[Feature] Palisades Park: The Rise and Struggles of Becoming Little Korea

In the summer of 1992, a seven year old Korean-American girl from Charlotte, North Carolina moved to a little town in New Jersey known as Palisades Park. Considered to be a minority Asian back in Charlotte, she was frightened to see many of the same almond-shaped eyed children in Lindbergh Elementary school. As she learned to socialize with these children who did not find the smell of kimchi to be an oddity and were able to recognize her mother’s cooking familiar to that of their own mothers, the little girl would later realize that she was not the only one adapting to a sudden recognition with a culture she had once been ashamed of back in North Carolina; in fact, the little town known as Palisades Park would slowly but surely become quite acquainted with Korean culture.

Affectionately known to its residents as the “greatest square mile,” the Borough of Palisades Park was created in March 22, 1899 from portions of its rival towns, Ridgefield Township and later Fort Lee. Many of its first residential families were Italian-American immigrants who did not stray too far from their first step into America, by means of Ellis Island, New York. But the predominantly Italian town soon began to see a sudden influx of Korean-Americans with ambitions to form a community of their own.

According to Jason Kim, founder of the Korean-American Voters Association and recently elected councilman of Palisades Park, “about 15 yrs ago, Palisades Park’s Broad Avenue – business was dying off and there were many, many empty stores and no more businesses going on .. the Koreans started moving in there, one after the other, and they found out that it was a good place to live and it was so close to Manhattan – only about 15 minutes away, so it’s locally a good place to live” (NPR, May 2007). This brings back a memory of growing up as a Korean-American in Palisades Park: the real reason why more and more Koreans kept moving into town. Supposedly, the explanation amongst the Korean kids at school was that there was rumored to be a commercial that ran in Korean networks back in the motherland, actually advertising Palisades Park to be the best town to move into, especially for Koreans who were fancying the idea of immigrating to the States. United States was the land of opportunity, but Palisades Park was the land for Koreans who wanted to be in Korea with the same amount of opportunity.

Nonetheless, despite the actual logistics of why Koreans decided to immigrate to this square mile, the residents of Palisades Park soon saw a surge in Korean immigrants. And as all people hate to see changes, the Italian-American residents no longer began to welcome these foreign newcomers when they realized that their once quaint Italian community was slowly becoming more “Koreanized.”

Soon, Korean hair salons and restaurants slowly began to replace old town shops that were (coincidentally) owned by Italians, but had failed to keep up business. Karaoke lounges and Korean restaurants began to thrive, but only to be controlled by town ordianance 1293. The ordinance stated only certain businesses and restaurants were allowed to be opened 24 hours, whereas all others were to close at a given time, or else summonses of $500 in fines and 90 days in jail would be issued. And it didn’t help that the only business allowed to be open for 24 hours was a non-Korean owned business, Golden Eagle diner. Thus became the “cultural clash” of the titans: the Koreans versus everyone who wanted their old town back.

In October of 1999, a vandal sprayed a graffiti message on Safenet, a Korean-owned computer store, which read “Why don’t all you Koreans go back to where you came from.” Calling together Korean business owners and residents, the Korean community yelled “Racism!” to the then-mayor Sandy Farber, who was rumored to dislike the Korean community. Fueled by the graffiti and still feeling the sting of Ordinance 1293, first generation and second generation Korean-Americans joined together a month after at a protest rally, demanding equality for Koreans and non-Koreans alike. The protest rally did make a bit of a change; most of the Korean businesses now close at about 9PM, but restaurants, including the Greek-owned Golden Eagle diner, are required to close at 3AM (but really, they just stay open to clean and prepare to open for the day, just a few hours later). The situation in itself has quelled, but the taste of bitterness still lingers to this day. At any given chance for power in the town, it is now common for Koreans to vote for Korean candidates in any given situation, just for the sake of “power.”

Throughout the years, Palisades Park has faced major changes. From store changes to residential changes, and the now popular rise of tearing down one family homes for over-priced duplexes, a once sleepy square mile is now a bustling, high-rent town in which Lexus cars and BMW SUVs fight for parking spaces.

This is Palisades Park – park at your own risk.