named the "Healthcare City" for its wide array of public and private healthcare services.

Popular culture

* On April 18, 1872, at New Brunswick, William Cameron Coup developed the system of transporting circus equipment, staff and animals from city to city using railroad cars. This system would be adopted by other railroad circuses and used through the golden age of railroad circuses until the 2017 closure of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. * The play and movie ''

1776 Events January–February * January 1 – American Revolutionary War – Burning of Norfolk: The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. * January ...

'' discusses the Continental Army under General George Washington being stationed at New Brunswick in June 1776 and being inspected by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase of Maryland as members of the War Committee. * The 1980s sitcom, ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Sco ...

'', was set in New Brunswick. * The 2004 movie '' Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle'' revolves around Harold and Kumar's attempt to get to a White Castle restaurant and includes a stop in a fictionalized New Brunswick. *The 2007

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winning novel '' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'' is primarily set in New Brunswick. *The 2013 novel ''

Americanah ''Americanah'' is the third novel by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was published on May 14, 2013, by Alfred A. Knopf. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2013. ''Americanah'' recounts the story of a youn ...

'' by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...

features a taxi driver bragging about having a daughter on the dean's list at Rutgers. *Bands from New Brunswick include

The Gaslight Anthem The Gaslight Anthem is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2006. The band consists of Brian Fallon (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano), Alex Rosamilia (lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass guitar, backing ...

Screaming Females Screaming Females were an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on vocals and guitar, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. They released their debut album ''Baby Teeth (Screaming Females a ...

Streetlight Manifesto Streetlight Manifesto is an American ska punk band from New Brunswick Township, New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2002. They released their debut album, ''Everything Goes Numb'', through Victory Records on August 26, 2003. The ban ...

and

Bouncing Souls The Bouncing Souls are an American punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast li ...

. *The independent record label

was established in 2003 to document the music scene in New Brunswick. *The store run scene in the movie Little Man was filmed in New Brunswick.

Points of interest

* Albany Street Bridge, a seven-span stone arch bridge dating to 1892 that was used as part of the transcontinental

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

. It stretches across the Raritan River to Highland Park. * Bishop House, located at 115 College Avenue, is an

Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century ...

mansion built for James Bishop and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. * The historic Old Queens Campus and

Voorhees Mall Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block (sometimes known as "Voorhees Campus") of about 28 acres (0.11 km2) located on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. ...

– Old Queens, built in 1809, is the oldest building at Rutgers University. The building's cornerstone was laid in 1809. * Buccleuch Mansion in Buccleuch Park. Built in 1739 by Anthony White as part of a working farm and home overlooking Raritan Landing, the house and its adjoining of land were deeded to the City of New Brunswick to be used as a park in 1911. * Christ Church Episcopal Churchyard had its earliest burial in 1754 and includes the grave sites of slaves. * The Henry Guest House, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, is a Georgian stone farmhouse built in 1760 by Henry Guest at Livingston Avenue and Morris Street that was moved in 1924 next to the New Brunswick Free Public Library after plans were made to demolish the building at its original site. * William H. Johnson House is an example of

built , when New Brunswick experienced a post-Civil War economic boom. Architectural components including the tall narrow windows with arched tops, double bays, cornice brackets and low pitched roofs exemplify the Italianate style. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 2006. * St. Peter the Apostle Church, built in 1856 and designed by Patrick Keeley, is located at 94 Somerset Street. *

Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that connects the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and ...

– Completed in 1834, the canal reached its peak in the 1860s and 1870s, when its primary use was to transport coal from Pennsylvania to New York City. Accessing the canal at Bordentown on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

, the main route covered to New Brunswick on the Raritan River. * Birthplace of poet

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American people, American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees (poem), Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in ...

– Located on Joyce Kilmer Avenue, the building is where the poet and essayist was born on December 6, 1886. Acquired by a local

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

post, the building and its second-floor memorial to Kilmer was sold to the state in the 1960s, which then transferred it to the ownership of the City of New Brunswick. * Site of

world headquarters * The Willow Grove Cemetery – located behind the Henry Guest House and the New Brunswick Free Public Library, the site of the cemetery was acquired in the late 1840s, the cemetery association was incorporated in 1850 and a state charter was granted the following year. * Mary Ellis grave (1750–1828) stands out due to its location in the AMC Theatres parking lot on

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

downriver from downtown New Brunswick. *

Lawrence Brook Lawrence Brook is a tributary of the Raritan River in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the United States. Course Originally a stream, its course now includes man-made lakes created by dams built in the 19th and 20th centuries: Deans Pond ( S ...

, a tributary of the

has a watershed covering that includes New Brunswick, as well as

, Milltown, North Brunswick and South Brunswick. * Elmer B. Boyd Park, a park running along the Raritan River, covering adjacent to Route 18, the park went through an $11 million renovation project and reopened to the public in 1999.

Places of worship

* Abundant Life Family Worship Church – founded in 1991. * Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple (

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

) – established in 1859. * Ascension Lutheran Church – founded in 1908 as The New Brunswick First Magyar Augsburg Evangelical Church. * Christ Church, Episcopal – granted a royal charter in 1761. * College Avenue Community Church, also known as Second Reformed Church, Reformed (RCA) * Ebenezer Baptist Church * First Baptist Church of New Brunswick, American Baptist *

First Presbyterian First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Presbyterian (PCUSA) *

First Reformed ''First Reformed'' is a 2017 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke as a minister of a small congregation in upstate New York who grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, wor ...

Reformed (RCA) * Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers University (nondenominational) * Magyar Reformed, Calvinist * Mount Zion AME (African Methodist Episcopal) * Mt. Zion Ministries Family Worship Church * Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church *New Brunswick Islamic Center * Point Community Church * Saint Joseph, Byzantine Catholic * Saint Ladislaus, Roman Catholic * Saint Mary of Mount Virgin Church, Remsen Avenue and Sandford Street, Roman Catholic * Sacred Heart Church, Throop Avenue, Roman Catholic * Saint Peter the Apostle Church, Somerset Street, Roman Catholic * Sharon Baptist Church * United Methodist Church at New Brunswick * Voorhees Chapel at Rutgers University (nondenominational) File:Second Reformed Church, New Brunswick, NJ - area view.jpg, College Avenue Community Church File:Kirkpatrick Chapel, Rutgers University - looking north.jpg, Kirkpatrick Chapel

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the City of New Brunswick include: *

David Abeel David Abeel (June 12, 1804 – September 4, 1846) was a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church with the American Reformed Mission. Biography Abeel was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on June 12, 1804 to Captain David and Jane Hassert A ...

(1804–1846),

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

missionary * Garnett Adrain (1815–1878), member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

* Charlie Atherton (1874–1934),

major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player *

Jim Axelrod Jim Axelrod (born January 25, 1963) is the Chief Investigative Correspondent for CBS News and reports across all CBS News programs and platforms. Axelrod was one of CBS News' embedded correspondents in Iraq and was the first TV reporter to broa ...

(born 1963), national correspondent for

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

who is a reporter for the ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

'' * Catherine Hayes Bailey (1921–2014), plant geneticist who specialized in fruit breeding * Joe Barzda (1915–1993), race car driver * John Bayard (1738–1807), merchant, soldier and statesman who was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the

in 1785 and 1786, and later mayor of New Brunswick * John Bradbury Bennet (1865–1940),

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer and brigadier general active during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

(born 1967), film critic * James Bishop (1816–1895), represented in the

from 1855 to 1857 * Charles S. Boggs (1811–1877), Rear Admiral who served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

* PJ Bond, singer-songwriter * Jake Bornheimer (1927–1986), professional basketball player for the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden ...

* James Bornheimer (1933–1993), politician who served in the

from 1972 to 1982 and in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

from 1982 to 1984 * Brett Brackett (born 1987), football tight end *

Derrick Drop Braxton Derrick Braxton (born November 25, 1981, New Brunswick, New Jersey) is an American record producer and composer, best known for working with artists such as Lupe Fiasco, Cassidy, Amerie, Rich Harrison and Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 1 ...

(born 1981), record producer and composer * Sherry Britton (1918–2008), burlesque performer and actress * Gary Brokaw (born 1954), former professional basketball player who played most of his NBA career for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

* Dana Brown (born 1967),

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Jalen Brunson Jalen Marquis Brunson (born August 31, 1996), nicknamed “Brunson Burner” or “Captain Clutch”, is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted with the 3 ...

(born 1996), basketball player *

William Burdett-Coutts William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts (20 January 1851 – 28 July 1921), born William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, was an American-born Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons of the Unite ...

(1851–1921), British Conservative politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1885 to 1921 *

Darhyl Camper Darhyl “DJ” Camper (born May 25, 1990), also known by his stage name Camper, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer. Career Camper was born May 25, 1990, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of six, he began playing ...

(born 1990), singer-songwriter and record producer * Arthur S. Carpender (1884–1960),

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

who commanded the Allied Naval Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* Lance Carter (1955–2006),

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

and percussionist * Jonathan Casillas (born 1987), linebacker for the NFL's New Orleans Saints and University of Wisconsin * Joseph Compton Castner (1869–1946), Army general * Chris Dailey (born 1959),

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

coach, who has been the associate head coach for the

Connecticut Huskies women's basketball The UConn Huskies women's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, in the NCAA Division I women's basketball competition. They currently play in the Big East Conference. ...

team since 1988 * David D. Demarest (1819–1898), author and theologian * Andre Dixon (born 1986), former professional football

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Wheeler Winston Dixon Wheeler Winston Dixon (born March 12, 1950) is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, Film theory, theory and Film criticism, criticism.Bill Goodykoontz, December 23, 2012, USA TodayDefining Tarantino Accessed Aug. 25, ...

(born 1950), filmmaker, critic and author *

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

(born 1944), actor * Kevin Egan (born 1964), politician who has represented the 17th legislative district in the

since 2024 * Hallie Eisenberg (born 1992), actress * Linda Emond (born 1959), actress * Jerome Epstein (born 1937), politician who served in the

from 1972 to 1974 and later went to federal prison for pirating millions of dollars worth of fuel oil * Anthony Walton White Evans (1817–1886), engineer * Robert Farmar (1717–1778), British Army officer who fought in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

and served as interim governor of British

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

* Mervin Field (1921–2015), pollster of

public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

* Louis Michael Figueroa (born 1966), arguably the most prolific transcontinental journeyman * Charles Fiske (1868–1942), bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Central New York The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America that comprises 14 counties in Central New York. It is one of ten dioceses, plus the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, that m ...

from 1924 to 1936 * Haley Fiske (1852–1929), lawyer who served as President of the

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, w ...

* Kevin Friedland (born 1981),

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

defender who played for

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

Margaret Kemble Gage Margaret Kemble Gage (1734–1824) was the wife of General Thomas Gage, who led the British Army in Massachusetts in the American Revolutionary War. It is alleged that she played an important role in the outcome of the American Revolution. She wa ...

(1734–1824), wife of General

Thomas Gage General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator best known for his many years of service in North America, including serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America during the early days ...

, who led the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and who may have informed the revolutionaries of her husband's strategy * Morris Goodkind (–1968), chief bridge engineer for the New Jersey State Highway Department from 1925 to 1955 (now the

), responsible for the design of the

Pulaski Skyway The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge-causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying a freeway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of . Its long ...

and 4,000 other bridges * Vera Mae Green (1928–1982),

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and scholar, who made major contributions in the fields of Caribbean studies, interethnic studies, black family studies and the study of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and the poor *

Alan Guth Alan Harvey Guth (; born February 27, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is the Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Along with Alexei Starobinsky and Andrei Linde, ...

(born 1947),

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

and cosmologist best known for his theory of

cosmological inflation In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe. Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower r ...

* Augustus A. Hardenbergh (1830–1889), represented

New Jersey's 7th congressional district New Jersey's 7th congressional district includes all of Hunterdon and Warren Counties; and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties. The district is represented by Republican Thomas Kean Jr., who was first elected in 2022, de ...

from 1875 to 1879, and again from 1881 to 1883 *

Mel Harris Mel Harris (born July 12, 1956) is an American actress best known for her role as Hope Murdoch Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination in 1990. Early life and educ ...

(born 1956), actress *

Mark Helias Mark Helias (born October 1, 1950) is an American double bass player and composer born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He started playing the double bass at the age of 20, and studied with Homer Mensch at Rutgers University from 1971 to 1974, then ...

(born 1950), jazz bassist / composer * Susan Hendricks (born 1973), anchor for HLN and substitute anchor for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

Laurie Hernandez Lauren Zoe Hernandez (born June 9, 2000) is an American retired artistic gymnast. During her debut year as a senior gymnast, she competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team dubbed the " Final Five" that won the team gold medal at ...

(born 2000), artistic gymnast representing Team USA at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

* Sabah Homasi (born 1988),

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division * Christine Moore Howell (1899–1972), hair care product businesswoman who founded Christine Cosmetics * Adam Hyler (1735–1782), privateer during the

* Bill Hynes (born 1972), professional auto racing driver and entrepreneur * Jaheim (born 1978, full name Jaheim Hoagland), R&B singer * Dwayne Jarrett (born 1986), wide receiver for the University of Southern California football team 2004 to 2006, current WR drafted by the Carolina Panthers * James P. Johnson (1891–1955), pianist and composer who was one of the original stride piano masters * William H. Johnson House, William H. Johnson (1829–1904), painter and wallpaper hanger, businessman and local crafts person, whose home () was placed on the State of New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places in 2006 * Robert Wood Johnson I (1845–1910), businessman who was one of the founders of

* Robert Wood Johnson II (1893–1968), businessman who led

and served as mayor of Highland Park, New Jersey * Woody Johnson (born 1947), businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat who is currently serving as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom * Frederick Barnett Kilmer (1851–1934), pharmacist, author, public health activist and the director of Scientific Laboratories for

from 1889 to 1934 *

(1886–1918), poet * Littleton Kirkpatrick (1797–1859), represented in the

from 1853 to 1855, and was mayor of New Brunswick in 1841 and 1842 * Ted Kubiak (born 1942), MLB player for the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, and the San Diego Padres * Jerry Levine (born 1957), actor and director of television and theater, best known for appearing on ''Will & Grace'' and in the films ''Teen Wolf'' and ''Casual Sex?'' * Roy Mack (director), Roy Mack (1889–1962), director of film shorts, mostly comedies, with 205 titles to his credit * Floyd Mayweather Jr. (born 1977), multi-division winning boxer, currently with an undefeated record of 50–0; he grew up in the 1980s in the Hiram Square neighborhood * Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (born 1999), hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles and is the world record holder in that event * Jim Norton (comedian), Jim Norton (born 1968), comedian * Anna Oliver (1840–1892), American preacher * Robert Pastorelli (1954–2004), actor known primarily for playing the role of the house painter on ''Murphy Brown'' * Judith Persichilli (born 1949), nurse and health care executive who has served as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health * Hasan Piker (born 1991), Twitch (service), Twitch Online streamer, streamer and Political criticism, political commentator * Stephen Porges (born 1945), Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill * Franke Previte (born 1946), composer * Paul Reale (1943–2020), composer and pianist * Mary Lea Johnson Richards (1926–1990), heiress, entrepreneur and Broadway producer, who was the first baby to appear on a Johnson's Baby, Johnson's baby powder label * Miles Ross (1827–1903), Mayor of New Brunswick, U.S. Representative and businessman * Mohamed Sanu (born 1989), American football wide receiver who has played in the NFL for the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers * Gabe Saporta (born 1979), musician and frontman of bands Midtown (band), Midtown and Cobra Starship * Robert J. Sexton, director, producer, and former musician * Jeff Shaara (born 1952), historical novelist * Gerald Shargel (1944–2022), defense attorney known for his work defending mobsters and celebrities * Dustin Sheppard (born 1980), retired professional

player who played in MLS for the MetroStars * Brian D. Sicknick (1978–2021), officer of the United States Capitol Police who Death of Brian Sicknick, died following the January 6 United States Capitol attack * George Sebastian Silzer (1870–1940), served as the List of Governors of New Jersey, 38th Governor of New Jersey. Served on the New Brunswick board of aldermen from 1892 to 1896 * James H. Simpson (1813–1883), U.S. Army surveyor of western frontier areas * Robert Sklar (1936–2011), historian and author specializing in the history of film * Arthur Space (1908–1983), actor of theatre, film, and television * Larry Stark (born 1932), theater reviewer and creator of Theater Mirror * Matt Taibbi (born 1970), author and journalist * Norman Tanzman (1918–2004), politician who served in the

from 1962 to 1968 and in the

from 1968 to 1974 * Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (born 1969), guitarist, musician, composer * Joe Theismann (born 1949), former professional quarterback who played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins and former commentator on ESPN's ''Monday Night Football'' * John Tukey (1915–2000), mathematician * William Henry Vanderbilt (1821–1885), businessman * John Van Dyke (politician), John Van Dyke (1807–1878), represented in the

from 1847 to 1851, and served as Mayor of New Brunswick from 1846 to 1847 * Tony Vega (jockey), Tony Vega (1961–2013), Thoroughbred horse jockey and community activist * George Veronis (1926–2019), geophysics, geophysicist * Paul Wesley (born 1982), actor, known for his role as "Stefan Salvatore" on The CW show ''The Vampire Diaries'' * Samuel Merrill Woodbridge, Rev. Samuel Merrill Woodbridge (1819–1905), minister, author, professor at Rutgers College and New Brunswick Theological Seminary * Eric Young Sr., Eric Young (born 1967), former

player who is currently the first base coach for the Atlanta Braves * Eric Young Jr. (born 1985), Major League Baseball player

Sister cities

New Brunswick's Sister city, sister cities are:Sister Cities
, City of New Brunswick. Accessed May 5, 2021. * Debrecen, Hungary * Fukui (city), Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan * County Limerick, Ireland * Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Notes

References

External links

Official website

New Brunswick information

* {{Authority control New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1730 establishments in New Jersey Cities in New Jersey Cities in Middlesex County, New Jersey County seats in New Jersey Faulkner Act (mayor–council) Hungarian-American culture in New Jersey New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Populated places established in 1730