What about tariffs? What North Jersey shoppers can expect from retail in 2025

Published

11 months ago

December 24, 2024

What about tariffs? What North Jersey shoppers can expect from retail in 2025

1-minute read

New Jersey is synonymous with retail.

With shopping malls throughout the state, including the largest mall in New Jersey located in Paramus, there are endless options to find what you need.

And with one of the largest ports on the East Coast, New Jersey is not only home to retail, but also to a robust shipping industry.

Expect changes in both those areas in 2025 ― and be on the lookout for changes in the costs of goods if President-elect Trump enacts his proposed tariff program.

Port workers and the association representing marine terminals have until Jan. 15 to reach a deal on a new master contract, with automation being a main sticking point. The union representing the port workers has promised to go on strike if a deal is not met, potentially increasing prices on store shelves and upending supply chains.
Developers at Garden State Plaza and Bergen Town Center in Paramus are in the process of constructing thousands of new apartments. At the Garden State Plaza complex there will be retail, dining, outdoor markets and a 1-acre town green, with an early-2025 groundbreaking expected.
President Donald Trump has vowed to enact 25% tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada, and 10% tariffs on goods coming from China. New Jersey manufacturers have sped up imports and stockpiled raw materials in anticipation of the increased costs from imports.

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The 30 Poorest Neighborhoods in New Jersey

Published

10 hours ago

November 22, 2025

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The 30 Poorest Neighborhoods in New Jersey

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in New Jersey is just over $101,000.

The Cost of Living in New Jersey

While that is an impressive number, we are all aware of the high cost of living here. By the time you pay taxes, make a rent or mortgage payment, and then try to put food on your kitchen table, there’s not much left.

I mean, taxes alone… in 2023, New Jersey’s statewide average property tax bill was around $9,600. That increased to just under $10,100 last year.

Poverty Despite High Income

Even with the average household here bringing in around $100,000/year, the poverty rate is rather high.

According to the Census Bureau, around 9.2% of people in New Jersey live in poverty.

With that in mind, if someone asked you which neighborhoods in the state were the poorest, you would probably immediately think of the usual places like Newark, Camden, or Trenton.

700 block of State Street in Camden NJ – Photo: Google Maps

But if someone asked you to list the 30 poorest spots in New Jersey, those stereotypical cities would only get you so far. You might still have a dozen or so empty spots to fill.

Ranking the 30 Poorest NJ Towns

So let’s look at an official ranking of the 30 poorest neighborhoods in the Garden State. Some of these will definitely surprise you. In fact, you might live in one of these spots and not even realize it.

30 ‘poorest’ neighborhoods in NJ

These ZIP codes in New Jersey have the highest percentage of households earning less than $25,000 in annual median income. The figures are based on 5-year data by the U.S. Census American Community Survey as of 2021.

Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5

Ranking the Richest Counties in New Jersey

This is a list of the median household incomes in all 21 New Jersey counties from poorest to richest.

Gallery Credit: Jen Ursillo

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This spicy pasta was the best thing we ate in North Jersey this week

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

This spicy pasta was the best thing we ate in North Jersey this week

Cajun-inspired pasta, obscure sandwiches and more most impressed food writer Kara VanDooijeweert this week.
This column publishes on Saturdays, and typically features standout eats from Morris, Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and/or Sussex counties.

Unpopular opinion: I don’t hate paper straws.

I mean, I don’t like paper straws — and I used to think I hated them — but, recently, the cardboard-y drinking tubes have been receiving so much backlash in public discourse that I realized my feelings towards them were minuscule compared to most others’.

On TikTok and Instagram, it’s not uncommon that a video complaining about the straws pull over 100 thousand views. On Reddit, threads titled “I [truck]ing hate paper straws” have 460+ comments. At Election Day a few weeks ago, I saw someone wearing a shirt proclaiming “I don’t care who wins, just get rid of paper straws.”

Well, North Jersey, good news — if you’re in the subsection of society that thinks paper straws should throw themselves in a fireplace and burn, you’re going to love this week’s top local dishes; because, while the former are considered dry (and off-putting on a sensory level), these culinary champions are as wet as food comes.

None running the risk of turning your tongue into a desert, these are the three best things I ate this week.

Rasta Pasta, Tops Diner

Though it’s probably more of a modern American restaurant than a diner at this point, there’s no question; Tops Diner is one of New Jersey’s favorite spots to eat. Recently, the chic spot was ranked the best restaurant in the state by the Yelp “elites” (app users/contributors selected by community managers as “experts” on their local food scene), and, while writing an article on the aforementioned, it was subconsciously (re)tucked into the back of my mind.

When I landed in Newark after a long weekend in Chicago, then, it only felt natural to pay the Essex County icon a visit on the way home.

Sitting among the restaurant’s beige booths, gold decor and live DJs, I ordered dishes from the famed Mac & Cheese to a cheesy house-made veggie burger. I was most impressed, though, by the Cajun-inspired Rasta Pasta, which — topped with blackened jerk chicken, spicy parmesan cream sauce, garlic, peppers and more — will always be my go-to Tops meal.

Go: 500 Passaic Ave., East Newark; 973-481-0490, thetopsdiner.com.

Breaded Steak Sandwich, Ricobene’s (Chicago)

As alluded to above, I spent the past weekend in Chicago, and, while I typically wouldn’t include an Illinois bite in a Jersey eats newsletter, something peculiar happened when I was abroad:

I noticed an old news article from our databases claiming, at one point, that the Breaded Steak Sandwich from Ricobene’s (of the Bridgeport neighborhood) was “the best sandwich in the world.”

Naturally, then, I had to try it — and see if it still held up.

Composition-wise, the sandwich consisted of a breaded steak cutlet (closer to a country fried steak than a veal Milanese chop), marinara sauce and, upon request, mozzarella and hot giardiniera (I HIGHLY SUGGEST making that request) on soft-baked Italian bread. It costs $11.99 for a “regular,” and is admirably messy beneath its tight tinfoil wrap.

As soon as I began to devour mine, I made a quick realization: It wasn’t the best sandwich in the world. Mushroom and onion cheesesteaks, Jersey-style sloppy joes and old-fashioned tuna melts are all better sandwiches.

With fried steak that stayed crispy under sauce, giardiniera that added crunch and heat, and a blanket of cheese that dripped from both ends of the fluffy roll, however, it was an elite-level sandwich.

Just not an unbeatable sandwich, from the perspective of someone who hails from the deli capital of the world.

Go: 252 W. 26th St., Chicago; 312-225-5555, ricobenespizza.com (Breaded Steak “Sandwich Kits” are available for shipping nationwide through Goldbelly, if you’d like to try the dish without leaving New Jersey).

Jamaican Rum Hot Cocoa, Miracle on Centre

More of a beverage, but I still technically ate it, and — once I put a sandwich from Chicago in my North Jersey culinary highlights — I’m pretty sure I abandoned all conventionality, anyway.

So, exceptions being the name of the game this week, I present the boozy hot cocoa from Miracle on Centre (a festive Christmas bar that pops up inside of Cowan’s Public each year).

Listed on the menu as the Coconut Hot Chocolate, the thick drink is loaded with Jamaican rum, amaretto, chocolate hazelnut and coconut before being absolutely smothered in coconut-infused whipped cream and finished with cacao dust.

AKA; it tastes like eating Santa’s cookies and milk at the same time, and it’s the perfect way to get hammered while listening to Andy Williams.

Go: 229 Centre St., Nutley (INSIDE of Cowan’s Public through January 4); 973-542-8151, cowanspublic.com.

Hungry for more?

Want more on this week’s latest food news? Check out some of my (and others’) best articles at NorthJersey.com/food.

Until next weekend, North Jersey.

Remember to book your Thanksgiving reservations, order your feast to be catered or secure your after-dinner pie.

And then, on Turkey Day itself, tune into @northjerseyeats — because I have a video of a very special visitor coming to New Jersey for December (and he’s bringing laughter, fear and drunken chicken parm with him).

Kara VanDooijeweert is a food writer for NorthJersey.com and The Record. If you can’t find her in Jersey’s best restaurants, she’s probably off running a race course in the mountains. Catch her on Instagram: @karanicolev & @northjerseyeats, and sign up for her North Jersey Eats newsletter.

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